MMA

8:39 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi LONDON — After his submission victory in the main event of the UFC Fight Night card Saturday, Tom Aspinall told me he was pacing himself against Alexander Volkov, because of

7:01 PM ET LONDON — English heavyweight Tom Aspinall has said, respectfully, no one outside of the Top 10 of his division is capable of giving him a challenge. Well, he faced the UFC’s No. 6-ranked heavyweight on Saturday at the O2 in Alexander Volkov. And it looked as easy as any fight in Aspinall’s

3:09 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi LONDON — The UFC is back in the United Kingdom for the first time since March 2019, with a main card featuring plenty of the region’s most promising talent. In

3:03 PM ET Conor McGregor has his eye on a third UFC championship, and the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, in his eventual return to the Octagon. McGregor (22-6) hasn’t fought since he suffered a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 last July. The fight ended in the first round, when

6:00 PM ET Former NFL standout Greg Hardy fought out his UFC contract earlier this month, and now his departure from the promotion is official. UFC officials confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that Hardy has been removed from the promotion’s internal roster, an indication that he is unlikely to be re-signed. Hardy, a former NFL

9:53 PM ET The next UFC women’s strawweight title fight will be the same as the inaugural one. Rose Namajunas will defend her belt against Carla Esparza in the co-main event of UFC 274 on May 7 in Phoenix, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Esparza beat Namajunas via third-round

9:00 AM ET Tom Aspinall is a young star in the making in the UFC’s heavyweight division. At age 28, he is 4-0 in the Octagon, 11-2 overall in his MMA career. On Saturday, the fighter from Manchester, England, who now fights out of Liverpool, will be competing on home turf when he headlines UFC

8:46 PM ET UFC fighter Kevin Holland says he helped apprehend a man who shot a gun off at a Houston restaurant Monday night. Holland told ESPN on Tuesday that he was eating sushi with his friend, Patrick Robinson, when he heard a loud bang and saw people running away in fear. Holland said he

Jan 23, 2022 Dan Hooker says the chance for a fresh start and the opportunity to put himself back into the title mix are behind his move down to featherweight, which was officially rubber-stamped by the UFC on Monday. Hooker has been booked to fight Arnold Allen, ESPN’s 10th-ranked featherweight, for the UFC’s return to

8:29 PM ET UFC president Dana White and some of the best fighters in the world — like UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and retired former lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov — wrote letters in support of Cain Velasquez to the Santa Clara County (California) Superior Court last week. Velasquez is being charged with attempted murder

9:00 AM ET The UFC spotlight will fall on its heavyweights over the next two weeks, as four fighters from the division will headline the promotion’s next two events. On Saturday, England’s Tom Aspinall (11-2) will take on Alexander Volkov (34-9) in the main event of UFC Fight Night in London (1 p.m. ET on

11:07 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Magomed Ankalaev‘s game plan, a bit perplexing as the fight unfolded, finally made sense as he was being interviewed inside the Octagon after his unanimous-decision victory over Thiago Santos in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas. “I wanted to fight five rounds and see

10:13 PM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov put Dagestan MMA on the map, becoming one of the greatest lightweights in the sport’s history. Islam Makhachev is on the verge of earning his own UFC lightweight title shot. Soon enough, there could be another stalwart Dagestani fighter earning an opportunity at gold in the bigger weight divisions. Magomed

6:23 PM ET UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is scheduled to undergo knee surgery on March 18, according to his manager, Marquel Martin. Ngannou (17-3), 35, is wrapping up a trip in his native Cameroon this week and is scheduled to return to the U.S. for the procedure next week. He suffered a torn MCL

3:55 PM ET UFC announced Friday that a lightweight bout between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson is being set for UFC 274 on May 7 in Phoenix. Chandler and Ferguson have verbally agreed to the fight, but bout agreements have not been sent out and nothing has been signed, sources told ESPN. ESPN has Chandler

6:47 PM ET Paige VanZant just signed a professional wrestling contract to go along with her deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). But she has not closed any kind of doors on mixed martial arts, where she first made her name. VanZant told ESPN on Friday that she still plans to continue her MMA

7:56 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event is a light heavyweight bout between onetime title challenger Thiago Santos and rising contender Magomed Ankalaev. There is a lot of intrigue around this 205-pound matchup, as the division is wide open at the moment. Santos (22-9) is rebuilding from a rough stretch

8:35 PM ET The UFC is targeting a middleweight matchup between former champion Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori in June, officials told ESPN on Thursday. Contracts have not been signed, but the bout is close to being finalized for a UFC 275 pay-per-view on June 11. A location for the card has yet to be