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 or officially announced by a promotion from May 22-28.
Patchy Mix is firmly in the Bellator record books after a perfect knee made him $1 million richer at Bellator 295.
Bellator 295 took place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and marked the second night of the promotion’s weekend doubleheader in Hawaii.
The final fight of a loaded week proved to be the most memorable, because [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) scored one of the greatest knockout highlights in company history when he flattened [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (19-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) with a picture-perfect knee to the jaw knockout just 80 seconds into their main event. The nasty finish not only won him the interim bantamweight title, but he is the last man standing in the bantamweight grand prix, winning $1 million after completing the eight-man field.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 295.
Check out the numbers behind Bellator 295, where Hawaii’s own Ilima-Lei Macfarlane adds to her historic resume in Honolulu.
Bellator returns to Hawaii this weekend with two events in two nights, the second of which goes down Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and airs on Showtime following prelims streaming on MMA Junkie.
Bellator 295 marks the second half of the doubleheader, and the event is headlined by the conclusion of the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix. Reigning interim titleholder [autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) is set to take on [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) in the finals of the eight-man tournament, with the winner getting a $1 million prize.
For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about Bellator 295.
Four fighters walked away with six-figure paydays as a result of Friday’s card in Tacoma, Wash.
Bellator 283 took place Friday at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. and featured 12 bouts including two potential title eliminator fights.
Atop the card, [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] in a dominant, five-round unanimous decision. The two main event participants were two of four fighters who pocketed six-figure disclosed purses from the event, according to a list MMA Junkie acquired Tuesday from the Washington State Department of Licensing, the commissioning body that oversaw the card.
Jackson pocketed a total of $191,000 for his win over former champion Lima, who took home a flat payout of $100,000. [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] ($100,000) and [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] ($125,000) were the other two fighters to hit the six-figure mark.
Scroll below to see the rest of the Bellator 283 salaries below. It’s important to note these figures do not include any potential locker room bonuses, sponsor payouts, or streaming points.
One women’s flyweight bout scheduled for Bellator 274 has been exchanged for another.
Bellator 274 has lost a fight and gained another.
The main card bout between [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] and [autotag]Keri Taylor-Melendez[/autotag] is off for undisclosed reasons, a promotion official recently informed MMA Junkie. However, in its place, a flyweight bout between former UFC fighters [autotag]DeAnna Bennett[/autotag] and [autotag]Justine Kish[/autotag] has been added.
Bellator 274 takes place Feb. 19 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
At Bellator 266 in September, Bennett (11-7-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) rebounded from back-to-back losses when she defeated Alejandra Lara by a largely one-sided unanimous decision in front of her hometown crowd in San Jose, Calif. The win was her first Bellator victory, but Bennett missed weight by 3.2 pounds ahead of the bout.
Kish (7-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) enters Bellator on the heels of a seven-fight UFC tenure during which she went 3-4. She currently is on a two-fight losing skid. Her notable career victories include names like Randa Markos, Ashley Yoder and Lucie Pudilova.
With the changes, the Bellator 274 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
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Veta Arteaga speaks about her win over Desiree Yanez at Bellator 257, wanting to build up to title contention, and more.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] can rest easy knowing she’s back in the win column.
This past Friday, Arteaga (6-4 MMA, 5-4 BMMA) saw a two-fight losing streak come to an end when she outpointed Desiree Yanez (5-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) on the main card of Bellator 257 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Following the fight, Arteaga talked to the media about her win, having the first scheduled bout with Yanez canceled due to COVID-19, wanting to stay busy and build back toward title contention, and more.
Check out her post-fight interview in the video above.
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We want your predictions for Bellator 257, featuring champ Vadim Nemkov vs. Phil Davis in a title fight and light heavyweight tourney bout.
We want your predictions for Friday’s Bellator 257 event in Connecticut.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Wednesdday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the Bellator 257 main card staff predictions we release Thursday ahead of the event. Bellator 257 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Make your picks for the fights below.
The two women’s flyweights were supposed to square off in October before a positive COVID-19 test foiled their plans.
Bellator is giving [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Desiree Yanez[/autotag] another try.
The women’s flyweight fight has once again been scheduled, this time for April 16 on the Bellator 257 preliminary card. The fight was originally booked for Bellator 250 in October. However, Arteaga (5-4 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) withdrew the day of the fight due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Bellator 257 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena and airs on Showtime.
Arteaga, 33, rides a two-fight losing skid into the fight. In April 2019 at Bellator 220, Arteaga’s two-fight winning streak was snapped in a title challenge against Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. The fight was stopped in Round 3 due to a gash on Arteaga’s forehead. She returned in December 2019 and lost a unanimous decision to Alejandra Lara.
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As for Yanez (5-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), Bellator 257 will mark her promotional debut. The 31-year-old fighter enters Bellator with career wins in Combate Americas and LFA among victories under other promotional banners.
With the addition, the Bellator 257 lineup includes:
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On the day of the show, Bellator 250 has lost two fights, including one from the main card.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – On the day of the show, Bellator 250 has lost two fights, including one from the main card.
[autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] (5-4 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) is out of her women’s flyweight fight to open the main card against [autotag]Desiree Yanez[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). And [autotag]Nick Newell[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) is out of his lightweight fight against [autotag]Zach Zane[/autotag] (14-9 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) on the preliminary card. Both fights have been scratched from the lineup.
A Bellator official on Thursday confirmed the fights’ removal to MMA Junkie, saying Arteaga and Newell “couldn’t receive clearance” from the Mohegan Tribe commission overseeing the event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Yanez first announced the scratching of her fight with Arteaga on Instagram and said Arteaga tested positive for COVID-19.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG7j0OepaW2/
Both Arteaga and Newell weighed in Wednesday. Arteaga was 0.2 pounds overweight at 126.2.
A middleweight bout between [autotag]Ty Gwerder[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Dalton Rosta[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) has been elevated from the prelims to open the main card, a promotion official told MMA Junkie.
Bellator 250 takes place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 235, which took place Friday in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The first half of Bellator’s weekend doubleheader in Hawaii went down Friday with Bellator 235, which took place at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, with a main card that aired on Paramount following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In the makeshift main event, Hawaii’s own [autotag]Toby Misech[/autotag] (11-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) pulled off a stunning upset when he spoiled the promotional debut of UFC veteran [autotag]Erik Perez[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) with a brilliant first-round knockout.
For more on the numbers to come out of the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 13 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 235.
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Betting favorites went 3-1 on the main card.
Betting favorites fell to 12-8 (with two no contests and one draw)) in Bellator main events this year.
Total fight time for the four-bout main card was 34:49.
Misech has earned all of his career stoppage victories by knockout. That includes both of his Bellator wins.
Misech’s 54-second victory marked the fastest finish of his career.
Perez suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
[autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) earned her first decision victory since July 26, 2013 – a span of 2,338 days (more than six years) and nine fights.
[autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] (5-4 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) has suffered three of her four career losses by decision.
[autotag]Joey Davis[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) improved to 5-0 since he dropped to the Bellator welterweight division in January 2018.
Davis’ five-fight Bellator winning streak at welterweight is tied with Logan Storley for the longest active streak in the division.
Davis has earned all five of his career stoppage victories by knockout.
[autotag]Chris Cisneros[/autotag] (17-10 MMA, 0-3 BMMA) extended his career long skid to four fights. He hasn’t earned a victory since January 2017.
Cisneros has suffered all three of his Bellator losses by stoppage.
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