MMA

10:06 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi The UFC will close this weekend’s UFC Fight Night event in Brasilia, Brazil, to the public, after the governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha, temporarily suspended all large gatherings

9:02 PM ET UFC fighter Brian Ortega offered a more robust apology Wednesday for an incident that occurred last Saturday night in the crowd at UFC 248. On Instagram, Ortega wrote he now understands “what I did was truly wrong.” The featherweight fighter was referring to his slapping of popular Korean-American rapper Jay Park during

8:42 AM ET KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Standing in the corner between the fourth and fifth rounds of the Invicta FC Phoenix Series 3 main event on March 6, Abel Briceno thought his fighter, Lisa Verzosa, was in good shape to win the vacant bantamweight title. Then he saw the score. Julija Stoliarenko was up

8:13 AM ET IT WAS LATE November, a few weeks after Johnny Walker‘s first UFC loss. Tara Campbell, a teacher with a law degree who is also Walker’s girlfriend, couldn’t reconcile his lack of sponsors with his substantial fan following. It was time for a change. With Walker’s blessing, Campbell began researching representation firms in

8:04 AM ET With two title fights out of the way this weekend, I thought this would be a good time to do another state of the UFC champions address. Let’s hit it: Heavyweight: Stipe Miocic Next fight: TBD According to his manager, Jim Walter, Miocic still isn’t cleared to return to action after having

1:09 PM ET The PFL announced a new class of signees, including several UFC and Bellator MMA veterans, for its 2020 regular season on Tuesday. Some of the more established names amongst the announcement included former UFC lightweight Johnny Case (27-7-1), former Bellator lightweight title challenger Marcin Held (26-7) and NCAA Division I national champion

7:58 PM ET The two largest mixed martial arts promotions in the United States, UFC and Bellator, are moving ahead with planned events for now, representatives told ESPN, even as Combate Americas on Monday became the first U.S.-based MMA promotion to cancel an event because of the coronavirus outbreak. UFC vice president of communications Lenee

8:24 AM ET Just in case the chatter about Justin Gaethje being considered the front-runner to fight Conor McGregor next wasn’t sinking in, Ali Abdelaziz — the manager of Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov — emphasized over the weekend that there would be no McGregor-Nurmagomedov rematch unless McGregor fights someone like Gaethje first. UFC president Dana

Mar 8, 2020 LAS VEGAS — The crowd knew exactly what it was witnessing: one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Before the start of the fifth round between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk on Saturday night, the fans at T-Mobile Arena gave the two women a standing ovation. Even fighters in the crowd

5:19 PM ET Watch a replay of today’s show here. Israel Adesanya heard the boobirds for the first time in his UFC career on Saturday night as his middleweight title defense versus Yoel Romero fell short of expectations. “One hundred percent, the weirdest fight I’ve ever been a part of,” Adesanya said Monday on Ariel

4:31 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Israel Adesanya is still the UFC middleweight champion, escaping a bizarre battle with Yoel Romero by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 248 on Saturday night. Zhang Weili, meanwhile, held on to her strawweight title in an instant classic against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event. The

4:20 AM ET On a night when the UFC announced a fight was being inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2020, fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas were treated to an epic bout that probably will have its own HOF induction announcement some day. Zhang Weili defended her strawweight crown with

1:35 AM ET Israel Adesanya defeated Yoel Romero by unanimous decision to retain his middleweight championship in Saturday night’s main event at UFC 248 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The judges scored the bout 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46. The first two rounds featured very few exchanges between the fighters, though Romero connected with an

12:50 AM ET LAS VEGAS — A chaotic training camp and a superb effort from one of the most decorated champions in UFC history was still not enough to topple Zhang Weili. Zhang (21-1) recorded the first defense of her 115-pound title on Saturday, as she defeated former five-time defending champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-4) via

5:08 PM ET UFC fighter Abdul Razak Alhassan has been found not guilty of sexual assault by a jury in Tarrant County, Texas, his attorney confirmed to ESPN on Friday. In 2018, Alhassan was accused of raping two women at one of the women’s homes after a party at a bar. The trial had started

2:00 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Yoel Romero raised his right hand and slapped his chest repeatedly. “How many years?!” Romero screamed. “How many years?!” The UFC middleweight star made Friday morning weight at 185 pounds even for his UFC 248 title challenge against champion Israel Adesanya on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Romero, who

8:00 AM ET Truth be told, UFC 248 will not be the company’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year when it’s all said and done. Not with Conor McGregor teasing the possibility of three fights, and 2019 breakout Jorge Masvidal on the cusp of his first UFC title shot. Not with a Stipe Miocic, Daniel

6:19 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Two weeks after former boxing champion Deontay Wilder stirred controversy with a heavy walkout costume he said contributed to his defeat, Israel Adesanya is staying quiet on what kind of entrance he’ll make Saturday at UFC 248. “We’ll see,” Adesanya said Wednesday after open workouts at MGM Grand. “I