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 Jan. 22-28.
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 Jan. 15-21.
The 2019 PFL welterweight champion replaces the 2023 PFL welterweight champion against the current Bellator welterweight champion.
The 2019 PFL welterweight champion will leplace the 2023 PFL welterweight champion on the promotion’s upcoming card that pins its champions and fighters against their Bellator counterparts.
With [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] out with an undisclosed injury, [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] has stepped in to fight Bellator welterweight champion [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] at the PFL vs. Bellator: Champions event Feb. 24 in Saudi Arabia, a promotion official told MMA Junkie on Monday.
The bout will be contested at a contracted weight of 182 pounds.
Cooper (25-10-1) has only competed once since July 2022, as he angled to elevate to middleweight, a non-season weight division for PFL. His most recent fight was in November when he lost a unanimous decision to Derek Brunson.
Jackson (17-4) rides high off a title-clinching knockout of Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 301 in November. The victory extended his winning streak to seven. He also holds wins over Douglas Lima, Paul Daley, and Neiman Gracie among others.
With the change, the PFL vs. Bellator: Champions now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+ pay-per-view, 3 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, ESPNews, 12:30 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL vs. Bellator: Champions.
Relive the PFL’s best submissions of the year with this video ranking the top 10.
PFL continues its highlight of the best moments of its 2023 season, and this time it’s moved to submissions. The promotion compiled and ranked the top 10 submissions, which are:
1. [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] def. Sadibou Sy via guillotine choke
2. [autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag] def. Ryoji Kudo via guillotine choke
3. [autotag]Marina Mokhnatkina[/autotag] def. Amber Leibrock via armbar
4. [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] def. Jo Sung Bin via rear-naked choke
5. [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] def. Karolina Sobek via armbar
6. [autotag]Simeon Powell[/autotag] def. Mohammed Amine via arm triangle choke
7. [autotag]Alexei Pergande[/autotag] def. Akeem Bashir via D’arce choke
8. [autotag]Anthony Ivy[/autotag] def. Carson Hardman via rear-naked choke
9. [autotag]Nathan Kelly[/autotag] def. Dimitry Solimeis via rear-naked choke
10. [autotag]Dakota Ditcheva[/autotag] def. Malin Hermansson via rear-naked choke
You can watch the replay of the top 10 PFL submissions in the video above.
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Magomed Magomedkerimov says he wants to move on to Bellator one-off fights and be done with PFL’s season format.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] wants in on PFL’s newest acquisition.
After winning the 2023 PFL featherweight title, Magomedkerimov (33-6) is hoping to be done competing under the promotion’s season format and wants to move on to the one-off Bellator fights. PFL recently purchased rival promotion Bellator and will continue to run it simultaneously with their traditional season.
“I’m definitely looking for something more interesting, more title opponents like Jason Jackson because I already had 16 fights in PFL, and I’ve pretty much done all that I can show,” Magomedkerimov told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “I’m looking for the next level.”
Magomedkerimov submitted Sadibou Sy (16-6-2) this past Friday to claim the 2023 PFL featherweight title on the main card of 2023 PFL Championship at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. This was his second PFL title win, as he first won the belt back in 2018.
After his win, Magomedkerimov faced off against Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson. Magomedkerimov is excited at the opportunity of facing Jackson in early 2024, and wants to continue down that path of fights outside of the PFL’s season format.
”I’m very excited about facing Jason Jackson next because he’s a champion,” Magomedkerimov said. “For me, I pretty much fought everybody in PFL and this is the next level. I’m really looking forward to him and getting my second belt from the Bellator champion.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.
Check out these photos from Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Sadibou Sy at 2023 PFL Championship for the welterweight title.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag]’s welterweight title victory over Sadibou Sy at 2023 PFL Championship at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
No. 1 seed Magomed Magomedkerimov (33-6) meets No. 3 Sadibou Sy (16-6-2) in the PFL’s 170-pound season championship.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The PFL crowned its newest $1 million welterweight winner Friday.
No. 1 seed [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] (33-6) met No. 3 [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] (16-6-2) in the 170-pound season championship at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.
Go inside the matchup below, from the backstory and the buildup through the end of the fight itself, with stats, photos, preview videos, highlight videos, quotes, recaps and more.
The story will update throughout the fight and event.
