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UFC on ESPN 31 play-by-play and live results (7 p.m. ET)

Check out live play-by-play and official results from UFC on ESPN 31 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 31 event, and you can join us for live play-by-play and official results beginning at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT).

UFC on ESPN 31 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

In the main event, Rob Font (19-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) takes on former featherweight champion Jose Aldo (30-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC) at bantamweight. In the co-feature, Rafael Fiziev (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) meets Brad Riddell (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at lightweight

Follow along with our round-by-round updates and official results beginning at approximately 7 p.m. ET for the prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and 10 p.m. ET for the main card on ESPN and ESPN+.

To discuss the show, be sure to check out our UFC on ESPN 31 discussion thread. You can also get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporter John Morgan (@MMAJunkieJohn) on Twitter.

Enjoy the fights, everyone.

Bellator 272 results: Sergio Pettis knocks Kyoji Horiguchi out cold with perfect spinning backfist

Things weren’t going Sergio Pettis’ way for more than three rounds against Kyoji Horiguchi – until an incredible knockout.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Things didn’t look like they were going [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag]’ way Friday night until they did in remarkable fashion.

After a difficult first three-and-a-half rounds, Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) delivered an all-time violent knockout when he flattened [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] with a perfectly placed spinning backfist, which stopped the contest at 3:24 of Round 4, to retain his bantamweight title.

Adding to the shock was the fact that, for all intents and purposes, Pettis was down three rounds to none against Horiguchi heading into the fourth.

The opening round began with a portion of the Mohegan Sun Arena crowd behind their countryman – and another group was audibly supportive of the internationally popular Japanese fighter.

Horiguchi scored a takedown midway through the first round but wasn’t able to do much with it. For the rest of the round, the fight stayed standing. A technical striking match ensued, but Pettis struggled with Horiguchi’s footwork and movement.

In Round 2, it was more of the same. Horiguchi got the fight to the canvas. After a brief time on the ground, Pettis shot up a submission, which allowed him back up. Once again, Horiguchi showed to be a step ahead, but Pettis caught him with a good punch that opened a cut on the challenger under his right eye.

Feints and leg kicks were in Horiguchi’s attack to begin Round 3, but history repeated itself, and the fight hit the canvas before striking on the feet – exchanges that went in Horiguchi’s favor.

It looked like more of the same in Round 4 – until Pettis threw a head kick on a scramble midway through the round. The head kick whiffed, but Pettis used his momentum to throw a spinning backfist that floored Horiguchi and sent the crowd into pandemonium.

Pettis’ first title defense as reigning champion was a successful one. A betting underdog on average across major online sportsbooks, Pettis extends his winning streak to five – a stretch that also includes victories over Tyson Nam, Alfred Khashakyan and Juan Archuleta.

As for Horiguchi, the loss is only his second since 2015. Since his UFC title defeat to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186, Horiguchi has gone 14-2. As RIZIN bantamweight champion, Horiguchi crossed over into Bellator in 2019. He defeated then-Bellator bantamweight champ Darrion Caldwell but later vacated the title due to injury.

In September, Bellator inked Horiguchi to a multifight deal. Both Pettis and Horiguchi will compete in the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix in 2022.

Complete Bellator 272 results:

  • Champ Sergio Pettis def. Kyoji Horiguchi via knockout (spinning backfist) – Round 4, 3:24, to defend bantamweight title
  • Jeremy Kennedy def. Emmanuel Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Josh Hill def. Jared Scoggins knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:56
  • Johnny Eblen def. Collin Huckbody TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:11
  • Alexander Shabliy def. Bobby King unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Kai Kamaka def. John de Jesus unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Levan Chokheli def. Vinicius de Jesus unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Justin Montalvo def. Jacob Bohn unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Mike Hamel def. Killys Mota split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Spike Carlyle def. Dan Moret technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:58
  • Kyle Crutchmer def. Oliver Enkamp unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00

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Bellator 272 results: Jeremy Kennedy grinds out Emmanuel Sanchez to earn unanimous decision

UFC and PFL veteran Jeremy Kennedy leaned on his wrestling skills to win a unanimous decision in Bellator 272’s co-main event.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Jeremy Kennedy[/autotag] turned in a dominant performance in the co-main event on Friday evening.

