MMA

Sep 27, 2023, 09:00 AM ET There have been eight UFC title changes this year, if you include championships being vacated due to retirement or injury. Undoubtedly, 2023 has been marked by fluidity and perhaps a passing of the torch to the next generation. With all the fluctuations, it’s an excellent time to look at

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 26, 2023, 05:39 PM ET Rafael Fiziev suffered a torn left ACL during the UFC Fight Night main event Saturday in Las Vegas, the lightweight contender said on Instagram. Fiziev threw a kick with his right leg in the second round of the fight with Mateusz Gamrot and went down

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2023, 10:11 PM ET Deiveson Figueiredo will make his long-awaited move up to bantamweight before the end of the year. The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion will face Rob Font in a contender bout at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 2, sources told ESPN on Sunday, confirming a report

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 25, 2023, 02:21 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office will not pursue criminal charges against former UFC star Nate Diaz related to his involvement in a street brawl earlier this year on Bourbon

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2023, 07:29 PM ET Israel Adesanya, the former UFC middleweight champion, pleaded guilty in court Monday morning to drunk driving in his home country of New Zealand, his team told ESPN on Sunday. The incident happened Aug. 19. Adesanya was driving with 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 25, 2023, 10:06 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun After seventeen consecutive weekends with fights, the UFC will be dark for the first time since May. In fact, it’s a quiet weekend across every major MMA promotion, outside of

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2023, 02:51 AM ET Up-and-comer Ian Garry will face exciting veteran Vicente Luque at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White announced early Sunday on social media. Both fighters have been teammates at Kill Cliff FC, and each is trying to get into the

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 23, 2023, 09:54 PM ET Things were just starting to heat up between two of the most exciting lightweight fighters in the world when the bout came to an abrupt halt Saturday at UFC Fight Night. Rafael Fiziev threw a roundhouse kick with his right leg to the body of

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNSep 23, 2023, 07:04 PM ET The storyline going into Bellator 299 centered upon Fabian Edwards and his attempt to join his brother Leon as a world champion. The storyline in the wake of Saturday’s fight card in Dublin is that his opponent, Johnny Eblen, remains undefeated and is still Bellator middleweight champ.

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 22, 2023, 05:47 PM ET The UFC’s middleweight hierarchy will get some clarity before the close of the year. Jared Cannonier and Roman Dolidze have verbally agreed to a contender bout at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 2, sources told ESPN on Friday. The location of the event has not

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 22, 2023, 09:25 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun The UFC has added a pair of marquee fights to its final pay-per-view event of 2023. English lightweight Paddy Pimblett (20-3) will make his first appearance of the year opposite

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 22, 2023, 01:36 PM ET Chris Leben, a popular retired former pro MMA fighter, will make his Nevada debut as a judge Saturday on the UFC Fight Night card, sources told ESPN on Friday. Leben, who fought in the UFC from 2005 to 2013, has been a pro referee and

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNSep 22, 2023, 08:18 AM ET When Leon Edwards connected with an unexpected head kick on Kamaru Usman late in their August 2022 fight to become UFC welterweight champion, one of the Edwards cornermen remembers a chill running through his body at cageside as he let out a “Wow!” That reaction was shared

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 20, 2023, 10:48 PM ET Two title fights have been set up for the UFC’s end-of-the-year pay-per-view. Leon Edwards will defend his welterweight title against Colby Covington in the main event of UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White announced Wednesday on social media. In

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 20, 2023, 11:04 PM ET Two of the most exciting big men in the UFC will meet for gold at Madison Square Garden. Former light heavyweight champion Jirí Procházka and former middleweight champion Alex Pereira will fight for the vacant light heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 295

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 20, 2023, 09:14 PM ET Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) executive director Jeff Mullen said on a judges training call Wednesday that he did not agree with a controversial score in last Saturday night’s UFC women’s featherweight title fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. Grasso and Shevchenko fought to

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterSep 20, 2023, 07:02 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun In his first comments since losing the UFC’s middleweight championship earlier this month, Israel Adesanya said he is “quietly confident” he will beat Sean Strickland if and when the two

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 19, 2023, 07:48 PM ET Any potential for an Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko trilogy might have to wait a bit. Shevchenko, the former UFC women’s flyweight champion, will need surgery on a fractured right thumb, she wrote Tuesday on Instagram. She suffered the injury in the Noche UFC main