Tag: Shamil Nikaev

Bellator 297 post-event facts: Vadim Nemkov achieves rare feat in dominant title defense

Check out all the facts from Bellator 297, where Vadim Nemkov took another step toward arguably the greatest resume in Bellator history.

Bellator’s lone event of the month went down Friday with Bellator 297 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, and it was arguably the promotion’s biggest show of the year thus far.

Two championship bouts topped the card, and both men who entered the cage with belts, lefts with them, too. [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) handily defeated [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) by unanimous decision in the headliner to retain the light heavyweight strap, while [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (23-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) kept hold of bantamweight gold with a unanimous decision over [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-6 MMA, 22-6 BMMA).

For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 297.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (May 1-7)

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 May 1-7.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 6-12)

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 Feb. 6-12.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 17-23)

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 Oct. 17-23.

Four fights added to Bellator 289, including return of Dalton Rosta

Bellator 289 takes place Dec. 9 and is headlined by two title fights, including the Danny Sabatello vs. Raufeon Stots grudge match.

Bellator has added four new fights to its final event of 2022.

Scheduled for Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., Bellator 289 already featured two bantamweight grand prix fights and a women’s flyweight title fight. Now, its undercard is filling up, too.

Most notably, a middleweight bout between rising contender [autotag]Dalton Rosta[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Anthony Adams[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take place.

Rosta, 26, is undefeated as a professional. In his most recent outing, Rosta dominated blue-chip wrestling prospect Romero Cotton en route to a third-round knockout. Meanwhile, Adams upset former UFC fighter Khalid Murtazaliev via unanimous decision in his Bellator debut in September 2021 and has not competed since.

A promotion official recently notified MMA Junkie of the addition, as well as [autotag]Chris Gonzalez[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Shamil Nikaev[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at lightweight, [autotag]Cass Bell[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Jared Scoggins[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) at bantamweight, and [autotag]Kevin Boehm[/autotag] (9-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Kai Kamaka[/autotag] (9-5-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).

The Boehm vs. Kamaka bout was first reported by BellatorZone.

With the additions, the Bellator 289 lineup includes:

  • Champion Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello – bantamweight grand prix semifinal for interim title
  • Champion Liz Carmouche vs. Juliana Velasquez – for women’s flyweight title
  • Magomed Magomedov vs. Patchy Mix – bantamweight grand prix semifinal
  • Anthony Adams vs. Dalton Rosta
  • Chris Gonzalez vs. Shamil Nikaev
  • Cody Law vs. Cris Lencioni
  • Cass Bell vs. Jared Scoggings
  • Mark Lemminger vs. Michael Lombardo
  • Kevin Boehm vs. Kai Kamaka
  • Theo Haig vs. Kareem Kline

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Bellator 254 video: Shamil Nikaev vs. Kemran Lachinov is Bellator’s best 2020 prelim bout

Bellator’s last preliminary fight of 2020 also happened to be its best.

We wouldn’t blame you if you occasionally glossed over Bellator’s preliminary cards. Sure, the undercards boast a fair share of wild finishes and controversies. But sometimes the matchmaking can be the equivalent of a 1980s Saturday morning pro wrestling TV show, a series of mismatches.

If you did this on Thursday night, though, you missed out. Bellator’s final prelim bout of 2020 was quite simply its best, as welterweights [autotag]Shamil Nikaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Kemran Lachinov[/autotag] put on a memorable matchup, particularly in the final round.

Nikaev (10-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) got the better of things over the first 10 minutes, as he outgrappled his foe. Lachinov (10-3 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) showed solid defense to keep from getting put in a bad spot, and he landed often enough to keep Nikaev honest.

It was clear going into round three Lachinov needed a finish. And that Nikaev was tiring. Lachinov threw everything but the kitchen sink at his opponent, whose arms kept dropping. Nikaev absorbed blow after blow and often seemed a shot away from being put to sleep. But whenever it would seem he was just about done, he’d find a wind and tag Lachinov hard enough to slow the onslaught.

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The battered and bruised competitors made it to the horn. As compelling as Lachinov’s third-round effort was, it wasn’t enough to make a difference on the scorecards, as the judges got it right with 29-28, across-the-board scores.

Nikaev is now 10-0 in his career, while Lachinov drops to 10-2.

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Kemran Lachinov, Davion Franklin among additions to Bellator 254 prelims

Two fights have been added to Bellator 254’s preliminary card.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator 254 is three weeks away and the preliminary card is filling up.

