MMA

6:24 PM ET LONDON — The UFC has hit a bad streak of luck as of late, with a second consecutive main event ruined on Saturday by freak injury. A highly anticipated heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall ended just 15 seconds into the first round, when Aspinall suffered a right knee injury.

8:10 AM ET Sometimes you can’t change the channel. It could be the two-way greatness of Shohei Ohtani in baseball, the long-range excellence of Stephen Curry in basketball or the overwhelming power and quickness of Aaron Donald in football. It becomes hard to look away if they’re on your television screen. But who are those

1:31 PM ET Two of the top women’s strawweight fighters in the world have been added to one of the UFC’s deepest cards of the year. Marina Rodriguez will take on Amanda Lemos at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. The winner of the

8:57 PM ET The UFC is moving a bantamweight title fight between defending champion Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw to the co-main event slot of UFC 280 on Oct. 22, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 279 on Sept. 10, but the promotion elected to move it to the

8:45 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a lightweight bout between Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot for October. The 155-pound fight will take place on the Oct. 22 UFC 280 pay-per-view event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, officials told ESPN on Wednesday. Dariush (21-4-1) has been trying to figure out his

3:30 PM ET Sean O’Malley is taking a major step up in his next fight, announcing to ESPN’s Ryan Clark on Wednesday that he’ll be facing former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. O’Malley (15-1 1 NC), one of the sport’s most talented prospects, fought

8:25 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Chris Curtis dreamed about fighting inside the Octagon for over a decade as a professional mixed martial artist. Now that his UFC debut was happening, though, it was turning nightmarish. He was in a UFC 268 prelim last November in New York, and Curtis was getting beaten to the punch

3:20 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a welterweight fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz to headline UFC 279 on Sept. 10, UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN on Tuesday. Contracts have not been signed, but both fighters have verbally agreed to the matchup and date according to Campbell. UFC 279 will

4:24 PM ET Henry Cejudo’s ultimate goal — and one of the main reasons he is coming out of retirement — is to challenge for the UFC featherweight title. But it’s more likely Cejudo returns initially at bantamweight. Cejudo told ESPN in an interview published Tuesday that he wants to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the

9:00 AM ET The Professional Fighters League playoffs are set to commence on Aug. 5 in New York City with semifinals in the light heavyweight and men’s lightweight divisions. From there, the playoffs will visit Cardiff, Wales, on Aug. 13 (featuring heavyweights and welterweights) and London on Aug. 20 (featherweights, women’s lightweights) before wrapping up

9:11 AM ET Nate Diaz is the kind of guy who makes more headlines from doing an interview than most fighters get for competing in the cage. He’s one of the most famous athletes in the history of the UFC and remains relevant in any MMA conversation despite having just one win since 2016. Diaz

8:19 AM ET Frankie Edgar, one of the best mixed martial artists of the last decade, says he intends to retire after making one final appearance in the UFC this year. Edgar told ESPN he has asked the UFC to book him one more bantamweight fight in November, on an event expected to take place

3:33 PM ET What were the biggest moments at UFC Fight Night in Long Island? Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim offer up their takeaways from a fun-filled event in Elmont, New York. There is plenty to unpack from a disappointing UFC Long Island main event. How does Yair Rodriguez‘s victory following a Brian Ortega injury

4:12 PM ET In October, the UFC lightweight championship is officially up for grabs in Abu Dhabi. The vacant 155-pound title will have former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira fighting Islam Makhachev for the strap. Oliveira, who recently earned the ESPY for MMA fighter of the year, has won 11 consecutive bouts, including the past 10

5:32 PM ET ELMONT, N.Y. — A highly anticipated featherweight main event between Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega ended unfortunately on Saturday, when Ortega was unable to continue after appearing to dislocate his right shoulder. The injury occurred at the 4:11 mark of the opening round. Ortega had just taken Rodriguez to the ground, and

2:57 PM ET The UFC has booked a lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev to headline UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The UFC 280 pay-per-view event takes place on Oct. 22 at Etihad Arena. Officials announced the lightweight contest Saturday. Officially, the fight will be for the UFC’s vacant

11:00 AM ET ELMONT, N.Y. — A marquee featherweight matchup between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez is set to headline UFC Fight Night inside UBS Arena on Saturday. The main card airs on ABC (2 p.m. ET) and will be simulcast on ESPN+, with prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ at 11 a.m. Ortega (15-2) is making his

9:05 AM ET The UFC is amid a busy summer schedule, coming off International Fight Week two weeks ago. Next up is UFC on ABC this weekend (Saturday, main card on ABC/ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET, prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ at 11 a.m.), with a big-time main event between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez. From there,