MMA

Heading into his grudge match title defense against Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 281 on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Israel Adesanya was an outlier among current UFC champions. His five successful title defenses heading into the bout with Pereira were the most among UFC men and were

Daniel Cormier is one of the few champ-champs in UFC history, so his perspective is certainly worth something. In 2018, then-light heavyweight champion Cormier moved to heavyweight and captured a second title by knocking out Stipe Miocic. This February, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (25-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) looks to do something similar when he

Getty Images Drake’s pockets are $2 million lighter after Saturday’s UFC middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira in UFC 281. The Grammy Award-winning rapper placed a $2 million bet on Adesanya to win the bout, but Pereira came out victorious. Adesanya had the upper hand for a large amount of the fight.

1:36 AM ET Alex Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya by fifth-round TKO in the main event of UFC 281 to become the new middleweight champion Saturday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Adesanya hurt Pereira at the end of Round 1 and then dominated the ground game in the third before Pereira took over in

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 12: (L-R) Alex Pereira of Brazil punches Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in the UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Israel Adesanya was knocked out in his second kickboxing fight

Getty Images It’s Fight Week in New York City once again. UFC is set to head back to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night with a loaded fight card sure to delight fans in the city that never sleeps. A pair of title fights tip the bill, but that’s not all fans have to look

Strawweight champion Carla Esparza (L) defends her belt on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 281 in New York against former champion Zhang Weili. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Carla Esparza can recall just about everything from her first reign as UFC strawweight champion. It’s not because it was so memorable but because it

Nov 8, 2022 Frankie Edgar (Editor’s note: This story was written with the assistance of ESPN’s Jeff Wagenheim) I remember the first time I ever saw a prizefight. It was sometime in the 1980s, and I was a young kid. I went to my next-door neighbor’s house with my old man to watch Mike Tyson.

The video went viral, and is now up to 14 million views on the Glory of Heroes’ YouTube channel. Israel Adesanya is flat on his back, knocked out on March 4, 2017, by a massive left hook from Alex Pereira. Less than a year later, Adesanya was in the UFC, a full-time mixed martial artist,

Darrick Minner was stopped in the first round by Shayilan Nuerdanbieke on Saturday at UFC Vegas 64. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) About a month after a change in policy that banned UFC fighters and their close associates from betting on UFC fights, an investigation into irregular betting patterns involving a featherweight fight between Darrick

9:55 PM ET Amanda Lemos might not be the most well-rounded fighter in her division, but her power makes her as dangerous as anyone at 115 pounds. Lemos finished Marina Rodriguez via TKO at 54 seconds of the third round Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Rodriguez was poised

Getty Images Amanda Lemos is determined to play spoiler to Marina Rodriguez’s UFC title aspirations. Rodriguez vs. Lemos headlines UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. Rodriguez (16-1) has the UFC women’s strawweight championship firmly in her sights. Rodriguez, deemed by many as a viable title challenger, has looked

The UFC’s strawweight division doesn’t get as much attention as some of its other weight classes, but it has delivered more than its share of memorable moments. The top, of course, is the 2020 bout between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That was not just the greatest women’s fight

Getty Images Bellator MMA has some of its very best fighters on the lineup to close out 2022. A hopefully definitive conclusion to the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, the next steps in the Bantamweight World Grand Prix and an exciting cross-over spectacle with Rizin are all scheduled for the promotion’s final three events this year.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jake Paul’s inexplicable boxing résumé now includes a win over one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. Paul, the YouTube-star-turned-prizefighter, beat former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva by unanimous decision (77-74, 78-73, 78-73) Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena. The bout was very competitive, but Paul pulled away late

Getty Images Mixed martial arts stars turned out in force to watch the spectacle of Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva. The Showtime Boxing pay-per-view on Saturday night featured former UFC champions on the broadcast and in the crowd. Former UFC middleweight champion Silva is a mainstay in the discussion of MMA’s greatest of all time.

Arnold Allen (left) punches Calvin Kattar in a featherweight fight during UFC Fight Night at UFC Apex on October 29, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Arnold Allen did what he had to do, but because of circumstances outside his control, he may not reap the rewards of his efforts. Allen

Oct 26, 2022 Arnold Allen and Calvin Kattar meet in a matchup of top-10 featherweights headlining UFC Fight Night on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex are on ESPN+, with the 7 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 4 p.m. Allen (18-1) has won 11 fights in a