MMA

10:32 AM ET The Professional Fighters League has signed 24-year-old Biaggio Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, to an amateur contract to compete in its tournament finals event in November. Ali Walsh is a former collegiate football player at the University of California, with an amateur MMA record of 1-1. He currently lives and trains

8:11 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a featherweight main event between Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen for a UFC Fight Night on Oct. 29, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Wednesday. Bout agreements have not been signed, but the 145-pound contest is close to being official, sources told ESPN. The UFC Fight Night

7:50 AM ET FOR MAJDI SHAMMAS, the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 9 in Las Vegas were a manager’s worst nightmare. At approximately 4 a.m. local time, Shammas knew his fighter, Khamzat Chimaev, would not make weight for a UFC 279 main event against Nate Diaz. Chimaev and his team had done all they

8:00 AM ET The ESPN pound-for-pound MMA rankings you see below are only slightly different from the men’s and women’s top 10s we published Aug. 24, the last time our voting panel weighed in. That should come as no shock. There have been only two UFC fight cards and few other major events across the

Sep 12, 2022 ESPN News Services TORONTO — Elias Theodorou, a charismatic mixed martial artist who campaigned successfully for the right to use medical marijuana as an athlete, has died. He was 34. Theodorou’s official twitter account announced on Saturday that the former UFC fighter died Sunday in Toronto of colon cancer that metastasized. Theodorou,

6:59 PM ET The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) announced Monday that it would be launching an investigation, with the help of the UFC, into several fights that broke out backstage before the scheduled UFC 279 news conference last Thursday. UFC president Dana White ended up having to cancel the promotional event because of the

3:09 PM ET Khamzat Chimaev‘s head coach, Andreas Michael, said it was his decision to stop the undefeated fighter’s weight cut last week due to health concerns, but he still expects Chimaev to compete at welterweight. Chimaev (12-0) missed weight for a five-round welterweight main event against Nate Diaz (21-13) last week at UFC 279

9:19 AM ET MADRID — Brandon Moreno attended a VIP party on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Eiffel Tower. The invitation was made by Ari Emanuel, the CEO of UFC parent company Endeavor. Overlooking the City of Light, the UFC’s interim flyweight champion and his manager, Jason House, chatted with Emanuel hours before UFC Paris.

1:48 AM ET What can we take away from a unique main event at UFC 279 and victories from Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev? Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto offer up their thoughts from a highlight-packed event in Las Vegas. The implication behind the term “Plan B” is that it’s a lesser option

12:55 AM ET LAS VEGAS — When this week started, Nate Diaz‘s opponent was the dominant rising star Khamzat Chimaev — a little parting gift from the UFC as Diaz heads out the door. On Saturday night, with Tony Ferguson as the opponent after a bizarre, unprecedented several days, Diaz will leave the promotion as

12:16 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Khamzat Chimaev missed a major opportunity to take out one of the biggest stars in MMA history Saturday, but he picked up an easy victory at UFC 279. Chimaev (12-0) submitted Kevin Holland (23-8) with a D’Arce choke at 2:13 of the opening round inside T-Mobile Arena. It was

5:49 PM ET LAS VEGAS — When Friday ended, the UFC 279 main card was completely different than the one scheduled when the day began. In an unprecedented turn of events, the top three fights set for Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena were all altered by Friday evening, a chain reaction set off by once-headliner

10:17 AM ET Nate Diaz has received an enormous amount of support heading into the final fight of his UFC contract on Saturday, including from his old rival, Conor McGregor. McGregor took the time to congratulate Diaz on fulfilling his contract on Saturday, via his personal social media. The two fought twice in 2016, splitting

Dec 9, 2020 Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2020. Tony Ferguson has his own way of working out, and it’s never the easy way. Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images UFC lightweight star Tony Ferguson isn’t someone who’s confined by conventional norms. He has been known to wear dress clothes, sunglasses and fighting gloves while

6:15 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC has completely shuffled the top three fights on its UFC 279 card one day before the scheduled pay-per-view event, UFC president Dana White told SportsCenter in a live Instagram video Friday. Nate Diaz now will face Tony Ferguson in the main event of the Saturday show at

8:10 AM ET STOCKTON, Calif. — GILBERT MELENDEZ, NATE Diaz‘s longtime teammate, was in Stockton with some of his students from El Niño Training Center in South San Francisco for a night training session at Nick Diaz Academy on Aug. 24. Melendez and crew arrived first at the “Trap House” — the name given by

8:40 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC 279 news conference was canceled Thursday at MGM Grand Garden Arena after several altercations broke out backstage among fighters on the card and their teams. UFC president Dana White attempted to keep the news conference going by bringing up the six fighters separately in twos, per fight.

2:46 PM ET Former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos has signed an exclusive deal with the PFL, promotion president Ray Sefo told ESPN on Thursday. Santos, 38, will make his PFL debut in 2023 when he competes in the promotion’s season format with a tournament championship purse of $1 million. Santos will fight in the