MMA

Oct 3, 2022 Jeff WagenheimESPN Followers of MMA need no introduction to Anderson Silva. But for those combat sports fans who follow just boxing as well as those social media mavens drawn to boxing merely by the presence of YouTube personality Jake Paul, there is much to know about Silva, who will face Paul in

Yan Xiaonan moves to 16-3 and closer to a strawweight title shot after her win over Mackenzie Dern on Saturday. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Mackenzie Dern is one of the most decorated jiu-jitsu artists ever to compete in the UFC, and that ability may yet lift her to a world championship. But it was

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA returns to Long Beach on Saturday for Bellator 286. The card features several of the biggest names on the Bellator roster and promises some thrilling action. In the main event, Patricio Pitbull will defend his featherweight title against top contender Adam Borics. Former featherweight champion AJ McKee will also be in

8:22 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN It’s not easy being No. 2. You’re habitually overlooked, an afterthought, banished to the background. But every so often, the orchestra’s second fiddle gets to step under the bright lights at center stage and show their stuff. This autumn brings several opportunities for Bellator MMA to take more of the

LAS VEGAS — For many years, Mackenzie Dern has dreamed of facing an opponent who is aggressive and who comes out looking to take her head off. Dern is one of the most accomplished grapplers ever in mixed martial arts, though she’s been spending a lot of time with coach Jason Parillo working on her

LAS VEGAS — There are first overall draft picks, and then there are guys like LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Sidney Crosby. They are the greats among the great, guys who aren’t only stars but change the fortunes of the franchise and the city that lands them. “Dana White’s Contender Series” has essentially turned into

Bellator MMA Benson Henderson and Yoel Romero are on the rise. Henderson and Romero competed at the highest levels of UFC and continue to do so under the Bellator MMA banner. Henderson and Romero took decisive victories over Peter Queally and Melvin Manhoef, respectively, at Bellator 285 in Dublin, Ireland on Sept. 23. Henderson swept

We are less than one month from one of the most anticipated pay-per-view lineups of the year. At UFC 280, Charles Oliveira faces Islam Makhachev for the lightweight championship on a stacked card featuring Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw, Petr Yan vs.Sean O’Malley, and rising welterweight Sean Brady. Until then, we have a couple of

7:58 AM ET As UFC nears the end of its calendar year, there are still so many unanswered questions, especially among two weight classes that some of the promotion’s top fighters call home. Leon Edwards‘ fifth-round KO vs. Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August was a major shake-up for the welterweight division. What direction

Bellator MMA Benson Henderson and Peter Queally could find themselves on the shortlist of lightweight title challengers with a win at Bellator 285. Henderson enters enemy territory against the Irishman at Bellator 285 inside 3Arena in Dublin on Friday. The Henderson (29-11) experience has been a mixed bag under the Bellator MMA banner. The former

[embedded content] Former UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has no plans to return to the promotion unless it changes how it does business. Cyborg, the current Bellator women’s featherweight champ, is on the verge of making her professional boxing debut against Simone Silva in Brazil at Fight Music Show 2 on Sept. 25. The

9:06 AM ET Conor McGregor has not stepped into the Octagon in 14 months, yet hardly a day goes by without his name being brought up in an MMA conversation. As the starry Irishman’s return from a broken leg draws nearer, there is speculation about who might be next to step under the brightest of

Getty Images Jose Aldo is done with MMA. The 36-year-old was granted his release from his UFC contract with his coach, Andres Pederneiras, expecting it to mark the end of his legendary career. UFC seemed to confirm that Aldo was retiring from MMA with a tweet on Sunday afternoon. ESPN and Brazilian outlet Combate were

Jose Aldo ends his MMA career with a 31-8 record and having faced nearly every elite featherweight and bantamweight of his era. (AP Photo/John Locher) The athletes in mixed martial arts have evolved exponentially in the past 15 years, bringing the sport to near-peak performance. What they’ve really been doing in that time was catching

10:51 PM ET What were the biggest moments from this UFC Fight Night? What’s next for one of the bantamweight division’s top contenders? Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto offer their takeaways from UFC’s return Saturday night’s fight card. Cory Sandhagen made 14 takedown attempts and was unsuccessful on every one of them until

Cory Sandhagen was in desperate need of a win, and he got one thanks to a perfectly placed elbow. Sandhagen (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) had a few issues with a tough and gritty Song Yadong (19-7-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC). But a cut over Yadong’s left eye that Sandhagen created with an elbow was too deep

Getty Images Cory Sandhagen and Song Yadong are set to do their part in tidying up the bantamweight pecking order when they meet this weekend in Las Vegas. The division continues to prove itself as the deepest and most competitive in the sport with showcase fights scattered across the second half of 2022. Nestled underneath

LAS VEGAS — Cory Sandhagen has proven that he’s good enough to be the UFC featherweight champion. But his is one of those cases where good enough is not enough. Sandhagen will meet Song Yadong on Saturday at Apex in the main event of UFC Vegas 60 in what best could be described as Phase