MMA

Saturday’s main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas featured a title fight that wasn’t even supposed to happen. In mid-November, light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka suffered a significant shoulder injury and was forced to pull out of his UFC 282 headliner versus Glover Teixeira. Then, facing a long recovery, Prochazka vacated his belt

Jared Gordon’s climb up the MMA ladder has been a slow one. And even when he has been successful, sometimes things haven’t gone his way. Prior to his bout at UFC 278 on Aug. 20 in Salt Lake City, Gordon, a native New Yorker, was desperate to get onto the UFC 282 card at Madison

LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year is filled with fascinating matches. One of those getting overlooked in the discussion is the featherweight bout between Bryce “Thug Nasty” Mitchell and Ilia Topuria that will open the main card for UFC 282 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. Both are elite finishers, and in

Getty Images Things change quickly in the sport of mixed martial arts. That remains true as UFC closes out 2022 with what was planned to be an epic rematch for the light heavyweight title. Instead, that title is now vacant and looking to crown a new champion at UFC 282 in Las Vegas on Saturday

LAS VEGAS — Khabib Nurmagomedov finished his MMA career undefeated, going 29-0 overall and 13-0 in the UFC, retiring as the only undefeated UFC champion. Jon Jones would be undefeated were it not for a referee’s mistake, when he was disqualified for an illegal blow in a bout he was about to win. No one

8:51 AM ET Paddy Pimblett made his UFC debut in September 2021. Two months later, the MMA prospect out of England traveled to the United States. Pimblett was accosted for photos in places like Times Square in New York and Yard House restaurant in San Diego. Fast-forward a little more than a year, and “The

2:09 AM ET Stephen Thompson proved he still has championship aspirations after a dominating performance over Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Fight Night, but others in Orlando, Florida, found their way to shine as well. Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim look at the biggest moments from an action-packed event in

(L-R) Stephen Thompson kicks Kevin Holland in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Amway Center on Dec. 3, 2022, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) After being taken down and held down repeatedly by wrestlers in their previous fights, both Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Kevin Holland vowed not to

Getty Images Stephen Thompson still has life in MMA as he approaches his 40th birthday. Thompson and Kevin Holland composed a symphony of punches, kicks, knees and elbows in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Orlando, Florida on Saturday. Thompson’s fights have a tendency to be rather mundane. Opponents often employ wrestle-heavy tactics

Highly regarded MMA coach James Krause is in the middle of a betting probe, and the UFC has banned his fighters from competing in the organization. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) The controversy surrounding a Nov. 5 bout involving Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke bumped up significantly on Friday when the UFC

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson emphasizes the word “ever,” wanting to add extra emphasis to his point. He feels, he said, better than he ever has heading into a fight. He’s 39 and when most professional athletes hit that age, the inevitable questions about retirement arise. It’s especially true of someone like Thompson, who was 8-1 in

Getty Images Stephen Thompson is always rounding out his MMA game, but do not expect the karate specialist to shoot for many takedowns this weekend. Thompson takes on Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in the hopes of presenting a delightful striking encounter for the fighters, fans and —

The heavyweight match between Tai Tuivasa, who is No. 4 in the latest UFC rankings, and No. 5 Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night Saturday in Orlando, Florida, is one of those that seems to be flying under the radar. Perhaps it’s because Tuivasa is coming off a loss, or because Pavlovich still hasn’t connected

Nov 28, 2022 The UFC returns to Florida this weekend for the first time since UFC 273 in April. UFC Fight Night takes place at Orlando’s Amway Center on Saturday night (7 ET on ESPN+) with an intriguing card for fight fans to peruse. This will be the first UFC Fight Night event held outside

Ovince Saint Preux readjusts course once again, though the final destination remains UFC 282. For the second time in as many weeks, Saint Preux (26-12 MMA, 16-12 UFC) has a new opponent for the Dec. 10 pay-per-view at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With Philipe Lins out for undisclosed reasons, Saint Preux will fight promotional

USATSI The final two months of the year are heating up with memorable moments that should stand the test of time inside the UFC Octagon. Islam Makhachev, the pupil of former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, cemented himself as UFC lightweight champion with a second-round submission over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 on Oct. 22. August played

1:20 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Kayla Harrison, the two-time defending PFL women’s lightweight champion and the promotion’s most dominant fighter, is undefeated no more. Larissa Pacheco, who twice before had faced Harrison and had lost both times, got a stunning victory in her third crack at Harrison on Friday night in New York. The fight

Kayla Harrison looked unstoppable in the PFL. Until she didn’t. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) Arguably the most dominant fighter in all of MMA is undefeated no more. Two-time Professional Fighters League lightweight tournament champion Kayla Harrison received the first loss of her MMA career on Saturday by a unanimous decision against Larissa Pacheco, knocking