MMA

8:18 AM ET It was Sept. 11, 2017, a beautiful day in the Cleveland suburb of Valley View, and fire chief Ken Papesh was anxiously awaiting a visitor. UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was headed to the firehouse to interview heavyweight champ — and part-time firefighter/paramedic — Stipe Miocic for the FS1 show “In

7:28 PM ET One of Ronda Rousey‘s top rivals is gone from the UFC. The UFC has released women’s bantamweight veteran Bethe Correia, promotion officials confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Correia famously fought Rousey in the UFC 190 main event on Aug. 1, 2015, in Brazil, but has only one win in her past five

1:36 PM ET Newly signed Bellator MMA light heavyweight Corey Anderson said a recent health scare and wisdom from two-time UFC champion Daniel Cormier were behind his recent promotional switch. Anderson (13-5) secured his release from UFC last week — despite two fights remaining on his contract — and immediately signed a deal with Bellator.

3:47 PM ET Paige VanZant has found a new home. The former UFC fighter says she has signed a new four-fight, exclusive contract with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Her debut for BKFC isn’t set yet, but the current plan is for her to compete in November. “It was an amazing contract, an amazing opportunity,” VanZant

6:53 AM ET Editor’s note: When Daniel Cormier walks to the Octagon on Saturday to challenge heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 252, the MMA world will be viewing it through the prism of historical significance. Cormier, 41, has said that this will be the last fight of his storied career,

7:48 AM ET Marcus Marinelli was leaning against the Octagon at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Aug. 17, 2019. His fighter, Stipe Miocic, was inside the cage, challenging Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight title. In the fourth round, with Cormier ahead on all the scorecards, Miocic landed a big body shot, followed by

4:13 PM ET Marcus Marinelli was leaning against the Octagon at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Aug. 17, 2019. His fighter, Stipe Miocic, was inside the cage, challenging Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight title. In the fourth round, with Cormier ahead on all the scorecards, Miocic landed a big body shot, followed by

10:50 AM ET Luke Rockhold has decided against calling it a career. The former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion told ESPN on Sunday he has decided to resume his MMA fighting career. This comes after he said in October that it was “very” possible he’d never fight again. “Because I felt like it,” Rockhold replied

2:18 PM ET UFC welterweight Geoff Neal is resting at his home in Dallas, following a recent health scare that forced him into an intensive care unit for seven days. Neal (13-2) was scheduled to face Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night on Aug. 29, but he announced his sudden withdrawal on social media on

7:29 AM ET The main event of UFC 252 is considered one of the most critical fights in the promotion’s history, with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic defending against former two-division champ Daniel Cormier on Saturday in Las Vegas. Cormier ended Miocic’s record run of three straight heavyweight title defenses in their first meeting in 2018,

11:18 PM ET Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler has agreed to replace surging contender Geoff Neal in a bout against Neil Magny later this month, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. Neal (13-2) was scheduled to face Magny (23-7) at UFC Fight Night on Aug. 29, but announced on social media on Sunday he had

12:24 AM ET Derrick Lewis found himself flat on his back late in the first round, deep in the grasp of submission specialist Aleksei Oleinik. Lewis survived the choke attempts, but he admitted that getting to the second round on Saturday night was dicey. “I couldn’t breathe at all,” Lewis said in the postfight interview.

12:00 AM ET Derrick Lewis is the UFC’s new heavyweight knockout king. “The Black Beast” stopped Aleksei Oleinik via TKO at :21 of the second round Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. With the stoppage, Lewis earned his record 11th UFC heavyweight KO/TKO, breaking a tie with former champions

5:05 PM ET The past few years have been unkind to Ray Borg. And now he no longer has an MMA contract on top of it all. The UFC has released Borg, a former title challenger, promotion officials confirmed Friday with ESPN. The news was first reported by MMA Fighting. A request for comment from

Aug 13, 2019 Editor’s note: This story was originally posted ahead of UFC 241 where Stipe Miocic defeated Daniel Cormier by TKO to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title. He faces Cormier at third time at UFC 252 on Aug. 15. VALLEY VIEW, OHIO — Stipe Miocic gets out of his Dodge Rebel pickup, opens the

5:14 PM ET One of the most popular fighters in the heavyweight division has a chance to get closer to another title shot. Derrick Lewis meets Aleksei Oleinik in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas in a battle of two streaking contenders. The bout will take place at the

12:40 AM ET For a mixed martial arts fighter, there’s no better way to go into free agency than with a big knockout. And that’s exactly what Michael Chandler did. In the final fight on his Bellator contract, Chandler stopped former UFC champ Benson Henderson with a left-hand KO at 2:09 of the first round

12:22 PM ET UFC has booked a pair of flyweight championship fights for its UFC 255 pay-per-view event on Nov. 21, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Friday. Men’s flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo will take on former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt, and women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will seek her fourth title defense against