3:57 PM ET The UFC has arrived at its final event of the year — and despite all the challenges of 2020, the promotion is closing out its schedule on a high note. UFC Fight Night on Saturday from the Apex facility in Las Vegas will feature 10 fighters ranked inside the top 10 of
MMA
2:32 PM ET The UFC is finalizing an important bantamweight fight for early 2021, as Cory Sandhagen and Frankie Edgar have verbally agreed to meet on Feb. 6, sources told ESPN on Friday. The fight represents a meeting between two of the best 135-pounders in the world. Sandhagen (13-2) is coming off a second-round TKO
8:50 AM ET The UFC’s final event of 2020, which takes place Saturday in Las Vegas, was originally supposed to feature one of the scariest unranked welterweights on the planet against an established, veteran opponent. Well, even though the main event did change, the storyline around it remained the same. Two-time 170-pound title challenger Stephen
11:10 PM ET Two fights from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas have been canceled after positive coronavirus tests, the UFC announced on Thursday. Another bout has been changed this week for an undisclosed reason. On Thursday, Aiemann Zahabi announced on social media that he tested positive for COVID-19 prior to flying to
9:18 AM ET Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is no stranger to UFC main events, but there is one role the two-time welterweight challenger doesn’t want to get accustomed to: gatekeeper. Thompson faces Geoff Neal in Saturday’s Fight Night headliner in Las Vegas, and it’s the second time in a row Thompson, 37, will be fighting a
11:45 AM ET Yoel Romero said his release from the UFC was “completely unexpected,” explaining that he was training with the hope that he would be one or two wins from another title shot. Instead, Romero will now work toward getting a shot at a Bellator title, and he said there’s a “huge possibility” his
4:52 PM ET UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili‘s next fight is still up in the air. Most expected Zhang to fight former 115-pound champion Rose Namajunas in 2021, but UFC president Dana White recently told BT Sport that fight wasn’t finalized. “What I’m hearing is Rose does not want a title shot,” White said. “Rose
5:54 AM ET Paul Gallen has overcome former UFC star Mark Hunt in a high-quality heavyweight fight at Bankwest Stadium. The NRL legend earned a unanimous points decision to stay undefeated as a professional boxer, before calling out former UFC middleweight champion Rob Whittaker. Australian users can personalise their ESPN experience by downloading the app.
7:48 AM ET Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is no stranger to UFC main events, but there is one role the two-time welterweight challenger doesn’t want to get accustomed to: gatekeeper. Thompson faces Geoff Neal in Saturday’s Fight Night headliner in Las Vegas, and it’s the second time in a row Thompson, 37, will be fighting a
1:35 PM ET Philip Mulpeter posted bad news Friday on Instagram. The gym he owns, SBG Portarlington in County Laois, Ireland, would have to close its doors due to financial concerns brought upon by COVID-19 lockdowns in the country. “We’ve had three lockdowns now, and I think after each lockdown it’s hard to get the
10:37 PM ET Approximately 24 hours before UFC flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo defended his belt in a vicious fight-of-the-year candidate Saturday night, he was so sick, his manager didn’t think he would be able to fight at all. Figueiredo had stomach issues that sent him to the hospital on two different occasions Friday, the day
11:41 AM ET Yoel Romero, the former multiple-time UFC title challenger, has agreed to a new multifight deal with Bellator, sources told ESPN. Romero is expected to sign his new deal imminently. The deal comes less than two weeks after the UFC released the Cuban-born fighter after more than seven years in the promotion. Initially,
8:00 AM ET Deiveson Figueiredo put in the work as 2020 wound down, and it has elevated him in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings — a small boost with huge symbolic significance. Figueiredo, who became UFC men’s flyweight champion in July with a choke-out victory over longtime contender Joseph Benavidez, defended his belt on Nov. 21 and
7:45 AM ET Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway says he’s moved on from a controversial decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in July — but he has not moved on from Volkanovski himself. Holloway (21-6) lost his 145-pound championship to Volkanovski (20-1) in a five-round decision at UFC 245 in 2019, and was granted an
2:39 AM ET Earlier this week, I called Saturday’s fight against Charles Oliveira a crossroads moment for Tony Ferguson. Ferguson’s loyal fan base didn’t like that label. They felt it was too harsh. After all, he had just won 12 fights in a row before losing to Justin Gaethje in May, they said. How could
2:42 AM ET ESPN’s panel of Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Phil Murphy breaks down the biggest stories coming out of UFC 256, including who’s next for Deiveson Figueiredo after the majority draw with Brandon Moreno, and the rise of Kevin Holland. Okamoto: Who’s next after UFC 256? Deiveson Figueiredo, flyweight champion Who should be
1:48 AM ET The UFC flyweight division was on the verge of elimination as recently as 11 months ago. Now, it might have just produced the best MMA fight of 2020. In one of the best fights of the year, Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno fought to a majority draw (47-46, 47-47, 47-47) in a
5:52 PM ET The plaintiffs in the long-running antitrust lawsuit against the UFC have earned a victory. Judge Richard Boulware of the United States District Court in Nevada granted the plaintiffs class certification on a status conference call Thursday, opening the door for nearly 1,200 fighters to be included in what will now be considered