MMA

USATSI The second half of 2022 is heating up in a big way for UFC. At UFC 280, Islam Makhachev made a big statement, winning the lightweight title with a second-round submission of Charles Oliveira and setting the stage to a big end to the UFC’s calendar year. Perhaps the biggest upset of the year

9:17 AM ET After the wild ride that was UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi last weekend, there are still plenty of unanswered questions. What fight should the UFC look to make for new lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, and if the matchup is Alexander Volkanovski, how would that affect the pound-for-pound rankings? Will Sean O’Malley challenge

After Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, it meant much more than proving simply he’s the best lightweight in the world. On Oct. 24, 2020, and in the days and weeks afterward, Nurmagomedov was praised as not only the best pound-for-pound fighter in the

UFC broadcaster Daniel Cormier said Saturday that Islam Makhachev had spent a tidy $1 million on his training camp to prepare for his lightweight title fight at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in the main event of UFC 280. It turned out to be fantastically well-spent money. Makhachev dominated Oliveira from start

The UFC 280 showdown for the vacant lightweight title Saturday between ex-champion Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev ended with Makhachev being crowned the new lightweight king at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling took out former champion T.J. Dillashaw with ground and pound punches in

Getty Images The time for talking is over. The Octagon door is ready to be closed with some of the best fighters on the planet ready to battle it out at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.  It doesn’t get much bigger than the vacant lightweight title bout anchoring the event when Charles

That Sean O’Malley was chosen to fight Petr Yan on the main card of UFC 280 Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates came as somewhat of a surprise to many. O’Malley was ranked 12th at bantamweight and Yan first, and the UFC rarely has put matches together involving fighters separated by

Oct 18, 2022 Kamaru Usman is willing to travel into potentially hostile territory in an effort to get back the UFC welterweight title. Usman has asked the UFC for a trilogy fight with champion Leon Edwards in London, Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, told ESPN on Tuesday. Edwards is a Jamaican-born fighter who

UFC president Dana White was speaking to a reporter in early 2020, extolling the virtues of the-then upcoming UFC 248 card, which was set for March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. White ripped off a list of stars and big names on the show — middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, challenger Yoel Romero, Zhang

Getty Images With an absolutely loaded main card, featuring a pair of title fights, Saturday’s UFC 280 pay-per-view event from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi offers a little something for every type of mixed martial arts fan.  Former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira looks to regain the 155-pound title he dropped on the scales in May

Charles Oliveira shrugged when apprised of the comment that coach Javier Mendez made to Submission Radio about Islam Makhachev. Oliveira and Makhachev will meet on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV) at Etihad Arena in the main event of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The lightweight division has long been one of

Oct 15, 2022 Jeff WagenheimESPN Alexa Grasso showed Saturday she has fully settled in as a flyweight, winning her fourth fight in a row since bulking up from strawweight two years ago. Her conquest in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas came by unanimous decision against a fellow top-10 contender in

Getty Images Champion Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira are running it back. The pair of top light heavyweights will clash at UFC 282 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, Dec. 10. UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell confirmed the UFC light heavyweight title fight’s booking to Sports Illustrated. It is a

Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo have more than nine years between them of fighting in the UFC. There is, as Grasso points out, a lot in common between them. Grasso is ranked fifth at flyweight and Araujo is sixth, and each woman has only three losses. Araujo is 11-3 overall and 5-2 in the UFC.

It’s been an unusual few weeks for mixed martial arts fans without fights going off every weekend, but the action is returning with six straight events that will carry us through mid-November. Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araujo features a five-round main event between two women’s flyweight contenders looking to push themselves one

Oct 7, 2022 Marc Raimondi Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Due to a grinding UFC schedule that features cards nearly every week of the year, it’s tough for every event to feature fighters the world clamors for. As a result

1:52 PM ET The UFC has added a key welterweight matchup between Geoff Neal and Shavkat Rakhmonov to an event on Jan. 14, sources told ESPN on Saturday. Contracts have not been signed but both welterweights have agreed to the three-round contest, sources told ESPN. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to take place

Georges St-Pierre has offered some advice to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC), a former two-division champion and UFC Hall of Famer, defended his welterweight title nine times before he relinquished the belt and stepped away from the sport in 2013. St-Pierre cited the pressure of being champion as one of