MMA

2:00 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Chuck Liddell. Randy Couture. Tito Ortiz. “Rampage” Jackson. Daniel Cormier. Jon Jones. The UFC light heavyweight division has been home to some of the biggest stars and best fighters in

2:27 AM ET UFC will not have a light heavyweight champion to close 2022. But the promotion is not wasting any time in trying to crown a titleholder. Following a split draw in a vacant light heavyweight title bout Saturday night at UFC 282, former champion Glover Teixeira will face Jamahal Hill for the belt

Dec 10, 2022 Jeff Wagenheim Raul Rosas Jr., who turned 18 years old just two months ago, became the youngest fighter ever to compete in the UFC on Saturday night, and his performance was dominant in a first-round submission of veteran bantamweight Jay Perrin during the prelims of UFC 282 at T-Mobile Arena in Las

12:59 AM ET Paddy Pimblett was the most talked about fighter on the card. The most talked about thing coming out of the card might be the decision in his fight. “The Baddy,” one of the UFC’s top rising stars, squeaked out a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Gordon in the co-main event of

12:29 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Raufeon Stots fought and then he sang. After the split decision was read on Friday night and Stots was declared the winner of a Bellator 289 main event that had a fiery leadup littered with trash talk, Danny Sabatello stormed out of the cage, whereupon Stots grabbed his interviewer’s microphone

6:57 PM ET Kevin Holland isn’t the only one with an injured hand after a hard-fought UFC Fight Night main event last week. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson wrote Friday on Twitter that he broke the second and third metacarpals in his left hand in the bout against Holland. Thompson won via TKO after the fourth round

9:05 PM ET Fight fixing is now a “huge concern” for the UFC amid several investigations into suspicious betting activity around a bout last month, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. A Nov. 5 UFC fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke is under scrutiny after a dramatic betting line movement in the hours before

2:08 PM ET Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis reinstated betting on the UFC on Friday, a week after ordering the province’s sportsbook to cease offering wagering on the promotion while an investigation into coach James Krause was conducted. “With the recent announcement by the UFC that Krause, his managers and fighters will not be permitted

9:00 AM ET There is a constant debate in MMA about when fighters may enter their prime. Some people believe it’s the late 20s. Others feel it’s early- to mid-30s. But none of that stops fans from looking for the best up-and-coming talent to follow, and, ultimately, see where they land. ESPN’s fourth annual ranking

4:46 AM ET London’s O2 Arena will host UFC 286 on March 18, the MMA promotion confirmed on Wednesday. It will be UFC’s third event to be held in London inside 12 months but only the second numbered event in history to the held in the UK. Its last installment was in 2016 as Michael

4:01 PM ET UFC star Israel Adesanya is likely to be cleared of charges after he was arrested last month in New York for possession of a weapon. The former UFC middleweight champion was given an “adjournment in contemplation of dismissal” Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. That means

8:51 AM ET Paddy Pimblett made his UFC debut in September 2021. Two months later, the MMA prospect out of England traveled to the United States. Pimblett was accosted for photos in places like Times Square in New York and Yard House restaurant in San Diego. Fast-forward a little more than a year, and “The

10:12 PM ET Kayla Harrison‘s plans for the next year and beyond are very much up in the air. The two-time former PFL women’s lightweight champion told ESPN she is not sure what her next move will be, but her top priority is a rematch with Larissa Pacheco, who handed Harrison her first career loss

Dec 5, 2022 ONE Championship is making its debut in the United States with one of the biggest fights the promotion can put on. All-time MMA great Demetrious Johnson will defend his ONE 135-pound title against Adriano Moraes in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 10 on May 5 in Broomfield, Colorado, the

2:09 PM ET James Krause, the MMA coach at the center of a UFC betting controversy, is barred from attending or cornering any fighters at the Fighting Alliance Championship event on Friday in Independence, Missouri, sources told ESPN. Krause-trained fighters Gauge Young, Gina Mazany and Alexa Culp are on the card for FAC 17. The

8:28 PM ET TJ Dillashaw, one of the top bantamweight fighters in the history of MMA, has retired from the UFC, Dillashaw’s agent Tiki Ghosn confirmed to ESPN on Monday. Dillashaw, a former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, went into his title challenge against bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 in October with a bad

2:24 PM ET Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler has been forced to withdraw from a bout against Santiago Ponzinibbio on Saturday due to an undisclosed injury, sources told ESPN. According to sources, the UFC is working on finding a potential replacement for Ponzinibbio (28-6). The 170-pound contest was scheduled to take place on the

9:19 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim “There’s an enticing aura of unpredictability surrounding the main event of UFC 282.” That was the opening line in my original draft of this story. I wrote it shortly before Thanksgiving, figuring I’d smartly get a jump on assessing the final Octagon pay-per-view of the year. Who knew the unpredictability