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 or officially announced by the promotions from Aug. 28-Sept. 3.
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 Feb. 27-March 5.
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.
Patricio Freire added to his records for most wins and title-fight victories in Bellator history with a dominant defense at Bellator 286.
The final stretch of Bellator’s 2022 schedule kicked off Saturday with Bellator 286, which took place at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and featured a 13-fight lineup.
The main event saw the most decorated fighter in company history further enhance his legacy when [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (34-5 MMA, 22-5 BMMA) cruised to a lopsided unanimous decision over [autotag]Adam Borics[/autotag] (18-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) to defend his featherweight title for the first time in what’s his third title reign in the division.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 286.
Former featherweight Jay Jay Wilson thinks the move to lightweight for Bellator 276 might be a permanent one.
After a pair of previous fight bookings fell apart, New Zealand’s [autotag]Jay Jay Wilson[/autotag] is excited to fight again for a few reasons.
At Bellator 276, Wilson (8-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) will return to action to face Gadzhi Rabadanov (16-4-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in the first lightweight bout of his career. The move could very well be a permanent one for the undefeated fighter, who has enjoyed the camp leading into this fight without having to worry about the number on the scale.
“This week has definitely not been as rough,” Wilson told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Thursday’s media day. “Usually by this time I’m pretty dead, but I still got energy, you know? I was hitting pads. I’ve only got about five more pounds to cut, so it’s going to be an easy, easy weight cut.”
In what would have been Wilson’s second fight of 2021, he was scheduled to face Adam Borics in the co-main event of Bellator 265. However, he missed weight and the fight was canceled after refusing the “ridiculous deal” Borics proposed that he says would have left him fighting for free.
This time around, everything appears in place, as Wilson enters his first fight of 2022. The exciting finisher has stopped six of his seven Bellator opponents, four of which were bouts that did not make it out of the first round.
Check out Wilson’s full media day interview in the video above.
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All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken 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 Feb. 7-13.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken 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. 1-7.
Four fights have been added to Bellator 272.
[autotag]Jay Jay Wilson[/autotag] has his next test scheduled and it’s at a new weight class.
Recent struggles on the scales have forced Wilson (8-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA), a top featherweight contender, up a division to lightweight where he’ll face [autotag]Alfie Davis[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) at Bellator 272. The event takes place Friday, Dec. 3 at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
In addition, a welterweight battle between former Oklahoma State University wrestling standout [autotag]Kyle Crutchmer[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) and former UFC fighter [autotag]Oliver Enkamp[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) has been added to the card.
A promotion official informed MMA Junkie of the two bookings Monday and confirmed two previously-announced bouts: [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] (9-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Collin Huckbody[/autotag] (10-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), and [autotag]Dan Moret[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Ricardo Seixas[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), the latter of which was first reported by TSN.
Wilson, 24, missed weight for the third time in four fights when he came in 4.4 pounds heavy for his scheduled Bellator 265 bout vs. Adam Borics in August. As a result, the fight was canceled and Wilson announced shortly thereafter his move to 155 pounds.
Despite his struggles on the scales, Wilson hasn’t struggled to succeed inside the cage. Undefeated as a professional, Wilson has wins over Pedro Carvalho and Tywan Claxton among others.
As for Davis, the United Kingdom-based fighter is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Shabliy at Bellator 259 in May. The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak.
With the additions, the Bellator 272 lineup includes:
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Check out the results from the official Bellator 265 fighter weigh-ins.
The weigh-ins are in the books for Bellator 265, where the heavyweight headliners are set – but there was one key major miss.
In the co-main event, [autotag]Adam Borics[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) was on the featherweight mark at 145.6 pounds. But his opponnent, [autotag]Jay Jay Wilson[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA), missed weight for the third time in four fights. And this time, it was his biggest miss yet. Wilson came in at 150.4 pounds, more than 4 pounds heavier than the featherweight non-title maximum of 146.
As a result, the Borics-Wilson fight has been scrapped, a Bellator official told MMA Junkie. Borics will be paid his show money, the official said. The welterweight fight between Dante Schiro and Logan Storley will be elevated to the co-main event and the main card will go on with four fights on the broadcast instead of five.
In the main event, Cheick Kongo (30-11-2 MMA, 12-3 BMMA) weighed in at 247 pounds. His opponent, Sergei Kharitonov (23-8 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), was 264.8 – just shy of the heavyweight max.
The weigh-ins took place at the Bellator host hotel in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Sanford Pentagon hosts Friday’s event. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
The full Bellator 265 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
*Wilson missed the featherweight limit. His fight vs. Borics was canceled as a result.
Jay Jay Wilson wasted no time in the second round.
[autotag]Jay Jay Wilson[/autotag] keeps rising up the Bellator ranks.
The promising featherweight picked up his seventh Bellator win on Friday night at Bellator 257 in Uncasville, Conn. Wilson (8-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) stopped SBG Ireland’s Pedro Carvalho by second-round TKO in the preliminary card opener of the night.
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Wilson scored a finish to remember, as he caught Carvalho with a spinning backfist right off the bat in the second round and then swarmed him with punches and ground-and-pound to pick up the stoppage victory. The 23-year-old Wilson is quickly becoming one of the hottest prospects in Bellator at 145 pounds.
Below you can check out Wilson’s finish of Carvalho (via Twitter):
Beautiful spinning hellbow from @TheMaoriKid1!@MonsterEnergy prelims fueled by @FiestaMart LIVE NOW on our YouTube channel.#Bellator257
👀 https://t.co/6XUzTMf7eX pic.twitter.com/dkPwoa7M5a
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 16, 2021
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