Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Kai Kamaka vs. Pedro Carvalho at 2024 PFL 6 in South Dakota.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag]’s victory over Pedro Carvalho at 2024 PFL 6, which took place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)
Pedro Carvalho doesn’t agree with the stoppage in his TKO loss at Friday’s 2024 PFL 3.
[autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] is far from happy with how his PFL debut went.
The Bellator veteran lost by first-round TKO to [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] in the co-main event of Friday’s 2024 PFL 3 event. Carvalho (13-9) was hurt early by Loughnane (28-5), but was fighting back. In the final sequence, Loughnane connected with a shot on a downed Carvalho, and referee Kevin MacDonald waved off the fight as Carvalho was looking for a takedown. Carvalho stood up immediately and protested the call.
The SBG Ireland product is upset with the call and said that McDonald admitted he made the wrong call. No official statement was made by MacDonald.
“An amazing week and experience with (PFL) that end up with a very sour taste in my mouth for something that I thought it would never happen to me and one of the worst stoppages that I have ever seen,” Carvalho wrote on Instagram. “I respect referee Kevin MacDonald specially for being a honorable man and came to me after the fight apologizing and admitting that he messed that one up.
“It really hurts, specially now with this point system the chances are very thin for me to reach the playoffs, but I’m still gonna find a way out of this.
I’m just gonna try to focus on how grateful I feel for being able to be living what I dreamed to be, doing what I always dreamed when I was a kid.
I’m gonna keep the work and focus going and hope that the outcome of my next fight will depend only on me… Thank you everyone for your support, it means a lot!! ❤️”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5_MBOquYLR/?img_index=1
Carvalho is now on a three-fight losing streak. He has zero points in the PFL 2024 featherweight season and one fight remaining to look to qualify for the playoffs. Meanwhile, Loughnane scored six points with the first-round finish, getting closer to qualifying for the playoffs.
Loughnane also weighed in on the stoppage and said the opposite of Carvalho. He believes Carvalho was badly hurt and that MacDonald made the right call.
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Brendan Loughnane doesn’t think the stoppage in his TKO win over Pedro Carvalho was premature.
CHICAGO – [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] was puzzled to see there was controversy surrounding his latest win, as he thought it was a clean one.
The 2022 PFL featherweight champion picked up a first-round TKO win over [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] in the co-main event of Friday’s 2024 PFL 3 event. Many online criticized the stoppage, calling it premature, as Carvalho (13-9), who had been stunned a couple of times, looked to be going for a takedown when the fight was stopped. He also stood up immediately and seemed unhappy with the call.
Loughnane (28-5) is convinced the referee made the right move.
“That was the best stoppage ever,” Loughnane said in his post-fight interview. “Me, that referee, and Pedro are the three people in there. Pedro was done. I’m so glad he stopped it when he did because, listen, we all want to get paid and go to our families. It was a great stoppage.”
It wasn’t just online where people were criticizing the call. Loughnane got heavily booed by the Chicago crowd for his win, something that completely caught him off guard.
“I’ll be honest with you, I thought, ‘Is there 5,000 Pedro fans in here?” Loughnane said. “I couldn’t work out what all the boos were because it was a great stoppage. I’m not joking. I was in there. I saw his eyes. Pedro was done. It should’ve been stopped earlier. Like, I don’t know what all the boos were about, honestly. Even when he stood up he was done, he was gone. It was a great stoppage.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 3.
Did referee Kevin MacDonald stop the PFL co-main event early? You be the judge.
[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] earned six points in a victory Saturday in Chicago. The win didn’t come without some controversy.
In the 2024 PFL 3 co-main event, Loughnane (28-5) defeated [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] (13-9) with punches at 1:26 of Round 1. The stoppage by referee Kevin MacDonald was controversial in the eyes of many viewers.
Loughnane stunned Carvalho in one of the opening exchanges. Carvalho spent most of the short, 86-second fight trying to weather the storm. When he fell on his back, Loughnane threatened punches from a standing position. After Loughnane landed several punches, Carvalho dove for a foot as Loughnane hit him again.
MacDonald dove in and waved off the fight, much to the protest of Carvalho and fans at Wintrust Arena. Regardless, the result held and Loughnane now finds himself atop the featherweight leaderboards.
QUICK 6️⃣!!!
BRENDAN LOUGHNANE KICKS OFF 2024 WITH A W!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸ESPN
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/uLyzQ1otqS— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 20, 2024
Loughnane, 34, bounces back after a TKO loss to Jesus Pinedo in the 2023 PFL featherweight final. The win Friday was his fifth in six most recent outings.
