MMA

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 14, 2023, 09:29 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC will celebrate Mexican Independence Day for the first time this weekend with a card centered around Mexican and Mexican-American fighters. Alexa Grasso, the UFC’s first Mexican-born women’s champion, will headline Noche UFC on Saturday, defending her women’s flyweight title against

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 13, 2023, 05:33 PM ET A pair of title fights will headline Bellator’s return to Chicago this fall. Yaroslav Amosov will defend the Bellator welterweight belt against Jason Jackson, and bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis will look to unify the title against interim champ Patchy Mix on Nov. 17 at the

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 13, 2023, 11:15 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Kayla Harrison will make her first appearance of 2023 against Julia Budd on Nov. 24 in Washington D.C. Harrison (15-1) will face former Bellator MMA champion Julia Budd (17-6) in

Eddie Maisonet Sep 13, 2023, 12:15 PM ET Despite being arguably the closest person to Israel Adesanya in his fight camp, City Kickboxing head trainer Eugene Bareman couldn’t identify from cageside what many observers called out after his fighter’s loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 on Saturday. “There’s a very small percentage, less than

Reed Kuhn Close Reed Kuhn Special to ESPN.com Reed Kuhn is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and strategy and analytics consultant. He is the author of “Fightnomics: The Hidden Numbers and Science in Mixed Martial Arts,” the first book to quantify drivers and performance metrics in combat sports. Ian Parker Sep 13, 2023, 08:12 AM ET

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 12, 2023, 12:36 PM ET The UFC and WWE are now officially under one roof. Endeavor, the UFC’s parent company, and WWE announced Tuesday the closing of its merger and the launch of TKO, a company that will combine the forces of the two global-powerhouse live-event and sports promoters. TKO

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 11, 2023, 06:36 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The UFC has canceled a featherweight bout between Khusein Askhabov and Daniel Pineda next month, following the arrest of Askhabov related to an alleged kidnapping and robbery in Thailand. The

Brett Okamoto Close Brett Okamoto ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Sep 11, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Sean Strickland is a UFC champion. Do not adjust your screen. That is not a typo. On Saturday, Strickland dethroned heavy favorite Israel Adesanya to

Sep 10, 2023, 01:21 AM ET UFC 293 concluded with a shock as Sean Strickland pulled off the major upset to grab the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya. Before that, some standout performances on the main card put Alexander Volkov and Manel Kape on an interesting path. Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim react

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 10, 2023, 12:32 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The greatest upset in UFC middleweight title fight history belongs to Sean Strickland. Strickland (28-5) stunned the mixed martial arts world on Saturday, as he claimed the 185-pound championship in

Marc Raimondi Brett Okamoto Close Brett Okamoto ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Sep 9, 2023, 06:46 PM ET To be clear, Sean Strickland has fought in the UFC since 2014, and his résumé is undeniably strong during that time. But the primary reason

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 9, 2023, 12:30 AM ET Junior Dos Santos demonstrated what a big heavyweight puncher can do in a bare-knuckle fight. In a fight featuring two former UFC heavyweight champions, Dos Santos opened up bad cuts near both of Fabricio Werdum‘s eyes en route to a split-decision win (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)

Jake Michaels, ESPN Senior WriterSep 7, 2023, 05:15 PM ET Close Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer who covers everything from Aussie Rules to Formula One, basketball to boxing. He has been with ESPN for 10 years and works as a Senior Writer, covering sport in Australia and around the world. SYDNEY, Australia —

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 8, 2023, 07:41 AM ET Jese Tuivoavoa was a student at Rotorua Boys’ High School in New Zealand in 2004 when he first met Israel Adesanya. The two were in their early teens and were introduced by a mutual friend during physical education class. Throughout his childhood, Adesanya had already

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 7, 2023, 10:43 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The UFC has booked two new main events for October. A lightweight bout between Grant Dawson and Bobby Green will headline a UFC Fight Night on Oct. 7, sources confirmed

Jake Michaels, ESPN Senior WriterSep 7, 2023, 07:37 AM ET Close Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer who covers everything from Aussie Rules to Formula One, basketball to boxing. He has been with ESPN for 10 years and works as a Senior Writer, covering sport in Australia and around the world. SYDNEY — Israel

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 6, 2023, 08:30 AM ET UFC will use the program ProhiBet to expand its compliance with gambling regulations by catching fighters and others around the sport trying to place bets, the promotion announced Wednesday. Through ProhiBet, wagers made by prohibited bettors — described in a release as UFC athletes, coaches,

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 5, 2023, 01:11 PM ET UFC middleweight contender Jared Cannonier will weigh in as a backup for the UFC 293 main event this weekend, his manager Lou DiBono of First Round Management confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday. Israel Adesanya will defend his UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland in the