MMA

11:35 PM ET ESPN’s panel of Ariel Helwani, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim breaks down the biggest stories coming out of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, including Stephen Thompson‘s convincing unanimous-decision win over Geoff Neal and two former champions earning key victories. Helwani: “Wonderboy” is no stepping-stone Considering what Geoff Neal overcame just three

10:43 PM ET Geoff Neal chased Stephen Thompson down near the cage. When he got close, Thompson ripped off a lightning-quick punching combination and then angled off before Neal could even start throwing punches. That sequence — Thompson playing matador and Neal the hapless bull — occurred over and over again Saturday in the main

LAS VEGAS — If Jose Aldo is showing any signs of slowing down at age 34, it was not apparent this weekend in Las Vegas. Aldo (29-7) snapped the longest skid of his career on Saturday, as he picked up his first win in four appearances by defeating Malon Vera (18-7-1) via unanimous decision. All

2:32 PM ET The UFC is finalizing an important bantamweight fight for early 2021, as Cory Sandhagen and Frankie Edgar have verbally agreed to meet on Feb. 6, sources told ESPN on Friday. The fight represents a meeting between two of the best 135-pounders in the world. Sandhagen (13-2) is coming off a second-round TKO

8:50 AM ET The UFC’s final event of 2020, which takes place Saturday in Las Vegas, was originally supposed to feature one of the scariest unranked welterweights on the planet against an established, veteran opponent. Well, even though the main event did change, the storyline around it remained the same. Two-time 170-pound title challenger Stephen

11:10 PM ET Two fights from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas have been canceled after positive coronavirus tests, the UFC announced on Thursday. Another bout has been changed this week for an undisclosed reason. On Thursday, Aiemann Zahabi announced on social media that he tested positive for COVID-19 prior to flying to

9:18 AM ET Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is no stranger to UFC main events, but there is one role the two-time welterweight challenger doesn’t want to get accustomed to: gatekeeper. Thompson faces Geoff Neal in Saturday’s Fight Night headliner in Las Vegas, and it’s the second time in a row Thompson, 37, will be fighting a

11:45 AM ET Yoel Romero said his release from the UFC was “completely unexpected,” explaining that he was training with the hope that he would be one or two wins from another title shot. Instead, Romero will now work toward getting a shot at a Bellator title, and he said there’s a “huge possibility” his

4:52 PM ET UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili‘s next fight is still up in the air. Most expected Zhang to fight former 115-pound champion Rose Namajunas in 2021, but UFC president Dana White recently told BT Sport that fight wasn’t finalized. “What I’m hearing is Rose does not want a title shot,” White said. “Rose

7:48 AM ET Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is no stranger to UFC main events, but there is one role the two-time welterweight challenger doesn’t want to get accustomed to: gatekeeper. Thompson faces Geoff Neal in Saturday’s Fight Night headliner in Las Vegas, and it’s the second time in a row Thompson, 37, will be fighting a

1:35 PM ET Philip Mulpeter posted bad news Friday on Instagram. The gym he owns, SBG Portarlington in County Laois, Ireland, would have to close its doors due to financial concerns brought upon by COVID-19 lockdowns in the country. “We’ve had three lockdowns now, and I think after each lockdown it’s hard to get the

10:37 PM ET Approximately 24 hours before UFC flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo defended his belt in a vicious fight-of-the-year candidate Saturday night, he was so sick, his manager didn’t think he would be able to fight at all. Figueiredo had stomach issues that sent him to the hospital on two different occasions Friday, the day

8:00 AM ET Deiveson Figueiredo put in the work as 2020 wound down, and it has elevated him in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings — a small boost with huge symbolic significance. Figueiredo, who became UFC men’s flyweight champion in July with a choke-out victory over longtime contender Joseph Benavidez, defended his belt on Nov. 21 and

11:41 AM ET Yoel Romero, the former multiple-time UFC title challenger, has agreed to a new multifight deal with Bellator, sources told ESPN. Romero is expected to sign his new deal imminently. The deal comes less than two weeks after the UFC released the Cuban-born fighter after more than seven years in the promotion. Initially,

8:09 AM ET ESPN’s panel of Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Phil Murphy breaks down the biggest stories coming out of UFC 256, including who’s next for Deiveson Figueiredo after the majority draw with Brandon Moreno, and the rise of Kevin Holland. Okamoto: Who’s next after UFC 256? Deiveson Figueiredo, flyweight champion Who should be

7:45 AM ET Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway says he’s moved on from a controversial decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in July — but he has not moved on from Volkanovski himself. Holloway (21-6) lost his 145-pound championship to Volkanovski (20-1) in a five-round decision at UFC 245 in 2019, and was granted an

2:39 AM ET Earlier this week, I called Saturday’s fight against Charles Oliveira a crossroads moment for Tony Ferguson. Ferguson’s loyal fan base didn’t like that label. They felt it was too harsh. After all, he had just won 12 fights in a row before losing to Justin Gaethje in May, they said. How could

2:42 AM ET ESPN’s panel of Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Phil Murphy breaks down the biggest stories coming out of UFC 256, including who’s next for Deiveson Figueiredo after the majority draw with Brandon Moreno, and the rise of Kevin Holland. Okamoto: Who’s next after UFC 256? Deiveson Figueiredo, flyweight champion Who should be