Carvalho, 28, has lost six of his eight most recent outings. A former Bellator title challenger, Carvalho’s fight Friday was his first under the PFL banner.
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The up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL 3 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 3.
Aaron Pico celebrated is 27th birthday with a dominant performance that could earn him a Bellator featherweight title shot.
[autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] gave [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] no chance.
Pico, the Bellator featherweight contender, picked up a quick TKO win in the co-main event of Saturday’s Bellator 299 in Dublin. Pico (12-4 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) put away Carvalho (13-8 MMA, 6-5 BMMA) with ground-and-pound 3:05 into the first round. It was another dominant showing for Pico, this one on his 27th birthday.
Pico began picking apart Carvalho on the feet and mixing in his wrestling to get takedowns. In one of the exchanges, Pico caught Carvalho with an uppercut and dropped him to the canvas. From there, Pico began a non-stop attack of ground-and-pound until he got Carvalho to roll over and stop defending himself, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
A brutal finish from @AaronPicoUSA! 🔥
What better way to celebrate your birthday than with a win 👊#Bellator299 LIVE on @SHOsports 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aObEvH9iWs
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 23, 2023
Following the win, Pico called for a title shot, saying he’s now finally ready to fight for gold and vowed that he will defend his belt once it’s his.
Currently, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire is out recovering from spinal surgery. He’s expected to return in early 2024. It’s uncertain if the promotion is going to implement an interim title in the division.
Pico is now on a two-fight winning streak since dislocating his shoulder against Jeremy Kennedy in October 2022, losing a by TKO due to injury. Prior to the injury, the JacksonWink fighter was on a six-fight winning streak, with all victories coming by stoppage.
Carvalho, on the other hand, finds himself on a two-fight losing streak and is 2-5 in his most recent seven fights. His last win came in September 2022, when he outpointed Mads Burnell in a unanimous decision.
Updated Bellator 299 results include:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.
With Patricio Freire recovering from back surgery, Pedro Carvalho calls for Bellator to do an interim title at featherweight.
[autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] thinks his division is in need of an interim title.
With Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire on the sidelines due to back surgery, Carvalho (13-7 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) would like to see the promotion implement an interim belt and keep the division moving on a championship level. The Portuguese fighter thinks it’s the right thing to do, given that Freire hasn’t defended his belt since October 2022, and won’t be able to return until March 2024.
“Oh for sure it’s the next thing, the interim belt, because he’ll be out until sometime next year,” Carvalho said Thursday at the Bellator 299 media day. “He’s not going to fight anytime earlier than that. I heard somewhere Bellator is going to do an interim belt, and besides, even if I heard wrong, it’s the obvious thing to do because he hasn’t defended his belt for quite some time, and he’s going to be out for a good bit. So it just makes sense to make an interim belt and not hold the division.”
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Carvalho returns against Aaron Pico this Saturday in the co-main event of Bellator 299, which takes place at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Carvalho holds Pico (11-4 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) in high regard and believes a win over him should set him up to fight for the interim title if the promotion chooses to implement one.
“It feels good, it feels right being in a fight where I know I’m going to have a fight, it’s exciting,” Carvalho said regarding the matchup with Pico. “I’m buzzing for this one. It’s a fight that I’ve wanted for quite some time. And like I said before, I always want to fight the top guys and prove myself as the top man. This fight is perfect for me to earn my spot as a title contender and fight for the belt.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.
Aaron Pico doesn’t expect Pedro Carvalho to pose too many problems for him.
[autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] doesn’t expect [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] to pose too many problems for him.
Pico (11-4 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) faces Carvalho (13-7 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) in the co-main event of Bellator 299, which takes place Sept. 23 at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card will air on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Pico, one of the most highly touted contenders in Bellator, is coming off a unanimous decision win over James Gonzalez in April. He was able to rebound from a TKO loss due to shoulder injury against Jeremy Kennedy, which was his only loss since 2019. He is 7-1 in his past eight.
Former title challenger Carvalho has lost four of his past six. But the SBG Ireland fighter will mark one of Pico’s most experienced opponents to date, and Pico won’t underestimate him.
“I think he’s pretty straightforward,” Pico told MMA Junkie Radio. “He’s southpaw (but) he switches to orthodox, as well – looks for a lot of guillotines and left body kicks. I think I have fought better strikers.
