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 or officially announced by a promotion from June 5-11.
The Bellator x RIZIN 2 card continues to fill as Lorenz Larkin enters a fight with high violence potential and Danny Sabatello returns.
Two main card bouts have been added to the upcoming Bellator x RIZIN show this summer.
At Bellator x RIZIN 2, welterweight strikers [autotag]Andrey Koreshkov[/autotag] (26-4 MMA, 15-4 BMMA) and [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] (25-7 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) will collide, before bantamweight contenders [autotag]Magomed Magomedov[/autotag] (19-3 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) later on the July 30 card (July 29 in the United States) at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Promotion officials announced the bookings Wednesday.
Koreshkov, 32, has won four straight fights. Over that stretch, he’s alternated fights in and outside of Bellator, as the promotion has allowed him to take bouts outside the promotion. Koreshkov most recently competed at Shlemenko FC 4 in June and won by TKO.
Larkin, 36, has not lost in eight straight appearances and has bounced between middleweight and welterweight. In February, Larkin landed one of the most violent knockouts of 2023 when he put Mukhamed Berkhamov to sleep with a standing elbow in February.
𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧! What a KO from @da_MONSOON 😱
💻 @MonsterEnergy Prelims fueled by @NorthgateGlzMrk | Bellator YouTube
📺 #Bellator290 | 𝑪𝑩𝑺 & 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕+ | 9pm ET / 6pm PT pic.twitter.com/XlwX1jOc78
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 5, 2023
Magomedov, 31, looks to get back in the win column after a submission loss to Patchy Mix in December. The bout was a bantamweight grand prix semifinal, which Magomedov advanced into after a quarterfinal win over Enrique Barzola.
Sabatello, 30, bounced back in April from a bantamweight grand prix semifinal loss of his own vs. Raufeon Stots. Sabatello defeated rising prospect Marcos Breno by second-round submission.
With the additions, the Bellator x RIZIN 2 lineup includes:
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.
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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.
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Recent interim bantamweight title challenger Danny Sabatello thinks he can become a big star for Bellator.
[autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] thinks he can become a big star for Bellator.
Sabatello (13-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) has ruffled plenty of feathers during his time with the promotion, but also has been delivering the results in the cage.
The outspoken bantamweight won his first three fights with the promotion, including a win over Leandro Higo in the grand prix quarterfinal, before he lost a split decision to interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots in the semifinals at Bellator 289. The Stots fight marked Sabatello’s first Bellator headliner, and he plans to be a part of plenty of big fights moving forward.
“I have a very strong connection and very great relationship with everybody in Bellator,” Sabatello told MMA Junkie Radio. “One thing that they do see is my charisma and my potential in this sport. We’ve only scratched the surface. We’re only getting started here. But obviously, they’re very grateful for me, and I’m very grateful for them. This is the perfect relationship.
“I’m trying to make Bellator bigger and badder than it’s ever been. I want to make this promotion absolutely massive. I want to be the face of it, and they’re providing me the platform, so it’s very good for both of us. Obviously I’m very good for the sport. I’m very good for Bellator, but none of this sh*t happens if I don’t f*cking win.”
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Sabatello knows he needs to return to the win column if he wants to keep his momentum going. Sabatello meets Marcos Breno (15-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at Bellator 294 next Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
“I think Bellator knows that they hit jackpot with me,” Sabatello said. “I’m the golden goose of this promotion. I’m becoming the face of this promotion, but I’ve just got to keep doing what I do and that’s talk sh*t, be exciting and win fights.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 294.
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 Feb. 27-March 5.
Polarizing bantamweight Danny Sabatello will look to rebound from a high-profile loss against bitter rival Raufeon Stots.
[autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] has a fight booked for the first time since his loss to Raufeon Stots.
At Bellator 294, Sabatello (13-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) will return against surging bantamweight [autotag]Marcos Breno[/autotag] (15-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Two people, including a promotion official, informed MMA Junkie of the booking Wednesday. The event takes place April 21 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
Sabatello’s unanimous decision loss against Raufeon Stots came at Bellator 289 in December. The bout was one of the promotion’s most highly promoted in 2022 and was a semifinal of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix. The defeat snapped a seven-fight winning streak for Sabatello that included victories over Leandro Higo and Brett Johns.
