Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Alex Polizzi at 2024 PFL 5 in Salt Lake City.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag]’s victory over Antonio Carlos Junior at 2024 PFL 5, which took place at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)
Alex Polizzi is drawing PFL’s most recent light heavyweight champion in his debut.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] is drawing PFL’s most recent light heavyweight champion in his debut.
Polizzi (10-3) meets 2023 PFL light heavyweight champion [autotag]Impa Kasanganay[/autotag] (15-4) in the PFL 2 co-main event at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
Polizzi faces a stern test for his first regular season fight, but isn’t fazed.
“I told my manager right off the bat: We got the dark horse seed,” Polizzi told reporters during a media scrum at Xtreme Couture. “It’s a chance for me to go in, my debut in the PFL, to show them what ‘Easy Polizzi’ is all about. Whether we win, lose or draw, like I always say, it’s going to be a good time.”
Polizzi finds himself in unfamiliar territory having lost back to-back to Yoel Romero and Karl Moore. While the aim is to snap his two-fight losing skid, Polizzi also guarantees to entertain. Eight of his 10 professional wins have come by finish.
“I don’t want to make it seem like, ‘Oh, if you’ve seen one Alex fight, you’ve seen them all,'” Polizzi said. “The thing is, I’m always bringing a certain amount of organized chaos.
“So make sure you’re tuning in because I’m going to do some weird stuff. I’m going to have a lot of fun doing it, and like I say all the time, if you guys are having half as much fun watching me as I’m getting out of it, that’s worth the price of admission.”
Check out all the facts from Bellator 297, where Vadim Nemkov took another step toward arguably the greatest resume in Bellator history.
Bellator’s lone event of the month went down Friday with Bellator 297 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, and it was arguably the promotion’s biggest show of the year thus far.
Two championship bouts topped the card, and both men who entered the cage with belts, lefts with them, too. [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) handily defeated [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) by unanimous decision in the headliner to retain the light heavyweight strap, while [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (23-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) kept hold of bantamweight gold with a unanimous decision over [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-6 MMA, 22-6 BMMA).
For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 297.
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Yoel Romero packs a punch as Alex Polizzi found out when they fought each other in Bellator.
CHICAGO – Many MMA fighters don’t have it easy, but [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] had next-level misfortune when he stepped into the cage against [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] in 2022.
Polizzi (10-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) has not competed in 13 months, but Friday steps back in the cage at Bellator 297 against Karl Moore (11-2 MMA, 3-0 BMMA). The past year for Polizzi has been filled with adversity and change. He suffered a badly-broken jaw against Romero, but learned many lessons in recovery.
“I was laid off for a little bit with six months of no contact with a broken jaw,” Polizzi told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Thursday. “We really took a step back to the drawing board and worked a lot of pad work, mitt work. But also a little bit earlier when I was unable to really work out at all, I made sure to get what was going on in my head right.
“I saw a mental performance coach who was able to go through some techniques about how to not only get ready, get my mind right to get back into things, but tools going forward to work on the mental side of things, as well. I think that’s been really super important and something that I hadn’t really put a lot of time into before… something that before this injury, this broken jaw that I think wouldn’t have done before.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CeAUDtorp0a/
In addition to the injury and mental improvement, Polizzi added more seasoning to his game. He switched gyms and moved across the country from Wisconsin to Nevada. Polizzi now trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.
“There was a life-changing event,” Polizzi said. “My wife finished school and we were looking at new places to go. We had a couple different ideas about cities to travel to. On the list was Las Vegas and she said, ‘Hey Alex, how was Las Vegas for MMA?’ We said, ‘Yeah, I could probably make that one work.’ We made the move to Vegas and of course, if you’re in Vegas there’s really just the one gym option. It’s Xtreme and that’s where you’re going to get good work in with everybody.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from April 3-9.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from March 13-19.
Yoel Romero had his way with Alex Polizzi in the Bellator 280 co-headliner.
Right after the bell rang to close the second round of their light heavyweight bout, [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] tapped [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] softly on the back of the head, as if to send the message that he’s doing fine – but also let him down gently.
Nothing from that point on was gentle, though.
Romero continued to stalk Polizzi and outclass him for almost 15 minutes before blasting him a few more times, en route to a TKO win at the 4:59 mark of the third round of the Bellator 280 co-main event.
Yoel Romero. Again.
