Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken 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 or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from July 26-Aug. 1:
UFC 266 loses Tatiana Suarez due to injury, but the promotion announced multiple additions, including the debut of Nate Diaz’s training partner Nick Maximov.
[autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag]’s long-awaited return to the cage has been unfortunately delayed again.
Suarez’s last walk to the cage was at UFC 238 in June of 2019 against Nina Nunes, but has faced a lengthy layoff due to a neck injury. Last month, news of her return broke as she was set to face former title challenger [autotag]Roxanne Modafferi[/autotag] at UFC 266.
Unfortunately, Suarez suffered an injury in training, further delaying her return to action. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the injury with MMA Junkie.
UFC 266 takes place on July 30, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and features two title fights as [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will look to defend his featherweight title against [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag], and women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] will take on challenger [autotag]Lauren Murphy[/autotag].
While the event lost one key matchup in Suarez vs. Modafferi, the promotion announced multiple additions to UFC 266 on Tuesday via press release.
[autotag]Nick Maximov[/autotag], a Nick and Nate Diaz training partner, will make his promotional debut against fellow Dana White’s Contender Series veteran [autotag]Karl Roberson[/autotag].
A pair of surging bantamweights on impressive winning streaks will meet as [autotag]Ricky Simon[/autotag] is set to face [autotag]Timur Valiev[/autotag].
A bout that has been rescheduled twice prior has found a new landing spot, as [autotag]Shamil Abdurakhimov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Chris Daukaus[/autotag] lands on UFC 266 after falling through at UFC on ESPN 27 and UFC on ESPN 28.
The current UFC 266 lineup includes:
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Check out the results from Monday’s official Dana White’s Contender Series 36 fighter weigh-ins.
LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Monday’s official Dana White’s Contender Series 36 fighter weigh-ins, where all 10 fighters hit their marks for Tuesday’s card.
Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with UFC president Dana White on hand to make the decisions.
In the featured bout, a pair of Dana White’s Contender Series return to the show, with South African flyweight [autotag]JP Buys[/autotag] (8-2) following up on a 2017 appearance to face [autotag]Jacob Silva[/autotag] (6-3), who suffered a decision loss in his DWCS debut in August.
In terms of weigh-ins, the most interesting matchup takes place at heavyweight, where Diaz brothers protege [autotag]Nick Maximov[/autotag] (5-0), who normally competes at light heavyweight, moves up a division to take on Mexico’s [autotag]Oscar Cota[/autotag] (11-2). The two fighters weighed in on opposite ends of the heavyweight division, with Maximov at 209 pounds and Cota at 263.5, resulting in a rarely seen 54.5 pound weight difference between the two competitors.
The early weigh-ins took place at the UFC host hotel in Las Vegas. The UFC Apex hosts Tuesday’s card, which streams on ESPN+. Due to scheduling conflicts, the ceremony did not feature faceoffs between the fighters.
The full Dana White’s Contender Series 36 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
Recap the best of the action from Sioux Falls as Chidi Njokuani claimed a stoppage victory in the night’s main event.
LFA 91 hit our screens Friday night as the respected promotion staged its latest offering from Sioux Falls, S.D.
The Sanford Pentagon played host to seven main-card fights on UFC Fight Pass, with five of them finishing inside the distance as the fighters pushed the pace throughout a breathless evening of high-octane action.
The middleweight main event saw former Bellator athlete [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag] score a second-round stoppage of Cristian Torres, while Arizona middleweight [autotag]Kyle Stewart[/autotag] produced a second-round ground-and-pound finish of Tim Caron.
There were also notable stoppage victories for [autotag]Kelly Clayton[/autotag], [autotag]Nick Maximov[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Quinlan[/autotag] and [autotag]Edwin Chavez[/autotag] on a card that only saw two matchups go to the judges’ scorecards.
Recap the best of the main card action from LFA 91 via the video above.
LFA 91 official results include:
