Martial Arts News

While UFC 264 was garnering most of the attention in Las Vegas, Khabib Nurmagomedov was adding another award to his trophy case on the East Coast.

Nurmagomedov captured the ESPY for Best MMA Fighter during an award ceremony hosted by ESPN at The Rooftop at Pier 17 at the Seaport in New York City on Saturday. The event honors the best athletes, moments and events in sports over the course of the past year.

The former UFC lightweight champion was selected for the ESPY Award over Francis Ngannou, Amanda Nunes and Rose Namajunas.

“The Eagle” fought just once in 2020, submitting Justin Gaethje via triangle choke in the second round at UFC 254 this past October. Nurmagomedov then announced his retirement, ending an accomplished MMA career with a 29-0 career mark.

Before Conor McGregor rose to prominence, Ronda Rousey was arguably the UFC’s biggest crossover star.

After McGregor suffered a disappointing doctor stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier in the UFC 264 main event on Saturday night, the former two-division champion delivered some controversial post-fight comments that included more death threats to Poirier and lewd remarks toward his opponent’s wife, Jolie Poirier.

“There was no check,” McGregor said. “Not one of them was checked. Your wife is in my DMs. Hey baby, hit me back up on chat later on. We’ll be at the after party, the Wynn nightclub, baby … you little hoe. F*ck him.”

While McGregor’s lack of class in defeat drew criticism from throughout the MMA community, Rousey, for one, was not in that corner.

“I’m amazed that as soon as you hit the ground you were already promoting the next fight,” Rousey wrote on Twitter. “I [definitely] wouldn’t have had the mind to do that. The other fighters, [UFC] and media are lucky…

Conor McGregor’s fight-ending injury at UFC 264 may have been caused in part by a pre-existing injury.

According to SBG Ireland head trainer John Kavanagh, McGregor suffered an ankle injury during camp that could have played a role in the apparent break that ended his trilogy with Dustin Poirier after one round.

“A little bit of that ankle injury has been aggravated during camp,” Kavanagh said during an Instagram Q&A (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). “We got a scan on it. Did that have a small part to play in weakening it? I don’t know. We were (with a doctor) a couple weeks ago to get a scan on the ankle. … There might’ve been something in there. It would seem unusual that a young, healthy, fit man could wrap his foot around an elbow and without there being something (wrong) there before. You can play those guessing games all day long.”

Poirier, meanwhile, claimed in his post-fight interview that the injury occurred due to a checked kick earlier in the f…

Although Dustin Poirier might have been well on his way to a second victory over Conor McGregor regardless, the lasting memory of their trilogy bout at UFC 264 will be the leg injury that ended the Irish superstar’s night.

“The storyline is, oh, Conor broke his ankle instead of Dustin looked good,” UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 264 post-fight press conference.

“It sucks,” White said. “It’s brutal. It’s not the way you want to see fights end. Dustin Poirier will fight for the title, and when Conor is healed and ready to go, you do the rematch, I guess. I don’t know.”

Poirier defeated McGregor decisively in their rematch at UFC 257 and had referee Herb Dean taking a close look at the proceedings with his ground-and-pound barrage late in Round 1 on Saturday, but the nature of the ending makes White believe a fourth bout is necessary.

“The fight didn’t get finished,” he said. “You can’t have a fight finish that way, so we’ll see how this whole thing plays…

Khabib Nurmagomedov has spent time in the Octagon with both of the main components of the UFC 264 headliner, but the former lightweight champion had a clear rooting interest on Saturday night.

The trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor ended abruptly when the Irish star suffered an injury while throwing a punch in the waning seconds of Round 1. With McGregor’s leg twisted at an awkward angle, the fight was waved off before the second round, giving Poirier an anticlimactic technical knockout victory. To add insult to injury, McGregor had to be taken from the Octagon on a stretcher.

“Good always defeats evil,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Twitter. “Very happy for [Dustin Poirier]. I hope you will get your belt [by the] end of the year.”

Nurmagomedov and McGregor have never been the best of friends. The Dagestani thought that the SBG Ireland representative crossed the line with his trash talk leading up to their UFC 229 bout, and after Nurmagomedov submit…

Travis Fulton, who amassed more than 300 fights during his mixed martial arts career, was found dead on Saturday morning at Linn County Jail in Iowa.

According to a release from the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Fulton is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself. Fulton, 44, was discovered by staff members in his cell block around 4 a.m. local time and was transported to Mercy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5 a.m.

Fulton was indicted in February by a federal grand jury on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child porn and receipt of child porn. According to court records, Fulton allegedly attempted to engage a minor in sexual conduct with hopes of taking photos of the encounter this past November. Additionally, Fulton is accused of possessing a flash drive with pornographic images of a child under 12 years of age between November 2018 and November 2020.

