Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 17, 2023, 12:21 AM ET The story going into the fight was all about Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Pitbull is the best fighter in Bellator history, the only athlete on the roster to have four different championship reigns across two weight classes. On Friday night, Freire was trying to make history

Jun 17, 2023, 12:45 AM ET There’s plenty of action across MMA over the weekend with PFL Regular Season: Heavyweights and Women’s Featherweights and Bellator 297 in Chicago on Friday night and UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday. In Friday’s action, defending champions Ante Delija and Larissa Pacheco got wins, but only one

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 17, 2023, 12:44 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun ATLANTA — Larissa Pacheco shocked the world in 2022, when she upset Kayla Harrison in the lightweight finals to win her first PFL championship. She appears well poised to win

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 15, 2023, 07:31 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun UFC has booked a bantamweight main event between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov to headline a Fight Night card Aug. 5 in Nashville, the promotion announced Thursday. The five-round 135-pound

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 16, 2023, 08:48 AM ET Patricio “Pitbull” Freire had just regained his Bellator featherweight title a few minutes earlier when he approached Scott Coker in the bowels of SAP Center in San Jose, California. “Pitbull,” Bellator’s franchise star, had a proposal for Coker, the promotion’s president, that night in April

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 15, 2023, 07:52 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will get his wish, as he’ll face Chan Sung Jung in the main event of UFC Fight Night in August. The UFC announced the

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 15, 2023, 07:33 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun A massive heavyweight fight between Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac will headline UFC Fight Night on Sept. 2 in Paris, the UFC announced on Thursday. Gane (11-2), who is from

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPNJun 15, 2023, 09:10 AM ET Ante Delija headlines Friday’s PFL Regular Season: Heavyweights and Women’s Featherweights fight card in Atlanta, and Larissa Pacheco fights in the co-main event. Both are 2022 champions, and both are familiar faces to fans who have followed the fight promotion’s last couple of seasons. But both Delija

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJun 14, 2023, 12:27 PM ET A major welterweight bout is set for Beantown. Perennial contender Geoff Neal will face the undefeated, up-and-coming Ian Machado Garry at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 in Boston, Garry announced via Instagram. Sources confirmed the matchup to ESPN on Wednesday. Neal is currently No. 9

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterJun 14, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun UFC president Dana White has become extremely committed to being non-committal on future matchups the night of an event. These days, when White gets asked about a division’s landscape, the