MMA

12:03 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a light heavyweight matchup in early 2022 between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. Contracts have not been signed; however, both sides have agreed to the bout, per sources. Once finalized, it will headline a UFC Fight Night event on March 26.

8:00 AM ET Some fighters burst onto the scene, establishing themselves with out-of-nowhere achievements and confidence beyond their years. Others build slowly and steadily from a young age. ESPN’s third annual ranking of the top 25 MMA fighters under the age of 25 features prospects who could define the sport’s future as well as some

11:36 PM ET UFC president Dana White tested positive for COVID-19 this week and is currently in isolation in his Las Vegas home, he said on “The Jim Rome Podcast” on Wednesday. White, 52, said he and his immediate family tested positive after spending the Thanksgiving holiday together in Maine. White resides in Las Vegas,

5:37 PM ET The UFC has released former interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee from its active roster, Lee’s management confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday. According to Lee’s manager, Marquel Martin, the 29-year-old had multiple fights left on his contract, but the UFC elected to terminate the agreement. Lee (18-7) is currently serving a six-month

8:45 AM ET COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — Kyoji Horiguchi laughs when he recounts the story. It was 2019, and after his coaches and teammates at American Top Team (ATT) urged him to put down roots in the area, he finally bought a house in South Florida. Horiguchi, the current Rizin bantamweight champion and former Bellator

7:44 AM ET By the time fighters in Bellator and UFC return to their respective cages, on Friday and Saturday, the calendar will have flipped over to December. Although there are only a month’s worth of fights remaining in 2021, there’s still a lot left to be sorted out for both promotions. A lot of

6:02 PM ET Conor McGregor for the first time has given fans some insight into the timetable for his return to the Octagon. The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion tweeted Saturday that he will be cleared to return to MMA sparring by April. And after that, McGregor wrote, “a return will be imminent.” The

10:53 AM ET UFC lightweights Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev have agreed to meet on Feb 26, manager Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN. The 155-pound, five-round contest will headline a UFC Fight Night, said Abdelaziz, who managers both fighters. The promotion has not yet announced a location for that event. “I don’t like it when two

7:59 AM ET Valentina Shevchenko was inside of a boxing gym in Newark, New Jersey, preparing to go on a run. It was the fall of 2019, and the next day Shevchenko would start filming an MMA movie alongside A-list star Halle Berry. To prepare for the shoot, Shevchenko was cutting weight, and the run

8:00 AM ET Four months removed from a devastating leg injury against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, Conor McGregor has begun his public campaign to line up his next opponent inside the Octagon. Unlike previous efforts, however, this latest push has been broader in scope. As he sat injured in the cage back in July,

9:30 PM ET Ketlen Vieira defeated Miesha Tate via unanimous decision in a five-round main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. It was Tate’s second appearance since returning from a nearly five-year layoff, as she was retired from 2016 to 2021. Two takeaways from this one for me. First off, Tate

9:22 PM ET Miesha Tate‘s highly anticipated comeback run has been upended. Ketlen Vieira defeated Tate, one of the most popular women’s fighters in MMA history, via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Vieira used her counter-punching and length to win the standup

7:56 AM ET UFC president Dana White is fond of saying there are no tune-up fights in the UFC — and for the most part, he’s right. There really aren’t many. But Miesha Tate did get one this year. Tate (19-7) returned from a nearly five-year layoff in July and picked up a dominant TKO

8:00 AM ET Miesha Tate reached out to UFC president Dana White in the summer of 2020. Tate and her husband, Johnny Nunez, had just had their second child, Daxton, and Tate was contemplating a comeback to the Octagon. At the time, Tate and Nunez were living in Singapore. Tate was working in an office

7:24 PM ET Australian Jack Della Maddalena says he’ll be targeting a “headline finish” when he fights Warlley Alves at UFC 270 in January next year. Della Maddalena (10-2), who earned his way onto the UFC roster after a unanimous decision win over Ange Loosa as part of Dana White’s Contender Series, is stoked to

5:31 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a light heavyweight fight between Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev to headline an event in March, sources told ESPN on Monday. The 205-pound contest will serve as the main event of a UFC Fight Night on March 12. The UFC has not yet announced a location for the

12:49 PM ET UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards says he wasn’t surprised by Jorge Masvidal‘s recent withdrawal from their scheduled fight at UFC 269 next month, and he has now turned his entire focus to a title fight against Kamaru Usman in 2022. Edwards, of England, told ESPN he’d heard some concerning things about Masvidal’s

7:20 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim The conventional thinking is that a fighter who has been defeated twice by the champion in his or her weight class is stuck in limbo, never to get a third glimpse of the belt unless it’s being worn by a different champion. That way of thinking does open up opportunities