8:00 PM ET A day after Gilbert Burns was forced out of the UFC 251 main event, there is renewed hope that next week’s welterweight title fight can be saved with an even bigger fight. According to multiple sources, there are active negotiations to book Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal as the new main event

4:43 PM ET Max Holloway traveled Wednesday from Hawaii to Las Vegas. At the airport was the first time the former UFC featherweight champion has seen his coaches in person for months. Holloway told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Friday that he didn’t go to the gym or see his coaches during his UFC 251 training

9:25 AM ET Gilbert Burns will not compete in the main event of UFC 251, a source confirmed to ESPN. Burns had been set to face welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a title fight July 11 that was the headliner of the first card at UFC’s Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The

2:40 PM ET Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, father of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, died Friday after battling COVID-19, and his impact on the world of mixed martial arts was evident by the outpouring of respect that immediately followed on social media. Abdulmanap was not just the father of Khabib, the undefeated phenom who is ESPN’s top-ranked

12:48 PM ET A featherweight bout between former UFC title challenger Ricardo Lamas and Ryan Hall has been rebooked for a UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 29, per sources. 2 Related The 145-pound contest was originally scheduled to take place in May in Oklahoma City, however that event was scrapped because of the coronavirus

8:18 AM ET As the giant screens hanging from the roof of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas went from blank to an Irish flag, and Sinead O’Connor’s version of “Foggy Dew” played over the house system, it was obvious 2020 would be a memorable year for the UFC with the return of Conor McGregor

11:17 AM ET Paige VanZant competed on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” in 2016. It was huge crossover exposure for someone who was, at the time, a top MMA prospect. VanZant said Tuesday she made more money on that show than she has in her eight UFC fights combined. Soon, she will attempt to cash

7:51 AM ET There were times during the first half of 2020 when the idea of voting for midyear awards in any sport seemed ill-conceived, and it was no different for the UFC. Would there even be enough events from which to garner candidates for the various categories? The coronavirus pandemic canceled sports around the

9:01 PM ET When UFC president Dana White announced that he would be putting cards on Fight Island, it was natural to envision an Octagon set up on a tropical paradise. So when the announcement was made that Fight Island was Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, and the events would be held in an arena,

9:30 AM ET Rose Namajunas‘ last fight was more than 14 months ago. On that night, in Brazil, she lost her strawweight title in dramatic fashion after she was knocked out following a slam by Jessica Andrade. Following the bout, Namajunas said she might never fight again. Six months later, in an emotional interview, she