MMA

8:00 AM ET The UFC has fighters ranging from 115 pounds to more than twice that weight. Yet size does not matter very much when it comes to assessing where the greatest fights are. Some weight classes are top-heavy, featuring dominant champions no one can match. Other divisions draw their intrigue from a level playing

10:27 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s women’s bantamweight division has a new title contender on its hands. Ketlen Vieira (13-2), of Manaus, Brazil, improved to 3-1 in her past four fought contests on Saturday, as she outpointed former champion Holly Holm (14-6) in a five-round main event. The 135-pound fight was very close.

9:33 PM ET The UFC will run back one of the most shocking fights in its entire history. A bantamweight title rematch between Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes will headline UFC 277 on July 30 in Dallas, officials announced on Saturday. The pay-per-view event will take place inside American Airlines Arena and air on ESPN+.

9:00 AM ET For the first time in nearly 10 years, Holly Holm is thinking about professional boxing. To be clear, Holm’s primary focus is still very much on MMA and recapturing the UFC bantamweight championship that she won in 2015 and surrendered in 2016. Holm (14-5) faces Ketlen Vieira in the main event of

8:17 AM ET ESPN News Services LOS ANGELES — Baseball great Alex Rodriguez is taking a swing at mixed martial arts as an investor and board member for the Professional Fighters League. The PFL announced the addition of the former New York Yankees superstar to its board of directors Thursday. Rodriguez’s investment is part of

9:33 AM ET The UFC has announced it will stage its first event in France on Sept. 3 at the Accor Arena in Paris after a decade-long battle with French authorities. President Dana White said on Tuesday: “I’m so excited to hold our first event in Paris this September. It will be an unbelievable night

4:04 PM ET Glover Teixeira’s days competing in the Octagon seem numbered. The UFC light heavyweight champion told Globo’s Mundo de Luta podcast Wednesday that he would like to wrap up his illustrious career in the next few months and this would “probably” be his final year fighting. Teixeira, 42, will defend his light heavyweight

4:43 PM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov says he recently texted Dana White to argue in favor of a lightweight title shot for his longtime friend and teammate Islam Makhachev — and apparently White left the retired legend on read. “Honestly, this is first time since we started talking to each other that he don’t respond to

8:38 AM ET Clay Collard will try to continue his march toward a PFL title on June 17, when he takes on Alexander Martinez in Atlanta. PFL officials announced the lightweight matchup Wednesday. The event, which takes place at OTE Arena, marks the second round of regular-season action. Collard (21-9) is on a mission in

7:47 PM ET Manel Kape is free to compete at UFC 275 following an atypical drug-test finding last month. But he will not yet be licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The NSAC ruled Tuesday at a hearing during its monthly meeting that Kape must undergo six more months of drug testing before being

May 16, 2022 UFC lightweight Islam Makhachev wants to face Charles Oliveira for the vacant title in October, and believes he will beat the Brazilian at his own game of submission grappling. Makhachev (22-1) is expected to fight Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, located in a predominantly Muslim region where he is

11:48 AM ET The two-sport plan for WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight champion Claressa Shields over the next 18 months is starting to take shape, but it’s no longer clear whether it will include an undisputed middleweight title fight against WBO champion Savannah Marshall. Shields told ESPN on Tuesday that a possible fight with Marshall,

9:50 PM ET Aleksandar Rakic tore the ACL in his right knee in a UFC Fight Night main event loss to Jan Blachowicz last Saturday in Las Vegas, Rakic’s manager Marcelo Brigadeiro confirmed to ESPN on Monday evening. Early in the third round, Rakic took a step back following a Blachowicz combination. When Rakic planted

1:43 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was denied bail again Monday in his attempted murder case at a motion hearing in Santa Clara (California) County, per the court. Judge Shelyna Brown decided against allowing Velasquez bail for a second time, citing Velasquez’s “reckless disregard for human life.” Brown first denied Velasquez bail

8:51 AM ET With big fights happening every week and new champions being crowned along with current championship forging their legacy, it’s easy to forget that Kamaru Usman is still the pound-for-pound best in MMA today. But is it possible for Usman to catch a former pound-for-pound champ and arguably the greatest ever welterweight in

1:10 AM ET Jan Blachowicz‘s journey back to the UFC title got off to an odd start. But the former champ will certainly take it. Blachowicz defeated Aleksandar Rakic via TKO at 1:11 of the third round after Rakic suffered an injury to his right knee. Blachowicz landed a combination and Rakic took a step

7:29 PM ET Connor O’Halloran LONDON — Logan Storley claimed the interim Bellator Welterweight title in London on Friday with a split-decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) victory over Michael “Venom” Page at the OVO Arena Wembley. Page was looking to become just the third-ever British fighter to become a world champion in MMA, following Michael Bisping

8:06 AM ET With UFC 274 officially in the rearview mirror, it’s time to recalibrate and reassess what’s at stake for the next few months in the sport. The lightweight division put on a show last weekend, as Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler secured big wins to keep their names front and center for wearing