Check out which UFC veterans are in MMA and boxing action across the globe this weekend.
The UFC idle this week after a trip to San Antonio for UFC on ESPN 43, where [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] picked up a big bantamweight win over [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag].
Elsewhere, many other MMA events are taking place, including Bellator and PFL kicking off their 2023 regular season. Those events, and others feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.
This week, there are a total of 32 veterans of the global MMA leader competing in MMA and boxing this week from March 30-April 1.
Check out the names and details about their bouts below.
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 236, which took place Saturday in Honolulu.
The second half of Bellator’s Hawaii doubleheader took place Saturday with Bellator 236, which went down at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, with a main card that streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Hometown hero and women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (11-0 MMA, 10-0 BMMA) had another magical moment in her career when, for the second consecutive year, she defended her title on her own soil with a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Kate Jackson[/autotag] (11-4-1 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), who became the first in six fights to push “The Ilimanator” to the scorecards.
For more on numbers to come out of main event, as well as the rest of the main card, check below for 30 post-event facts from Bellator 236.
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General
Betting favorites went 5-0 on the main card. One fight did not have odds available.
Betting favorites improved to 13-8 (with two no contests and one draw) in Bellator main events this year.
Total fight time for the six-bout main card was 1:36:08.
Main card
Macfarlane’s four consecutive Bellator title defenses are tied for most among current champions.
Macfarlane’s five victories in Bellator title fights are tied for third most in company history behind Patricio Freire (eight) and Michael Chandler (six).
Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak is the second longest active streak in the company behind A.J. McKee (16).
Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak is tied with Michael Page for the second longest streak in company history behind McKee (16).
Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is the longest active streak in the division.
Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak in the longest among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s 10 Bellator victories are most among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s 10 victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Jackson has suffered both of her Bellator losses by decision.
[autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag]’s (16-0 MMA, 16-0 BMMA) 16-fight Bellator winning streak is the longest active streak in the company.
McKee’s 16-fight Bellator winning streak is the longest streak in company history.
McKee’s 16-fight Bellator winning streak in featherweight competition is the longest active streak in the division.
McKee’s 16 victories in Bellator competition are tied with Chandler for second most in company history behind Freire (18).
McKee’s 16 victories in Bellator featherweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Freire (17).
McKee’s 11 stoppage victories in Bellator competition are tied with Freire and Chandler for most in company history.
McKee’s 11 stoppage victories in Bellator featherweight competition are most in divisional history.
McKee’s five submission victories in Bellator featherweight competition are most in divisional history.
[autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag] (20-10 MMA, 9-8 BMMA) fell to 1-4 in his past five fights dating back to February 2018.
Campos fell to 1-2 since he dropped to the featherweight division in December 2018.
Campos has suffered seven of his eight Bellator losses by stoppage.
[autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag] (20-9-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) fell to 2-2 since his final UFC appearance in June 2017.
[autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag]’s five-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is the second longest active streak in the division behind Macfarlane (10).
Velasquez’s five victories in Bellator flyweight competition are second most in divisor history behind Macfarlane (10).
[autotag]Bruna Ellen[/autotag] (5-3 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) has suffered all three of her career losses by decision.
[autotag]Cheyden Leialoha[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) has suffered both of his career losses by decision.
[autotag]Zach Zane[/autotag] (14-9 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) earned the first decision victory of his career.
[autotag]Nainoa Dung[/autotag] (3-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career 3-0.
Jason Jackson came all the way out from Florida on a few days’ notice to earn his victory at Bellator 236.
It takes confidence to call yourself “The Ass Kicking Machine” and accept a fight on a big Bellator main card all the way across the country on just a few days’ notice.
But then, [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] sure looked confident in the cage Saturday night against [autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag].
Jackson (11-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), a welterweight from Jamaica who is based out of the South Florida Hard Knocks camp, put on an impressive show in beating his veteran foe Saturday at Bellator 236. The judges’ scores were 30-27 across the board for Jackson.
Jackson made his intentions for the fight clear when he dropped Kunimoto (20-9-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) early with a huge right hand. He refused to go to the ground with Kunimoto, who has 10 of his 20 career wins via submission, and took it back to the feet. Kunimoto managed to make the round competitive from there, but Jackson punctuated things with a gigantic slam late.
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In the second, Jackson’s striking continued to puzzle Kunimoto, who didn’t seem to have an answer. This continued in Round 3. Kunimoto managed to pull guard and briefly get Jackson into a guillotine, but Jackson popped out, and finished his performance with another slam.
Jackson, who has previously fought in Bellator, LFA, and on Dana White’s Contender Series, has won four of his past five. Kunimoto has lost two straight and four of his past six.
Jackson was a substitute for Neiman Gracie, who withdrew midweek due to an undisclosed injury.
The welterweight bout was part of the Bellator 236 main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
The Japanese fighter found out about his opponent change just five days ago.
