Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 from March 27-April 2.
A massive Bellator card is headed to the “Windy City” with two titles on the line.
Bellator is headed back to Chicago, and two title fights are coming with it.
The promotion has booked Bellator 297 for June 16 at Wintrust Arena where light heavyweight champion [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) will face [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) in the night’s headliner. In the co-main event, featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA) drops to bantamweight to challenge 135-pound titleholder [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 9-5 BMMA).
Promotion officials confirmed the news to MMA Junkie on Monday after an initial report by NBC Sports Chicago. The event will air on Showtime after prelims streamed on MMA Junkie.
Nemkov and Romero were originally expected to square off at Bellator 290 in February. However, Nemkov withdrew from the bout. Nemkov is coming off his grand prix-winning title defense against Corey Anderson in November. He has not lost since 2016.
Romero, 45, makes his first Bellator title challenge after multiple tries at middleweight gold in the UFC. Since joining Bellator in 2021, Romero lost a split decision to Phil Davis in his promotional debut before back-to-back wins over Melvin Manhoef and Alex Polizzi.
In what will be his Bellator bantamweight debut, Freire aims to pick up a title in a third weight class with the promotion. A former lightweight champion, Freire has reigned as featherweight champion since 2017 – with the exception of a nine-month period after a loss to A.J. McKee. In a rematch, Freire avenged his previous defeat before more recent victories over Adam Borics and Kleber Erbst.
Pettis, 29, is set to compete for the first time since he won the Bellator bantamweight title with a spinning backfist knockout of Kyoji Horiguchi in December 2021. Pettis was scheduled to compete in the ongoing Bellator bantamweight grand prix but withdrew prior to its start due to an ACL tear.
With the additions, the Bellator 297 lineup includes:
Check out these highly anticipated matchups in 2022 that fell through due to various issues outside of the cage.
Fight bookings throughout 2022 were not ravaged by COVID-19 like the year before, but a number of key matchups still never made it to the cage.
Unfortunate injuries occurred in training camp, and in two instances, after weigh-ins, leading to last-minute scheduling changes and late bout scratches.
From entertaining veteran matchups to top contender bouts and title fight rematches, MMA lost some incredible fights this year due to various reasons.
Take a look below at some of the biggest pairings and why they did not go ahead as planned (in order of scheduled date).
Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis continues to inch closer to a return and has a good idea whom he’ll be fighting when he’s back.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator bantamweight champion [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] continues to inch closer to a return – and has a pretty good idea whom he’ll be fighting when he’s back.
Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) won the 135-pound title in May 2021 against Juan Archuleta. A year ago, he had his first successful title defense with a dramatic fourth-round knockout of Kyoji Horiguchi.
But earlier this year, instead of putting his title on the line in Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix, he had to pull out with a torn ACL. Bellator made a fight between Raufeon Stots and Archuleta an interim title bout to open the tournament. Stots won that interim belt, then this past Friday beat Danny Sabatello to move into the final against Patchy Mix.
The winner of that fight eventually will meet Pettis to unify the belts. And Pettis thinks his former Roufusport teammate Stots will be the one standing across from him when he returns.
“I think it’s going to be me and my teammate, Raufeon Stots,” Pettis told MMA Junkie at Bellator 289 this past Friday in Uncasville, Conn. “… That’s what I’m prepping for.”
Pettis said he doesn’t think there will be any issues with him and Stots putting their past training relationship and friendship aside for the title fight.
When Stots was set to fight Pettis in the tournament before Pettis’ injury, he left Roufusport in Milwaukee to avoid the same teammate-vs.-teammate issues he’d have if he stayed at the gym.
“It does make it a lot easier now that I’m not in the same practice room as him,” Pettis said. “I was with him for about six and a half years every day, training each other to get better and better. Now we’re at this level where we have to fight each other. That’s OK with us because we’re reaching to be the best in the world.
“… I feel like there wouldn’t be any bad blood. Obviously, our job is competition and currency. That’s what we’re here for. We’re just here competing against each other trying to get that bread and may the best man win. I don’t think we’ll have any issues.”
Pettis said he started training earlier than doctors wanted him to, but that restlessness got the better of him. He said his appearance at Bellator 289 was the first Bellator show he had attended since his win over Horiguchi.
But he said his knee feels back to normal and thinks he’ll have no issues being ready for the Stots-Mix winner. A date hasn’t been announced for the final, but is not likely to be later than April or May. That still could put Pettis’ return several months after that, so summer 2023.
