7:51 AM ET Any pay-per-view with two title fights is going to capture the attention of the sport, but on Saturday night at UFC 266, it’s the third fight on the card that has most fight fans talking. Nick Diaz will walk to the Octagon for his first fight since 2015 to face Robbie Lawler
MMA
1:01 AM ET Yoel Romero shook his head and wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo. Bellator in-cage announcer Michael C. Williams was reading the results of the Bellator 266 main event and one of the judges had Romero winning the bout. Romero did not agree with the judge, pointing to his opponent, Phil Davis, and
4:38 PM ET Veteran MMA fighter Anthony Johnson has withdrawn from a Bellator MMA title fight against Vadim Nemkov on Oct. 16 due to illness, which appears to be a potentially serious ailment. Johnson, 37, was scheduled to challenge Nemkov for the light heavyweight championship, as part of Bellator’s ongoing tournament. He announced via social
10:17 PM ET Anthony Smith said two years ago after a title loss to all-time great Jon Jones that maybe he’d never get another chance to beat Jones. But that was OK, Smith said, because he’d simply outlast Jones — and the rest of the UFC light heavyweight division. Those comments have aged pretty well.
6:15 PM ET “Gatekeeper” is something of a dirty word in combat sports. It means a fighter who is good enough to remain near the top of a division but not quite at the level of title contender. It’s a fighter who, if you can beat them, opens the door to the upper echelon of
8:07 AM ET Just one year ago, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith‘s career was in jeopardy. At least that’s surely how it felt. At this time in 2020, Smith (35-16) was coming off back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The losses came just three months apart, which was remarkable considering the amount of
6:35 PM ET Carlos Condit, one of the best MMA welterweights of the aughts and beyond, has retired from the UFC, his longtime manager, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, confirmed Thursday with ESPN. Nicknamed “The Natural Born Killer,” Condit was a former UFC interim welterweight champion and had been with the promotion for 12
9:57 PM ET UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno‘s first title defense will come against a very familiar foe — former champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Moreno (19-5-2) agreed on Wednesday to defend his 125-pound championship against Figueiredo (20-2-1) at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at a site to be determined. Contracts for the matchup should be finalized
4:54 PM ET Joseph Benavidez, one of the most influential lighter-weight fighters in MMA history, is hanging up the gloves. Benavidez told ESPN on Wednesday that he is retiring from the UFC after 10 years with the promotion and 15 years as a pro overall. News of Benavidez no longer being on the UFC roster
2:21 PM ET ONE Championship has put together an incredibly interesting styles clash for what is being described as the promotion’s biggest show ever. Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will fight Muay Thai standout Rodtang in a “mixed special rules fight” at ONE X, the ONE Championship 10-year anniversary show Dec. 5 in Singapore,