The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA promotion in the world as of 2022. It produces events worldwide that showcase 12 weight divisions and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. As of 2022, it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
An ESPY Award is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC except 2020, and previously ESPN, to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993. Because of the ceremony's rescheduling prior to the 2002 iteration thereof, awards presented in 2002 were for achievement and performances during the seventeen-plus previous months. As the similarly styled Grammy, Emmy, Academy Award, and Tony, the ESPYs are hosted by a contemporary celebrity; the style, though, is lighter, more relaxed and self-referential than many other awards shows, with comedic sketches usually included.
The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Outstanding Male Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports. It has been presented annually at the ESPY Awards since 1993 to the male voted irrespective of nationality or sport contested, adjudged to be the best athlete in a given calendar year. The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the recipient at an annual ceremony in Los Angeles. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online balloting through three to five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The Best Driver ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Best Auto Racing Driver ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of motorsports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 1993. The Best Driver ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, has been presented annually to the racing driver adjudged to have performed the best in a given calendar year. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The Best Boxer ESPY Award is presented annually to the professional or amateur boxer, irrespective of nationality, adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year. Active between 1993 and 2006, the Best Boxer ESPY Award was subsumed from 2007-2018 by the Best Fighter ESPY Award, for which both boxers and mixed martial arts fighters were eligible, and then revived in 2019 when a separate ESPY Award was created for Best MMA Fighter.
The ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Men's Sports, known before 2021 as the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male individual from the world of collegiate sports. It was first presented as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, following the subsumption of the Best College Football Player and Best Male College Basketball Player ESPY Awards, each of which had been presented annually between 1993 and 2001, inclusive. The award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is awarded to the sportsman adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year of those contesting collegiate sport in the United States through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports, known before 2021 as the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the world of collegiate sports. It was first presented as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, following the subsumption of the Best Female College Basketball Player ESPY Award, which was presented annually between the 1993 and 2001 ceremonies, inclusive. The award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is awarded to the sportswoman adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year of those contesting collegiate sport in the United States through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since the 2004 awards, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The Best MLS Player ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of Major League Soccer (MLS). It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2006. The Best MLS Player ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the MLS player adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed by a panel of experts. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months, which generally includes a portion of each of two MLS seasons.
The Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male individual from the world of disabled sports. Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States Paralympic soccer player Eli Wolff, the accolade's trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the disabled sportsman adjudged to be the best at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was first bestowed as part of the ESPY Awards in 2005 after the non-gender specific Best Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was presented the previous three years. Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.
The Best Female Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female athlete from the world of action sports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2004 after the non-gender-specific Best Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award was presented the previous two years. It is given to the female, irrespective of nationality or sport contested, adjudged to be the best action sports athlete in a given calendar year. Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.
The Best Fighter ESPY Award was an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of combat sports. The Best Fighter ESPY Award trophy was presented to the professional or amateur boxer or mixed martial artist adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2007, subsuming the Best Boxer ESPY Award until 2019, when the Best MMA Fighter ESPY Award was established, and the ESPY Awards began awarding boxers and mixed martial arts fighters separately. Balloting for the award was undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts. It was conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.
30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011–2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website. The series has also expanded to include Soccer Stories, which aired in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and audio podcasts.
Demetrious Johnson is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in ONE Championship, where he is the current ONE Flyweight Champion. He is the inaugural and former UFC Flyweight Champion. Known for his quick striking and elusive movement, Johnson has also landed the most takedowns in UFC flyweight history and co-holds the record for the latest finish in UFC history with a submission win at 4:59 of the fifth round against Kyoji Horiguchi. He is the only UFC fighter to record over 10 takedowns in three different fights. Johnson also holds the record for most finishes in UFC flyweight history with 7. Johnson is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017 by MMAX Investment Partners. It is the first major MMA organization in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, post-season and championship, rather than on a year-round basis.
Rose Gertrude Namajunas is an American mixed martial artist. She is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she competes in the women's strawweight division and is the former two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champion. As of November 14, 2022, she is #2 in the UFC women's strawweight rankings, and as of June 20, 2023, she is #4 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. For instance, Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as DEEP Jewels. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Valkyrie, and Smackgirl. Professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete are industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Legacy Fighting Championship. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Strikeforce and EliteXC. There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Amanda Nunes, Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm and Joanna Jędrzejczyk and among others. Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events. This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators.
Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya is a Nigerian and New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current and two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of March 21, 2023, he is #5 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Michael Charles Trizano is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Featherweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2016, Trizano was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated season 27.
Brad Devin Katona is a Canadian mixed martial artist and the former Brave CF Bantamweight Champion. Katona formerly competed in the UFC and was the featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 27.
USA 
Israel Adesanya 
Amanda Nunes 
RUS 
Francis Ngannou 
Kamaru Usman 
Alexander Volkanovski 
Leon Edwards