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 Sept. 4-10.
Zabit’s brother Khasan Magomedsharipov will face a new opponent at Bellator 299 – and it’s perhaps his stiffest test to date.
[autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag], the brother of former UFC star Zabit Magomedsharipov, has perhaps his stiffest test to date in front of him due to an opponent change.
At Bellator 299 on Sept. 23 in Dublin, Magomedsharipov (8-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) will now face [autotag]Piotr Niedzielski[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 1-2 BMMA), who replaces Martin McDonough, promotion officials recently informed MMA Junkie.
The event takes place at The O2 with the main card on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
Magomedsharipov, 22, has passed all of his professional tests with flying colors. His resume currently shows three knockouts, two submissions, and two decisions. He most recently competed at Bellator 291 in February when he finished Martin Hudson by first-round TKO due to ground-and-pound.
Niedzielski, 32, entered Bellator on an eight-fight winning streak and as the Babilon MMA lightweight champion. In his promotional debut, he defeated former Bellator featherweight title challenger Pedro Carvalho by split decision. He’s since dropped back-to-back decisions to Richie Smullen and Yves Landu.
With the change, the Bellator 299 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.
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.
Khasan Magomedsharipov doesn’t see too many threats in Bellator’s featherweight division.
DUBLIN – [autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag] doesn’t see too many threats in the featherweight division.
Magomedsharipov (8-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) remained unbeaten when he stopped Rafael Hudson by TKO at Bellator 291 this past Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin.
One of the brightest prospects on the roster, Magomedsharipov is confident that with time, he can take out the division’s elite.
“I don’t see strong guys in featherweight,” Magomedsharipov said post-fight. “Yes, (A.J.) McKee, (Patricio) ‘Pitbull’ (Freire) and a couple of guys (are) very strong. The others guys are strong, but not fantastic. I feel I can beat everybody no problem – A.J. McKee, ‘Pitbull’ – but I need a little bit of time. A couple of years I’ll stay in Bellator. I’ll get this belt.
“(Opponent) doesn’t matter – wrestler, striker, grappler, it doesn’t matter. Just give me a fight brother, and (I’ll get a) finish.”
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Magomedsharipov said his older brother Zabit, a former UFC featherweight contender, wanted him to log in more minutes for experience. However, the 22-year-old notched his fifth career first-round stoppage win against Hudson.
“My game plan this fight (was) three rounds,” Magomedsharipov said. “My brother told me, ‘You need three rounds. You need three rounds.’ But I’m very hungry. I see my chance, and I finished this guy.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 291.
The longest active winning streak in MMA still belongs to Yaroslav Amosov after a dominant win to defend gold at Bellator 291.
Bellator returned to 3Arena in Dublin on Saturday with Bellator 291, and with 18 fights on the docket, it played out as one of the longest events in company history.
The card closed on a high note, however, when Ukraine welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov (27-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) retuned to competition with a dominant unanimous decision win over Logan Storley (14-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) to move to 2-0 in their head-to-head series.
Amosov is proving to be one of the best in the world at 170 pounds, and his flawless record is there to back up that notion. For more on the numbers behind his fight, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 291.
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 Dec. 19-25.
Khasan Magomedsharipov turned in a dominant performance at Bellator 275.
[autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag] continues to impress early in his career.
The undefeated brother of UFC’s [autotag]Zabit Magomedsharipov[/autotag] took care of business on Friday against Jose Sanchez at Bellator 275, remaining undefeated in his budding professional career after picking up a dominant unanimous decision win.
In the second fight of his Bellator run, Magomedsharipov (7-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) showed a little bit of everything in the first round. He defended takedowns from his opponent, landed a beautiful jumping knee, and implemented his own offensive grappling with a nice takedown.
Magomedsharipov gets the takedown.
LIVE on @SHOSports 🇺🇸 and @BBCThree 🇬🇧 with #Bellator275. pic.twitter.com/6yEO1czQTD
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) February 25, 2022
In the second round, Magomedsharipov dominated virtually every moment. He landed hard knees in the clinch early and then went to work in the wrestling game where he smothered Sanchez (11-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) and landed hard ground and pound strikes. At one moment, the referee stepped in closer as if he was thinking about a stoppage.
