Tag: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov

Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov prediction, pick, start time for 2024 PFL Championship

Can Impa Kasanganay win a second straight $1 million PFL title?

[autotag]Impa Kasanganay[/autotag] and [autotag]Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov[/autotag] meet Saturday for the light heavyweight $1 million title at the 2024 PFL Championship. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup.

Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov 2024 PFL Championship preview

Impa Kasanganay def. Josh Silveira – 2024 PFL Playoffs 2

Impa Kasanganay (18-4), a former welterweight, won the 205-pound $1 million title in 2023 against Josh Silveira. He’s coming off a split-call setback against Bellator champ Johnny Eblen, but in he tore through the regular season with finishes of Alex Polizzi and Jakob Nedoh, then beat Silveira a second time to reach the final.

Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Rob Wilkinson – 2024 PFL Playoffs 2

Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (24-7-1) lost his first two Bellator fights in 2021, but has been on a roll ever since. He wrapped his tenure in that promotion with three straight wins, then stopped Nedoh in the first round to open his first PFL season. He outworked Simon Biyong to reach the semifinals, then beat Rob Wilkinson to get a shot at $1 million.

Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov 2024 PFL Championship odds

2024 PFL Championships faceoff off between Impa Kasanganay vs Dovlet Yagshimuradov during the ceremonial weigh-ins at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (Matt Ferris / PFL)

Kasanganay is only about a -175 favorite. The only time he hasn’t been a favorite in the PFL was his fight with Eblen earlier this year.

Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov 2024 PFL Championship expert pick, prediction

Only one of our staff pickers took Yagshimuradov in an upset.

Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov 2024 PFL Championship start time, how to watch

As the fourth $1 million fight on the main card, Kasanganay and Yagshimuradov are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET. The fight will stream on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.

Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Simon Biyong at 2024 PFL 5: Best photos

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)

Bellator 300 gains: What all 32 fighters weighed on fight night

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.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 11-17)

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.

Bellator 292 salaries: Five get six-figure paydays, including Benson Henderson in retirement fight

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.

Bellator 292: Best photos from San Jose

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)

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 6-12)

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.

Bellator 277 salaries: A.J. McKee, Patricio Freire lead the pack of guaranteed purses

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.

Bellator 277: Ex-champ Rafael Carvalho steps in for Tony Johnson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov

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)

  • Champ A.J. McKee vs. Patricio Freire – for featherweight title
  • Champ Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson – for light heavyweight title; light heavyweight tournament final
  • Aaron Pico vs. TBA
  • Tim Johnson vs. Linton Vassell

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Gaston Bolanos vs. Ali Jafri
  • Rakim Cleveland vs. Tyrell Fortune
  • Rafael Carvalho vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
  • Kyle Crutchmer vs. Michael Lombardo
  • Calob Ramirez vs. Bobby Seronio III
  • Rhalan Gracie vs. Tyson Miller
  • Edwin De Los Santos vs. Alberto Mendez
  • Socrates Hernandez vs. Rogelio Luna
  • Laird Anderson vs. JT Donaldson
  • Alan Benson vs. Theo Haig

Bellator 268 salaries: Vadim Nemkov, Corey Anderson among five six-figure paydays

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.