Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Dakota Ditcheva vs. Jena Bishop at 2024 PFL Playoffs 1 in Nashville, Tenn.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Dakota Ditcheva[/autotag]’s victory over Jena Bishop in their women’s flyweight semifinals bout at 2024 PFL Playoffs 1, which took place at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Dakota Ditcheva might be the biggest star in PFL – and Friday she showed a little nasty.
[autotag]Dakota Ditcheva[/autotag] is one win away from the $1 million prize.
Friday at PFL Playoffs 1, Ditcheva (13-0) finished opponent [autotag]Jena Bishop[/autotag] (7-2) with a big knee and punches to advance to the women’s flyweight final against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Taila Santos[/autotag]. The stoppage came at 3:54 of Round 1.
2024 PFL Playoffs 1 took place at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
PFL’s poster girl for homegrown talent, Ditcheva, 26, was taken down early in the round. However, she worked her way to the feet and eventually landed a big knee to Bishop’s dome. Bishop dropped to the canvas and Ditcheva waved her back up. Bishop obliged, but backpedaled once on the feet. Ditcheva stalked her and dropped her with one big punch.
Referee Blake Grice stepped in and Ditcheva shushed the down Bishop and the crowd.
Dakota Ditcheva gets it done in 1 round! She's going to the #PFLWorldChampionship!!!
[ 🇺🇸 LIVE NOW ESPN & ESPN+ | #PFLPlayoffs | #PFLNashville | https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI ] pic.twitter.com/gCB4gB9gsB
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 3, 2024
After the fight, Ditcheva gave a spicy in-cage interview where she said, “We don’t do no split decisions around here,” and blasted Bishop and company for alleged comments in the lead-up to the fight.
MIC DROP from Dakota Ditcheva!! 🤫🤫
[ 🇺🇸 LIVE NOW ESPN & ESPN+ |#PFLPlayoffs | #PFLNashville | https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI ] pic.twitter.com/0UFHUmOiHG
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 3, 2024
Ditcheva then square off with Santos (22-3), who defeated Liz Carmouche earlier on the card. They’ll fight later this year.
🏴 Dakota Ditcheva vs Taila Santos 🇧🇷
The first face off!
[ 🇺🇸 LIVE NOW ESPN & ESPN+ |#PFLPlayoffs | #PFLNashville | https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI ] pic.twitter.com/LJflr7gcpf
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 3, 2024
In 13 pro appearances, Ditcheva has tallied 12 finishes including 11 TKOs.
Bishop falls into a two-fight skid. In June, she lost a split decision to Taila Santos but still qualified for the playoffs via the season point system.
The up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL Playoffs 1 results include:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Playoffs 1.
Check out the full 2024 PFL Playoffs 1 weigh-in results, which includes Liz Carmouche missing weight for the first time in her career.
The PFL playoffs get underway Friday, and a few fighters missed weight at the official weigh-ins for 2024 PFL Playoffs 1.
Friday’s event (ESPN/ESPN+), which takes place at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., features heavyweight and women’s flyweight playoff bouts on the main card.
In the main event, No. 1 seed [autotag]Denis Goltsov[/autotag] (34-8) takes on [autotag]Tim Johnson[/autotag] (18-9). The co-main event features a women’s flyweight bout between undefeated No. 1 seed [autotag]Dakota Ditcheva[/autotag] (12-0) and [autotag]Jena Bishop[/autotag] (7-1).
The lone fighter to come in heavy at the official weigh-ins was [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (22-7), who missed weight for the first time in her career, weighing in at 127 pounds. For the miss, she will be deducted one point on the scorecards in her bout against fellow UFC vet Taila Santos, and will be fined 20 percent of her purse.
The one-point deduction will only be for league advancement purposes, and will not affect the official commission result, per PFL officials.
Also, three other prelim fighters came in heavy: Sergio Cossio, Jaleel Willis and Anthony Ivy.
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The full 2024 PFL Playoffs 1 official weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
*Carmouche missed the 125-pound flyweight limit. She will receive a 1-point deduction on the scorecards should her fight against Santos go to a decision. Carmouche also forfeits 20 percent of her show purse to Santos.
**Cossio missed the 155-pound lightweight limit. He forfeits 20 percent of his show purse to Sanders.
***Willis and Ivy both missed the 170-pound welterweight limit.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Playoffs 1.
