MMA

Jan 22, 2023 SYDNEY — Alexander Volkanovski says people have forgotten his escape acts against Brian Ortega, the Australian confident he has made the necessary adjustments to handle Islam Makhachev if their UFC 284 lightweight title fight descends into the wrestling contest many believe it will. Makhachev, however, says that such is his depth of

2:30 AM ET What were the biggest moments from the first UFC pay-per-view of 2023? Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim offer up their final thoughts after the 15-fight card in Brazil. Jamahal Hill walked out of the Octagon as the new UFC light heavyweight champion — and with his head held high, thanks

12:39 AM ET The first tetralogy in UFC history came to a close on Saturday, as Brandon Moreno finished Deiveson Figueiredo in their fourth meeting in a span of 25 months. A cageside physician waved off the flyweight title fight before the start of the fourth round, after Figueiredo’s right eye closed from swelling caused

Jan 21, 2023 Jose Aldo, the longest-reigning featherweight champion in UFC history, will be inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame later this year. Aldo, 36, retired from the UFC in September, one month after losing to Merab Dvalishvili in a highly ranked bantamweight fight. Had Aldo won that fight, he might have moved on

1:12 AM ET Jamahal Hill walked slowly toward his corner, and in a moment, the realization came to him: He had just become a UFC champion. Hill beat Glover Teixeira via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) in the main event of UFC 283 on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to win the vacant

9:32 PM ET The UFC light heavyweight title will be up for grabs on Saturday night, just one month after two different contenders squared off for the same gold belt. Former champion Glover Teixeira will take on Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro. The winner will take home

7:16 PM ET Raul Rosas Jr., the 18-year-old prodigy who became the youngest fighter to ever sign with the UFC, will return to the Octagon on April 8 to fight fellow prospect Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287, sources confirmed with ESPN on Thursday. Former UFC champion Anthony Pettis, who represents Rodriguez under the Showtime Group

12:08 PM ET On Thursday, the UFC announced the addition of stricter language about wagering in its fighter code of conduct as well as the hiring of sports wagering monitoring firm U.S. Integrity. The two changes come as multiple governmental bodies are investigating a UFC fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke on Nov. 5

8:42 AM ET IT WAS A MID-DECEMBER evening at the UFC’s Performance Institute in Las Vegas, and Brandon Moreno was trying to find it in him to train at a world-class level. It wasn’t going well. Moreno was in the middle of camp for his title unification bout against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 on

9:03 PM ET UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will defend her title for the eighth time when she fights Mexican challenger Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 on March 4. Shevchenko’s representatives told ESPN on Wednesday that an agreement for the fight has been reached, while sources told ESPN Deportes that there is a mutual agreement

9:00 AM ET Andres Waters He had worked his way into the UFC’s light heavyweight top-15 rankings, but suddenly Jamahal Hill found that status in jeopardy. With his head and arm trapped inside the triangle of jiu-jitsu ace Paul Craig, Hill was nearly helpless. Hill’s arm had been dislocated at the elbow by an armbar

12:28 AM ET A major bantamweight contender fight is heading to Las Vegas. Former UFC champion Petr Yan and the rising Merab Dvalishvili have verbally agreed to a main event on the UFC Fight Night card on March 11 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday night. Bout agreements have not

Jan 17, 2023 UFC flyweight Jeff Molina is suspected of having “substantial involvement” in a betting scheme currently being probed by multiple government entities, Nevada deputy attorney general Joel Bekker said Tuesday at the Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting. The NSAC temporarily suspended Molina last month, as first reported by ESPN, though the commission did

7:02 PM ET Francis Ngannou said he asked for a lot of things from the UFC during a long contract negotiation period. But the former UFC heavyweight champion said he ultimately decided that what the UFC was offering didn’t afford him enough freedom. In an interview Tuesday on “The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani,” Ngannou

9:22 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN If Brazil isn’t the birthplace of the UFC, it is at least the playground for the promotion’s formative years. The inaugural event in 1993 took place in Denver, and the company’s first 15 fight cards all happened in the United States. It took the UFC nearly five years before finally

5:40 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a strawweight battle between Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Luana Pinheiro for April, sources told ESPN on Monday. The contest will take place on April 8 at an event that is expected to be UFC 287 on pay-per-view. The UFC has not announced an official date or location for that

5:38 PM ET Muhammad Mokaev, one of the UFC’s top prospects, will take on promotional newcomer Jafel Filho later this year in London. The 125-pound bout will take place at UFC 286 on March 18 at O2 Arena, UFC officials told ESPN. It will mark Mokaev’s fourth appearance in the UFC, three of which have

7:27 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close Brett Okamoto ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Mike Coppinger After more than a year of unsuccessful negotiations with the fight promotion, Francis Ngannou is officially no longer the UFC heavyweight champion. Ngannou (17-3) fought out his UFC