MMA

11:00 AM ET The PFL’s 2021 season will kick off April 23 and feature one of its most prized offseason signings in former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Pettis (24-10) will meet Clay Collard (18-8) in the main event of PFL 1, president Ray Sefo told ESPN. The fight will take place at a location

2:20 PM ET The UFC has elected not to release Ottman Azaitar after all following a bizarre set of circumstances involving the undefeated lightweight last month on Fight Island. UFC president Dana White told ESPN he has decided to give Azaitar a “second chance” in the promotion. This development comes less than one month after

1:00 PM ET Deciding who should be next to challenge UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is perhaps the hottest topic in MMA, and it involves some of the biggest names in the sport. Usman dispatched Gilbert Burns via third-round TKO at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, and he immediately called out Jorge Masvidal as his

11:34 AM ET Editor’s note: The first women’s fight in UFC history was on Feb. 23, 2013, when Ronda Rousey faced Liz Carmouche. This story has been updated after originally being published in December 2019. Amanda Nunes was driving around Miami with her then-girlfriend, Nina Ansaroff, looking for a bar. They had just watched teammates

5:18 PM ET Deciding who should be next to challenge UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is perhaps the hottest topic in MMA, and it involves some of the biggest names in the sport. Usman dispatched Gilbert Burns via second-round TKO at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, and he immediately called out Jorge Masvidal as his

5:30 PM ET Travis Fulton, a record-holding mixed martial arts veteran, is facing federal child pornography charges. Fulton was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on three counts: sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography and receipt of child pornography, per the indictment obtained by ESPN. The federal case is being tried

8:04 AM ET Ariel Helwani: It’s time to focus the attention on Derrick Lewis One of the big storylines heading into Saturday night’s main event was what should Curtis Blaydes do if he beats Derrick Lewis? Ordinarily, a victory like that — which would have been his fifth in a row — over a quality

12:14 AM ET Ariel Helwani: It’s time to focus the attention on Derrick Lewis One of the big storylines heading into Saturday night’s main event was what should Curtis Blaydes do if he beats Derrick Lewis? Ordinarily, a victory like that — which would have been his fifth in a row — over a quality

11:34 PM ET Curtis Blaydes made no apologies about his strategy coming into a huge heavyweight fight with Derrick Lewis. Blaydes was going to use his dominant wrestling early and often. He told anyone who would listen. Maybe it was a decoy. But Blaydes should have stuck to his original game plan, as Lewis crushed

6:47 PM ET Chas Skelly stood in the Octagon and waited for his opponent, Jamall Emmers, to make his entrance. But Emmers never came out. The UFC Fight Night bout between Skelly and Emmers was cancelled Saturday when Emmers was unable to compete after suffering back spasms backstage, according to the UFC broadcast. Skelly was

4:05 PM ET A fight has fallen off this weekend’s UFC card just hours before the first bell. Luis Peña and Drakkar Klose were scheduled to meet in a lightweight bout Saturday in Las Vegas. But the bout has been pulled from the event due to COVID-19 protocols, the UFC confirmed with ESPN. Promotion officials

4:39 PM ET Two of the best heavyweights in the world will clash with title implications on the line. Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis meet Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. The bout was initially scheduled for back on Nov. 28, but Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19 and the

8:59 PM ET Former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm will seek her third consecutive win when she faces Julianna Pena in a non-title bout in May, UFC officials said Friday. The 135-pound contest will take place on a UFC Fight Night event on May 8. The UFC has not yet announced an official location for

2:48 PM ET A UFC fighter missed weight Friday by a record amount. Rafael Alves weighed in at 157.5 pounds for a scheduled featherweight bout against Patrick Sabatini. The limit for a non-title featherweight fight in MMA is 146 pounds, so Alves weighed 11.5 pounds over the contracted mark. It was the biggest weight miss

8:10 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim The sport of mixed martial arts has evolved through the years to the point where nowadays most professional fighters, especially those at or near the top of the heap, are proficient at mixing together an array of combative styles. But when the sport was young and drawing its athletes from

12:11 PM ET The Professional Fighters League has announced its raised $65 million in new financing, approximately two months ahead of its 2021 season. In a released statement, the mixed martial arts league said the funds will “accelerate PFL’s momentum, innovation, and growth as it builds off its strong foundation as the No. 2 company

1:58 PM ET UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad is stepping in to face Leon Edwards in a five-round main event at UFC Fight Night on March 13, multiple sources told ESPN. Muhammad is replacing Edwards’ original opponent, Khamzat Chimaev, who was forced to withdraw from the bout last week due to lingering effects from COVID-19. The

8:24 PM ET Fresh off his third UFC welterweight title defense last weekend, Kamaru Usman is keen on booking his next bout against Jorge Masvidal — and has already discussed the idea with UFC president Dana White. Usman (18-1) told ESPN on Wednesday he believes he has earned the right to pick his next opponent,