LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alex Rodriguez is taking a swing at mixed martial arts as an investor and board member for the Professional Fighters League.
The PFL announced the addition of the former New York Yankees star to its board of directors Thursday.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The Southeast Asian Games officially kicked off Thursday with a mask-optional opening ceremony in Vietnam's capital, the first major gathering in the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is your standard multiverse martial arts movie about filing your taxes and midlife regret in which googly eyes, everything bagels and fanny packs play vital supporting roles and portals to parallel existences are opened not with a spell but with butt plugs and paper cuts.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada Supreme Court panel has rejected an appeal in a legal battle between UFC President Dana White and a Las Vegas man who went to prison for trying to extort White in a sex-tape case.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Francis Ngannou's path to his UFC heavyweight title was not straight, and it was not short.
The Cameroon-born Frenchman had detours and setbacks while traveling to a place where this vicious, versatile athlete finally developed the mental fortitude and physical precision to become what so many people always figured he would be — a champion.
Dustin Poirier has already had a year to remember. The UFC lightweight cemented his place in mixed martial arts history by bullying, battering and beating Conor McGregor twice in 2021.
But Poirier's final goal for this banner year is to end it wearing the UFC's 155-pound title belt once again.
Not many people get to celebrate their 42nd birthday by making their final preparations for a UFC title fight.
Glover Teixeira had that honor Thursday, and the Brazilian mixed martial arts veteran is marking the milestone by thinking about the obstacles he surmounted to get to the brink of an unlikely championship.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Alexander Volkanovski defended his featherweight title with a bloody, tumultuous unanimous decision over Brian Ortega, and Valentina Shevchenko defended her flyweight belt with a fourth-round stoppage of Lauren Murphy at UFC 266 on Saturday night.
BRUSSELS (AP) — It’s the premier martial arts group in Europe for right-wing extremists. German authorities have twice banned their signature tournament. But Kampf der Nibelungen, or Battle of the Nibelungs, still thrives on Facebook, where organizers maintain multiple pages, as well as on Instagram and YouTube, which they use to spread their ideology, draw in recruits and make money through ticket sales and branded merchandise.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nick Diaz is a 38-year-old mixed martial artist who hasn't competed in nearly seven years and hasn't won a fight in a decade. He is also the biggest star on the card and the most compelling reason to watch UFC 266.
HOUSTON (AP) — Ciryl Gane stopped Derrick Lewis with a flurry of ground-and-pound strikes in the third round at UFC 265 on Saturday night, winning an interim UFC heavyweight title and the next shot at champion Francis Ngannou.
TOKYO (AP) — The final bout of karate's Olympic debut seemed to have everything that makes combat sports so fascinating, right down to an incredible ending that should have made fans hungry for more of a martial art fighting for a place on future Olympic programs.
Derrick Lewis is among the few universally beloved figures across mixed martial arts. The veteran UFC heavyweight's violent fighting style and likable, funny personality have made his bouts must-see events for several years.
TOKYO (AP) — The history of karate’s journey to the Olympics would make a pretty good backstory for a martial arts movie.
Generations of determined athletes have collectively spent half a century training, studying and working toward their goal, overcoming setbacks and patiently honing their martial art for the big moment.
TOKYO (AP) — Although these Olympics have been plagued by unprecedented challenges and many public setbacks for the host nation, they are already the most successful in Japan's entire sporting history when measured from the top of the medal podium.
TOKYO (AP) — Naohisa Takato spent the past five years fixated on a vision.
He saw himself standing on the podium at the Nippon Budokan alongside Funa Tonaki with judo gold medals around their necks, basking in the cheers of their adoring home crowd on the opening night of the Tokyo Olympics.
TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics are introducing four new sports — skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing. Each traveled its own unique path to the Games. Here, at a glance, from Associated Press journalists covering each sport, are the tales of how these sports reached Tokyo and what to watch for in each.
TOKYO (AP) — The Nippon Budokan sits serenely nestled in a verdant park at the heart of Tokyo. Visitors admire the elegant lines of its Buddhist temple-based design before they step into the graceful reverence of the arena, where countless martial arts champions have been crowned since it opened in 1964 with the first Olympic judo tournament.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Conor McGregor sat and seethed with his back on the cage, a temporary cast around his left shin and foot. The biggest star in mixed martial arts was convinced he had just been robbed of revenge on Dustin Poirier by a broken leg.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Conor McGregor was soundly beaten by Dustin Poirier less than six months ago. That doesn't seem like enough time for the Irish superstar to patch all the holes Poirier punched in his game.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Conor McGregor wore a plaid purple suit and sunglasses when he performed some of his greatest Vegas hits at his UFC 264 news conference Thursday ahead of his latest attempt to roll back the mixed martial arts clock.
Judo is coming home at the Tokyo Olympics, and the Japanese team is under a world of pressure.
Fortunately for the host nation, this powerhouse group of athletes is eager to rise to the momentousness of this moment in their sport, which was born in Japan and introduced to the Olympics at the previous Tokyo Games 57 years ago.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Claressa Shields found herself pinned on her back, stuck against a cage and she absorbed so many strikes to the head that the undefeated boxer seemed on the brink of defeat in MMA.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Former mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz has quit his post on the City Council of Huntington Beach, California after spending about six months in politics for the first time — and attracting harsh criticism for his anti-mask views and for filing for unemployment benefits while serving on the council.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — When UFC President Dana White brought his mixed martial arts behemoth to Florida last May for a closed-door event, he promised a return trip once the state fully reopened...
DOUGLAS, Wyo. (AP) — The stakes were clear to the two dozen police officers who gathered for a workshop with an ambitious and increasingly urgent mission — recalibrating the way police interact with the public in America...
Anthony Pettis could have kept fighting in UFC or considered other mixed martial arts promotions where the potential of a championship fight might be years down the road -- if it developed at all...
To the prosecution, the witnesses who watched George Floyd ’s body go still were regular people — a firefighter, a mixed martial arts fighter, a high school student and her 9-year-old cousin in a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Love” — going about their daily lives when they happened upon the ghastly scene of an officer kneeling on a man’s neck...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-time Olympic boxing gold medalist Claressa Shields has a date and an opponent for her mixed martial arts debut with the Professional Fighters League...
To the prosecution, the witnesses who watched George Floyd’s body go still were regular people — a firefighter, a mixed martial arts fighter, a high school student and her 9-year-old cousin in a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Love” — going about their daily lives when they happened upon the ghastly scene of an officer kneeling on a man’s neck...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bellator President Scott Coker believes he put on some of the best fight cards in his promotion's history over the past two years while building a roster and a product capable of drawing attention across the world...
NEW YORK (AP) — A graphic novel for children that was a spin-off of the wildly popular “Captain Underpants” series is being pulled from library and book store shelves after its publisher said it “perpetuates passive racism...
No UFC heavyweight has made more title defenses or landed more punches than Stipe Miocic. He has knocked out a remarkable portion of the best fighters of his generation, leaving little doubt he's the most accomplished heavyweight ever to step inside a mixed martial arts cage...