5:15 PM ET For the third time this month, heavyweights will take center stage at the UFC Apex. Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane do battle in a clash of heavyweight contenders in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The winner will keep pace in a crowded contender field in
MMA
7:08 PM ET The UFC is targeting a second women’s title fight for its April pay-per-view event. Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas for the strawweight title is in the works for UFC 261 on April 24, sources told ESPN. While the fight isn’t finalized yet, April 24 is the date the promotion and both fighters
2:14 PM ET The UFC has lost a fight from its card this weekend on weigh-in day. Ramazan Kuramagomedov fell ill and was deemed medically unfit to compete at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas, UFC officials confirmed with ESPN on Friday. MMAFighting.com was first to report the news. The illness is not
7:49 AM ET You’re only as good as your last fight in mixed martial arts. Or, in the case of UFC heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik, you’re only as good as your last year. Rozenstruik (11-1) faces Ciryl Gane (7-0) in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas (ESPN+, prelims at 5
9:46 PM ET Former two-division boxing champ Antonio Tarver will return to the ring to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir on April 17, sources confirmed with ESPN on Thursday. Tarver, 52, will box Mir, 41, on the undercard of a pay-per-view event headlined by a boxing match between former MMA champion Ben Askren
2:47 PM ET Gabriel Tan It may seem remarkable that at just 16 years old Victoria Lee is preparing to make her professional mixed martial arts debut at ONE Championship’s Fists of Fury on Friday. It is perhaps less surprising considering who her two older siblings are: ONE world champions Angela Lee (atomweight) and Christian
8:44 AM ET The UFC flyweight title rematch between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno is scheduled for June 12, sources told ESPN on Thursday. A location for the event, which is expected to be UFC 263, isn’t set yet. In December, Figueiredo (20-1-1) and Moreno (18-5-2) fought to an exhilarating draw that was considered one
11:39 AM ET UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will defend her title against former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 261, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. The 125-pound title fight will take place at the April 24 pay-per-view event, for which the UFC has not yet finalized a location. It will mark Shevchenko’s fifth
10:05 AM ET Former MMA super prospect Sage Northcutt is returning to action in April. Northcutt will face Shinya Aoki on April 28 at ONE on TNT IV, ONE officials told ESPN. Northcutt also confirmed the news on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. The fight will be contested in the promotion’s lightweight division, which is 170
11:00 AM ET The PFL’s 2021 season will kick off April 23 and feature one of its most prized offseason signings in former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Pettis (24-10) will meet Clay Collard (18-8) in the main event of PFL 1, president Ray Sefo told ESPN. The fight will take place at a location
1:00 PM ET Deciding who should be next to challenge UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is perhaps the hottest topic in MMA, and it involves some of the biggest names in the sport. Usman dispatched Gilbert Burns via third-round TKO at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, and he immediately called out Jorge Masvidal as his
11:34 AM ET Editor’s note: The first women’s fight in UFC history was on Feb. 23, 2013, when Ronda Rousey faced Liz Carmouche. This story has been updated after originally being published in December 2019. Amanda Nunes was driving around Miami with her then-girlfriend, Nina Ansaroff, looking for a bar. They had just watched teammates
5:18 PM ET Deciding who should be next to challenge UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is perhaps the hottest topic in MMA, and it involves some of the biggest names in the sport. Usman dispatched Gilbert Burns via second-round TKO at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, and he immediately called out Jorge Masvidal as his
5:30 PM ET Travis Fulton, a record-holding mixed martial arts veteran, is facing federal child pornography charges. Fulton was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on three counts: sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography and receipt of child pornography, per the indictment obtained by ESPN. The federal case is being tried
2:20 PM ET The UFC has elected not to release Ottman Azaitar after all following a bizarre set of circumstances involving the undefeated lightweight last month on Fight Island. UFC president Dana White told ESPN he has decided to give Azaitar a “second chance” in the promotion. This development comes less than one month after
8:04 AM ET Ariel Helwani: It’s time to focus the attention on Derrick Lewis One of the big storylines heading into Saturday night’s main event was what should Curtis Blaydes do if he beats Derrick Lewis? Ordinarily, a victory like that — which would have been his fifth in a row — over a quality
12:14 AM ET Ariel Helwani: It’s time to focus the attention on Derrick Lewis One of the big storylines heading into Saturday night’s main event was what should Curtis Blaydes do if he beats Derrick Lewis? Ordinarily, a victory like that — which would have been his fifth in a row — over a quality
11:34 PM ET Curtis Blaydes made no apologies about his strategy coming into a huge heavyweight fight with Derrick Lewis. Blaydes was going to use his dominant wrestling early and often. He told anyone who would listen. Maybe it was a decoy. But Blaydes should have stuck to his original game plan, as Lewis crushed