MMA

4:46 AM ET London’s O2 Arena will host UFC 286 on March 18, the MMA promotion confirmed on Wednesday. It will be UFC’s third event to be held in London inside 12 months but only the second numbered event in history to the held in the UK. Its last installment was in 2016 as Michael

4:01 PM ET UFC star Israel Adesanya is likely to be cleared of charges after he was arrested last month in New York for possession of a weapon. The former UFC middleweight champion was given an “adjournment in contemplation of dismissal” Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. That means

8:51 AM ET Paddy Pimblett made his UFC debut in September 2021. Two months later, the MMA prospect out of England traveled to the United States. Pimblett was accosted for photos in places like Times Square in New York and Yard House restaurant in San Diego. Fast-forward a little more than a year, and “The

10:12 PM ET Kayla Harrison‘s plans for the next year and beyond are very much up in the air. The two-time former PFL women’s lightweight champion told ESPN she is not sure what her next move will be, but her top priority is a rematch with Larissa Pacheco, who handed Harrison her first career loss

Dec 5, 2022 ONE Championship is making its debut in the United States with one of the biggest fights the promotion can put on. All-time MMA great Demetrious Johnson will defend his ONE 135-pound title against Adriano Moraes in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 10 on May 5 in Broomfield, Colorado, the

2:09 PM ET James Krause, the MMA coach at the center of a UFC betting controversy, is barred from attending or cornering any fighters at the Fighting Alliance Championship event on Friday in Independence, Missouri, sources told ESPN. Krause-trained fighters Gauge Young, Gina Mazany and Alexa Culp are on the card for FAC 17. The

8:28 PM ET TJ Dillashaw, one of the top bantamweight fighters in the history of MMA, has retired from the UFC, Dillashaw’s agent Tiki Ghosn confirmed to ESPN on Monday. Dillashaw, a former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, went into his title challenge against bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 in October with a bad

2:24 PM ET Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler has been forced to withdraw from a bout against Santiago Ponzinibbio on Saturday due to an undisclosed injury, sources told ESPN. According to sources, the UFC is working on finding a potential replacement for Ponzinibbio (28-6). The 170-pound contest was scheduled to take place on the

9:19 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim “There’s an enticing aura of unpredictability surrounding the main event of UFC 282.” That was the opening line in my original draft of this story. I wrote it shortly before Thanksgiving, figuring I’d smartly get a jump on assessing the final Octagon pay-per-view of the year. Who knew the unpredictability

4:31 PM ET Kevin Holland broke the third, fourth and fifth metacarpal bones in his right hand early in a loss to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson on Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Orlando, Florida, Holland’s manager, Oren Hodak, told ESPN on Sunday. The injury came when Holland landed a right cross

2:09 AM ET Stephen Thompson proved he still has championship aspirations after a dominating performance over Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Fight Night, but others in Orlando, Florida, found their way to shine as well. Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim look at the biggest moments from an action-packed event in

1:46 AM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Don’t write Stephen Thompson out of the welterweight title picture just yet. Thompson (17-6-1) earned one of the biggest wins of his career Saturday, stopping Kevin Holland (23-9) in the fourth round via TKO. Holland’s head coach, Bob Perez, waved off the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds,

5:47 PM ET David Purdum Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPN in 2014 Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008 Marc Raimondi Fighters who remain involved with MMA coach James Krause will be temporarily banned from participating in UFC events, pending several investigations into suspicious betting activity, the UFC announced Friday. The Nevada State Athletic Commission

1:14 PM ET The world’s preeminent fight promotion and one of the world’s most important soccer leagues are teaming up. The UFC and LaLiga North America announced a partnership Thursday that includes social media and digital collaboration and promoting each other’s brands. The UFC will send fighters to Spain for LaLiga events three times a

1:13 PM ET Betting on the UFC has been banned at Ontario sportsbooks due to integrity concerns. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on Thursday ordered registered entities to stop offering and accepting wagering on the UFC “due to non-compliance with AGCO’s betting integrity requirements” The AGCO, which oversees the regulated gaming industry

Nov 21, 2022 Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson meets Kevin Holland in the welterweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The event is the UFC’s annual “Fight Like Hell” Night, dedicated to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, established in memory of the ESPN personality who died of cancer in 2015.

2:10 PM ET Nate Diaz‘s time with the UFC is officially over. At least for now. The longtime UFC fighter and one of the biggest stars in MMA has officially been removed from the UFC roster, promotion officials confirmed with ESPN on Tuesday. MMA Fighting was the first to report the news. The final fight

12:57 PM ET Professional Fighters League co-founder Donn Davis says he believes a fight between two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison and MMA legend Cris “Cyborg” Justino is actually more likely to happen in 2023 following Harrison’s stunning upset loss to Larissa Pacheco last week in the PFL lightweight finals. Harrison (15-1) was set to capture