MMA

3:04 PM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Liz Carmouche will defend her Bellator MMA women’s flyweight championship against DeAnna Bennett in the main event of Bellator 294 on April 21, part of the fight promotion’s two-night visit to Honolulu, Bellator announced Wednesday. Carmouche (18-7) won the title last April with a TKO of Juliana Velasquez, then submitted

8:00 AM ET Four weeks after she scored a dominant top-10 win, former strawweight champion and onetime women’s flyweight title challenger Jessica Andrade is back this weekend, taking on rising prospect Erin Blanchfield in a short-notice booking at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at the UFC Apex are on ESPN+,

9:24 AM ET Following one of the more dramatic fights the sport of MMA has seen, there are still plenty of unanswered questions after an instant classic over the weekend at UFC 284 between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC lightweight title and the pound-for-pound crown. Who or what stole that show in

1:39 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Everything was different this time. Islam Makhachev successfully defended his UFC lightweight championship Saturday night in a performance that did not at all resemble the victory last October that earned him the belt. On this night, Makhachev mostly stood and traded punches to win his superfight against featherweight champ Alexander

11:57 PM ET Yair Rodriguez is the UFC’s interim featherweight champion following a masterful finish over Josh Emmett at UFC 284. Rodriguez (15-3) submitted Emmett via triangle choke at 4 minutes, 19 seconds of the second round. The 145-pound bout co-headlined UFC 284, which took place on Sunday morning local time at RAC Arena. The

Feb 11, 2023 Jens Pulver will be inducted into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame later this year, the promotion announced Saturday. Pulver, 48, became the UFC’s first lightweight champion in February 2001, when he defeated Caol Uno at UFC 30 in Atlantic City. Nicknamed “Lil Evil,” he went on to defend

2:00 AM ET What were the biggest moments from UFC 284 in Perth, Australia? Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Sam Bruce offer up their final thoughts after the 12-fight card from Down Under. Now an interim champ, Rodriguez’s growth as a fighter is clear Yair Rodriguez might be the most exciting fighter on the UFC

7:08 PM ET Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade will fill in for Taila Santos in the UFC Fight Night main event Feb. 18 in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Saturday. Andrade will face top prospect Erin Blanchfield in a women’s flyweight contender bout. Santos’ cornermen, including her husband, Pedro Barbosa, were denied visas

8:08 AM ET Alexander Volkanovski Alexander Volkanovski is ranked by ESPN as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He’s never lost in the UFC, compiling an impressive 12-0 record since his 2016 debut. The Australian has won 22 straight fights and owns four successful title defenses as the UFC featherweight champion. Yet, despite all

4:58 PM ET The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC), the organization that oversees athletic commissions in North America and beyond, is going to be giving fighters a seat at the table for the first time. The ABC is starting an athlete’s voice committee, which will have seven retired fighters as members, to

8:14 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN When an athlete wins a championship, those watching from the stands tend to view the achievement as an arrival at the ultimate destination. Some champions themselves even see it that way. They’ve elevated themselves above the masses, and their reign on higher ground is what will define their legacy. But

Feb 6, 2023 Over three years since 57,127 fans crammed into Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, the UFC is officially finally back in Australia. Perth’s RAC Arena will on Sunday host UFC 284, headlined by the lightweight title fight between the champion Islam Makhachev and the challenger, Australia’s own Alexander Volkanovski. Will Volkanovski join rarefied company and

12:11 PM ET Sean O’Malley, one of the UFC’s top rising stars, confirmed Friday on his YouTube page that he has signed an eight-fight contract extension with the promotion. The top bantamweight contender didn’t disclose financial details of the deal, but said he negotiated without a manager and felt the UFC gave him the compensation

8:18 AM ET The UFC is will open its third Performance Institute training facility later this year, and the location will be in Mexico City, promotion officials told ESPN. The building is targeted to open in the fourth quarter of 2023. Currently, the UFC has Performance Institutes in Las Vegas and Shanghai, China. While the

8:33 PM ET Kevin Lee is heading back to the UFC, the former lightweight title challenger told ESPN on Monday. Lee, 30, says he has agreed to an exclusive deal with the UFC, a little more than one year after the promotion released him of his contract. Lee has not booked his return to the

3:23 PM ET Jorge Masvidal, one of the UFC’s biggest stars, has put together a boxing card with some legendary combat sports names. Boxing icon Roy Jones Jr. and former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will compete in a pro boxing match April 1 in Pettis’ hometown of Milwaukee, Masvidal confirmed Monday with ESPN. The

8:35 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Rankings are opinions. Opinions are debatable. Except for this one: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski is the No. 1 fight to watch at this weekend’s UFC 284. There’s simply no other way to stack up the event in Perth, Australia. Makhachev, 23-1 and a winner of his past 21 fights,

2:00 PM ET Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic there was one constant question that plagued Australian MMA fans: When will the UFC return Down Under? This Sunday morning [AEDT], after more than 1,220 days that have come and gone, the Octagon will once again take centre stage on the Australian sporting consciousness when