Blog

The Light Heavyweight Semifinals matchups are OFFICIAL! #PFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/lYUzvD3Et6

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 18, 2022 Even while its regular season is still rolling, the Professional Fighters League is gearing up for its playoffs in August.

Via press release, the PFL made official its first fight card of the playoff season, titled PFL 7: 2022 Playoffs. It will go down on Aug. 5 at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York, and lightweights and light heavyweights will be the featured weight classes on the fight card. Three of four at 155 pounds, and all four competitors in the light heavyweight bracket, have all been established, and the matchups for the latter have already been put together.

Advertisement

PFL CEO Peter Murray weighed in on this first event with a statement, writing, “The PFL is excited to bring our first 2022 PFL Playoff event to New York City at the Hulu Theater on Aug. 5. We look forward to an …

On weight and ready to put on a show tomorrow night at @SSEBelfastArena ?https://t.co/KrvOt9ucJz pic.twitter.com/Mp7IYmUc6x

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) June 24, 2022 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship returns to Northern Ireland for the first time since 2019 and brings with it a vacant welterweight title fight.

Headlining Cage Warriors 140's nine-fight card is a welterweight bout between Rhys McKee and Justin Burlinson. Both main eventers, and all 18 fighters in total, all successfully made weight for the mixed martial arts card.

McKee (11-4-1) is a UFC veteran and recently bounced back from being cut from the promotion by defeating Aleksi Mantykivi. That's enough for "Skeletor" to get a title opportunity against Burlinson (7-1), who hasn't lost inside the promotion. After getting knocked out on Dana White's Contenders Series against Yohan Lainesse, the Dungeon BJJ and MMA Academy fighter submitted Daniel Skibinski with a guillotine…

All #2022PFL5 Fighters have hit the official scale. No one missed weight, so all bouts are official for Friday night!

LIVE Friday, June 246pm ET on ESPN+8pm ET on ESPN & ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/gs8VtCAbOv

— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 23, 2022 Professional Fighters League's 2022 season continues this week with a mixture of heavyweight and featherweight talent, along with an Anthony Pettis bout for some added star power.

Advertisement

All 22 fighters made weight for the PFL 5 event. While the 10 heavyweights making weight, including headliners Bruno Cappelozza and Matheus Scheffel, wasn't much of a surprise, it's a more impressive feat for the rest of the bunch. Pettis (25-12) will look to get on his first win streak within the promotion as he faces fellow UFC veteran Steven Ray, who is 0-1 inside the PFL.

Brazilian heavyweight and last year's champ Cappelozza (15-5) will look to extend his five-fight winning streak against his fellow co…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g_iQAnB39Q&w=640&h=360]

The Bellator MMA middleweight championship will officially be on the line at Bellator 282 as both titleholder Gegard Mousasi and challenger Johnny Eblen successfully made weight.

Advertisement

Beyond the main event title fight, there are two other bouts scheduled for five rounds. Two bantamweight grand prix fights will see Leandro Higo take on Danny Sabatello and Magomed Magomedov face Enrique Barzola. All 28 fighters on the card made weight as the weigh-ins were devoid of much drama, aside from a brief shoving match between preliminary competitors.

Mousasi (49-7-2) will look to notch his 50th victory inside the Bellator cage. The champion hasn't lost a fight since 2019, and is currently riding a four-fight win streak. "The Dreamcatcher" most recently demolished Austin Vanderford in under 90 seconds. The Netherlands native officially weighed 185 pounds on the dot.

The challenger is the unde…

Arguably one of the most interesting potential challenges in undefeated Professional Fighters League star Kayla Harrison’s career has just gone up in smoke.

The PFL’s broadcast partner of ESPN broke the news on Thursday night that Harrison (13-0) will no longer be taking on Julia Budd at PFL 6: 2022 Regular Season. In her place on short notice will be Kaitlin Young (12-12-1), who fought for the PFL in 2021 but did not qualify for a tournament berth. Budd suffered an undisclosed injury, and as a result, she has been eliminated from the women’s lightweight playoffs. With three points thanks to a previous walkover in her last bout, Budd could serve as an alternate if there is a need and she is healthy. Young confidently confirmed this news on her Instagram shortly after it came out.

