MMA

11:26 PM ET Nate Diaz is back. Diaz, one of the most popular fighters in MMA, will meet Leon Edwards at UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston, sources told ESPN. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight, though the contract is not signed yet. The fight will serve as a five-round co-main event

4:56 PM ET The Darren Till vs. Marvin Vettori main event on April 10 has been canceled after Till recently broke his collarbone during training. Till wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday that the injury happened Monday, explaining that “while drilling I fell and straight away I knew I’d broken something.” The UFC has offered

8:30 AM ET Jon Jones, who reigned as UFC light heavyweight champion for much of the past decade before vacating his belt in August to move up to heavyweight, is back at the top of the ESPN men’s pound-for-pound MMA rankings. Francis Ngannou, fresh off winning the heavyweight title on Saturday at UFC 260, has

12:19 AM ET LAS VEGAS — From most feared to undisputed best, the Francis Ngannou era has begun. Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic to win the UFC heavyweight title Saturday night at the UFC Apex. The finish came at 52 seconds of the second round. Ngannou dropped Miocic with a left hand, and, after Miocic

10:06 AM ET The UFC is moving towards officially booking Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 3 for later this year. According to multiple sources, the trilogy is “close” to being finalized for UFC 264 on July 10. It is not signed yet or fully agreed to, but there is optimism that it could be finalized

8:10 AM ET UFC 260 proved to be a changing of the guard in the heavyweight division. Francis Ngannou displayed enhanced fight skills beyond his already devastating knockout power as he dethroned Stipe Miocic with a thoroughly impressive all-around performance. But with that knockout behind him, and the UFC heavyweight championship belt around his waist,

1:43 AM ET ESPN’s panel of Ariel Helwani, Marc Raimondi and Phil Murphy breaks down the biggest stories coming out of UFC 260, including Stipe Miocic’s future after his second-round KO loss to Francis Ngannou, what questions are still left to be answered about Sean O’Malley, and if there’s a future in the UFC for

12:19 AM ET Francis Ngannou scored the biggest victory of his career with a KO victory over Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 260 on Saturday in Las Vegas to win the heavyweight title. Miocic (21-3, 15-3 UFC), who defeated Ngannou (15-4, 10-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in 2018, was overwhelmed by Ngannou’s

2:20 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Francis Ngannou had just dropped UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic with a jab and had him trapped against the cage. The big man swarmed, a finish seemingly within his grasp. But Miocic escaped with urgency and moved toward the center of the Octagon, where the champion made his stand. Miocic

12:50 AM ET There is a new UFC heavyweight champion and a new combat sports superstar. Francis Ngannou is possibly on his way to owning one of the greatest years in combat sports, and it began with a brutal knockout of Stipe Miocic, the greatest heavyweight of all-time. So what’s next for Ngannou? Millions? Endorsements?

7:01 AM ET Oftentimes, when a UFC champion has enjoyed the level of success that heavyweight Stipe Miocic has, the topic of motivation comes up. For instance, what keeps Miocic going, when he already has defended his title more times than any heavyweight in UFC history? What’s fueling that fire, when he already knows what

10:17 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC is waiving a regulation in its anti-doping policy to make room for the return of Miesha Tate. Hunter Campbell, the UFC’s executive vice president and chief business officer, told ESPN on Friday that Tate will not have to be in the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug-testing

7:29 AM ET When UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic walks to the Octagon on Saturday to face Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC 260, he’ll be accompanied by two sides of a debate that he might finally be able to settle. Is he the greatest heavyweight fighter in MMA history? The old-schoolers say

8:06 PM ET UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya acknowledged he “crossed the line” and apologized Thursday after a back-and-forth exchange on social media with fellow middleweight Kevin Holland ended with Adesanya saying he would “rape” him. Adesanya posted a video on social media earlier this week, responding to trash talk from Holland. In the video,

11:19 AM ET LAS VEGAS — UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic has a gym in the basement of his Cleveland-area home, and occasionally his 2-year-old daughter, Meelah, will walk over and hit the heavy bag a few times. “Punch, punch,” she says. That’s the extent of Meelah’s exposure to her father’s career as a professional

8:43 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Rory MacDonald‘s 2015 challenge of UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler was an absolute classic. A year and a half after Lawler had edged out MacDonald by split decision in a nontitle bout, they went at each other relentlessly for the belt for 21 bloody, bruising minutes. MacDonald wobbled Lawler with

6:21 PM ET UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev is now targeting a return to competition in July, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz. Chimaev (9-0) was a breakout star for the UFC in 2020, and was scheduled to face highly ranked welterweight Leon Edwards in a main event on March 13 in Las Vegas. Chimaev,

4:16 PM ET LAS VEGAS — A women’s strawweight fight between Hannah Goldy and Jessica Penne has been removed from Saturday’s UFC 260 card after Goldy tested positive for COVID-19. Goldy posted about the positive test Wednesday on Instagram, writing in part, “I have never felt better, stronger or more complete. I was so ready