Tag: Usman Nurmagomedov

Video: Watch Bellator 300 pre-fight press conference on MMA Junkie

Bellator 300 takes place Friday in San Diego. Watch a live stream of the pre-event news conference with three title fights at 4 p.m. ET.

SAN DIEGO – Bellator 300 takes place Friday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, and you can watch a live video stream of the pre-event news conference here on MMA Junkie at 4 p.m. ET.

The press conference takes place at the Bellator host hotel in San Diego. The media event will be hosted by Chael Sonnen, as well as Bellator President Scott Coker.

Women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) takes on longtime teammate, friend and former titleholder [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA). Women’s featherweight champ [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) meets [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 4-0 BMMA). And lightweight champ [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) puts his belt on the line against ex-champ [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) to close out the three title fights on the main card.

Check out the press conference and subsequent faceeoffs in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.

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Bellator 300 pre-event facts: Strong stats behind title-fight triple header

Check out all the facts and figures about Bellator 300, which takes place Saturday and features three championship bouts.

Perhaps the final monumental event in Bellator history takes place Saturday with Bellator 300, which goes down at Pechanga Arena in San Diego with a main card that airs on Showtime following prelims streamed on MMA Junkie.

Three championship fights will top the bill, with the lightweight, women’s featherweight and women’s flyweight belts all on the line in what the promotion is dubbing as a “triple main event.”

For more on the numbers behind each bout, as well as other notable bouts on the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about Bellator 300.

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Video: Which champions retain (if any) at Bellator 300?

The tricentennial Bellator event takes place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego and features three title fights.

Bellator 300 is just days away – a milestone event for the promotion that will transpire in its most uncertain of times.

While it’s unclear how long Bellator will be around for, it’s tricentennial event features three title fights after a fourth, Ryan Bader vs. Linton Vassell was canceled Tuesday. The remaining title fights include [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag], [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Linton Vassell[/autotag], and [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag].

The event takes place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego with a main card on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Which champions will retain (if any)? Which will lose (if any)?

MMA Junkie’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, and Danny Segura joined host George Garcia to break it all down.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full “Spinning Back Clique” episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.

Usman Nurmagomedov doesn’t see Charles Oliveira giving Islam Makhachev ‘a hard situation’ at UFC 294

Usman Nurmagomedov thinks Charles Oliveira will suffer the same fate in his title-fight rematch vs. Islam Makhachev.

[autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] will suffer the same fate in his title-fight rematch vs. [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag].

Lightweight champion Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will run things back with Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) in the UFC 294 main event Oct. 21 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Makhachev ran through Oliveira en route to a second-round submission at UFC 280 last October. Oliveira has since rebounded with a first-round TKO of Beneil Dariush at UFC 289, but Makhachev’s training partner Nurmagomedov doesn’t think “Do Bronx” will be able to make the necessary adjustments to avenge his loss.

“I think it’s going to be the same thing,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “Of course, Charles Oliveira – maybe he’s going to fix some mistakes. This is a fight. Something can happen. But I know Islam is training very hard. He’s very smart. He can wrestle, strike and grapple, too. I don’t think Charles Oliveira can give him some hard situation.”

Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) will look to make his own lightweight title defense when he meets former champ Brent Primus (12-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) at Bellator 300 Oct. 7 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

“In the striking, I think I’m better than him,” Nurmagomedov said of Primus. “Wrestling, I’m better than him. Grappling, I think I’m not bad. I’m good. My grappling is, of course, not like Khabib or Islam high-level, but not bad. Even if you see my last fight with Benson Henderson, I take his back and I finish him. It will be a hard five rounds, and I will try to finish this guy every round.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Aug. 7-13)

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 or officially announced by a promotion from Aug. 7-13.

Bellator 300: Historic event set for Oct. 7 in San Diego with 4 title fights

Bellator 300 finally has a date and location, as well as a historic main card with four title fights.

Bellator 300 finally has a date and location, as well as a historic main card.

