Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are the top four honorable mentions and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Year” award for 2020.
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With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best knockouts from January to December. Here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Year” award for 2020.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Submission of the Year.”
Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio as “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” welcome Enson Inoue to the show.
Monday’s episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here, and you can watch it live-streamed on SportsCastr beginning at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
On Episode 3,107, the guys welcome MMA pioneer Enson Inoue to the show, and they’ll look back at UFC 255, Bellator 253, and other news and notes. Tune in!
Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.
Sullivan Cauley recaps his memorable debut at Bellator 253 and reveals the influence of heavyweight champion Ryan Bader on his career.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Sullivan Cauley[/autotag] got his professional career off to a winning start when he kicked off the fight card at Bellator 253 with a first-round finish.
Cauley (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) defeated Jason Markland (0-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) by TKO when he dropped him with a big right hand, then followed up with some heavy-duty ground and pound to secure the win in just 28 seconds at Mohegan Sun Arena.
After the fight, Cauley chatted with reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage as he recapped his victorious debut under the bright lights of Bellator’s “Fightsphere,” and revealed the influence of Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader on his early MMA career.
Check out the full post-fight interview in the video above.
Bellator 253 took place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on CBS Sports Network/DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
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Benson Henderson has fared better at 155 pounds than 170, so Scott Coker hopes he’ll return to the former.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag]’s name belongs on the list of MMA’s all-time great lightweights. “Smooth” held championships in the UFC and WEC, and has been a leading contender since joining Bellator four years ago.
Welterweight, however, has been a different story.
Henderson (28-10 MMA, 5-5 BMMA) took a fight with Jason Jackson on relatively short notice at 170 pounds in the Bellator 253 co-headliner Thursday night and lost a one-sided decision to a competitor who is on the rise, but never before had a victory over anyone with a resume near the one Henderson possesses.
That makes Henderson 0-2 at welterweight in Bellator, having also dropped a decision to then-champion Andrei Koreshkov in his promotional debut at Bellator 153.
And while Bellator president Scott Coker appreciates Henderson stepping up to take the fight, he also believes the former champion remains at his best when he’s competing in his natural weight class.
“That’s my vote,” Coker told MMA Junkie during the post-fight news conference at Mohegan Sun Arena. “One-seventy for him is too big, I feel, and everything is going to be an uphill battle for him. Not that everything at 155 won’t, but at least the cards are the same, and they’re not stacked against him at that point.”
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The size difference was such that Jackson almost looked like a middleweight cutting down to welterweight for the first time, and it played out that way during the fight. While Henderson still has his speed, there was a noticeable power disparity in striking and strength difference on the floor.
“I’ve always said, I think Benson is going to have his hands full in this fight, because you could see the size difference,” Coker said. “The minute they stepped into the cage I saw the difference in the size.”
Coker doesn’t want to come down too hard on Henderson, as he remains an accomplished fighter, a game competitor, and a person who handles his business correct. But the Bellator boss hopes he’s able to induce the MMA Lab standout into making the move back to where he found success.
“He took this fight almost as a favor for us because Lorenz Larkin was supposed to fight,” Coker said. “(Larkin) got injured, something happened, he couldn’t fight. Benson stepped in on about 30 days’ notice to take this fight. So, I know he likes fighting at 170, but at the same time we’re going to have a conversation about staying at 155 because he’s still a great fighter. He’s still tough. I think he still has some gas left in the tank. We just gotta get the right opportunity for him.”
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Jason Jackson thinks his win over Benson Henderson shows how much he has developed his potential.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] passed his biggest career test to date.
Jackson took on former UFC and WEC lightweight champion and former Bellator title challenger Benson Henderson in a welterweight contest in Thursday’s Bellator 253 co-main event.
On his biggest career stage against his highest-profile opponent, Jackson (13-4 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) picked up a dominant unanimous decision win and outpointed Henderson 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards.
“It shows my maturity,” Jackson said at the post-fight news conference. “It shows that I have matured since I joined Bellator. I’m growing and growing, to take out a guy like Henderson with that caliber in all departments – striking and wrestling.”
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Jackson is now on a three-fight wining streak and is 6-1 in his past seven outings. The Jamaican thinks the win proves he’s among the best welterweights in Bellator and puts the title contenders and champion Douglas Lima on notice – and even lightweight champ Patricio Freire.
“Taking out a legend like Ben Henderson, it shows me I can take out the Bellator champ, even at 155,” Jackson said. “If tomorrow I decide to fight at 155 or 170, either way, I can take them out.”
Although the 30-year-old’s confidence is high, Jackson is not one to call out other fighters in the division. He hopes to keep getting high-profile bouts and knows there’s work to be done to challenge for gold.