A welterweight fight between [autotag]Kemran Lachinov[/autotag] and [autotag]Shamil Nikaev[/autotag], as well as a heavyweight bout between [autotag]Davion Franklin[/autotag] and [autotag]Anthony Garrett[/autotag], has been added to the Dec. 10 event, a promotion official recently informed MMA Junkie.

Lachniov (10-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) made his Bellator return in October when he defeated the American Kickboxing Academy’s Kyle Crutchmer by unanimous decision. Turkey’s Lachinov has fought intermittently for Bellator since 2015. While he’s not a rostered fighter, Lachinov has remained undefeated through five appearances.

Nikaev (9-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) signed with the promotion in late 2019, but has yet to debut. He was supposed to debut against Bobby Lee at Bellator 239 in February but the fight was canceled for unknown reasons. The 25-year-old welterweight fighter is an alumnus of ACB and holds a win over UFC lightweight Christos Giagos.

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Franklin (2-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) is the second recipient of the JacksonWink-Mata Leon scholarship. A former junior college football and wrestling standout, Franklin has one win by TKO and a second by technical decision.

Garrett (5-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is most well-known for his lone Bellator appearance to date, in which he was kneed in the groin multiple times by former WWE superstar Jake Hager. The October 2019 fight was ruled a “No Contest” and Garrett has gone 1-0 since.

Bellator 254 takes place Thursday, Dec. 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network/DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

With the addition, the Bellator 254 lineup includes:

  • Ilima Lei-Macfarlane vs. Julianna Velasquez – for women’s flyweight title
  • Nate Andrews vs. Goiti Yamauchi
  • Matheus Mattos vs. Magomedov Magomedov
  • Jessica Borga vs. Marina Mokhnatina
  • Tyree Fortune vs. Grant Neal
  • Romero Cotton vs. Justin Sumter
  • Kemran Lachinov vs. Shamil Nikaev
  • Davion Franklin vs. Anthony Garrett

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Bellator 239 adds promotional debut of former WSOF title challenger Josh Hill

Former WSOF title challenger Josh Hill is set to take on a former LFA title challenger at Bellator 239.

[autotag]Josh Hill[/autotag] has his Bellator debut in his sights.

A former WSOF title challenger, Hill (18-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will take on former LFA title challenger [autotag]Vinicius Zani[/autotag] (11-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on the Bellator 239 prelims.

A promotion official informed MMA Junkie of booking and confirmed an additional preliminary card booking between [autotag]Bobby Lee[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Shamil Nikaev[/autotag] (9-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), as well.

In 2013, Hill was featured on “The Ultimate Fighter 18,” where he punched his ticket into the house with a win over Paddy Holohan. Eventually, he was eliminated when he lost a decision to Mike Wooten.

In WSOF, Hill challenged then-champion Marlon Moraes twice – once in December 2015 and another in July 2016. Hill lost both outings, the first by decision and the second by second-round knockout.

Hill has won four out of his last five fights, including a stoppage win over former TKO champion Jesse Arnett in May.

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As for Zani, the 32-year-old Brazilian has not competed since LFA 36 in March 2018, when he was finished in 59 seconds by Ricky Simon. The loss snapped a four-fight win streak.

With the additions, the Bellator 239 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Paramount, DAZN, 9 p.m. ET)

  • Ed Ruth vs. Yaroslav Amosov
  • Brandon Girtz vs. Myles Jury
  • Tyrell Fortune vs. Timothy Johnson
  • Javy Ayala vs. Valentin Moldavsky

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Cris Lencioni vs. Salim Mukhidinov
  • Denise Kielholtz vs. Kristina Williams
  • Lucas Brennan vs. Jamese Taylor
  • Adil Benjilany vs. Kevin Croom
  • Chris Gonzalez vs. Aaron McKenzie
  • Christian Edwards vs. Marco Hutch
  • Teejay Britton vs. Gabriel Varga
  • Grant Neal vs. Claude Wilcox
  • Davion Franklin vs. J.W. Kiser
  • Steve Mowry vs. Rudy Schaffroth
  • Gaston Bolanos vs. Solo Hatley Jr.
  • Kyle Crutchmer vs. Scott Futrell
  • Shamil Nikaev vs. Bobby Lee
  • Mark Lemminger vs. Carlo Pedersoli Jr.
  • Shawn Bunch vs. Keith Lee
  • Josh Hill vs. Vinicius Zani
  • Bobby Lee vs. Shamil Nikaev

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