Tag: Grant Neal

Bellator 266 lineup finalized with the addition of four more prelims

The lineup for Bellator return to its Northern California home base is set with the addition of four new fights on the preliminary card.

The lineup for next week’s Bellator return to its Northern California home base is set with the addition of four new fights on the preliminary card.

[autotag]Rhalan Gracie[/autotag] (0-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will return to MMA for the first time since 2007 when he takes on [autotag]Shane Keefe[/autotag] (1-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at welterweight.

Plus, [autotag]Eddie Abasolo[/autotag] (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) meets [autotag]Art Hernandez[/autotag] (4-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a 160-pound contract weight fight; [autotag]Edwin De Los Santos[/autotag] (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Jon Adams[/autotag] (0-1-1 MMA, 0-1-1 BMMA) at flyweight; and [autotag]Jesse Delgado[/autotag] (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) fights [autotag]Joshua Dillon[/autotag] (1-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a 130-pound contract weight bout.

Bellator 266 takes place Sept. 18 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. The card will be Bellator’s first in San Jose in more than two years.

In the main event, [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) finally will make his Bellator debut when he takes on former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Phil Davis[/autotag] (22-6 MMA, 9-3 BMMA).

Romero signed with Bellator in December 2020 after a seven-year run with the UFC. He was booked to make his promotional debut against Anthony Johnson to open the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix in May, but was forced to withdraw because of concerns over his eye following a pre-fight medical exam.

Romero, 44, hasn’t fought since March 2020 when he dropped a unanimous decision to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 248, which marked his third consecutive loss. His other two defeats in the skid came against Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. Romero hasn’t won since a February 2018 knockout of Luke Rockhold at UFC 221.

Davis is coming off an April unanimous decision loss to champion Vadim Nemkov in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix, which snapped a three-fight winning streak.

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The Bellator 266 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (10 p.m. ET, Showtime)

  • Phil Davis vs. Yoel Romero
  • [autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Mark Lemminger[/autotag]
  • [autotag]DeAnna Bennett[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Georgi Karakhanyan[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Saul Rogers[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Christian Edwards[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ben Parrish[/autotag]

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

  • [autotag]Grant Neal[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Anthony Adams[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Khalid Murtazaliev[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Albert Gonzales[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Abraham Vaesau[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Socrates Hernandez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Pedro Juarez[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Erin Hunter[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bobby Seronio III[/autotag]
  • Rhalan Gracie vs. Shane Keefe
  • Eddie Abasolo vs. Art Hernandez
  • Jon Adams vs. Edwin De Los Santos
  • Jesse Delgado vs. Joshua Dillon

Following Bellator 254 win, Grant Neal makes pitch for Bass Pro Shops sponsorship

Grant Neal spoke to reporters following his second-round submission of Maurice Jackson at Bellator 254.

After submitting Maurice Jackson at Bellator 254 on Thursday, [autotag]Grant Neal[/autotag] is making a different kind of callout.

Unbeaten prospect Neal (5-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) spoke to reporters on why he really wants a Bass Pro Shops sponsorship, opponent switches leading up to the fight, the confidence he has in his ground game, and more.

You can watch the full interview in the video above.

Bellator 254 took place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on CBS Sports Network after prelims on MMA Junkie.

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With Tyree Fortune out, Grant Neal fights Maurice Jackson at Bellator 254

There has been a change to next week’s Bellator 254 preliminary card.

Bellator’s final card of 2020 is eight days away – and the lineup continues to evolve.

Wednesday, a promotion official informed MMA Junkie of a change to the preliminary card. Tyree Fortune is out of his preliminary card matchup against fellow up-and-comer [autotag]Grant Neal [/autotag]for undisclosed reasons.

Neal (4-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) will remain on the card against[autotag] Maurice Jackson[/autotag] of Jackson Wink MMA. The fight will take place at 205 pounds.

Bellator 254 takes place Thursday, Dec. 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network after prelims on MMA Junkie.

At Bellator 243 in August, Neal returned to action for the first time since the promotion’s pandemic-induced hiatus. Neal dominated American Top Team Portland’s Hamza Salim for the majority of three rounds and earned a unanimous decision victory as a result.

A Bellator newcomer, Jackson (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has six wins in seven victories. His most recent win came in December 2018 when he finished former UFC and Bellator fighter Melvin Guillard with punches.

