MMA

9:44 PM ET Claressa Shields, arguably the No. 1 pound-for-pound female boxer in the world, has signed an exclusive, multi-year contract with PFL that will see her transition to professional mixed martial arts, sources confirmed to ESPN. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in boxing, Shields, 25, will not compete in PFL’s traditional “season format” in

4:06 PM ET After winning two Olympic gold medals in judo, Kayla Harrison began her mixed martial arts career two years ago as a prized prospect. She has lived up to the hype, going 8-0 with six finishes and winning $1 million as the Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight tournament champion in 2019. But Harrison

2:03 AM ET ESPN’s panel of Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim breaks down the biggest stories coming out of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, including what’s next for Anthony Smith after his first-round submission win over Devin Clark. The fight was a substitute main event after the Curtis Blaydes–Derrick Lewis fight was canceled. Wagenheim:

1:13 AM ET Devin Clark landed a big overhand right out of the gate, looking to score an upset with a highlight-reel knockout. Then, Anthony Smith‘s experience took over. Smith caught Clark in a clinch, took him down and ultimately submitted him via triangle choke at 2 minutes, 34 seconds of the first round Saturday

7:41 PM ET Anthony Smith is UFC’s Mr. Reliable. The UFC light heavyweight contender is a trusted studio analyst on broadcasts and always there when the promotion needs him in a big spot. Smith was called upon again Friday. With the heavyweight contender main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis canceled due to a

11:20 AM ET A day after a positive COVID-19 test canceled this weekend’s UFC main event, another positive test has forced a change in next weekend’s UFC main event. Kevin Holland is out of the Dec. 5 headliner middleweight match versus Jack Hermansson, he announced on social media Saturday morning. As a result, the current

2:16 PM ET Anthony Smith has gotten the call again. For the second time this year, the UFC light heavyweight contender has been tabbed on short notice to be in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card. On Friday, the UFC lost its headliner for Saturday’s event, a heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes

12:07 PM ET COVID-19 has knocked out this weekend’s UFC main event. The Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis heavyweight contender bout scheduled for UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday is off after Blaydes tested positive for coronavirus, sources told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. The UFC is hoping to reschedule Blaydes vs. Lewis for UFC

8:10 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim The sport of mixed martial arts has evolved through the years to the point where nowadays most professional fighters, especially those at or near the top of the heap, are proficient at mixing together an array of combative styles. But when the sport was young and drawing its athletes from

7:53 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Curtis Blaydes has won four fights in a row, two of them by knockout and the other two by thoroughly dominant beatdown. During an MMA career that spans 17 pro bouts over 6½ years, he has been bettered by only one opponent. Blaydes is No. 3 among heavyweights in the

1:34 PM ET Petr Yan has been forced to withdraw from his bantamweight title defense against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 256 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas for undisclosed reasons, sources confirmed to ESPN following reports out of Yan’s native Russia. Yan is not injured, sources said, but no date for rescheduling the fight has

12:56 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Valentina Shevchenko‘s dominance has reached the point where MMA fans are shocked when she loses a round. Shevchenko (20-3) defended the UFC’s 125-pound championship for the fourth time on Saturday, defeating Jennifer Maia (18-7-1) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored it a blowout win for the champ, 49-46.

12:21 AM ET The UFC is finalizing a bantamweight bout between Brazilian legend Jose Aldo and Marlon “Chito” Vera for a UFC Fight Night on Dec. 19, sources confirmed to ESPN. The 135-pound bout will take place on the main card of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, which is the final event on the

7:26 AM ET “The kid’s got ‘it.'” — Dana White to reporters following Israel Adesanya‘s win over Anderson Silva on Feb. 9, 2019 UFC president Dana White makes a living off his instincts about fighters, and he saw something different — something special — about Israel Adesanya after just his fifth UFC fight. White saw

4:16 PM ET A potentially major news story happened behind closed doors last week, as PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison made the 146-pound featherweight limit for the first time in her career. A former two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, Harrison (8-0) is under contract with PFL, but received permission to fight Courtney King (4-1)

7:44 AM ET UFC women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko once again showed her brilliance in a unanimous-decision win over Jennifer Maia at UFC 255 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Things were a little dicey for Shevchenko through two rounds. She actually — gasp — lost the second round. But then Shevchenko used her precision

1:31 AM ET The UFC’s flyweight division, once maligned for having fighters too small and bouts that were too dull, has been completely turned on its head by the man nicknamed “God of War.” Deiveson Figueiredo finished Alex Perez via guillotine choke at 1:57 of the first round Saturday night to retain the UFC flyweight

3:29 AM ET UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo is getting right back to work. Less than two hours after he successfully defended the 125-pound title against Alex Perez at UFC 255 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Figueiredo verbally agreed to defend the belt against top contender Brandon Moreno in the co-main event of UFC