Tag: Johnny Eblen

Bellator 272 pre-event facts: Kyoji Horiguchi returns with historic resume

Check out all the facts and figures behind Bellator 272, which takes place Friday with Sergio Pettis vs. Kyoji Horiguchi in the main event.

Bellator closes out its 2021 event schedule on Friday with Bellator 272, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and has a main card that airs on Showtime following prelims streamed on MMA Junkie.

A highly anticipated bantamweight title fight headlines the card. Champion [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) will attempt to make his first defense against former titleholder [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (29-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who will attempt to regain the belt he was forced to vacate in November 2019 due to a knee injury.

For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 20 pre-event facts about Bellator 272.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Nov. 1-7)

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.

Bellator 272 adds Jay Jay Wilson’s lightweight debut vs. Alfie Davis, three other fights

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:

  • Champ Sergio Pettis vs. Kyoji Horiguchi – for featherweight title
  • Jeremy Kennedy vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
  • Johnny Eblen vs. Collin Huckbody
  • Josh Hill vs. Jared Scoggins
  • John de Jesus vs. Keoni Diggs
  • Killys Mota vs. Mike Hamel
  • Levan Chokheli vs. Vinicius de Jesus
  • Tommy Espinosa vs. Jornel Lugo
  • Bobby King vs. Alexander Shabliy
  • Dan Moret vs. Ricardo Seixas
  • Alfie Davis vs. Jay Jay Wilson
  • Kyle Crutchmer vs. Oliver Enkamp

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Bellator 262 faceoff video highlights: Juliana Velasquez, Denise Kielholtz take long look

Neither woman wanted to back down ahead of their flyweight title fight.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator makes its return Friday, and the women’s flyweight title will be on the line.

Bellator 262 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Atop the bill is 125-pound champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] making her first title defense against [autotag]Denise Kielholtz[/autotag].

The co-main event features two friends fighting each other as heavyweights [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag] will meet inside the cage.

Following Thursday’s official Bellator 262 weigh-ins, the athletes came face to face for some traditional pre-fight staredowns.

Check out the faceoffs below, including Velasquez vs. Kielholtz, Fortune vs. Mitrione, the return of [autotag]Diana Asvaragova[/autotag], and more.

Bellator 258 post-event facts: Michael Page is the new Bellator knockout king

Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 258, including Michael Page’s takeover of the company KO record.

Bellator saw its first title change of the year happen on Friday in the Bellator 258 headliner.

[autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) claimed the bantamweight title from [autotag]Juan Archuleta [/autotag](25-3 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) in their main event clash, taking a unanimous decision at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

For more on the numbers, check below for 20 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 258.

Henry Corrales vs. Keith Lee among three additions to Bellator 258

Three fights have been added to Bellator’s first 2021 event.

The bantamweight theme continues for Bellator 258.

Like the first three additions to the May 7 card, the fourth is also a fight between two of the promotion’s 135-pound notables. [autotag]Henry Corrales[/autotag] and [autotag]Keith Lee[/autotag] are set to square off at the event, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

[autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Daniel Madrid[/autotag] (18-6 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at middleweight, and [autotag]Weber Almeida[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Johnny Soto[/autotag] (3-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at featherweight, also have been added to the preliminary card.

Bellator officials confirmed the bookings to MMA Junkie on Tuesday. All three fights first were reported by Sherdog.

Corrales (18-5 MMA, 6-5 BMMA) drops to bantamweight for the first time in his Bellator career. The move down a weight class comes after a split decision win over Brandon Girtz at Bellator 250 in October. Corrales is 1-2 in his most recent three appearances.

Lee (7-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) most recently competed at Bellator 253 in November when his four-fight winning streak was snapped by Raufeon Shots via unanimous decision. The loss was Lee’s first in Bellator. He holds promotional wins over Vinicius Zani and Shawn Bunch.

With the addition, the Bellator 258 lineup includes:

  • Champion Juan Archuleta vs. Sergio Pettis – for bantamweight title
  • James Gallagher vs. Patchy Mix
  • Josh Hill vs. Raufeon Stots
  • Henry Corrales vs. Keith Lee
  • Johnny Eblen vs. Daniel Madrid
  • Weber Almeida vs. Johnny Soto

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Bellator 250 adds Nick Newell vs. Zach Zane, two other fights to lineup

Three fights have been added to the Bellator 250 lineup, including Nick Newell’s return.

The Bellator 250 lineup is now three fights deeper.

Among the additions are a lightweight rebooking between [autotag]Nick Newell[/autotag] and [autotag]Zach Zane[/autotag], a middleweight matchup between [autotag]Taylor Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag], as well as a featherweight fight between [autotag]Cody Law[/autotag] and [autotag]Orlando Ortega[/autotag].

Bellator 250 takes place Thursday, Oct. 29 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network after prelims on CBSsports.com.

A promotion official confirmed the three bookings to MMA Junkie on Tuesday after initial reports from MMA Fighting (Newell-Zane), Fansided (Johnson-Eblen), and MyMMANews (Law-Ortega).

Newell (16-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and Zane (14-9 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) were originally scheduled to fight at Bellator 241 in March. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the card was canceled hours before the first prelim was scheduled to take place.

Newell, 34, will look to rebound from his first loss in Bellator – a split decision defeat to Manny Muro at Bellator 232 in October. As for Zane, he’ll aim to keep his winning ways alive after earning a unanimous decision victory over Nainoa Dung at Bellator 236 in December.

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Johnson (6-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was last seen on Sept. 11 at Bellator 245, submitting Ed Ruth with a heel hook submission in 59 seconds. As for Eblen (6-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), the Jorge Masvidal protege is undefeated and has finished four of his six pro victories.

A former wrestling standout at Penn State University, Law (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will make the jump to MMA’s big leagues for his professional debut. Dropping to featherweight, Law will take on Ortega (3-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) who is moving up from bantamweight.

With the additions, the Bellator 250 lineup includes:

  • Gegard Mousasi vs. Douglas Lima – for the Bellator welterweight title
  • Sabah Homasi vs. Bobby Voelker
  • Nick Newell vs. Zach Zane
  • Johnny Eblen vs. Taylor Johnson
  • Cody Law vs. Orlando Ortega

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