MMA

Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff WriterAug 2, 2023, 06:57 PM ET Close Michael Rothstein is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Rothstein covers the Atlanta Falcons. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein. Undisputed featherweight boxing champion Amanda Serrano is heading back to her secondary sport — mixed martial arts. Serrano signed a deal with

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 1, 2023, 12:50 PM ET Kelvin Gastelum announced Tuesday that he is injured and out of the scheduled UFC Noche co-main event Sept. 16 due to a facial fracture sustained in training. His scheduled opponent was Shavkat Rakhmonov. Gastelum would have been making his return to welterweight for the first

Andres Waters Aug 1, 2023, 11:00 PM ET The move from Michael Chandler’s team to Conor McGregor’s team appears to have paid off for Brad Katona. On last week’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Katona, a Season 31 bantamweight semifinalist and the Season 27 winner, accepted the opportunity to swap teams and train with Team

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterAug 1, 2023, 12:56 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Light heavyweight title contenders Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker will meet at UFC 294 in October, sources confirmed to ESPN. The 205-pound bout will take place on Oct. 21 in

Jul 30, 2023, 11:38 PM ET The final week of July was huge in combat sports, from UFC 291 in Salt Lake City to a rare Bellator vs. Rizin event across the globe in Japan. The biggest news maker had to be Justin Gaethje, who added yet another chapter to his highlight reel by knocking

Jul 30, 2023, 01:34 AM ET Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi react to the biggest moments at Saturday’s UFC 291 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and offer thoughts on what might be ahead for the standouts. Jeff Wagenheim adds his perspective on the Bellator and Rizin co-branded event. The Highlight has options: Makhachev or McGregor?

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJul 30, 2023, 12:57 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun SALT LAKE CITY — There have been a lot of special nights over the course of Justin Gaethje‘s career. UFC 291, though, has to be at the very top. In

Jeff Wagenheim Jul 30, 2023, 01:50 AM ET Bellator MMA took to a grand stage on Saturday with plans to crown an inaugural men’s flyweight champion, but the bout between Kyoji Horiguchi and Makoto Shinryu was waved off after just 25 seconds as a no contest after an accidental eye poke, leaving the title vacant

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJul 28, 2023, 06:59 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY — An anticipated welterweight fight between Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Michel Pereira has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC 291 card, the promotion announced Friday. Pereira missed weight by three pounds Friday morning, coming in at 174 pounds. The non-title welterweight limit is

Jul 28, 2023, 07:56 AM ET Nate Diaz had just had his hand raised after ending a three-year absence from the Octagon with a rugged victory over Anthony Pettis in summer 2019. It was a crowd-pleasing performance, as Diaz’s fights typically are, and when he stepped to the microphone for an interview inside the cage,

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJul 27, 2023, 02:03 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The UFC is finalizing a lightweight main event between Rafael Fiziev and Mateusz Gamrot in September, UFC president Dana White told ESPN Thursday. The 155-pound contest will headline UFC Fight

Andres Waters Jul 24, 2023, 04:01 PM ET After a near-clean sweep of the quarterfinals of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31, the remaining members of Michael Chandler’s team were offered a chance to train with Conor McGregor’s team ahead of their semifinal matchups. Brad Katona, who trains at SBG Ireland with McGregor and Lee Hammond,

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJul 26, 2023, 01:03 AM ET Bellator’s franchise fighter, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, will fight this weekend on short notice as part of the Bellator-Rizin co-promotional card at Saitama Super Arena in Japan, it was announced Wednesday. Freire, the Bellator featherweight champion, will face Japanese kickboxer Chihiro Suzuki at a 154-pound catchweight

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNJul 24, 2023, 09:32 AM ET Fighters looking forward to this weekend as their big chance to draw attention to themselves should head back to the gym to work on their timing. They picked the wrong Saturday to expect to make the night’s biggest splash with fans, since they will be competing for

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJul 22, 2023, 06:51 PM ET Almost one year ago to the day, in the same arena, Tom Aspinall suffered a freak knee injury when he threw a leg kick on the first strike of his fight against Curtis Blaydes and lost via TKO in just 15 seconds. After 364 days

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJul 20, 2023, 03:36 PM ET UFC bantamweight contender Rob Font will replace the injured Umar Nurmagomedov and fight Cory Sandhagen in the main event of UFC Nashville on Aug. 5, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Sandhagen vs. Font will take place at a catchweight of 140 pounds rather than the

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJul 19, 2023, 05:50 PM ET The UFC is looking for a new main event for its first card of August. Umar Nurmagomedov is out of his scheduled headliner against Cory Sandhagen because of undisclosed reasons, sources confirmed Wednesday with ESPN. The UFC is seeking a new opponent for Sandhagen, a

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJul 20, 2023, 11:00 AM ET After a successful debut in the United States, ONE Championship is coming back for more. The Asia-based fight promotion, which holds bouts in MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing and grappling, will return to the U.S. with four shows in 2024, officials told ESPN on Wednesday. No