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 June 13-19.
The Bellator 284 lineup also includes a heavyweight contender bout in the co-main event.
Major promotional MMA heads back to South Dakota this summer.
Bellator 284 is set to take place Aug. 12 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, the promotion officially announced Wednesday. Atop the card is a five-round welterweight matchup between [autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) and [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (27-5 MMA, 13-4 BMMA).
Gracie, 33, most recently competed in a five-round war against Logan Storely in February. The battle was back-and-forth until the final horn, shortly after which Storley was named winner by split decision. The loss moved Gracie to 2-3 in his past five appearances.
Yamauchi, 29, has won back-to-back fights entering Bellator 284. His most recent performance, a quick submission win against Levan Chokheli, marked his divisional debut at welterweight.
In the co-main event, top heavyweight contenders collide as [autotag]Valentin Moldavksy[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) looks to rebound from a title shot loss when he battles undefeated rising star [autotag]Steve Mowry[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA).
Also on the card, former Bellator women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) will take on [autotag]Bruna Ellen[/autotag] (6-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA). Macfarlane will look to snap a two-fight losing skid, including a title defeat to Juliana Velasquez and a unanimous decision to Justine Kish.
Meanwhile, Ellen has won two of her most recent three bouts.
The current Bellator 284 lineup includes:
[vertical-gallery id=2553832]
A staple of the lightweight division, Goiti Yamauchi explains why he moved up a weight class after he won four of five.
HONOLULU – [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] competed much of his career at lightweight, but not any more.
A staple of the division, Yamauchi (26-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) seldom lost fights at 155 pounds, which makes his shift up 15 pounds seem a little out of left field. But for Yamauchi, who competes at Bellator 279 it made sense for multiple reasons.
“A lot of things changed a lot because it’s 15 pounds more,” Yamauchi told MMA Junkie at a news conference Thursday. “Whoever cuts weight knows how difficult it is to cut weight. It makes a (big) difference. It’s way better. … We decided to move up just because of my health and performance. If you’re healthy, you will automatically gain performance. Me and my team and all the Bellator staff, we thought about it.”
[lawrence-related id=2540149,2540199]
With contender status at lightweight, Yamauchi doesn’t think it’ll take long for his name to start being mentioned at the top of the welterweight division. His new weight class journey starts with Levan Chokheli (10-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) on Saturday’s prelims.
“For me, it’s a new beginning,” Yamauchi said. “I’m not shying away to start a new weight class. For me, if I had to start in the other weight class, I would do it because it’s what I love. I do MMA regardless of the weight class. So for me being here, competing and doing what I love, pursing my dream, it’s what matters. My goal is to be the best. My goal is to be the champion and I plan to do it as fast as I can.”
Bellator 279 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
[vertical-gallery id=443084]
[vertical-gallery id=1965008]
Cat Zingano could’ve had a title fight, but she’ll instead meet Pam Sorenson on the Bellator 276 prelims.
Bellator’s plan was to have Cat Zingano challenge women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg for the title, but that’s not happening.
Zingano instead will face Pam Sorenson on March 12 at Bellator 276, which takes place at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., just outside of St. Louis. MMA Fighting first reported the booking, which a promotion official later confirmed to MMA Junkie on Tuesday.
Zingano, 39, has gone 2-0 so far since signing with Bellator in October 2019. After a unanimous decision win over Gabrielle Holloway in her promotional debut, Zingano submitted Olivia Parker by first-round armbar in April 2021.
The victory seemingly set up a title-fight showdown with Cyborg, who indicated on Twitter that Zingano declined the opportunity.
“She turned down a World Title Fight to compete on the prelims?!” Cyborg tweeted and later deleted (screenshot below).
It’s unclear if that’s exactly how things turned out, but Bellator president Scott Coker said on Jan. 29 that the promotion wanted to boon Cyborg vs. Zingano “as soon as possible.” He seemed to indicate that the hold-up was on Zingano’s end.
“I think timing is going to be an issue on that fight, when Cat is ready to fight her,” Coker said after Bellator 273. “We would like that fight to happen as soon as possible.”
“That is our plan, but we have to have both fighters agree to that plan. We’re talking to the managers, Cat’s manager, find out when she’ll be ready to, No. 1, fight, and will she be willing to fight Cyborg?”
