Tag: Kai Kamaka

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.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 17-23)

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 Oct. 17-23.

Four fights added to Bellator 289, including return of Dalton Rosta

Bellator 289 takes place Dec. 9 and is headlined by two title fights, including the Danny Sabatello vs. Raufeon Stots grudge match.

Bellator has added four new fights to its final event of 2022.

Scheduled for Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., Bellator 289 already featured two bantamweight grand prix fights and a women’s flyweight title fight. Now, its undercard is filling up, too.

Most notably, a middleweight bout between rising contender [autotag]Dalton Rosta[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Anthony Adams[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take place.

Rosta, 26, is undefeated as a professional. In his most recent outing, Rosta dominated blue-chip wrestling prospect Romero Cotton en route to a third-round knockout. Meanwhile, Adams upset former UFC fighter Khalid Murtazaliev via unanimous decision in his Bellator debut in September 2021 and has not competed since.

A promotion official recently notified MMA Junkie of the addition, as well as [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Shamil Nikaev[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at lightweight, [autotag]Cass Bell[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Jared Scoggins[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) at bantamweight, and [autotag]Kevin Boehm[/autotag] (9-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag] (9-5-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).

The Boehm vs. Kamaka bout was first reported by BellatorZone.

With the additions, the Bellator 289 lineup includes:

  • Champion Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello – bantamweight grand prix semifinal for interim title
  • Champion Liz Carmouche vs. Juliana Velasquez – for women’s flyweight title
  • Magomed Magomedov vs. Patchy Mix – bantamweight grand prix semifinal
  • Anthony Adams vs. Dalton Rosta
  • Chris Gonzalez vs. Shamil Nikaev
  • Cody Law vs. Cris Lencioni
  • Cass Bell vs. Jared Scoggings
  • Mark Lemminger vs. Michael Lombardo
  • Kevin Boehm vs. Kai Kamaka
  • Theo Haig vs. Kareem Kline

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Bellator 279 ceremonial weigh-in faceoffs video: Title fights, grand prix bouts, and more

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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Kai Kamaka’s UFC release ‘lit a fire’ to get back to winning ways at Bellator 272

Kai Kamaka rebounded with a unanimous decision win at Bellator 272 after leaving the UFC earlier this year.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – To say [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag] has been down for the past year would be a fair statement.

Kamaka, 26, didn’t have things go his way during a brief UFC tenure. He won his promotional debut in August 2020 to push his streak to six before losing his next two bouts (by TKO and split decision) and then fighting to a majority draw with Danny Chavez on July 31. All of this led to Kamaka leaving the UFC.

Enter Bellator, which first gave Kamaka (9-4-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) a chance in 2018. He re-signed with the promotion in September and on Friday got back to his winning ways with a unanimous decision over John de Jesus – a relief, to say the least.

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“It feels great,” Kamaka told reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage at Mohegan Sun Arena. “Great to not just be back fighting and being busy, but a win – finally. …

“Mentally, I was just more confused (after leaving the UFC). I knew that I’m still young, I have a lot of skill, and I come to scrap. I knew I was gonna be fighting. I was just battling with myself mentally. But there was no hiccup in my skill or anything like that. I’m just glad to be back, glad to be winning.”

Watch Kamaka’s full post-fight interview in the video above to hear more of his thoughts on his performance and getting back on track.

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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.

UFC parts ways with Kai Kamaka after majority draw against Danny Chavez

After a string of bad luck, Kai Kamaka is no longer a UFC fighter.

After a string of bad luck, [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag] is no longer a UFC fighter.

Kamaka (8-4-1 MMA, 1-2-1 UFC) went 1-2-1 under the UFC banner, with his lone octagon win coming in his promotional debut, a “Fight of the Night” war against Tony Kelley at UFC 252.

MMA Junkie confirmed the news of Kamaka’s split with the UFC on Thursday after an initial report from MMA Island. Kamaka fought out his four-fight contract with the promotion.

In his most recent octagon appearance, the 26-year-old Hawaiian battled to a majority draw with Danny Chavez at UFC on ESPN 28 in July, a bout in which he stepped in on short notice to replace an injured Doo Ho Choi. Kamaka was penalized for an inadvertent groin strike and eye poke, which resulted in a point deduction and led to the draw.

A Bellator and LFA alum, Kamaka signed with the UFC in August 2020 after putting together a five-fight winning streak.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (July 19-25)

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 July 19-25:

Dooho Choi ‘so sorry’ to withdraw from UFC on ESPN 28; Kai Kamaka to fight Danny Chavez

Dooho Choi won’t be making his long-awaited return to the octagon on July 31, and Danny Chavez will now face Kai Kamaka.

[autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag] won’t be making his long-awaited return to the octagon July 31 after all.

Choi (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) has been forced out of UFC on ESPN 28 due to injury, and [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag] (8-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will step in on short notice to face [autotag]Danny Chavez[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report from MMA Island.

