MMA

7:42 AM ET HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Colby Covington didn’t talk — publicly — for nearly two months after his failed UFC welterweight title bid against Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 in December 2019. From the outside, it was easy to assume reasons why. Covington (16-2), who will challenge Usman for the second time at UFC

8:00 AM ET Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defends his UFC title against Colby Covington, in a rematch of their tremendous 2019 fight, which Usman won by fifth-round TKO. The bout on Saturday headlines a packed UFC 268 card that also includes another title rematch, a must-see lightweight fight and an opportunity for a few fighters

3:35 PM ET Glover Teixeira finally did it. At 42, the perennial light heavyweight contender defeated Jan Blachowicz by second round submission via rear naked choke in the main event of UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Teixeira became the 14th undisputed UFC champion in the division and the oldest first-time

5:45 PM ET Glover Teixeira got a UFC light heavyweight title shot seven years ago and lost, like most everyone else does, to Jon Jones. At that point, Teixeira was already 34 years old and most wrote him off. He had his nice UFC run, many thought, and that would be it. Instead, Teixeira got

5:17 PM ET ABU DHABI — Petr Yan might not be the official champion of the UFC’s bantamweight division — but it sure feels like the weight class belongs to him. Yan (16-2) claimed the interim bantamweight title at UFC 267 on Saturday by defeating Cory Sandhagen (14-4) via unanimous decision. The 135-pound title fight

1:48 PM ET ABU DHABI — In a rare move, UFC removed a referee from its UFC 267 event Saturday, immediately following his performance in a preliminary welterweight bout. The promotion pulled referee Vyacheslav Kiselev from the event after he declined to stop the welterweight bout between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit Saint-Denis. Zaleski

Oct 30, 2021 ABU DHABI — UFC 267 was stacked with some of the biggest names in the sport. The headlining title fights resulted in successes for the 42-year-old Glover Teixeira and Petr Yan who wrapped gold around their waists, but the standout moments happened earlier on the main card with Khamzat Chimaev and Islam

10:25 AM ET ABU DHABI — The UFC has two title fights on tap as it returns to Abu Dhabi for a second event in 2021. Light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz (28-8), of Poland, will seek to defend his belt against Brazil’s Glover Teixeira (32-7). Blachowicz won the title in September 2020 with a knockout

12:44 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Kayla Harrison‘s dominance of the PFL continues. For the second consecutive season, Harrison has captured the PFL lightweight championship. She did so with ease Wednesday at the Hard Rock Live; she attempted 90 strikes and landed all but five of them en route to an armbar submission

7:49 AM ET Glover Teixeira boarded a plane from New York to his home country of Brazil on July 5, 2008. Later that night, Forrest Griffin defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to win the UFC light heavyweight title. When Teixeira heard that result, he made a mental note: Griffin would be the one he’d be challenging

3:33 AM ET ABU DHABI — Two UFC championship fights are now official for Saturday’s UFC 267 event on Fight Island, as all four athletes successfully made weight on Friday. Light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz (28-8) and No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira (32-7) each weighed in at 205 pounds. Former bantamweight champion Petr Yan (15-2)

5:25 PM ET A celebrity Italian DJ and television presenter says he took his allegations that Conor McGregor punched him in the face to police. Francesco Facchinetti confirmed with ESPN in an interview Thursday that he filed a complaint with Italian law enforcement several days after he claims he was struck by McGregor, the UFC

7:40 AM ET FOUR YEARS AGO Majdi Shammas was on the second floor of Allstars Training Center, the martial arts facility he owns in Stockholm, when he heard a disturbance downstairs. It sounded like someone was fighting. And not the kind of fighting that goes on in Shammas’ gym seven days a week. No, it

1:29 AM ET Marc Raimondi Mike Coppinger Kayla Harrison can be biggest women’s star in MMA since Ronda Rousey Harrison, the charismatic, trash-talking, one-woman wrecking crew, who coincidentally happens to be Rousey’s former teammate with USA Judo, won her second $1 million PFL championship Wednesday night, beating Taylor Guardado via armbar submission 4 minutes into

4:10 PM ET HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — After a full season of PFL fights in six divisions, and a playoff win for each fighter remaining, 12 fighters will walk into the cage Wednesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida with a chance to be a champion. Only six will end the

7:40 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Six championship fights. Six life-changing $1 million paydays. The PFL closes out its 2021 season Wednesday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Hollywood, Florida (4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+), with the PFL World Championships hosting the high-stakes finals in a half-dozen weight

5:42 PM ET Former UFC fighter Mike Perry, known for action-packed UFC fights, issues outside the cage and having his girlfriend work his corner, has signed a deal with Bare Knuckle FC (BKFC), the promotion announced Tuesday. Perry’s manager Malki Kawa of First Round Management said Perry’s UFC contract expired with his April loss to

8:00 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim “And new!” might be the most thrilling two words in mixed martial arts. They alert everyone within reach of a very loud voice that there has been a change in the power structure. There’s a fresh coat of paint. There’s ascension accompanied by the potential for memorable greatness. Even if