Breno, 25, was pegged by some viewers as the dark horse of the Bellator bantamweight division after he made his debut in August. At Bellator 284, Breno dominated bantamweight contender Josh Hill in a largely one-sided unanimous decision.
With the addition, the Bellator 294 lineup includes:
A full recap of Bellator’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, fights and individual performances of 2022.
Another year is in the books for Bellator.
The promotion hosted 17 fight cards to maintain its status among the top dogs in the MMA space. During that time, many records were set and a host of historic moments were produced.
Now that the year has come to a close, here are some of 2022’s most significant fights and individual performances.
It appears there may be some behind-the-scenes fallout from Raufeon Stots’ Bellator 289 main event over Danny Sabatello.
It appears there may be some behind-the-scenes fallout from the Bellator 289 main event.
[autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) beat [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) with a split decision this past Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Stots went into the fight as the interim bantamweight champion and retained that belt with the win. He also moved on to the $1 million final of Bellator’s 135-pound grand prix tournament.
Stots’ win might not have been a huge surprise on paper – he was the betting favorite. But the wide disparity of scores had just about every observer scratching their heads. Stots got 48-47 scores from judges Eric Colon and Bryan Miner. But judge Doug Crosby gave the fight to Sabatello – and gave him all five rounds for a 50-45 score.
And that 50-45 score apparently was enough to trigger Mike Mazzulli, the commission director for the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations, to schedule a review of the fight with all three judges. The news first was reported by MMA Fighting.
“After reviewing the fight, three rounds of the five rounds were extremely close and the other two were marginally close rounds,” Mazzulli said, according to the report. “One judge had Sabatello winning all five rounds, which is controversial. But ultimately Stots won the decision, which is the correct result. In an effort to make this a learning moment, I have informed all three judges we will be reviewing the fight together.
“This is a very serious situation. The Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department always looks out for the best interests of all fighters. In the past the Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department has sanctioned officials that are not performing to the level that is required. Such sanctions, when they occur, are not made public.”
After he judged the Bellator 289 main event Friday, Crosby flew across the country Saturday and was one of the judges for Paddy Pimblett’s controversial unanimous decision win over Jared Gordon in the UFC 282 co-main event in Las Vegas. In that fight, all three judges scored the bout for Pimblett – much to the disbelief of the majority of observers, some of whom have said Pimblett’s win not only was the biggest robbery of 2022, but could be the most unjust decision in UFC history.
After Bellator 289, Sabatello was calm, but livid at the scoring and said he didn’t understand how he could get a 50-45 score and win all five rounds, but still lose the fight. Conversely, Stots didn’t understand how Crosby gave Sabatello all five rounds. And Bellator president Scott Coker, too, was perplexed by Crosby’s scorecard.
The morning after Bellator 289, MMADecisions.com reported on Twitter that the 50-45 scorecard for Sabatello was the first time in the site’s lengthy history of tracking fights that the loser of a bout got a 50-45 score in his favor.
MMA Decisions highlights when individual judges’ scores are in the minority in a fight. So far in 2022, Crosby has been a part of 56 decisions in fights under the Bellator, UFC and PFL banners. He has been the dissenting opinion of three judges in 12.5 percent of those fights. That’s the highest percentage of any judge in 2022, but it should be noted that in 2021, Crosby only had the dissenting opinion in one of 46 fights.
Sabatello had more than 10 minutes of ground control time in the fight compared to less than a minute of control time for Stots, but Stots outstruck Sabatello by a wide margin.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 289.
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Join us for this week’s live stream of “Spinning Back Clique” looking at the biggest news and topics in MMA.
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, Mike Bohn and Farah Hannoun will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia 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.
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 289, which took place Friday and saw a number of significant betting upsets.
Bellator put on its 17th and final event of the year on Friday with Bellator 289, which took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Two champions defended their titles at the top of the card. In the main event, [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) edged [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) by split decision in their grudge match to defend interim bantamweight gold and advance to the finals of the promotion’s grand prix.
The co-headliner saw [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (18-7 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) earn a second consecutive win over [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA), this time without controversy as she scored a second-round submission to defend women’s flyweight gold.
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 289.
