MMA

3:00 PM ET If good things come to those who wait, both of the welterweights headlining UFC Fight Night on Saturday have a lot to look forward to. This weekend, the often-overlooked Leon Edwards (18-3) will take on the often-overshadowed Belal Muhammad (also 18-3) in the main event inside the UFC Apex facility in Las

2:03 PM ET The UFC is working on a lightweight bout between Tony Ferguson and Beneil Dariush on May 15, sources confirmed to ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the bout will take place on the UFC 262 pay-per-view event once finalized. MMAJunkie first reported the pairing and date. Ferguson (25-5) is coming off

6:40 AM ET LAS VEGAS — UFC welterweight Leon Edwards has won eight consecutive fights since 2016. The last time he lost was on Dec. 19, 2015, and that was to current champion Kamaru Usman, who happens to be the only welterweight with a longer active UFC win streak — 13 straight — than Edwards.

7:42 PM ET The launch of ONE Championship’s women’s atomweight tournament will be on an all-women’s fight card. The four quarterfinal matchups of ONE’s women’s atomweight grand prix will take place May 28 in Singapore, officials told ESPN on Thursday. The event itself will be named ONE: Empower. In the main event, ONE women’s strawweight

8:44 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Anthony Pettis has been a champion in two MMA promotions, most notably the most star-studded in the world, the UFC. He has defeated many of the greatest lightweights in the sport, including others who also have worn the gold. The man has been on the cover of a Wheaties box!

Mar 7, 2021 Aljamain Sterling became UFC bantamweight champion in a shocking way Saturday in Las Vegas as an illegal knee forced a stoppage to his fight against Petr Yan. With Sterling grounded, Yan held Sterling’s arms and kneed the challenger in the face, which is an illegal strike. The fight was paused and after

11:19 AM ET Brett Okamoto UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad‘s first appearance in a main event will have to come without his longtime coach and mentor Louis Taylor, due to Taylor’s positive COVID-19 test. Muhammad (18-3) is scheduled to face Leon Edwards (18-3) in a five-round headliner at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.

10:32 PM ET UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling says health is his primary focus following a championship win over Petr Yan last weekend in Las Vegas — but an immediate rematch against Yan is also on the horizon. “I was doped up on morphine in the hospital, and texted [UFC president Dana White] and said,

11:00 AM ET Legendary Brazilian heavyweight Fabricio Werdum will make his PFL debut against Renan Ferreira, PFL president Ray Sefo told ESPN. A former UFC champion, Werdum (24-9-1) will headline a PFL event May 6 in Atlantic City. The card will also feature 2019 PFL champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison against Mariana

8:30 AM ET Saturday night’s superfight at UFC 259 did not produce a double champion, but it did provide one of the fighters with a ticket to the ESPN pound-for-pound MMA rankings. Jan Blachowicz came away from the weekend still in possession of the UFC light heavyweight championship and as a new entrant in the

12:39 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Amanda Nunes, the most dominant female fighter in mixed martial arts history, did her thing again on Saturday in an absolute thrashing of No. 1 featherweight contender Megan Anderson. Nunes (21-4) forced Anderson (10-5) to tap to an armbar at 2:03 of the opening round of their featherweight title

2:52 PM ET Professional Fighters League has made a late addition to its 2021 return campaign. PFL signed former UFC veteran Antonio Carlos Junior to a contract this week, Carlos Junior’s manager Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN. Carlos Junior fought at middleweight in the UFC, but Abdelaziz said he would be competing as part of PFL’s

7:17 AM ET With four champions in action, UFC 259 was always going to have an outsized fallout compared to almost any other UFC card. And while Amanda Nunes continued to bolster her GOAT credentials with a thorough defeat of Megan Anderson, that’s as close as pre-show expectations for the three pay-per-view title fights came

1:24 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Israel Adesanya‘s meteoric rise to UFC superstardom hit an obstacle Saturday night — a large, Polish obstacle. Jan Blachowicz beat the previously undefeated Adesanya by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45) to retain his light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 259. Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, was

12:07 AM ET UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan was disqualified after catching a grounded Aljamain Sterling with an illegal knee to the head in the fourth round Saturday night at UFC 259 in Las Vegas. With the disqualification due to an intentional foul, Sterling was crowned the new champion. The fight was stopped at 4

1:42 AM ET UFC 259 featured some of the expected and some of the unexpected. Jan Blachowicz used his superior grappling in defeating Israel Adesanya to retain the light heavyweight title, and Amanda Nunes submitted Megan Anderson to retain her role as champ-champ. Some could have predicted those outcomes, and maybe some would’ve figured Aljamain

3:35 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim There was no new inductee into the UFC’s exclusive champ-champ club on Saturday night. That’s what this UFC 259 main event was all about, right? Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya‘s quest to add the light heavyweight belt to become the fifth fighter to rule two weight divisions simultaneously and push toward

7:20 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Israel Adesanya, who headlines UFC 259 vs. Jan Blachowicz on Saturday, has become one of the most talked-about fighters in the world. “The Last Style Bender” says he is comfortable with the idea that he could one day transcend MMA, like a Conor McGregor or a Ronda Rousey. “It’s