That won’t be the case, and Zingano (11-4 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) will instead fight 35-year-old Soreno (9-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), who has split her first two Bellator outings. She won a split decision over Roberta Samad in August before she lost a unanimous decision to Arlene Blencowe this past November at Bellator 271.
While Zingano vs. Sorenson is scheduled for the prelims, a middleweight bout between [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 18-5 BMMA) is the most recent addition to the main card. Eblen is considered one of the fastest-rising fighters in the division, while Salter looks to bounce back from a title shot loss against Gegard Mousasi.
Other additions to the card include a lightweight battle between [autotag]Derek Anderson[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) and [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (26-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA).
Notable prospects middleweight [autotag]Romero Cotton[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), women’s flyweight [autotag]Diana Avsaragova[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), featherweight [autotag]Cody Law[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), and welterweight [autotag]Roman Faraldo[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) have also been matched up with non-rostered opponents.
The lineup for Bellator 276 currently includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET )
Goiti Yamauchi didn’t expect to defeat Chris Gonzalez by TKO at Bellator 263, but he’s not complaining.
[autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] isn’t known for his hands, but they got the job done on Saturday.
At Bellator 263, Yamauchi (26-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) faced Chris Gonzalez in the first bout on the main card at The Forum in Los Angeles.
To the surprise of many, including Yamauchi himself, who is primarily a grappler with multiple submission wins to his credit, a first-round knockout in his favor was not the outcome he saw coming.
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a striking fight,” Yamauchi said during the post-fight news conference. “But thank God I won the fight. … We always think about the worst situation that we can go through in the fight, and I felt really loose, light, and smooth today in the cage.”
Yamauchi’s TKO finish marked his first such stoppage in 13 fights, with his last occurring in 2013 against Saul Almeida at Bellator 109.
Watch Yamauchi’s full post-fight press conference discussing the fight, his preparation, and much more in the video above.
[vertical-gallery id=657238]
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 263, which saw A.J. McKee become an undefeated champion with a main event win.
Arguably the biggest event in Bellator history went down Saturday with Bellator 263, which took place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and saw a title change hands in the main event.
The promotion’s 16-man featherweight grand prix came to a conclusion in the headliner when [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (18-0 MMA, 18-0 BMMA) dethroned champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (32-5 MMA, 20-5 BMMA) by first-round submission to start a new era in the division and take home a $1 million prize.
For more on the numbers behind McKee’s title win, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 35 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 263.
The California State Athletic Commission released a full list of disclosed Bellator 263 fighter payouts to MMA Junkie ahead of the event.
LOS ANGELES – The Bellator 263 main event loser will take home a six-figure payday with the winner earning seven figures.
Bellator featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] is set to make $250,000 in disclosed show money while [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] will pocket $150,000 in disclosed show pay. The winner will be awarded an additional $1,000,000 – the prize that comes with winning the promotion’s 145-pound grand prix.
Bellator 263 takes place Saturday at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
[lawrence-related id=656550,654484,654860]
Following the conclusion of Friday’s official weigh-ins at the host hotel, MMA Junkie acquired a list of disclosed payouts from the California State Athletic Commission. It is important to note the amounts do not include discretionary bonuses, viewership points or additional earnings.
The full list of Bellator 263 disclosed payouts (show/win) include:
MAIN CARD (10 p.m. E.T., Showtime)
PRELIMS (7 p.m. E.T., MMA Junkie)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXNByfW9aZw
Check out our staff members’ picks for Bellator 263, featuring a featherweight title fight between champ Patricio Freire and A.J. McKee.