Over the course of three rounds, Kennedy (17-3 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) utilized his wrestling skills to keep Emmanuel Sanchez on his back for most of the fight, ultimately grinding his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Bellator 272 took place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card aired on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Sanchez (20-7 MMA, 12-6 BMMA) looked to put the pressure on early in the fight, putting together a few punching combinations as he moved forward. Kennedy opted to drop down for a takedown attempt which led to a clinch against the cage. Kennedy would eventually end up on top of his opponent and look to improve position, but Sanchez was active with punches from his back. After a few wild scrambles, they ended back on the canvas with Sanchez threatening triangle chokes from his back until the round ended.

The next two rounds of the fight would look pretty similar to the first: Sanchez would start the round landing strikes, but the fight would quickly end up on the canvas with Kennedy on top.

In the third, Sanchez was able to find his way into a guillotine choke attempt and hold it for over a minute after being on his back for a majority of the round, but Kennedy popped his head out with just under 30 seconds remaining and landed strikes from the top until the fight concluded.

All three judges scored the fight 30-27 unanimously in favor of Kennedy.

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Kennedy, a veteran of UFC and PFL, picks up his second win in three fights under the Bellator banner. In his debut with the promotion, he picked up a unanimous decision win over Matt Bessette last year but the victory was followed up by dropping a decision to Adam Borics in April. Friday’s victory over Sanchez gets him back in the win column in a big way.

Sanchez’s 2021 campaign is one he would like to quickly move past. Friday’s loss marks three straight during the calendar year, with losses to former champ Patricio Pitbull, Mads Burnell, and now, Kennedy. Sanchez was on quite the impressive run as a winner of seven of eight bouts before his recent skid.

Up-to-the-minute results of Bellator 272 include:

  • Jeremy Kennedy def. Emmanuel Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Josh Hill def. Jared Scoggins knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:56
  • Johnny Eblen def. Collin Huckbody TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:11
  • Alexander Shabliy def. Bobby King unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Kai Kamaka def. John de Jesus unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Levan Chokheli def. Vinicius de Jesus unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Justin Montalvo def. Jacob Bohn unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Mike Hamel def. Killys Mota split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
  • Spike Carlyle def. Dan Moret technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:58
  • Kyle Crutchmer def. Oliver Enkamp unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00

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Bellator announces eight-man bantamweight grand prix for 2022

The fifth Bellator grand prix of the Scott Coker era is official.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – For months, Bellator president Scott Coker has been peppered with questions about when the promotion’s next grand prix will get underway and which weight class it will be. Those questions were answered Friday.

During the Bellator 272 broadcast, the promotion announced the next tournament will take place in the bantamweight division and feature eight of the promotion’s top fighters at 135 pounds.

The field will consist of champion [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] and [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag], who meet in tonight’s Bellator 271 headliner, along with former bantamweight champ [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag], popular Irish fighter [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag], Pitbull Brothers protege [autotag]Leandro Higo[/autotag], former ACB champion [autotag]Magomed Magomedov[/autotag], and rising contender [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag].

The eight tournament fighters are the most recent title fight competitors, as well as the top six contenders from the official Bellator rankings as of Friday.

No matchups or dates were revealed, but a Bellator official told MMA Junkie the promotion is targeting the first quarter of 2022 to begin the tournament.

Since Coker took over as Bellator president in 2014, the promotion has held four grand prixs, making bantamweight the fifth. The Bellator welterweight grand prix was launched first in 2018, followed by heavyweight in 2018, featherweight in 2019, and light heavyweight in 2020, which has reached the final between champion Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson.

Like other grand prixs, the winner of the bantamweight tournament will earn $1 million in addition to the Bellator title.

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‘The Alpha Ginger’ Spike Carlyle pulls off improbable comeback at Bellator 272

“The Alpha Ginger” Spike Carlyle came back from the brink of defeat on multiple occasions to submit Dan Moret in Round 3.

[autotag]Spike Carlyle[/autotag] made quite the first impression in his Bellator debut Friday.

On the Bellator 272 prelims, Carlyle (13-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) took on fellow UFC alumnus [autotag]Dan Moret[/autotag] and pulled off an improbable comeback. Carlyle rallied from the brink of defeat on multiple occasions to technically submit Moret (15-7 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) with a rear-naked choke at 2:58 mark of Round 3 in a grueling battle.

