Bellator 236 – Page 10 – Syndication Server

Josh Barnett’s impromptu pro wrestling match at Bellator 235 workouts is the best thing you’ll see t

Josh Barnett’s impromptu pro wrestling match at Bellator 235 workouts is the best thing you’ll see today

Video: Chael Sonnen, Royce Gracie, Jake Hager among Bellator stars on USO Tour in Honolulu

For the second straight year, Bellator has touched down in Hawaii for a doubleheader weekend – including one exclusively for troops.

HONOLULU – For the second straight year, Bellator has touched down in Hawaii for a doubleheader weekend of events.

And once again, the promotion is front-ending the cards with a show exclusively for U.S. military troops stationed in Honolulu.

“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019” (Bellator 235) takes place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

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Monday and Tuesday, Bellator fighters and personalities took part in a USO Tour to not only help entertain some of the troops at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, but to learn a little themselves about what their jobs are like.

The fighters and Bellator on-air talent members visited the missile destroyer ship USS William P. Lawrence for a tour and had lunch on board with sailors; attended an F-22 launch; took in the fire trucks and rescue equipment at Hickam Fire Department; and conducted a jiu-jitsu seminar.

Bellator fighters and talent members included Royce Gracie, Khonry Gracie, Chael Sonnen, John McCarthy, Jake Hager, Jay Glazer and Mike Goldberg.

Check out the video above to see them interacting with troops in Hawaii ahead of the Friday-Saturday events.

Bellator 236 breakdown: Can unheralded Kate Jackson spoil Ilima-Lei Macfarlane’s latest homecoming?

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the Bellator 236 headliner between women’s flyweight champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Kate Jackson.

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MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the Bellator’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for Bellator 236.

Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA)

Staple info:

Height: 5’4″ Age: 29 Weight: 125 lbs. Reach: 66.5″
Last fight: TKO win over Veta Arteaga (April 27, 2019)
Camp: Team Hurricane Awesome (San Diego, Calif.)
Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
Risk management: Good

Supplemental info:

+ Bellator women’s flyweight champion
+ 10th Planet jiu-jitsu brown belt
+ EBI women’s flyweight title
+ 2 knockout victories
+ 6 submission wins
+ 3 first-round finishes
+ Consistent pace and pressure
+ Steadily developing striking game
^ Shows fight-to-fight improvements
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Knees, elbows, takedowns
+ Solid wrestling ability
+ Good submission grappler

Kate Jackson (11-3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA)

Staple info:

Height: 5’6″ Age: 33 Weight: 125 lbs. Reach: 67″
Last fight: TKO win over Lena Ovchynnikova (June 22, 2019)
Camp: Koncept Gym (England)
Stance/striking style: Orthodox/muay Thai
Risk management: Good

Supplemental info:

+ Karate black belt
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt
+ Judo brown belt
+ Regional MMA title
+ 6 knockout victories
+ 1 submission win
+ 5 first-round finishes
+ Solid striking ability
^ Puts together combinations well
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Trips, takedowns, knees
+ Good transitional grappler
^ From top or bottom

Point of interest: Striking in space

The main event for Bellator 236 features a flyweight title fight between two savvy grapplers who aren’t afraid to strike in space.

The challenger, [autotag]Kate Jackson[/autotag], was introduced to the art of karate at a young age, and she seems to be quite comfortable when playing at range.

Whether she is sitting back and looking to counter or coming forward with vigor, Jackson strings her shots together accordingly, often punctuating her presence with kicks off the lead side. The English fighter – despite previously competing at strawweight – seems to carry real power at what is her more natural weight class of 125 pounds.

Regardless of Jackson’s approach here, she can’t afford to get complacent if she means to take rounds from the sitting champion, [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag].

Initially starting off her career a bit raw in the standing department, Macfarlane has made legitimate strides to her game throughout her title reign. The Hawaiian champ still shows patience to play on the outside or the ability to pressure her way forward, but she does so in a much more efficient manner than before.

Utilizing a steady dose of fakes and feints, Macfarlane now throws her punches straighter and with more purpose, smartly variating between simple combinations to maximize her effectiveness. That said, Macfarlane is not beyond mixing things up when feeling in stride, showing the occasional Superman punch or drop-step to keep her opposition honest and on their heels.

The 29-year-old talent has also has displayed upgraded head movement, rolling her head offline when committing to her crosses – something that will come in handy given the power Jackson will likely be throwing her way.

Though gameplans can always vary, I have to imagine that striking exchanges will only last so long before one of these fighters decides to push into grappling space.

Next point of interest: Jiu-jitsu driver’s seat

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Bellator 236 free fight: Derek Campos, Brandon Girtz clash in 2017 ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate

Relive the bloody trilogy battle that left Brandon Girtz walking away with the infamous “Jumpman” gash.

[autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Girtz[/autotag] have gone head to head thrice in their respective careers.

The trilogy fight, however, stands alone. The exciting, bloody, back-and-forth nature of their third meeting landed Campos vs. Girtz as a ‘2017 Fight of the Year’ contender.

At Bellator 181 in July 2017, Campos and Girtz threw down for 10 minutes. Both fighters were hurt during the frenetic brawl, to the delight of the Thackerville, Okla. crowd.

