MMA

Open Extended Reactions The UFC was busy announcing big fights Wednesday night, unveiling the main and co-main events for both UFC 314 in April and UFC 315 in May. The fight bookings, which CEO Dana White announced on Instagram Live, answered many lingering questions and raised new questions. With former champion Alexander Volkanovski set to

Open Extended Reactions Two championships will be on the line when the UFC heads to Montreal on May 10. Belal Muhammad (24-3) will defend the welterweight championship against Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) in the main event of UFC 315, and women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will put her title on the line against Manon Fiorot

Open Extended Reactions There will be a new featherweight champion at UFC 314. UFC CEO Dana White announced on Instagram Live that Alexander Volkanovski (26-4) will look to become a two-time featherweight champion when he faces Diego Lopes (26-6) in the main event of the fight card at the Kaseya Center in Miami on April

Brett OkamotoFeb 19, 2025, 01:34 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Aaron Pico says he will never fight for the PFL again, even if it means sitting out an entire year. Pico (13-4) is currently a free agent and has made

Brett OkamotoFeb 17, 2025, 03:49 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Conor McGregor is appealing the verdict found against him in a sexual assault lawsuit in Dublin last year. According to the BBC, McGregor filed the appeal Friday. A jury found the UFC star

Brett OkamotoFeb 15, 2025, 09:55 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Jared Cannonier saved his night — and possibly his career — with an inspiring comeback victory Saturday in the middleweight main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Cannonier

Feb 12, 2025, 10:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, upset with his longtime coach’s public criticism of his performance at UFC 312, said Wednesday that Eric Nicksick will “probably not” be back in his corner again. In a lengthy video posted on social media, Strickland said he felt compelled

Brett OkamotoFeb 10, 2025, 09:00 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Zhang Weili and Dricus Du Plessis made competing at the highest level of MMA look easy at UFC 312, as they turned the last two fights of the night into

Brett OkamotoFeb 9, 2025, 01:35 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Dricus Du Plessis already had a win over Sean Strickland going into UFC 312. What he wanted was an exclamation point over him — and that’s what he got. Du

Open Extended Reactions Zhang Weili successfully retained her women’s strawweight championship by dominating previously unbeaten Tatiana Suarez with a unanimous decision win in the co-main event of UFC 312 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday. Fighting out of Beijing, Zhang (26-3) has demonstrated her dominance over the strawweight division during her second run

Feb 9, 2025, 02:20 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Dricus Du Plessis did it again, defeating Sean Strickland a second time, but this time he dominated to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 312 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday. Du Plessis is 9-0 in the UFC and hasn’t lost a fight since

Open Extended Reactions UFC pay-per-view action returns on Saturday night as middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and strawweight champion Zhang Weili put their titles on the line at UFC 312. Du Plessis will face Sean Strickland in the main event, a rematch of their January 2024 title fight which Du Plessis won by split decision.

Leonard Solms Close Jack of all sporting trades. Author of my 11-year-old self’s fantasy story about his road to FIFA World Cup glory. Perfecting the art of writing about people who do what I said I was going to do. Feb 6, 2025, 05:55 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Ahead of his UFC 312 rematch

Sam BruceFeb 5, 2025, 05:49 PM ET Close Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPN after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage. Open Extended Reactions Alexander Volkanovski

Brett OkamotoFeb 6, 2025, 07:51 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Dominick Cruz, one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, announced his retirement from the sport on Thursday via social media. Cruz, 39, was scheduled for one final

Brett OkamotoFeb 5, 2025, 07:54 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions When Tatiana Suarez challenges Zhang Weili for the UFC strawweight championship Saturday, one thing she won’t lack is self-belief. Because if Suarez did not truly believe she was the best

Sam BruceFeb 4, 2025, 05:06 PM ET Close Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPN after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage. Open Extended Reactions The last

Brett OkamotoFeb 3, 2025, 09:00 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions In MMA, like other sports, a champion is continually facing pressure to succeed. External pressure from the organization, the media and especially fans. And self-imposed pressure to disprove doubters and