Both fighters landed shot after shot through the first two rounds, but Carlyle absorbed the brunt of the damage. Entering Round 3, Carlyle was down 20-18 on all three judges’ scorecards.

However, he dug deep, reversed a late takedown from Moret, ended up on his opponent’s back, and put him to sleep with a rear-naked choke – much to the delight of the Mohegan Sun crowd.

“I feel like dog crap,” Carlyle said after the fight. “I don’t feel good at all right now, but I had to dig deep. This was not my power, that’s for sure. That was supernatural what just happened right there.”

“… I remember watching some of his interviews leading to the Goiti Yamauchi fight. He said he’s never tapped, he will never tap, and that’s true. That son of a b*tch didn’t tap.”

Check out the highlights below:

Bellator 272 took place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card aired on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Triller Triad Combat medical suspensions: One fighter out indefinitely

All fighters competing on the card were suspended by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, though many won’t have to wait long.

Triller debuted Triad Combat this past Saturday, and a handful of notable boxing and MMA fighters squared off under a hybrid ruleset.

Among those who competed were former boxing champion [autotag]Kubrat Pulev[/autotag], former UFC champion [autotag]Frank Mir[/autotag], former UFC welterweight [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag], former UFC welterweight [autotag]Albert Tumenov[/autotag], former Bellator featherweight [autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag], and former Bellator and UFC heavyweight contender [autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag], among others.

Following the completion of their respective bouts, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which regulated the event at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, handed out medical suspensions to all 14 competitors. Unlike some other commissioning bodies, the TDLR does not reveal the specific injuries or reasons the fighters have been suspended.

While the majority of the card were given suspensions under one month, undercard fighter [autotag]Angelina Hoffschneider[/autotag] is facing an indefinite layoff after a first-round knockout loss to Alexa Culp.

Outside of the indefinite suspension, Mir, who lost via standing TKO to Pulev at 1:59 into Round 1, was handed a 30-day sanction.

Scroll below to see the full list of medical suspensions handed out to the fighters who competed at Triller Triad Combat.

UFC on ESPN 31 weigh-in highlights, faceoffs and photo gallery

Check out the video highlights and photo gallery from the UFC on ESPN 31 weigh-ins and faceoffs in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – All the pre-fight activities are in the books for UFC on ESPN 31 following Friday’s official weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs.

In the main event, Rob Font (19-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) takes on former featherweight champion Jose Aldo (30-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC). Font weighed in under the limit at 134 pounds. Aldo had no issue, either, and hit the non-title limit of 136.

In the lightweight co-feature, Rafael Fiziev (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Brad Riddell (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) each weighed 155.5. In addition, Jimmy Crute (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was 205.5 for his light heavyweight bout against Jamahal Hill (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who was 205.

All 30 fighters made weight without issue for the event, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+. However, Jared Vanderaa (12-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was later ruled medically ineligible for the event, and his contest with Azamat Murzakanov (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was scrapped.

At the conclusion of the official weigh-ins, the fighters came face to face for final staredowns. Check out the highlights in the video above and a photo gallery from the weigh-ins and faceoffs below.

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Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland headlines UFC’s Feb. 5 event

A key middleweight matchup is on tap for the first part of the UFC’s 2022 calendar year.

A key middleweight matchup is on tap for the first part of the UFC’s 2022 calendar year.

[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (22-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is set to take on the streaking [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (24-3 MMA, 11-3) in a five-round main event Feb. 5. MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with people with knowledge of the booking following an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN.

The Feb. 5 event does not yet have an announced venue, location or broadcast plan, but is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a broadcast on a combination of ESPN and ESPN+.

Hermansson got back on track in May with a unanimous decision win over Edmen Shahbazyan. Prior to that, he had an up-and-down run with big wins over Ronaldo Souza and Kelvin Gastelum, but losses to Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori.

Strickland will bring a five-fight winning streak into the matchup. After two losses in three fights, including one to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, he beat Nordine Taleb in what for now was his last welterweight fight. He then moved to middleweight and beat Jack Marshman, Brendan Allen (at a 195-pound catchweight), Krzysztof Jotko and, most recently, Uriah Hall in July.

Hermansson currently is No. 6 in the UFC’s official middleweight rankings, and Strickland is right behind him at No. 7.