HONOLULU – [autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag] will be competing at Bellator 236, as expected.
Unexpectedly however, Kunimoto (20-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) is facing a fight week opponent switch-up, as Neiman Gracie pulled out of their scheduled bout due to injury earlier this week.
Now, Kunimoto will take on former LFA welterweight champ Jason Jackson (10-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) on the main card.
“About five days ago, I found out officially Neiman Gracie got injured,” Kunimoto told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “Of course, I was focusing to fight Neiman Gracie. In order to fight (Jackson), I had to change my mindset focusing on this opponent.”
A different opponent means different mental and physical preparations. After Gracie pulled out, Kunimoto began researching Jackson.
“Of course, I watched his last few fights,” Kunimoto said. “I tried to understand what’s his good areas and how I prepare for the fight… I just want to finish the fight.”
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Kunimoto has yet to pick up a win inside the Bellator cage. The UFC veteran has competed once under the promotion’s banner, losing to Ed Ruth in July.
Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Check out MMA Junkie’s full pre-fight scrum with Kiichi Kunimoto in the video above.
Jason Jackson speaks to MMA Junkie about his short-notice call-up to face Kiichi Kunimoto at Bellator 236.
HONOLULU – When Neiman Gracie withdrew from his Bellator 236 bout with Kiichi Kunimoto, Bellator officials picked up the phone and called [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag], who was more than happy to accept. Now Jackson plans on using his short-notice call-up to bounce back into the win column and make some inroads into Bellator’s welterweight division.
Jackson (10-4, 1-1 BMMA) ended up on the wrong end of a split decision against Ed Ruth at Bellator 231, and the Hard Knocks 365 athlete is determined to leave no doubt this time around as he takes on Kunimoto (20-8-2, 0-1 BMMA) on just one week’s notice.
While some fighters find short-notice matchups a big challenge as they scramble to gather as much intel as possible on their opponents, Jackson said he had no such problems scouting former UFC and RIZIN competitor Kunimoto, saying: “It took me two minutes to figure him out.”
Check out Jackson’s full pre-fight media day interview with MMA Junkie above.
MMA Junkie’s Simon Head takes a look at the key narratives ahead of Bellator 236 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The second half of Bellator’s Hawaii doubleheader sees Bellator 236 take place at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu as Hawaii’s own [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] bids to complete her fourth successful defense of the Bellator women’s flyweight title.
The card also features the first quarterfinal bout in the Bellator featherweight grand prix, as [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] takes on [autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag], while a host of rising prospects look to make their mark with performances to match their spectacular setting.
Here are our four burning questions ahead of Saturday night’s fights.
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Will Ilima-Lei Macfarlane keep her gold?
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane has been the poster girl for Bellator ever since she captured the women’s flyweight title at Bellator 186 back in November 2017, and since then she has cemented her status as the organization’s top 125-pounder with a hat-trick of third-round finishes.
Now she takes on seasoned veteran and British female MMA pioneer [autotag]Kate Jackson[/autotag], who is bidding to make history in her homeland by becoming the first British female to capture a major MMA title.
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Jackson booked her place in Saturday’s main event with a first-round finish of Lena Ovchynnikova, and will look to spring a shock against Macfarlane, who has finished every challenger to cross her path as Bellator champion.
Will Jackson be the first challenger to push Macfarlane to the limit, or will the defending champion produce another impressive display and claim a fourth straight finish to send her fellow Hawaiians home happy?
Bellator is back in Hawaii for a doubleheader weekend for the second straight December.
Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie. Friday, the same venue hosts Bellator 235 (“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019”), an event exclusively for military members stationed in Honolulu.
In the main event, women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), a native of Hawaii who grew up in Honolulu, puts her title on the line against British challenger [autotag]Kate Jackson[/autotag] (11-3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA). Macfarlane is a heavy favorite at the sports books with odds for her as high as 7-1. Not surprisingly, our 13 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are taking the champ unanimously.
The co-main event is another unanimous pick from our staff members – one of five 13-0 blowouts on the main card. [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (15-0 MMA, 15-0 BMMA) is as much as an 8-1 favorite in his fight against [autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag] (20-9 MMA, 9-7 BMMA), which is a quarterfinal matchup in Bellator’s ongoing featherweight tournament.
[autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (9-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) will try to stay unbeaten when she takes on [autotag]Bruna Ellen[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) in a women’s flyweight bout. Velasquez is more than a 4-1 favorite and one of our five unanimous picks.
[autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) recently got a long-awaited call from a big-time promotion when Bellator brought him on board. Stots, who trains at Roufusport in Milwaukee, is a 7-1 favorite against local fighter [autotag]Cheyden Leialoha[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), and he’s a 13-0 pick from our staff members.
The other unanimous pick goes to [autotag]Nainoa Dung[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), who opens the main card against [autotag]Zach Zane[/autotag] (13-9 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a lightweight fight. Dung, from Hawaii, made his Bellator debut a year ago in Honolulu and will try to repeat his success Saturday.
