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 26-July 2.
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 19-25.
Check out the numbers behind Bellator 285, where Yoel Romero added to one of the most unique records in MMA.
Bellator returned from a six-week hiatus on Saturday with Bellator 285, which went down at 3Arena in Dublin and featured a 13-fight lineup on the card.
The main event featured a dominant performance from former UFC and WEC lightweight champion [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (30-11 MMA, 7-6 BMMA), who shut down Ireland’s [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-7 MMA, 2-3 BMMA) over the course of five rounds to win a unanimous decision and begin his late-career push toward the title.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the event, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 285.
Watch the preliminary stream and keep up with live and official results of Bellator 285 in Dublin, Ireland.
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Bellator 285 takes place Friday, and you can join MMA Junkie for the preliminary live stream and official results.
The event takes place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In the main event, [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (29-11 MMA, 6-6 BMMA) steps into the backyard of Ireland’s [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-6-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) for a lightweight showdown.
The co-feature will see [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) take on [autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] (32-15-1 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) in a light heavyweight bout.
Official Bellator 285 results include:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 1 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 285.
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Check out these photos from the fights at Bellator 285 which took place at 3Arena in Dublin.
Check out these photos from the fights at Bellator 285 which took place at 3Arena in Dublin. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)
Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 285 main card in Dublin, which features Benson Henderson vs. Peter Queally.
| Henderson vs. Queally |
Manhoef vs. Romero |
McCourt vs. Silva |
Burnell vs. Carvalho |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 147-90 |
 Henderson (68%) |
 Romero (87%) |
 McCourt (87%) |
 Burnell (82%) |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 162-86  2018 Champion |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 158-90 |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 156-92 2014 Champion |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 154-94 |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 153-95 |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 152-96 |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 152-96 |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 146-102 |
Henderson |
Romero |
 Silva |
Burnell |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 145-103 2017 Champion |
Henderson |
Romero |
Silva |
Burnell |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 135-113 |
Henderson |
Romero |
McCourt |
Burnell |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 121-126 |
Henderson |
Romero |
Silva |
Burnell |
(Editor’s note: The fight between Ciaran Clarke and late opponent Rafael Hudson was added too late for our staff picks deadline.)
Bellator returns to Ireland this week with a former title challenger at the top the card.
Bellator 285 takes place Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, former UFC lightweight champion and two-time Bellator title challenger (at lightweight and welterweight) [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (29-11 MMA, 6-6 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-6-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) in a lightweight bout. Henderson is more than a 2-1 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Queally is +160. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Henderson as one of three unanimous picks at 11-0.
The co-main event is a light heavyweight bout between former Bellator middleweight title challenger [autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] (32-15-1 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) and former UFC title challenger [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA). Romero is a massive -800 favorite and, not surprisingly, is one of our three unanimous picks.
Also on the main card is the only contentious fight among our pickers at women’s featherweight between [autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag] (6-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Dayana Silva[/autotag] (10-7 MMA, 1-2 BMMA). Although Silva is a -140 favorite at the betting window, It’s McCourt who has a big 8-3 lead in the picks.
And former Cage Warriors featherweight champ [autotag]Mads Burnell[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) will try to get back on track against former title challenger [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] (12-6 MMA, 5-3 BMMA). Burnell nearly is a 5-1 favorite and our third unanimous pick.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Henderson (68 percent), Romero (87 percent), McCourt (87 percent) and Burnell (82 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 285.
Twenty-six fighters hit the scale in Dublin including a former UFC lightweight champion and fan favorite “The Soldier of God.”
Bellator is back in Dublin with a card featuring a handful of notable names including a former UFC lightweight champion and fan favorite “The Soldier of God.”
[autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] headlines Bellator 285 against [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag], right after [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] battles [autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] in the co-main event. Thursday, fighters hit the scales at the host hotel ahead of Friday’s event at 3Arena. The event’s main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
The official weigh-ins saw all 26 fighters make weight. One fighter, [autotag]Dayana Silva[/autotag], needed a to weigh in twice for her main card bout vs. [autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag]. Silva made successfully weight on her second attempt. Outside of that sliver of drama, weigh-ins ran smooth and finished 68 minutes into the two-hour window.
