Zain Bando covers college sports and combat sports as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate later earned a degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
Bando specializes in Big Ten coverage, having reported on Illinois, Northwestern and Kansas State athletics throughout his career.
He currently covers MMA and boxing for MMA Knockout On Sports Illustrated.
Bando hosts two weekly podcasts through the Empty The Bench Podcast Network. “Bando’s Breakdowns” and “The MMA Outsiders” stream on YouTube before distribution across podcast platforms on Tuesday nights and Wednesday afternoons.
The Chicago suburban native holds memberships in the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Since beginning his professional career in June 2019, his work has appeared in MSN, Yardbarker, Deadspin, FanSided, BJPenn.com, Bridge Media Network, Mike Farrell Sports and Reuters.
When not writing, Bando watches old UFC fights, spends time with family and friends, memorizes Super Bowl history, and plans his future travelsālaptop always in tow.