With the addition, the UFC’s Feb. 5 lineup now includes:

  • Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland
  • Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chidi Njokuani
  • Sam Alvey vs. Ian Heinisch
  • Phil Rowe vs. Jason Witt
  • Jailton Almeida vs. Danilo Marques
  • John Castaneda vs. Miles Johns
  • Denys Bondar vs. Malcolm Gordon
  • Hakeem Dawodu vs. Mike Trizano
  • Bryan Battle vs. Tresean Gore
  • Nick Maximov vs. Punahele Soriano

ONE Championship: Winter Warriors results – Stamp Fairtex submits Ritu Phogat to win atomweight grand prix

Stamp Fairtex put a stamp – pun intended – on her run through ONE Championship’s atomweight grand prix.

[autotag]Stamp Fairtex[/autotag] put a stamp – pun intended – on her run through ONE Championship’s atomweight grand prix.

Fairtex (8-1) submitted [autotag]Ritu Phogat[/autotag] (7-2) with a second-round armbar in the tournament final at ONE Championship: Winter Warriors. Fairtex had to work through early aggression from Phogat, but eventually found herself in position to get the tap and the win after back-to-back decisions in the grand prix’s opening round and semifinals.

Phogat tried to get the fight to the canvas early, but Fairtex, a former ONE muay Thai and kickboxing champion, used her kicking game to defend. And in the middle frame, Stamp locked up a triangle choke after a Phogat takedown, then transitioned to an armbar to get the tap at the 2:14 mark of the round and the grand prix title.

Also on the card, [autotag]Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev[/autotag] went to proverbial war with [autotag]Timofey Nastyukhin[/autotag] and ultimately shut him down in the third round. After a back-and-forth opening round, Arslanaliev had Nastyukhin on the ropes in the middle frame. Nastyukhin survived to see the third, but it didn’t take Arslanaliev long into the last round to land a big right for the finish just 49 seconds into the round.

ONE Championship: Winter Warriors MMA results included:

  • Stamp Fairtex def. Ritu Phogat via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 2:14
  • Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev def. Timofey Nastyukhin via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 0:49
  • [autotag]Marcus Almeida[/autotag] def. [autotag]Ji Won Kang[/autotag] via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:27
  • [autotag]Yuya Wakamatsu[/autotag] def. [autotag]Yong Hu[/autotag] via unanimous decision

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Jared Vanderaa vs. Azamat Murzakanov scrapped from UFC on ESPN 31

The heavyweight fight between Azamat Murzakanov and Jared Vanderaa was going to be interesting Saturday night. Now it’s not happening.

The heavyweight fight between [autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Vanderaa[/autotag] was going to be interesting Saturday night.

Now it’s not happening.

Promotion officials announced just after the end of Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC on ESPNS 31 that the preliminary card bout had been scrapped after Vanderaa was not medically cleared for the bout, despite weighing in.

Murzakanov (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Vanderaa (12-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) both weighed in during the proceedings, and what was going to make their tilt, which was slated for the second fight on the card, particularly noteworthy was their big weight discrepancy.

Vanderaa was right at the top of the heavyweight limit at 265 pounds. But Murzakanov was nearly 50 pounds less than that at 216.5.

Murzakanov is a career light heavyweight who got into the UFC in that division through Dana White’s Contenders Series. After a 205-pound fight with Marcin Prachnio was scrapped in November, Murzakanov took the fight with Vanderaa at heavyweight, meaning he didn’t have to worry about a weight cut.

But now his official UFC debut is on hold. It’s not yet known if the fight will remain intact and move to a later event, or if both fighters will get new opponents down the road.

The updated UFC on ESPN 31 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo
  • Rafael Fiziev vs. Brad Riddell
  • Jimmy Crute vs. Jamahal Hill
  • Clay Guida vs. Leonardo Santos
  • Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis
  • Mickey Gall vs. Alex Morono

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Maki Pitolo vs. Dusko Todorovic
  • Manel Kape vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
  • Bryan Barberena vs. Darian Weeks
  • Jake Matthews vs. Jeremiah Wells
  • Mallory Martin vs. Cheyanne Vlismas
  • William Knight vs. Alonzo Menifield
  • Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Claudio Puelles
  • Vince Morales vs. Louis Smolka