“I just want to go out there and put on a good show,” Jackson said. “I’m not out here picking and choosing because you have a lot of guys that are ahead in the division that are putting in the work, as well. So if I have to work, I’m not willing to get something easy. I want to work to get mine so nobody can take it away from me because I worked so hard.”
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Scott Coker was stunned by A.J. McKee’s unusual finish in the Bellator 253 main event Thursday.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Like many viewers at home, Scott Coker was stunned by [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag]’s unusual finish in the Bellator 253 main event Thursday.
Against former Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell, McKee (17-0 MMA, 17-0 BMMA) pulled off a rare, modified neck crank from guard en route to a 71-second victory in the promotion’s featherweight grand prix semifinals.
“I never have seen a submission like that,” Coker told MMA Junkie at a post-fight news conference. “The new name is the ‘McKee-otine?’ That’s the first time for me. I’ve seen all different cranks. It took me a second to figure it out.
“I said to John McCarthy afterward, I said, ‘John, did you see it coming?’ He said, ‘I saw it coming.’ But I said to Josh Thomson, I said, ‘Josh did you see it coming? He said, ‘No, I didn’t see it developing.’ It was a very slick move. It was a very, very slick move against a seasoned veteran in our former champ who’s been fighting for a long time. Hat’s off to McKee.”
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With the victory, McKee remains undefeated and advances to the tournament final, where he’ll meet the winner of Bellator featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] and [autotag]Emmanuel Sanchez[/autotag] in 2021.
Neither the remaining semifinal fight nor the subsequent final matchup have hard dates yet, but the Bellator president offered up the promotion’s rough timeline.
“There’s a lot riding on the line and I know everybody is going to ask me so I might as well just bring it up: the time frame,” Coker said. “Look, I want to get that other fight done (at) the end of January. At the end of March, we’ll try to get this fight on. We’ll try to get the finals on.”
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Whenever Freire (31-4 MMA, 19-4 BMMA) and Sanchez (20-4 MMA, 12-3 BMMA) fight, it will be the second time they’ve competed against one another. In November 2018, Friere defeated Sanchez by unanimous decision in a featherweight title defense.
McKee has finished all three of his tournament bouts thus far. After knocking out Georgi Karakhanyan in eight seconds in the opening tournament round, McKee submitted Derek Campos to advance to the matchup with Caldwell.
Bellator 254 took place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card aired on CBS Sports Network after prelims on MMA Junkie.
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Two prominent MMA coaches have been suspended for breaking quarantine – and it could affect an upcoming UFC title fight.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Two prominent MMA coaches have been suspended and their fighter has been fined for breaching COVID-19 protocol ahead of Bellator 253.
Sanford MMA coaches Henri Hooft and Greg Jones were suspended for three months by Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department of Athletic Regulation head Mike Mazzulli after a video of them breaking quarantine and training with their fighter, Jason Jackson, surfaced on social media.
“It’s erroneous (and) disrespectful to Bellator and the industry in general,” Mazzulli told MMA Junkie immediately following the conclusion of the Bellator 253 news conference.” I don’t care who you are when it comes to a trainer. I wouldn’t expect Randy Couture (to break protocol). I wouldn’t expect (anybody) to do this. It’s a public health issue. They were wrong and that’s what they get.”
Additionally, Jackson, who defeated Benson Henderson by unanimous decision, was fined $1,000 ($500 per coach) for the breach. Mazzulli said the fines are directed at the coaches, not the fighter – with the intention that the coaches will pay the fighter back.
MMA reporter Jason Floyd was the first to report the suspension and disciplinary actions.
The protocol put forth by the Mohegan Tribe and Hartford Healthcare requires anyone participating in a Bellator fight week must test for COVID-19 and enter a 24-hour quarantine period back in their hotel rooms. Each individual is tested every other day, though quarantine is only required immediately following the initial test.
According to Mazzulli, Jackson arrived earlier in the week and partook in his COVID-19 testing and quarantine period. When his coaches arrived later in the week, they took their tests but did not partake in their quarantine periods. Instead, they met Jackson in one of the rooms to hit pads.
All three fighters passed their pre-fight COVID-19 tests in the end, so no action was needed on removing the bout from the card, Mazzulli said.
Mazzulli credited Jackson’s attitude about the situation and said the fighter accepted full responsibility for the situation.
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Hooft and Jones’ fines could affect a major UFC title fight in the coming months should the Nevada Athletic Commission or another ABC commissioning body, honor the disciplinary action.
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns both train under Hooft and Jones at Sanford MMA and are expected to fight one another for the title on Feb. 13. A location has not yet been revealed for that bout. Mazzulli hopes commissions won’t put the high-profile bout’s nature ahead of disciplinary action.
