Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Simon Biyong vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov at 2024 PFL 5 in Salt Lake City.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov[/autotag]’s victory over Simon Biyong at 2024 PFL 5, which took place at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)
Find out how much weight all 32 fighters at Bellator 300 gained from the Friday morning official weigh-ins to Saturday night fights.
In California, fighters have their weights checked on the day of competition – not just when they have to hit their marks on the scale.
In 2017, the California State Athletic Commission put a plan in place to try 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 gained more than 10 percent back before the bout, the commission then could make a recommendation that he or she move to a higher weight class. If a fighter gained more than 15 percent, the commission had plans in place to potentially cancel fights.
At Bellator 300, which took place this past Saturday in San Diego, 14 of the 32 fighters on the card gained more than 10 percent of their weight back. Three of those 14 exceeded the 15 percent threshold. MMA Junkie obtained a list of fight-night weights Monday from the CSAC.
Check out the weight gains and percentages for all 32 fighters on the card at Pechanga Arena.
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 the promotions from Sept. 11-17.
Check out the full list of fighter salaries from this past Friday’s Bellator 292 event in San Jose, Calif.
Twenty fighters competed this past Friday at Bellator 292 with the titleholders leading all disclosed payouts.
California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster released a full list of fighter payouts Thursday to MMA Junkie. The amounts reflect the disclosed payouts only and do not include any off-contract bonuses, sponsor payments or discretionary bonuses.
Three of five fighters who pocketed six-figure disclosed paydays tied for the top spot on the list with $150,000. Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) submitted Benson Henderson (30-12 MMA, 7-7 BMMA) in the main event, which also was the opening round of Bellator’s lightweight grand prix.
Both Nurmagomedov and Henderson made a disclosed $150,000 flat purse for their fights, win or lose. The other $150,000 recipient was Alexander Shabliy (23-3 MMA, 4-0 BMMA), who made $75,000 to show and a $75,000 win bonus for his finish of Tofiq Musayev (20-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in the tournament’s opening round.
In addition, Linton Vassell (24-8 MMA, 12-5 BMMA) made a flat $100,000 for his heavyweight knockout of Valentin Moldavsky (11-3 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) and Michael Page (21-2 MMA, 17-2 BMMA) made a flat $100,000 for his quick injury TKO of Goiti Yamauchi (28-6 MMA, 14-5 BMMA).
Scroll below to see what the 20 fighters on Bellator 292 were paid – disclosed amounts only.
Check out these photos from Bellator 292, which took place at Kia Forum in San Jose, Calif.
Check out these photos from Bellator 292, which took place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)
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. 6-12.
At Bellator 277, A.J. McKee, Patricio Freire, Vadim Nemkov, and Corey Anderson are set to lead disclosed fighter payouts.
SAN JOSE, Calif – Bellator 277 takes place Friday at SAP Center where three fighters are scheduled to take home six-figure paydays regardless of outcome.
At the 14-fight event, MMA Junkie acquired a list of disclosed salaries from California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster.
In the main event, champion [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] and former champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] square off in a title rematch. Both fighters had a disclosed payday of $250,000 flat. The co-main event is a grand prix final. Light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov (on an $80,000 to show/$80,000 to win basis) and Corey Anderson ($250,000 flat) will collide with the winner making an additional $1 million.
The total payout or show money is $1.378 million. Check out the full list of payouts below. The story will be updated with exact disclosed payouts at the conclusion of the event.
Next week’s Bellator return to its Northern California home base has a former champion as a late addition to the lineup.
Next week’s Bellator return to its Northern California home base has a former champion as a late addition to the lineup.
With [autotag]Tony Johnson[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) out with an injury, former middleweight champ [autotag]Rafael Carvalho[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 7-5 BMMA) will step in to take on [autotag]Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov[/autotag] (18-7-1 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) on the preliminary card at Bellator 277. Promotion officials announced the change Thursday.
Bellator 277 takes place April 15 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Carvalho has had a rough run since he lost the 185-pound title to Gegard Mousasi nearly four years ago. After that TKO title loss, he dropped a split decision to former UFC champ Lyoto Machida. He bounced back with a decision win over Chidi Njokuani in July 2019.
But since then he has three straight losses, including a pair at light heavyweight to current champ Vadim Nemkov and Alex Polizzi, then one against Lorenz Larkin in his return to 185 pounds.
Yagshimuradov is looking to snap a two-fight skid. After an eight-fight winning streak, Yagshimuradov came to Bellator in 2021 as ACA’s light heavyweight champion. But he was finished by Corey Anderson with a third-round TKO in the opening round of the light heavyweight tournament a year ago. This past October, he dropped a decision to Karl Albrektsson for the first skid of his career.
Johnson was set to attempt to get back in the win column after a decision loss to Dalton Rosta a year ago. Prior to that setback, he had a five-fight winning streak, including four straight after returning to MMA following an absence of more than four years. Now his hope for a bounce-back is on hold.
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)
Five fighters pocketed more than $100,000 at Bellator 268 in Phoenix, according to documents obtained by MMA Junkie.
Bellator 268 featured two light heavyweight grand prix matchups, and the fighters involved were four of the five highest-paid athletes on the card.
Light heavyweight champion [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] and fellow grand prix finalist [autotag]Corey Anderson[/autotag] led all paydays, as they pocketed six figures as a result of their wins Oct. 16 at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Grand prix participants [autotag]Julius Anglickas[/autotag] and [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag], who lost in the semfinals, and former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag], also took home six figures.
On Monday, MMA Junkie acquired a full list of Bellator 268 salaries from the Arizona Department of Gaming, which oversaw the event.
Check out a full list below.
Corey Anderson may have drawn the least notable name in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix, but his goal remains the same.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Corey Anderson[/autotag] may have drawn the least notable name in the current Bellator light heavyweight grand prix, but his goal remains the same.
In the opening round of the tournament, Anderson meets [autotag]Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov[/autotag] in the co-main event of Bellator 257 on Friday.
Yagshimuradov (18-5-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is relatively unknown to even hardcore fans and certainly doesn’t have the name value of UFC veterans such as Anthony Johnson or Yoel Romero, who are also in th grand prix. But Anderson (14-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who initially admitted he had to do a Google search of his opponent, knows that Yagshimuradov belongs and is in the tournament for a reason.
“All organizations have great fighters,” Anderson told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “Over at ACA where he was, he was a great fighter there, so now he gets to come showcase his skills here. I don’t think anybody in the world matches up with my skills. That’s just the way you’ve got to be when you step in the cage.
“We train to be the best. We don’t train to be mediocre. We don’t train to get by. You train to dominate everybody. Now, can he compete in the 205 division? Yes. Can he compete with me? I don’t believe so, and Friday I’m going to show you why.”
As he looks to progress in the Bellator grand prix, Anderson will look to mirror some of the success he had in the UFC, where he was a top-ranked light heavyweight contender. During his almost four-year tenure with the promotion, “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner was able to score big wins over the likes of current UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz and top contender Glover Teixeira.
So after notching a second-round finish of Melvin Manhoef in his Bellator debut, Anderson is looking to do more of the same against Yagshimuradov.
“Keys to victory for me is like it is in every fight,” Anderson said. “I was watching my UFC fights this morning, all the fights I won and dominated, it was always a simple gameplan. Nothing crazy, nothing fancy. Do me, keep the pressure, work the fakes, work the hands, work the kicks, work the takedowns. Use everything. Be a mixed martial artist. Don’t go out there, be a striker. Don’t go out there, be a wrestler. Put everything together, mix it up and that’s how you come away with the ‘W.'”
Bellator 257 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
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