Veta Arteaga – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Bellator 235 results: Alejandra Lara wins wild scrap with Veta Arteaga

Alejandra Lara wanted to make a statement she deserves another flyweight title shot. Mission accomplished.

[autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] came up short in her effort to wrest the Bellator flyweight belt from Ilima Lei-Macfarlane in 2018.

In her final fight of 2019, she put herself in position to get another title shot in 2020.

The Colombian competitor put on a tremendous show Friday night at Bellator 235, as she poured it on to a very tough [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] in their main-card fight. The judges’ scores were 30-26 across the board for a unanimous decision

“I feel very happy, this is what I have been working for,” Lara said. “I needed to show I am ready for bigger challenges.”

Round 1 was the fight’s closest, but even that was clear-cut in favor of Lara (9-3 MMA, 3-2 BMMA). Arteaga (5-4 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) did her best to clinch her foe and slow down her striking game.

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She had some success there, but not so much in the second. Lara tied off with a head kick which dropped Arteaga, then poured it on with a flurry of standing elbows and punches in an attempt to finish the fight. Arteaga managed to clear the cobwebs, however, and got back into the fight by firing several effective counters.

Lara was able to match Arteaga’s spirit, though, and the skills disparity once again took over. Lara dominated the third. In the key exchange, she knocked Arteaga backwards with a push kick to the midsection, followed with a body kick, then opened up a hellacious flurry of standing elbows. One of them sliced open Arteaga, who was soon thereafter bleeding profusely. Arteaga gamely held on until the final bell.

With the victory, Lara had her second career decision victory. Arteaga has dropped two in a row.

The flyweight bout was part of the Bellator 235 (“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019”) main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.x

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 235 results include:

Alejandra Lara def. Veta Arteaga via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Tywan Claxton def. Braydon Akeo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joey Davis def. Chris Cisneros via TKO (punches and elbows) — Round 1, 3:55
Hunter Ewald def. Brysen Bolohao via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:42
Joseph Creer def. Ty Gwerder via via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-26)
Cass Bell def. Pierre Daguzan via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27

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Bellator 235/Salute the Troops 2019 predictions: Barnett or Markes in their debuts?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the main card at Bellator 235 (“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019”) in Hawaii.

	Barnett vs. Markes	Misech vs. Perez	Arteaga vs. Lara	Akeo vs. Claxton	Cisneros vs. Davis
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2019: 210-125 (63%)	Barnett (83%)	Perez (90%)	Lara (56%)	Claxton (83%)	Davis (85%)
Simon Head @simonhead 2019: 127-66 (66%)	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Nolan King @mma_kings 2019: 121-67 (64%)	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2019: 215-120 (64%)	Barnett	Perez	Arteaga	Claxton	Davis
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2019: 214-121 (64%)	Markes	Perez	Arteaga	Claxton	Davis
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2019: 214-121 (64%) 2017 Champion	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2019: 212-123 (63%)	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2019: 210-125 (63%)	Barnett	Perez	Arteaga	Claxton	Davis
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2019: 207-128 (62%) 2014 Champion	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2019: 206-129 (61%)	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2019: 110-72 (60%)	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2019: 201-134 (60%)	Barnett	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2019: 137-106 (56%)	Markes	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2019: 175-160 (52%)	Markes	Perez	Lara	Claxton	Davis

Bellator is back in Hawaii for a doubleheader weekend for the second straight December.

Bellator 235 (“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019”) takes place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie. Saturday, Bellator 236 takes place at the same venue.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

The main event features a pair of promotional debuts from veteran fighters. [autotag]Josh Barnett[/autotag] (35-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Ronny Markes[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in the headliner. Barnett most recently fought in the UFC; Markes makes the move over from the PFL. Barnett is more than a 2-1 favorite at the sports books, and our 13 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers seem to concur. They have Barnett with a big 10-3 lead in our picks.

The co-main event is one of three unanimous picks from our staff members on the main card. [autotag]Erik Perez[/autotag] (19-6 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) makes his Bellator debut after nine fights in the UFC and a pair for Combate Americas. He’s more than a 2-1 favorite and is the pick from all 13 of our staff members in his bantamweight fight against [autotag]Toby Misech[/autotag] (11-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA).

[autotag]Tywan Claxton[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) is a unanimous pick, as well, in his featherweight fight against local product [autotag]Braydon Akeo[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Claxton is more than a 4-1 favorite from the oddsmakers.

The biggest favorite on the card is [autotag]Joey Davis[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) at upwards of 10-1 in his welterweight bout with [autotag]Chris Cisneros[/autotag] (19-10 MMA, 0-2 BMMA). Davis, like Perez and Claxton, is a 13-0 pick from our staff members.

