Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from April 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from April 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for April.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Levan Chokheli is targeting two former title challengers after his Bellator 294 win.
HONOLULU – [autotag]Levan Chokheli[/autotag] is targeting two former title challengers after his Bellator 294 win.
Chokheli (12-2 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) strung together his first winning streak with Bellator after he scored a unanimous decision win over Michael Lombardo this past Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.
The Georgian fighter is ready for a step up in competition and wants either [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] or [autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] next.
“I was in top 10, and then they changed it,” Chokheli told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “But now I know I’m going to be top 10 guaranteed, and I want to fight with Neiman Gracie and MVP. I know they are up on the top, but I want more, top fight. I want to fight with Neiman. I respect Neiman. I respect MVP, but I want to fight with them.”
Chokheli started to tire in Round 3, but overall things went according to plan for the 27-year-old.
“That was my plan, my team’s plan,” Chokheli said. “Control every round, smash this guy. Mix it, strike with hands, punching, kicking, low kick, upkick, body kick, high kick. I have a lot of stuff with my hands, with my legs, everything. And mix it, end of round, take him down. Make some ground and pound. It is what it is. That was my plan. That was my game.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=420030791]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.
Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.
On Episode 3,355, the fellas recap a very busy weekend of combat sports. From UFC Fight Night 222 and Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas, to back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii, the guys discuss it all, and more. 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.
[pickup_prop id=”32074″]
Danny Sabatello wants homecoming fight at Bellator 297.
HONOLULU – [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] is ready to turn the page.
After submitting Marcos Breno in his return to the Bellator cage, “The Italian Gangster” wasted no time calling for his next fight.
“I want Magomed Magomedov in Chicago, June 16,” Sabatello said in his in-cage post-fight interview with John McCarthy. “That’s one and a half months. I’m already done with this motherf*cker I just beat, and I want Magomed Magomedov, June 16 in Chicago in my homeland.”
Sabatello (14-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) submitted Breno (15-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their bantamweight contest on the main card of Friday’s Bellator 294, which took place at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.
[lawrence-related id=2636309]
The American Top Team product really hopes Magomedov is next, but more importantly, he wants a chance to fight in his hometown no matter who he has to face.
“I need to fight June 16th in Chicago,” Sabatello told reporters at the Bellator 294 post-fight news conference. “That is my homeland. That is my f*cking people. My friends and fans, some of my teammates are out there. Everybody that I know is out there in Chicago. I need to bring the house down, so we can sell that sh*t out and the crowd will be chanting Sabatello. It’s going to be a sick ass venue for me.
“… I’m hoping it’s Magomedov because he’s been running his mouth at me. I think that’s a massive fight and I think it puts me on track to a title fight after that. But give me f*kcing anybody, I just hope Magomedov is man enough to fight me in my hometown.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030791]
A series of unfortunate events during his Bellator 294 fight camp nearly cost Tim Johnson more than just missing a fight.
HONOLULU – Bellator heavyweight [autotag]Tim Johnson[/autotag] made it to Hawaii to compete in the co-main event of Bellator 294, but some unfortunate events during fight camp nearly ruined everything.
Johnson (16-9 MMA, 4-5 BMMA) went through a lot in the weeks leading up to his fight against Said Sowma at Neal S. Blaisdell Center. The pressure of needing to snap a three-fight skid to keep his job was one thing, but the unexpected physical hurdles made the entire situation surrounding Johnson’s 25th professional fight so much worse.
“This fight camp has been filled with more adversity than I have in any other fight camp put together,” Johnson told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “I started off with a car accident that I have no idea how I walked away from. I’m going to put photos up on my Instagram that just show basically the chain of events that happened this fight camp.
“I’m gonna put this out: Everyone make sure you wear your seat belts. I was not wearing mine like an idiot, because I took it off moments before. I rear-ended someone going about 70 miles an hour, and I have no idea how I’m awake or alive at all. That’s how I started off my fight camp. My neck was jacked up pretty good for a couple weeks.”
[lawrence-related id=2636189,2636309]
While Johnson was fortunate to walk away from the car wreck without any serious injuries, his fight camp woes didn’t stop there.
“Then I had some stuff going on with stomach issues,” Johnson explained. “I went to the ER four total times. They couldn’t figure out what was going on. Figured it was gastritis and then an ulcer. Then three weeks ago I was back in the ER, and finally found out what the problem was: I was pregnant. I had some kidney stones and that was the problem of everything. So, this has been one heck of a fight camp.”
Johnson defeated Sowma by unanimous decision, winning two rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. For now, he can exhale a bit before it’s time to prepare for another fight – one that hopefully comes without so many challenges in camp.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique” live stream covering the biggest topics in MMA, including some big UFC announcements.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura and “Gorgeous” George Garcia will join host Mike Bohn live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.
Sara McMann would love to face Cris Cyborg for the Bellator featherweight title, but would rather the division move on than wait.
HONOLULU – Former UFC title challenger [autotag]Sara McMann[/autotag] has her eyes on the Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, but won’t wait around for her return.
