MMA news

Sean Strickland is the new UFC middleweight champion. Not long after his bookie-busting upset over former 185-pound titleholder Israel Adesanya, which took place in the UFC 293 pay-per-view (PPV) main event last month in Sydney, UFC CEO Dana White teased an immediate rematch between “Tarzan” and “The Last Stylebender.” Then had a change of heart

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterOct 3, 2023, 11:56 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will be a licensed corner for Bellator MMA lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 300 on Saturday in San Diego. California State Athletic Commission

O’Malley questions Pimblett vs Ferguson “Initial reaction, I’m like, ‘Goddamn, that’s a lose-lose for Paddy,’” O’Malley said. “You go out there and beat Tony, who’s really good but on a six-fight losing streak. So if you beat him, you’re not going to get credit for beating Tony Ferguson. You’re not going to get credit for

After a rare off week, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the familiar halls of its APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, this Saturday (Oct. 7, 2023) for its latest ESPN+-streamed card, which sees surging Lightweight, Grant Dawson, take on inimitable veteran, Bobby Green, in the main event. UFC Vegas 80’s co-feature sees Joe Pyfer

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterOct 3, 2023, 05:09 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is scheduled to defend his title against a familiar foe at UFC 294 on Oct. 21, and would like to challenge for the welterweight strap

Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader has explained why he’s not fighting on Saturday. ‘Darth’ was originally scheduled to face Linton Vassell at Bellator 300 this weekend. The bout was going to be a rematch of their prior clash in 2017, at Bellator 186. That night, Ryan Bader won by second-round knockout, and he was hoping

Some combat sports fans are just plain weird. I don’t understand the appeal of buying used panties, or well-seasoned socks, and I don’t even want to talk about what happened to the poop-stained shorts worn by Justine Kish. But with the advances in genetics and DNA manipulation, some fighters could be facing a new troubling

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNOct 2, 2023, 12:05 PM ET Bellator 300 was to be headlined by an unprecedented four championship bouts. Now it’s down to three. Linton Vassell, who was to challenge heavyweight champion Ryan Bader at Saturday’s event in San Diego, withdrew from the fight because of illness, a Bellator official confirmed Monday. The fight

Dillon Danis has revealed some of the mental health struggles he went through after undergoing multiple knee surgeries. It’s safe to say that within combat sports, Dillon Danis is seen as a pretty controversial figure. From his unconventional MMA career to his friendship with Conor McGregor and beyond, he’s had quite the journey. Now, he’s

Melanie Shah just might be built differently. Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) touched down in Salem, Virginia for BKFC 51 this past weekend (Sept. 29, 2023). The promotion’s Strawweight title was on the line in the event’s headliner, featuring the champion, Britain Hart, defending opposite the previously undefeated 2-0 Shah. Unfortunately for Shah, she suffered

Oct 2, 2023, 09:20 AM ET The final quarter of the year is upon us. Things have been hectic — and newsworthy — in the sport of MMA in 2023. From a business perspective, the UFC has merged with WWE to form the publicly traded company TKO, under Endeavor. In the cage, UFC titles have

PFL welterweight contender Cedric Doumbe feels the UFC badly messed up by letting him go. The former Glory Kickboxing champion made his PFL debut against Jordan Zébo over the weekend. The two welterweights headlined a card going down in Cedric Doumbe’s home country of France. He walked out with a mattress for his opponent in

Charles Oliveira doesn’t think it’s fair that UFC is making him fight in Abu Dhabi. “Do Bronx” will attempt to recapture his crown from Islam Makhachev, who stripped the Brazilian of the 155-pound strap when they first went to war in the UFC 280 pay-per-view (PPV) main event back in late 2022, also at Etihad

Dillon Danis is flaunting his new physique two weeks out from his scheduled boxing match with Logan Paul. Danis (2-0 MMA) and Paul (0-1 Boxing) are set to collide in the co-headliner of the ‘MF & DAZN: X Series 10 – The Prime Card’ on October 14th in Manchester, England. The event itself is headlined

Don’t expect Sean O’Malley to get added to the UFC’s upcoming December pay-per-view. “Suga” had been pushing to fight before the end of 2023, and had specifically suggested he’d like to fight at UFC 296 on December 16th. But UFC matchmakers already have more than enough champions to fill out that card: Leon Edwards is

Daniel Cormier Thinks Aljamain Sterling Deserves UFC Title Rematch In a new video posted on his YouTube account, Cormier explained why Sterling won’t get a bantamweight title rematch with Sean O’Malley despite deserving one. “I love Aljamain Sterling, I love his ability to fight anybody, anywhere, anytime,” Cormier said. “He’s the champion, he don’t care,

On Friday (Sept. 30, 2023), Zhang Weili had an incredible run-in with NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, and after the wholesome encounter, Zhang can basically do anything. Zhang shared the run-in on her Instagram, where she punched the 7’1”, 325 lb giant. In the clip, Zhang meets the NBA legend for the first in

Former two-time Glory Kickboxing champion Cedric Doumbe scored a nine-second knockout in his highly anticipated PFL debut this afternoon in Paris. Doumbe (5-0 MMA) squared off with Jordan Zébo (4-1 MMA) on the main card of today’s Professional Fighters League event in France. The result was a spectacular 9-second knockout for ‘Le Meilleur’, who sent