Tag: Timothy Johnson

Bellator 261 pre-event facts: The first interim title fight in heavyweight history

Check out all the facts and figures about Bellator 261, which takes place Friday with a Timothy Johnson vs. Valentin Moldavsky main event.

Bellator returns on Friday with Bellator 261 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., with a main card that airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

A historic fight is featured in the main event. With heavyweight champion Ryan Bader tied up with the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix, the company will implement an interim title for the first time at heavyweight.

[autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) will clash for that belt, with the winner set up to unify with Bader when he becomes available.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 10 pre-event facts about Bellator 261.

Grand prix pulled Ryan Bader away from heavyweight, but he has no plans to vacate title

An interim Bellator heavyweight title? Ryan Bader sees it as a possibility.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] was headed to heavyweight to defend his title. Then the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix happened, and things changed.

One fight removed from losing his 205-pound title to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244 in August, Bader (27-6 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) will return to action Friday at Bellator 256 against Lyoto Machida. It’s not the weight class most people, including Bader, expected he’d compete in next, but Bellator needed him.

“(The plan) was to defend the heavyweight belt,” Bader, who holds the promotion’s heavyweight championship, told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I was going to fight Tim Johnson in potentially March, early March. We were waiting for this whole Showtime deal to go through and all that kind of stuff. That was going on at the same time. Then they came up and asked us if we wanted to do the light heavyweight tournament, the grand prix. (They said) they’d rather us do that.

“We said, ‘Whatever you want us to do. We’d love to enter another grand prix.’ I asked them too, ‘Well, what about the heavyweight belt?’ They were like, ‘We’ll figure that out. Keep it for now. We’ll go forward and see what happens.’ That was kind of how that whole ordeal worked out.”

[lawrence-related id=601191,601123]

Bader has not competed at heavyweight since 2019. His absence has paused divisional flow and left contenders, namely [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), in limbo of whether or not to take another fight.

Despite the division in which he holds a belt being essentially put on hold, Bader doesn’t bear the responsibility for his inactivity. To him, vacating his title shouldn’t be on the promotion’s agenda since Bellator presented him with the grand prix opportunity. Maybe an interim belt is the way to go.

“I’m not giving it up. No. 1, because I fought there,” Bader said. “Bellator came to me and asked me if I wanted to do this tournament. They said I could keep this belt. Maybe an interim belt going (forward)? But that’s up to Tim Johnson. He’s the No. 1 contender. I know we agreed on this fight, and he’s been looking great and (has) three (straight) wins.

“It’s just one of those things. Does he want to fight for an interim belt? Then we can unify it? Or does he want to wait for the actual title shot? That’s always a gamble, too. At the end of the day, I want to be active. Barring any injuries, if I got out there and win this tournament, I’ll be ready a couple of months after those finals. It’s really kind of up to Bellator and up to him.”

Bellator 256 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

[listicle id=600410]

Bellator Paris live stream and official results (11:30 a.m. ET)

Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10 take place Saturday. Join us for a live video stream and official results.

Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10 takes place Saturday, and you can join us for a live video stream and official results beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT).

The event takes place at Accor Arena in Paris. Bellator 248 airs on CBS Sports Network and DAZN, while Bellator Europe 10 streams live on MMA Junkie.

In the Bellator 248 main event, [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Ross Houston[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at welterweight. In the Bellator Europe 10 headliner, [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] (30-10-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) meets [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) at heavyweight.

Official Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10 results include:

BELLATOR EUROPE 9 MAIN CARD (MMA Junkie, 5 p.m. ET)

  • Cheick Kongo vs. Timothy Johnson
  • Arbi Mezdihov vs. Saul Rogers

BELLATOR EUROPE 9 PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 1:45 p.m. ET)

  • Terry Brazier vs. Yves Landu
  • Fabacary Diatta vs. Dominique Wooding
  • Maguy Berchel vs. Lucie Bertaud
  • Ciaran Clarke vs. Jean N’Doye

BELLATOR 248 (CBS Sports Network, DAZN, 11:30 a.m. ET)

  • Michael Page vs. Ross Houston
  • Emmanuel Dawa vs. Oliver Enkamp
  • Alan Omer vs. Ryan Scope
  • Darko Banovic vs. Mads Burnell

Note: Bellator officials confirmed the William Gomis vs. Dylan Logan and Ilias Bulaid vs. Ivan Naccari bouts originally scheduled for the Bellator Europe 10 prelims have been removed from the card due to a fighter from each matchup not being licensed to compete by the overseeing athletic commission.

Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10 weigh-in results (5 a.m. ET)

Check out the results from the official Bellator 248 / Europe 10 fighter weigh-ins in Paris, France.

MMA Junkie is reporting live on Friday’s official Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10 fighter weigh-ins, which kick off at 5 a.m. ET (2 a.m. PT).

Bellator 248 takes place Saturday night at Accor Arena in Paris, France. The four-fight card streams on CBS Sports Network and DAZN.