At Bellator 294, McMann (14-6 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) had a successful promotional debut in a featherweight victory over former title challenger Arlene Blencowe. It was a dominant display that earned a pair of 10-8 scores from the official cageside judges, as McMann cruised to a unanimous decision. It was the first time in her professional career to compete at 145 pounds, and McMann performed phenomenally.
“I can say not dehydrating absolutely made a difference,” McMann told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Not in my mindset, because in the third round of every fight, I’m like, ‘We gotta go.’ But when you’re hydrated, I’ll tell my body, ‘We gotta go,’ and then it just freakin’ went. So, that’s a huge difference, and to me, maybe I should have made this decision earlier, I don’t know.
“I always felt good at 135 (pounds), but now that I’m at ’45, I know that I’m strong enough to handle the difference in their weight. I just stay where I feel the best. I probably weigh 146 right now.”
Now that she has arrived in Bellator, and made a statement in her debut, McMann is ready to accomplish her championship aspirations. The current champion of the divsion is Cyborg (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), but hasn’t defended her title since defeating Blencowe a year ago.
McMann would love to challenge who she considers one of the “top 3 or top 5” female fighters of all time, but time isn’t on her side, and won’t sit around for too long hoping that dream matchup to come together.
“I think that it would be great to beat Cyborg to be the Bellator champion,” McMann said. “When I came to this division, that is what I set my heart on. That, to me, is such a worthy accomplishment, you know? I have total respect for her, and I still want to beat her. But if she’s making different decisions as far as financially or what direction, I can’t sit around and wait.
“I’m not 22, I’m 42. I’m going to fight who they put in front of me, and the division shouldn’t wait for her forever. She’s a dominant champion, but they should have a real belt after a certain period of time, and then she should have to come back and earn the belt. For me, I think of it as, ‘I’ll fight her sooner, or I’ll fight her later.'”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.
Recap the most notable storylines to come out of a busy combat weekend that included UFC, two Bellator cards and a major boxing event.
What mattered most from a stacked weekend of combat sports that included Bellator 294 and Bellator 295 in Hawaii, UFC Fight Night 222 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas a big-time boxing match in “Sin City”? Here are a few post-fight musings …
* * * *
Typically respectful toward her opponents, Liz Carmouche was absolutely fed up with Bellator 294 opponent DeAnna Bennett.
HONOLULU – [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] touched gloves with [autotag]DeAnna Bennett[/autotag] moments prior to their Bellator 294 bout Friday, but she did so with a bad taste in her mouth.
“Once the bell rings, I’m not going to play the game of touching gloves and letting you get a crazy swing,” Carmouche told MMA Junkie at a post-fight news conference at Neal S. Blaisdell Center. “With someone I don’t trust for being a cheater, I’m not going to trust she’s (not) going to take advantage of that moment either.”
Those who have followed Carmouche (19-7 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) during the span of her lengthy career know she very seldom, if ever, is anything short of respectful toward her opponents. But when Bennett (13-8-1 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) missed weight for the second time in as many head-to-head matchups vs. Carmouche, it struck a nerve.
“If you have the energy to put on a face, if you have the energy to joke around and make light of the fact that you’re not making weight, you have the energy to stay in that sauna, work out, and make the weight,” Carmouche said. “So she was fine. It’s just her claim to fame in this sport is missing weight, not making weight. That shouldn’t be it. You’re a professional MMA fighter. You think you deserve to be the champion by missing weight? That’s your whole career? You don’t deserve to have the belt. Now, if she put on that performance having made weight? I would be saying something different. I’d give her props for what she did. But the reality is that she cheated yet again by missing weight, like I said she would before this fight.”
[lawrence-related id=2636359,2636186]
Carmouche finished Bennett by submission, as was the outcome in their September 2020 meeting, too. This time, it was by fourth-round arm-triangle choke. According to the judges’ scorecards, Carmouche was down 30-27 on all judges’ scorecards through three rounds. Carmouche dug deep for the finish, motivated not only by Bennett’s success in the fight but the failures before it.
“If I outweigh somebody and I didn’t have to cut the weight, I would do pretty well on top, too,” Carmouche said. “So no, that wasn’t what I was banking on. I wasn’t banking on having to carry, into the fourth and fifth round of a championship fight. I wouldn’t to finish her off and make a huge statement and shut her up and get her out of this sport, so she can take her crude remarks and her lack of professionalism somewhere else.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.
Liz Carmouche is making her footprint on the Bellator record books after recording another title defense at Bellator 294.
The first half of Bellator’s doubleheader in Hawaii went down Friday with Bellator 294, which took place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and saw a champion defend her title in the main event.
[autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) recorded a second consecutive defense of her women’s flyweight title when she rallied from a 3-0 deficit on the scorecards to submit [autotag]DeAnna Bennett[/autotag] (13-8-1 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) with an arm-triangle choke in the fourth frame of their rematch.
For more on the numbers behind Carmouche’s win, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts form Bellator 294.
