5:01 PM ET The contracts just keep on coming. UFC president Dana White did another Oprah Winfrey impression (“You get a contract, you get a contract!”) last week on Contender Series. White gave out another four UFC deals, bringing the Season 4 total up to 16 contracts through four weeks. Meanwhile, Impa Kasanganay, who earned
MMA
11:59 PM ET Brock Lesnar is on the open market. One of the biggest combat sports stars of this generation is no longer under contract with WWE, multiple sources confirmed Monday with ESPN following a report from PWInsider. Lesnar’s merchandise was pulled over the weekend from WWE’s online store. We have been down this road
9:41 PM ET It’s been only two weeks since Jon Jones willingly vacated the UFC’s 205-pound championship, but he’s already eyeing several potential fights at heavyweight. Jones (26-1) took to social media on Monday to express interest in a fight against either current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic or former champion and professional wrestling star Brock
7:43 AM ET It almost doesn’t seem possible that Michael Chandler is a free agent for the first time The 34-year-old former Bellator MMA champion has been one of the best lightweights on the planet for nearly a decade. He’s openly discussed the possibility of testing free agency multiple times, but Bellator has never let
12:35 AM ET While it’s common for fighters to call for title shots after key victories, it would be hard for observers to not at least think that Aleksandar Rakic will get one at some point after his performance on Saturday night. Rakic, who is ranked eighth by the UFC, dominated Anthony Smith throughout their
11:52 PM ET The UFC’s light heavyweight division is more wide-open than it has been in nearly a decade. With Jon Jones moving up to heavyweight and relinquishing the 205-pound title, light heavyweight is without a champion — and an identity — for the first time since Jones won the belt in 2011. On Saturday,
4:34 PM ET A UFC prospect has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time this month, pulling him out of a bout. Ion Cutelaba received the positive test result on Saturday, his manager, Thiago Okamura, told ESPN. Cutelaba’s bout against Magomed Ankalaev, scheduled for Saturday night at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Rakic in
4:59 PM ET For the fifth consecutive week, the UFC is back inside its Apex facility on Saturday in Las Vegas, with a UFC Fight Night beginning with prelims at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, then a main card exclusively on ESPN+ at 9 p.m. In the main event, former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony
2:08 PM ET Former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith and up-and-comer Aleksandar Rakic both successfully made weight for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event. Smith (33-15) was 205 pounds, while Rakic (12-2) came in slightly heavier at 205.5 during the UFC’s official weigh-in Friday inside its Apex facility in Las Vegas. The fight will
7:12 AM ET Anthony Smith is one of the toughest fighters in the UFC, all right? Everyone knows it and, frankly, loves him for it. This is the guy who could have called it quits in a UFC title fight against Jon Jones last year — after Jones blasted him with an illegal knee in
9:50 PM ET While a fight with Georges St-Pierre has long been on UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s MMA bucket list, St-Pierre said Thursday that the chances of him returning to the Octagon are “incredibly low.” “It takes three parties to make a fight,” St-Pierre, who officially announced his retirement from the UFC in February
Aug 23, 2020 What do you get if you plonk 10 UFC fighters together in the same room? Now, imagine what happens if they begin living together 24/7 and are in the midst of a fight camp. This is not a riddle. Since the New Zealand city of Auckland returned to Stage 3 lockdown restrictions
6:00 PM ET One of the greatest fighters in the history of mixed martial arts might have only one fight left. Anderson Silva, the UFC’s former 10-time defending middleweight champion, told ESPN on Wednesday he is prepared for the possibility his next fight against Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 31 will be
Aug 24, 2020 Anthony Smith faces Aleksandar Rakic in the light heavyweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the promotion’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. The main card is on ESPN+, starting at 9 p.m. ET, and the prelims are on both ESPN and ESPN+ at 6 p.m. Smith (38-15, 8-4 in
8:09 AM ET The coronavirus pandemic has no doubt had a major impact on the UFC. With travel restrictions and positive test cases having led to canceled fights, putting on a card hasn’t been easy for UFC president Dana White and the organization’s matchmakers. But fighters taking bouts on short notice has been common since
10:56 PM ET It took Jamie Pickett three appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series — and nearly the end of his fighting career — to do it, but the 30-year-old middleweight has a UFC contract. Pickett (11-4) became only the second contestant in Contender Series history to lose twice on the show before finally earning
8:10 AM ET Dana White’s Contender Series has never been more important to the UFC. Through three weeks of this season, White, the UFC president, has awarded 12 contracts to winners on the show. And five of those athletes are already booked to fight in the UFC, including Impa Kasanganay, who is slated to compete
4:54 PM ET UFC president Dana White has said Francis Ngannou is next for a heavyweight title shot — and former longtime light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not hop over him for an opportunity in a new division. For the most part, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic agrees with that assessment. Miocic defeated Ngannou