Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Simon Biyong vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov at 2024 PFL 5 in Salt Lake City.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov[/autotag]’s victory over Simon Biyong at 2024 PFL 5, which took place at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)
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 Jan. 16-22.
A former Bellator welterweight champion is moving back up a division, and he has his first assignment.
A former Bellator welterweight champion is moving back up a division, and he has his first assignment.
[autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (32-11 MMA, 14-7 BMMA) has been booked for a middleweight matchup against [autotag]Costello Van Steenis[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) when Bellator returns to France this spring. Bellator officials announced the new booking Thursday, as well as a light heavyweight bout between [autotag]Jose Augusto[/autotag] (7-4 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Simon Biyong[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) for the prelims.
Bellator Paris takes place May 12 at Accor Arena in Paris. The main card will air on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. The event will be Bellator’s second event in Paris in less than a year.
Lima will be looking to get back on track in what is the roughest stretch of his career. “The Phenom” beat Andrey Koreshkov in a rematch to reclaim the 170-pound title in 2016 and defended it against Lorenz Larkin in 2017. But in early 2018, he lost the belt to Rory MacDonald.
Lima rebounded with finishes of Koreshkov, then became the first fighter to beat Michael Page when he knocked him out at Bellator 221. Later in 2019, he beat MacDonald to get the welterweight title back.
Then his struggles started. He dropped a unanimous decision to then-middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi in a bid to become a two-division titleholder. Then he lost the welterweight title to Yaroslav Amosov in June 2021. Later that year, he dropped a split call to Page in a rematch, and in July 2022, he lost a decision to Jason Jackson for his fourth straight setback.
Van Steenis will be looking to build on back-to-back wins over Fabian Edwards in 2020 and a submission of Kamil Oniszczuk this past October at Bellator 287. Van Steenis, from the Netherlands, is a training partner of Mousasi, who headlines Bellator Paris.
With the additions, the Bellator Paris lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, noon ET)
[vertical-gallery id=457096]
Check out these photos from Bellator 281 which took place at SSE Arena in London.
Check out these photos from Bellator 281 which took place at SEE Arena in London. (Photos courtesy of Bellator MMA)
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 Feb. 7-13.
Check out the ceremonial weigh-in faceoffs ahead of Bellator 261 at Mohegan Sun.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator makes its return Friday, and the promotion is implementing an interim heavyweight title.
Bellator 261 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Atop the bill are top heavyweight contenders [autotag]Tim Johnson[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA). They will compete for the interim strap in the absence of undisputed champion Ryan Bader, who is partaking in the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix.
The co-main event features a women’s flyweight fight. Former UFC title challenger [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) faces [autotag]Kana Watanabe[/autotag] (10-0-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA).
Following Thursday’s official Bellator 261 weigh-ins, the athletes came face to face for some traditional pre-fight staredowns.
Check out the faceoffs below, including Johnson vs. Moldavsky, Carmouche vs. Watanabe, [autotag]Keoni Diggs[/autotag] vs. [autotag] Daniel Weichel[/autotag], [autotag]Myles Jury[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag], and [autotag]Simon Biyong[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Christian Edwards[/autotag].
Japan’a Rizin FF has confirmed a clutch of new matchups for their end-of-year event, as well as their contributions to Bellator 237.
Japanese promotion Rizin FF has confirmed a clutch of new matchups for their end-of-year event, as well as their contributions to Bellator 237.
Rizin FF 20 takes place Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan. In the night’s headliner, [autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] (14-4) has been added to face the previously announced [autotag]Kai Asakura[/autotag] (14-1) for the Rizin bantamweight title recently vacated by the injured Kyoji Horiguchi.
That brings the total number of Rizin title fights on the card to three.
A host of other fight bookings has also been made for the event, with Russia’s [autotag]Vitaly Shemetov[/autotag] (23-10) vs. EFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Simon Biyong[/autotag] (6-1), [autotag]Jake Heun[/autotag] (14-9) vs. Olympic gold medalist [autotag]Satoshi Ishii[/autotag] (22-10-1) and former Pancrase bantamweight champion [autotag]Shintaro Ishiwatari[/autotag] (26-7-4) will take on “The Ultimate Fighter 24” runner-up [autotag]Hiromasa Ogikubo[/autotag] (19-4-2) in a bantamweight title eliminator, with the winner set to face the winner of the Asakura-Kape matchup early in 2020.
Rizin also announced a pair of new matchups for their co-promoted Dec. 29 event, Bellator 237, with 2017 Rizin grand prix champion [autotag]Kanna Asakura[/autotag] (15-4) set to face [autotag]Jayme Hinshaw[/autotag] (4-3), while heavyweights are set to collide as Japan’s [autotag]Shoma Shibisai[/autotag] (5-2) takes on Russia’s [autotag]Sergey Shemetov[/autotag] (9-6).
Rizin FF 20 confirmed fights include:
* * * *
Bellator 237 confirmed fights include:
MAIN CARD
POSTLIMS
