By Danny Segura and Mike Bohn | December 23, 2021 9:20 pm ET A key welterweight bout has been added to Bellator’s early 2022 schedule. Top contenders Neiman Gracie and Logan Storley have been booked to fight for a Bellator card that’s targeted for Feb. 19. The promotion has yet to announce the event, but
MMA news
2:08 AM ET UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans is returning from retirement — and now his opponent is set. Evans, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, will face Gabriel Checco on the Eagle FC United States debut card Jan. 28 in Miami, sources told ESPN on Wednesday night. Eagle FC is the MMA promotion
Jake Paul isn’t afraid to boast about the leaps he’s made in and out of the boxing ring, including when it comes to the amount of money he’s made. This week, Paul claimed that he makes more than everyone on the UFC roster, including the promotion’s biggest star in Conor McGregor. Paul is fresh off
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s strawweight title contender Claudia Gadelha announced her surprise retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) at the age of 33.Now, “Claudinha” is opening up to reveal the reason why she decided to walk away from the fight game. During a recent interview Mundo da Luta (via Bloody Elbow), Gadelha says
Find out why professionals are using BoxBandz By Farah Hannoun | December 23, 2021 3:30 pm ET It appears Jorge Masvidal is struggling to find his next opponent. Never short of options, “Gamebred” says he’s fully healed from his rib injury which forced him out of his UFC 269 bout with Leon Edwards earlier this month,
8:00 AM ET Since it first opened its doors in 1999, Staples Center has played host to seven NBA Finals, five WNBA Finals, four UFC pay-per-view cards, two Stanley Cup Finals and countless championship boxing matches. It was the home of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament for a decade and has seen multiple All-Star games
Aspen Ladd thinks Miesha Tate‘s criticism of her was for personal gain. Aspen Ladd is still defending herself from the criticism thrown her way. Following her last outing at UFC Vegas 40, she took some judgment from fans and media because of the way her coach/boyfriend spoke to her during the fight. One of the
It is with regret that I inform you Belal Muhammad, who is now a bona fide contender at 170 pounds after putting the hurt on Stephen Thompson, will not be driving to the desert to get “intimate” with UFC middleweight nutball Sean Strickland. I guess “weird shit” was not a strong selling point. On the
By Danny Segura | December 22, 2021 9:00 pm ET Alfonso Leyva has big ambitions for the next chapter of his combat sports career. The 28-year-old has decided to call it quits in his wrestling career after representing Mexico in the Olympics and international tournaments and is now targeting a spot on the UFC roster.
Sean O’Malley is looking to box Gervonta Davis in the future. Davis is a decorated boxer who holds titles in multiple weight classes, including reigning as the WBA lightweight and the WBA super-lightweight champion. He also vacated the IBF and WBA super featherweight belts in August of this year. Although Davis is a massive name
Charles Oliveira already has a potential challenger for his lightweight title in Justin Gaethje, the man who was dubbed the next contender for the belt by UFC president Dana White, but “Do Bronx” is still set on fighting Conor McGregor. It all started when “Notorious” asked when he’d be fighting the 155-pound champion shortly after
By MMA Junkie Staff | December 22, 2021 3:00 pm ET Featuring a headlining matchup between former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and Bulgarian knockout artist Kubrat Pulev, Triller Fight Club’s Triad Combat II is official for February. Promotion officials today formally announced the card, though an exact date and venue have yet to
9:00 AM ET This has been one of my annual columns for ESPN for a while now, and it’s always fun to look back at the previous year’s list to see which prospective fights, if any, came to fruition. So, before getting into the MMA fights I want to see in 2022, let’s take a
MMA fighter and full-time firefighter Jessie Henry passed away last weekend due to injuries sustained from a tragic, on-duty accident. Henry worked as a firefighter for South Bossier Fire District 2 Station No. 4. On the night of Saturday, December 18, Henry was working on a fire truck tire. Then, without warning, the tire exploded.
RIZIN Fighting Federation has (finally) revealed the finalized fight card and lineup for its Dec. 31 combat sports event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, which features the finals of the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix. Late additions include the atomweight showdown pitting Rena Kubota against Si Woo Park, along with Kazuma Sone battling Olympic
By Matthew Wells | December 21, 2021 10:00 pm ET Macy Chiasson’s short notice appearance at UFC Fight Night 199 did not go as planned. Chiasson (7-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) The Ultimate Fighter Season 28 winner, stepped in on 10 days’ notice, replacing the injured Julia Avila to face former title challenger Raquel Pennington at
2:22 PM ET Mixed martial arts fighter Jordan Young died Saturday at age 27, ESPN confirmed Tuesday with the Broward County (Florida) Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services. Young, a 6-foot-4 light heavyweight, had most recently fought with PFL. His cause and manner of death are pending, per a medical examiner spokesperson. PFL and
Ranked UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley thinks the legacy of Tyron Woodley took a massive hit this weekend. Like most of the combat sports world, O’Malley tuned in on Saturday night to see Woodley box Jake Paul for the second time. The active UFC fighter witnessed Paul pull off a sixth-round knockout, flooring Woodley with a