UFC 282 poster released with new main event between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev

Fedor Emelianenko promises his fight at Bellator 290 will be his last, but unlike ex-UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, he knows he could never completely walk away from the sport. After retiring from competition in 2020, Nurmagomedov shocked the world when he effectively cut ties with MMA to return home to...

Gilbert Burns hasn’t given up hope on a five-round fight against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287, though he concedes it probably won’t happen. Just days after their matchup was announced for the April 8 card, the one-time UFC welterweight title challenger requested a 25-minute co-headliner. Masvidal quickly shot down that idea, adding he’d already signed his bout agreement and wasn’t interested in a five-round fight unless the UFC pays him “BMF money.”

DAMN! They Were Good celebrates the careers of the most exciting and influential fighters in MMA history, and on the second episode of 2023, the MMA Fighting crew remembers the best of Fedor Emelianenko as he prepares for the final fight of his legendary career. Starting his career in 2000,...

Jiri Prochazka is the truth. The now-former champion is waiting on the sidelines until his eventual return to action after a severe shoulder injury forced him out of action. Prochazka is chomping, at the bit, hoping a title return bout takes place sooner rather than later. Ideally, Prochazka would face...

Fedor Emelianenko has the opportunity to have one of the best retirement stories in the history of MMA as he challenges for the Bellator heavyweight championship on Saturday. Ahead of Emelianenko’s final fight against champ Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 290, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Alexander K. Lee, and Jed Meshew preview the matchup and discuss why “The Last Emperor” could get it done in his swan song, Johnny Eblen’s opportunity to boost his star potential against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event, the super-fun main card opener between Sabah Homasi and Brennan Ward, the impact of being on CBS, and more.

It’s a heavyweight doubleheader this weekend with UFC Vegas 68 and Bellator 290 taking place on Saturday in Las Vegas and Inglewood, Calif., respectively. In the UFC, Derrick Lewis faces Sergey Spivac, while over in Bellator, heavyweight champion Ryan Bader puts his title on the line against the great Fedor Emelianenko in the final fight of the legend’s esteemed career. There’s no time to waste so let’s hop to it.

UFC Vegas 68 has lost a fight just hours before the card is set to begin. According to UFC officials, flyweight Mandy Bohm has been forced out of her fight on Saturday due to illness. As a result her matchup against Ji Yeon Kim has been pulled from the card, which takes place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The UFC will finally make its return to Miami for the first time in two decades for the rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship at the Miami-Dade arena on April 8, the company announced Saturday. UFC 287, which will also feature Miami star Jorge Masvidal...

UFC heavyweight prospect Hamdy Abdelwahab will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. Abdelwahab, 30, has accepted a two-year suspension that stretches into the summer of 2024 for violations of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, USADA announced Friday. The Egyptian heavyweight tested positive for the anabolic agent metenolone and its metabolite in...

UFC Vegas 69 has a new headliner. The previously booked flyweight bout on Feb. 18 between Taila Santos and Erin Blanchfield has been elevated to a five-round main event, the UFC announced Friday. The news comes after UFC Vegas 69’s original main event, Cory Sandhagen vs. Marlon Vera, was rescheduled to headline the UFC’s March 25 event in San Antonio.

Who is Fedor Emelianenko and why is he so revered?. Ahead of Emelianenko’s retirement fight against Ryan Bader on Saturday night, MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti and E. Casey Leydon explain the legend of “The Last Emperor” and the story behind one of the most celebrated heavyweights in MMA history.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Derrick Lewis and Serghei Spivac are both official for Saturday’s main event. Though much was made of the slimmed down physique Lewis has sported in some recent social media posts, on Friday, “The Black Beast” still tipped the scales at the upper heavyweight limit of 265 pounds at the official weigh-ins for UFC Vegas 68. Spivac, meanwhile, came in at 255.5 pounds.

Undefeated Bellator heavyweight Steve Mowry was well aware that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou entered free agency, and that there’s a chance Ngannou could enter the fray in the Bellator heavyweight division. As great as that could potentially be for the promotion, and possibly for Mowry, he’s focused on the task at hand.

Scott Coker sees Bellator as having a potential trump card in the Francis Ngannou free agency chase. As the president of a promotion that is part of the Showtime Sports family, Coker feels that Bellator is uniquely positioned to make a run at the former UFC heavyweight champion. Ngannou recently parted ways with the UFC after failing to agree on a new contract following a year-long negotiation period, with the company’s refusal to allow him to compete in boxing being one of the major sticking points.

Dustin Poirier isn’t the only one to offer his thoughts to the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler announcement Saturday morning by UFC President Dana White.

Johnny Eblen only has 12 fights on his resume, but his head coach believes he’s already the best middleweight in the sport, regardless of promotion. Mike Brown has worked with Eblen since the current Bellator champ first started training at American Top Team. He’s seen plenty of talent over the years as both a fighter and a coach at the famed gym. While Eblen still has a lot of room to grow, Brown believes the undefeated Eblen has already done enough to prove he sits at the head of the table in the middleweight division.

On Saturday night, the MMA community will bid adieu to one of the all-time greats. Fedor Emelianenko will make his final walk to the cage in the main event of Bellator 290 when he challenges Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title. The event serves as the promotion’s first to air on CBS network television and takes place at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Conor McGregor still has some work to do before he can fight again. On Saturday, UFC president Dana White announced that McGregor was set to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Michael Chandler with the lightweights this expected to clash before the end of the year. Before he can fight, McGregor still needs to re-enter the UFC’s anti-doping program, which requires six months of drug testing before an athlete is allowed to compete again.

Lorenz Larkin made sure there was nothing illegal about his elbow this time. In a rematch of a Bellator 283 bout that ended in a no contest when Larkin landed an illegal strike to the back of the head of Mukhamed Berkhamov, Larkin crushed Berkhamov with a standing elbow at Bellator 290 on Saturday that left the Russian welterweight completely unconscious on the mat.

Neiman Gracie went from being an undefeated Bellator title contender to only winning two of six bouts over a span of three and a half years. As much as Gracie is happy with his well-rounded MMA game, focusing on his main weapon could be the key to breaking out of his slump ahead of his Bellator 290 clash with Dante Schiro. Speaking on this week’s episode of Trocação Franca, Gracie said that taking his opponent to the ground at Inglewood’s Kia Forum this Saturday night is a no-brainer.