MMA

Lightweight contender Beneil Dariush faces his greatest challenge on Saturday when he takes on ex-champion Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 289. (Chris Unger/Getty Images) It’s a title that says a lot about a fighter’s skill and potential, but it’s also a title that no one in his or her right mind wants.

Getty Images Amir Albazi passed his first test against the flyweight elite but not with flying colors. Albazi snuck out a split decision win against former interim title challenger Kai Kara-France at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday. “There is no name. There is only one thing I want. I want to get

The ageless Jim Miller is looking as dangerous as ever. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Jim Miller stands alone in UFC history, and he got there violently. The lightweight veteran dispatched Jesse Butler with a brutal KO in the first round of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 74 to become the first mixed martial

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 1, 2023, 06:37 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun A marquee heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida will headline a UFC Fight Night in November, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. Contracts have not been issued,

Seconds after he finished Julian Erosa a week before Christmas with a brilliant head-kick knockout, Alex Caceres appeared on the verge of breaking down in tears. He was clearly emotional after a massive win. When he was interviewed by Paul Felder in the cage, he spoke of fear, honor and courage in a widely praised

UFC’s No. 3-ranked flyweight Kai Kara-France will face No. 7 Amir Albazi (not pictured) in the main event of UFC Vegas 74 on June 3. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC) Plan your fight nights ahead with our UFC fight schedule. Included below are all of the UFC’s upcoming Fight Night cards and pay-per-events with announced

Getty Images UFC president Dana White had a busy month trading barbs with UFC fighters past and present. Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s signing with PFL reignited his feud with White. Meanwhile, reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has his own issues with matchmakers. If contract and matchmaking disputes were not bad enough, new financial

May 29, 2023, 09:00 AM ET For the entirety of its era-bridging run as a reality TV show — 30 seasons over 18 years — “The Ultimate Fighter” has served dual purposes. Ostensibly, it is a talent search, sorting out mostly up-and-coming fighters in order to freshen the UFC roster and perhaps unearth a gem.

Sports collectibles like trading cards, autographs and other memorabilia have been big business for decades. With MMA, it’s no different. From signed Bellator gloves and UFC posters to fight-worn gear and an abundance of pricey trading cards, just about any MMA collectible fans are looking for has popped up for sale at some point. Here’s

Combate Global A world championship tilt headlines Combate Global’s return to Miami on Sunday. Reigning bantamweight champion David Martinez defends his crown against the vastly more experienced Jose Zarauz. Matinez (9-1) makes the second defense of his bantamweight title against Zarauz (23-9-1), a fighter with more than three times as many professional bouts under his

Reed Kuhn Close Reed Kuhn Special to ESPN.com Reed Kuhn is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and strategy and analytics consultant. He is the author of “Fightnomics: The Hidden Numbers and Science in Mixed Martial Arts,” the first book to quantify drivers and performance metrics in combat sports. Ian Parker May 25, 2023, 09:26 AM ET

Jeff Wagenheim May 20, 2023, 10:36 PM ET Mackenzie Dern did not add to her record number of submissions but showed off a different dimension of dangerousness in dominating Angela Hill in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Dern (13-3), a two-time jiu-jitsu world champion whose four submission wins

LAS VEGAS – Rose Namajunas is Mackenzie Dern’s No. 1 option after UFC Fight Night 224. Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) scored a dominant decision win over Angela Hill in Saturday’s strawweight main event at the UFC Apex. She called out Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in her post-fight octagon interview with Michael Bisping. Dern explains that

Getty Images Meet Mackenzie Dern, mixed martial artist. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist displayed her complete skillset in a dominant performance over Angela Hill at UFC Fight Night on Saturday. Dern’s reputation as one of the most accomplished women in grappling has been a gift and curse for her MMA career. She has generally performed well

It’s almost time for UFC Fight Night 224: Dern vs. Hill (also known as UFC Vegas 73)! UFC returns to Vegas tomorrow night to watch Mackenzie Dern step into the ring opposite fellow strawweight Angela Hill. This square-off replaces the originally scheduled pairing of Raquel Pennington vs. Irene Aldana, in yet another UFC fight card

Whenever Angela Hill glances at her MMA record — 15-12 — she’ll grimace. And her 9-12 record outside of the UFC makes her grimace even a bit longer. “It makes me look like a 50/50 fighter,” Hill said, “and I know I’m not that. I fight only the best of the best of the best,

Yahoo News Exclusive: U.S. could train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in 4 months Yahoo News has exclusively obtained an internal U.S. Air Force assessment that concludes it would take only four months to train Ukrainian pilots to operate American-made F-16 fighter jets, a far shorter time frame than what has been repeatedly cited by

Getty Images There is nothing in professional sports quite like a vicious knockout. It’s invigorating for some and gruesome for others, but it always elicits a genuine emotional response. The UFC has fielded no shortage of reactions over the first four months of 2023. UFC 287 welcomed three new additions to the list. An exciting