Tag: Neiman Gracie

Neiman Gracie predicting grappling war with Jon Fitch at Bellator 246

It’s been more than a year since Neiman Gracie suffered his first professional loss, and he is anxious to show his improvement.

It’s been more than a year since [autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] suffered his first professional loss, but the Brazilian submission ace is anxious to show his improvement.

“Thankfully, I managed to have an excellent preparation for this fight,” Gracie told MMA Junkie. “I managed to do my entire camp at master Renzo Gracie’s gym in New York City. Despite the pandemic, I found some training partners and managed to prepare very well. I got ready under Jamie Crowder, John Danaher and Renzo Gracie.”

Gracie (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Jon Fitch[/autotag] (32-7-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at Bellator 246 on Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Gracie returns to action for the first time since suffering a five-round decision loss to Rory MacDonald in the semifinal of Bellator’s welterweight grand prix in June 2019. While he certainly would have preferred a victory, Gracie said he did benefit from the contest.

“It was an excellent fight,” Gracie said. “But I think I allowed him to stall from the top position for far too long. I should have tried to get up and continue fighting on the feet. But it was a great learning experience – a great fight against a great champion.”

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Gracie was originally schedule to return in December, but injury forced him to withdraw from a planned Bellator 236 bout with Kiichi Kunimoto in Hawaii.

“Unfortunately, I broke my hand one week before the fight and I had to pull out,” Gracie said. “Thankfully, the hand is already back to 100 percent and I’m ready for my next bout.”

That comes Saturday in the form of Fitch, the 18-year pro who is still competing at a high level even at age 42, unbeaten since 2014. It’s an opportunity for Gracie to test himself against another grizzled veteran, and it brings the classic matchup of wrestling vs. jiu-jitsu. Gracie believes that means true excitement awaits.

“I think he’s a very tough guy and a sports legend, and even though he is older, I believe he is in a great moment in his career,” Gracie said. “I think it’s going to be a great fight – a war fought mainly through grappling.”

A win would do wonders for Gracie’s career, which had been perfect prior to the blemish. Putting a signature name on his record would again prove he’s deserving of the hype that surrounded him before the setback.

Gracie plans on capitalizing on the moment.

“I would like to thank all the fans for their support and say that I am ready to make have a great fight and put on another great show,” Gracie said.

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Davis-Machida 2, Archuleta-Mix title fight lead back-to-back Bellator shows Sept. 11-12

Bellator is no stranger to putting on back-to-back shows in Connecticut. Now the promotion will go down that road again next month.

Bellator is no stranger to putting on back-to-back shows in Connecticut. Now the promotion will go down that road again next month.

Bellator 245 and Bellator 246 are slated for consecutive nights Sept. 11-12 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. A person with knowledge of the events confirmed the news to MMA Junkie on Wednesday following an initial report from ESPN.

The Bellator 245 headliner will be a rematch between former Bellator light heavyweight champion [autotag]Phil Davis[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) and former UFC champ [autotag]Lyoto Machida[/autotag] (26-9 MMA, 2-1 BMMA). In addition, former UFC title challenger [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will make her promotional debut against [autotag]Gabrielle Holloway[/autotag] (6-5 MMA, 1-2 BMMA).

At Bellator 246, the vacant bantamweight title will be on the line between [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (24-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA). Plus, [autotag]Jon Fitch[/autotag] (32-7-2 MMA, 1-1-1 BMMA) is set to take on [autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) at welterweight.

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Davis and Machida fought at UFC 163 a little more than seven years ago in Brazil, where Davis won a mildly controversial unanimous decision. Although all three judges scored the fight for him 29-28, none of the media members tracked by MMADecisions.com scored the fight for Davis.

Davis won Bellator’s light heavyweight title in 2016, but lost it in his first defense to current dual champion Ryan Bader. Since that setback, he’s gone 4-1, including back-to-back wins over former champ Liam McGeary and Karl Albrektsson in 2019. His lone loss in that stretch was a split call to Vadim Nemkov, who on Friday challenges Bader for the light heavyweight belt.

Machida will be looking to rebound from a split decision loss to Gegard Mousasi in September 2019. Prior to that, he had four straight wins, including his first two in Bellator after coming over from the UFC in 2018 as a free agent. He took a split call from Rafael Carvalho in his promotional debut and stopped Chael Sonnen with a second-round TKO before his loss to Mousasi.

Archuleta was cruising through the Bellator ranks and had fought at both featherweight and bantamweight. He earned a title shot against 145-pound champ Patricio Freire in September 2019, but lost a unanimous decision for his first setback in the promotion. In January, he bounced back with a win over Henry Corrales at featherweight, but now he’ll drop back down to 135 pounds to go after a belt.

Mix stayed unbeaten this past December in a crossover fight at Rizin 20 when he submitted Yuki Motoya in the first round on New Year’s Eve. Earlier in the year, he picked up first-round submission wins in his first two Bellator bouts against Ricky Bandejas an Isaiah Chapman. He has nine of his first 13 career wins by submission.

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Neiman Gracie interested in Michael Page matchup: ‘He’s a great striker, and I’m a great grappler’

Neiman Gracie angling for striker vs. grappler matchup with “MVP.”

[autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] has his eyes on a few names for his return, but there’s one in particular that stands out for him.