For the win. 💥💥💥#Bellator280pic.twitter.com/PFp1nHcrnP
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 6, 2022
Romero (14-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) had more than one moment when it seemed he could finish the fight if he wanted, as he dropped Polizzi (10-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) with hard left hands a total of four times. But on each occasion, he stopped and gestured to the crowd at Accor Arena in Paris instead of rushing. It wasn’t until the closing seconds of the final frame that Romero pounced on a bloodied Polizzi after dropping him.
Why?
“I wanted to deliver a message. And I think I did,” Romero said afterward.
With the win, Romero snapped a four-fight losing streak and won for the first time since Feb. 11, 2018 when he knocked out Luke Rockhold at UFC 221.
After the win, Bellator announced a re-booking between Romero and Melvin Manhoef, whom he was supposed to face Friday, at Bellator Dublin on Sept. 23.
Updated Bellator 280 results include:
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past two weeks.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from April 18-May 1.
“The Soldier of God” has a new foe for Bellator’s return to Paris.
[autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] has a new opponent for Bellator 280.
With [autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] out, Romero (13-6 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) now meets rising light heavyweight [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in a three-round co-main event.
The card takes place May 6 at AccorHotels Arena in Paris with the main card streaming on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
A Bellator official Saturday confirmed the change to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Dutch outlet Redactie Telesport. The report cited an injury for Manhoef, which it says he sustained in a recent apprehension of three alleged attempted burglars.
The bout was expected to be Manhoef’s final one for Bellator, promotion president Scott Coker told MMA Junkie in an interview prior to its cancellation.
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Romero, 45, signed with Bellator in 2021 and debuted in September of that year against fellow former UFC fighter Phil Davis. The matchup served as the Bellator 266 main event, in which Davis defeated Romero via unanimous decision. After the fight, Romero voiced frustration because he thought the fight was a five-round main event, rather than three. Bellator has since made all main events five rounds, regardless of title status.
Polizzi, 30, enters his short-notice Bellator 280 opportunity on a three-fight winning streak. A former LFA champion, Polizzi has defeated the likes of former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho and fellow contender Grant Neal among others since he signed with the promotion in 2020. He most recently competed at Bellator 276 in March when he defeated Jose Augusto via submission to cap off an exciting, back-and-forth brawl.
With the change, the Bellator 280 lineup includes:
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Bellator MMA might have an early candidate for its “Fight of the Year.”
Fans of momentum shifts and drama probably will enjoy catching [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jose Augusto[/autotag] on replay if they missed it live.
In improbable fashion, Polizzi (9-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) rallied from the brink of defeat at Bellator 276 to defeat his larger Brazilian foe Augusto (7-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) by rear-naked choke at the 0:44 mark of Round 3.
Bellator 276 took place at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. and aired on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
The madness really began in Round 2 after a closely-contested Round 1. As Polizzi ducked in for a takedown, Augusto drilled him square in the face with a powerful flying knee. Polizzi dropped to his knees before he staggered upward and ate a barrage of strikes from the rangy Augusto. Nearly out on his feet, Polizzi bounced off the cage and fell to the canvas. Augusto pounced, but Polizzi did just enough for referee Kerry Hatley to allow the contest to continue.
Augusto went for an armbar, covered in the blood that squirted from Polizzi’s face. But Polizzi refused to tap. He not only worked his way out of the bad position, but moved into a favorable one, too. Polizzi mounted Augusto and rained down ground-and-pound until the end of the round.
In Round 3, Polizzi capitalized on an early grappling mistake by Augusto. On the back, Polizzi quickly locked in a rear-naked choke where he secured the tap.
Check out the key highlights of the fight below, or check out the full replay here.
Big slam from @EazyPolizzi 👀
Tune in to the #Bellator276 @MonsterEnergy prelims 👇
▶️ https://t.co/BupaVqPPD5 pic.twitter.com/AvCTAuRYej
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) March 13, 2022
INSANE from @EazyPolizzi and @joseaugustomma!
Tune in to the #Bellator276 @MonsterEnergy prelims 👇
▶️ https://t.co/BupaVqPPD5 pic.twitter.com/f58WN1jVpG
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) March 13, 2022
After eating a HUGE knee strike, @EazyPolizzi submits Jose Augusto for a comeback victory on the #Bellator276 @MonsterEnergy prelims 👇
▶️ https://t.co/BupaVqPPD5 pic.twitter.com/XS31esc6xp
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) March 13, 2022
After the fight, Polizzi sported swelling under his right eye and told commentator “Big” John McCarthy he had no recollection of the knee the broadcast showed on replay.
The up-to-the-minute Bellator 276 results include:
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