MMA

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 27, 2024, 03:16 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Seven fighters on the UFC 298 card earlier this month gained 15% or more of their weight back from weigh-in day to fight day, meeting the threshold for being flagged as an issue by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), according to

Feb 26, 2024, 09:19 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Cross-promotion in MMA is like fantasy sports or a video game coming to life. This past weekend, we experienced a bit of it when the best of the PFL met the best of Bellator. Before Saturday’s throwdown of champions in Saudi Arabia, any comparison of Renan

Feb 24, 2024, 04:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions What were the biggest moments from PFL vs. Bellator? Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim offer their final thoughts after a historic 10-fight card in Saudi Arabia. PFL finally gets its prizefight Wagenheim: It took about half a second. No, I’m not talking about how

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 25, 2024, 01:37 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Brandon Royval was not the favorite Saturday night. Not in the betting odds, nor in the eyes of the fans in the building. Across the cage from him was Brandon Moreno, the first Mexican-born UFC champion who had yet to win a

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 24, 2024, 11:22 PM ET Open Extended Reactions UFC top prospect Raul Rosas Jr. fell ill and was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bantamweight fight Saturday night at UFC Mexico City just minutes before the fighters were supposed to enter the cage, it was announced on the broadcast. Rosas

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 24, 2024, 05:58 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Who will fight Francis Ngannou when he returns to the world of mixed martial arts? The answer is an emphatic Renan Ferreira. Ferreira (13-3) knocked out Bellator

Feb 21, 2024, 09:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The Professional Fighters League launches its pay-per-view Super Fight series in a big way when it pits PFL champions against Bellator champions on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event at Kingdom Arena features two matchups of current PFL champs against the titleholders from newly acquired

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 23, 2024, 06:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Several well-known current and former fighters, including a UFC Hall of Famer, will testify on behalf of the UFC in an upcoming class-action antitrust case, per a brief filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Current star Michael

Feb 23, 2024, 08:26 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The growth of MMA in the past couple of decades has been astronomical. Fighters from every major continent have won championships across the UFC, PFL and Bellator, and the three promotions already have cards scheduled outside the United States in 2024, including Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia,

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 22, 2024, 02:46 PM ET Open Extended Reactions A rematch between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury in boxing could lead to a clash between the two inside a cage. Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s business partner and the co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, told ESPN that an offer is on the table

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 22, 2024, 09:26 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Impa Kasanganay is three months removed from winning the PFL’s 2023 season as a light heavyweight. Now he’s moving down in weight to face Bellator MMA middleweight

Feb 21, 2024, 02:53 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Former two-time flyweight champion Brandon Moreno meets recent title challenger Brandon Royval in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Mexico City. The fights at Mexico City Arena are on ESPN+, with the 10 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 7

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 21, 2024, 11:43 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Mike Tyson will present three winners a custom championship belt Saturday at the PFL vs. Bellator: Champs card in Saudi Arabia, PFL chairman Donn Davis told ESPN on Wednesday. Tyson will be in attendance for the event in Riyadh, which will pit

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 20, 2024, 09:05 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions The PFL’s 2024 regular season will kick off April 4 in San Antonio with fights at heavyweight and in its new women’s flyweight division, officials announced Tuesday.

Feb 18, 2024, 08:16 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Finally, the wait is over. UFC 300 has its main event. Alex Pereira will defend his UFC light heavyweight title against the last person to hold the belt, Jamahal Hill. Hill, who was forced to vacate the title due to rupturing his Achilles tendon, defeated Pereira’s

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 18, 2024, 01:15 AM ET Open Extended Reactions ANAHEIM, Calif. — The new generation of the UFC featherweight division is here, in the form of a multicultural, multilingual European fighter who has roots in Georgia, Spain and Germany. The undefeated Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski, arguably the best featherweight

Feb 18, 2024, 02:11 AM ET Open Extended Reactions What were the biggest moments from UFC 298? Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim offer up their final thoughts after an 12-fight card in Anaheim, California, on Saturday night. Topuria’s win signals a changing landscape at 145 pounds Wagenheim: The narrative during the leadup to

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 18, 2024, 01:39 AM ET Open Extended Reactions ANAHEIM, Calif. — UFC 300 finally has its main event. Alex Pereira will defend his UFC light heavyweight title against former champ Jamahal Hill in the headliner on April 13 in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday night on social