The women’s flyweight bout in the middle of the main card is fairly lopsided in our picks, as well. Although [autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) is just a slight favorite at -125 against [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] (5-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA), she has a 10-3 lead in the picks.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Barnett (83%), Perez (90 percent), Lara (56 percent), Claxton (83 percent) and Davis (85 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

5 burning questions ahead of ‘Bellator: Salute The Troops 2019’

We look ahead at five key storylines to follow as Bellator kicks off its double-header of events in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Bellator cage lands in Hawaii this weekend for a double-header of MMA action, with the first of the two events set to pay tribute to the servicemen and women in Honolulu at “Bellator and USO Present: Salute The Troops 2019,” which takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center. The night’s main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN.

The card features the return of a heavyweight legend, a pair of women’s flyweight contenders looking to earn a second title shot and two former wrestling standouts seeking to push themselves towards the top.

Here are our five burning questions ahead of Friday night’s event in Hawaii:

Can the returning Josh Barnett surge into title contention?

It’s been more than three years since we saw [autotag]Josh Barnett[/autotag] throwing down inside an MMA cage, but now, after a battle with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and a change of promotion, “The Warmaster” is back and ready to launch his assault on the Bellator heavyweight division.

Barnett (35-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) headlines Friday night’s card in Hawaii against Brazilian [autotag]Ronny Markes[/autotag], who has moved up from 205 pounds to heavyweight to take on the former UFC heavyweight champion at Salute the Troops.

With Bellator’s heavyweight division looking wide open right now, Barnett sees an opportunity to make an impact on his return as he bids to gatecrash the title picture and make a beeline for reigning champion Ryan Bader.

And with a record that includes nine finishes from his last 10 outings, Markes (19-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will need to be on his guard against a man with a chip on his shoulder and a title in his sights.

“I don’t view it as going after the title,” Barnett said. “I’m already ready for a title shot. I’m already deserving of a title shot. What I’m relishing is having the opportunity to get in there and fight. Period. I go out, I fight, I win, I get what I want.”

Will “The Warmaster” get his wish on Friday night, or can Markes upset the veteran’s return with an underdog victory?

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Veta Arteaga hopes win over Alejandra Lara at Bellator 235 earns her another title shot

Veta Arteaga hopes win over Alejandra Lara at Bellator 235 earns her another title shot.

HONOLULU – [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] fell short in claiming Bellator’s women’s flyweight title but hopes to get right back into contention this weekend.

Arteaga (5-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) takes on fellow former title challenger [autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) at Friday’s “Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019” card, where she hopes a win would earn her another crack at the title.

In her past outing at Bellator 220 in April, Arteaga had her 125-pound title fight with champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane stopped by the doctors in the third round due to a big gash she suffered on her forehead in a fight where she really took it to the champion before the stoppage.

And despite not walking away with the belt, Arteaga knew that with that performance, she belonged at the top of the division.

“That fight just made me even more mentally tough than I ever am,” Arteaga told MMA Junkie. “First, I would always be like, ‘Do I deserve to be here at the top-five?’ I know with my performance I did, but I would always question it, and now I know I deserve to be here and I deserve another title shot, but I don’t want to overlook this opponent that I have in front of me on Friday, so I’ve got to go handle business on Friday, and then I’m going to ask for a rematch. Well, I’m going to ask for whoever has the title.”

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It was a hard pill to swallow for Arteaga, but she was able to divert her attention right back to training, quickly getting over the loss.

“I never stopped training,” Arteaga said. “After I fought in April, I got cut to the dome, and it got me a couple of stitches. I wasn’t concussed or anything like that, so I was able to still continue running and doing all of my yoga – like, just workouts. I couldn’t get hit in the face or any contact like that, so I never really stopped training.”

“And as far as the emotion part, I just dealt with the emotions. I’m like ‘OK, I’ve got to feel these emotions.’ I was like, ‘Dang.’ I felt frustrated. I felt happy with my performance, and then I felt a moment of a big question mark but, after I felt all those emotions, I’m like, ‘Alrighty, I’m ready. I’m ready to get back into camp,’ so I got the phone call for this fight. I was so happy and grateful, and then when they told me it was in Hawaii, I was more happy and grateful because it’s beautiful out here.”

Macfarlane was keen on rematching Arteaga, commending her for her toughness and dragging her to deep waters, but with Macfarlane set to defend her title a day after at Bellator 236 vs. Kate Jackson, the rematch will have to wait.

But Arteaga said she isn’t too distraught.

“That’s the thing, I wasn’t so set up on the rematch, just because I didn’t want to get disappointed just in case,” Arteaga said. ‘This is a business, just in case if there’s a curveball, and they wanted me to have one or two more fights, so my goal, my plan and my desire is still the same, and that’s one fight at a time, so I was just grateful to be back in camp.”

The road back starts this Friday, when she takes on Lara, who rebounded from back-to-back losses with a first-round finish over Taylor Turner in August.