According to a report from The Gazette, Fulton on Friday …

Tai Tuivasa needed to put in just 67 seconds of work to pad his bank account by an extra $75,000.

The Australian received a “Performance of the Night” bonus at UFC 264 for his first round knockout of Greg Hardy in a featured heavyweight affair. After a couple Hardy right hands put Tuivasa on wobbly legs, he responded with a massive left hook that dropped the ex-NFL star. A few follow-up punches on the canvas sealed Tuivasa’s victory.

Elsewhere, Sean O'Malley and Kris Moutinho captured “Fight of the Night” honors and $75,000 apiece for their main card bantamweight scrap. While O’Malley was largely masterful in a dominant third-round TKO victory, Moutinho undoubtedly raised his profile with a game performance on short notice before the fight was halted.

Finally, Dricus Du Plessis garnered the evening’s other $75,000 “Performance of the Night” check by virtue of a second-round knockout of Trevin Giles in a preliminary middleweight encounter. The former KSW champ f…

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. The Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor trilogy ended in perhaps the most anticlimactic fashion possible. Poirier captured the rubber match against his Irish rival when McGregor suffered what appeared to be a broken left leg or ankle after a missing a punch and stepping back awkwardly in the final seconds of the opening round of the UFC 264 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. With McGregor’s leg clearly contorted at a gruesome angle, the lightweight bout was waved off at the 5:00 mark of Round 1.

“He fractured it on one of the checks at the beginning of the fight, then it broke on a punch, for sure,” Poirier said. “I pointed at him at the beginning of the fight, that's when I checked a kick, that's when it cracked.”

For the most part, Round 1 belonged to Poirier (28-6, 20-5, 1 NC UFC). McGregor began w…

Sherdog's live UFC 264 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:15 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Round 1 The bout was canceled on Saturday afternoon due to COVID-19 protocols for Amedovski's team. The news was first reported by ESPN. Round 1 Tonight’s the night, and it’s going to happen again and again. Has to happen. Nice night. Las Vegas is a great town. UFC 264 is in full force inside of the jam-packed T-Mobile Arena, with 12 fights at our disposal leading to the big kabosh in the main event. We begin in the flyweight division, as two men in dire need of a win come to blows when Kazakhstan’s Zhumagulov (13-5, 0-2 UFC) takes on former featherweight Rivera (10-5, 0-3 UFC). Referee Chris Tognoni is on top of the action in what could be a fast-paced affair, and th…

Bringing the in RD 1 @MaxPainGriffin #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/6RBEaOMHs5

— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Max Griffin finally has a centerpiece victory to call his own.

The former Tachi Palace Fights champion captured a hard-fought three-round verdict over former interim welterweight king Carlos Condit in the featured bout of the UFC 264 prelims at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Griffin (18-8, 6-6 UFC) secured scorecards of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for his third consecutive triumph within the Octagon.

“I used to look up to him; I still do. He’s one of the best in the world, a legend. I tried to get the finish, but much respect to that man,” Griffin said.

Griffin set the tone for his victory with a dominant first round, as he attacked Condit (32-14, 9-10 UFC) with sting…

Bellator MMA has parted ways with a total of 18 fighters, including former featherweight champion Daniel Straus, light heavyweight king Liam McGeary and once highly-touted prospect Tywan Claxton.

Other notables no longer on the roster include Alessio Sakara, Heather Hardy, Bec Rawlings, Tyree Fortune and John Teixeira. Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Not all fighters mentioned were released by Bellator; some simply didn’t have their contracts renewed or are potentially pursuing other opportunities.

The following athletes are also not on the California-based promotion’s roster: Khonry Gracie, Amanda Bell, Chuck Campbell, Demarques Jackson, Dominic Mazzotta, Olga Rubin, Kirill Sidelnikov, Mike Jasper, Steve MacDonald and Ryan Spillane.

Straus is a two-time 145-pound title holder with Bellator. He initially claimed the belt with a five-round verdict over Pat Curran at Bellator 106 in November…

UFC is finalizing a light heavyweight bout between Jimmy Crute and Jamahal Hill for the UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 2, multiple sources told @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/Ww86HW4vzd

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 9, 2021 Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. It appears that Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights Jamahal Hill and Jimmy Crute will both be able to fight again soon after going down mid-fight with bad injuries. On Friday, ESPN broke the news that Crute (12-2) and Hill (8-1, 1 NC) will tangle on the Oct. 2 UFC Fight Night card. Crute first posted about his new four-fight contract as well as his next match, which is set to be against Hill, on Thursday. The pairing will be less than four months removed from Hill suffering a horrific arm injury from an armbar, but “Sweet Dreams” has been cleared to compete again. Crute su…