Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 March 6-12.
Find out how much weight all 28 fighters at Bellator 290 gained from the Friday morning official weigh-ins to Saturday night’s fights.
At Bellator 290 on Feb. 4 in Inglewood, Calif., 16 of the 28 fighters on the card gained more than 10 percent of their weight back. Two of those 16 exceeded the 15 percent threshold.
MMA Junkie obtained a list of fight-night weights Monday from California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster.
In California, fighters have their weights checked on fight day – not solely when they have to hit their marks on the scale. The extra procedure was instituted in 2017 as part of the commission’s efforts to cut back on excessive weight cutting. Within those rules was a cap on how much a fighter could gain from the official weigh-ins to the fight.
If a fighter gains more than 10 percent back before the bout, the commission can make a recommendation they move to a higher weight class. If a fighter gains more than 15 percent, the commission can potentially cancel their fight.
Check out the weight gains and percentages for all 28 fighters on the card at Kia Forum.
Chris Gonzalez was “a little pissed” that he wasn’t included in the Bellator lightweight grand prix in the first place.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] hopes he’s considered for an alternate spot in the lightweight grand prix after Bellator 290.
Gonzalez (8-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) rallied to take out Max Rohskopf in Round 2 on Saturday inside Kia Forum. The 31-year-old, who rebounded from a submission loss to current lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, is ready to jump into the lightweight tournament if anyone pulls out.
“Obviously Nurmagomedov is the champ right now, so we know where he stands. I think I’m right there at the top of the pecking order,” Gonzalez said at the Bellator 290 post-fight news conference. “So, one more fight, and I plan on being right there. I’m gonna stay ready, wait for that phone call. I never wish injuries on anybody, but if anybody gets hurt during this tournament, I want to make sure that I’m available to slide right in.”
He continued, “Usman’s a hell of a fighter. He caught me early in that fight. Not to take anything away from him, he’s a dog like I said. I’m sure I’ll be seeing him down the road.”
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Gonzalez admits he felt slightly snubbed out of the grand prix but understands why he wasn’t included.
“As soon as they came out with that tournament, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little pissed that I wasn’t in it,” Gonzalez said. “But at the same time, I couldn’t really be mad that they chose the guys that they did because all of those guys were deserving in their own right.
“So I think had there been a couple more athletes in the tournament, I definitely would have been chosen, but that wasn’t the case. So now I can just do what I can do, just take care of the people they do put in front of me like I did tonight and stay ready for when that phone call comes.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.
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Check out these photos from Bellator 290, which took place at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Check out these photos from Bellator 290, which took place at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)
Check out the disclosed pay for all 28 fighters on Bellator 290, according to the California State Athletic Commission.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Twenty-eight fighters competed Saturday at Bellator 290 with the titleholders leading all disclosed payouts.
California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster released a full list of fighter payouts Saturday to MMA Junkie. The amounts reflect the disclosed payouts only and do not include any off-contract bonuses, sponsor payments, or discretionary bonuses.
One of five fighters who pocketed six-figure disclosed paydays, [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] and [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] topped the list with $150,000. Legendary MMA fighter [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] and welterweight Sabah Homasi each made $100,000, despite losses.
Scroll below to see what the 28 fighters on Bellator 290 were paid – disclosed amounts only.
Chris Gonzalez turned the tables on Max Rohskopf with one punch at Bellator 290.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] turned the tables on [autotag]Max Rohskopf [/autotag]with one punch Saturday night.
After first round in which Rohskopf looked like the better fighter, Gonzalez came back in Round 2 and landed the punch he needed, hitting Rohskopf with a straight right hand to the forehead that wobbled his legs and sent him backwards on the canvas. From there, Gonzalez only needed some follow-up punches on the defenseless Rohskopf to earn the second-round TKO at the 1:22 mark inside Kia Forum.
You can watch the finish in the video below (via Twitter):
𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗧! What a KO by @cgzdream 👊🔥
💻 @MonsterEnergy Prelims fueled by @NorthgateGlzMrk | Bellator YouTube
📺 #Bellator290 | 𝑪𝑩𝑺 & 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕+ | 9pm ET / 6pm PT pic.twitter.com/8ro0d3USSU
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) February 5, 2023
For Gonzalez (8-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA), the win comes roughly seven months after losing to now-champion Usman Nurmagomedov. Rohskopf (7-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), who was making his Bellator debut, loses for just the second time in his career.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 290 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.
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Check out the best moments from preliminary bouts at Bellator events in 2022.
Across 18 events in 2022, the preliminary bouts on Bellator cards produced a number of exciting finishes.
From [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag]’s brutal first-round head kick finish of Saad Awad to [autotag]Oliver Enkamp[/autotag]’s extremely rare buggy choke submission of Mark Lemminger, if you skipped the early fights at Bellator events this year, chances are you missed something spectacular.
Bellator has compiled the top 10 moments from preliminary bouts throughout the year, and you can check them out in the video above.
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. 12-18.
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 Oct. 17-23.
Bellator 289 takes place Dec. 9 and is headlined by two title fights, including the Danny Sabatello vs. Raufeon Stots grudge match.
Bellator has added four new fights to its final event of 2022.
Scheduled for Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., Bellator 289 already featured two bantamweight grand prix fights and a women’s flyweight title fight. Now, its undercard is filling up, too.
Most notably, a middleweight bout between rising contender [autotag]Dalton Rosta[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Anthony Adams[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take place.
Rosta, 26, is undefeated as a professional. In his most recent outing, Rosta dominated blue-chip wrestling prospect Romero Cotton en route to a third-round knockout. Meanwhile, Adams upset former UFC fighter Khalid Murtazaliev via unanimous decision in his Bellator debut in September 2021 and has not competed since.
A promotion official recently notified MMA Junkie of the addition, as well as [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Shamil Nikaev[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at lightweight, [autotag]Cass Bell[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Jared Scoggins[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) at bantamweight, and [autotag]Kevin Boehm[/autotag] (9-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag] (9-5-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).
The Boehm vs. Kamaka bout was first reported by BellatorZone.
Rosta with the best finish of #Bellator283?@DaltonRosta 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀 Romero Cotton in R3 to take him to 7-0 in the Bellator cage 🔥
Watch the replay on @BBCiPlayer 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/JSbTwZITxC
— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) July 24, 2022
With the additions, the Bellator 289 lineup includes:
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