8:06 AM ET UFC 258 kicks off a six-week stretch with three major pay-per-view events, which could leave the promotion’s hierarchy in a much different place by the end of March. Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns square off Saturday in the first of six title fights, and the backdrop is an intriguing one as the

8:53 PM ET Khasan Magomedsharipov, the younger brother of UFC featherweight contender Zabit Magomedsharipov, has signed an exclusive contract with Bellator MMA. Khasan’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, confirmed the signing to ESPN on Wednesday, following an initial report by MMAJunkie.com. Bellator has not yet announced the signing, or indicated when Khasan will make his promotional debut.

2:10 PM ET UFC 258 has lost a key main-card fight. A scheduled bantamweight contender bout Saturday between Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera has been canceled due to a coronavirus-related issue, the UFC announced Wednesday. Sources said the promotion is attempting to rebook the matchup as soon as later this month. In its place, Andre

3:00 PM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov is still the UFC’s undefeated lightweight champion, although even he believes the belt should belong to Dustin Poirier. Speaking to Match TV, Nurmagomedov (29-0) said he believes Poirier “deserves” to be the UFC’s 155-pound champion, following his knockout victory over Conor McGregor last month. Before the fight, UFC president Dana

7:56 AM ET Nate Diaz says he wants to stay active in 2021, and he has two opponents at the top of his wish list. Diaz, one of the most popular fighters in the UFC, told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in a video interview published Tuesday that he wants to fight top lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier

5:11 PM ET Bellator has put together its most star-studded tournament yet. Former UFC title challengers Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Yoel Romero will highlight the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix this year, the promotion announced Tuesday. The eight-man tournament will begin April 9 at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun, with the quarterfinals continuing April 16. In

12:24 PM ET UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith has agreed to take on Jimmy Crute on April 24, after Crute’s originally scheduled opponent withdrew due to injury. Crute (12-1) was scheduled to face Johnny Walker on March 27, but Walker was forced to withdraw from the bout this week due to injury. Smith (34-16) immediately

11:22 PM ET Alexander Volkov has been on the cusp of ascending into the heavyweight elite for several years. He has been missing only that one big, signature finish. He got it Saturday night. Volkov took out legend Alistair Overeem via TKO at 2 minutes, 6 seconds of the second round in the main event

7:26 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim When UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and his challenger, Gilbert Burns, step into the Octagon on Saturday night, they will be kicking off an unprecedented run of title bouts. From this weekend’s UFC 258 event through UFC 260 six weeks later, there will be six fights in which a belt

11:46 PM ET Alexander Volkov has had some impressive performances throughout his MMA career. His knockouts of Stefan Struve and Fabricio Werdum come to mind. His most recent win over Walt Harris, as well. Of course, his Bellator run was pretty great, too. But he’s never looked this good. He’s never looked so dominant. His