MMA news

Rafael Lovato Jr. is back from retirement. The former Bellator middleweight champion made a successful return to MMA Wednesday after putting his career on hold three and a half years ago due to cavernoma, a brain condition. Lovato (11-0) submitted Taiga Iwasaki (8-1) with a kimura in the first round of their 195-pound contest. The

Former UFC fighter Donald Cerrone has revealed that his new jacked physique post-retirement from mixed martial arts isn’t entirely natural. After 55 professional fights, 38 of which took place inside the famed Octagon on MMA’s biggest stage, fan-favorite veteran “Cowboy” called time on his career. Cerrone’s final dance came this past July at UFC 276,

Welcome to Midnight Mania! Khamzat Chimaev is the latest in the long line of fighters that no one actually wants to fight … maybe. Per “Borz,” he’s desperate to fight in March, but no UFC fighters are willing to step up to bat at either 170- or 185-pounds. At least one non-UFC fighter has offered.

Marlon Vera thinks a win over Cory Sandhagen should be enough to earn him a title shot. Winner of five of his past six, including finishes over No. 1 contender Sean O’Malley and former champion Dominick Cruz, Vera (20-7-1 MMA, 14-6 UFC) has proven to be a dangerous contender at 135 pounds. He meets Sandhagen

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Sara McMann has signed a multi-year contract with Bellator to compete at featherweight. McMann parted ways with the UFC earlier this year following a win over Karol Rosa in March. She recently suffered losses to Marion Reneau and Ketlen Vieira but appeared to regain her stride in his last UFC

Event: UFC Vegas 68: “Lewis vs. Spivac”Date: Sat., Feb. 4, 2023Location: APEX in Las Vegas, NevadaBroadcast: ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET Prelims | 7 p.m. ET Main Card) UFC Vegas 68 Main Event On ESPN+: 265 lbs.: Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac UFC Vegas 68 Main Card, Prelims On ESPN+: 205 lbs.: Devin Clark vs. Da-un

In the midst of a massive losing streak, Antonio Silva is back for another fight. The former UFC title challenger has booked a return against ex-Bellator fighter Haim Gozali at a Brave CF event on March 9 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Both fighters confirmed the matchup online, but the promotion has yet to make an

10:08 AM ET Bellator MMA has added a middleweight title fight to its first major event of 2023, promotional officials told ESPN on Tuesday. Middleweight champion Johnny Eblen will seek his first title defense against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event of Bellator 290 on Feb. 4 in the Los Angeles area. The event will

UFC President Dana White has named one historically key moment that helped to shape the trajectory of MMA’s premier promotion. Nowadays, the UFC sits uncontested as the leading organization in mixed martial arts. Among its 600-plus-strong roster are some of the most talented fighters in the world, from lightweight champion Islam Makhachev to two-division queen

Welcome to Midnight Mania! Jose Aldo, one of the greatest fighters in the history of MMA, is ready for a new chapter. Undefeated from 2006-2014, Aldo captured the WEC and UFC Featherweight title before losing to Conor McGregor. The Brazilian recaptured Featherweight gold before coughing up the crown to Max Holloway. After failing to regain

It was a landmark year for Dana White’s Contender Series. The UFC’s prospect-search platform continued in 2022 with 10 weekly events between July-September. The totals for the 10 events: 49 total fights, 43 total UFC contracts handed out to winners and about two-thirds of the fights (32 of 49) ended with knockouts (22) or submissions

MMA fighter Vitaly Slipenko turned his elbow into a battering ram to claim the welterweight strap against Abubakar Vagaev at ACA 149. Welterweights Slipenko and Vagaev met in the main event of the card in Moscow, Russia. Slipenko was gunning for his third successive win, while Vagaev was hoping for his sixth. The finish came

2022 was filled with one memorable stoppage after another inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon, so narrowing it down to select few to win “Knockout of the Year” honors was likely a tough task. Nevertheless, the staff over at UFC headquarters picked out the best of the best for your viewing (and voting) pleasure,

The UFC finds itself embroiled in one of MMA’s biggest controversies caused by suspicious betting activity surrounding a fight between Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Darrick Minner, which has led to several government agencies, including the FBI, investigating the promotion over concerns of fight fixing. At the center of it all is former UFC fighter and current

Quemuel Ottoni, the only man to have defeated Alex Pereira in MMA, believes he could do it again in even quicker fashion. In 2015, the then 3-0 Ottoni made easy work of now UFC middleweight champ Pereira when they met at Jungle Fight 82 in Brazil, submitting him in the third round with a rear-naked

With each passing year, the standards for truly memorable fights get higher. Fights have to not only stand on their own merits, but prove themselves worthy of consideration among a massive, constantly growing library of classics. Despite these lofty requirements, a handful of this year’s tussles were up to the task. Here are MMA Mania’s

By MMA Junkie Staff | December 24, 2021 1:20 pm ET (This story first was published Dec. 24, 2020.) The UFC never has been shy about trying to deliver fireworks. Traditionally, the promotion has liked to close out the calendar year with a bang. (Although a few years, the way the dates fell, it meant

UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards believes that some form of violence is “necessary” in order to humble individuals at a young age. Currently, Edwards sits at the peak on MMA’s biggest stage. He reached there this past August when he headed to Salt Lake City to challenge the previously dominant reign of Kamaru Usman. Against