MMA

Dec 4, 2024, 07:48 AM ET Open Extended Reactions 2024 will mark the sixth year ESPN has orchestrated a list of the 25 best MMA fighters in the world under the age of 25. The list’s purpose is twofold: Highlight the young stars serving as the faces of the sport and project the prospects who

Andreas Hale, ESPNDec 3, 2024, 09:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall has one thing on his mind: becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion. To do that he will likely have to face Jon Jones to unify the titles in a highly anticipated clash between arguably the greatest mixed martial artist

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 29, 2024, 05:01 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Dakota Ditcheva had more than her fair share of haters over the course of the 2024 PFL season — and she left them all unsatisfied in the

Nov 26, 2024, 05:30 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The 2024 PFL season concludes on Friday afternoon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with playoff finals in each of the six weight classes. All of the PFL World Championship fights at King Saud University Stadium will be on ESPN+, starting at 1 p.m. ET. Among the 12

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 26, 2024, 07:46 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Conor McGregor will no longer be the face of Irish whiskey brand Proper No. 12 after he was found liable in a sexual assault case last week in Dublin. Proper

Andreas Hale, ESPNNov 23, 2024, 09:26 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Former light heavyweight champions Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill are set to clash on Jan. 18 at UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The UFC announced the matchup during the UFC Macau postfight show. Prochazka and Hill are looking to get

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNNov 23, 2024, 10:22 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Had Saturday’s UFC main event between Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo taken place four years ago, It would have been a champion-vs.-champion superfight. Yan and Figueiredo won UFC titles within a week of each other in July 2020, Yan at bantamweight and Figueiredo 10

Associated Press Nov 22, 2024, 12:11 PM ET A civil jury in Ireland on Friday found that mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel penthouse after a night of heavy partying. The Dublin jury awarded the woman nearly 250,000 Euros ($257,000) for her lawsuit that claimed McGregor “brutally raped

Andreas Hale, ESPNNov 22, 2024, 07:52 AM ET Open Extended Reactions In April, the UFC announced that it would debut a new glove for fighters that would offer more mobility and flexibility while reducing eye pokes and hand injuries. The new gloves, coined “3Eight/5Eight” (the 3Eight glove is for three-round fights, and the 5Eight gold

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 20, 2024, 09:19 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his title against Paul Hughes on Jan. 25 in Dubai. The fight marks the first event of a new, multiyear

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 17, 2024, 07:24 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Two staples atop the MMA pound-for-pound list used UFC 309 to remind the sporting world why they’ve been among the best for so long. In the main

Nov 17, 2024, 02:40 AM ET Open Extended Reactions A 12-fight card at UFC 309 in New York City was headlined by a heavyweight clash between current champion Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic. Jones and Charles Oliveira emerged as big winners from the night, but what do their victories mean for the bigger

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 17, 2024, 01:26 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions NEW YORK — Jon Jones looked exceptional as ever Saturday, as he knocked out Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick in the third round of their

Andreas Hale, ESPNNov 17, 2024, 02:07 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Stipe Miocic has decided to call it a career. Following his third-round stoppage loss to Jon Jones at UFC 309, Miocic announced his retirement from the sport, ending a remarkable career orchestrated by the fighter out of Euclid, OH. “I’m done,” Miocic said. “I’m

Andreas Hale, ESPNNov 16, 2024, 06:55 PM ET Open Extended Reactions NEW YORK — A middleweight bout between former champion Chris Weidman and Eryk Anders was pulled from UFC 309 on Saturday when Anders fell ill from “unspecified medical issues,” the UFC announced during the broadcast for the event. Weidman posted on X that he

Nov 16, 2024, 06:05 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones returns to the Octagon for what could be the final fight of his MMA career, as he takes on former titleholder Stipe Miocic in the main event at UFC 309 in New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Jones, who beat Ciryl

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterNov 16, 2024, 08:40 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions The UFC has added two welterweight matchups to its lineup in December, one of which includes the return of Colby Covington. UFC CEO Dana White announced Friday

Jeff Wagenheim Nov 15, 2024, 07:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Two weeks ago was the 50th anniversary of The Rumble in the Jungle, and all of the bouquets being laid at the feet of that classic heavyweight championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman got me thinking about — of all things