Justin Gaethje says he wasn’t happy the UFC announced he would be fighting on May 9 before he was ever offered the bout. Gaethje originally agreed to fight Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18 for the interim lightweight title. Yet, the event was canceled and the promotion moved the event to May 9. Following
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7:52 AM ET While the lightweight and welterweight divisions might be considered the most competitive in the UFC right now, the bantamweight division is hardly lacking in intrigue or talent. Champion Henry Cejudo has become one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA, and his next title defense is tentatively scheduled for May 9 against
Image Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images UFC play-by-play ace Jon Anik feels the UFC will be able to pull off its planned May 9 event. On April 18, the UFC was scheduled to hold an event inside the Tachi Palace Casino Resort in California. It was set to be UFC 249
Endeavor talent and media agency is roughly $4.6 billion in debt, which is to be expected considering it paid over $4 billion for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s premiere mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, back in 2016. I’m sure owners Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell were hoping to pay down some of that debt
Flashback Fight: Randy Couture retains title after war with Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31 [embedded content] In what most considered the fight of the year in 2001, Randy Couture and Pedro Rizzo faced off for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 31 in Atlantic City. The event took place at Mark G. Etess Arena at
Image Credit: Paulo Costa’s Instagram (@borrachinhamma) Paulo Costa is not a fan of the New York State Athletic Commission and USADA and says he won’t be fighting in New York anytime soon. Back at UFC 212 and 217, Costa got in trouble by the commission and USADA as his doctor gave him an IV to
8:24 PM ET UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje has said the only reason he accepted a fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, is because it’s for an interim 155-pound championship. And yet, he also says he won’t feel like a UFC champion if he wins that belt. Gaethje (21-2) is scheduled to face Ferguson (25-3)
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images One current analyst and former fighter believes Israel Adesanya would have his way with Jon Jones. Many are of the belief that Adesanya and Jones are bound to collide some day. Adesanya is the reigning UFC middleweight champion, while Jones holds the light heavyweight gold. The two
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Back on March 14th at UFC Rio Rancho — the final event prior to general shutdown — Francisco Trinaldo was awarded a fairly uneventful decision win over John Makdessi. It was not a great fight, as neither man was really able to implement their game plan or land a ton of
Daniel Cormier has been working toward retirement for more than a year, but it might not end the way he had always envisioned… and he’s okay with that. Cormier told ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani on Monday that he’s already beginning to train for a third bout with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, although he doesn’t yet
Image: @stipemiocic on Instagram Stipe Miocic reclaimed his heavyweight belt back in August with a fourth-round TKO victory over Daniel Cormier in their highly anticipated rematch. The Cleveland native holds the record for most UFC heavyweight title defenses. For many, they believe Miocic is the heavyweight GOAT. But, his first fight with Cormier proved he
7:58 AM ET This is a special week. Why’s that, you ask? Well, because this marks a year since I have been doing this random thoughts column for ESPN.com. The column has evolved over time, but I’m going back to how it started. Random thoughts. Lord knows I have plenty. And away we go …
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images One UFC title contender believes Jon Jones will bounce back from his latest run-in with the law. Jones was arrested on March 26 after police in Albuquerque, New Mexico responded to a criminal complaint of gunfire. The UFC light heavyweight champion was initially facing charges of
The folks in charge of social media for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are running out of ways to keep the assembly line moving, which is understandable when a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion stops promoting fights. Thanks coronavirus! Fortunately for combat sports fans, there is no shortage of archived footage, including the UFC debut of
First known active UFC fighter with COVID-19, Lyman Good ready to get back to work [embedded content] Lyman Good had been scheduled to fight Belal Muhammad at UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, N.Y. In early April, he pulled out of the fight, citing injury. He recently admitted that it was actually COVID-19 that
The UFC is targeting a light heavyweight matchup between Volkan Oezdemir and Jiri Prochazka though the coronavirus pandemic means there is no date just yet. Speaking to MMAjunkie.com, Oezdemir said the UFC offered him a fight against Prochazka for the Dublin card in August. However, the coronavirus pandemic means the fight is up in the
6:38 PM ET The UFC’s planned return to action May 9 will have to be without one of its top champions. Amanda Nunes will not be defending her UFC’s women’s featherweight title against Felicia Spencer in the planned card, her agent, Dan Lambert, confirmed to ESPN. Nunes first mentioned the news to CBS Sports in
Image Credit: UFC/Zuffa LLC UFC 249 is set for May 9 and is being held in Florida. MMAFighting.com is reporting that the May 9 event will indeed be taking place in Florida. The promotion hasn’t said what the name of the pay-per-view will be, but it’s being reported that it’ll be UFC 249. This event