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 13-19.
Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 269 main card in Moscow, featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Johnson at heavyweight.
| Emelianenko vs. Johnson |
Minakov vs. Sowma |
Nurmagomedov vs. Pietila |
Davlatmurodov vs. Tokov |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 167-97 |
 Emelianenko (66%) |
 Minakov (91%) |
 Nurmagomedov (92%) |
 Tokov (83%) |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 172-92 |
 Johnson |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 166-98 |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 164-100 |
Johnson |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 161-103  2020 Champion |
Johnson |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 160-104 2018 Champion |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 160-104 |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 159-105 2014 Champion |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 155-109 2017 Champion |
Johnson |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 154-110 |
Johnson |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 153-111 |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 151-113 |
Johnson |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 150-115 |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 2021: 90-58 |
Emelianenko |
Minakov |
Nurmagomedov |
Tokov |
Bellator makes its debut in Russia this week with arguably the most famous Russian fighter of all time at the top of the bill.
Bellator 269 takes place Saturday at VTB Arena in Moscow. 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, [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) fights in his home country for the first time in more than five years when he takes on [autotag]Tim Johnson[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) at heavyweight. Johnson, fighting in hostile territory, is a -160 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Emelianenko is +125. But it’s Emelianenko who has a 7-6 lead in the picks from our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers at 13-0.
In the co-feature, [autotag]Vitaly Minakov[/autotag] (22-1 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) is a big -320 favorite at heavyweight against [autotag]Said Sowma[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 1-1 BMMA). He’s one of three unanimous picks from our staff members on the main card.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) will try to keep his unbeaten record intact against [autotag]Patrik Pietila[/autotag] (11-8 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in a 160-pound contract weight fight. Nurmagomedov is a massive -3000 favorite, and not surprisingly he’s a unanimous pick.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Anatoly Tokov[/autotag] (29-3 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) is a huge -750 favorite at middleweight against [autotag]Sharaf Davlatmurodov[/autotag] (18-3-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and is our third unanimous choice.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Emelianenko (66 percent), Minakov (91 percent), Nurmagomedov (92 percent) and Tokov (83 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
Former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho is set to make his debut in a new promotion.
Former Bellator middleweight champion [autotag]Rafael Carvalho[/autotag] is set to make his debut in a new promotion.
On Friday, LFA announced that Carvalho will headline LFA 107 on May 14 against [autotag]Sharaf Davlatmurodov[/autotag] also making his promotional debut. The booking was part of an announcement that included the lineup for LFA 108 on May 21. Both events will take place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and stream on UFC Fight Pass.
Carvalho, 34, won Bellator’s 185-pound title in October 2015 with a TKO of Brandon Halsey. Carvalho (16-5) went on to defend his title three times – part of an overall 15-fight winning streak – before losing it to Gegard Mousasi by first-round TKO in May 2018 at Bellator 200. That kickstarted a downswing for Carvalho, who’s dropped four of his past five, resulting in his release from Bellator.
Davlatmurodov (17-3-1), who fights out of Tajikistan, made his professional in 2015 and went on an 11-fight unbeaten streak that included a draw. He’s rebounded from back-to-back losses with his current five-fight winning streak, which includes three finishes.
Below are the lineups for LFA 107 and LFA 108:
LFA 107 (UFC Fight Pass, 9 p.m. ET, May 14)
LFA 108 (UFC Fight Pass, 9 p.m. ET, May 21)
