MMA

12:03 AM ET Marina Rodriguez‘s performance on short notice after travel nightmares and Donald Cerrone‘s continued decline were two of the key storylines coming out of Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, and the sustained success of Neil Magny can’t be overlooked. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim offer

11:44 PM ET Marina Rodriguez did not arrive in Las Vegas until Thursday, two days later than every other fighter on the card. The Brazil native had struggles getting a visa into the United States due to COVID-19 and spent 20 hours in travel over Wednesday and Thursday morning. None of that ended up mattering

3:51 PM ET An anticipated women’s strawweight bout has been pulled from the UFC card Saturday night. Amanda Ribas was removed from the event due to COVID-19 protocols and her scheduled bout against Angela Hill has been removed from UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Waterson in Las Vegas, UFC officials confirmed with ESPN. The card

5:39 PM ET The UFC Fight Night main event was delivered on late notice — and so was its headliner, Marina Rodriguez. After issues getting a visa and 20 hours of travel, Rodriguez finally arrived in the United States on Thursday morning. The Brazil native will meet Michelle Waterson in the main event on Saturday

12:07 AM ET Sergio Pettis is officially out of the shadow of his accomplished older brother. Using a technical and precise counter boxing game, Pettis outpointed Juan Archuleta to capture the Bellator bantamweight title in the main event of Bellator 258 on Friday night at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Pettis won the bout via

4:57 PM ET Bellator has introduced the first interim heavyweight title in promotion history. Timothy Johnson and Valentin Moldavsky will face off for the Bellator interim heavyweight title June 25 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, the promotion announced Friday. The card will be dubbed Bellator 261. Current heavyweight champion Ryan Bader is competing in

2:09 PM ET Ryan Benoit has been removed from this weekend’s UFC card after a scary scene at weigh-ins. Benoit missed weight by 3 pounds on his second attempt Friday morning, coming in at 129 pounds for a flyweight bout in Las Vegas. He was scheduled to fight Zarrukh Adashev at UFC Fight Night on

7:39 AM ET It’s a disclaimer that goes along with every single MMA event: Card is subject to change. And to be frank, Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas was hit hard by change. This card was supposed to feature the return of TJ Dillashaw, a former bantamweight champion who lost his belt to

5:25 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim Fabricio Werdum is a former UFC heavyweight champion. He is a multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion. And on Thursday night, he will begin his quest to be a PFL champion. The 43-year-old from Brazil, who trains in Southern California, will be making his debut with the fight promotion when he

6:28 PM ET UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman believes he has a wealth of options for his next fight — and yes, those options include a boxing match against YouTube star Jake Paul. Usman (19-1) is less than two weeks removed from his fourth title defense at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida, where he knocked

8:03 AM ET Mohammed Usman was alone in his hotel room talking to the television. It was deep into the night on April 24. About 900 miles south of that Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Usman’s older brother Kamaru was making his way to the Octagon, set to defend his UFC welterweight

9:01 AM ET Ten days after suffering a compound fracture of his right leg, Chris Weidman was at home in New York and preparing for a long road to recovery, saying the pain was unlike anything he had felt in a career that has had its fair share of injuries. “I’ve had 10 knee surgeries,

10:41 PM ET Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has a new, short-notice opponent for his welterweight bout this weekend. The popular UFC veteran will take on Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday night. The bout will be the co-main event of the card. Mexican journalist C.

5:22 PM ET The Florida State Boxing Commission has made a major change to its policy regarding cannabis. At a meeting Tuesday, the commission voted to essentially eliminate marijuana from its prohibited drug list, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation spokesperson Patrick Fargason told ESPN on Tuesday. Previously in Florida, even trace amounts of

3:09 PM ET The UFC finally has an official main event for this coming weekend. Marina Rodriguez will meet the popular Michelle Waterson in the UFC Fight Night headliner Saturday in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Tuesday. The originally scheduled main event between former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and top contender Cory Sandhagen was postponed

10:00 AM ET For the first time ever, the UFC has published an official concussion protocol for fighters. The UFC Performance Institute released Tuesday a robust digital journal entitled “A Cross-Sectional Performance Analysis and Projection of the UFC Athlete.” The 484-page study uses data collected between 2017 and 2019 as reference material for mixed martial

11:49 PM ET The anticipated bout between Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz has a new date and location. Diaz has a minor, undisclosed injury and his welterweight fight with Edwards will no longer take place as the co-main event of UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday night. Edwards-Diaz

6:53 AM ET In Jon Jones‘ absence, the UFC’s light heavyweight title picture is quickly shaping up into one of the most competitive and intriguing across the entire promotion. Jan Blachowicz looked dominant against Israel Adesanya and faces another daunting challenger in Glover Teixeira later this year. But on Saturday, Jiri Prochazka threw his name