Here are the complete results from the official Bellator 285 weigh-ins:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 1 p.m. ET)
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The event in Honolulu features Cris Cyborg vs. Arlene Blencowe, Juan Archuleta vs. Raufeon Stots, Patchy Mix vs. Kyoji Horiguchi, and more.
HONOLULU – The pre-fight necessities are in the books for the second of two Bellator events this week, and all that’s left to do is fight.
The Bellator 279 fighters got face to face for the first and only time, officially at least, at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins. Included in that mix were headliners [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] (25-2 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Arlene Blencowe[/autotag] (15-8 MMA, 8-4 BMMA), who fight for Cyborg’s women’s featherweight title.
A few quick words were exchanged, though seemingly nothing personal. Cyborg sported artistically-worked facepaint of the Brazilian flag.
The most intense faceoff was between co-main eventers [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (25-3 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), who compete in an interim bantamweight title fight that doubles as a grand prix quarterfinal. The other quarterfinalists competing Saturday, [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (29-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) had a lighter mood as the two flexed and shook hands.
Former women’s flyweight champion and Hawaii native [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) showed a sign of respect to opponent [autotag]Justine Kish[/autotag] (7-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) when she presented her with a lei.
Saturday’s card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu is the second of back-to-back Bellator events in Hawaii’s capital city. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. Check out all the faceoffs for Bellator 279 in the video above.
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Neither woman wanted to back down ahead of their flyweight title fight.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator makes its return Friday, and the women’s flyweight title will be on the line.
Bellator 262 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Atop the bill is 125-pound champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] making her first title defense against [autotag]Denise Kielholtz[/autotag].
The co-main event features two friends fighting each other as heavyweights [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag] will meet inside the cage.
Following Thursday’s official Bellator 262 weigh-ins, the athletes came face to face for some traditional pre-fight staredowns.
Check out the faceoffs below, including Velasquez vs. Kielholtz, Fortune vs. Mitrione, the return of [autotag]Diana Asvaragova[/autotag], and more.
A pair of heavyweight fights are among the latest additions to next month’s Bellator 262 event.
A pair of heavyweight fights are among the latest additions to next month’s Bellator 262 event.
[autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag] (13-8 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) is set to take on [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) in a rebooking after Mitrione withdrew from their original matchup at Bellator 255 in April. Plus, [autotag]Marcelo Golm[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will meet former title challenger [autotag]Linton Vassell[/autotag] (21-8 MMA, 9-5 BMMA) on the main card.
Promotion officials announced the new bookings Thursday. Bellator 262 takes place July 16 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In addition, Bellator announced three new fights for the prelims. [autotag]Arlene Blencowe[/autotag] (13-8 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) will meet [autotag]Dayana Silva[/autotag] (9-6 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in a women’s featherweight bout; [autotag]Ronny Markes[/autotag] (19-8 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Said Sowma[/autotag] (6-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) at heavyweight; and [autotag]Adil Benjilany[/autotag] (5-3 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Johnny Soto[/autotag] (4-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is lined up at featherweight.
Mitrione will try to snap a three-fight skid, the worst slump of his career. After coming to Bellator from the UFC in 2016, the former NFL player won his first four fights in the promotion, including a stoppage of Fedor Emelianenko and a win over fellow “Ultimate Fighter 10” cast member Roy Nelson.
But his slide started with a loss to Ryan Bader in Bellator’s heavyweight tournament, then a TKO setback in a rematch with Sergei Kharitonov after a no contest six months prior and a first-round TKO loss to Tim Johnson in September 2020.
Fortune started his career 8-0, all with Bellator, and was on a four-fight finishing streak when he was upset by Johnson at Bellator 239 in February 2020. After a no contest with Jack May in September 2020, he bounced back with a decision win over Sowma this past November and a first-round TKO of May in April on short notice after his Mitrione fight was scrapped.
Golm will make his promotional debut. After going 1-3 in the UFC, he exited on a three-fight skid. But he picked up a knockout win over D.J. Linderman in October 2020 and a submission over Brandon Hebert in January.
Vassell has a two-fight winning streak after a three-fight skid that started when he lost a title fight against Bader at Bellator 186 in November 2017. After losses to Phil Davis and Valentin Moldavsky, In November 2019, he finished former champ Sergei Kharitonov with a second-round TKO, and this past December stopped Markes in the second round.
The Bellator 262 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 5:30 p.m. ET)
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