MMA

7:28 AM ET ESPN’s MMA Insiders As the UFC looks to kick off 2021 with two elements that were sorely lacking for most of 2020 — Conor McGregor and fans in attendance — this brief pause in the calendar offers the perfect window to take stock and look ahead. So who will have the best

2:12 PM ET The UFC has “essentially” struck marijuana as a punishable offense in its anti-doping policy, the promotion and anti-doping partner USADA announced Thursday. Beginning retroactively Jan. 1, a positive drug test for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, will no longer be considered a violation — unless USADA is able to prove that

7:46 AM ET ESPN’s MMA Insiders As the UFC looks to kick off 2021 with two elements that were sorely lacking for most of 2020 — Conor McGregor and fans in attendance — this brief pause in the calendar offers the perfect window to take stock and look ahead. So who will have the best

9:56 PM ET The UFC is looking to get involved with research into psychedelic drugs as a therapy for fighters’ brain health. The promotion has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University about its psychedelics studies with an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues, UFC president

12:08 PM ET Will the third time be the charm for Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev? UFC is hoping so. The promotion has rebooked the welterweight fight for March 13, sources confirmed to ESPN. The bout will serve as the main event of a UFC Fight Night card. Edwards-Chimaev was originally set for Dec. 19

7:42 AM ET ESPN’s MMA Insiders As the UFC looks to kick off 2021 with two elements that were sorely lacking for most of 2020 — Conor McGregor and fans in attendance — this brief pause in the calendar offers the perfect window to take stock and look ahead. So who will have the best

5:40 PM ET Pat Miletich, the first-ever UFC welterweight champion and one of the most decorated coaches in MMA history, announced in an Instagram video that he was fired by Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) for being present at the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Hall of Famer has been a color

8:07 AM ET When Max Holloway leaves the Octagon after Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event, he could be the loser of three straight and four of five. That would be quite a cliff from which one of the sport’s most prestigious careers would be dangling. Calvin Kattar, meanwhile, is trying to build his resume.

11:24 AM ET Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar kick off 2021 and the UFC’s latest run of events on Fight Island with the men’s featherweight main event of a matinee UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The main card of the promotion’s first event of the year — and the

7:23 AM ET UFC president Dana White says his relationship with Conor McGregor is solid going into 2021, after hitting a “bad place” in the second half of last year. The relationship between the UFC and McGregor started off on a high note in 2020, as McGregor headlined the UFC 246 pay-per-view against Donald “Cowboy”

10:20 AM ET UFC president Dana White is expected to meet with undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov this week in Abu Dhabi for the first time since Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in October. Nurmagomedov (29-0) is still the UFC’s undisputed 155-pound champion, even though he has stated he does not intend to fight again. White

12:11 PM ET The world’s biggest mixed-martial-arts promotion is adding to its contribution toward a long-running brain study. The UFC is donating an extra $1 million to the Cleveland Clinic to help fund brain health research for the next five years, the promotion announced Thursday. The Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in

12:01 AM ET One of the sisters stabbed by UFC fighter Irwin Rivera said Friday her brother hadn’t been acting like himself in the days leading up to Thursday’s incident. Rivera’s sisters, Lezlye and Kelly, remain hospitalized but in stable condition, the fighter’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told ESPN. Earlier Friday, in a Facebook post, Lezlye

3:00 PM ET A limited number of fans will be in attendance for the UFC’s first three live events of 2021 — marking the first time UFC events will be open to any spectators since UFC 248 on March 7 in Las Vegas. The Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism discussed permitting spectators during

7:20 AM ET After a year in which UFC legends retired, unretired, threatened retirement and changed weight classes, what can MMA fans expect in 2021? Three titles changed hands in 2020, but each of those were in fights for vacant championships. In other words, defending world champions showed why they were the ones wearing the

8:37 PM ET UFC fighter Irwin Rivera was arrested Thursday on two counts of attempted murder, according to an incident report obtained by ESPN. He was booked just after Noon local time after being apprehended by the Boynton Beach Police Department and is being held without bail, per online jail records. Boynton Beach Police Department

7:11 PM ET UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan will seek the first defense of his 135-pound title when he meets Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 on March 6, sources confirmed to ESPN. Both sides have agreed to the matchup, which was originally scheduled for UFC 256 on Dec. 12, but Yan was forced to withdraw

4:24 PM ET Remember how exciting the beginning of 2020 felt? The return of Conor McGregor? The buzz in Las Vegas reminiscent of his early rise in the UFC? What a way to start a new decade. Heck, the first quarter of 2020 was phenomenal too. We got a classic from Jon Jones and Dominick