Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Youssef Zalal vs. Da’Mon Blackshear at UFC on ESPN 41.
Check out these photos from Youssef Zalal vs. Da’Mon Blackshear, which resulted in a majority draw at UFC on ESPN 41. (Photos by Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY SPORTS)
The upcoming UFC event in San Diego has faced a change as CFFC champ Da’Mon Blackshear steps in to fight Youssef Zalal.
[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] has a new opponent for UFC on ESPN 41.
CFFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has signed with the promotion on short-notice and will face Zalal (10-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) at the Aug. 13 event. The card takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego and airs on ESPN/ESPN+.
Blackshear replaces [autotag]Cristian Quinonez[/autotag], who is out of the matchup due to visa issues.
Multiple people with knowledge of the change informed MMA Junkie on Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Blackshear, 27, enters the promotion a well-traveled fighter. Since 2016, Blackshear has made stops in Bellator, CES MMA, Titan FC, and most recently CFFC, where he captured the promotion’s 135-pound belt in November. Blackshear defended successfully in May to extend his winning streak to four.
A key member of the Factory X gym, Zalal, 25, will look to snap a three-fight losing skid. UFC victories to date include Austin Lingo, Seung Woo Choi, and Sean Woodson.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 41 lineup includes:
[vertical-gallery id=2568178]
For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey starts long before they strap on UFC or Bellator gloves.
Every champion in MMA history started out somewhere.
For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey begins long before they strap on UFC, Bellator, or PFL gloves. Modern-era fighters progress through the regional ranks with hopes of accomplishing the highest accolades. Many will try, few will succeed.
This month, five fighters on the verge of achieving major promotion notoriety – one for the second time – return to the cage for what could be their stepping stone fight. There are dozens of fighters close to making the jump in the coming weeks, but these five are particularly exemplary.
The main event of CFFC 103 crowned a new bantamweight champion as Da’mon Blackshear finished Deandre Anderson in the first round.
CFFC’s bantamweight division has a new champion in [autotag]Da’mon Blackshear[/autotag].
The vacant bantamweight title was up for grabs in the main event of CFFC 103 on Friday, as Blackshear took on Deandre Anderson, who was coming off a spectacular 11-second knockout in his previous fight.
The event took place on Friday at the Horseshoe Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Miss., and aired on UFC Fight Pass following prelims on YouTube.
Anderson (5-1) was clipped seconds into the fight as Blackshear (11-4) looked to finish the fight early. However, Anderson was able to quickly recover and initiate a clinch to slow things down. The pace didn’t slow for long though, as Anderson jumped on a deep guillotine attempt moments later. Blackshear was able to scramble free and get the fight back to the feet.
After letting their hands fly for a few exchanges, Blackshear would attempt a flying knee that missed and ended up flipping over Anderson. Somehow, in this incredibly wild sequence, Blackshear still ended up on Anderson’s back, where he would lock in a rear-naked choke to get the tap and complete the upset.
BLACKSHEAR WITH THE UPSET!!#CFFC103 pic.twitter.com/vkwvhHZfPS
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 20, 2021
“UFC, Dana White, hit me up,” said Blackshear during his post-fight interview. “I always feel like I got a chip on my shoulder. I gotta prove to everybody what I’m capable of doing. … I always said CFFC first. I’m going to be UFC world champion. Champion of the world. Let’s go!”
Blackshear has made quite the surge this year in his four outings. After dropping his first fight of 2021 to Danny Sabatello, he rebounded with wins over Joe Penafiel, Mateo Vogel, and Anderson to make it three straight victories.
Anderson made waves at CFFC 99 by sparking his opponent in just 11 seconds in his debut with the promotion, which propelled him into Friday’s vacant title opportunity, but unfortunately couldn’t keep the train rolling against Blackshear.
Results of CFFC 103 main card include:
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=01f5k5h8pz3brj4xqb image=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=1696281]
[listicle id=1720133]
A pair of title fights closed the show at Titan FC 68 on Friday with one champ defending and another being crowned.
[autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] was levels above [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] on the ground at Titan FC 67 on Friday, and it led to a one-sided main event.
Sabatello (10-1) put his grappling to use over and over throughout the course of five rounds, and Blackshear (8-4) had no answer. As a result, Sabatello left the cage with a unanimous decision victory, as he successfully defended his Titan FC bantamweight title for the first time. The scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 at the InterContinental Miami in Miami, Fla.
Sabatello’s strategy was no secret from the outset. He attacked with takedowns and established a presence from top position in the first round. It was a route from there on out, with Sabatello controlling Blackshear in the grappling positions, chipping away with ground-and-pound and going for submissions.
The semi-conservative approach from Sabatello garnered come displeasure from the small crowd in attendance as well as the commentary team. Nevertheless, he got his hand raised in his first fight since not receiving a UFC contract for his dominant win at Dana White’s Contender Series 35 in November.
He didn’t care, though, and shared his thoughts to anyone who took issue with his style.
“If you (expletive) (expletives) want to boo me, that’s fine,” Sabatello said in his post-fight interview. “But this is mixed martial arts. You don’t like? Come (expletive) beat me. If it’s not exciting, I don’t give a (expletive). Come beat me. You won’t.”
Blackshear, who, according to the broadcast experienced a travel crisis en route to the event, missed the 145-pound championship limit by three pounds, and would have been ineligible to leave as champion.
Sabatello would have still kept the title had he lost, but it didn’t matter in the end, because he delivered a dominant victory.
Prior to Sabatello’s triumph in the main event, [autotag]Olivier Murad[/autotag] (5-0) claimed the vacant Titan FC featherweight belt in the event co-headliner in a competitive unanimous decision win over [autotag]Muhammad Naimov[/autotag] (5-2).
Complete Titan FC 67 result included:
