MMA

5:00 PM ET Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson took to social media on Monday to ask the promotion to pay Dustin Poirier more money, so the two can fight on Oct. 24. The UFC was targeting a 155-pound matchup between Ferguson (25-4) and Poirier (26-6), also a former interim champion, as its co-main

8:47 AM ET If Colby Covington is able to get by Tyron Woodley in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event, he’ll be calling for another shot at the welterweight title. But would he deserve it? Kamaru Usman defended his title by stopping Covington — who argued the fight shouldn’t have been stopped — in the

11:59 PM ET Michelle Waterson‘s dream of becoming the first UFC champion who is also a mother is still alive. Snapping a two-fight losing streak, Waterson gutted out a split-decision (48-47, 46-49, 48-47) win over Angela Hill in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Waterson was able to rally

1:19 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim A Bellator star was born Saturday night. And another walked off into the sunset. Juan Archuleta, who has toiled mostly under the radar during a run of success that extends back half a decade, scored his highest-profile victory in the main event of Bellator 246, defeating previously unbeaten Patchy Mix

4:02 PM ET Conor McGregor‘s representatives reacted angrily to a report that the UFC star has been arrested and accused of sexual assault while on a trip to Italy. On Saturday, the Agence France Press reported that a complaint was filed Thursday against McGregor in Corsica for alleged attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibitionism. The

12:42 AM ET Saturday’s Michelle Waterson vs. Angela Hill bout wasn’t originally scheduled to be the Fight Night main event, but a positive COVID test scrapped the original headliner and pushed the strawweight fight to the top spot. And it delivered. The veterans put on a five-round slugfest that saw Waterson earn a split-decision win

4:20 PM ET Ottman Azaitar has put the UFC’s lightweight division on notice, with a pair of first-round finishes in his first two fights. Azaitar (13-0) stunned 33-year-old veteran Khama Worthy (16-7) with a TKO finish just 93 seconds into their 155-pound contest on Saturday. The bout co-headlined UFC Fight Night, inside the UFC’s Apex

12:52 PM ET Former UFC fighter Artem Lobov is returning to MMA. The 34-year-old Lobov (13-15-1, 1 NC) signed a one-fight deal with European-based Arena Fight Championship to fight on their Dec. 12 card in Marseille, France. Lobov will fight Ylies Drijoun (17-6). A fan favorite due to his fighting style and relationship with teammate

1:12 AM ET Phil Davis defeated Lyoto Machida in a light heavyweight rematch via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) on Friday night in the main event of Bellator 245 at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun. The victory put Davis on the short list of potential first title defenses for new Bellator 205-pound champion Vadim Nemkov. The most

2:44 PM ET Cris Cyborg is back, and her first Bellator title defense will ring in the promotion’s debut on a new network. Cyborg will put her Bellator women’s featherweight title on the line against Arlene Blencowe on Oct. 15 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, promotion officials announced Friday. The card will air in

7:24 AM ET Angela Hill is still quite certain she did enough to beat Claudia Gadelha in a controversial split-decision loss to the former strawweight title challenger in May. But afterward, Hill trained as though she had lost — and therein lies the silver lining. Hill (12-8, 7-8 in the UFC) will face Michelle Waterson

5:18 PM ET Next month’s highly anticipated fight between Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson isn’t happening anymore, according to Poirier. “UFC and I didn’t come to terms,” Poirier told ESPN. “I will not be fighting on Oct. 24.” Poirier recently traveled from his home in Lafayette, Louisiana, to South Florida to begin his training camp

7:26 PM ET In 2014, UFC strawweight Angela Hill became the first Black American woman to sign with the promotion, and on Saturday, she’ll become the first to headline a card when she faces Michelle Waterson in a Fight Night main event. Hill’s fight was originally scheduled to be the co-main event until Glover Teixeira

12:56 PM ET Bellator is back with a doubleheader this weekend — two cards on two straight nights at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Bellator 245 is Friday night, headlined by a rematch between former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and former Bellator light heavyweight champion Phil Davis. In the co-main event, former

5:23 PM ET The UFC wants to book a highly anticipated fight between Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson on Oct. 24, but it isn’t a done deal just yet. “I’m in,” Poirier told ESPN on Wednesday. “… I just need to be compensated if they want this fight. Simple as that.” Ferguson has verbally agreed

9:07 AM ET The recipe for making it to the top of the sport is no secret: Win your fights. But that doesn’t always get a fighter where he or she wants to be, because there can be a traffic jam ahead in the rankings. Sometimes you just have to wait for others to fall

10:28 AM ET Francis Ngannou has taken over the No. 2 spot in ESPN’s heavyweight rankings, thanks to the recent retirement of former UFC champion Daniel Cormier. At light heavyweight, Dominick Reyes has grabbed the second spot after the August defeat of ex-Bellator champ Ryan Bader. Those represent the highest level of flux in the

10:45 PM ET The UFC signed another four prospects on Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday, including a man who’s been flirting with a UFC appearance for more than four years. UFC president Dana White awarded contracts to middleweights Phil Hawes (8-2) and Aliaskhab Khizriev (13-0), bantamweight Drako Rodriguez (7-1) and light heavyweight Tafon Nchukwi