MMA

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterMay 5, 2023, 07:48 AM ET Henry Cejudo walked on stage wearing a janky crown and a cheap-looking robe. In his hands were a top hat and plastic scepter. Cejudo, like a two-bit magician, produced from the hat in sequence: a plush mouse, a rubber snake and a white rabbit —

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterMay 4, 2023, 02:29 PM ET Cris Cyborg is staying with Bellator MMA. Bellator announced Thursday that it has re-signed Cyborg, one of the greatest women’s MMA fighters of all time, to a new, multifight contract. Cyborg had been a free agent since last summer, though she has remained Bellator women’s

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterMay 3, 2023, 09:35 AM ET Jon Jones‘ days in MMA might be numbered. The all-time great told Fox Sports Australia in an interview published Tuesday that his plan is to defend the UFC heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic in November at New York’s Madison Square Garden and then

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 3, 2023, 12:11 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun A highly ranked flyweight matchup between Kai Kara-France and Amir Albazi will now headline UFC Fight Night on June 3, both fighters announced via social media. The event, which will

7:44 AM ET One recent day, as Saturday’s UFC bantamweight championship defense against Henry Cejudo approached, Aljamain Sterling chose not to dwell on the pressure attached to the most important night of his career. Instead, he did what he always does when the moment is magnified. He grabbed his phone and played chess to steady

10:13 PM ET UFC double champion Amanda Nunes will face Mexican challenger Irene Aldana at UFC 289 on June 10, as her original opponent, Julianna Peña, suffered a rib injury. UFC president Dana White broke the news via social media on Tuesday. The new 135-pound matchup will headline the pay-per-view event, which takes place at

3:35 PM ET Popular featherweight Bryce Mitchell has an undisclosed injury and is out of his scheduled UFC 288 fight Saturday against the undefeated Movsar Evloev, sources confirmed to ESPN. Evloev will now fight Diego Lopes, who has been newly signed by the UFC. Evloev vs. Mitchell would have been a big fight in the

6:41 PM ET Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is in shape and interested in booking his next fight — and his top choice for an opponent would be Khamzat Chimaev. Usman (20-3) suffered a majority decision loss to Leon Edwards in March, in an unsuccessful bid to reclaim his 170-pound championship. Usman lost the

6:49 PM ET Former UFC fighter Felipe Colares died Monday morning in Brazil at age 29, his coach told Brazilian MMA site Combate. Colares was returning from training at his gym in Rio de Janeiro when he was hit by a bus, his coach, Rodrigo Balbi, said. According to Balbi, the fighter was alive when

9:00 AM ET A UFC 288 pay-per-view event is set to go down this weekend in Newark — and if we’re being honest, this one is vulnerable to being overlooked. The UFC promoted two PPV events in March, and both felt like signature events. UFC 285 featured the long-anticipated heavyweight debut of Jon Jones, while

10:51 PM ET Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event in Las Vegas was supposed to be a competitive bout between two bantamweight prospects. It turned into a one-sided showcase fight for Song Yadong. Yadong defeated Ricky Simon by TKO in the fifth round of their five-round headliner on Saturday. After torching Simon with a perfect

7:09 PM ET A key welterweight fight is now on the docket for summer. Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Vicente Luque have agreed to a welterweight fight that will headline UFC Fight Night on July 15, sources confirmed with ESPN on Saturday. The card does not have an official location, but it

12:52 PM ET Jack Hermansson has an undisclosed injury and is out of the scheduled June 3 UFC Fight Night main event with Brendan Allen, sources confirmed Friday with ESPN. No replacement for Hermansson has been selected yet. MMA Mania was the first to report the news. Allen has called out fellow middleweight contender Sean

3:26 PM ET Three weeks after he announced his UFC retirement after competing at UFC 287 in his hometown of Miami, Jorge Masvidal is a busy man. He’s promoting his Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA show next week and is excited to announce his next Gamebred Boxing card in the near future. Fighting and martial arts have

8:00 AM ET Gilbert Burns sat at the podium of the UFC 287 postfight press conference on April 8 and issued the UFC an ultimatum: Book him a title fight next or just release him from his contract. “I’m not asking, I’m demanding,” said Burns, who had just beat Jorge Masvidal in the main event

10:59 AM ET Israel Adesanya says he suffered a Grade 1 MCL tear the week before his unforgettable knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 earlier this month in Miami. Adesanya (24-2) revealed the injury via his YouTube channel Wednesday, including video of how it happened. The injury occurred when Adesanya’s leg buckled awkwardly underneath

Apr 25, 2023 Song Yadong meets Ricky Simon in the bantamweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The main card at the UFC Apex is on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET, preceded by prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 4 p.m. Song (19-7-1, 1 NC) is coming off a fourth-round

12:38 PM ET Brendan Loughnane and Rob Wilkinson will look to continue their quests for back-to-back PFL championships on June 8, in the second round of the promotion’s regular-season matchups. Loughnane (27-4) will face Jesus Pinedo (20-6-1) in a featherweight main event of PFL 4. Wilkinson (18-2) will take on Will Fleury (12-3) in a