Advertisement

Young will come into this battle on a losing streak and a flat record of .500, with 12 wins opposite 12 defeats and a 2012 draw with Leslie Smith interspersed among the…

The victor of this Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight bout will be on a win streak, which might be all it takes to get a title shot.

According to ESPN Deportes on Thursday, UFC 279 on Sept. 10 is set to feature Irene Aldana (13-6) vs. Macy Chiasson (8-2) on its lineup at 135 pounds. Aldana has confirmed the fight on her Instagram Stories. There is currently no venue on the books for this fight card, and its headliner is a reported matchup between Aljamain Sterling and T.J. Dillashaw that has since been disputed by Sterling due to pending contract negotiations.

Advertisement

Aldana will try to keep momentum in her favor against Chiasson, as she previously knocked out Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 264 in 2021. The match, however, was tainted by Aldana missing weight by nearly four pounds. Pairings with Germaine de Randamie and Aspen Ladd fell through following that bout for various reasons, including injury to her opponent and Aldana’s own withdrawal for undisclo…

The coach of ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champ Charles Oliveira did not mince words about others in that division.

In the UFC, there is no champion at 155 pounds. This is due to a dramatic episode on the scale ahead of UFC 274, where then-titleholder Oliveira missed weight. His opponent Justin Gaethje remained the only one of the two eligible to win the belt at night’s end. The Brazilian came back from adversity to submit Gaethje in the first round, and the title remained vacant. UFC President Dana White stated that Oliveira would have a chance to earn his throne back, and Oliveira’s coach Diego Lima spoke to Sherdog on Wednesday about the championship picture and what’s next for his fighter.

Advertisement

“Charles did three belt disputes in 12 months, he is coming from an 11-fight win streak, has beaten all the submission records in UFC history,” an exasperated Lima professed. “If UFC is planning to make an event in Sao Paulo or Rio [in] December…

Bobby Green is out of next week’s fight against Jim Miller for undisclosed reasons. Cowboy Cerrone will fill his spot against Jim Miller at UFC 276 at 170 pounds, per UFC. Miller’s 40th UFC fight, Cowboy’s 38th (and 48th UFC/WEC appearance combined). pic.twitter.com/qm738luENS

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 23, 2022 It appears the Ultimate Fighting Championship is moving on from Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon for now.

Per ESPN on Thursday, Bobby Green is no longer able to compete at UFC 276 on July 2. In his stead against Jim Miller (34-16, 1 NC) will be former foe Donald Cerrone (36-16, 2 NC). The two will be competing at welterweight, instead of Miller’s initially planned weight class against Green at 155 pounds, likely due to the short-notice nature of the opponent switch. The two first met at UFC Fight Night 45 in the main event of their 2014 clash, and Cerrone won in a back-and-forth battle by knockout from a head kick.

Adverti…

Professional Fighters League is further expanding its presence in the Middle East region by signing two talented finishers.

On Wednesday, PFL announced via press release that it had signed two international competitors to exclusive contracts. From Lebanon, PFL snagged two-division middleweight and light heavyweight Brave Combat Federation champ Mohammad Fakhreddine (15-4, 2 NC). Out of Syria, it picked up former UAE Warriors 205-pound kingpin Tarek Suleiman (12-8, 1 NC). It is unclear which divisions these fighters will be competing at, as the PFL no longer maintains maintain a 185-pound division in its tournaments. Their debuts have not yet been set.

Advertisement

Fakhreddine will join the promotion celebrating an 80% knockout rate, with each of his last eight victories coming by way of knockout. A longtime Brave fighter that first joined that league back at Brave CF 4, “The Latest” shifted from welterweight to middleweight as he moved up its ranks. Although u…

Okay people he grew a set over night. It’s official, Im taking this little Fury’s head off.

Amanda Serrano and I dual main-event at the Mecca of boxing.

