MMA

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 18, 2024, 10:07 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Lerone Murphy will find a number next to his name in the UFC rankings on Monday after he dominated Edson Barboza for a unanimous decision in Saturday’s main event of UFC Vegas 92 at the UFC Apex. Murphy (14-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) was explosive

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 18, 2024, 08:17 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Khalil Rountree is out of his UFC 303 co-main event fight with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill. According to Rountree, he unintentionally took a banned substance and immediately took it upon himself to report it Senior Vice President of Anti-doping compliance, Jeff

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 17, 2024, 05:54 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Patchy Mix recorded the first defense of his Bellator MMA bantamweight championship on Friday, in a much tougher fight than most anticipated. Mix (20-1) defeated Magomed Magomedov

May 16, 2024, 12:47 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The UFC will put two titles up for grabs in the form of rematches as the promotion returns to Manchester, England, in July for UFC 304. Leon Edwards, ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings, will defend his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad, ESPN’s No. 3-ranked

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 16, 2024, 12:47 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions The UFC has booked a pair of title fights to headline its first trip to Manchester, England, since 2016. Welterweight champion Leon Edwards will seek his third

ESPN May 14, 2024, 01:12 PM ET Email Print Open Extended Reactions Edson Barboza meets undefeated Lerone Murphy in the featherweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex are on ESPN+, with the 7 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 4 p.m. Barboza (24-11)

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 15, 2024, 11:06 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions UFC middleweight Michel Pereira has joined the ongoing efforts to assist those affected by severe floods in Brazil this week, less than two weeks after celebrating his

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 15, 2024, 09:02 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Former UFC welterweight title contender Darren Till will be the latest to make the jump from MMA to boxing when he steps into the ring for his professional boxing debut against former WBC world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the undercard of

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNMay 15, 2024, 08:27 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Patchy Mix is not shy about telling you he’s the greatest bantamweight fighter in all of mixed martial arts. He fits it into a conversation repeatedly, saying it as matter of factly as one can speak such a superlative. At the same time, Mix

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 13, 2024, 02:20 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal’s upcoming encounter inside a boxing ring has a new date and venue. Diaz vs. Masvidal, originally slated for June 1 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, will now relocate to the Honda Center in Anaheim and take place

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 7, 2024, 12:12 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Conor McGregor and Sean O’Malley have shown a mutual respect and even admiration for each other for years — but those days appear to be over. Editor’s

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterMay 11, 2024, 06:43 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions It’s hard to remain unbeaten in mixed martial arts, especially once a fighter has reached a major promotion. This weekend’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas will

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 11, 2024, 10:42 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Derrick Lewis extended his lead as the all-time knockout leader of the UFC’s heavyweight division with a third-round TKO of Rodrigo Nascimento in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis And in true Derrick Lewis fashion, after

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 10, 2024, 07:57 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It would be lazy to simplify Derrick Lewis‘ journey to the UFC as the clichéd tale of the Black kid who had to fight his way out of the impoverished confines of New Orleans to escape the fate of incarceration or an early grave.

Ryan HockensmithMay 9, 2024, 01:01 PM ET Close Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 9, 2024, 05:25 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has made it clear that he wants to face former champion Stipe Miocic next and has dismissed a unification bout with interim champion Tom Aspinall. “I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision,” Jones said on X. “Stick

Andreas Hale, ESPNMay 8, 2024, 01:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is willing to do whatever it takes to land a fight with Conor McGregor in what could be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. O’Malley appeared on Bradley Martyn’s “Raw Talk” podcast and revealed that he would

Mike Coppinger, ESPNMay 7, 2024, 09:06 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced Tuesday the signing of a “strategic agreement” between Riyadh Season and the UFC that extends their partnership. Alalshikh told ESPN there are plans to stage a major UFC event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,