MMA

Sep 19, 2019 Editor’s note: This story was published after Yair Rodriguez’s win over Chan Sung June. Rodriguez faces Max Holloway on Nov. 13. Yair Rodriguez landed what some consider the greatest knockout in UFC history Saturday night in Denver, finishing Chan Sung Jung — best known as “The Korean Zombie” — with a brutal

2:55 PM ET The UFC has added a welterweight matchup between Stephen Thompson and Belal Muhammad to its event on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas, both fighters confirmed on Thursday. The 170-pound contest will take place on the final UFC Fight Night event of 2021. Thompson confirmed the news to ESPN and Muhammad confirmed it

7:01 PM ET Loopy Godinez is the busiest woman in the UFC. One month after fighting twice in the span of two weeks — a modern UFC record — Godinez will step in on short notice to fight Loma Lookboonmee at UFC Fight Night on Nov. 20 in Las Vegas, UFC officials confirmed Wednesday with

3:38 PM ET Next month’s highly anticipated welterweight fight between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards is off, UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN on Wednesday. Per Campbell, Masvidal (35-15) was forced to withdraw from the UFC 269 bout on Dec. 11 because of an undisclosed injury. There was no update on whether Edwards

4:19 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Cris Cyborg has long been a standard-bearer of women’s MMA. As far back as 2009, when Gina Carano was undefeated and emerging as the first star of the women’s game, Carano was put to the test by being booked against Cristiane Justino, also known as Cyborg, in the first Strikeforce

1:36 PM ET UFC lightweight Michael Chandler might have lost to Justin Gaethje last weekend in New York — but he appears to have caught Conor McGregor‘s attention in doing so. Chandler (22-7) suffered a unanimous decision loss to Gaethje at UFC 268 on Saturday in a three-round bout that is the likely front-runner for

9:30 AM ET Going into his UFC 268 main event against Colby Covington, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman already was No. 1 in the ESPN men’s pound-for-pound rankings. There was no room for upward movement. However, Usman’s strong performance at Madison Square Garden did earn him the backing of the last holdout on our voting panel.

1:46 AM ET The night ended with Kamaru Usman outlasting Colby Covington in another epic five-round fight, but there was no shortage of action throughout UFC 268. Rose Namajunas successfully defended her strawweight title, Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler did not disappoint and Marlon Vera finished Frankie Edgar with a highlight-reel kick that may have

1:01 AM ET NEW YORK — Kamaru Usman got the job done at UFC 268, stopping the late surge of Colby Covington to retain the UFC welterweight championship. Usman scored two knockdowns in the second round which nearly put Covington away, but there would be no finish in the rematch and the scorecards were read.

1:54 AM ET NEW YORK — Kamaru Usman has said repeatedly that he dislikes Colby Covington more than any other opponent he has ever faced. But after their 10th round in the cage together, Usman and Covington could do nothing except embrace. Usman beat Covington via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in the main event

Nov 7, 2021 NEW YORK — Rose Namajunas successfully defended her strawweight crown on Saturday against Zhang Weili — the same woman she took the belt from back in April. Saturday’s rematch, however, was a much different fight than the first. Namajunas (11-4) edged Zhang (21-3) by the slimmest of margins, as she earned a

2:22 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim NEW YORK — A pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter steps into the cage with the second-best fighter in his weight class and makes him look second rate. That was the narrative early on in the UFC 268 main event, as welterweight champion Kamaru Usman bloodied Colby Covington in the first round

5:42 PM ET NEW YORK – Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington went back and forth Thursday during a heated news conference, fueled by a crowd starved for conflict. Usman shoved Covington during the staredown, sending the fans to another level of raucousness. There has not been a major MMA show in New York City in

7:47 AM ET NEW YORK — To say the UFC is ending 2021 with a bang is an understatement. The UFC has two pay-per-view events left, and each could be considered the best card of the year. But for my money, nothing beats the UFC 268 main card this Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Two

9:41 AM ET NEW YORK — One of the most anticipated title rematches in UFC history is official, as Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington both weighed in successfully Friday morning. Usman, who was first to the scale, weighed in at 169 pounds, and Covington was 169.4 pounds. Usman will defend his UFC welterweight title against

8:00 AM ET SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s a Saturday morning in October and Zhang Weili is in MMA gloves and her workout gear, walking to the mat at Fight Ready MMA & Fitness. A YouTube video with the sound of fans loudly booing at a sporting event is being broadcast over the gym’s speakers. Coaches

7:37 AM ET Morgan Mularski DENVER — Trevor Wittman starts off every morning reciting five things for which he’s grateful. Then he repeats the mantra “externalize the internal champion,” a saying he lives by and aims to instill in others. Wittman encourages those in his life to embrace their inner being and passions. Wittman has

4:09 PM ET NEW YORK — Justin Gaethje expects to get the nod for a title shot if he takes care of business this weekend. And he’s hoping that opportunity will come against an old rival. Gaethje fights Michael Chandler at UFC 268 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. With a victory, Gaethje said he