MMA

9:16 AM ET JULIANNA PEÑA IS one of the youngest members of a long line of Peña family members who are unbothered by judgment or criticism. Her father, Ernie, left a small agricultural village in Venezuela when he was 12 in search of better opportunities. He eventually emigrated to the U.S. through a scholarship program

10:45 AM ET The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) has passed a pair of MMA rule changes, including one that could make a major impact in fights. On Wednesday at its annual conference, the ABC approved a rule that would give fighters on the receiving end of an eye poke five minutes

7:13 AM ET KAI KARA-FRANCE WAS staying at the SO/Auckland hotel in New Zealand in the fall of 2020. The New Zealander had to quarantine there for two weeks after returning from UFC 253 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. That was the reality for fighters from Australia and New Zealand for much

9:22 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Dana White’s Contender Series swaggered onto the scene five years ago dangling in front of fight fans a tantalizing promise. It was right there in the show’s name. This on-ramp for developing UFC talent wasn’t simply assuring MMA followers of an influx of new names for the prelims. No, the

6:35 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi What were the biggest moments at UFC Fight Night in London? Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi offer up their takeaways from an action-packed event in England. What does the UFC

6:24 PM ET LONDON — The UFC has hit a bad streak of luck as of late, with a second consecutive main event ruined on Saturday by freak injury. A highly anticipated heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall ended just 15 seconds into the first round, when Aspinall suffered a right knee injury.

11:59 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 LONDON — The UFC is back in England for the second time this year with a UFC Fight Night card on Saturday inside the O2 Arena. The promotion went three

8:10 AM ET Sometimes you can’t change the channel. It could be the two-way greatness of Shohei Ohtani in baseball, the long-range excellence of Stephen Curry in basketball or the overwhelming power and quickness of Aaron Donald in football. It becomes hard to look away if they’re on your television screen. But who are those

1:31 PM ET Two of the top women’s strawweight fighters in the world have been added to one of the UFC’s deepest cards of the year. Marina Rodriguez will take on Amanda Lemos at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. The winner of the

8:57 PM ET The UFC is moving a bantamweight title fight between defending champion Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw to the co-main event slot of UFC 280 on Oct. 22, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 279 on Sept. 10, but the promotion elected to move it to the

8:45 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a lightweight bout between Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot for October. The 155-pound fight will take place on the Oct. 22 UFC 280 pay-per-view event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, officials told ESPN on Wednesday. Dariush (21-4-1) has been trying to figure out his

3:30 PM ET Sean O’Malley is taking a major step up in his next fight, announcing to ESPN’s Ryan Clark on Wednesday that he’ll be facing former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. O’Malley (15-1 1 NC), one of the sport’s most talented prospects, fought

8:25 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN Chris Curtis dreamed about fighting inside the Octagon for over a decade as a professional mixed martial artist. Now that his UFC debut was happening, though, it was turning nightmarish. He was in a UFC 268 prelim last November in New York, and Curtis was getting beaten to the punch

3:20 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a welterweight fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz to headline UFC 279 on Sept. 10, UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN on Tuesday. Contracts have not been signed, but both fighters have verbally agreed to the matchup and date according to Campbell. UFC 279 will

4:24 PM ET Henry Cejudo’s ultimate goal — and one of the main reasons he is coming out of retirement — is to challenge for the UFC featherweight title. But it’s more likely Cejudo returns initially at bantamweight. Cejudo told ESPN in an interview published Tuesday that he wants to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the

9:00 AM ET The Professional Fighters League playoffs are set to commence on Aug. 5 in New York City with semifinals in the light heavyweight and men’s lightweight divisions. From there, the playoffs will visit Cardiff, Wales, on Aug. 13 (featuring heavyweights and welterweights) and London on Aug. 20 (featherweights, women’s lightweights) before wrapping up

9:11 AM ET Nate Diaz is the kind of guy who makes more headlines from doing an interview than most fighters get for competing in the cage. He’s one of the most famous athletes in the history of the UFC and remains relevant in any MMA conversation despite having just one win since 2016. Diaz

8:19 AM ET Frankie Edgar, one of the best mixed martial artists of the last decade, says he intends to retire after making one final appearance in the UFC this year. Edgar told ESPN he has asked the UFC to book him one more bantamweight fight in November, on an event expected to take place