The final round was much like the second, with the Dagestani overpowering his opponent at every turn as he completed his dominant showing. The judges turned in scores of 30-26, 30-27, and 30-27 in Magomedsharipov’s favor.
Magomedsharipov making it look easy.
LIVE on @SHOSports 🇺🇸 and @BBCThree 🇬🇧 with #Bellator275. pic.twitter.com/ROpQ2G1iy8
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) February 25, 2022
Through seven fights, Magomedsharipov has yet to taste defeat. The 21-year-old has a very bright future in the Bellator featherweight division. Thus far, the hype has been as advertised, much like his older UFC sibling.
Up-to-the-minute results of Bellator 275 include:
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Thirteen fights are set for Friday in Dublin, but Peter Queally is no longer featured.
Bellator returns Friday to Dublin where the middleweight strap will be atop a card that no longer features a specific home-country favorite.
With the finalization of the Bellator 275 lineup, the previously scheduled co-main event between [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-6-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) is off the card, promotion officials confirmed Monday. Ireland-based outlet Severe MMA, which first reported the bout cancellation, reported the fight was scrapped because of an undisclosed injury to Queally.
Queally, 33, is a friend and former training partner of Conor McGregor. A competitor in Bellator since 2019, Queally has made a name for himself as a lightweight contender – and for his captivating walkout using “Zombie” by the Cranberries as his entrance music.
He most recently competed for the vacant lightweight title at Bellator 270 in Dublin this past November, when he was stopped by Patricky “Pitbull” Freire via strikes in Round 2.
As for Mousah, he’s only competed once since 2020, which was a unanimous decision defeat to Davy Gallon at Bellator 267 in October.
In place of the fallen-through lightweight bout, [autotag]Ciaran Clarke[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Abou Tounkara[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has been elevated from the prelims. Additionally, [autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Jose Sanchez[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has been tacked onto the main card, making it five fights long rather than the previously planned four.
Bellator 275 takes place Friday at 3Arena. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Check out the finalized lineup below.
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 1 p.m. ET)
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Khasan Magomedsharipov, younger brother of UFC featherweight Zabit Magomedsharipov, will compete on the stacked Bellator Dublin card.
[autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag], younger brother of UFC featherweight Zabit Magomedsharipov, will compete on the stacked Bellator Dublin card.
Magomedsharipov (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on [autotag]Jose Sanchez[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at Bellator Dublin, which takes place Feb. 25 at the 3Arena. A Bellator announced the matchup Wednesday after an initial report from Igor Lazorin.
Unbeaten in his pro MMA career, 21-year-old Magomedsharipov made good in his Bellator debut when he scored a second-round TKO of Jonathan Quiroz at Bellator 263 in July. Five of his six wins have come by way of finish.
Having competed in various organizations throughout Spain, Sanchez will make his Bellator debut against the highly touted Magomedsharipov. After an unbeaten start to his pro MMA career, the Spanish fighter endured his first-career loss when he was submitted by Felipe Maia at EPF 1.
The Bellator Dublin lineup currently includes:
Khasan Magomedsharipov shined in his first appearance on the international stage, picking up a impressive win at Bellator 263.
[autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag] shined on the international stage.
Making good on both his U.S. and promotional debut, Magomedsharipov (6-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) scored a second-round TKO of Jonathan Quiroz at Bellator 263 on Saturday.
Younger brother of UFC featherweight contender Zabit Magomedsharipov, the 20-year-old remained unbeaten and continued to live up to the hype surrounding him by displaying a well-rounded game to take out Quiroz.
“Well, of course it’s very exciting for me because this is the first fight abroad,” Magomedsharipov said at the post-fight news conference. “I used to fight in smaller promotions in Russia and this is the first fight abroad in the U.S., my debut in Bellator, and I was excited. I was super excited, and I like it here. It’s like a level up game.”
Watch the full post-fight press conference with Magomedsharipov in the video above.
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