MMA

8:37 PM ET The UFC has made several changes official ahead of its next card. Julio Arce and Andre Ewell have been removed from UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas because of COVID-19 protocols, the UFC announced Tuesday. In addition, Alex Da Silva was pulled from his bout because of an injury. All

11:29 AM ET Michael Chandler has a bold plan for his UFC run, and so far he’s executing it perfectly. The former three-time Bellator lightweight champion stormed onto the UFC scene with a first-round knockout of contender Dan Hooker at UFC 257 on Jan. 23. Chandler plans to fight twice more this year en route

3:08 PM ET Just a little more than a week after his career-defining win over Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier has not yet decided on his next move. There is one thing that is paramount in his mind over all else, though: becoming the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. Poirier is a former interim UFC lightweight champion.

7:14 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi All eyes are on the UFC lightweight division, where many of the biggest names in MMA reside, and where many of the biggest question marks are fueling heated debates. The

2:54 PM ET Next month’s Chris Weidman vs. Uriah Hall fight is being moved. Their scheduled fight at UFC 258 on Feb. 13 has been canceled, sources say, after Weidman tested positive for COVID-19 recently. The current plan is for the fight to be moved to UFC 261 on April 24, according to the sources.

8:33 AM ET At the UFC 257 postfight news conference in Abu Dhabi — just moments after Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor in a blockbuster event — the man of the hour compared his two-week experience on Fight Island to being in “a prison in my own mind.” “You couldn’t call this Fight Island,” Poirier

7:39 PM ET UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman says he “shattered” his nose in sparring just two weeks before defending his 170-pound title against Jorge Masvidal in July. Usman (17-1) is scheduled to make his third title defense next month, against Gilbert Burns (19-3) at UFC 258 on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas. The matchup

1:23 PM ET USADA gave a six-month suspension to UFC women’s bantamweight contender Raquel Pennington on Thursday for the use of two banned substances, the agency announced. According to a USADA release, Pennington informed UFC’s anti-doping partner on Nov. 17 that she had used two prohibited drugs: 7-keto-DHEA and AOD-9064. USADA tested Pennington and the

12:37 PM ET A pretty good indication that a UFC fighter is hot is when Conor McGregor is calling him out, rather than the other way around. And when Nate Diaz, who rarely calls out anyone, joins the chorus, the heat is undeniable. That’s the position Dustin Poirier finds himself in after his second-round TKO

3:34 PM ET UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje says he is eager to find out his next assignment, and acknowledges there are plenty of options given the current state of the division. Gaethje (22-3) hasn’t fought since a failed title bid against undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October. He is still No. 2 in the UFC’s

11:01 AM ET The UFC is finalizing a middleweight bout between Darren Till and Marvin Vettori to headline a UFC Fight Night event in April, according to multiple sources. Contracts have not been signed, but verbal agreements are in place, sources said. The 185-pound contest will headline a UFC Fight Night event April 10. The

7:14 PM ET A UFC Hall of Famer is in trouble with the law once again. Former UFC two-division champion BJ Penn was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence Saturday in Honokaa, Hawaii, Hawaii Police Department spokesperson Denise Laitinen told ESPN on Monday. Penn was released pending an investigation, Laitinen said. A request for

8:30 AM ET One performed heroically on the biggest stage possible. The other put on a historic performance. Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway grabbed the attention of the mixed martial arts world in different ways in the last couple of weeks, but for both the results show in the latest ESPN pound-for-pound rankings. Poirier made

9:00 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a middleweight contest between former champion Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa to headline UFC Fight Night on April 17, officials confirmed to ESPN on Monday. The 185-pound contest will take place at a location to be determined. Whittaker (22-5) lost the middleweight championship to Israel Adesanya in October

1:01 PM ET Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh said Monday that McGregor is hoping to get a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier for the UFC lightweight title, possibly in May. Poirier stopped McGregor in the second round of Saturday’s UFC 257 main event, avenging a loss to McGregor in 2014. “He’s already harassing everybody to

7:27 AM ET After the events of UFC 257, a lot of attention is rightfully being paid to the lightweight division and the state of play at the top. Dustin Poirier staked his claim to a title shot with his victory over Conor McGregor, while Michael Chandler made a statement of his own in his

12:44 AM ET Dustin Poirier pulled off a stunner Saturday night, scoring a TKO victory over Conor McGregor in the second round in the main event of UFC 257. The finish came at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. The fight, a non-title bout contested at 155 pounds, took place inside Etihad Arena on Yas Island in

8:10 PM ET The UFC heavyweight championship will be on the line on March 27. A rematch between champion Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou will headline UFC 260, sources told ESPN. The co-main event will feature UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski against Brian Ortega, according to sources. The date and location for UFC 260 have