| Freire vs. McKee |
Burnell vs. Sanchez |
Muro vs. Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov vs. Primus |
Gonzalez vs. Yamauchi |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 111-66 |
 McKee (64%) |
 Burnell (52%) |
 Nurmagomedov (96%) |
 Mamedov (65%) |
 Yamauchi (74%) |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 112-65  2018 Champion |
McKee |
 Sanchez |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
 Gonzalez |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 109-68 |
McKee |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 109-68 |
 Freire |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 108-69 2020 Champion |
Freire |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 107-70 2014 Champion |
McKee |
Sanchez |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 106-71 |
McKee |
Sanchez |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 106-71 |
Freire |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 105-72 |
McKee |
Sanchez |
Nurmagomedov |
 Primus |
Yamauchi |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 105-72 2017 Champion |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Nurmagomedov |
Primus |
Gonzalez |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 104-73 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Yamauchi |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 103-74 |
Freire |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 100-77 |
Freire |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 2021: 36-25 |
McKee |
Burnell |
Nurmagomedov |
Mamedov |
Gonzalez |
| BetMGM Betting Favorites |
Freire -115 |
Burnell -125 |
Nurmagomedov -1100 |
Mamedov -200 |
Yamauchi -165 |
Bellator makes its long-awaited return to the road this week with the featherweight title on the line at the top of the bill.
Bellator 263 takes place Saturday at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. 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, lightweight and featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (32-4 MMA, 20-4 BMMA) puts his 145-pound title on the line against [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 17-0 BMMA) in a fight that doubles as the featherweight grand prix final. It’s nearly a pick’em fight at the betting window, where Freire is at -115 at BetMGM with the comeback on McKee at -105. Not surprisingly, our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are torn in their picks, too – Freire has the smallest possible edge at 7-6.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Mads Burnell[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) is a slight favorite at -125 against two-time featherweight title challenger [autotag]Emmanuel Sanchez[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA). And like the close picks in the main event, it’s tight here, too. Burnell has a 7-6 lead from our pickers.
Our lone unanimous pick should come as little surprise. [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is a massive 11-1 favorite against [autotag]Manny Muro[/autotag] (12-6 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), and he’s got a 13-0 shutout in the picks.
[autotag]Islam Mamedov[/autotag] (19-1-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is a 2-1 favorite against former lightweight champion [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA), and he’s got a big 11-2 picks lead.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (25-5 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) at lightweight. Yamauchi is the betting favorite at -165, but Gonzalez bucked the trend with our pickers at 11-2.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, McKee (64 percent), Burnell (52 percent), Nurmagomedov (96 percent), Mamedov (65 percent) and Yamauchi (62 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
[vertical-gallery id=655450]
[listicle id=644659]
Check out the four fights that were featured to faceoff at Bellator 263 media day in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES – Bellator 263 media day took place Wednesday at the host hotel, and MMA Junkie was on the scene for the festivities. After fielding questions from reporters, the fighters came together for faceoffs.
Featured on the dais were [autotag]Manny Muro[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag], [autotag]Islam Mamedov[/autotag] vs. former lightweight champion [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag], and [autotag]Kiefer Crosbie[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Georgi Karakhanyan[/autotag].
You can watch watch the highlights of those faceoffs in the video above.
Bellator 263 takes place Saturday at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims streamed on MMA Junkie.
[listicle id=650792]
Two more fights have been added to the Patricio Freire vs. A.J. McKee undercard.
The Bellator 263 lineup continues to grow.
Top-ranked lightweights [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (25-5 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) will square off in a three-round preliminary card bout, which is one of the latest additions to the July 31 event at The LA Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
A promotion official informed MMA Junkie of the fight Tuesday, in addition to a welterweight preliminary card matchup between [autotag]Johnny Cisneros[/autotag] (13-7 MMA, 4-5 BMMA) and [autotag]Joshua Jones[/autotag] (10-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA).
A member of Team Alpha Male, Gutierrez trains with some of the best fighters in the world. Unbeaten as a professional, Gutierrez has displayed his strong wrestling base throughout his career. However, his striking is coming along as well, as he displayed in his most recent win over UFC alumnus Roger Huerta, who he defeated with punches at Bellator 255 in April.
One of the longest-tenured fighters on the Bellator roster, Yamauchi is still only 28 years old. Yamauchi made his promotional debut at Bellator 99 in 2013. Prior to a controversial split decision loss to Dan Moret at Bellator 256 in April, Yamauchi won three straight fights over Daniel Weichel, Saad Awad, and Daron Cruickshank.
Bellator 263 takes place Saturday, July 31 at The LA Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
With the addition, the Bellator 263 lineup includes:
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=01eqvpqbw4ymnv0rjh image=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