Check out these photos from Taila Santos vs. Jena Bishop at 2024 PFL 4 in Uncasville, Conn.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Taila Santos[/autotag]’ win over Jena Bishop at 2024 PFL 4 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Bellator import Jena Bishop notched six points in her PFL debut when she slickly tapped Chelsea Hackett with an armbar.
[autotag]Jena Bishop[/autotag] left her PFL debut with six points and a victory.
At 2024 PFL 1 on Thursday at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Bishop (7-0) submitted [autotag]Chelsea Hackett[/autotag] (4-2-1) with an armbar at 4:15 of Round 1.
The fight was the first regular season bout for the women’s flyweight division. Bishop maximized her potential points with six, as a result of the finish coming inside the first five minutes.
QUICK 6️⃣! Bishop goes straight to the top of the Women's Flyweight Standings!!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/EQqsUM1G5I— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 4, 2024
Keep your eye on Jena Bishop in the season! She is Smoooooth#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/wdEFOGE3Bv— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 4, 2024
A Bellator import, Bishop was rising through the division when the merger between the promotion and PFL transpired. Rather than remain on the Bellator-branded events, Bishop was placed in the season format. The win Thursday is her fourth career submission.
Hackett signed with PFL in 2023 after an unsuccessful bid on Dana White’s Contender Series. She made her promotional debut in August when she submitted Ky Bennett.
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The up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL 1 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 1.
Jena Bishop picked up the biggest win of her career so far, and did it in the perfect spot.
SAN DIEGO – [autotag]Jena Bishop[/autotag] picked up the biggest win of her career so far, and did it in the perfect spot.
At Bellator 300 this past Saturday, Bishop (6-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) submitted Ilara Joanne (11-8 MMA, 3-4 BMMA), from Brazil, with a first-round armbar. With nearly 20 pro fights on her resume, Joanne nearly has as much experience as Joanne’s first five opponents combined.
Bishop spoke to the media following her win over Joanne, which came in front of a friendly crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, where she bases her training.
Watch Bishop’s full post-fight interview in the video above.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.
Find out how much weight all 32 fighters at Bellator 300 gained from the Friday morning official weigh-ins to Saturday night fights.
In California, fighters have their weights checked on the day of competition – not just when they have to hit their marks on the scale.
In 2017, the California State Athletic Commission put a plan in place to try to cut back on excessive weight cutting. Within those rules was a cap on how much a fighter could gain from the official weigh-ins to the fight.
If a fighter gained more than 10 percent back before the bout, the commission then could make a recommendation that he or she move to a higher weight class. If a fighter gained more than 15 percent, the commission had plans in place to potentially cancel fights.
At Bellator 300, which took place this past Saturday in San Diego, 14 of the 32 fighters on the card gained more than 10 percent of their weight back. Three of those 14 exceeded the 15 percent threshold. MMA Junkie obtained a list of fight-night weights Monday from the CSAC.
Check out the weight gains and percentages for all 32 fighters on the card at Pechanga Arena.
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 300, which saw Usman Nurmagomedov, Cris Cyborg and Liz Carmouche exit as champs.
The landmark Bellator 300 event took place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, and all three champions who entered the event left with the belts around their waists.
[autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (18-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) retained his lightweight belt in the main event and advanced to the grand prix final, [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag]’s (27-2 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) continued her dominant legacy to retain women’s featherweight gold in the co-headliner, and women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag]’s (20-7 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) scored a stoppage in the main card opener.
For more on the numbers to come out of the event, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 300.
Jena Bishop’s name may not be on the tip of every MMA fan’s tongue, but the crowd pop she’ll get Saturday likely will be legit.
SAN DIEGO – [autotag]Jena Bishop[/autotag]’s name may not be on the tip of every MMA fan’s tongue, but the crowd pop she’ll get Saturday likely will be legit.
Bishop, based in San Diego, is well known on the grappling circuit as one of the world’s finest jiu-jitsu practitioners. But Saturday, it’s all about MMA for her – and how she can use her base skill set to
Bishop talked about that and more at Thursday’s Bellator 300 media day in San Diego.
Check out the full interview in the video above. Bellator 300 takes place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The main card, which features three title fights, airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.
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 a promotion from Aug. 14-20.
