MMA

8:00 AM ET COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — Dustin Poirier was at a crossroads early in his career. It was May 2012, and he had just lost his first UFC main event to Chan Sung Jung. It was Poirier’s third UFC fight, and he was only 23 years old. But he felt like he needed a

2:08 PM ET Kai Kara-France has promised to make Cody Garbrandt feel the weight cut in the American’s UFC flyweight debut, as the New Zealander dreams of a shot at the title in 2022. The duo will face off in what promises to be one of the fights of the night at UFC 269, Kara-France

May 13, 2021 Editor’s note: This story was originally published ahead of Charles Oliveira’s title shot at UFC 262. He defeated Michael Chandler to win the UFC lightweight title. This story has been updated to reflect the new matchup against Dustin Poirier at UFC 269. UFC 269 headliner Charles Oliveira has come a long way

8:04 AM ET Like it or not, UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley is on the short list of potential stars in mixed martial arts. And for the record, there are plenty out there who do not like it. O’Malley (14-1) has been a polarizing figure since he signed with the UFC off Dana White’s Contender Series

2:10 PM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s MMA promotion has its first United States main event. Tyrone Spong and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will headline Eagle FC 44 on Jan. 28 in Miami, officials told ESPN on Monday. The three-round heavyweight bout will mark Spong’s return to MMA after eight years. Spong is a world-class kickboxer and an

8:00 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim UFC 269 is not just the promotion’s final pay-per-view event of 2021, it also is among the year’s best offerings. Wrap up Saturday night’s event in colorful paper and put a big, bright bow on this holiday season gift for fans. There are two championship fights — one of them

1:31 AM ET Jose Aldo has already done more than all but a few fighters in the history of mixed martial arts. He’s arguably the greatest featherweight of all time, and his resume is good enough to be on the short list of the very best MMA fighters ever. Yet, four years after dropping the

2:35 PM ET A scheduled welterweight fight between Jake Matthews and Jeremiah Wells is off UFC Fight Night on Saturday due to COVID-19 protocols, the promotion confirmed with ESPN. Wells wrote Saturday morning on Instagram that he did not test positive for COVID-19, but one of his cornermen did and due to contact tracing the

Dec 3, 2021 Jose Aldo is already arguably the greatest featherweight fighter in MMA history. Over the last two years, he’s shifted his focus towards the UFC bantamweight title. Aldo faces Rob Font in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The winner will put himself in position for either

12:47 AM ET Sergio Pettis was losing just about every second of the fight until deep into the fourth round. Kyoji Horiguchi was faster, stronger, showed better wrestling and was winning the striking battle. Pettis had absolutely no answers. Until he did. Pettis crushed Horiguchi with a spinning-backfist knockout at 3 minutes, 24 seconds of

12:03 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a light heavyweight matchup in early 2022 between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. Contracts have not been signed; however, both sides have agreed to the bout, per sources. Once finalized, it will headline a UFC Fight Night event on March 26.

3:34 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a middleweight bout between Jack Hermansson and Sean Strickland to headline an event in February, sources told ESPN on Friday. Contracts have not yet been signed for the 185-pound contest that will serve as the main event at UFC Fight Night on Feb. 5, but they should be

8:34 AM ET Jose Aldo‘s first fight in Las Vegas was more than 12 years ago: a WEC featherweight title bout against Mike Brown on Nov. 18, 2009. The WEC held a series of open workouts that week inside Palms Casino Resort, and the 23-year-old Aldo shed tears as he addressed the media. For an

10:43 PM ET UFC welterweight Geoff Neal was arrested Thanksgiving Day on charges of driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a weapon, per a Collin County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office document obtained Thursday by ESPN. Neal was taken into custody early Nov. 25 and was released after making $2,000 bond at 8:08 that night, the document

6:26 PM ET Felicia Spencer, a former UFC title challenger who has competed against some of the top female fighters of all time, is retiring from mixed martial arts, she confirmed Thursday with ESPN. “I’ve made the decision to be done with my fighting career, if you want to call it a career,” Spencer told

8:00 AM ET Some fighters burst onto the scene, establishing themselves with out-of-nowhere achievements and confidence beyond their years. Others build slowly and steadily from a young age. ESPN’s third annual ranking of the top 25 MMA fighters under the age of 25 features prospects who could define the sport’s future as well as some

11:36 PM ET UFC president Dana White tested positive for COVID-19 this week and is currently in isolation in his Las Vegas home, he said on “The Jim Rome Podcast” on Wednesday. White, 52, said he and his immediate family tested positive after spending the Thanksgiving holiday together in Maine. White resides in Las Vegas,

4:23 PM ET Prepare for fireworks. That’s the message from UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski when he assesses the showdown between his two former Tiger Muai Thai mentors, Brad Riddell and Rafael Fiziev, in Las Vegas this weekend. There is perhaps no one better to run the rule over the lightweight showdown than Volkanovski, given