MMA

12:38 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Not that anyone was questioning it, but Valentina Shevchenko‘s reign is as strong as ever. Shevchenko (21-4) defended the UFC’s flyweight championship for the sixth time on Saturday, in the co-main event of UFC 266 inside T-Mobile Arena. The 125-pound title fight came to a quick and decisive finish

6:00 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Alexander Volkanovski is usually a cool customer. He has never really had any personal issues with an opponent. Until now, that is. It’s clear Brian Ortega got under the skin of Volkanovski when they were coaching opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter over the summer. On Thursday during

7:33 AM ET UFC 266 will see Brian Ortega make his second attempt at becoming a UFC champion. And anyone who saw the first attempt knows that the fact he’s back in this position is no small feat. Ortega (15-1) will challenge Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) for the featherweight crown on Saturday in Las Vegas, almost

3:38 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a featherweight matchup between former champion Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez to headline an event on Nov. 13, multiple sources told ESPN. Contracts have not been signed, but the bout is expected to become official shortly. It will serve as the main event of a UFC Fight Night

2:45 PM ET LAS VEGAS — UFC star Jon Jones was arrested Friday morning by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, just hours after a past UFC fight of his was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Jones is being charged with misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle, Officer

7:39 AM ET LAS VEGAS — The return of Nick Diaz is complicated. I’ve been talking to professional fighters since 2009, but I have never had an interview go the way my conversation with Diaz went this week. Diaz, 38, returns from a six-year absence on Saturday, against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. He has

11:12 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Jon Jones has not yet fought at heavyweight. But the longtime former UFC light heavyweight champion told ESPN on Thursday night that he weighs 255 pounds right now and is planning to get up to 270 before a heavyweight debut he wants to make against the winner of Francis

11:27 PM ET Miesha Tate‘s second fight during her comeback run with the UFC will have to wait. The popular former UFC women’s bantamweight champion has tested positive for COVID-19, and her main event bout with Ketlen Vieira is off the UFC Fight Night card Oct. 16 in Las Vegas, Tate’s manager Josh Jones told

8:00 AM ET Marc Ratner was sitting cageside at UFC 255 last Nov. 21 in Las Vegas. It was part of his usual routine, one the UFC vice president of regulatory affairs had upheld for hundreds of fight nights. When a video started playing on the UFC Apex screen, though, things started to feel different

9:02 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Nick Diaz never has been one to hold back, whether it be in the cage or talking with the media. On Wednesday, three days before he returns to the Octagon after more than six years away, Diaz spoke of his “resentment” toward mixed martial arts, wondered aloud why he

4:25 PM ET LAS VEGAS — A high profile rematch between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler will apparently still happen at UFC 266 this weekend, following a last-minute request from Diaz’s camp to change the weight limit of the bout. Diaz (26-9) and Lawler (28-15) originally agreed to fight at the 170-pound welterweight limit, however

7:46 AM ET HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Brian Ortega was feeling good, like his career and his life had been elevated to the next level. It was December 2018, and Ortega was invited to a holiday party at the Los Angeles home of actor Robert Downey Jr. Sure, a few weeks earlier Ortega had lost

6:00 PM ET Gabriel Tan With a pair of world champions, a teenager victorious in her first two fights, and a fourth potentially on his way, the Lee siblings are firmly on course for ONE Championship domination. Two of them will return to the cage in Friday’s ONE: REVOLUTION at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, with

7:51 AM ET Nick Diaz was 20 years old and facing the biggest challenge of his young MMA career. At UFC 47, on a stormy April night in Las Vegas in 2004, Diaz took on power-punching Robbie Lawler in just his second appearance inside the Octagon. Lawler, who was 22, had already fought five times

7:51 AM ET Any pay-per-view with two title fights is going to capture the attention of the sport, but on Saturday night at UFC 266, it’s the third fight on the card that has most fight fans talking. Nick Diaz will walk to the Octagon for his first fight since 2015 to face Robbie Lawler

1:01 AM ET Yoel Romero shook his head and wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo. Bellator in-cage announcer Michael C. Williams was reading the results of the Bellator 266 main event and one of the judges had Romero winning the bout. Romero did not agree with the judge, pointing to his opponent, Phil Davis, and

10:17 PM ET Anthony Smith said two years ago after a title loss to all-time great Jon Jones that maybe he’d never get another chance to beat Jones. But that was OK, Smith said, because he’d simply outlast Jones — and the rest of the UFC light heavyweight division. Those comments have aged pretty well.

6:15 PM ET “Gatekeeper” is something of a dirty word in combat sports. It means a fighter who is good enough to remain near the top of a division but not quite at the level of title contender. It’s a fighter who, if you can beat them, opens the door to the upper echelon of