Tag: Kyle Crutchmer

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 239 victor Kyle Crutchmer wants Dillon Danis next: ‘I think he needs to get his ass whooped’

Kyle Crutchmer isn’t usually the calling-out type, but when asked who he wants next, one name came straight to mind – Dillon Danis.

THACKERVILLE, Okla. – [autotag]Kyle Crutchmer[/autotag] isn’t usually the calling-out type but, when asked who’s next, one name came straight to his mind.

Crutchmer (6-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) remained unbeaten with a first-round submission over Scott Futrell at Bellator 239 and, while he doesn’t foresee anyone giving him a challenge just yet, he said he’d love to take on jiu-jitsu ace [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag].

“I don’t have a dangerous opponent but I want to (expletive) fight Dillon Danis. So whenever his (expletive) ass is ready, let me know,” Crutchmer told reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage at the WinStar World Casino.

“I do want to beat his ass. I don’t really see anybody as a potential threat for me right now. Once I climb up the rankings a little bit more then we can be able to say some things like that, but I think Dillon Danis needs to get his ass whooped and I would be the guy to do it.”

Training out of American Kickboxing Academy, former Oklahoma State wrestler Crutchmer said Danis should quit trying to chase a fight with YouTuber Logan Paul and instead and face someone who’d actually be willing to fight him.

“If you want to fight someone, dude I’m ready,” said Crutchmer. “I’ll fight your ass. If you want to fight someone that’s willing to fight you, I’m here, ready to go. I don’t call people out but, to me, I would like to see that guy try and take me down and get me to the ground. I’ll beat his ass on his feet.”

Crutchmer also issued a thinly-veiled warning to the SBG-trained fighter, as he cited his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov’s performance against Danis’ teammate Conor McGregor as an example of how he plans to dominate him if they ever meet inside the Bellator cage.

“I don’t have a lot of animosity towards people,” he said. “I’ve never met the guy, but I think he’s just kind of playing a coattail on Conor McGregor, and you’ve seen what my teammate did to him.”

Bellator 239: Bolanos vs. Hatley Jr., Crutchmer vs. Futrell added to Oklahoma card

A pair of fights have been added to the preliminary card for Bellator’s return to Oklahoma later this month.

A pair of fights have been added to the preliminary card for Bellator’s return to Oklahoma later this month.

[autotag]Gaston Bolanos[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Solo Hatley Jr.[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a featherweight bout at Bellator 239. In addition, [autotag]Kyle Crutchmer[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is set to meet [autotag]Scott Futrell[/autotag] (11-9 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in a 175-pound contract weight fight, a Bellator official told MMA Junkie on Wednesday.

Bellator 239 takes place Feb. 21 at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

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Bolanos will be looking to get back on track after a submission loss to Daniel Carey at Bellator 226 this past September. That setback snapped a four-fight winning streak of knockouts, all under the Bellator banner.

Hatley has a pair of LFA fights on his resume, including a first-round TKO of TeeJay Britton. But after that, he suffered a 25-second knockout loss to Austin Lingo at LFA 72 this past August. Lingo will make his UFC debut this Saturday. In November, Hatley rebounded with a decision win under the Pyramid Fights banner and now gets the call for his Bellator debut.

Crutchmer, an Oklahoma native who was an All-American wrestling standout at Oklahoma State, made his promotional debut in Thackerville this past November with a decision win over short-notice opponent Robert Gidron at Bellator 233. Since turning pro after college, he has trained at American Kickboxing Academy with fellow former OSU standout Daniel Cormier as his wrestling coach.

The St. Louis-based Futrell will attempt to snap a three-fight skid that started with a first-round submission loss to Mike Shipman at Bellator 210 in what was his promotional debut. In 2019, he suffered second-round stoppage setbacks in a Shamrock Showdown event, and to Jason Jackson at LFA 64.

With the additions, the Bellator 239 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Paramount, DAZN, 9 p.m. ET)

  • Ed Ruth vs. Yaroslav Amosov
  • Brandon Girtz vs. Myles Jury
  • Tyrell Fortune vs. Timothy Johnson
  • Javy Ayala vs. Valentin Moldavsky

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Steve Mowry vs. Rudy Schaffroth
  • Shamil Nikaev vs. Bobby Lee
  • Cris Lencioni vs. Salim Mukhidinov
  • Denise Kielholtz vs. Kristina Williams
  • Lucas Brennan vs. Jamese Taylor
  • Adil Benjilany vs. Kevin Croom
  • Chris Gonzalez vs. Aaron McKenzie
  • Christian Edwards vs. Marco Hutch
  • Mark Lemminger vs. Carlo Pedersoli Jr.
  • Shawn Bunch vs. Keith Lee
  • Teejay Britton vs. Gabriel Varga
  • Grant Neal vs. Claude Wilcox
  • Davion Franklin vs. J.W. Kiser
  • Gaston Bolanos vs. Solo Hatley Jr.
  • Kyle Crutchmer vs. Scott Futrell – 175-pound contract weight

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Bellator 233’s Kyle Crutchmer happy to be compared to teammates Cormier, Khabib – if he has bank account to match

“If my bank account says what ‘D.C.’ and Khabib’s say, you can compare me to whoever you want to compare me to.”

THACKERVILLE, Okla. – With his strong wrestling background, [autotag]Kyle Crutchmer[/autotag] is happy to draw comparisons to his teammates – but not necessarily to their fighting styles.

Crutchmer (5-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who was a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, has a strong grappling background like former two-division UFC champion [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] and UFC lightweight champ [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag], his teammates at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif.

Crutchmer improved to 5-0 Friday at Bellator 233 in his promotional debut with a unanimous decision win over Robert Gidron. He used his superior wrestling to control the fight and showed off some of his striking, too.

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But with inevitable comparisons to his accomplished wrestling teammates at AKA, Crutchmer is more concerned with making similar paydays down the line.

“I don’t know how many people knock dudes down with spinning back fists, but I threw that (expletive) today – it landed, it knocked him down, so I’ve got a little bit different style from (them),” Crutchmer told MMA Junkie. “But listen, man, at the end of the day, if my bank account says what ‘D.C.’ and Khabib’s say – man, you can compare me to whoever you want to compare me to.”

His opponent, Gidron, stepped in on short notice for the fight. But the natural middleweight missed weight for the 170-pound bout by nearly five pounds. While Crutchmer is accustomed to being the smaller opponent, he says Gidron had an apparent size difference, a challenge he was able to overcome.

“My wrestling kind of speaks for itself,” Crutchmer said. “I think I would be dumb to not at least attempt it in the first, to see how hard or how easy it would be. Man, that guy was big. People don’t realize – he missed weight by five pounds. He’s never fought at (1)70, I don’t think, so he had some height on me, too. So some of those things, I was trying to get to. It took a lot more than people could see.”

And there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to accept the fight regardless, as he looks to begin his ascent in the Bellator 170-pound rankings.

“I’m in this to prove I’m the baddest mother(expletive) in the world, and if I’m turning down fights or I’m saying no to somebody, then why am I doing this?” Crutchmer said. “I knew it was going to be hard. You could see it, how big he was, and that does play a factor in fights. I had no hesitation. I told our coaches, ‘I’ll get paid a little bit more and we’ll roll with it.'”