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Check out these photos from Brendan Loughnane vs. Justin Gonzales at 2024 PFL 6 in South Dakota.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag]’s victory over Justin Gonzales in the 2024 PFL 6 main event, which took place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)
It was a nasty one. Watch Brendan Loughnane carve a giant cut on Justin Gonzales’s forehead at Friday’s 2024 PFL 6.
[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] left [autotag]Justin Gonzales[/autotag] with a huge battle scar after their meet 2024 PFL 6.
The two featherweights clashed in the main event of Friday’s card, which went down on Friday at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Loughnane won the bout by second-round TKO after landing a knee to the head of Gonzales that left him with a giant gash in the middle of his forehead.
Gonzales didn’t seem wobbled by the knee, however, the strike opened up a nasty cut that immediately began pouring blood. The referee had no option but to pause the fight to call in the cageside doctor. After checking the cut, it was clear Gonzales could not safely continue – even though he protested the stoppage.
Below, you can check out the finish of Loughnane vs. Gonzales:
Massive cut on Justin Gonzalez from a Knee!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN & ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/VAJ0mDoIyF— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 29, 2024
The ref waves it off! Brendan Clinches the #1 Seed and will face Kai Kamaka in August!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN & ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/EhycjUasN7— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 29, 2024
With this result, Loughnane punched his ticket into the 2024 PFL featherweight playoffs. He did so as the No. 1 seed of the season. The Englishman is on a two-fight winning streak since losing to Jesus Pinedo in a big upset in 2023. Meanwhile, Gonzales now finds himself on a four-fight losing streak and out of the 2024 PFL featherweight tournament.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 6.
Check out the official weigh-in results for PFL 6 from Sioux Falls, S.D.
The PFL regular season continues Friday with 2024 PFL 6, and all fights are now locked in after the official weigh-ins.
Friday’s event (ESPN/ESPN+), which takes place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. features featherweights and welterweights in their final bouts of the regular season.
In the main event, 2022 PFL featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (28-5) fights [autotag]Justin Gonzales[/autotag] (14-4). The co-main event features a welterweight bout between former Bellator champion [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag] (15-3) and [autotag]Luca Poclit[/autotag] (10-1), who enters on a nine-fight winning streak.
The full 2024 PFL 6 official weigh-ins results include:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
*Braga missed the 146-pound featherweight limit. He will receive a 1-point penalty applied to his total league points in this bout but is eligible to earn points based on the outcome. Braga also forfeits 20 percent of his show purse to Jenkins.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 6.
Three months after his father was reportedly murdered by a drug gang, Gabriel Braga returns to the PFL cage with a big TKO finish.
[autotag]Gabriel Braga[/autotag] entered 2024 PFL 3 to compete for the first time since his father’s death, and he walked away with the victory.
As the clock wound down in Round 1, Braga (13-1) drilled opponent [autotag]Justin Gonzales[/autotag] (14-4) with a clean punching combination that stopped the fight at the 4:59 mark. The win at Wintrust Arena in Chicago earned Braga six points in the 2024 featherweight regular season standings.
Braga, the 2023 runner-up, hadn’t fought since his father, Diego, was killed in Brazil in January. Reports indicated a drug gang murdered Diego while searching for a stolen motorcycle.
Diego served as his son’s head coach and mentor for his entire career, so Gabriel felt the impact both personally and professionally. In February, he withdrew on weigh-ins day from a fight vs. Bellator champion Patricio Freire as he determined he wasn’t mentally ready to compete.
Gabriel Braga!!! 6 Points!
Massive W for him and immediate emotion as he wins without his father in his corner for the first time#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸ESPN
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/UesYOjzNkW— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 20, 2024
With the victory, Braga moves to 5-1 in PFL with two finishes by strikes.
A Bellator import, Gonzales loses his PFL debut and falls into a three-fight skid.
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The up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL 3 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 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 or officially announced by the promotions from Sept. 11-17.
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 March 13-19.
Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 287 main card in Milan, Italy.
| Piccolotti vs. Barnaoui |
Edwards vs. Ward |
Rogers vs. Wilde |
Fisher vs. Gonzales |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 167-100 |
 Barnaoui (58%) |
 Edwards (73%) |
 Rogers (76%) |
 Gonzales (84%) |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 179-93  2018 Champion |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 172-100 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 170-102 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 169-103 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 169-103 2014 Champion |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 166-106 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 165-107 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 159-113 2017 Champion |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 159-113 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 152-120 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 133-138 |
Barnaoui |
Edwards |
Rogers |
Gonzales |
Bellator is back in Italy this week with a lightweight matchup at the top of the lineup.