In between the second and third rounds, the cage-side physician waived off the contest due to a deep gash on Girtz’s forehead. Campos was declared the winner.

The nasty gash, which roughly resembled Michael Jordan’s ‘Jumpman,’ went viral and brought even more eyes to an already popular replay. Campos’ victory gave him the lead in the lifetime series, with a two wins to one loss advantage over Girtz.

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On Dec. 21, Campos returns to action at Bellator 236. In the second round of the Bellator featherweight grand prix, Campos (20-9 MMA, 9-7 BMMA) will face off with undefeated rising star A.J. McKee (15-0 MMA, 15-0 BMMA).

Ahead of Campos’ upcoming fight, relive his two-round battle with Gritz in the video above.

Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.

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Bellator 236: Neiman Gracie injured, Kiichi Kunimoto meets Jason Jackson

An injury has forced jiu-jitsu standout Neiman Gracie out Saturday’s Bellator 236.

[autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] won’t fight Saturday night.

Jiu-jitsu black belt Gracie (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) has been forced out of Bellator 236 due to an indisclosed injury. The withdrawal comes just five days before his scheduled bout against [autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag].

Kunimoto (20-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) remains on the card, facing short-notice replacement [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag]. A promotion official informed MMA Junkie of the lineup switch-up Monday.

Japan’s Kunimoto looks to pick up his first Bellator victory. In his promotional debut at Bellator 224 in July, Kunimoto lost to Ed Ruth by second-round TKO.

As for Jackson (10-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), the former LFA welterweight champion, was signed by Bellator in August. In his promotional debut at Bellator 231 in October, Jackson faced off with the aforementioned Ruth. The two engaged in a back-and-forth fight, which saw Ruth edge out a split-decision victory.

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Bellator 236 takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Check out the current Bellator 236 lineup below:

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson
Derek Campos vs. A.J. McKee
Bruna Ellen vs. Juliana Velasquez
Jason Jackson vs. Kiichi Kunimoto
Cheyden Leialoha vs. Raufeon Stots
Nainoa Dung vs. Zach Zane
Kona Oliveira vs. Ben Wilhelm
Kai Kamaka III vs. Spencer Higa
Chas Dunhour vs. Nate Yoshimura
Dustin Barca vs. Brandon Pieper
Kaylan Gorospe vs. Swayne Lunasco
Keoni Diggs vs. Scotty Hao

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Bellator 236: Make your predictions for Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson

We want your predictions for Bellator 236 in Hawaii.

We want your predictions for this week’s Bellator 236 “Salute the Troops 2019” event in Hawaii.

Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Wednesday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the Bellator 236 event staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Make your picks for all six main card fights inside.

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Prior to Bellator contract offer, Raufeon Stots inched toward walking away from MMA

Raufeon Stots was long regarded as one of the best prospects in North America, but was passed over time and again until Bellator called.

Raufeon Stots is finally there.

For years, Stots (12-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) was regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound prospects in North America. That was true in the eyes of nearly everyone except those who mattered most: the major promotions.

The wait wore on Stots, both mentally and financially. As bantamweight after bantamweight with lesser resumes were signed, Stots was left in limbo.

“Just because the financial strain and me having a son, I felt like I was counting on other people to give me the opportunities I need,” Stots told MMA Junkie. “It was frustrating because I was working as hard as I could.”

As time passed, Stots creeped closer and closer to calling it quits altogether. He was struggling to find fights on the regional circuit, and the opportunities that surfaced had little reward with high risk.

“I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to keep it up fighting on the regional circuit,” Stots said. “Because you don’t get into MMA to be average. You don’t make a lot of money. It’s really dangerous to your health. It’s not something that you want to be average in. I just felt like if I didn’t make a jump or do something soon, I was going to have to give it up.”

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But through all of the adversity, Stots’ head was leveled by the coaches at Roufusport in Milwaukee. They encouraged him to keep his eyes on the prize and good things would come. Sure enough, they were right.

“Sometimes I would come into the gym not Raufeon,” Stots said. “I’d come in just mad as hell wanting to hurt somebody kind of thing. But yeah, they just told me to stick to the path. It’ll all work out. And they were right. They were right.”

In late November, the call finally came. Bellator was on the other line and Stots inked a multi-fight deal with the promotion.

When pen was put to paper, Stots had a chip on his shoulder toward all of the other promotions. He wanted to set out to prove all of the other promotions wrong. But over time, those feelings have faded. Stots is happy with Bellator, and that’s all that matters to him.

“At first, I thought I’d say ‘Forget you’ to these other organizations,” Stots said. “But I feel like it’s like the girl that asked me out, it turns out she took her glasses off and she’s the pretty one. … I’m so happy to be with Bellator, the other feelings kind of dissipate. I don’t feel any animosity toward the other organizations because I’m happy.”

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Next week, Stots will debut at Bellator 236 against Dana White’s Contender Series alum Cheyden Leialoha (7-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in Honolulu.

“This is my coming out party,” Stots said. “I put a lot into this camp. I’m looking to be exciting and be a finisher in the Bellator ranks. I don’t feel there’s any fight in the Bellator ranks that scares me. I feel like there’s a lot of tough people and I can beat them all. It’s just time for me to cement my legacy and start chasing gold.”

Bellator 236 takes place Dec. 21 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.