Bellator Europe 10 takes place the same night, from the same venue. The main card streams live on MMA Junkie channel following the preliminary card, which streams on MMA Junkie and DAZN.

Among those weighing in are [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Ross Houston[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who face off in the main event of Bellator 248, and [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] (30-10-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), who meet in the heavyweight main event of Bellator Europe 10.

The full Bellator 248 / Bellator Europe 10 weigh-in results include:

BELLATOR EUROPE 10 MAIN CARD (5:00 p.m. ET, MMA Junkie/Bellator YouTube channel)

  • Cheick Kongo () vs. Timothy Johnson ()
  • Arbi Mezhidov () vs. Saul Rogers ()

BELLATOR EUROPE 10 PRELIMINARY CARD (1:45 p.m. ET, MMA Junkie/Bellator YouTube channel/DAZN)

  • Davy Gallon () vs. Brian Hooi ()
  • Terry Brazier () vs. Yves Landu ()
  • Ilias Bulaid () vs. Ivan Naccari ()
  • Fabacary Diatta () vs. Dominique Wooding ()
  • Ciaran Clarke () vs. Jean N’Doye ()
  • William Gomis () vs. Dylan Logan ()

BELLATOR 248 FIGHT CARD (11:30 a.m. ET, CBS Sports Network/DAZN)

  • Michael Page () vs. Ross Houston ()
  • Emmanuel Dawa () vs. Oliver Enkamp ()
  • Alan Omer () vs. Ryan Scope ()
  • Darko Banovic () vs. Mads Burnell ()

Full fight card and broadcast details confirmed for Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10

The full 12-bout lineup for the dual-card Bellator 248/Bellator Europe 10 event in Paris, France has been confirmed.

The bout lineup and broadcast details for Bellator’s historic dual-card event in Paris, France has been confirmed, with the event split into two cards, Bellator 248 and Bellator Europe 10, to accommodate the promotion’s various broadcast partners.

The event at the Accor Arena will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and DAZN with Bellator 248, which features a four-fight card, headlined by the 175-pound contract weight bout between England’s [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) and Scotland’s debuting former Cage Warriors welterweight champion [autotag]Ross Houston[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

The action then moves on to the Bellator Europe 10 portion of the event, with the six-bout preliminary card set to be aired on MMA Junkie via the Bellator YouTube channel and DAZN from 1:45 p.m. ET.

The two-fight Bellator Europe 10 main card, featuring [autotag]Arbi Mezhidov[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Saul Rogers[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), then the heavyweight headliner between France’s [autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] (30-10-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) and American [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), will go live from 5 p.m. ET, on MMA Junkie via the Bellator YouTube channel.

The event also marks a notable moment for the promotion in the U.K., with Bellator officials confirming that the Bellator 248 card and the Bellator Europe 10 prelims will be shown live on BBC iPlayer, marking the first time a major MMA organization has been broadcast live by the British public service broadcaster.

Full Bellator 248/Bellator Europe 10 fight card includes:

BELLATOR EUROPE 10 MAIN CARD (5:00 p.m. ET, MMA Junkie/Bellator YouTube channel)

  • Cheick Kongo vs. Timothy Johnson
  • Arbi Mezhidov vs. Saul Rogers

BELLATOR EUROPE 10 PRELIMINARY CARD (1:45 p.m. ET, MMA Junkie/Bellator YouTube channel/DAZN)

  • Davy Gallon vs. Brian Hooi
  • Terry Brazier vs. Yves Landu
  • Ilias Bulaid vs. Ivan Naccari
  • Fabacary Diatta vs. Dominique Wooding
  • Ciaran Clarke vs. Jean N’Doye
  • William Gomis vs. Dylan Logan

BELLATOR 248 FIGHT CARD (11:30 a.m. ET, CBS Sports Network/DAZN)

  • Michael Page vs. Ross Houston
  • Emmanuel Dawa vs. Oliver Enkamp
  • Alan Omer vs. Ryan Scope
  • Darko Banovic vs. Mads Burnell

Cheick Kongo to fight on Bellator’s first event in France, rematch Timothy Johnson

Bellator 248 will take place in Paris, and France’s Cheick Kongo will be headlining in a rematch against Timothy Johnson.

[autotag]Cheick Kongo[/autotag] has been a professional mixed martial artist for more than 19 years.

But when he steps into the cage Oct. 10, he’ll do something he’s never done before. He’ll fight in his home country, France, when he takes on [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] at Bellator 248 in a rematch of their September 2018 fight.

The event will take place at Accor Arena in Paris. The promotion announced the news Friday, alongside a pairing between welterweights Michael Page and Ross Houston.

Although the promo poster released by the promotion does not indicate Kongo vs. Johnson will serve as the main event, it is likely to be announced as the headliner during an announcement scheduled by Bellator president Scott Coker later Friday.

