Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights 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, PFL, and Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Feb. 5-11.
Find out who joined the UFC in October and learn more about them here.
The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.
Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, “Dana White’s Contender Series” signees, or rare straight-up additions. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.
“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.
Check out the October 2023 list below.
Lucas Rocha had to battle some early adversity before finishing Davi Bittencourt at Dana White’s Contender Series 66.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Lucas Rocha[/autotag] had to battle some early adversity before finishing [autotag]Davi Bittencourt[/autotag] at Dana White’s Contender Series 66.
Rocha (17-1) came from behind to score a highlight reel knockout of Bittencourt (14-4) in their bantamweight bout Tuesday to earn a UFC contract. Before landing the brutal knee knockout, Rocha had his back taken in Round 1 and was battling to fend off Bittencourt’s rear-naked choke attempts.
But Rocha remained calm.
“I trained this over and over, same scenario with my coaches … so I wasn’t really surprised,” Rocha told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter during the DWCS 66 post-fight news conference. “I just had to weather the storm, and I knew my time would come.”
There was some heat between Rocha and Bittencourt heading into the fight due to Rocha missing weight in their first scheduled bout last week, which was scrapped. Rocha explained what went wrong.
“The week I didn’t make the weight was the worst travel week I’ve had,” Rocha said. “We had 18 hours, then we got stuck in the plane, there was a storm, I couldn’t eat what I needed to eat, I couldn’t drink water, I couldn’t rest. It was literally a nightmare. I just had to make adjustments to actually be able to fight this week
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 66.
Season 7, Week 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series goes down Tuesday, and MMA Junkie will have live results from on-site at the UFC Apex.
LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie reported from Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 66 event.
Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with promotion CEO Dana White on hand to make the decisions at the UFC Apex. Tuesday’s episode was the 10th and final of the show’s seventh season.
White was once again in a generous mood as he eclipsed the previous record of 43 as he offered contract Nos. 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46 on the season. Five of the six winners received UFC deals: bantamweight Lucas Rocha, lightweight [autotag]Marquel Mederos[/autotag], featherweight [autotag]Connor Matthews[/autotag], flyweight [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag], and bantamweight [autotag]Ramon Taveras[/autotag] this week.
The lone fighter who did not receive a contract was middleweight [autotag]Torrez Finney[/autotag], a physical specimen who finished [autotag]Yuri Panferov[/autotag] by second-round rear-naked choke.
White said Finney needed more time to develop and that he’d be doing the fighter a disservice by bringing him into the UFC now.
Additionally, White announced Taveras’ UFC debut – a rare move due to rare circumstances. Taveras will rematch [autotag]Serhiy Sidey[/autotag], a fighter he lost to in controversial fashion due to a premature stoppage earlier in the season.
Full results of Dana White’s Contender Series 66 include:
Continue reading below for more details about each fight.
Lucas Rocha got the season finale of Dana White’s Contender Series started with an incredible comeback finish.
[autotag]Lucas Rocha[/autotag] had to overcome some adversity, but it made his knockout finish that much sweeter.
In the first bout of Dana White’s Contender Series 66 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Rocha (17-1) faced Davi Bittencourt in a bantamweight clash with a potential UFC contract on the line. Bittencourt (14-4) made a strong showing in the first round with a smothering grappling game, but his fortunes quickly reversed just 18 seconds into Round 2.
After giving up a lot of control time and fighting off submissions in the first round, Rocha knew he had to change things quickly in the second round. Ready for inevitable takedown attempt, Rocha timed a beautiful right knee up the middle as Bittencourt shot in. As a result, Bittencourt faceplanted to the canvas for a devastating knockout.
Check out video of the finish below (via X):
NASTY knee knockout from Rocha 💥 #DWCS pic.twitter.com/Ktn4fsGKjq
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 11, 2023
Rocha has now won six straight, a streak that includes five finishes. It was also a moment of redemption for the Brazilian, who was originally scheduled to complete at DWCS 65, but missed weight, causing the bout to be rebooked.
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Dana White’s Contender Series will return this summer. Check out the fighters and fights that have been booked thus far.
Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 7 is in the works.
DWCS debuted in 2017 with an eight-episode inaugural season. Season 2 was held in 2018 with eight episodes, followed by a three-episode DWCS: Brasil. In 2019, DWCS was extended to 10 episodes for its third season. The length was repeated in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Each season, the number of fighters signed has increased. Thus far, the show has produced UFC notables including Sean O’Malley, Maycee Barber, Geoff Neal, Ryan Spann, Sodiq Yusuff, Jamahal Hill, Taila Santos, Johnny Walker, Alex Perez, Bo Nickal, Jailton Almeida, Jack Della Maddalena, and Marina Rodriguez among others.
In recent weeks, the UFC matchmakers have been gearing up for a summer DWCS return, expected to launch Aug. 8. Athletes and matchups have slowly but surely been booked. The number of episodes for Season 7 is not yet known.
Scroll below to see the latest athletes and fights booked, which have been confirmed by MMA Junkie or posted about by the fighters involved. This list will be updated as more fighters and matchups come to light.
