MMA

. LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] is trolling him at this point. The UFC CEO called Dvalishvili “next-level stupid” last week for revealing that he suffered a cut less than a month out from his title fight against bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC), which headlines UFC 306 on Sept.

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterAug 24, 2024, 12:43 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions WASHINGTON — English featherweight Brendan Loughnane punched his ticket to the PFL finals for the third time in four years, outpointing Kai Kamaka III in a split

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterAug 25, 2024, 01:48 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions It is not easy to break into a top five ranking in the UFC, but Caio Borralho has made it happen in a relatively short amount of

. LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Ryan Loder [/autotag]had a dream come true Saturday when he smashed Robert Valentin in a crucifix to become “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 32 middleweight winner. “Dream come true,” Loder told MMA Junkie and other reporters after his second-round TKO finish at UFC on ESPN 62. “Since beginning of starting to fight,

Andreas Hale, ESPNAug 23, 2024, 10:12 AM ET Open Extended Reactions In the 1984 film “Revenge of the Nerds,” characters Lewis Skolnik (played by Robert Carradine) and Gilbert Lowe (played by Anthony Edwards) lead a group of nerds to stop the ongoing harassment from the bully fraternity Alpha Betas at the fictional Adams College. At

. Kaan Ofli Age: 31 Record: 11-2-1 Nickname: “Genghis” Division: Featherweight Opponent: Mairon Santos Path to final: Decision win over Nathan Fletcher, first-round submission of Roedie Roets On getting to the UFC Kaan Ofli “Now it feels real. Before, in the “Ultimate Fighter” house, that whole experience still didn’t feel real. But it feels real

As flyweights Lone’er Kavanagh and An Tuan Ho prepared to kick off Season 8 of “Dana White’s Contender Series” last Tuesday night, both laid out remarkably similar expectations for themselves. Both were undefeated professional fighters. Both had identical 6-0 records in MMA. Both were there to earn a spot in the UFC and make their

Ryan HockensmithAug 20, 2024, 10:00 AM ET Close Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the

. MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize. But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back. Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC,

Aug 18, 2024, 02:15 AM ET Open Extended Reactions A 12-fight card at UFC 305 in Perth, Western Australia, was headlined by a middleweight title matchup between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. While Du Plessis retained his crown in a fourth-round submission victory, other stars such as Kai Kara-France and Dan Hooker had big

He looked gassed, he looked hurt, but Dricus du Plessis just looks like a champion now. The UFC middleweight champion solidified his belt with a fourth-round submission win over former champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Saturday, reversing a fight that was very much not going his way to notch his first title defense.

. [embedded content] PERTH, Australia – [autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] doesn’t put too much stock into [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] getting emotional during the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference. [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag](21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) got under Adesanya’s (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) skin during Thursday’s press conference when he suggested that Adesanya has servants. Adesanya broke down into tears

It must be nice for the UFC to have an Israel Adesanya on the roster. Even when he’s not coming in as the champ, he’s still an attraction who mostly sells himself. That’s good, since this weekend’s UFC 305 event in Perth, Australia, seems to be counting on him to do a lot of the

Aug 14, 2024, 04:18 AM ET Open Extended Reactions South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis takes on Nigerian-New Zealander Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on August 17/18 [depending on where you are in the world]. ‘Stillknocks’, the current middleweight champion, spoke to ESPN about his gym in Pretoria, his love for his country, and why he

Not that they ever knew it, but there was at least one time where the oddsmakers might have been right to doubt UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis. That time was just a little over a year ago, back when he was getting ready to fight former UFC champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. At

. LAS VEGAS – Youssef Zalal beat Jarno Errens with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 61 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Take a look inside the fight with Zalal, who picked up a $50,000 bonus with one of just three finishes on the card. Youssef Zalal

Jan 22, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Francis Ngannou (red gloves) celebrates after the fight against Ciryl Gane (blue gloves) during UFC 270 at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] is on the verge of making his PFL debut, and after everything he’s been through outside of combat sports, Xtreme Couture

A general view of the Octagon during the most recent UFC Fight Night event at Etihad Arena on Aug. 3, 2024, in Abu Dhabi. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) How much should a UFC pay-per-view cost? Say, for the sake of argument, that it’s a pretty good one. Not spectacular, but not