MMA

Getty Images UFC 283 marks the promotion’s first visit to Brazil in two years and first pay-per-view in the country since UFC 237 in May 2019. Unusual circumstances at the end of 2022 led to a main event booked on six weeks’ notice, complimenting an extraordinary rivalry entering its fourth consecutive year of competition. Glover

9:22 AM ET Jeff WagenheimESPN If Brazil isn’t the birthplace of the UFC, it is at least the playground for the promotion’s formative years. The inaugural event in 1993 took place in Denver, and the company’s first 15 fight cards all happened in the United States. It took the UFC nearly five years before finally

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 bouts. We’ll also include any odds that are posted at BetMGM. Check back often as this list will be updated as new fights are scheduled. Here are the major scheduled

UFC president Dana White faces significant challenges ahead in navigating the company through 2023. (Photo by Amy Kaplan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) It would have been inconceivable at lunchtime on Sept. 8 to think there was even the tiniest bit of concern about the UFC’s position in the sports landscape. It was a juggernaut and

Getty Images Francis Ngannou is no longer UFC heavyweight champion and now free to sign with any other combat sports promotion. Ngannou’s split from the UFC comes after more than a year of contract disputes between the two parties. UFC president Dana White announced the news at a press conference on Saturday in the immediate

8:52 AM ET The 2023 MMA calendar gets underway this weekend, and it intensifies next week when UFC 283 is headlined by a pair of championship fights. But a truly game-changing moment for the sport arrives next month in a collision of ESPN’s No. 1 and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighters. When UFC men’s featherweight champion

MMA coach James Krause served as an agent for an online sportsbook, ESPN reported. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) The gambling controversy surrounding highly regarded MMA trainer James Krause, a former UFC fighter, reached another level Thursday when ESPN reported that Krause acted as an agent for an online sports book.

UFC president Dana White said Wednesday at media day for UFC Vegas 67 that he would not step down from his position or be punished after being caught on video slapping his wife, Anne, at a nightclub during a New Year’s Eve celebration in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He asked people not to defend him

Bellator MMA Bellator has locked down one of its brightest stars for the foreseeable future. The promotion announced that AJ McKee has signed an exclusive multi-year, multi-fight contract with the organization on Tuesday. Bellator president Scott Coker expressed his enthusiasm to continue working with McKee, a Bellator-lifer who went from debutant to world champion. “Our

8:37 AM ET Just days into the new year, MMA has already staked its claim once again for the title of most unpredictable sport. After all, Jake Paul is now an MMA fighter with the PFL. Big questions loom ahead in 2023. What will Nate Diaz’s next move be after stepping away from the UFC

Getty Images Jake Paul is heading to MMA. The social media star turned boxer now plans to take his talents to the cage as he announced he has signed with the Professional Fighters League on Thursday. Paul, 25, also said that he was becoming a co-founder of the new “PPV super fights division” where fighters

Social media influencer and boxer Jake Paul announced Thursday he’d signed with the Professional Fighters League and will compete in MMA at some point in 2023. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) The jury remains out on Jake Paul as a fighter, both as a boxer and now as a mixed martial artist, since he signed

8:21 AM ET So much goes into a “breakout season” in mixed martial arts. One could argue, more so than in any other sport. A breakout season in MMA requires skill and preparation, but it also involves timing, health, luck and maybe a viral moment here and there. If you want to break out in

UFC president Dana White apologized for slapping his wife during a New Year’s Eve celebration at a club in Mexico. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) Dana White’s life changed forever on the night of Dec. 31, 2022, when he decided to slap his wife, Anne, in the face while the couple was in Mexico celebrating

Getty Images After video surfaced of Dana White appearing to strike his wife during an argument in a nightclub on New Year’s Eve, the UFC president has issued a statement stating there is “no excuse” for his actions. TMZ published a video of the altercation, with White and his wife, Anna White, appearing to argue

Dec 30, 2022 Jeff Wagenheim Seven appears to be the lucky number. Or unlucky, depending on whether or not you start the year with a UFC championship belt wrapped around your waist. Exactly a year ago, I made predictions for ESPN on what fighter would be champion at the end of 2022 in each of

After injury forced Geoff Neal out of his highly anticipated bout with Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC Fight Night 217, many believed it would be nearly impossible to find a replacement on just over two weeks’ notice. There haven’t been many people pleading for the assignment against the undefeated rising contender, but Bryan Barberena is one

CBS Sports Illustration There are many different elements that typically combine to make for a strong fight of the year selection in MMA, including everything from sustained two-way action to the combination of technical brilliance and major swings of momentum.  Rarely before, however, have the group of finalists in a single year, which was the