In January 2020, France legalized mixed martial arts for the first time, making it a target for Bellator. As soon as France passed legislation to allow for MMA, Coker issued a statement expressing his enthusiasm.

[lawrence-related id=550196,550207,550811]

Kongo (30-12-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) and Johnson (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) have their rematch 26 months after their first fight. In their initial meeting, Kongo knocked out Johnson in 68 seconds.

Since then, Kongo has fought twice, picking up a win against Vitaly Minakov before a no contest due to an eye poke against Ryan Bader. He has not competed since September 2019.

Ten months after the Kongo fight, Johnson was knocked out by Vitaly Minakov. However, he turned his losing skid around in his next fight, flattening then-undefeated prospect Tyrell Fortune in one of the promotion’s biggest betting upsets. In his most recent fight in August, Johnson defeated Matt Mitrione by first-round TKO.

[vertical-gallery id=440371]

Bellator 243 post-event facts: Michael Chandler makes history with blistering knockout

Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 243, which took place Friday in Uncasville, Conn.

Bellator’s second event since returning from a hiatus brought on by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic took place on Friday with Bellator 243. The event again went down at the “Fightsphere,” which is located at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

The most decorated athlete in Bellator history headlined the card in winning fashion. Former three-time champ [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 18-5 BMMA) knocked out former UFC and WEC titleholder [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (28-8 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) in the first round of their anticipated rematch. With the win, Chandler went to 2-0 against Henderson and ended his current Bellator contract.

The talk is getting stronger that Chandler’s storied Bellator run may come to an end with this fight. If that’s the case, he goes out with a special resume. For all the figures, check below for 20 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 243.

* * * *

General

Betting favorites went 2-2 on the main card.

Betting favorites improved to 5-0 in Bellator main events this year.

Total fight time for the four-bout main card was 35:23.

Main card

[vertical-gallery id=542722]

Chandler’s 18 victories in Bellator competition are tied with Patricio Freire for most in company history.

Chandler’s 15 victories in Bellator lightweight competition are most in divisional history.

Chandler’s 13 stoppage victories in Bellator competition are most in company history.

Chandler’s 10 stoppage victories in Bellator lightweight competition are most in divisional history.

Henderson fell to 5-3 since he returned to the lightweight division in August 2016.

Henderson suffered his first knockout loss since Aug. 23, 2014 – a span of 2,176 days (nearly six years) and 12 fights.

[autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) has earned 11 of his 14 career victories by stoppage. That includes both of his Bellator wins.

[autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag]’s (13-8 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) four-fight winless skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since February 2018.

Mitrione has suffered six of his eight career losses by stoppage.

[autotag]Myles Jury[/autotag] (19-5 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) has earned both of his Bellator victories by decision.

[autotag]Georgi Karakhanyan[/autotag] (29-11-1 MMA, 7-9 BMMA) fell to 1-3 since he returned to Bellator for a third stint in March 2019.

Karakhanyan fell to 1-1 since he moved up to the Bellator lightweight division in February 2020.

Karakhanyan has suffered eight of his 11 career losses by decision.

Preliminary card

[vertical-gallery id=542667]

[autotag]Valerie Loureda[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) has earned both of her career stoppage victories by knockout.

[autotag]Nainoa Dung[/autotag] (3-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career 3-0.

Dung suffered the first knockout loss of his career.

Timothy Johnson wants to make title run, lose journeyman label following Bellator 243 win

Timothy Johnson turning things around in his career.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Timothy Johnson[/autotag] thinks he’s hitting a new gear in his fighting career.

The heavyweight veteran thinks he’s shedding his journeyman label and turning into a title contender following his victory at Bellator 243 on Friday. Johnson (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) stopped Matt Mitrione with a first-round TKO in the co-main event.

Johnson knew the bout with Mitrione was an important step into changing his standing in Bellator’s heavyweight division.

“I knew the opportunity that was in front of me, and I’ve had multiple opportunities in my career and I’ve kind of messed them all up,” Johnson said after the fight. “Before this fight (Friday), I guess I had the title of a journeyman for good reason, and I didn’t want to go through my career as that.

“I want to make a push right now – try to make something and accomplish my goals. I think I’m on my way right now.”

[lawrence-related id=542425,542506,542445]

Johnson thinks confidence has been a big factor for him in his two-fight winning streak. The 35-year-old upset 9-1 favorite and blue-chip prospect Tyrell Fortune in February before his modest upset of Mitrione.

Johnson wants to return in the fall and wants a top contender who will put him in the mix for a shot at Ryan Bader’s heavyweight belt.

“I feel pretty good, but I hope I can get a fight here in September against the next in line that would put me in that title contention,” Johnson said. “A couple of these wins here, a loss to someone there isn’t going to kill me like a loss (Friday). I would’ve been back to square one. So I’m happy where things are at right now.”

[vertical-gallery id=542753]

[vertical-gallery id=542577]