Tag: Jaleel Willis

Cedric Doumbe gets new opponent for Bellator Champions Series in Paris

Kickboxing star Cedric Doumbe takes on a 4-3 Bellator veteran in the co-main event of the promotion’s upcoming Paris show.

In a week that included both a fight booking announcement and cancellation news in a two-day stretch, [autotag]Cedric Doumbe[/autotag] is officially back on the schedule on Day 3.

With Derek Anderson out, Doumbe (5-1) now faces former LFA champion [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] (16-5) at Bellator Champions Series: Paris, the promotion announced Wednesday. The event takes place May 17 at Accor Arena in Paris.

Willis, 32, has a 4-3 record in Bellator. A proud representative of Memphis, Tenn., Willis worked his way into the promotion in 2020 after 15 fights on the regional scene. After back-to-back wins over Mark Lemminger and Maycon Mendonca, Willis lost consecutive fights by submission to Mukhamed Berkhamov and Sabah Homasi. He bounced back with a win over Kyle Crutchmer before he was knocked out by Ramazan Kuramagomedov in June.

Doumbe, 31, looks to get back in the win column after a controversial loss to Baysangur Chamsoudinov in March. The defeat came when Doumbe allegedly stepped on a splinter in the cage and tried to signal referee Marc Goddard that something was wrong. The sequence lead to confusion and Goddard waved off the fight. The loss was Doumbe’s first and came after a massive nine-second knockout win in his PFL debut against Jordan Zebo in September.

With the change, the Bellator Champion Series: Paris lineup includes:

  • Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov – for bantamweight title
  • Cedric Doumbe vs. Jaleel Willis
  • Gregory Babene vs. Costello van Steenis
  • Jonas Bilharinho vs. Yves Landu
  • Archie Colgan vs. Thibault Gouti

PRELIMINARY CARD:

  • Louis Sutherland vs. Slim Trabelsi
  • Mansour Barnaoui vs. Yusuke Yachi
  • Imamshafi Aliev vs. Mike Shipman
  • Aspen Ladd vs. Katerina Shakalova
  • Asael Adjoudj vs. Bruno Fonte

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator Champions Series: Paris.

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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Bellator 297 video: Ramazan Kuramagomedov blasts Jaleel Willis with pinpoint knee for KO

The Bellator 297 prelims saw some nasty violence as Ramazan Kuramagomedov landed a brutal knee knockout in his debut.

CHICAGO – [autotag]Ramazan Kuramagomedov[/autotag] has officially arrived in Bellator.

After being at top of the international welterweight talent prospect pool for years, Kuramagomedov (11-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) finally made his promotional debut in style Friday at Winstar Arena when he knocked out [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) at 1:24 of Round 1.

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The finish began with a beautifully brutal and perfectly-timed knee in the clinch. When Kuramagomedov landed, Willis crashed to the canvas. Kuramagomedov pounded away until referee Rob Madrigal intervened.

Kuramagomedov, 26, preserves his perfect record with his second career knockout. On the flip side of the equation, Willis has now lost three of his most recent four.

The up-to-the-minute Bellator 297 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297 weigh-in results: Patricio Freire lighter than necessary for bantamweight debut

Check out the results from the official Bellator 297 fighter weigh-ins in Chicago.

CHICAGO – MMA Junkie was on scene at Friday’s official Bellator 297 fighter weigh-ins, which took place at the Bellator host hotel in Chicago.

The nearby Wintrust Arena hosts Friday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Among those who weighed in were light heavyweight champion [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) and challenger [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), who meet in the main event. Both fighters made weight. Nemkov was first of all the fighters to take the scale and weighed 203.8. Minutes later, Romero weighed 205 with a towel, which created a comedic moment with Bellator fighter operations’ Burt Watson.

Bantamweight champ [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) and featherweight titleholder [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA), who is trying for Bellator history with a title in a third division, also took to the scales.

Much buzz was made about Freire’s move to bantamweight, but Friday he proved any doubters wrong when he came in lighter than needed – at 134.2 pounds. Pettis affirmed his reputation as a professional when he came in even lighter, at 134 pounds.

The weigh-ins were rapid-fire to start, as 29 athletes weighed in during the first 15 minutes of the one-hour window. Welterweight [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) was the lone fighter outside of the initial burst, but he made 171 with the towel.

