Bellator Set for April Doubleheader in Hawaii with Carmouche vs. Bennett, Mix vs. Stots

For the second year in a row, Bellator MMA will hold an April doubleheader in Hawaii.

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The California-based promotion revealed to Hawaiian news outlet KHON2 that Bellator 294 and Bellator 295 will take place at the Neil S. Blasdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 21 and April 22, respectively. Bellator 294 is headlined by a flyweight title bout between Liz Carmouche and DeAnna Bennett, while Bellator 295 features the bantamweight grand prix final pitting Raufeon Stots against Patrick Mix.

Carmouche is 5-0 since leaving the UFC to sign with Bellator. “Girl-Rilla” claimed flyweight gold with a fourth-round stoppage of Velasquez at Bellator 278 and defended the crown with a second-round submission of Velasquez in a rematch at Bellator 289 this past December. She defeated Bennett via third-round submission in her promotional debut at Bellator 246.

Bennett will enter the matchup with Carmouche on a three-bout winning streak that includes deci…

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Mateusz Gamrot Replaces Dan Hooker, Meets Jalin Turner at UFC 285

Mateusz Gamrot will replace the injured Dan Hooker and face Jalin Turner at UFC 285.

Multiple outlets confirmed the new lightweight pairing following an initial report from Fansided. Hooker was forced to withdraw from the contest after suffering a broken hand. UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane.

Gamrot had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last Octagon appearance, as he fell to Beneil Dariush via unanimous decision at UFC 280 this past October. Prior to that defeat, the former KSW champ had bested Scott Holtzman, Jeremy Stephens, Diego Ferreira and Arman Tsarukyan in succession.

Turner, meanwhile, is currently in the midst of a five-fight finishing streak in UFC competition. In his last outing, “The Tarantula” submitted Brad Riddell in just 45 seconds at UFC 276.

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Patricky Freire Calls Shabliy vs. Musayev Best Bout of Bellator LW Grand Prix

As he prepares to face A.J. McKee in the quarterfinals of the Bellator lightweight grand prix, Patricky Freire says he has learned from his championship loss to Usman Nurmagomedov this past November.

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"Never approach the fight based on what my opponent is going to do and always impose my game,” Freire said. “Going forward, have a better believe in myself and what I do. That's what I’m bringing from the fight against Usman to the fight against McKee.”

Patricky revealed that the bad blood between McKee and his brother was solved when they traveled to Japan to represent Bellator against Rizin.

"Patricio explained to him some misunderstanding they had because of a signature in a cartoon. My brother asked for his signature in a magazine. He did the same with Patricio, and they ended up taking a picture together,” Patricky said. “Our faceoff was cool. As I said at the press conference, trash talk is not my style. No matter what we say…

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Matt Brown Says He’s Fighting Court McGee at UFC Event on May 13

A matchup of longtime Octagon veterans is on tap for UFC Fight Night on May 13, as Matt Brown is expected to square off against Court McGee in a welterweight tilt.

Brown revealed the pairing on "The Fighter vs. Writer” podcast. The event, which doesn’t have a confirmed location or venue, will be headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Anthony Smith and Johnny Walker.

The 42-year-old Brown competed once in 2022, falling to Bryan Barberena via split decision at UFC on ESPN 33 in March. “The Immortal” has lost three of his last four promotional appearances dating back to 2020. The Ohio native is 23-19 over the course of a professional tenure that began 2005 with notable wins over the likes of Ben Saunders, Diego Sanchez, Tim Means, Mike Pyle, Mike Swick, and Stephen Thompson.

McGee, meanwhile, had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a first-round KO loss to Jeremiah Wells at UFC on ESPN 37 this past June. The 38-year…

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Andre Pederneiras: Negotiations ‘Really Advanced’ for Jose Aldo-Floyd Mayweather Bout

According to Andre Pederneiras, the wheels are in motion for a boxing showdown between Jose Aldo and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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During a backstage interview with Sherdog.com at UFC 283, the Nova Uniao coach stated that Aldo was already negotiating for an international fight that would follow his debut against Argentina native Emmanuel Zambrano under the Shooto Brazil Boxing banner on Feb. 10. Pederneiras’ statement led to speculation that Aldo could be close to facing the biggest name in Brazilian boxing, four-time world champion Acelino Popo Freitas, who had been using social media to challenge the former UFC featherweight champion for a long time. Instead, Aldo revealed the suprise opponent to media shortly after he defeated Zambrano via unanimous decision last week.

“Negotiations are progressing for me to fight Mayweather in June or July,” Aldo said.

Shortly after that announcement, Sherdog contacted Pederneiras, who serves as co-manager of Aldo, …
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Undefeated Welterweight Joey Davis to Return at Bellator 293 on March 31

The return of undefeated welterweight Joey Davis highlights several new additions to the Bellator 293 lineup.

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Davis will square off against Jefferson Creighton in a 170-pound preliminary clash, the promotion announced Tuesday. Three other contests were also confirmed for the Bellator 293 prelims: Maria Henderson vs. Mackenzie Stiller at strawweight; Lance Gibson Jr. vs. Vladimir Tokov at lightweight and Sullivan Cauley vs. Luke Trainer at light heavyweight.