Check out the full results of 2023 PFL Playoffs 3, including which lightweights and welterweights advanced to the 2023 PFL Championships.
2023 PFL Playoffs 3 took place Wednesday and MMA Junkie provided live and official results throughout the entire card.
The event featured welterweight and lightweight playoff bouts at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card aired live on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET following prelims on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
In the featured contest, [autotag]Clay Collard[/autotag] (25-10) took on [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] (16-6) in a Fight of the Year contender lightweight semifinal bout. It was a brutal contest with high-volume striking, but in the end, Collard earned unanimous 29-28 scores from the official judges.
Fists were flying early and often in the first round, living up to the expectation of an exciting matchup. Collard’s volume was higher, mixing up punches to the body and head with sharp combinations. Burgos landed well early and added some nice kicks, but as the round wore on, Collard put a stamp on the round by hurting Burgos with shots to the chin.
Delivering just as advertised… Round 2 up now!!#PFLPlayoffs LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/7jEHWZt23m— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 24, 2023
Collard continued to march forward with accurate punches early in the second, causing blood to flow from Burgos’ face. Keeping his opponent honest, Burgos fired back with damaging inside leg kicks. Collard continued to pepper out jabs, but was knocked off his feet by a hard leg kick from Burgos. The momentum only lasted seconds, as Collard returned to his feet and landed a hard left hook to send Burgos to the mat. Collard followed him to the ground for more strikes, but the finish wouldn’t come as Burgos worked his way back up. The round closed with more striking exchanges on the feet.
Dropped him like a bad habit!#PFLPlayoffs LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/pbTUfHQvIp— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 24, 2023
The striking exchanges continued at a high clip in the final round. Burgos added punches to the body along with kicks, as Collard worked fast punches and showed excellent head movement. A hard inside leg kick prompted Collard to shoot for a takedown, but Burgos stuffed it and shook his fingers at his opponent. They returned to the center to trade more strikes, but the inside kicks from Burgos really bothered Collard. After a clinch against the cage, it was back to fighting in the phone booth in the center of the cage. More inside leg kicks affected Collard’s movement, but he kept firing as they traded blows until the final horn.
AND YOUR WINNER VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION… "Cassius" Clay Collard!!!#PFLPlayoffs LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/9VbU8b6uMy— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 24, 2023
The judges saw the fight unanimously for Collard, earning his first PFL finals appearance.
Collard entered the lightweight playoffs as the No. 1 seed after picking up a unanimous decision win over Yamato Nishikawa and a second-round stoppage of Stevie Ray in his regular season bouts. He now advances to the finals where he will face [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag], who recorded a second-round TKO stoppage against Bruno Miranda in the co-main event.
In the welterweight semifinal bouts, [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] defeated Carlos Leal by split decision, and [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] turned away Solomon Renfro to advance to the finals.
Check out the official results, details and highlight clips from each bout below.
Check out these photos from Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Solomon Renfro, a welterweight semifinals bout at 2023 PFL Playoffs 3 in New York.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag]’s victory over Solomon Renfro in a welterweight semifinal bout at 2023 PFL Playoffs 3 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out the disclosed 2023 PFL 6 fighter pays, including what Shane Burgos is making after jumping over from the UFC.
PFL returned to Atlanta this past Thursday for the third of three shows in three consecutive weeks at Overtime Elite Arena.
2023 PFL 6 featured final regular season bouts at lightweight and welterweight, as well as three showcase fights. In the main event, 2022 PFL lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] knocked out Dana White’s Contender Series alum [autotag]Anthony Romero[/autotag].
Other names on the card included former UFC fighters [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] and [autotag]Clay Collard[/autotag], as well as past PFL championship winners [autotag]Raush Manfio[/autotag], [autotag]Natan Schulte[/autotag], [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] and [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag].
MMA Junkie acquired a list of the 24 fighters’ disclosed payouts Monday from the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission. The amounts do not include bonuses, sponsorships or any other discretionary payments.
Five fighters topped the list at $100,000, while all other fighters received five-figure or four-figure payouts. Among them was Burgos, who left the UFC as a free agent to sign with the PFL. Friday, Burgos pocketed a six-figure flat purse against [autotag]Yamato Nishikawa[/autotag].
Scroll below to see the disclosed pay for each 2023 PFL 6 fighter.