The full Bellator 297 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (Showtime (9 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Vadim Nemkov (203.8) vs. Yoel Romero (205) – for light heavyweight title
  • Champ Sergio Pettis (134) vs. Patricio Freire (134.2) – for bantamweight title
  • Corey Anderson (205) vs. Phil Davis (206)
  • Daniel James (265) vs. Gokhan Saricam (246)

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)

  • Wladmir Gouvea (264) vs. Gabriel Sayeg (261)
  • Kyle Crutchmer (171) vs. Bobby Nash (171)
  • Pieter Buist (156) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (156)
  • Ramazan Kuramagomedov (170) vs. Jaleel Willis (171)
  • Mike Hamel (155) vs. Shamil Nikaev (156)
  • Norbert Novenyi Jr. (185) vs. Kamil Oniszczuk (186)
  • Archie Colgan (155) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (155)
  • Karl Moore (205) vs. Alex Polizzi (204)
  • Timur Khizriev (145) vs. Richie Smullen (145)
  • Jordan Newman (186) vs. Matthew Perry (184)
  • Edwin Chavez (146) vs. Cody Law (145)

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

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

Bellator 293 weigh-in results: One main card bout canceled but all others on weight

Check out the results from the official Bellator 293 fighter weigh-ins in Temecula, Calif.

Official weigh-ins for Bellator 293 took place Thursday at the Bellator host hotel.

The nearby Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif., hosts Friday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

All fighters who actually made it to the scale Thursday made weight.

Among those who weighed in were [autotag]Marcelo Golm[/autotag] (10-3 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Daniel James[/autotag] (14-6-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), who meet in the heavyweight main event, and [autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), who fight in the women’s featherweight contenders bout co-feature.

A welterweight fight between [autotag]Rustam Khabilov[/autotag] (24-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) was canceled minutes before weigh-ins. Willis’ manager Matt Weibel, of First Round Management, tweeted the cancellation was due to an issue on Khabilov’s side.

As a result of the cancellation, [autotag]Archie Colgan[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Justin Montalvo[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) has been elevated to the main card.

The full Bellator 293 weigh-in results include:

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

  • Marcelo Golm (257.6) vs. Daniel James (265.4)
  • Leah McCourt (145.4) vs. Cat Zingano (145.2)
  • Aaron Jeffery (185.2) vs. John Salter (185.8)
  • Sullivan Cauley (205.8) vs. Luke Trainer (205.2)
  • Archie Colgan (155.4) vs. Justin Montalvo (154.4)

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

  • Mandel Nallo (154.8) vs. Adam Piccolotti (156)
  • Jeff Creighton (169.8) vs. Joey Davis (169.2)
  • Lucas Brennan (145.4) vs. Josh San Diego (146)
  • Lance Gibson Jr. (156) vs. Vladimir Tokov (155.2)
  • Sara Collins (145.8) vs. Pam Sorenson (145.2)
  • Rakim Cleveland (240.4) vs. Christian Edwards (237.8)
  • Nick Browne (155.6) vs. Mike Hamel (155.6)
  • Ashley Cummins (119.2) vs. Randi Field (120) – 120-pound contract weight
  • Brandon Carrillo (135.4) vs. Bryce Meredith (135.6)
  • Maria Henderson (115.4) vs. Mackenzie Stiller (115.4)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 293.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 23-29)

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 Jan. 23-29.

Jaleel Willis says welterweights better be prepared for him after Bellator 289

After back-to-back losses, former LFA champion Jaleel Willis was worried that another loss might have him on the outs with Bellator.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – After back-to-back losses, former LFA champion [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] was worried that another loss might have him on the outs with Bellator.

“This whole camp, this whole year I’ve been thinking I’ve been underperforming in my contract,” Willis told MMA Junkie after Bellator 289 on Friday. “I’ve got to get back with it. Scott Coker doesn’t have me here to be losing and stuff like that. I had to make sure I put a big stamp (on my performance), or at least go out and die trying.”

The stamp for Willis (16-4 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) was a dominant win over Kyle Crutchmer (9-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) in Uncasville, Conn. Crutchmer was roughly a 3-1 favorite in the fight, but Willis outstruck him by a factor of nearly 4-1 and stuffed all 12 of the standout wrestler’s takedown attempts.

“I think I respected his power a little too much and waited on the wrestling a little too much, but once that second round came along, I started feeling good,” Willis said. “… I knew I was going to stuff some takedowns, but I didn’t think I was going to stuff all of them. My coaches, they believed in me and let me know: ‘He’s going to shoot 10 times, and we’re going to stuff 11.'”

To hear Willis talk about his win over Crutchmer, his preparation for it and what he wants next, check out the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 289.

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Bellator 289 post-event facts: Underdogs shine on final card of 2022

Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 289, which took place Friday and saw a number of significant betting upsets.

Bellator put on its 17th and final event of the year on Friday with Bellator 289, which took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Two champions defended their titles at the top of the card. In the main event, [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) edged [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) by split decision in their grudge match to defend interim bantamweight gold and advance to the finals of the promotion’s grand prix.

The co-headliner saw [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (18-7 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) earn a second consecutive win over [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA), this time without controversy as she scored a second-round submission to defend women’s flyweight gold.

For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 289.

Bellator 289: Best photos from Connecticut

Check out these photos from the fights at Bellator 289 in Uncasville, Conn.

Check out these photos from the fights at Bellator 289, headlined by an interim bantamweight title and grand prix semifinal bout between Raufeon Stots and Danny Sabatello. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)