The event is set for Oct. 7 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego and will feature four title fights. The promotion is saying Bellator 300 will have four main events, but atop the card will be heavyweight champion [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] against challenger [autotag]Linton Vassell[/autotag].

In addition, women’s featherweight champ [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] takes on challenger [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag], lightweight titleholder [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] meets former champ [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag], and in a long-discussed matchup, women’s flyweight champ [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] will put her title on the line against her good friend, training partner and former champ, [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag].

Bellator officials announced the card Wednesday. The event date, location and lightweight title fight first were reported by BJPenn.com. The additional three title fights were announced on “The MMA Hour” ahead of a Bellator news release. The main card will air on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

“When I first joined Bellator, we set out to sign and develop the best available talent in the world and produce events for massive audiences,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in a press release. “Our first tentpole event was Bellator 131 in San Diego, and we couldn’t be more excited to return to that very same arena for this monumental Bellator 300 event.

“We wanted to give the fans and supporters an epic night of fights and there is no better way to do that than showcasing these four incredible champions all putting their belts on the line. I’m proud of the all the work we have done to grow this brand and its athletes since I came on board. I can’t wait for Bellator 300, which is going to be the biggest event in the history of Bellator MMA.”

Former two-division champ Bader (31-7 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) lost the light heavyweight title in 2020, but has held onto the heavyweight belt. After he was knocked out by Corey Anderson in the 205-pound tournament in 2021, he has three straight heavyweight title wins over Valentin Moldavsky, Cheick Kongo and Fedor Emelianenko.

The fight against Vassell will be a rematch of a Bader win at Bellator 186 in November 2017, which Bader won with a second-round TKO to defend his light heavyweight title. Now Vassell will try again, but a weight class up.

Vassell, who is all of four days older than Bader, lost his first fight at heavyweight in 2019, but has been on a tear since then with five straight wins and four stoppages in the division. In March, he knocked out Moldavsky in the first round.

Cyborg (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) re-signed with Bellator earlier this year after she tested the free agency market. Ultimately, she decided to stay put, but stayed at least a busy boxing. But now she’ll have a grudge match with Zingano. Cyborg is considered one of the best women’s fighters in history and has held titles for Bellator, the UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta.

Zingano (14-4 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) has been waiting for a shot at Cyborg since she signed with Bellator after a lengthy run in the UFC. She’s been perfect out of the gate and now will get her first shot at a title since she challenged Ronda Rousey at UFC 184 in 2015. Her resume already includes wins over Amanda Nunes and Miesha Tate, and a win over Cyborg would be a legacy-defining moment.

Nurmagomedov, a cousin over former UFC lightweight champion Khabib, won the title in November 2022 against then-champ Patricky Freire. In March, he submitted former UFC and WEC champ Benson Henderson for his first successful title defense in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Primus (12-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) was on the outside looking in when the tournament started, but stepped in as a late replacement alternate. Then he silenced the crowd in Paris with a unanimous decision over local French fan favorite Mansour Barnaoui at Bellator 296. He beat Michael Chandler for the title in 2017, and an upset of Nurmagomedov would give him the belt back and put him in a $1 million title defense in the final.

And finally, Carmouche (19-7 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and Macfarlane (13-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) get their dream matchup. Macfarlane has said she wants to win back the flyweight belt she used to hold, then retire. To do it, it’ll have to come against her good friend and longtime training partner.

Carmouche defended the title against DeAnna Bennett in the Bellator 294 main event in April in Honolulu. The next night, Macfarlane took a split decision from Kana Watanabe in front of her home fans to set up the fight between the two. Carmouche has been unstoppable since she signed with Bellator. Macfarlane has bounced back from the first two losses of her career with wins over Bruna Ellen and Watanabe.

There have been reports that Bellator may be on the cusp of being acquired from Paramount, and the strongest rumored bidder has been the PFL. Further speculation has been that Bellator 300 could be the promotion’s final event before a merger.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.

Patricky Freire hopes to draw Usman Nurmagomedov rematch in grand prix final: ‘It’s a good fight to make history’

Crossing paths with Usman Nurmagomedov in the grand prix final could make a storybook ending for Patricio Freire.

