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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from April 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from April 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for April.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Yancy Medeiros defeated Charlie Leary at Bellator 295 in an insane back-and-forth firefight that didn’t last five minutes.
[autotag]Yancy Medeiros[/autotag] continues to put on for his home island.
Saturday at Bellator 295, Medeiros (16-8 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) won in front of a raucous Honolulu crowd for the second time in as many appearances when he submitted [autotag]Charlie Leary[/autotag] (17-14-1 MMA, 3-5 BMMA) in a thrilling battle at 4:39 of Round 1.
The fight was a 165-pound contract weight and took place on the main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
A firefight ignited between Medeiros and the Englishman, Leary, seemingly from the opening bell. A moderate underdog, Leary looked like he might play the role of spoiler as he found success in the boxing department. After he ate a few shots, however, Medeiros began to battle back as he tagged Leary more and more.
Punches, knees, a spinning back elbow, and a spinning back kick to the body found its way for Medeiros, who battered Leary. Eventually, Medeiros dropped Leary. Even though Leary rose up, Medeiros continued his onslaught and dragged the fight back down. Medeiros expended a lot of energy with the wild flurry of dozens of strikes, but when it hit the canvas, he pivoted to jiu-jitsu. Medeiros locked in a rear-naked choke, pulled Leary to the canvas, and got the tap.
WHAT A FINISH! đź‘Ź
The crowd at the Blaisdell Arena erupts for @ymedeiros following his submission win. #Bellator295 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/5IfnJvpaXI
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2023
WHAT A FIGHT! WHAT A WIN!
Take a bow @ymedeiros 🙌#Bellator295 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/zYBlITDLGl
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2023
Medeiros, 35, debuted in Bellator in April 2022. In front of the Honolulu crowd, he earned a multifight deal with the promotion after a thrilling victory over Emmanuel Sanchez. It was his first competition since his UFC departure.
MMA Junkie spent time with Medeiros during that fight week, in which he detailed his upbringing, lifestyle, and uniquely positive outlook on life in a documentary titled, “The Way of a Wai’anae Warrior.”
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 295 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.
Saturday’s second of back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii has lost a main card fight just hours before the official weigh-ins.
HONOLULU – Saturday’s second of back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii has lost a main card fight just hours before the official weigh-ins.
The flyweight bout between [autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) has been canceled, Bellator officials announced Friday. Although the promotion doesn’t officially have a flyweight division, the bout was going to be fought at 125 pounds to open the main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.
Bellator officials did not announce a reason for the fight’s cancellation.
With that fight off, the 165-pound contract weight bout between Oahu native and resident [autotag]Yancy Medeiros[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Charlie Leary[/autotag] (17-13-1 MMA, 3-4 BMMA) has been elevated to the main card. When Medeiros made his Bellator debut a year ago in Honolulu, he also had his fight moved from the prelims to the main card – but found out backstage during the event.
Borg was set to make his Bellator debut. He has 21 career fights – but also has nearly as many fights that have been scheduled, but canceled. This will be his 11th on-the-books fight cancellation since 2018. Horiguchi, a former Bellator bantamweight champion, was looking to extend a modest two-fight winning streak.
With the change, the Bellator 295 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 8 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past two weeks.
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 April 18-May 1.
Michael Page will finally get the opportunity to avenge the lone loss of his MMA career, when he rematches Douglas Lima on Oct. 1.
[autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] will finally get the opportunity to avenge the lone loss of his MMA career.
Page (19-1 MMA, 15-1 BMMA) rematches former three-time welterweight champion [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (32-9 MMA, 14-5 BMMA) in the main event of Bellator 267, which takes place at London’s The SSE Arena, Wembley on Oct. 1, Bellator officials announced Tuesday morning.
Since losing to Lima in the welterweight grand prix semi-finals in May 2019, “MVP” has won five straight bouts, most recently smashing Derek Anderson’s nose in with a left kick in the first round of Bellator 258. He’s been eager to run things back with Lima ever since getting knocked out by him and he will get his wish, this time, in front of his home crowd.
