Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out a live video stream of the Bellator 281 ceremonial weigh-ins.
Bellator 281 ceremonial fighter weigh-ins take place Thursday, and you can catch a live video stream of the proceedings here on MMA Junkie at 8 a.m. ET (5 a.m. PT).
The weigh-ins take place at the Bellator host hotel in London. The nearby OVO Arena Wembley hosts Friday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In addition to the video stream above, you can check out the early and official Bellator 281 weigh-in results from earlier in the day.
Check out the results from the official Bellator 281 fighter weigh-ins.
LONDON – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Thursday’s official Bellator 281 fighter weigh-ins, which kick off at 4 a.m. ET (1 a.m. PT).
The weigh-ins take place at the Bellator host hotel in London. The nearby OVO Arena Wembley hosts Friday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Among those weighing in are Michael Page (20-1 MMA, 16-1 BMMA) and Logan Storley (13-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA), who meet in the main event for the interim welterweight title.
The full Bellator 281 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 12:30 p.m. ET)
*Carlos missed the middleweight limit by 3.2 pounds.
Logan Storley knows he’s going to be walking into hostile territory Friday in the biggest fight of his career.
[autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag] knows he’s going to be walking into hostile territory Friday in the biggest fight of his career.
Storley (13-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) has the perhaps unenviable task of headlining Bellator 281 in London against Michael Page (20-1 MMA, 16-1 BMMA), an MMA national treasure in the United Kingdom. If that wasn’t enough pressure, the interim welterweight title will be on the line.
But Storley doesn’t seem to be worried about the edge Page will get from the friendly crowd at OVO Arena Wembley. When Storley wrestled at the University of Minnesota, where he was a four-time NCAA All-American, he learned something about fighting on enemy turf.
The University of Iowa and Minnesota has a big rivalry that’s gone on for a long time,” Storley told MMA Junkie Radio. “You walk into Carver-Hawkeye (Arena), it’s 15,000 people that don’t like you. Usually, we were ranked (No.) 1 or 2 in the country, and I always wrestled a top-eight guy. I’ve been booed at, yelled at and all those other things. I’m used to it. At the end of the day, you’ve got to put that out of your mind and go in there and compete.
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“But I know I need to be active on top and do damage and not let that crowd pay any factor in this fight. I’ve got some red, white and blue and I’m going to enjoy it. At the same time, these fans are great every show I’ve watched over here. I’ve got nothing against them. I know they want their guy to win. … But it’s my time right now, and I’ve got to go in there and do my job. That’s what I plan to do.”
Even though Storley has to go on the road to fight Page in Page’s home city, he’s not only the betting favorite, but he’s the betting favorite by a fairly wide margin. At online sportsbooks, Storley can be found as much as a -350 favorite.
That may come as a surprise considering Page has but one loss in his MMA career and is widely considered one of the toughest standup specialists to figure out. But Storley has but one loss, as well, and thinks he’ll eventually figure out how to handle “MVP.”
“Obviously, he’s got a unique style and a one-of-a-kind style,” Storley said. “Am I going to find someone who’s exactly like him (to train with)? No. Is he going to find someone who can do what I do? No, I don’t think he can. Of course he’s unique and he’s flashy and he’s fast. But how long can he do it, and what happens when I put him on his back and put the pressure on him?
“The biggest thing with him is, you can’t get frustrated. He’s hard to get that distance, get that timing. Maybe I don’t get to my takedown. Maybe I don’t really land much and not a lot happens. You have to stay calm. You have to stay focused. So I don’t know if the first three minutes really tell everything. It’s a long fight and things can change really quickly.”
Check out Storley’s full interview with MMA Junkie Radio in the video above.
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Bellator makes its return to England on Friday with Bellator 281, which takes place at OVO Arena Wembley in London with a main card that airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. With reigning Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov unavailable to …
Bellator makes its return to England on Friday with Bellator 281, which takes place at OVO Arena Wembley in London with a main card that airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
With reigning Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov unavailable to compete due to to the war in his native Ukraine, an interim welterweight champion will be crowned in the main event. English striking sensation [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] (20-1 MMA, 20-1 BMMA) will attempt to claim gold on his home soil when he takes on former collegiate wresting standout [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA).
