MMA

4:38 PM ET Veteran MMA fighter Anthony Johnson has withdrawn from a Bellator MMA title fight against Vadim Nemkov on Oct. 16 due to illness, which appears to be a potentially serious ailment. Johnson, 37, was scheduled to challenge Nemkov for the light heavyweight championship, as part of Bellator’s ongoing tournament. He announced via social

8:07 AM ET Just one year ago, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith‘s career was in jeopardy. At least that’s surely how it felt. At this time in 2020, Smith (35-16) was coming off back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The losses came just three months apart, which was remarkable considering the amount of

6:35 PM ET Carlos Condit, one of the best MMA welterweights of the aughts and beyond, has retired from the UFC, his longtime manager, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, confirmed Thursday with ESPN. Nicknamed “The Natural Born Killer,” Condit was a former UFC interim welterweight champion and had been with the promotion for 12

2:21 PM ET ONE Championship has put together an incredibly interesting styles clash for what is being described as the promotion’s biggest show ever. Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will fight Muay Thai standout Rodtang in a “mixed special rules fight” at ONE X, the ONE Championship 10-year anniversary show Dec. 5 in Singapore,

9:57 PM ET UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno‘s first title defense will come against a very familiar foe — former champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Moreno (19-5-2) agreed on Wednesday to defend his 125-pound championship against Figueiredo (20-2-1) at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at a site to be determined. Contracts for the matchup should be finalized

4:54 PM ET Joseph Benavidez, one of the most influential lighter-weight fighters in MMA history, is hanging up the gloves. Benavidez told ESPN on Wednesday that he is retiring from the UFC after 10 years with the promotion and 15 years as a pro overall. News of Benavidez no longer being on the UFC roster

7:54 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Yoel Romero makes his Bellator debut on Saturday night, and when he steps inside the cage to meet former light heavyweight champion Phil Davis in the main event of Bellator 266 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, it will be a long-awaited unveiling of something special. Why is

7:08 PM ET Jake Paul is moving on from the idea of a rematch with Tyron Woodley because Woodley failed to live up to a tattoo bet the pair made after the first fight, Paul told ESPN on Monday. Paul and Woodley seemed to make a gentlemen’s agreement in the ring after Paul beat Woodley

1:00 PM ET UFC star Conor McGregor and singer Machine Gun Kelly got into an altercation Sunday night that nearly turned physical. McGregor and Kelly were both on the MTV Video Music Awards red carpet at Barclays Center in Brooklyn when things turned heated. McGregor could be seen in videos lunging at Kelly, who was

Sep 1, 2021 Casey O’Neill is starting to feel at home in the UFC. Having won her first two fights in the promotion, and being locked in a third against former teammate Antonina Shevchenko on Oct. 2 at the UFC Apex, O’Neill (7-0) has delivered on the self-belief she had before moving to Las Vegas

10:30 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Evander Holyfield, months shy of his 59th birthday, was stopped on his feet by former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in the opening round on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The TKO came at 1 minute, 49 seconds. Belfort, 44, swarmed Holyfield from the

10:01 PM ET Anderson Silva is closer to 50 years old than he is 40. But the UFC great, somehow, is currently embarking on a relatively successful boxing run. Silva stopped fellow MMA legend Tito Ortiz via knockout at 1:21 of the first round Saturday night in Hollywood, Florida. Ortiz had Silva trapped in the

12:29 AM ET Alana McLaughlin, the first openly transgender athlete to compete in mixed martial arts in the United States since 2014, won her MMA debut Friday night, beating Celine Provost via submission on the Combate Global prelims in Miami. McLaughlin used a rear-naked choke to get the finish at 3 minutes, 32 seconds of

4:08 PM ET Jason “Mayhem” Miller is in trouble with the law again. The former UFC fighter and MTV host was arrested early Friday morning on a charge of felony domestic violence, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to ESPN. According to online inmate records, Miller was arrested at 3 a.m. Friday

7:03 PM ET The UFC has signed the only man to ever knock out one of its biggest stars. Kickboxing standout Alex Pereira has penned a contract with the UFC and will make his debut at UFC 268 on Nov. 6 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, promotion officials confirmed with ESPN on Friday. His

9:06 PM ET Bellator has added a familiar name to its burgeoning bantamweight division. Kyoji Horiguchi, the former Bellator and current Rizin champion, has signed with Bellator, promotion president Scott Coker announced Thursday on Twitter. Horiguchi had been competing in Rizin in his native Japan since 2017. However, he lives in Florida, and travel to

4:15 PM ET Jarrah Al-Silawi, former welterweight champion of Brave CF in the Middle East, has signed an exclusive contract with the Professional Fighters League. Al-Silawi informed ESPN of his move on Thursday. The Jordanian welterweight will not compete in the 2021 season, obviously, as that is set to wrap up on Oct. 27. However,

8:00 AM ET The UFC is down to 13 live events remaining in 2021 (not including Dana White’s Contender Series). As of now, the schedule consists of one more trip to Fight Island for UFC 267, the promotion’s first visit to New York since 2019 and a consistent lineup of events in Las Vegas to