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 Dec. 12-18.
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.
After winning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, Darrius Flowers sees himself ruling the lightweight division in due time.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Darrius Flowers[/autotag] is looking to rule the UFC lightweight division.
Flowers (12-5-1), whose past few fights came at middleweight, competed in a welterweight bout Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 51 against Amiran Gogoladze.
He finished Gogoladze in just over a minute when he picked him up and slammed him, causing an injury to his shoulder that stopped the fight. Flowers sees multiple weight classes in his future but is confident he can be champion at 155 pounds after earning a UFC contract.
“I see my future at honestly both welterweight and lightweight,” Flowers told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “Honestly, I’m gonna take lightweight a little bit more serious and chase the title, because I feel like I can be a champion here within the next few years or a couple of years, if it even takes that long. We got to get through the first contract and all that crap first, but I feel like I can be a lightweight world champion for sure like Khabib style.”
Flowers’ win came quick and it came due to an injury. Although it was the slam that led to Gogoladze’s injury, Flowers says it irks him that there will be some doubters due to the nature of the fight-ending sequence.
“The only thing that kind of bothers me is like the naysayers,” Flowers said. “I really didn’t get to show my work, how hard I’ve been working. But I looked good, I went out and did what I said I was gonna do, so I’m happy I got the contract. Nothing really else matters. I got the contract. Haters are gonna still be haters. There’s still gonna be some guys that don’t believe, even when I fry some guys in the UFC. You know, when I start frying these guys on the skillet.”
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Darrius Flowers looked like WWE’s “The Undertaker” when he oddly slammed Amiran Gogoladze for a TKO due to injury.
[autotag]Darrius Flowers[/autotag] added another TKO to his resume – and it’s one WWE’s The Undertaker might be proud of.
In a bizarre sequence early in his Dana White’s Contender Series bout Tuesday, Flowers (12-5-1) finished [autotag]Amiran Gogoladze[/autotag] (14-3) with an injury-inducing slam that caused a TKO at 1:13 of Round 1.
The finish came when Gogoladze threatened a triangle choke submission from the bottom. In defense, Flowers raised his opponent up. Gogoladze awkwardly spun upside down. From there, Flowers drove Gogoladze into the canvas. Gogoladze tried to tough it out, but the impact to his left shoulder on the slam was unbearable. He looked to his corner before he ultimately decided to tap.
The finish was awkward and surprising, but fired Flowers up. UFC president Dana White cracked a smile and gave him the thumbs up. Regardless, the bizarre “tombstone” piledriver-esque finish instantly went viral.
As commentator Laura Sanko mentioned, piledriver-type slams are illegal in MMA – but there’s an exception. If a fighter is attempting a submission, his or her opponent is allowed to slam in a driving fashion.
The MASSIVE slam from Darrius Flowers leads to the tap & the first round finish 💥 #DWCS pic.twitter.com/VtXokkK3zc
— UFC (@ufc) August 24, 2022
With the win, Flowers extends his winning streak to four. Meanwhile, Gogoladze has his three-fight winning streak snapped, as he’s finished for the first time.
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Check out these photos from Dana White’s Contender Series 51 in Las Vegas.
Check out these photos from the fights at Dana White’s Contender Series 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. (Photos courtesy of Joshua Hedges, UFC)
