MMA

Antonio Inoki, a combat sports trailblazer, influential politician and larger-than-life figure in his native Japan, died Friday at the age of 79. The announcement was made by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the promotion he founded. The cause of Inoki’s death was not released, but he had fallen ill in recent years and was relegated to a

The UFC has booked a featherweight main event between two undefeated contenders in Bryce Mitchell and Movsar Evloev for its UFC Fight Night on Nov. 5 in Las Vegas, UFC officials told ESPN. The promotion has not announced a location for that event, but it’s expected to take place in Las Vegas and air on

Dana White’s Contender Series has become a staple for the promotion in ushering rising talent into the Octagon. With fighters like Sean O’Malley, Alex Perez, Taila Santos and Marina Rodriguez all making their UFC debuts on the show, there is fair reason to believe that those who get a shot at a UFC contract through

Less than two days after earning a UFC contract, mixed martial arts prospect Bo Nickal has already booked his Octagon debut. The UFC is finalizing a middleweight bout between Nickal (3-0) and Jamie Pickett (13-8) for UFC 282 on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas, officials told ESPN on Thursday. Nickal earned a contract with the

Kayla Harrison looks to threepeat as the PFL women’s lightweight champion as she takes on Larissa Pacheco in the main event of the 2022 PFL Championship at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Nov. 25, in New York. The fight card, which will feature 12 fights, including six $1 million championship bouts, will

The UFC already has its first headlining bout of next year booked. Perennial UFC middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum will take on up-and-comer Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Jan. 14, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. The card is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The UFC has closed off Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card at its Apex facility in Las Vegas to the public as well as the media. The company declined to provide a reason for the closure at the time of the announcement earlier this week, but UFC president Dana White said Tuesday that he just wanted

The PFL revealed an official date and location for its 2022 Championship Finals on Wednesday, as well as an intent to enter the pay-per-view business for the first time in company history. The 2022 PFL World Championships, which the promotion has dubbed ‘MMA’s Richest Night,’ will take place on Nov. 25 inside Hulu Theater at

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes has decided to come out of retirement, and will do so under a new multi-fight deal with PFL. In addition to the new deal, Moraes (23-10-1) has agreed to a featherweight matchup against Shane Burgos (15-3) on the promotion’s tournament finals card later this year. Multiple sources told

LAS VEGAS — Prepare yourselves for some Bo Nickal hype. Nickal, a three-time NCAA Division I national collegiate wrestling champion, starched another opponent on Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday night, submitting Donovan Beard with a triangle choke just 52 seconds into their middleweight bout. It was Nickal’s second win on the Contender Series in

Former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm is unlikely to fight again this year, but is eyeing a return in early 2023 — and she has an ideal opponent in mind. Holm, 40, told ESPN she is recovering from a surgery she underwent following a split decision loss to Ketlen Vieira in May. She expects to

As UFC nears the end of its calendar year, there are still so many unanswered questions, especially among two weight classes that some of the promotion’s top fighters call home. Leon Edwards‘ fifth-round KO vs. Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August was a major shake-up for the welterweight division. What direction do Edwards and

Popular UFC lightweight Bobby Green said in an Instagram video Friday night that he was forced out of a scheduled fight at UFC 276 due to a positive drug test. Green said — as he was in training camp for the scheduled July 2 bout against fellow veteran fighter Jim Miller — that he received

Mohamed Itoumaine was refereeing at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament last month in Wolverhampton, England. To his surprise, one of the participants was Tom Hardy, a big-time Hollywood actor with credits from Mad Max: Fury Road to Venom to the Batman franchise. He also starred in the MMA movie “Warrior” in 2011. Hardy, a blue belt

Conor McGregor has not stepped into the Octagon in 14 months, yet hardly a day goes by without his name being brought up in an MMA conversation. As the starry Irishman’s return from a broken leg draws nearer, there is speculation about who might be next to step under the brightest of spotlights with McGregor.

The fight between Cody Garbrandt, the former UFC bantamweight champion, and Rani Yahya, a Brazilian veteran who is 5-1-1 in his past seven bouts, on the Oct. 1 UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Xiaonan Yan card has been postponed after injuries to both fighters. Yahya reportedly suffered a neck injury last week, which positioned

Eddie Alvarez and ONE Championship have agreed upon his release, the decorated MMA fighter wrote Tuesday night on Twitter. Alvarez, a former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion, wrote that he left ONE “amicably” and is “officially a free agent.” Alvarez signed with ONE as a free agent from the UFC in October 2018. He had

The UFC is bringing in a fighter who is just shy of his 18th birthday. Raul Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter to sign with the UFC on Tuesday night, following a unanimous decision win over Mando Gutierrez on Dana White’s Contender Series. White, impressed by Rosas’ performance, offered the teen a contract before the