MMA

4:16 PM ET A Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach who trains several well-known UFC fighters has been arrested and charged with third-degree criminal sexual penetration in New Mexico, per court records. Rafael “Barata” Freitas had a court appearance Saturday where the state filed a motion to keep him detained until trial, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court public information

3:03 AM ET The UFC surprisingly released top middleweight contender Yoel Romero on Friday, but UFC president Dana White said that won’t be the only departure coming. At the news conference following Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night, White said the promotion would be cutting around 60 fighters before the end of the year. “We’re gonna

1:46 AM 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 Marvin Vettori‘s thrilling unanimous-decision win over Jack Hermansson, and whether the type of violent slam Jordan Leavitt executed to beat Matt Wiman should remain legal. Marvin Vettori

1:22 AM ET Marvin Vettori has had an extremely unlucky year. But the UFC middleweight contender will finish a trying 2020 with a fortunate break and the biggest victory of his career. Vettori defeated Jack Hermansson via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45) in the entertaining, back-and-forth main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in

4:35 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is returning to action in March. Cruz (22-3), 35, has agreed to fight up-and-comer Casey Kenney (16-2-1) at UFC 259 on March 6, sources told ESPN. MMAJunkie.com first reported the news. 2 Related The fight will mark Cruz’s first nontitle bout in more than six years.

Dec 3, 2020 Jack Hermansson will face Marvin Vettori in the middleweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the promotion’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. The fights will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+, with the main card starting at 10 p.m. ET, preceded by prelims at 7 p.m. Vettori is Hermansson’s

9:03 PM ET Yoel Romero‘s UFC run has come to an end Romero and the promotion have parted ways, his manager, Malki Kawa, confirmed to ESPN on Friday. Romero had three fights left on his deal, sources said. “While we didn’t expect Romero’s time in the UFC to end like this,” Kawa told ESPN, “we

1:54 PM ET The greatest MMA flyweight fighter ever will look to add another belt to his collection. Demetrious Johnson will get his long-awaited shot at the ONE Championship flyweight title against champion Adriano Moraes on Feb. 24, Asia’s ONE announced Friday. The current plan is for the card to be in Singapore, though that

8:32 AM ET UFC president Dana White has been saying it a lot in recent weeks, and it’s worth repeating here: Just get through 2020. It’s safe to say the UFC has done a tremendous job operating within a pandemic this year, and it’s nearly across the 2020 finish line with three events to go.

8:10 PM ET Jake Paul is already one of the most talked-about boxers in the world, even with only two pro fights. The polarizing YouTube and social media star is coming off a second-round knockout Saturday of Nate Robinson, the former NBA player, on the very successful Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. undercard. Now?

1:00 PM ET Yair Rodriguez is in hot water with the UFC’s anti-doping partner, though he has not tested positive for any banned substance. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has suspended Rodriguez, a popular featherweight fighter, for six months due to a whereabouts violation, USADA announced Thursday. Rodriguez is ineligible to compete until March

9:52 PM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov plans on keeping busy in retirement. And one of his planned tasks? Helping to get mixed martial arts into the Olympics. The current UFC lightweight champion, who announced his retirement in October, said at a press conference Tuesday in Uzbekistan that he is already working behind the scenes in an

8:22 PM ET Former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw surrendered his 135-pound title in 2019 due to a two-year doping suspension, not a loss. Now that the suspension is nearly over, he believes he should get an immediate shot at regaining the belt he never actually lost in competition. Dillashaw (16-4) was suspended by the United

7:45 PM ET Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis has decided to squeeze one more appearance into 2020, on less than three weeks’ notice. Pettis (23-10) will face Alex Morono (18-6) at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas. Contracts have not been signed, but both sides have agreed to the welterweight matchup.

9:11 AM ET Cody Garbrandt says he is still recovering from COVID-19 symptoms more than two months after testing positive for the virus but believes he will be ready to challenge Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC’s flyweight title in March. And yes, he is very confident Figueiredo will still be the champion, even though he’s

3:07 PM ET The highly anticipated Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight isn’t happening on Dec. 19 after all. The main event fight, which was slated to be the UFC’s final one in 2020, has been canceled after Edwards recently tested positive for COVID-19, sources told ESPN. The promotion is hoping to rebook the fight

8:57 AM ET Alexander Volkanovski is tracking towards his second UFC featherweight world title defense, yet there is a greater goal bubbling away under the surface for the 32-year-old Australian: a move up to lightweight. Volkanovski couldn’t care less if that’s something fans aren’t taking seriously. In fact he’s ready to use it as further

8:07 AM ET There’s been a lot of talk about how successful an athlete can be crossing over between boxing and MMA, well Claressa Shields is going to put her combat skills to that test. The No. 1 pound-for-pound female boxer in the world has signed a multi-year deal with the PFL, and she plans