10:51 PM ET The Ultimate Fighter reality series has officially booked its next coaches, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Friday night. UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and No. 1 contender Brian Ortega will coach the 29th season of TUF, which is expected to start filming later this month. It will air on ESPN+

Apr 2, 2021 The UFC is finalizing a welterweight showdown between two former title challengers in Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson on July 10, UFC president Dana White said Friday night. Contracts have not been signed, according to sources, but both sides have verbally agreed to the 170-pound matchup. The bout will take place at

12:10 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Two-division champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire showed off what makes him the best fighter in Bellator and perhaps the top featherweight in all of MMA on Friday night. Freire, a 33-year-old from Brazil, handed Emmanuel Sanchez his first stoppage loss with a technical submission by guillotine choke in Round 1 to

10:05 PM ET Cris Cyborg will put her Bellator women’s featherweight title on the line against Leslie Smith on May 21, the promotion announced Friday night during the Bellator 255 broadcast. Cyborg beat Smith in 2016 in what was Cyborg’s UFC debut. Cyborg (23-2, 1 NC) is one of the best female fighters of all

6:43 PM ET Earlier this week, as the proposed Conor McGregor–Dustin Poirier trilogy fight continued to trend in the right direction, I wrote a caption on social media that said: “For all the marbles.” Well, the caption rubbed some people the wrong way. How could I say this one is for all the marbles when

2:13 PM ET Dustin Poirier has officially signed his contract to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 264 on July 10, according to multiple sources. McGregor, sources say, had agreed to the fight weeks ago. He made it clear following his loss to Poirier earlier this year that he wanted to run it back with Poirier

6:37 PM ET Middleweight contender Kevin Holland will step in and fight Marvin Vettori on short notice in the five-round main event of UFC Fight Night on April 10 in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Vettori’s original opponent, Darren Till, withdrew Tuesday because of a broken collarbone. Holland just fought March 20, a

11:23 AM ET The PFL will take a firmer stance against athletes missing weight during its 2021 season. A fighter who is overweight on the scale at weigh-ins will be deducted one point in the standings in the PFL’s season structure, promotion officials told ESPN on Thursday. In previous seasons, a fighter who missed weight

9:00 AM ET Fighters will be getting a small increase in pay under the UFC’s new uniform deal with Venum. UFC 260 on March 27 was the final event under the UFC’s outfitting policy with Reebok. Beginning April 1, the UFC’s official uniform partner will be martial arts brand Venum, UFC senior executive vice president

6:25 PM ET Endeavor, the powerhouse Hollywood talent agency, has agreed to own 100% of the UFC, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities Exchange Commission. Endeavor acquired a majority stake of UFC parent company Zuffa from the Fertitta brothers in July 2016 when it was then known as WME-IMG. Currently, Endeavor owns 50.1%