Tyron Woodley told ESPN's Ariel Helwani he is still recovering from a hand injury. He had surgery after his fight against Darren Till in September but has not been cleared to return to action. He expects to next fight in the first quarter of 2019.

Greg Rosenstein, ESPN Staff Writer2d ago

Gunnar Nelson (17-3-1) defeated Alex Oliveira (19-6) by second-round submission. After a hard elbow opened up a cut on Oliveira's face, Nelson took his back for a rear-naked choke. It was his third win in his last four matchups.

Greg Rosenstein, ESPN Staff Writer3d ago

Hakeem Dawodu won his second straight fight and looked dominant doing it -- at least to two of the judges. Dawodu (9-1-1) peppered Kyle Bochniak with punches and kicks for all three rounds of their featherweight bout and left him a bloody mess on the way to an odd split decision -- two official scorecards agreed with ESPN’s 30-27 tally, but the other judge had it 29-28 for Bochniak (8-4), who lost his second straight.

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN3d ago

Light heavyweight: Jimi Manuwa vs. Thiago Santos -- Round 2: The fighters continued to throw big shots at each other, with both Manuwa and Santos looking like they were one good shot from falling. The fight ended up with Manuwa’s back against the cage and Santos throwing shots. Manuwa’s head movement dodged one, two, three, four wild punches, but the fifth, a monstrous left hook, connected flush on the chin and collapsed Manuwa to the canvas. KO for Thiago Santos (20-6) at 41 seconds of Round 2.

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN3d ago

Austin Vanderford announced on ESPN's Ariel Helwani's MMA Show on Monday that he will be signing with Bellator. Vanderford is 6-0 as a professional, most recently defeating Edmilson Freitas by first-round KO. He is married to UFC fighter Paige VanZant.

Greg Rosenstein, ESPN Staff Writer9d ago

UFC welterweight title contender Kamaru Usman told ESPN he would be open to fighting next month at UFC 233 in Anaheim, California if it is for a chance at the belt. Usman is coming off a unanimous decision win against Rafael dos Anjos last weekend and has won 13 straight fights.

Greg Rosenstein, ESPN Staff Writer9d ago

Jake Hager, known to WWE fans as Jack Swagger, said during an appearance on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show on Monday that he will make his MMA debut on Jan. 26 against heavyweight JW Kiser at Bellator 214. The Inglewood, California, event will be headlined by the Heavyweight Grand Prix final between Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader. Hager, 36, wrestled and played football at the University of Oklahoma.

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN9d ago

Alistair Overeem welcomed Sergey Pavlovich to the UFC by handing the Russian heavyweight his first defeat, taking down Pavlovich midway through the first round and getting the ground-and-pound TKO at 4:21 in the co-main event of a UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Beijing. Overeem (44-17, 1 NC) ended a two-fight losing streak.

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN18d ago

Twenty-year-old Song Yadong, in his 19th professional fight, moved to 3-0 in the UFC with a unanimous-decision bantamweight win over Vince Morales at Saturday's UFC Fight Night in Beijing. For Song (14-3, 2 NC), who trains with Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California, it was his first UFC bout to go the distance.

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN18d ago

Beijing-based welterweight Li Jingliang overcame an early knockdown and scored a late stoppage in his hometown, flooring David Zawada with a body kick and getting the TKO at 4:07 of Round 3 in the opening bout of the UFC Fight Night main card Saturday at Cadillac Arena.

Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN18d ago