MMA

3:29 PM ET Tyron Woodley has been in Colby Covington‘s crosshairs for years. The first time Covington started calling out Woodley was in June 2017 when Woodley was the UFC welterweight champion. The fight never came to fruition then or after several other tries over the past few years. On Saturday that changes. The elite

8:05 AM ET Does Tyron Woodley want to fight? It’s a question that has plagued the former welterweight champion — probably unfairly at times — for the better part of a decade. There were moments early in his UFC career — losses to Jake Shields and Rory MacDonald — in which Woodley simply did not

12:23 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The wait for Tyron Woodley vs. Colby Covington is nearly over. Woodley (19-5-1) and Covington (15-2) both successfully made weight on Friday for their highly anticipated welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night on Saturday. Each fighter weighed in at the maximum 171-pound limit. The fight will headline the event,

7:49 PM ET UFC light heavyweight Mike Rodriguez is appealing his loss last Saturday to Ed Herman, saying he was penalized for a low blow that never occurred. Herman defeated Rodriguez by third-round submission at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Rodriguez’s team filed an appeal Friday with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, asking for

7:32 AM ET Marc Raimondi Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Colby Covington was holed up in a St. Louis hotel room. It was early 2014, and Covington was flown in to be part of Tyron Woodley‘s training camp for his

2:48 PM ET Despite Conor McGregor and the UFC’s insistence that the former two-division champion is retired from the fight game, both parties hinted at a potential comeback Thursday. “We’re actually working on some fun stuff for Conor at the beginning of next year,” UFC president Dana White told SportsCenter on Thursday. “He should be

6:29 PM ET UFC champion Israel Adesanya is making some history ahead of his middleweight title defense next weekend. The undefeated Adesanya has signed a multiyear deal with Puma, the company announced Thursday. He will be the face of Puma’s Oceania division but will also be a part of its global marketing plans, sources say.

8:04 AM ET Miguel Baeza was doing a strength-and-conditioning drill, jumping over hurdles at his gym, MMA Masters, in Miami. The up-and-coming UFC welterweight had just completed three rounds of sparring. Fatigue was setting in. On his second and third jumps over the hurdle, he touched the bar. On the fourth and fifth times, he

5:00 PM ET Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson took to social media on Monday to ask the promotion to pay Dustin Poirier more money, so the two can fight on Oct. 24. The UFC was targeting a 155-pound matchup between Ferguson (25-4) and Poirier (26-6), also a former interim champion, as its co-main

11:52 AM ET As we all know, there’s a big difference between negotiating a contract and not wanting to fight. The entire MMA community — including the UFC brass — knows Dustin Poirier wants the Tony Ferguson fight. To suggest otherwise is simply unfair to Poirier, a veteran who has developed a reputation as the

11:28 PM ET It was a relatively slow night for Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday — until the main event. For just the second time in series history, the first four fights of this week’s five-fight card went the distance inside the UFC’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. That left it up to middleweights

8:01 PM ET Daniel Cormier tested positive for COVID-19 less than six weeks before his UFC heavyweight title fight with Stipe Miocic, Cormier confirmed with ESPN on Tuesday. Cormier said one of his training partners tested positive for coronavirus on July 1, prompting the entire team to get tested. In that test, he was negative.

8:44 AM ET The first portion of the fourth season of Dana White’s Contender Series comes to a close Tuesday, as the UFC heads back to Abu Dhabi later this month. So far, 23 UFC contracts have been given out through six weeks this season. There surely will be more Tuesday, with several intriguing names

9:34 AM ET If Colby Covington is able to get by Tyron Woodley in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event, he’ll be calling for another shot at the welterweight title. But would he deserve it? Kamaru Usman defended his title by stopping Covington — who argued the fight shouldn’t have been stopped — in the

8:47 AM ET If Colby Covington is able to get by Tyron Woodley in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event, he’ll be calling for another shot at the welterweight title. But would he deserve it? Kamaru Usman defended his title by stopping Covington — who argued the fight shouldn’t have been stopped — in the

4:02 PM ET Conor McGregor‘s representatives reacted angrily to a report that the UFC star has been arrested and accused of sexual assault while on a trip to Italy. On Saturday, the Agence France Press reported that a complaint was filed Thursday against McGregor in Corsica for alleged attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibitionism. The

12:52 PM ET Former UFC fighter Artem Lobov is returning to MMA. The 34-year-old Lobov (13-15-1, 1 NC) signed a one-fight deal with European-based Arena Fight Championship to fight on their Dec. 12 card in Marseille, France. Lobov will fight Ylies Drijoun (17-6). A fan favorite due to his fighting style and relationship with teammate

11:59 PM ET Michelle Waterson‘s dream of becoming the first UFC champion who is also a mother is still alive. Snapping a two-fight losing streak, Waterson gutted out a split-decision (48-47, 46-49, 48-47) win over Angela Hill in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Waterson was able to rally