MMA

2:00 PM ET Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic there was one constant question that plagued Australian MMA fans: When will the UFC return Down Under? This Sunday morning [AEDT], after more than 1,220 days that have come and gone, the Octagon will once again take centre stage on the Australian sporting consciousness when

Feb 4, 2023 Conor McGregor‘s return has been set, as the former UFC double champion will coach against lightweight star Michael Chandler on the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” before facing him in the Octagon. UFC president Dana White announced McGregor and Chandler as the coaches on social media Saturday. No date or location

5:15 AM ET Eddie Maisonet The UFC kicked off its February schedule with a heavyweight main event, and Serghei Spivac delivered in a big way. Spivac (16-3) defeated Derrick Lewis (26-11) in the finale of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. “The Polar Bear” submitted Lewis via armbar in the first round, thus

12:17 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim For the retirement fight of Fedor Emelianenko, one of the greatest ever to compete in mixed martial arts and the icon of an era gone by, there was a who’s who of MMA legends gathered at Bellator 290 in Inglewood, California, on Saturday night to give one of their own

11:15 AM ET After knocking out Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 last May, Michael Chandler thought it might take a lapse in judgment for the UFC to book a fight with him against Conor McGregor. Instead, a coaching opportunity with “The Ultimate Fighter” helped put the pieces in motion for a megafight later this year.

10:17 PM ET The UFC has shifted a highly anticipated bantamweight main event between Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen from Feb. 18 to March 25, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. The bout was originally scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night later this month at the Apex in Las Vegas, but will now serve

10:29 AM ET The PFL’s 2023 regular season will officially kick off in April, with a three-week series of events at Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas. The season encompasses six weight classes: heavyweight, light heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and women’s featherweight. The first round of season matchups will take place across three events scheduled on

8:30 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Mixed martial arts is not what it used to be. In its early days, the sport was widely dismissed as a cringey toughman sideshow and relegated to the outcast fringe. For years, MMA was sustained by an obsessive and faithful fan base that mined fight clips from dingy corners of

Jan 30, 2023 Editor’s note: This story was originally published ahead of UFC 238. Blagoy Ivanov faces Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night on Feb. 4. SAN JOSE, Calif. — A bit shaky, Blagoy Ivanov stood in a doorway at Pirogov Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 19, 2012. Camera flashes were going off. Questions

7:36 PM ET Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will return to the Octagon against Arnold Allen in April, multiple sources told ESPN on Monday. Both sides have agreed to the 145-pound featherweight matchup, which is expected to headline UFC Fight Night on April 15. The UFC has not officially announced the contest or location

10:57 AM ET The UFC is getting into the name, image and likeness (NIL) business. The world’s biggest fight promotion has signed Bella Mir, daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, as its first-ever NIL ambassador, officials told ESPN on Friday. Bella Mir, 19, is a freshman at the University of Iowa and competes

6:12 PM ET Israel Adesanya will attempt to get his title back in a fourth fight against rival Alex Pereira this spring. Pereira will defend the middleweight championship against Adesanya in the co-main event of UFC 287 on April 8, UFC president Dana White announced Friday. Jorge Masvidal will return against Gilbert Burns in the

12:34 PM ET Conor McGregor appeared to avoid injury after being struck by a car while riding his bike in Ireland. McGregor, 34, posted multiple videos of the aftermath of the accident to his social media on Friday. A breathless McGregor can be heard saying, “I could have been dead there,” as the driver of

11:17 AM ET Ranked lightweights Dan Hooker and Jalin Turner will square off at UFC 285, both fighters confirmed on social media. Hooker announced the bout on “The MacLife” and Turner confirmed shortly after via Instagram. UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Hooker (22-12) is coming off a

1:38 PM ET Conor McGregor has denied allegations that he attacked a woman on his yacht last summer in Ibiza. Ultima Hora, a newspaper in Spain, released a report Tuesday with allegations from an Irish woman that the UFC superstar punched her and threatened to drown her at a party in July on his boat.

1:39 PM ET Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold intends to pursue fights outside of the UFC after securing his release from the company. In an appearance on “The MMA Hour” on Monday, Rockhold, 38, revealed he and the UFC have mutually parted ways, ending a partnership that began in 2013. Rockhold retired in the

6:00 PM ET For the second time this month, Bellator has made a move to shore up the existing talent on its roster. The MMA promotion has re-signed light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov to a multiyear, multifight contract, Bellator officials told ESPN on Monday. Two weeks ago, Bellator re-signed former featherweight champion AJ McKee, one

8:15 AM ET For six years, the UFC flyweight division had nothing but stability. Demetrious Johnson held the title for 2,412 days from 2012 to 2018, compiling a UFC record 11 consecutive title defenses. But since “Mighty Mouse’s” dominant run on top of the division, the 125-pound weight class has been volatile. Henry Cejudo, the