Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out what the UFC 284 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Perth, Australia.
PERTH, Australia – UFC 284 took place Saturday with 13 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner and guest fighter interviews from RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
You can hear from all the UFC 284 winners and more by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
Check out the best photos from Bilder’s unanimous decision win over Shane Young at UFC 284 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Shane Young[/autotag] at UFC 284 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. (Photos by Jasmin Frank, USA TODAY Sports)
Check out the photos from the UFC 284 official weigh-ins at the UFC host hotel in Perth, Australia.
Check out the photos from the UFC 284 official weigh-ins at the UFC host hotel in Perth, Australia. (Images by Jasmin Frank, USA TODAY Sports)
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported 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 Dec. 26-Jan. 1.
The UFC added 32 fighters to its roster last month. Find out who joined and learn more about them here.
The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.
Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, Dana White’s Contender Series signees, or the increasingly rare straight-up additions. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.
“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.
Scroll below to check out the 32 fighters the promotion inked in August 2022.
Blake Bilder thinks he was being counted out before his shot at a UFC deal, but is relishing in proving doubters wrong.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag] thinks he was being counted out before his shot at a UFC deal, but is relishing in proving doubters wrong.
Bilder (7-0-1) submitted Alex Morgan (11-5) in the first round Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 52. The win got the former CFFC featherweight champion a UFC contract from president Dana White.
The 32-year-old Bilder said he’ll be ready to get his UFC started in earnest.
“(Morgan) comes from Tristar Gym. He’s with Firas Zahabi and whatnot – No. 1-ranked fighter,” Bilder said at his post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “On paper, it looks like, ‘Man, this guy’s the real deal,’ which he is. I just showed I’m the realer deal. Three minutes, we got him out of there, unscathed, and I’m ready for the next opportunity.”
White said he’s not normally that interesting in bringing older first-time UFC fighters into the mix, but in Bilder’s case, he made an exception.
“It’s a fact: I’m not looking for 32-year-olds to come into the UFC,” White told MMA Junkie after the event. “So what the matchmakers do is they make the best fights they can with the guys they think have potential. … If you’re 32 years old, come in and make me want a 32-year-old. That’s your job, not mine. You come in and you do what (Bilder) did tonight – he came in and got me excited about a 32-year-old. That’s how this works.”
Bilder said even the likes of White questioning him was serves as motivation.
“I’m the underdog, your phone’s blowing up all day – you see the comments, you see the odds, you see the interviews,” Bilder said. “I love it. I’ve been an underdog my whole life. Keep doubting me – I’m going to keep proving you wrong.”
Check out Bilder’s full post-fight interview in the video above.
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Check out these photos from the fights at Dana White’s Contender Series 52 at UFC Apex.
Check out these photos from the fights at Dana White’s Contender Series 52 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. (Photos courtesy of Joshua Hedges, UFC)
(Gallery updated throughout the event.)
Check out the full results of CFFC 104 which featured two exciting title fights in the final MMA event for the promotion in 2021.
Cage Fury Fighting Championships returned to action on Friday evening with two titles on the line in the promotion’s final event of 2021.
In the main event of CFFC 104, the vacant featherweight title was up for grabs between [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag] and [autotag]Frankie Buenafuente[/autotag].
Buenafuente (10-6) dominated the opening round with heavy top pressure grappling, largely controlling every moment of the first frame on the mat. The fight would see the second round and Buenafuente continued to lead the dance early. In the opening moments, Buenafunete landed a hard right hand to drop Bilder (5-0-1) and the swarm for a finish was on. Bilder was able to cover up and survive the moment, though.
From there, the momentum quickly shifted.
While Buenafuente maintained top control after searching for the finish, Bilder quickly regained his faculties and started hunting from submissions from the bottom. After isolating an arm, he was able to lock in a triangle choke to put Buenafuente out cold mid-tap for a spectacular comeback finish to become the new CFFC featherweight champion.
Blake Bilder ladies and gentlemen! Out cold from the triangle! #CFFC104 pic.twitter.com/1CIlG82pE0
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) December 18, 2021
In the co-main event, flyweight champ Phumi Nkuta defended his throne for the second time by turning away challenger Jason Eastman.
Nkuta (5-0) utilized his dominant grappling skills to control a majority of the first and second rounds while searching for submissions on the mat. Eastman (7-4) was able to reverse position late in the second round and hunted for submissions of his own, but was unable to lock anything up to force a tap.
The third round was mostly spent on the feet with a few heated striking exchanges, but Nkuta closed the round with a takedown, ending up on the back of Eastman before the fighters returned to their corners. Nkuta leaned on his grappling skills once more to close out the fight in a dominant manner, putting Eastman on his back for a majority of the frame to secure the unanimous decision victory.
Full results of CFFC 104 include:
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