After recapturing his welterweight title from Rory MacDonald in the grand prix finals in October 2019, Lima attempted to go up in weight and become a dual-champion by challenging Gegard Mousasi for the vacant light heavyweight title at Bellator 250. Lima would fall short in his pursuit and would go on to lose his 170-pound belt in his first title defense against Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 260 in June.
The full Bellator 267 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 12:30 p.m. ET)
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Check out the results from the official Bellator Europe 9 fighter weigh-ins.
The weigh-ins are in the books for Saturday’s Bellator Europe 9 event in Italy, and all 24 fighters hit their contracted weights as they took to the scale on Friday morning in Milan.
The bantamweight headline bout between [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] (136 pounds) and [autotag]Cal Ellenor[/autotag] (135.2) is now official, and hopes are high that the matchup will finally go ahead at the fourth time of asking after three previous attempts to hold the fight fell through as a result of medical paperwork issues, injury and, most recently, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The middleweight co-main event between [autotag]Andy Manzolo[/autotag] (184.4) and [autotag]Charlie Ward[/autotag] (186) is also official, as is the 160-pound contract weight bout between Ireland’s [autotag]Kiefer Crosbie[/autotag] (159) and England’s [autotag]Charlie Leary[/autotag] (159.2), which kicks off the event’s three-fight main card lineup.
Bellator Europe 9 takes place Saturday at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. The card streams on MMA Junkie and Bellator’s YouTube channel.
The full Bellator Europe 9 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (MMA Junkie, 5 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 12:45 p.m. ET)
A featherweight “Battle of Britain” between England’s Saul Rogers and Scotland’s Rob Whiteford heads a list of preliminary matchups added to the fight card for Bellator Europe 8 in London.
A battle between two of the U.K.’s most familiar featherweight names has been added to the preliminary card for Bellator Europe 8 in London.
Former contender from “The Ultimate Fighter 22,” England’s [autotag]Saul Rogers[/autotag], will go head-to-head with Scottish former UFC featherweight [autotag]Rob Whiteford[/autotag] in a 145-pound preliminary bout at SSE Arena, Wembley on May 16.
Rogers (13-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) is looking to bounce back to winning ways after his decision loss to German contender Daniel Weichel in the first round of the Bellator featherweight grand prix, while Whiteford (16-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will be keen to claim back-to-back victories for his new promotion following his dramatic last-gasp knockout of Sam Sicilia with just six seconds of the fight remaining at Bellator Europe 6 last November.
Also added to the preliminary slate is a lightweight bout between rising English prospects [autotag]Alfie Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Tim Wilde[/autotag]. Davis (13-3 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) picked up a hat-trick of decision victories under the Bellator banner in 2019, and will be looking to kick off his 2020 campaign with an impressive win over Wilde (13-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), who rebounded from his gogoplata loss to Brent Primus in his debut by outpointing fellow Brit [autotag]Charlie Leary[/autotag] at Bellator Europe 8.
Leary (16-11-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) is also scheduled for action in London, and will face rising lightweight prospect [autotag]Akonne Wanless[/autotag] (4-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), while English light heavyweight [autotag]Luke Trainer[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will make his Bellator debut after earning a contract with the organization by winning three fights in one night at last October’s Euro Fight Night tournament. He will take on fellow newcomer [autotag]Alex O’Toole[/autotag] (4-3-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who returns to action for the first time in two-and-a-half years to make his Bellator debut.
Also confirmed for the prelims in London is a featherweight bout between [autotag]Aiden Lee[/autotag] (8-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Jeremy Petley[/autotag] (13-8-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), and a middleweight matchup between [autotag]George Tokkos[/autotag] (4-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Andy Manzolo[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).
Bellator Europe 8 will be streamed live on Bellator’s official YouTube channel.
Confirmed fights for Bellator Europe 8 include:
MAIN CARD
PRELIMINARY CARD
