6:57 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s late father, Abdulmanap, had a plan for the end of his son’s career. Abdulmanap wanted Khabib to retire with a 30-0 record, which has become common knowledge in the MMA world, but what is less known is that Abdulmanap’s plan also included Islam Makhachev. When Nurmagomedov abruptly

1:08 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim It is champion vs. champion, with a twist. When unbeaten Juliana Velasquez makes the first defense of her Bellator MMA flyweight title on Friday, she will be facing a fellow Bellator flyweight champ — but one who reigns in a different fight discipline. Denise Kielholtz, the challenger in the main

7:47 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Jake Paul had a custom chain made with the likeness of Conor McGregor after he was knocked out by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January. The chain, which Paul dubbed “Sleepy McGregor,” will now be changing owners — to Poirier, who plans to auction it off for charity.

1:21 PM ET Rising lightweight Islam Makhachev, the protege of retired former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, faces Thiago Moises in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex will be on ESPN and ESPN+, with the main card starting at 10 p.m. ET and the prelims

Jul 13, 2021 Nick Diaz is officially returning to the UFC. According to his longtime attorney, Ross Goodman, Diaz, 37, signed a bout agreement Tuesday to face Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 on Sept. 25 in Las Vegas. Lawler has not signed his agreement yet, sources told ESPN, but wants the fight, and is expected

Jul 12, 2021 LAS VEGAS — Retired UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov does not believe Conor McGregor will ever return to the top of mixed martial arts, and believes the sport should stop supporting his former rival after Saturday’s loss to Dustin Poirier. Nurmagomedov, who retired from MMA in 2020, defeated McGregor in a title

9:41 PM ET The UFC’s September pay-per-view event — UFC 266 on Sept. 25 in Las Vegas — will officially feature two title fights, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will face Brian Ortega in the main event of UFC 266 inside T-Mobile Arena. In the co-main event, women’s flyweight champion

Jul 11, 2021 A day after suffering a gruesome leg injury in his loss to Dustin Poirier in UFC 264 in Las Vegas, Conor McGregor underwent successful surgery, he and his management team said on Sunday night. “Conor is in recovery after 3 hours of surgery. The surgery was successful repairing fractures of his tibia

Jul 11, 2021 LAS VEGAS — Dustin Poirier now owns two victories over the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts. This one, though, didn’t end in the cleanest way. Poirier hit Conor McGregor with a combination at the end of the first round of Saturday night’s highly anticipated UFC 264 main event.

Jul 10, 2021 Greg Hardy thought he had Tai Tuivasa hurt. And maybe he did. But he didn’t have him hurt enough. Hardy, 32, suffered the second knockout loss of his career, as Tuivasa, of Sydney, put him down with a counter left hook just 67 seconds into their heavyweight fight at UFC 264 in