“But this game is crazy, and with 4-ounce gloves, this crazy sport, anything can happen. But we’ve really studied him and I’m really excited for this one. I think it’s a good style matchup for me so, I can’t wait.”
Pico says he’s been working a lot on his kicks recently, and would love to notch a spinning back kick knockout – even though his corner was shouting at him when he failed to effectively land them in his past fight against Gonzalez.
“That would be a great knockout, a spinning back kick,” Pico said. “You know what? I have a really good spinning back kick, to be honest with you, on the pads and things like that. It’s good, but it’s different in a fight. It’s really hard to get the timing down and to make sure he’s in the right spot to hit it. It’s a powerful kick, but it’s also a really hard kick to land. But I can do it pretty good on the pads.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements 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 or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by a promotion from May 29-June 4.
Aaron Pico’s long and winding journey toward Bellator gold continues.
The long and winding journey of [autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] toward Bellator gold continues.
In his next appearance, Pico (11-4 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) will face fellow contender [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] (13-7 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) at the promotion’s upcoming Dublin event scheduled for Sept. 23 at 3Arena.
Promotion officials Tuesday confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA Fighting.
Pico, 26, defeated James Gonzalez by unanimous decision in April. In doing so, he rebounded from a TKO loss due to shoulder injury against Jeremy Kennedy. The defeat against Kennedy is his only loss since 2019. He’s 7-1 over that stretch.
Carvalho, 27, is a former Bellator featherweight title challenger who has maintained his spot at the top of the division in recent years. Since he was knocked out by champion Patricio Freire in November 2020, Carvalho has alternated losses and wins. He is comes off a unanimous decision defeat to Jeremy Kennedy in February.
With the addition, the Bellator Dublin lineup now includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator Dublin.
Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 291 main card in Dublin, featuring Yaroslav Amosov vs. Logan Storley.
| Amosov vs. Storley |
Carvalho vs. Kennedy |
Logan vs. Queally |
Harding vs. Kavanagh |
Clarke vs. Sinis |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 15-11 |
 Amosov (73%) |
 Kennedy (80%) |
 Queally (83%) |
 Kavanagh (77%) |
 Clarke (90%) |
| Matt Erickson 18-8 |
 Storley |
Kennedy |
Queally |
 Harding |
Clarke |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 17-9 |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 17-9 |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 16-10  2018, 2022 Champion |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 16-10 |
Amosov |
 Carvalho |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 15-11/em> |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 15-11 2017 Champion |
Storley |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 14-12 |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 14-12 |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 12-14 |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 12-14 2014 Champion |
Amosov |
Kennedy |
Queally |
Kavanagh |
Clarke |
Bellator 291 predictions: Who’s picking Logan Storley to upset Yaroslav Amosov?
Bellator is in Ireland with one of the most dominant fighters in MMA at the top of the bill.
Bellator 291 takes place Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, welterweight champion [autotag]Yaroslav Amosov[/autotag] (26-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) meets interim champ [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag] (14-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) in a title unification bout. The two fought in late 2020, when Amosov took a split decision. He won the title his next time out.
Amosov is slight favorite at -165 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Storley is +130. But our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are siding with Amosov, who has MMA’s longest active winning streak, at a big 9-2 clip.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Jeremy Kennedy[/autotag] (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) at featherweight. Kennedy nearly is a 3-1 favorite, and he’s a near-unanimous pick at 10-1 from our staff members.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-7-1 MMA, 2-3 BMMA) is just a -150 favorite at lightweight in front of his home fans against [autotag]Bryce Logan[/autotag] (12-7 MMA, 0-4 BMMA), but Queally is one of our two unanimous picks on the main card at 11-0.
[autotag]Janay Harding[/autotag] (6-6 MMA, 3-4 BMMA) and [autotag]Sinead Kavanagh[/autotag] (8-5 MMA, 5-5 BMMA) meet in a women’s featherweight fight, and each is hoping a win will lead to a title shot. Kavanagh is more than a 2-1 favorite on her home turf, and she has a near-unanimous edge in the picks at 10-1.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Ciaran Clarke[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) takes on late-notice replacement and promotional newcomer [autotag]Leonardo Sinis[/autotag] (11-5-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at featherweight. Clarke is the biggest favorite on the main card at more than 4-1, and not surprisingly is our other unanimous pick.
In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Amosov (73 percent), Kennedy (80 percent), Queally (83 percent), Kavanagh (77 percent) and Clarke (90 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 291.
