Tag: Gadzhi Rabadanov

2024 PFL Playoffs 2 video: Gadzhi Rabadanov crushes Michael Dufort with left hook to reach finals

Gadzhi Rabadanov punched his ticket to the 2024 PFL finals with an emphatic finish of Michael Dufort.

[autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag] is heading to the 2024 PFL finals after landing a crushing knockout blow.

On the main card of 2024 PFL Playoffs 2 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla., Rabadanov (23-4-2) connected with a vicious left hook on Michael Dufort (13-6), leading to a knockout at 1:51 of Round 2. The fight was a lightweight semifinal bout.

After a competitive first round, Dufort came out looking for takedowns, which played into Rabadanov’s strengths. Rabadanov shook off a couple of takedown attempts and then floored Dufort with a left hook. Rabadanov immediately swarmed with follow-up strikes until the referee stopped the fight.

Check out video of the finish below (via X):

With the result, the $1 million lightweight finals are set.

Rabadanov will face Brent Primus, who defeated Clay Collard by unanimous decision in the fight prior.

During his post-fight interview, Rabadanov shouted out Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was shown on the broadcast on a video call with Rabadanov’s corner.

Rabadanov extends his current winning streak to nine, including three wins under the PFL banner.

Up-to-the-minute results of 2024 PFL Playoffs 2 include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Playoffs 2.

Bellator 297 post-event facts: Vadim Nemkov achieves rare feat in dominant title defense

Check out all the facts from Bellator 297, where Vadim Nemkov took another step toward arguably the greatest resume in Bellator history.

Bellator’s lone event of the month went down Friday with Bellator 297 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, and it was arguably the promotion’s biggest show of the year thus far.

Two championship bouts topped the card, and both men who entered the cage with belts, lefts with them, too. [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) handily defeated [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) by unanimous decision in the headliner to retain the light heavyweight strap, while [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (23-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) kept hold of bantamweight gold with a unanimous decision over [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-6 MMA, 22-6 BMMA).

For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 297.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (April 10-16)

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 April 10-16

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Jan. 3: Kyoji Horiguchi on the rise at flyweight

Kyoji Horiguchi returned to flyweight and placed himself back in the rankings with a win at Bellator vs. Rizin FF on New Year’s Eve.

With most of the MMA world idle for the holidays, Bellator and Rizin hosted a cross-promotion event on New Year’s Eve in Japan.

Bellator’s brightest stars including [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag], [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag], [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag], [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag], and [autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag] represented the promotion against Rizin FF’s lineup. It was a clean sweep for Bellator, as they won all five bouts at the year-end event.

Horiguchi returned to flyweight, where he picked up a unanimous decision win over Hiromasa Ougikubo. The former UFC title challenger re-enters the rankings at 125 pounds this week, marking the biggest move ahead of 2023 events.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

Video: The epic entrances from Bellator’s New Year’s Eve sweep over Rizin

Team Bellator had a pretty epic way to ring in the new year Saturday in Japan, and its members’ entrances were equally epic.

Team Bellator had a pretty epic way to ring in the new year Saturday, and its members’ entrances were equally epic.

Bellator fighters went 5-0 in their matchups against Rizin fighters at a crossover event at Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo. Former featherweight champion [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] and current champ [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] got wins at the top of the bill. But so, too, did [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag], [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] and [autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag].

Check out some of the epic only-in-Japan entrances from the fighters on the New Year’s Eve card below.

Rizin FF vs. Bellator results: Gadzhi Rabadanov drops Koji Takeda early, wins unanimous decision

Khabib Nurmagomedov protege Gadzhi Rabadanov started strong for Team Bellator with a unanimous decision

[autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag] got Bellator started on the right foot.

The Bellator lightweight got a win for the promotion in the company’s head-to-head clash against Rizin FF. Rabadanov (19-4-2) defeated [autotag]Koji Takeda[/autotag] (14-4) in a closely contested, three-round bout at Saturday’s Rizin FF vs. Bellator event in Japan.

The event took place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, near Tokyo. The main card airs on Showtime via tape delay at 8 p.m. ET.

