Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken 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 July 19-25:
Miles Johns and Anderson Dos Santos won’t be fighting each other Saturday night after all.
[autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag] and [autotag]Anderson Dos Santos[/autotag] won’t be fighting each other Saturday night after all.
Johns announced on Instagram that their UFC on ESPn 26 bout has been scrapped after someone in Dos Santos’ camp tested positive for COVID-19. The UFC has yet to make an official announcement as of this writing.
Here’s what Johns had to say in his post:
It’s with great regret that I have to inform you all that I will Not be fighting this evening. My opponent/camp tested positive for covid so the fight is off.
I want to wish him a speedy recovery, want to thank the UFC for the opportunity but mainly want apologize to everyone who was looking forward to watching me fight today.
I promise you there is nothing I would rather be doing than putting on a show for you all this evening. Thank you all for the love and support. It truly means the world to me. I hope to have some fight news for you soon but in the meantime we will stay focused and stay positive. Let’s keep moving forward!
Johns (11-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was looking to fight for the first time since October 2020 when he knocked out Kevin Natividad to rebound from his first career loss in his fight prior.
Dos Santos (21-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC), meanwhile, also was aiming for a second consecutive win after submitting Martin Day in November 2020.
With the change, UFC on ESPN 26 will proceed with the following 10 bouts:
It’ll be USA vs. Brazil on July 17.
A bantamweight bout is the latest addition to UFC Fight Night on July 17.
At the UFC Fight Night event, LFA bantamweight champion [autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag] will return to the cage to fight [autotag]Anderson Dos Santos[/autotag]. The card doesn’t currently have a publicly known location or venue.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the boking Monday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Johns (11-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) split his appearances in 2020. After he suffered his first professional loss to Mario Bautista at UFC 247 in February, Johns bounced back with a massive knockout in his October 31 bout. Johns picked up his first promotional finish when he folded newcomer Kevin Natividad with a massive uppercut in Round 3.
Dos Santos (21-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) lost back-to-back unanimous decisions to kick off his UFC tenure but was victorious in his third promotional attempt. On Nov. 28, Dos Santos secured his first UFC victory with a first-round guillotine-choke submission of Martin Day.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for July 17 includes:
Seven fighters could be out six months due to injuries sustained during their fights.
Seven fighters face six-month suspensions as a result of their respective UFC on ESPN 18 fights – but headliners [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag] walked away unscathed.
Neither the winner, Smith, nor the loser, Clark, received a medical suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission medical staff.
On Tuesday, MMA Junkie obtained the full list of medical suspensions from MixedMartialArts.com for UFC on ESPN 18, which took place this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Fighters can return to action sooner than their suspensions indicate should they receive medical clearance from a doctor.
Among the pack of those suspended, co-main event participant [autotag]Takashi Sato[/autotag] was given a 180-day term for a potentially fractured left orbital in his loss to [autotag]Miguel Baeza[/autotag].
Main card winners [autotag]Parker Porter[/autotag], [autotag]Bill Algeo[/autotag], and [autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag] could be looking at 180-day suspensions due to potentially broken hands.
[autotag]Ashlee Evans-Smith[/autotag] (left hand), [autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag] (right foot), and [autotag]Rachael Ostovich[/autotag] (right hand) also were handed the same 180-day suspensions.
The full list of UFC on ESPN 18 medical suspensions includes:
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Anderson dos Santos spoke to the media following Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 18 in Las Vegas.
Anderson dos Santos spoke to the media following Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 18 in Las Vegas.
Anderson dos Santos won’t be fighting on UFC ‘Fight Island’ on July 15 after testing positive for COVID-19.
[autotag]Anderson dos Santos[/autotag] won’t be fighting on “Fight Island.”
Originally expected to fight [autotag]Jack Shore[/autotag] at the UFC event on July 15, dos Santos (20-8 MMA, 0-2 UFC) has been removed from the bout due to a positive COVID-19 test.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed dos Santos’ withdrawal and the positive COVID-19 test to MMA Junkie on Friday. The person asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was the first to report the news.
At this time, no replacement opponent for Shore (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has been revealed.
Dos Santos, 34, has competed twice under the UFC banner. After losing his promotional debut to Nad Narimani by unanimous decision in November 2018, dos Santos dropped a second unanimous decision against Andre Ewell in June 2019.
Dos Santos is not the first UFC fighter to test positive for the virus. Ronaldo Souza and Billy Quarantillo presented positive tests conducted under the UFC’s protocol. Lyman Good and Jimmie Rivera also tested positive for COVID-19, taking tests on their own, not as part of the UFC’s fight week protocol.
With the removal, the current July 15 lineup includes:
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Former Cage Warriors champion Jack Shore has his second UFC bout lined up.
A bantamweight contest is in the works for UFC on ESPN+ 30.
[autotag]Anderson dos Santos[/autotag] vs.[autotag] Jack Shore[/autotag] is being slated to take place at the July 15 event in Abu Dhabi. The news was first reported by Combate and later confirmed by MMA Junkie’s Nolan King.
Dos Santos (20-8 MMA, 0-2 UFC) is looking to get his first UFC victory. The Brazilian is coming off back-to-back loses to Nad Narimani and most recently Andre Ewell. The 34-year-old was on a three-fight losing streak prior to the two defeats.
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Meanwhile, Shore (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is following up on a successful UFC debut from last September. Shore, a former Cage Warriors champion, defeated Nohelin Hernandez in his promotional debut. The 25-year-old unbeaten prospect was scheduled to fight Geraldo de Freitas at UFC London back in March, but the bout didn’t come to fruition as the card was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
UFC on ESPN+ 30 is headlined by a featherweight bout pitting contenders Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige.
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