Bellator 293 takes place on March 31 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif., and is headlined by a heavyweight duel pitting Marcelo Golm against Daniel James. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

A four-time NCAA Division II national champion wrestler, Davis will return to active competition for the first time in more than two year…

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Full Roster Announced for Inaugural PFL Europe Season

Mark your Calendars. @PFLEurope is 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗢 📆

4️⃣Weight Divisions2️⃣Regular Season events1️⃣Playoff Event1️⃣Championship100K Prize on the Line 💰🏆

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It all starts from the UK’s @VertuArena

[ #PFLEurope | Sat, March 25th | Live on @daznmma ] pic.twitter.com/HXlhjWnL7C

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 14, 2023 Professional Fighters League on Tuesday unveiled the full roster of fighters for its inaugural PFL Europe Season.

The lineup spans four weight classes and includes 32 athletes from 14 countries. PFL Europe will include four events, with winners in each division earning $100,000 and a spot on the main PFL roster.

PFL Europe regular season cards are set for Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle, England, on March 25 and Vetri Music Hall in Berlin, Germany, on July 8. PFL Europe 1 will feature light heavyweights and women’s flyweights, while PFL Europe 2 includes lightweights and bantamweights. The PFL Europe playoffs ta…

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Pancrase Featherweight Champ Isao Kobayashi Signs with Bellator MMA

Pancrase featherweight champion Isao Kobayashi has signed with Bellator MMA, the promotion announced on Monday.

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A date for Kobayashi’s debut is currently unknown. It will be the 34-year-old Osaka, Japan, native’s second stint with the California-based promotion. He went 0-2 with Bellator from 2015 to 2016, falling to Goiti Yamauchi and Justin Lawrence in back-to-back outings. All Bellator events featuring Kobayashi will be streamed live in Japan via U-Next.

“Even prior to our successful New Year’s Eve event in Japan, we’ve been signing the top available talent in the region and that has led us to this reunion with Isao Kobayashi,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in a release.

“Since his last stint with Bellator, Kobayashi has been tearing through competition culminating in a Pancrase championship win now and we’re looking forward to seeing him back in the Bellator cage.”

Kobayashi will return to Bellator riding the momentum of a six…

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Video: UFC 285 Promo Highlights Return of Jon Jones

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With UFC 284 in the rearview mirror, the countdown has already begun for UFC 285.

The Las Vegas-based organization on Monday released a promo video for the event, highlighting the Octagon return of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones will make his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title in the UFC 285 main event.

“This next chapter will where I show the world how great I can possibly be,” Jones says in the video. I’m coming back to get what’s mine.”

UFC 285 takes place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will also see Valentina Shevchenko defend her flyweight crown against Alexa Grasso in the co-main event. The main card will be available via pay-per-view on ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

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Jaqueline Amorim to Make Octagon Debut Against Sam Hughes at UFC 287

FREE FIGHT! Didn't take long, so you get the whole thing!

Amorim must have had somewhere to be. pic.twitter.com/TXuk8we5pk

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 3, 2021

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Undefeated former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jaqueline Amorim will make her first promotional forway against Sam Hughes at UFC 287.

Multiple outlets confirmed the strawweight pairing following an initial report from MMA Ideas. UFC 287 takes place at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Fla., on April 8 and is headlined by a middleweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.

Amorim began her professional MMA career in 2020 and has finished all six of her opponents inside of a round. She claimed strawweight gold with a kneebar submission of Lovethapatra Young at LFA 125 before tapping Ashley Nichols with an armbar in a title defense at LFA 142 this past September.

Hughes, meanwhile, is 2-4 in the Las Vegas-based promotion since m…

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Jack Della Maddalena: Added Pressure of Fighting in Perth ‘Was Awesome’

Thus far during his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure, Jack Della Maddalena has shown a knack for putting opponents away in short order.

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That continued at UFC 284, where ended Randy Brown’s four-fight winning streak with a submission victory 2:13 into Round 1. All four of the Perth native’s promotional triumphs have ended inside of a round.

I honestly think it’s just my style,” he said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “I’m trying to get finishes, I’m trying to damage my opponent from the get-go. I think I’ve got accurate punches. With the small gloves, if I land accurately, people go down and then I’ve got a good finishing ability I believe.”

While Della Maddalena briefly struggled with his opponent’s reach, he eventually closed the distance and dropped Brown with a perfectly-placed right hook behind the ear. From there, he unloaded with hammerfists until Brown gave up his back, providing the necessary opening to securing the fight-en…
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Yair Rodriguez Expects ‘100 Percent’ Version of Volkanovski in Future Title Bout

Before he moved on to thinking about a future title unification bout against Alexander Volkanovski, Yair Rodriguez took a moment to encourage Josh Emmett following their bout in the UFC 284 co-headliner.

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Rodriguez was impressive in victory, as he survived being rocked early to author a complete performance that was capped off by a triangle choke submission 4:19 into the second stanza. At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, “El Pantera” shared what he said to Emmett during their Octagon exchange in the immediate aftermath.

“This is a really important moment for us, and when I finished the triangle, I could see in his expression the desperation of like, ‘F—k, I lost,’” Rodriguez said. “It’s like he saw his opportunity go away, but I just wanted to say to him, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘No, No. Hey, no. Stop that thinking that you have right now. You’re a warrior. You will overcome this. You got this.’

“So the only thing I could say to him was, ‘You’r…
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