MMA

7:15 AM ET On the eve of the UFC’s return to action with its first card of 2022, and a stretch of fights that will in many ways shape the rest of the year, there is potential and excitement in the air throughout the MMA world. But when the dust settles at the end of

4:09 PM ET A welterweight grudge match between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington will headline UFC 272 on March 5, UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN on Tuesday. Contracts have not been signed for the 170-pound scrap, but the bout is nearly finalized, per Campbell. The UFC 272 pay-per-view will take place at

7:30 AM ET Mixed martial arts is an ever-evolving, rapidly changing sport. And yes, the only thing we enjoy more than looking back on a night of fights is looking ahead to the next one. The same goes for the impulse to look ahead to the calendar year to come. Last year was awesome. We

1:30 PM ET Former UFC champion Max Holloway will not be able to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title in March after aggravating a prior injury Thursday, sources told ESPN. The setback occurred just days after Holloway, 30, accepted a trilogy bout against Volkanovski that was slated to headline UFC 272 on March 5

1:13 PM ET The UFC is booking a heavyweight contest between Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa for its pay-per-view event next month, officials confirmed to ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the promotion is close to finalizing the matchup for UFC 271 on Feb. 12 in Houston. Lewis (26-8) is a former two-time title

2:09 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a five-round main event between former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos and rising contender Rafael Fiziev for Feb. 19, multiple sources told ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but both sides have agreed to the matchup. The 155-pound contest will headline the UFC Fight Night event in Las

4:17 PM ET Bellator has penned a deal with a controversial former college wrestling standout. Earlier this week, Bellator signed Pat Downey III, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, to a contract, the promotion confirmed with ESPN on Friday. Downey, 29, has yet to make his MMA debut. He will compete in Bellator’s middleweight

12:31 PM ET Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, the two baddest men in combat sports, have plenty of options for big fights in 2022 — but that’s not stopping them from eyeing each other. In a social media post on Thursday, Fury, the WBC’s heavyweight champion in boxing, expressed interest in fighting Ngannou, the UFC’s

7:49 AM ET Do you feel that? That, my friends, is the feeling of a brand new calendar year of MMA. A year in which anything seems possible. It’s time to dream big for 2022. We’ve got a fresh slate. The table is set for some incredible fights, breakthrough performances and stories that will go

6:13 PM ET Two long-standing championship rivalries will be settled at UFC 272 in March, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Wednesday. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will meet Max Holloway in a highly anticipated trilogy bout, while bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will look to unify his title against interim champ Petr Yan. Contracts have

7:46 AM ET The next 12 months could be some of the most interesting in MMA history. Conor McGregor is set to return from a broken leg. Jon Jones, who hasn’t fought since February 2020, could finally get a heavyweight title shot. Kamaru Usman is closing in on Anderson Silva‘s record of 16 straight UFC

8:28 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim The shiny brass-and-leather belts worn by UFC champions do not merely signify achievement and ascendance. For the select few fighters who earn them, these esteemed titles can bestow an aura of invincibility. Yet nothing is forever. Among the 12 weight classes in the UFC, seven fighters now wear championship belts

4:38 PM ET The UFC has booked a flyweight matchup between Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France to a UFC Fight Night on March 26, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday. The 125-pound contest will likely produce the UFC’s next flyweight title challenger, although the promotion has not officially made that distinction. The UFC has also

8:00 AM ET Every year in every sport brings ups and downs, memorable performances, the emergence of new stars. In mixed martial arts, the leading fight promotion, the UFC, has eight weight classes for men and four for women and ran 43 fight cards in 2021, making plenty of room available onstage for athletes to

Dec 12, 2021 Jeff Wagenheim Julianna Peña believed. She might have been the only one. Peña entered Saturday night’s UFC 269 co-main event as a 6½-to-1 betting underdog against Amanda Nunes, and who could argue with that? She was up against the greatest fighter in the history of women’s MMA, and a two-division champion. Amanda

1:48 PM ET USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner, has suspended fighter Michel Prazeres four years because of a second doping violation, the agency announced Thursday. According to a USADA press release, Prazeres tested positive for multiple prohibited substances: anti-estrogen agent clomiphene, metabolites of the steroid oxandrolone and the exogenous administration of testosterone “and/or its precursors.”

8:00 AM ET Since it first opened its doors in 1999, Staples Center has played host to seven NBA Finals, five WNBA Finals, four UFC pay-per-view cards, two Stanley Cup Finals and countless championship boxing matches. It was the home of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament for a decade and has seen multiple All-Star games

2:08 AM ET UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans is returning from retirement — and now his opponent is set. Evans, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, will face Gabriel Checco on the Eagle FC United States debut card Jan. 28 in Miami, sources told ESPN on Wednesday night. Eagle FC is the MMA promotion