MMA

5:51 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a middleweight bout between “The Ultimate Fighter” winner Bryan Battle and Tresean Gore, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday. The 185-pound bout will take place at a UFC Fight Night on Feb. 5. The UFC has not announced an official venue for that event. MMAJunkie.com first reported the

7:53 AM ET The past 18 months have been life-altering for Kayla Harrison, one of the most promising fighters in women’s MMA. Harrison took her niece and nephew, Kyla and Emery, into her home when her stepfather, Bob Nichols, died in May 2020. At that time, the biggest breakout fighter in the Professional Fighters League

7:54 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Khamzat Chimaev will compete in his fourth UFC fight on Saturday at UFC 267 (10:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+). He is 3-0 inside the Octagon, 9-0 overall in his MMA career. He has finished every opponent, six of them in the first round. He has never seen a Round 3.

1:34 PM ET LAS VEGAS — One of the most interesting fight weeks of 2021 will come to its conclusion tonight, as Paulo Costa takes on Marvin Vettori in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night inside the Apex. This fight, of course, was supposed to take place at 185 pounds and have a

7:23 PM ET LAS VEGAS — It was a weird week, to say the least, but Saturday’s five-round main event between Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa delivered as expected. Vettori (18-4-1) handed Costa (13-2) his second consecutive defeat, scoring a unanimous decision victory in a light heavyweight matchup at UFC Fight Night inside the Apex.

12:57 PM ET LAS VEGAS — A three-day saga surrounding Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori is finally over, as both fighters made weight for a five-round light heavyweight matchup. This fight was originally scheduled to take place at middleweight, the division in which Costa and Vettori are both

8:00 AM ET UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya released a YouTube video last weekend in which he broke down Saturday’s main event fight between his “children” Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. On its face, Costa vs. Vettori is an outstanding main event featuring two of the UFC’s top middleweights. Costa and Vettori are ranked Nos.

12:34 AM ET The game of musical weights continues for this weekend’s UFC main event. Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori will now, as of Thursday night, take place at 205 pounds — the light heavyweight division, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell confirmed with ESPN on Thursday night. The fight is scheduled for Saturday night

8:00 AM ET There was a time when an appearance by Fedor Emelianenko was as big as it got in mixed martial arts. From mid-2000, when the Russian first competed as a pro, through the end of 2009, Emelianenko fought 32 times and lost only once, by a dubious doctor’s stoppage. During one stretch, mostly

8:12 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC is working on finalizing a catchweight for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori, the promotion said Wednesday. The UFC didn’t reveal what weight it is pursuing for the fight. The announcement was made after Costa admitted he did not intend to

12:41 PM ET Bantamweight might be the best division in mixed martial arts and that extends to outside the UFC, as well. In a marquee matchup at 135 pounds, Sergio Pettis will defend his Bellator title in the weight class against former champion Kyoji Horiguchi on Dec. 3 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, Bellator

8:03 AM ET The 2021 PFL season will come to its conclusion on Oct. 27, with a full lineup of tournament championships in six different weight classes (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN+). Emerging women’s MMA superstar Kayla Harrison (11-0) will headline the event, in her lightweight final against Taylor Guardado (3-1). Arguably the most intriguing finals

7:16 PM ET UFC fighter Irwin Rivera has been granted a conditional release from custody after a judge approved his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of attempted murder. Rivera was arrested in January on the two felony charges, accused of stabbing his two sisters. A judge approved the adjudication

5:01 PM ET No charges will be filed against UFC legend Chuck Liddell after a domestic violence arrest Oct. 11, per a document obtained by ESPN from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. The listed reason for why prosecution will not be pursued was “lack of sufficient evidence,” and the comments stated that “the

7:49 AM ET Last week, the UFC announced that top-10 welterweights Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal will meet on Dec. 11. This announcement was a long time coming — as in, more than 2½ years. It was way back in March 2019 that Edwards and Masvidal had a confrontation backstage after both had won bouts

12:46 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN The question of who is the best light heavyweight in Bellator MMA might have been answered on Saturday night. That answer might or might not have come in the headlining title bout. Vadim Nemkov successfully defended his championship with a fourth-round submission of Julius Anglickas in the main event of

Oct 15, 2021 The UFC’s women’s featherweight division is in an interesting spot, in that one terrific performance at 145 pounds can catapult a fighter into title contention. That is the backdrop for Saturday’s main event, featuring Aspen Ladd (9-1) and Norma Dumont (6-1). Both Ladd and Dumont have competed in the UFC’s 135-pound division,

8:00 AM ET The UFC has several monster events on its schedule to close out 2021. Before the year is done, we will have seen six more title fights, as well as some blockbuster matchups such as Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler, Jorge Masvidal vs. Leon Edwards, Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez and Paulo Costa