“I hope all ABC members in the country – well, we have ABC members all of over the world – but in the country will adhere to these suspensions of these two trainers,” Mazzulli said. “We have to set precedent here to show how important it is and make sure you follow the quarantine protocols.”
Mazzulli also added that this incident should signal a warning shot for other teams going forward. If violations become a repeat issue, punishments could become harsher.
Bellator 253 took place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card aired on CBS Sports Network after prelims on MMA Junkie.
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Patricio Freire said a fight with A.J. McKee would be “easy money,” and McKee was quick to respond.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — If the fight comes to fruition, it will be one of the hottest in Bellator history: Featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] vs. undefeated rising star [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] in the finals of the Bellator featherweight grand prix finals.
McKee (17-0 MMA, 17-0 BMMA) has already punched his ticket, with a sensational neck crank submission of former bantamweight champ Darrion Caldwell in the tournament semifinal main event of Bellator 253 on Thursday night.
Freire, who also holds the company’s lightweight title, still has to get past Emmanuel Sanchez in a tournament semifinal and title defense on a TBD date. But “Pitbull” wasted little time commenting on McKee’s victory.
Guy that loves to get guillotined after controlling fights leaves his neck exposed after starting to gain control of the fight. Great fight IQ. And the other fool dared to say I chose the easiest bracket. #Bellator253
— Patricio Freire (@PatricioPitbull) November 20, 2020
The toughest tournament fight will be Sanchez. McKee is easy money. #Bellator253
— Patricio Freire (@PatricioPitbull) November 20, 2020
Appraised of Freire’s tweets by MMA Junkie during the post-fight news conference at Mohegan Sun Arena, McKee first made a long farting noise, then left no doubt what he thought about his potential rival’s words.
“It wasn’t a guillotine stupid, it had nothing to do with his neck,” McKee said. “It was a shoulder crank. You’re supposed to be Brazilian, you don’t know (expletive) about jiu-jitsu apparently. I can’t wait to beat his ass, honestly. this (expletive) is long overdue. He takes it personal, but it’s nothing personal, like I said. He had a great career, but the ’45, ’55 title. I want it back to back, period.”
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Pitbull still has to do his part to get to this fight, but McKee is already there. He didn’t want to give away too many secrets after his fantastic finish, but he said he’s been working on the neck crank in the gym, and he was OK with Caldwell, a former NCAA champion wrestler, taking him to the mat so McKee could set it up.
“I can’t give up my game, but I got a lot of things that I work on that I don’t get to expose in the cage,” McKee said. “Front headlock, that’s bread and butter for me, that’s just part of my series I suppose. So I just, its something I’ve been doing since I was a kid, wrestling for front headlocks. I said when he want for the takedown I wasn’t even going to try to defend it so once he hit it, alright adjust and let’s figure out where we’re going to move from there.
With that, McKee improved to 17-0 with his 12th career finish. McKee admitted he’s keeping track of these things.
“Its the stats for me, being the best of the best,” McKee said. “Kobe (Bryant) had how many threes? For me it’s the stats. How many finishes, how many are in the first round? I think what that’s 12 finishes, 10 in the first round. For me it’s all stats man, it’s all about the stats, I’m gonna keep finishing, go back and check the interviews I said at the beginning of the tournament I was going 4-for-4 all finishes.”
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A.J. McKee made it look easy and now he’s one fight away from $1 million and a title.
In case there was any doubt left at all, [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] is legit. And you can remove the phrase “prospect” before his name once and for all.
McKee (17-0 MMA, 17-0 BMMA) found himself facing both a former Bellator bantamweight champion and an NCAA champion wrestler in [autotag]Darrion Caldwell[/autotag] in the main event of Bellator 253 on Thursday night.
And the undefeated McKee wasted little time showing he was up to the biggest challenge of his career in Bellator’s featherweight grand prix in the finals. A textbook neck crank got the job done in just 1:11 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
That puts McKee in the finals against the winner of the other semifinal, between champion Patricio Freire and Emmanuel Sanchez, which will be held at a date TBD.
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Caldwell (14-4 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) went to his wrestling early in the fight and scored a takedown, but McKee didn’t panic. He slipped one arm under Caldwell’s, got him to move his head where he wanted it, wrapped up a body triangle, and it was a mere formality from that point on.
“He popped his head off to the side and I locked up the body triangle and I hooked him up deep and that’s all she wrote,” McKee said.
The featherweight bout was the main event of Bellator 253, which was held Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. It was a semifinal bout in the Bellator featherweight grand prix.
McKee, whose previous tourney wins were over Georgi Karakhanyan and Derek Campos, had his ninth career first-round finish. Caldwell had a two-fight win streak snapped.
Compete Bellator 253 results:
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