MMA

Feb 17, 2022 Prior to UFC 271, Tai Tuivasa was just a big man with a fun gimmick. The 28-year-old Australian heavyweight had won four fights in a row, but with none of those wins having come against a ranked opponent, Tuivasa was best known for his signature victory celebration: drinking beer out of a

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez was denied bail Monday in his attempted murder case in California, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Velasquez was arrested last week after he allegedly tried to shoot and kill a man who has been accused of molesting his young relative. Judge Shelyna Brown denied bail after a contentious

LAS VEGAS — The war of words continued long after the grudge match between former friends Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 272 had ended Saturday. Covington came triumphantly to the post-fight news conference after a one-sided unanimous decision in which his wrestling stifled Masvidal’s offense and called himself “The

Getty Images Asked to summarize his one-sided drubbing of Jorge Masvidal on Saturday, Colby Covington largely ignored the first question from his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan so he could publicly thank the first responders and military members who make this country great. Not even 30 seconds later, he had already pivoted toward a verbal

7:48 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – Jorge Masvidal walked into the American Top Team (ATT) gym one day in September 2019 and spotted Colby Covington. The two men, formerly best friends and

LAS VEGAS — When Colby Covington finished the penultimate bout on his UFC contract in 2017 by defeating Dong Hyun Kim in Singapore, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby made it clear to Covington that the company wasn’t going to make an effort to re-sign him. The issue was that Covington’s wrestling heavy style was effective in

Getty Images Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is facing an attempted murder charge. Velasquez was arrested in San Jose, California, on Monday night after allegedly shooting someone, the San Jose Police Department confirmed in a statement. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Velasquez opened fire on a vehicle that was carrying a man

LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s first big feud, a light heavyweight rivalry between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, produced its first million-selling pay-per-view card. There have been many of those since — both feuds and million-selling pay-per-view cards — but few rivalries in the UFC have felt as authentic as the latest one. Colby Covington

8:00 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim “Family.” That was the only word in the Instagram post, followed by a couple of hashtags. There was also a photo of three UFC fighters in an embrace, identified in those hashtags as #FutureChampions. “Family” was an accurate encapsulation of the rapport between the athletes who were training together at

LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s lightweight division is filled with elite talent. Champion Charles Oliveira will defend against Justin Gaethje in May, and if he gets through that successfully, he’ll most likely face Islam Makhachev next. Makhachev’s dominance is impossible to overlook at this point. Former champion Conor McGregor is lobbying for a title shot,

Warning, the following post features video of a large amount of blood. No sport sees a match end in gruesome ways quite like mixed martial arts. One fight at UFC Vegas 49 on Saturday kept that tradition going and then some. A lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan and Joel Alvarez was called in the second

Bellator MMA As he closes in on 60 fights in his professional career, Gegard Mousasi still has plenty in the tank. That was clear on Friday afternoon when Mousasi retained the Bellator middleweight championship in the main event of Bellator 275 from Dublin, stopping Austin Vanderford with strikes in less than 90 seconds. Vanderford tried

2:14 PM ET The Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation has medically suspended Adam Piccolotti for six months after the Bellator fighter posted an Instagram video of himself vomiting during his weight cut last week, director Mike Mazzulli said Wednesday. Piccolotti wrote on social media that he had thrown up “20-plus times” during the weight

LAS VEGAS — There used to be a discussion in golf about the identity of the world’s best player never to have won a major. It was kind of a backdoor way to talk about Phil Mickelson’s greatness. But when Mickelson won The Masters and then five other majors, that discussion ceased. And while the

Last week, Republican senator Ted Cruz posted a photo of himself alongside UFC legend Chuck Liddell. The photo, which showed the two men posing with raised fists, was the latest example of a politician using an athlete’s star power, in this case to pander to a younger demographic. It also underscored the American right’s ongoing

9:35 PM ET Jamahal Hill‘s nickname is “Sweet Dreams.” It’s not because of his propensity for singing lullabies. The top light heavyweight prospect put another highlight-reel finish on his résumé Saturday night after putting Johnny Walker to sleep with a knockout punch at 2:55 of the first round in the main event of UFC Fight

Bellator MMA Logan Storley may have stamped his pass to a Bellator welterweight championship title fight following a thrilling five-round showdown with Neiman Gracie at Bellator 274. Storley and Gracie threw grappling out the window and exchanged leather for 25 minutes in front of the Mohegan Sun crowd in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday night. Storley,

Jamahal Hill made quick work of Johnny Walker on Saturday at UFC Vegas 48. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) LAS VEGAS — Jamahal Hill’s nickname is “Sweet Dreams,” but it was Johnny Walker who took a very violent nap on Saturday at UFC Vegas 48 inside the Apex. Hill caught Walker with a crushing right