Rabadanov made a statement early in the fight to head start in the judges scorecards. After a feeling out process, Rabadanov dropped Takeda with aright hand and continued to pour on the pressure. Rabadanov would drop the Japanese fighter once again and put him in further trouble, before Takeda recovering and getting back in the fight.

The second round was by far the most competitive round. Takeda won a lot of the clinch position battles and landed many good shots. Rabadanov had his moments, but he looked to be tiring and was far less effective than Round 1.

The final round was a good one for Rabadanov, He took back control of the fight using his wrestling and forward pressure. Although Takeda had good defense, it was pretty clear who was on the attack.

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With this win, Rabadanov closes out 2022 with a 3-0 run. The Khabib Nurmagomedov protoge had picked up unanimous decision wins over Jay Jay Wilson and Bobby King under the Bellator banner prior to his Rizin FF bout. Rabadanov is on a five-fight wining streak, with his most recent defeat being in 2020 against Mehdi Dakaev at EFC 30.

On the other hand, Takeda saw a two-fight wining streak come to an end. He had defeated former UFC fighter Johnny Case and former Bellator fighter Zach Zane in the lead up to the fight against Rabadanov.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Rizin FF 40: Rizin vs. Bellator.

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Rizin FF 40: Rizin vs. Bellator weigh-in results: Promotion vs. promotion fights official

Check out the results from the official Rizin FF 40 weigh-ins, which features fight Rizin vs. Bellator cross-promotional fights.

The stage is set for the final major MMA event of 2022 after official weigh-ins for Rizin FF 40: Rizin vs. Bellator went down Thursday night in Japan.

With five promotion vs. promotion fights set for the main card, which airs on Showtime via tape-delay on Saturday from Saitama Super Arena just outside Tokyo, all the notable athletes successfully made weight.

In the main event, Rizin FF lightweight champion [autotag]Roberto de Souza[/autotag] (14-1) will welcome former Bellator featherweight titleholder [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (19-1) to his turf in a compelling matchup. The co-headliner wills see current Bellator featherweight champ [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (34-5) take on Rizin FF’s [autotag]Kleber Koike Erbst[/autotag] (31-5-1).

Check out the complete main card weigh-in results below:

  • A.J. McKee (154.7) vs. Roberto de Souza (156)
  • Kleber Koike Erbst (145.2) vs. Patricio Freire (145)
  • [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (124.8) vs. [autotag]Hiromasa Ougikubo[/autotag] (125.4)
  • [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (134) vs. [autotag]Soo Chul Kim[/autotag] (133.8)
  • [autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag] (155.9) vs. [autotag]Koji Takeda[/autotag] (156)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Rizin FF 40: Rizin vs. Bellator.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Nov. 7-13)

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 Nov. 7-13.

Bellator 283 medical suspensions: Mukhamed Berkhamov out indefinitely after Lorenz Larkin no contest

Check out which fighters are facing indefinite suspensions as a result of Friday’s fights in Tacoma, Wash.

Belaltor 283 took place Friday at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. and featured 12 bouts of MMA action.

Atop the card, [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] defeated former welterweight champion [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] by unanimous decision. Also, RIZIN tournament champion [autotag]Tofiq Musayev[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag] by first-round knockout, and [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] quickly tapped [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] with a first-round guillotine choke.

As a result of injuries sustained in the bout, each fighter on the card received a medical suspension from the Washington State Department of Licensing. MMA Junkie acquired the list from the commissioning body Tuesday. The list included suspension durations but not medical specifics.

Two fighters received indefinite suspensions, including [autotag]Mukhamed Berkhamov[/autotag], who fought in a no contest against [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag]. The fight was waved off after Larkin unintentionally struck Berkhamov in the back of the head. While Berkhamov said he was dizzy and that’s ultimately why the bout was called, Larkin claimed after the fight his opponent was in the doctor’s room with a knee injury.

[autotag]Roman Faraldo[/autotag], who knocked out [autotag]Luis Iniguez[/autotag], also was handed an indefinite suspension. Faraldo told reporters post-fight he broke his hand on the knockout blow.

Scroll below to see the medical suspensions handed out to each fighter. It’s important to note fighters can return to competition sooner than the allotted suspension if they are cleared by a doctor.