With the change, the Bellator 254 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (CBS Sports Network/DAZN, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Juliana Velasquez – for Bellator women’s flyweight title
  • Magomed Magomedov vs. Matheus Mattos
  • Nate Andrews vs. Goiti Yamauchi
  • Ronny Markes vs. Linton Vassell

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7:15 p.m. ET)

  • Romero Cotton vs. Justin Sumter
  • Maurice Jackson vs. Grant Neal
  • Kemran Lachinov vs. Shamil Nikaev
  • Davion Franklin vs. Anthony Garrett
  • Kenny Champion vs. Cody Law

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Undefeated Grant Neal promises the best is yet to come after Bellator 243 victory

Colorado light heavyweight Grant Neal extended his perfect professional record at Bellator 243, then said he has plenty of room for improvement.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Grant Neal[/autotag] continued his perfect start to life as a professional mixed martial artist with a shutout victory on the scorecards at Bellator 243, but admitted there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Neal (4-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) defeated Hamza Salim with scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-24 in a dominant performance in his preliminary card bout at Mohegan Sun Arena. Reflecting on his victory, the Colorado light heavyweight said the scorecards showed not just his dominance, but also his opponent’s staying power.

“Well, I mean, it’s definitely rare, and that’s actually a compliment to my opponent,” Neal told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after the fight. “I mean, 30-24, that sounds like a finish to me, but he stayed in there and he stayed tough. He was sticky, like, he wanted to be there in the cage, so that’s kudos to him (for) coming out there tough. It’s a tough sport.

But rather than being satisfied with his dominance on the scorecards, Neal saw the result against Salim (5-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) as an opportunity to improve, and said that he should be turning positions of dominance into fight finishes.

“That’s just back to me and the drawing board,” he said. “I’ve got to recognize those positions and finish the fight.”

Just four fights into his professional MMA career, Neal is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, and said he’s looking forward to seeing how far he can progress in the sport after his latest victory.

“He was a tough opponent, and that just gives me excitement, because it means there’s a lot more to come,” he said. “I’m not anywhere near the peak or the pinnacle, so I’m super-excited about it.”

Rather than resting on his laurels, Neal said he’d love the opportunity to keep the momentum rolling, and said he would be happy to take whatever opportunities to compete Bellator throws his way. During the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said he feels an obligation to take whatever he’s offered.

“Right now I really feel for everybody out there in the world who don’t have the opportunity to work,” he said. “The coronavirus has really uprooted a lot of people’s lives. So it would be absolutely selfish of me to have an opportunity to continue to work and not do it. And I have an awesome opportunity and I’m just going to continue to put on shows for all of my fans and gain more fans. I want to bring everybody along for the ride, especially during such hard times.”

Check out Neal’s full post-fight comments via the video above.

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Bellator 239 adds Gabriel Varga, Grant Neal, J.W. Kiser to growing lineup in Oklahoma

Bellator 239 has added Gabriel Varga vs. Teejay Britton, Grant Neal vs. Claude Wilcox, and J.W. Kiser vs. Davion Franklin to its lineup.

Three preliminary card bouts have been added to Belllator’s return to Oklahoma.

A featherweight matchup between [autotag]Gabriel Varga[/autotag] and [autotag]Teejay Britton[/autotag], a light heavyweight fight between [autotag]Grant Neal[/autotag] and [autotag]Claude Wilcox[/autotag], and a heavyweight bout between [autotag]J.W. Kiser[/autotag] and [autotag]Davion Franklin[/autotag] have all been added to the Bellator 239 lineup.

The event takes place Feb. 21 at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

A decorated kickboxing champion, Varga (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) looks to make it two-for-two against LFA veteran and Bellator debutant Britton (5-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

As for Neal (2-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), the highly-touted NCAA athlete’s football career was derailed due to later-dropped sexual assault accusations. He aims to continue his MMA success against Arkansas’ Wilcox (1-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

A fan-favorite, Kiser (5-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) was unsuccessful in his promotional debut against Jake Hager at Bellator 214 in January 2019. However, the 41-year-old heavyweight has another opportunity to pick up a victory under the promotion’s banner against a wrestling-based fighter, Franklin (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

With the additions, the Bellator 239 lineup includes:

  • Yaroslav Amosov vs. Ed Ruth
  • Brandon Girtz vs. Myles Jury
  • Tyrell Fortune vs. Timothy Johnson
  • Cris Lencioni vs. Salim Mukhidinov
  • Denise Kielholtz vs. Kristina Williams
  • Javy Ayala vs. Valentin Moldavsky
  • Lucas Brennan vs. Jamese Taylor
  • Adil Benjilany vs. Kevin Croom
  • Chris Gonzalez vs. Aaron McKenzie
  • Christian Edwards vs. Marco Hutch
  • Carlo Pedersoli Jr. vs. Mark Lemminger
  • Teejay Britton vs. Gabriel Varga
  • Grant Neal vs. Claude Wilcox
  • Davion Franklin vs. J.W. Kiser

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