Our only contentious fight on the main card is between [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag] (20-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA). Jackson stepped up on short notice when Neiman Gracie fell off the card earlier this week with an injury. He’s more than a 2-1 favorite, and even though it’s not unanimous, Jackson still has a massive 11-2 lead in the picks.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Macfarlane (95%), McKee (88 percent), Jackson (60 percent), Velasquez (81 percent), Stots (70 percent) and Dung (57 percent) are the choices.
Check out the key facts and figures about Bellator 236, which takes place Saturday with a Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson main event.
The second half of Bellator’s Hawaii doubleheader takes place Saturday with Bellator 236, which goes down at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
A flyweight championship fight headlines the card. Hawaii’s own [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) looks to defend her belt on home soil for the second consecutive year when she meets top contender [autotag]Kate Jackson[/autotag] (11-3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).
For more on the main card, which also features the first bout in the second round of the organization’s featherweight grand prix, check below for 30 pre-event facts about Bellator 236.
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Main event
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
Macfarlane became the inaugural Bellator flyweight champion when she defeated Emily Ducote at Bellator 186 in November 2017.
Macfarlane’s three consecutive Bellator title defenses are tied with Patricio Freire (featherweight) and Julia Budd (women’s featherweight) for most among current champions.
Macfarlane competes in her 10th Bellator flyweight bout, the most appearances in divisional history.
Macfarlane’s nine Bellator victories are most among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s nine-fight Bellator winning streak is the second longest active streak in the organization behind A.J. McKee (15).
Macfarlane’s nine-fight Bellator winning streak in the longest among female fighters in the organization.
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Macfarlane’s seven stoppage victories in Bellator competition are most among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s seven stoppage victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Macfarlane’s five-fight stoppage streak in Bellator competition is the longest among active fighters in the company.
Macfarlane’s six submission victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Jackson’s two-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind Macfarlane (nine) and Juliana Velasquez (four).
Co-main event
A.J. McKee
[autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (15-0 MMA, 15-0 BMMA) competes in his 16th Bellator featherweight bout, tied for the second most appearances in divisional history behind Patricio Freire (20).
McKee’s 15-fight Bellator winning streak is the longest active streak in the company.
McKee’s 15-fight Bellator winning streak is the longest streak in company history.
McKee’s 15-fight Bellator winning streak in featherweight competition is the longest active streak in the division.
McKee’s 15 victories in Bellator competition are tied for third most in company history behind Freire (18) and Michael Chandler (16).
McKee’s 15 victories in Bellator featherweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Freire (17).
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McKee’s 10 stoppage victories in Bellator competition are third most in company history behind Freire (11) and Chandler (11).
McKee’s 10 stoppage victories in Bellator featherweight competition are tied with Freire for most in divisional history.
McKee’s six knockout victories in Bellator featherweight competition are tied with Freire for most in divisional history.
McKee’s eight-second knockout victory at Bellator 228 is the fourth fastest in Bellator history. Three fighters are tied with a seven-second win.
McKee’s four submission victories in Bellator featherweight competition are tied with Freire for most in divisional history.
[autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag] (20-9 MMA, 9-7 BMMA) is 1-1 since he dropped to the featherweight division in December 2018.
Campos has earned six of his nine Bellator victories by decision.
Remaining main card
Kiichi Kunimoto
[autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag] (20-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), 38, is the oldest of the 12 scheduled main card fighters.
Kunimoto is 2-1 since his final UFC appearance in June 2017.
[autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag]’s (9-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) four-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is the second longest active streak in the division behind champion Macfarlane (nine).
Velasquez’s four victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind Macfarlane (nine).
Velasquez’s three stoppage victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind Macfarlane (seven).
Velasquez’s two knockout victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied with Jackson for most in divisional history.
[autotag]Bruna Ellen[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) has earned four of her five career victories by decision. That includes all three of her Bellator wins.
[autotag]Nainoa Dung[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), 20, is the youngest of the 12 scheduled main card fighters.
Jiu-jitsu black belt Gracie (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) has been forced out of Bellator 236 due to an indisclosed injury. The withdrawal comes just five days before his scheduled bout against [autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag].
Kunimoto (20-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) remains on the card, facing short-notice replacement [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag]. A promotion official informed MMA Junkie of the lineup switch-up Monday.
Japan’s Kunimoto looks to pick up his first Bellator victory. In his promotional debut at Bellator 224 in July, Kunimoto lost to Ed Ruth by second-round TKO.
As for Jackson (10-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), the former LFA welterweight champion, was signed by Bellator in August. In his promotional debut at Bellator 231 in October, Jackson faced off with the aforementioned Ruth. The two engaged in a back-and-forth fight, which saw Ruth edge out a split-decision victory.
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Bellator 236 takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