The former Bellator welterweight title challenger has interest in taking on Michael Page for his first bout of 2020. Gracie last fought at Bellator 222 this past June, when he lost to Rory MacDonald in a five-round decision. It was for the welterweight title and part of Bellator’s welterweight grand prix. Gracie was set to return in December at Bellator 236 but was forced to withdraw from the contest due to a hand injury.

Now, almost 100 percent healthy, Gracie (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) wants to get a date for a fight soon and says “MVP” (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) would be an opponent of interest.

“I just want to fight but there are a couple of guys that I have seen that I want to fight like Michael ‘Venom’ Page,” Gracie said. “I’ve always wanted to fight him. I think it’s an interesting fight because he’s a great striker and I’m a great grappler and that’s a great fight. The guy who beat Ed Ruth (Yaroslav Amosov) that guy is really good and I think we match up well because we’re great grapplers. I think it would be a good fight but I’ll fight anyone.”

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Page is currently on a three-fight win streak. His lone professional loss came to current champion Douglas Lima back in May 2019.

Despite his incredible highlight-reel knockouts, many have criticized Page’s level of opposition, citing it’s not up to par of his own level. Gracie is aware of criticism towards Page, but he doesn’t necessarily agree with it.

“Some of the guys he fights are tough, and some of the guys he fights might not be that well known, but I also think it’s just that he makes it look easy,” Gracie explained. “And if you make it look easy, people think they’re easy – like, ‘Oh that guy was nothing.’

“The last two guys I fought before Ed Ruth, those guys had never been submitted before, and I fought them and I finished them. People were saying, ‘Those guys are nothing, they’re tomato cans,’ but they were actually tough guys. They were coming off like three or four wins, and after they fought with me, some of them lost but they lost like split decisions to very good guys. Sometimes when you make it look easy, people think you’re fighting a tomato can, but they’re not.

“I think that he’s tough. I think he’d be an interesting fight. I respect him, and I think he’s a really good fighter. I want to fight him because he’s good, but not only him but there’s other guys, too.”

As of now, due to COVID-19 concerns, Bellator has canceled five events, including their June 6 fight card. Gracie said the promotion was working to find him a bout for that event prior to the cancellation. It’s uncertain when the Viacom-owned company will return to its normal schedule, but Gracie hopes to fight as soon as possible once the company is back up and running.

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Bellator 236: Neiman Gracie injured, Kiichi Kunimoto meets Jason Jackson

An injury has forced jiu-jitsu standout Neiman Gracie out Saturday’s Bellator 236.

[autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] won’t fight Saturday night.

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.

Check out the current Bellator 236 lineup below:

  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson
  • Derek Campos vs. A.J. McKee
  • Bruna Ellen vs. Juliana Velasquez
  • Jason Jackson vs. Kiichi Kunimoto
  • Cheyden Leialoha vs. Raufeon Stots
  • Nainoa Dung vs. Zach Zane
  • Kona Oliveira vs. Ben Wilhelm
  • Kai Kamaka III vs. Spencer Higa
  • Chas Dunhour vs. Nate Yoshimura
  • Dustin Barca vs. Brandon Pieper
  • Kaylan Gorospe vs. Swayne Lunasco
  • Keoni Diggs vs. Scotty Hao

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Bellator 236: Make your predictions for Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson

We want your predictions for Bellator 236 in Hawaii.

We want your predictions for this week’s Bellator 236 “Salute the Troops 2019” event in Hawaii.

Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Wednesday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the Bellator 236 event staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Make your picks for all six main card fights inside.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8

Neiman Gracie meets Kiichi Kunimoto at Bellator 236 in Hawaii

Neiman Gracie will make the trip to the Aloha State next month.

[autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] will make the trip to the Aloha State next month.

A former Bellator welterweight title challenger, Gracie (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) will meet former UFC fighter [autotag]Kiichi Kunimoto[/autotag] at Bellator 236, promotion officials confirmed to MMA Junkie following a report from ESPN on Tuesday.

Bellator 236 is expected to take place Dec. 21 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card will stream on DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Gracie most recently competed at Bellator 222 in June. While he suffered a loss to Rory MacDonald that night in the semifinals of the welterweight grand prix tournament, Gracie competed against the then-champion for all five rounds.

The defeat was the first of Gracie’s career. Prior to the loss, Gracie handed Ed Ruth his first defeat. Gracie defeated the former Penn State wrestler by fourth-round submission in the grand prix’s opening round.

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His opponent, Japan’s Kunimoto (20-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), will look to pick up his first Bellator victory. In his promotional debut at Bellator 224 in July, Kunimoto lost to the aforementioned Ruth by second-round TKO.

In addition to the welterweight pairing, promotion officials informed MMA Junkie of a preliminary card booking between featherweights [autotag]Kai Kamaka III[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Spencer Higa[/autotag] (7-10 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

Check out the current Bellator 236 lineup below:

  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson
  • Derek Campos vs. A.J. McKee
  • Bruna Ellen vs. Juliana Velasquez
  • Neiman Gracie vs. Kiichi Kunimoto
  • Nainoa Dung vs. Zach Zane
  • Kona Oliveira vs. Reno Remigio
  • Kai Kamaka III vs. Spencer Higa

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