“It feels good to be able to move again,” Pettis said. “You don’t know how much you take for granted when you have it. I didn’t know how important the ACL was until I tore it and I’m like, ‘Damn.’ You’ve got to take care of your body for sure. As of right now, I’m thinking the end of this tournament. Next week will be eight months post-(operation). … I’m thinking after this tournament, I’ll be back to the job.
“Day to day, I feel like my knee’s gotten a lot better. I can do everything I used to be able to do – the spin kick, the jump knees, sprawls, wrestling. I’m still not 100 percent comfortable, but I’m close.”
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The Bellator bantamweight grand prix will have to go on without champion Sergio Pettis.
The Bellator bantamweight grand prix will have to kick off without the champion as an injury has forced [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] out of his opening bout against teammate [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag].
Now on April 23 at Bellator 279, former champ [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (25-3) will step in to face Stots (17-1) for the interim title at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
A person with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the change but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. CBS Sports was first to report the news.
Archuleta already was tabbed to compete in the eight-man bantamweight tournament but was yet to have an opponent announced. The former champ, who captured the vacant 135-pound title by defeating Patchy Mix at Bellator 246, last competed when he was dethroned by Pettis (22-5) at Bellator 258 in May.
Unbeaten as a Bellator fighter, Stots will head into his first title fight riding a nine-fight winning streak. The 33-year-old is coming off back-to-back wins over Josh Hill and most recently Magomed Magomedov at Bellator 264.
Pettis, the younger brother of former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, would’ve been looking to kick off the grand prix with his second title defense after defeating Kyoji Horiguchi last December with the Knockout of the Year.
With the change, the lineup of Bellator 279 currently includes:
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Bellator is heading back to Hawaii for two events on back-to-back nights, featuring Cris Cyborg and start of the bantamweight grand prix.
Bellator is going back to Hawaii in a big way.
The promotion returns to the islands for a pair of events on back-to-back nights at Neal S. Blaisdell Center for Bellator 278 on April 22 and Bellator 279 on April 23. The events will feature multiple title fights as [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] (25-2) is set to face [autotag]Arlene Blencowe[/autotag] (15-8) in a featherweight championship rematch and [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (22-5) takes on [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (17-1) as a part of the $1 million bantamweight grand prix. MMA Junkie confirmed the news following an initial report from KHON2.
Bellator was last in Hawaii in Dec. 2019, when the promotion ran Bellator 235 and Bellator 236 on back-to-back nights.
Although no fights have been announced for Bellator 278, the Bellator 279 card is stacking up with a strong lineup. In addition to the title fights, [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (29-4) will face [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag] (15-1) in a first-round bantamweight grand prix match and Hawaii’s own [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (11-1) returns to action to meet [autotag]Justine Kish[/autotag] (7-5).
Following preliminary bouts, the main card for Bellator 278 is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET and the main card for Bellator 279 starts at 4:30 p.m. ET. Both events will air live on Showtime.
The lineup of Bellator 279 currently includes:
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Check out our complete list of 2022 award winners in MMA.
The MMA Junkie staff came together to hand out 15 awards for the 2021 calendar year. Congratulations to all the winners. The complete list can be seen below.
What are some of your dream matchups for 2022? Here are 22 fights MMA Junkie hopes to see happen in 2022.
Amidst a tumultuous global pandemic there were many grim realities humans had to endure in 2021. One thing was consistently good, however, and that’s combat sports.
Although just five fights of 21 fights from the 2021 MMA wishlist came to fruition, the sport was extremely hot and gave fans many memorable moments. The world leader of MMA – the UFC – had a particularly great year, and that momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing heading into 2022.
It’s not just UFC fights that are taking attention, either. There’s also plenty happening in Bellator, PFL, Eagle FC and many other promotions.
MMA is in a great spot, and with much excitement we present MMA Junkie’s wishlist of 22 fights we’d like to see in 2022.
This week on “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel recaps the 2021 year that was in MMA with some of the sport’s biggest storylines.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Mike Bohn Danny Segura discuss some of the biggest storylines of 2021 with host John Morgan.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch the full episode in the video above.
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Get caught up with the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings ahead of this weekend’s action.
Top bantamweights across Bellator and UFC were in action this past week, and as a result, they are the focus of this week’s USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.
On Friday at Bellator 272, [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] pulled off one of the best knockouts of the year in a comeback win over [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] to defend the Bellator bantamweight title for the first time. In Saturday’s main event at UFC on ESPN 31, [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] took care of business against [autotag]Rob Font[/autotag], keeping his name in the title picture.
This weekend, UFC 269 features two title fights and key matchups at the top of multiple divisions that could cause a shake-up in the next rankings update.
Check out where those fighters rank in the dropdown above and be sure to find out next week where things stand.