Bellator 287 takes place Saturday at Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, Italy. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, [autotag]Adam Piccolotti[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 9-4 BMMA) takes on promotional newcomer [autotag]Mansour Barnaoui[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at lightweight. Barnaoui is a slight betting favorite around -150, and our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have him as a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.
In the co-main event [autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) is one of our three unanimous picks on the main card in his middleweight fight against [autotag]Charlie Ward[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA). Edwards is the brother of new UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards; Ward is a teammate of Conor McGregor. Edwards is as much as a 6-1 favorite and an 11-0 pick from our staff members.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Saul Rogers[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) is a 4-1 favorite in his lightweight bout against [autotag]Tim Wilde[/autotag] (14-4-1 MMA, 2-1-1 BMMA). Rogers is our second unanimous pick on the main card.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Justin Gonzales[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) is nearly a 3-1 favorite in his featherweight bout against [autotag]Andrew Fisher[/autotag] (19-8-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA). Gonzales is our third 11-0 pick
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Barnaoui (58 percent), Edwards (73 percent), Rogers (76 percent) and Gonzales (84 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 287.
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The event in Honolulu features Cris Cyborg vs. Arlene Blencowe, Juan Archuleta vs. Raufeon Stots, Patchy Mix vs. Kyoji Horiguchi, and more.
HONOLULU – The pre-fight necessities are in the books for the second of two Bellator events this week, and all that’s left to do is fight.
The Bellator 279 fighters got face to face for the first and only time, officially at least, at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins. Included in that mix were headliners [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] (25-2 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Arlene Blencowe[/autotag] (15-8 MMA, 8-4 BMMA), who fight for Cyborg’s women’s featherweight title.
A few quick words were exchanged, though seemingly nothing personal. Cyborg sported artistically-worked facepaint of the Brazilian flag.
The most intense faceoff was between co-main eventers [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (25-3 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), who compete in an interim bantamweight title fight that doubles as a grand prix quarterfinal. The other quarterfinalists competing Saturday, [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (29-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) had a lighter mood as the two flexed and shook hands.
Former women’s flyweight champion and Hawaii native [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) showed a sign of respect to opponent [autotag]Justine Kish[/autotag] (7-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) when she presented her with a lei.
Saturday’s card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu is the second of back-to-back Bellator events in Hawaii’s capital city. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. Check out all the faceoffs for Bellator 279 in the video above.
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Former LFA champion Justin Gonzales isn’t used to losing and doesn’t want it to happen again.
HONOLULU – [autotag]Justin Gonzales[/autotag] comes into Bellator 279 with a sour taste in his mouth, but one he’s ready to wash out as soon as possible.
For the first time in his professional career, Gonzales (12-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) enters a fight coming off a loss, a unanimous decision defeat to Aaron Pico at Bellator 271 in November. Defeat stung.
“I took that loss pretty personal,” Gonzales told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference. “It was the first one of my career. Obviously, I take it personal. I didn’t like it. I hate losing. It doesn’t matter if it’s chess. It’s doesn’t matter if it’s cards. It doesn’t matter if it’s a race. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fight. I hate that sh*t. I hate losing.”
At Bellator 279, Gonzales has a chance to restart his momentum when he fights King (11-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) in lightweight prelim bout. While a loss is a loss, Gonzales thinks he accurately identified and adjusted the necessary fixes.
“I took it personal, took some time, reanalyzed some things, focused on some things, and we weren’t too far off. I’m better than ever. (I’ve) evolved, grown, ready to handle some business.”
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Gonzales, a former LFA champion, now has a chance to further put the loss behind him when he fights former UFC fighter Kai Kamaka (9-4-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), a home-state fighter, on the Bellator 279 prelims.
“If I’ve got to beat this dude up on the feet, then so be it. I’ll beat him up on the feet. If I’ve got to wrestle him (or) break him down, then that’s what’s going to happen. Kai is tough. He’s a gamer. He’s going to bring the fight. I know that. Especially being here in Hawaii, he wants to put on a show. But in my eyes, I’m just all-around better than him – so I’m going to f*ck him up.”
Bellator 279 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
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Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 271, which took place Friday and saw Cris Cyborg defend her title in 92 seconds.
[autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] continued her reign of terror on Friday with another dominant title defense against [autotag]Sinead Kavanagh[/autotag] in the Bellator 271 main event.
Cyborg (25-2 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) recorded her third consecutive defense when she stopped Kavanagh (7-5 MMA, 4-5 BMMA) by knockout just 92 seconds into the headliner, which took place at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
For more on the numbers, check below for 35 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 271.
