Tag: A.J. Agazarm

20 fights on our MMA wishlist for 2020

Here are 20 fights MMA Junkie hopes to see happen in 2020.

With a new year comes new things, including good ol’-fashioned fist fights. What kinds of matchups are we hoping to see in 2020? What kinds of bookings do we want the MMA gods to bless us with? 

Here’s a list of some ideas and why they may (or may not) make sense:

Dillon Danis

20. [autotag]A.J. Agazarm[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag]

This list is being kicked off by “El Jefe” himself. I know this will automatically trigger the Twitter trolls, but hear me out. Danis and Agazarm easily are two of the best grapplers Bellator has in its lighter weight classes. The two have competed against each other plenty of times in the grappling world and they don’t have a lot of love for each other. Their name value doesn’t match their experience level in MMA, so they both often have fights against unknown opponents, which makes their fights hard to promote.

So why not pit them against each other? It makes sense for both fighters skill-level wise, it could be a fun buildup, and we could certainly see some fun, world-class jiu-jitsu.

Bryce Mitchell

19. [autotag]Kron Gracie[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]

Let’s keep the jiu-jitsu train rolling. Gracie is jiu-jitsu royalty and Mitchell scored a cool-looking submission in his most recent fight – a twister. The UFC certainly is not shy about throwing Gracie against someone with far more experience (cough, cough – Cub Swanson). I know Mitchell is a bit more experienced than Gracie, but not by a crazy margin. Both guys need fights and have interesting and opposing personalities. Why not?

[vertical-gallery id=414945]

[vertical-gallery id=468764]

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10

A.J. Agazarm vs. Adel Altamimi booked for Bellator 238

A.J. Agazarm will return to take on an American war hero at Bellator 238.

[autotag]A.J. Agazarm[/autotag] is back.

A decorated grappling world champion, Agazarm (2-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) will return to action at Bellator 238 against [autotag]Adel Altamimi[/autotag] in a preliminary card bout, a promotion official informed MMA Junkie on Tuesday.

Altamimi previously had alluded to the fight in a recent Instagram post.

Bellator 238 takes place Jan. 25 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The main card will stream live on DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Since he lost his professional MMA debut in January 2019, Agazarm has won back-to-back fights. Despite being victorious in his most recent outing, Agazarm stressed his desire to be more “mean-spirited” the next time he steps into the cage.

“You can go do whatever you want to do to think you’re going to be tough,” Agazarm told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at Bellator 228. “There’s certain guys that think that’s going to do the trick, but it all comes down the wash. It’s about being mean-spirited.

[lawrence-related id=467437,463010]

As for Altamimi (8-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), his decorated military background and story of courage has been well documented. The Iraq-born California resident lived out a dream when he stepped into the cage at Bellator 214 in January. Altamimi submitted Brandon McMahan that night, but lost his second bout to Salim Mukhidinov in October.

The up-to-date Bellator 238 lineup now includes:

  • Julia Budd vs. Cris Cyborg
  • Adam Borics vs. Darrion Caldwell
  • Aaron Pico vs. Daniel Carey
  • Mario Navarro vs. Jay Jay Wilson
  • Khonry Gracie vs. Hector Saldana
  • David Pacheco vs. Craig Plaskett
  • Brandon Bender vs. Gabriel Green
  • Dominic Clark vs. Ricardo Seixas Filho
  • Tyler Beneke vs. Jarrett Connor
  • A.J. Agazarm vs. Adel Altamimi

[vertical-gallery id=447057]

Cris Lencioni challenges A.J. Agazarm to fight at Bellator Hawaii

Bellator featherweight Cris Lencioni issues a challenge to grappling superstar A.J. Agazarm.

If you ask Bellator featherweight [autotag]Cris Lencioni[/autotag] to describe his past few months, the word “frustrating” comes to mind.

In October, Lencioni (5-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) declined to fight at Bellator 232 after former GLORY kickboxing champion Robin van Roosmalen missed the featherweight limit by nine pounds.

One month later, Lencioni still doesn’t have a fight booked. He’s hoping that changes soon. It’s been a frustrating experience, especially because he’s trying to map out plans to turn his gym, Sunshine Athletics & Fabiano Scherner Jiu-Jitsu in Canby, Ore., into a nonprofit organization.

“I don’t want to just be put on the bench and sitting around like a lot of my teammates,” Lencioni told MMA Junkie. “A lot of teammates just sat around for most of their contracts. Some of these other gyms, they get offers every (expletive) month. I’m not trying to be rude or anything like that. I just want one more opportunity. That’s all.”

With his Bellator contract expiring at the end of December, Lencioni is hoping to squeeze in one more fight. Hawaii, Japan, wherever: Lencioni just wants on a card. And he has a specific opponent in mind for his return.

“I think [autotag]A.J. Agazarm[/autotag] is the best matchup to make,” Lencioni said. “Everyone thinks I’m this grappling submission guy. I don’t know his grappling credentials, but I know he’s pretty high up in the jiu-jitsu community for good and bad reasons.”

[lawrence-related id=463868,463183]

The idea of trash talk delights Lencioni, although he doesn’t really consider himself a trash-talker. The American Top Team Portland product admitted he enjoys having fun in the build-up to the fight and said Agazarm (2-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) would bring just that.

“I just like to joke around. I just like jokes,” Lencioni said. “I wouldn’t call me a (expletive)-talker, you know? I like to have fun. Some of these guys come in way too serious. We’re going to fight each other anyways. Why are we getting all uppity like we’ve got sticks up our butts?”

Agarzarm’s grappling credentials are well-documented, having won numerous national and international grappling tournaments from 2013-2017. In MMA however, Lencioni believes he could hang with Agazarm on the ground.

“All day,” Lencioni said. “Let’s take it to the ground. I’m not worried about it one bit. We come from the same style of jiu-jitsu. He’s not going to show me anything I haven’t seen.”

[lawrence-related id=463010,462701]

Three fights into his MMA career, Agazarm is riding a two-fight winning streak. However, the 29-year-old hasn’t faced an opponent with Lencioni’s experience.

What’s the best direction for Agazarm? How about a fight to determine the “best hair in Bellator?” That’s what Lencioni is proposing.

“Are they trying to build him as contender or ‘Mr. Cool, everyone watch me?'” Lencioni asked. “Because everyone likes watching me. We’re not fighting for a belt, but we’re going to be (expletive) exciting dude.

“We could be fighting for the best hair in the featherweight division. I think my hair game is on point. I think his hair is pretty wild, too.”

[vertical-gallery id=391998]