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.
MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a look at his top 10 Bellator dark horses to watch in 2021.
Despite being held to just 18 events in 2020 due to the global pandemic, Bellator was able to keep the proverbial ball rolling in regards to fostering new names and cultivating homegrown talent.
Sure, it’s been easy to get excited about big-name signings like Yoel Romero or Anthony Johnson, but I think the promotion carries a quiet value with the offerings that are often found on their undercards. So, with that in mind, I decided to steer away from mainstream names or past grand prix competitors in order to focus on the dark horses whom I see either making their marks or (in some cases) taking a stab at a title in 2021.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 dark horses that I think you need to be familiar with this year.
The full fight card for Bellator 247 set for Milan, Italy on Oct. 3, has been confirmed.
The fight card for the second leg of Bellator’s Italian triple-header has now been confirmed.
Bellator 247 takes place Thursday, Oct. 1 at the Allianz Cloud in Milan, with a 10-fight preliminary lineup preceding a four-bout main card.
The night’s main event features a welterweight battle between England’s [autotag]Paul Daley[/autotag] (42-17-2 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) and America’s [autotag]Derek Anderson[/autotag] (16-3 MMS, 7-3 BMMA), while the co-main event sees middleweight London Shootfighters prospect [autotag]Norbert Novenyi[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) take on French newcomer [autotag]Laid Zerhouni[/autotag] (7-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).
Also set for main card action is England’s former flyweight title challenger [autotag]Kate Jackson[/autotag] (11-4-1 MMA, 3-2), who takes on Dutch Bellator kickboxing champion [autotag]Denise Kielholtz[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA), while the opening bout of the main card offers a showcase for Moroccan striker [autotag]Ilias Bulaid[/autotag] (2-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), who takes on the debuting Italian [autotag]Ivan Naccari[/autotag] (0-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).
With the additions, the Bellator 247 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (12:15 p.m. ET, MMA Junkie)
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Can’t wait for Bellator’s return? Relive some of their greatest buzzer-beater finishes in the meantime.
There’s nothing in sports quite like a buzzer beater — and that’s true whether you’re talking about stick-and-ball sports or fighting.
Knockouts delivered in the closing seconds of a round are some of the most memorable of all finishes, and Bellator has had its fair share of such exciting moments.
And while we count down the days to Bellator’s highly anticipated return to action with Bellator 242 on July 24, we’ve got some memorable finishes for you to relive. The full list:
Check out all these great Bellator buzzer beaters in the video above.
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Five new matchups have been added to Bellator Europe 7 in Dublin, including Leah McCourt vs. Judith Ruis.
[autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag] is set to compete in the first fight of her new exclusive six-fight deal with Bellator.
The promotion announced Tuesday that McCourt (3-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Judith Ruis[/autotag] (6-4 MMA) on the main card of Bellator Europe 7 on Feb. 22 in Dublin.
In her last outing, McCourt took out Kerry Hughes at Bellator 227, submitting her in the first round. She was hoping for a quick turnaround in November in London, but instead will compete in her third fight in a year in Dublin’s 3Arena, when she takes on Germany’s Ruis.
Ruis will be making her promotional debut and is coming off back-to-back first-round submission wins.
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An array of featherweight bouts have been added to the prelims of the Bellator Dublin card. A matchup between SBG’s [autotag]Dylan Logan[/autotag] (4-3 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Tom Mearns[/autotag] (6-3 MMA, 0-2 BMMA), SBG’s [autotag]Ciaran Clarke[/autotag] (1-0 MMA) and [autotag]Jamie Faulding[/autotag] (1-0 MMA), and former kickboxer [autotag]Ilias Bulaid[/autotag] (1-0 MMA), who will look to pick up his second pro MMA win, when he takes on pro debutant [autotag]Diego Freitas[/autotag] (0-0 MMA). Finally, a pair of pro debutants will enter the Bellator cage as [autotag]Constantin Blanita[/autotag] (0-0 MMA) takes on [autotag]Asael Adjoudj[/autotag] (0-0 MMA).
The current Bellator Europe 7 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD
PRELIMINARY CARD
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