Crossing paths with [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] in the grand prix final could make a storybook ending for [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag].

Freire (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA) lost his lightweight title to Nurmagomedov in his most recent outing at Bellator 288 last November, and now has to get through a grand prix to win it back.

Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA), who submitted Benson Henderson in the opening round, is slated to face Brent Primus in the semifinals. If both men can get through their side of the bracket, 37-year-old Freire hinted that it could be the final fight of his career.

“It’s a good fight to make history,” Freire told MMA Junkie Radio on rematching Nurmagomedov. “Take my belt again, take $1 million, maybe finish my career, I don’t know. Let’s see.”

First up for Freire (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA) is A.J. McKee (20-1 MMA, 20-1 BMMA) in the opening round of the 155-pound grand prix at Bellator X Rizin 2 on July 30 near Tokyo. Waiting for the winner of Freire vs. McKee is Alexandr Shabliy, who scored a TKO of Tofiq Musayev to advance to the semifinals.

Freire watched his brother Patricio split his two appearances with McKee, where he regained his featherweight title in a close decision win. McKee has since moved up to lightweight, but Freire isn’t expecting anything different from what he’s already seen.

“He don’t change nothing,” Freire said. “He fights the same style. Maybe he tried to change something, but I don’t believe too much.”

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MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for March: Alexa Grasso shocks Valentina Shevchenko

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from March 2023.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for March.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

Bellator 292 salaries: Five get six-figure paydays, including Benson Henderson in retirement fight

Check out the full list of fighter salaries from this past Friday’s Bellator 292 event in San Jose, Calif.

Twenty fighters competed this past Friday at Bellator 292 with the titleholders leading all disclosed payouts.

California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster released a full list of fighter payouts Thursday to MMA Junkie. The amounts reflect the disclosed payouts only and do not include any off-contract bonuses, sponsor payments or discretionary bonuses.

Three of five fighters who pocketed six-figure disclosed paydays tied for the top spot on the list with $150,000. Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) submitted Benson Henderson (30-12 MMA, 7-7 BMMA) in the main event, which also was the opening round of Bellator’s lightweight grand prix.

Both Nurmagomedov and Henderson made a disclosed $150,000 flat purse for their fights, win or lose. The other $150,000 recipient was Alexander Shabliy (23-3 MMA, 4-0 BMMA), who made $75,000 to show and a $75,000 win bonus for his finish of Tofiq Musayev (20-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in the tournament’s opening round.

In addition, Linton Vassell (24-8 MMA, 12-5 BMMA) made a flat $100,000 for his heavyweight knockout of Valentin Moldavsky (11-3 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) and Michael Page (21-2 MMA, 17-2 BMMA) made a flat $100,000 for his quick injury TKO of Goiti Yamauchi (28-6 MMA, 14-5 BMMA).

Scroll below to see what the 20 fighters on Bellator 292 were paid – disclosed amounts only.

Video: Does Bellator champ Usman Nurmagomedov have potential to be world’s No. 1 lightweight?

Usman Nurmagomedov showed more slivers of greatness as he moved to 17-0 with a first defense of his lightweight title at Bellator 292.

[autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] showed more slivers of greatness as he remained undefeated in MMA with a dominant first defense of his lightweight title at Bellator 292.

Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) sent former UFC and WEC champion Benson Henderson (30-12 MMA, 7-7 BMMA) into retirement on Friday with a first-round submission victory in their 155-pound title fight at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

Touted by many insiders as perhaps the most talented member of the Nurmagomedov family, the younger cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, displayed his well rounded skillset when he dropped Henderson with a head kick early in their fight before finishing the job with a submission inside three minutes.

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With current UFC lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev in his corner, the natural post-fight discussion of exactly how good Nurmagomedov is in comparison to other elites in his weight class came about.

At just 24, Nurmagomedov is in theory still years away from his prime, but is already a serious talent. So, how far can he go?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Danny Segura, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Farah Hannoun broke it down with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below.

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.