1:51 AM ET ESPN’s panel of Brett Okamoto, Phil Murphy, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim breaks down the biggest stories coming out of UFC 255 on Saturday night, including what’s next for the headliners and the rise of Joaquin Buckley. Who’s next after UFC 255? Deiveson Figueiredo, UFC flyweight (defeated Alex Perez via first-round submission)
MMA
2:02 AM ET What does it take to become a star in MMA? Well, for starters, you have to win fights. Obviously. But, as we all know, that’s not enough. You have to finish fights. No doubt about it. You have to be well-rounded. For sure. You have to be flashy. That always helps. And
6:03 PM ET The finish might have been a bit anticlimactic. But it was exactly what Brandon Moreno needed as he pushes toward a title shot. Somewhere in a wild grappling scramble, Moreno’s opponent Brandon Royval dislocated his shoulder. Moreno, in top position, rained down blows to Royval’s head and Royval called out in pain,
7:48 AM ET When Alex Perez appeared as a contestant on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, he went in thinking it was his last chance in MMA. At that time, Perez was more than six years into his pro career. That’s a long time for someone to fight on the regional circuit and never
12:06 AM ET The UFC is finalizing a lightweight matchup between former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and Charles Oliveira for Dec. 12, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Friday. Ferguson (25-4) has been campaigning for one more fight before the end of the year, and he will get his wish, according to White.
12:40 PM ET Three of the four UFC 255 title headliners have had notable weight issues in the past. But none of those problems reared their ugly heads Friday morning. Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez each successfully made weight ahead of their UFC flyweight title fight. Figueiredo, the flyweight champ, weighed 125 pounds even, while
7:30 AM ET It comes with the territory at 125 pounds. Not only is UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo tasked with defending his title, but he also needs to draw attention to the weight class — something flyweights have generally struggled to do since the UFC added the division in 2012. Former champion Demetrious Johnson
9:58 PM ET A.J. McKee is creating quite a highlight reel early in his career. And this latest addition happened against his toughest opponent to date. McKee, one of the top up-and-coming fighters in MMA, finished Darrion Caldwell with a rare submission, performing a neck crank from bottom position to get the tap at 1
1:19 PM ET Editor’s note: This has been updated with Thursday’s news that Conor McGregor has signed his bout agreement to face Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23. UFC superstar Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon and face Dustin Poirier as the main event of UFC 257 on Jan. 23. The site has not yet
8:55 AM ET AJ McKee was 12 years old at his childhood home in Long Beach, California, when he wrote himself a mock check for $1 million. The check was from McKee to McKee. The verbiage the then-preteen used to indicate the amount was “1 mil.” “I just always wanted to be a millionaire,” McKee
5:12 PM ET Canadian fighter Jesse Ronson, who returned to UFC in July after six years and picked up his first victory in the promotion, has been suspended for 20 months due to a failed drug test, USADA announced Wednesday. The UFC anti-doping partner said Ronson tested positive for a metabolite of the banned substance
8:40 PM ET Former Bellator MMA champion Michael Chandler is eagerly looking forward to making his UFC debut, but it will not be against Tony Ferguson next month. “There is a 0% chance I’ll fight Tony Ferguson in December,” Chandler told ESPN on Tuesday. “And I 100% know he knew that, because the UFC already
7:24 AM ET Will Valentina Shevchenko fight Amanda Nunes in 2021? Will Deiveson Figueiredo breathe new life into the flyweight division? Can Joaquin Buckley sustain the momentum he created with his viral knockout? These are some of the questions surrounding UFC 255 on Saturday in Las Vegas, where Shevchenko defends her flyweight belt against Jennifer
11:27 PM ET The fourth season of Dana White’s Contender Series came to a conclusion Tuesday, and saw the UFC add four more athletes to its active roster. Men’s flyweight JP Buys (9-2), strawweight Gloria de Paula (5-2), lightweight Tucker Lutz (11-1) and women’s flyweight Victoria Leonardo (8-2) all signed with the UFC following their
12:35 PM ET Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall are going to run it back more than 10 years after their first meeting. Weidman vs. Hall 2 has been verbally agreed to for UFC 258 on Feb. 13, 2021, multiple sources told ESPN. The fight hasn’t been signed yet, sources said. The duo first met in
8:05 AM ET The UFC men’s flyweight division was all but an afterthought. As recently as last summer, many MMA fans, fighters and media members thought the UFC was going to move on from the weight class. At the time, it seemed improbable that a flyweight bout would headline a major event. Yet that will
2:15 PM ET Jimmy Crute considers himself lucky. By the age of 12 he already knew what he wanted to do in life. The problem was he originally didn’t think he was very good at it. Now 24, Crute (12-1) looks like a future title contender in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, and he is
7:13 AM ET There are prospects who flash their potential by conquering opponents in their own age bracket, and there are those who prove they can handle foes of greater experience and are ready to challenge the elite of their division. ESPN’s second annual list of the top 25 MMA fighters under the age of