“The Korean Superboy” took to Instagram to release a statement on his withdrawal, claiming that a shoulder injury forced him to pull out. Choi hasn’t competed since December 2019 when he was stopped by Charles Jourdain in the second round. The loss marked Choi’s third in a row, but he was able to secure “Fight of the Night” bonuses in all three setbacks.

First of all, I’m so sorry for the fans who are waiting for my fight because I couldn’t have a fight due to injury. I’m in a fight business. That means an unexpected accident can happen at any time and I also think a fighter should take the fight even if he has a some injury because that is way it is.
I injured my shoulder in the last sparring session on Friday night. It was very light and easy rolling but something bad unlucky thing happened.
It is not a huge injury, but definitely it isn’t something that can handle the fight. If I had more time for recover, I would push forward and take the fight, but our camp inevitable decided that two weeks were just too shorts to recover.
I’m so sad that I prepared for this fight very hard and I apologize Danny because he must have prepared so hard for this battle as well.
I’ll be back in good condition soon, I really want to fight Danny when I get back show my best performance for the fans. Wait till I come back it will not be long.

After prevailing in a thrilling “Fight of the Night” battle with Tony Kelley in his UFC debut, Hawaii’s Kamaka has dropped his past two in a row to Jonathan Pearce, and most recently a split decision to T.J. Brown at UFC on ESPN 23 in May.

Meanwhile, Chavez has split his first two UFC appearances. Winner of four of his past five, “The Colombian Warrior” scored a unanimous decision over T.J. Brown but saw his winning streak snapped in his past outing in February when he was defeated by Jared Gordon.

With the changes, the UFC on ESPN 28 lineup includes:

  • Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland
  • Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt
  • Jinh Yu Frey vs. Ashley Yoder
  • Rafa Garcia vs. Chris Gruetzemacher
  • Collin Anglin vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
  • Orion Cosce vs. Phillip Rowe
  • Cheyanne Buys vs. Gloria de Paula
  • Mounir Lazzez vs. Niklas Stolze
  • Kyung Ho Kang vs. Rani Yahya
  • Danny Chavez vs. Kai Kamaka
  • Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell
  • Nicco Montano vs. Wu Yanan
  • Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit
  • Sam Alvey vs. Roman Kopylov
  • Trevin Jones vs. Ronnie Lawrence

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Manager to appeal Kai Kamaka’s controversial loss to TJ Brown at UFC on ESPN 23

Kai Kamaka’s manager will file an appeal following his client’s controversial loss at UFC on ESPN 23.

[autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag]’s manager will file an appeal following his client’s controversial loss at UFC on ESPN 23.

Kamaka (8-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) dropped a split decision to TJ Brown (15-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) this past Saturday. Judge Adalaide Byrd awarded him all three rounds, but judges Sal D’Amato and Mike Bell scored it 2-1 in favor of Brown, giving him the first and third rounds.

All 12 media members scoring the night’s contests as tracked by MMADecisions.com awarded the fight to Kamaka, but the official result read otherwise. According to MMA Fighting, Kamaka’s manager, Brian Butler, will file an appeal with the Nevada Athletic Commission on Monday with hopes of getting the result overturned.

“Tomorrow we will be filing an appeal for the blatantly horrible decision against Kai Kamaka,” Butler told MMA Fighting. “I don’t believe I have seen one media outlet that gave that fight to TJ, and from what I understand, even TJ and his team say they didn’t win. There is little to no recourse on these judges not being able to do their jobs properly, and for a fighter like Kai who moved his entire household from Hawaii to pursue this career, it’s simply not right.

“I’m not suggesting that the fight wasn’t competitive, but that doesn’t mean it was hard to see that Kai won every round of that fight. Our hope is that if they won’t overturn the decision, the commission will at least review the fight with us and explain to us where Kai lost.”

It’s historically rare for a decision to get overturned, and Kamaka’s team is aware of that. His head coach Eric Nicksick explained he just wants the judges to give an explanation for their decision.

“The chances this gets overturned is slim to none. So why bother you ask? Well, if this means that these judges have to go before a review board and justify what they saw and why they made this decision, and it’s an inconvenience to their day, then good.”

Kamaka, who’s now dropped two straight, also gave his thoughts on his controversial loss to Brown.

“Last night 2 judges didn’t see it my way. It was a very competitive fight with both winning and losing moments. With that being said, I do feel that I won based on the criteria of our sport. Thank you to TJ Brown for a great scrap!!!”

While the judging of the contest has been hotly debated, according to UFC Stats (which judges do not have access to when assessing the bout), Brown did land 82 significant strikes over the course of the three-round contest, compared to 61 for Kamaka. Brown was also credited with two takedowns in the bout, while Kamaka was awarded just one.

In the rounds that were given to Brown, he was also credited with a striking advantage, including 34 strikes in Round 1 to Kamaka’s 22, as well as a 24-to-13 edge in Round 3.

UFC on ESPN 23 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire card aired on ESPN2.

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