MMA

12:56 AM ET HOUSTON — Israel Adesanya was the story all week. His new, lucrative contract with the UFC. His teammates from City Kickboxing fighting on the same card. His current future stardom. It felt like no one here was talking about Robert Whittaker, the challenger and former champ who talks no trash and draws

8:35 PM ET HOUSTON — Israel Adesanya wore a gold chain around his neck Thursday at the UFC 271 news conference. Hanging from the chain was a medallion with a digital screen showing an NFT video of Adesanya’s knockout of Robert Whittaker on a loop. A day earlier, Adesanya admitted he changed his hair to

3:59 PM ET A scheduled upcoming UFC Fight Night main event will be repurposed on the promotion’s next pay-per-view card. Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will now take on Rafael Fiziev in the lightweight co-main event of UFC 272 on March 5 in Las Vegas, sources confirmed Friday with ESPN. Dos Anjos vs.

10:24 AM ET HOUSTON — One of the most anticipated rematches in UFC middleweight history is now official. Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker both weighed 184 pounds Friday morning for their title fight Saturday night. Adesanya will defend his belt against Whittaker, the former champ, in the main event of UFC 271 here at Toyota

7:50 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Anderson Silva stands alone among middleweights in the history of mixed martial arts. You can carve that into granite. If one were to mimic the sculptural design of Mount Rushmore,

10:56 PM ET The UFC’s first Fight Night card on the road since 2020 has its new main event. Curtis Blaydes will meet Chris Daukaus in the heavyweight contender headliner of UFC Columbus on March 26 in Ohio, sources confirmed Thursday with ESPN. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani was the first to report the news. ESPN

10:37 AM ET Yoel Romero will look to pick up his first Bellator win when he takes on MMA veteran Melvin Manhoef in the co-main event on May 6 in Paris, the promotion announced Thursday. The bout will be contested at light heavyweight. Romero is a former UFC title challenger. The main event will feature

8:36 PM ET Just over two months out from his rematch with Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker is pounding away on the pads during a striking session at his sprawling new gym in Sydney’s south western suburbs. With the mercury already nudging 30 degrees Celsius outside, a gigantic ceiling fan is doing its best to disperse

3:15 PM ET HOUSTON — Israel Adesanya, one of the UFC’s top stars, has signed a new “lucrative” contract with the promotion, his Paradigm Sports Management team announced Wednesday. At the UFC 271 media day Wednesday, Adesanya described the contract as a “f—ing big deal,” and he said he believes he’s now the second-highest-paid active

3:54 PM ET There aren’t too many more outrageous characters in the UFC than Tai Tuivasa. In a sport that has its fair share of the unusual, extreme, exciting and often downright jaw-dropping, Tuivasa has carved out a profile as one of the most popular athletes in the UFC. At the heart of it, of

9:03 PM ET The best MMA fighter in the world went under the knife Monday. UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman had surgery to repair a ligament in his hand, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA confirmed to ESPN. UFC president Dana White posted a gruesome photo of the operation on social media. Abdelaziz said

7:55 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Former UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes revealed to ESPN on Monday she dealt with injuries to both of her knees during the buildup to her shocking submission loss to Julianna Peña at the end of last year. Nunes (21-5) said she didn’t want to use the injuries as an

Feb 6, 2022 There are a number of bigger names competing at UFC 271 in Houston (Saturday, 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV), but no name is more intriguing than the one which will appear in the opening fight of the night. While the MMA world waits in earnest for the rematch between Israel Adesanya

7:49 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim After Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa finish flinging menacing leather in each other’s direction on Saturday night in Houston, in the co-main event of UFC 271, it will be time for the real show. That’s not a reference to the main event between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and former

10:44 PM ET The controversial Sean Strickland continues his rise in the UFC’s middleweight division. Strickland defeated Jack Hermansson via split decision (49-46, 47-48, 49-46) Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Strickland used his jab to keep Hermansson at bay the entire fight. Hermansson did not succeed on any

12:33 PM ET Max Holloway has been medically cleared to resume training and has offered to serve as a backup for the featherweight division’s next title fight, sources close to Holloway told ESPN. The former champion received medical clearance on Thursday, sources said. Holloway, of Waianae, Hawai’i, was briefly scheduled to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for

7:12 PM ET The rivalry between Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes is just getting started. Peña, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, and Nunes, the woman whom Peña beat for the title, will coach against one another on the 30th season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, it was announced Friday. Peña and Nunes will then

1:38 PM ET Two title fights are now official for UFC 273. Alexander Volkanovski will defend his UFC featherweight title against Chan Sung Jung, “The Korean Zombie,” in the main event of the pay-per-view card April 9 in Jacksonville, Florida, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell confirmed to ESPN on Friday. The co-main event will