“I feel like she’s a little bit tallerm but that’s something that I’m used to,” Arteaga said of Lara. “But besides that, I feel like we’re well matched, and yeah, I’m ready for this fight, so I’m excited to go out there and perform.”

Bellator’s two weekend event take place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, with Friday’s card airing on Paramount and streaming on DAZN.

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Bellator 235: Veta Arteaga full pre-fight interview

Bellator ‘Salute the Troops 2019’ pre-event facts: Josh Barnett returns from longest layoff

Check out all the facts and figures about Bellator 235, which takes place Friday with a Josh Barnett vs. Ronny Markes main event.

The first half of Bellator’s weekend doubleheader in Hawaii takes place on Friday with Bellator 235, or “Salute the Troops 2019,” which takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and airs on Paramount following prelims on MMA Junkie.

A heavyweight matchup between promotional newcomers is featured atop the card. Former UFC champion [autotag]Josh Barnett[/autotag] (35-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will return to action for the first time since 2016 when he meets [autotag]Ronny Markes[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the main card, check below for 20 pre-event facts about “Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019.”

* * * *

Main event

Barnett returns to competition for the first time since Sept. 3, 2016. The 1,204-day layoff is the longest of his nearly 23-year career.

Barnett competes outside the UFC for the first time since January 2013. He went 4-2 in his most recent stint with the company.

Barnett has earned nine of his past 10 victories by stoppage. He has finishes in 29 of his 35 career victories overall.

Barnett’s nine submission victories in UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce/WEC heavyweight competition are second most in combined divisional history behind Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (13).

Barnett is 14-2 when he lands at least one takedown in fights dating back to 2004.

Barnett’s 146 significant strikes landed against Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 75 are the second most in a single UFC heavyweight behind Junior Dos Santos’ 157 vs. Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 86.

Barnett’s 95 significant clinch strikes landed against Nelson stand as the UFC heavyweight record.

Markes makes his Bellator debut after being a four-fight veteran of PFL and five-fight UFC veteran.

Markes is 3-3 in his past six fights dating back to June 2017.

Co-main event

[autotag]Erik Perez[/autotag] (19-6 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) makes his Bellator debut on a five-fight winning streak. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since June 2017.

[autotag]Toby Misech[/autotag] (10-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) has altered wins and losses over his past four fights. He won his most recent bout at Bellator 215 in February.

Remaining main card

[autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] (5-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) competes in her eighth Bellator flyweight bout, tied with Emily Ducote for the second most appearances in divisional history behind Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (nine).

Arteaga’s four victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied with Ducote for second most in divisional history behind Macfarlane (nine).

[autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) has earned seven of her eight career victories by stoppage.

[autotag]Joey Davis[/autotag]’ (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) four-fight Bellator winning streak at welterweight is the second longest active streak in the division behind Logan Storley (five).

[autotag]Chris Cisneros[/autotag] (17-9 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) is winless in two Bellator stints dating back to 2011.

Cisneros’ three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since January 2017.

Bellator 235 (Salute the Troops 2019): Make your predictions for Josh Barnett vs. Ronny Markes

We want your predictions for Friday’s Bellator 235 event in Hawaii featuring Josh Barnett vs. Ronny Markes.

We want your predictions for this week’s Bellator 235 “Salute the Troops 2019” event in Hawaii.

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 Wednesday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the Bellator 235 event staff predictions we release Thursday ahead of the event. Bellator 235 (“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019”) takes place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Make your picks for all five main card fights inside.

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Alejandra Lara set to face Veta Arteaga at Bellator’s Salute in Hawaii

A flyweight bout between Alejandra Lara and Veta Arteaga is the latest addition to Bellator’s “Salute the Troops” event in Hawaii.

[autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] will return to the Bellator cage this winter.

Lara has been booked to fight [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] in a women’s flyweight bout Dec. 20 at Bellator’s “Salute the Troops” event in Honolulu, two people with knowledge of the booking told MMA Junkie on Thursday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity since Bellator has not yet made an official announcement.

Lara, from Colombia, is coming off a TKO win over Taylor Turner in August at Bellator 225. Prior to her first-round victory, the 25-year-old had back-to-back losses, including a failed attempt to dethrone women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in 2018. Lara (8-3 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) trains out of Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Arteaga (5-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) will be looking to bounce back from a loss to champ Macfarlane in April. The 32-year-old sustained a bad cut in the title fight, which forced the doctor to stop the bout and gave the Hawaiian champion a TKO win.

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“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019” event, headlined by a heavyweight bout between Josh Barnett and Ronny Markes, takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie. It will be the first of back-to-back shows for Bellator in Honolulu.

With the addition, the Bellator and USO: Salute the Troops event now includes:

Josh Barnett vs. Ronny Markes
Toby Misech vs. Erik Perez
Veta Arteaga vs. Alejandra Lara

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