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about Bellator 281.
We want your predictions for Friday’s Bellator 281 event in London.
We want your predictions for Friday’s Bellator 281 event in London.
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 281 main card staff predictions we release Thursday ahead of the event. Bellator 281 takes place Friday at OVO Arena Wembley in London. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Make your picks for the fights below.
Paul Daley will get a new opponent for his final walk to the cage.
[autotag]Paul Daley[/autotag] will get a new opponent for his final walk to the cage.
Former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov has been forced out of Bellator 281 in London, and [autotag]Wendell Giacomo[/autotag] will step in on short notice to face Daley on May 13 at OVO Arena Wembley, promotion officials announced Tuesday.
Giacomo (9-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), a Pitbull Brothers fighter, has won eight of his past nine fights. He was last seen in action as an alternate for the LFA welterweight grand prix, where the Brazilian defeated Uyran Carlos by unanimous decision in July but couldn’t continue in the tournament after he wasn’t cleared to compete.
Meanwhile, Daley (43-18-2 MMA, 9-5 BMMA) will have his projected retirement fight on home soil. The 39-year-old veteran is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Jason Jackson at Bellator 260 in what was his third straight catchweight bout at 175 pounds. Prior to that, the hard-hitting Brit scored wins over Erick Silva, Saad Awad, and Sabah Homasi.
With the change, the Bellator 281 lineup includes:
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A little over a month away, Bellator 281 has taken a significant hit.
A little over a month away, Bellator 281 has taken a significant hit.
A pivotal welterweight clash between former champion [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] and surging contender [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] is off the May 13 event at OVO Arena Wembley. The fight, which was slated as the Bellator 281 co-main event, will be rescheduled.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news Sunday to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Marcel Dorff. No reason for the cancellation was given.
Lima, 34, currently is in the roughest patch of his career, having lost three consecutive fights for the first time in his career. After recapturing the welterweight title in the Bellator grand prix final against Rory MacDonald in October 2019, Lima (32-10 MMA, 14-6 BMMA) failed in his bid to become a dual champion when he was defeated by Gegard Mousasi in a vacant middleweight title bout at Bellator 250. Lima then lost the 170-pound title to Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 260, followed by a narrow split decision loss in his rematch against Michael Page this past October.
Jackson (15-4 MMA, 6-1 BMMA), 31, has won five fights in a row. The past three have come against former WEC and UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson, top contender Neiman Gracie and, most recently, Paul Daley at Bellator 260.
With the change, the Bellator 281 lineup includes:
Yaroslav Amosov has opted to remain in his war-torn country of Ukraine rather than fight as planned at Bellator 281.
Welterweight champion [autotag]Yaroslav Amosov[/autotag] will not be competing at Bellator 281.
Amosov, a native of Ukraine, has opted to stay in his home country amid war with Russia and withdrew from his May 13 headliner against [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] at Bellator 281, the promotion announced Wednesday.
Stepping in to replace Amosov (26-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) will be [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag], who meets Page for the interim welterweight title at The OVO Arena, Wembley, promotion officials announced Wednesday morning.
“Like the rest of the world, we’ve been shocked by the tragic events in Ukraine and the thoughts of everyone at Bellator MMA are with Yaroslav and all the Ukrainian people during this time,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in a statement. “We wish he and his family the best and look forward to seeing him return safely to happier times, both inside and out of the Bellator cage.”
Storley (13-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) is fresh off a big win over Neiman Gracie at Bellator 274 last month, which served as the promotion’s first five-round, non-title headliner. The standout wrestler’s lone loss came at the hands of Amosov and although he won’t get his desired wish to rematch him, he’ll get an opportunity to compete for a portion of the welterweight gold.
Since suffering his first-career loss to Lima in the Bellator grand prix semifinals in May 2019, Page (20-1 MMA, 16-1 BMMA) has won six fights in a row. He was able to avenge his knockout loss to Lima in his most recent outing last October when he edged him out at Bellator 267 in London.
With the change, the Bellator 281 lineup includes:
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