Advertisement

Official press conference and ticket on-sale this Wednesday June 29th at 11AM. #PaulFury@MostVpromotions @ShowtimeBoxing pic.twitter.com/1YKtAHKUh6 — Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 23, 2022 YouTuber Jake Paul will get to settle the score with a rival in the ring in August.

On Thursday, Showtime Sports sent out a press release announcing the pay-per-view boxing card on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The headliner will see Paul (5-0, 4 KOs) box with Tommy Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) in an eight-round cruiserweight tilt. Co-headlining the show will be a women’s featherweight championship clash as Amanda Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs) comes to blows with Brenda Carabajal (18-5-1, 9 KOs). The even will be held on Showtime PPV, and tickets will go on sale at Madison Square G…

UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESPN 37Credit: Getty/UFC UFC on ESP…

It seems like ages ago that Anthony Pettis went viral with his “Showtime Kick” at the final World Extreme Cagefighting event or claimed UFC gold with a submission of Benson Henderson in his hometown of Milwaukee.

Advertisement

However, while Pettis has been a big star for more than a decade now, his passion for mixed martial arts hasn’t waned as he heads into a PFL 5 showdown with Steven Ray on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlana. In other words, retirement hasn’t really crossed his mind.

“I don’t think about an exit plan. I’m only 35 years old,” Pettis said during a PFL media day. “I did so much early in my career that people just remember me from the beginning of the sport. When this sport became popular and social media just popped up, that’s when I was making my claim to fame. I’m still hungy, I’m still motivated, and I’m still training with some of the best of the world. I know my skill set. I still have a lot more to prove.”

Much of Pettis’ curren…

Bubba Jenkins believes is he is deserving of prominent placement on any Professional Fighters League card he occupies.

Advertisement

  Jenkins is coming off a victory against Kyle Bochniak at PFL 2 in which he dropped his opponent on multiple occasions in an entertaining unanimous decision victory. Jenkins will meet Reinaldo Ekson in a regular season bout at PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, on Friday night. Ekson is a late opponent change for Sabi Bologahi, who withdrew from the featherweight bout a little less than a week before the event.

“It pisses me off. It always pisses me off,” Jenkins said of the opponent change. “I hate when they change the opponent because we’re focused on a lot of tendencies, we’re focusing on weakness, we’re focusing on things that my opponent does badly that I do well. This time was even later than the last change, so they changed it basically in the last week and we’re got to deal with that. I hate opponent changes. G…

Alan Nascimento, the jiu-jitsu coach at Allstars Training Center in Sweden, has had the opportunity to see the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Khamzat Chimaev in the gym on a daily basis.

Advertisement

According to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, fans input played a key role in Gustafsson’s decision to return to his original weight class following a loss to Fabricio Werdum at heavyweight in July 2020.

"Wherever we went, the local fans asked him to return to his original weight,” Nascimento told Sherdog.com.

With that, Gustafsson is scheduled to return to action at 205 pounds against Nikita Krylov at UFC London on July 23.

"Returning to Europe will be amazing for him,” Nascimento said. “It's really interesting how Gustafsson is motivated by the new generation. Besides being the biggest name in Swedish MMA, Alex is an idol for the whole new generation who train with us today. And not only in Sweden, his historical fights with Jon Jones and Daniel Cormi…

During a recent press conference to promote UFC 276, Alexander Volkanovski discussed what might be next if he takes care of business against Max Holloway in their trilogy fight.

Advertisement

“Yeah, that’s why I’ve talked about this third fight with Max being a big one,” Volkanovski said. “After this one, I go do my thing. It’s gonna give me time to go at least have a chance to go for that double-champ status. That’s what I want. I’m gonna do what I plan on doing and that’s what I’m gonna call for.

That would involve a move to 155 pounds, where the title is currently vacant after Charles Oliveira lost the belt on the scales prior to defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. However, “Do Bronx” is still recognized as the top dog in the division despite that transgression, and Volkanovski believes that Brazilian is quite beatable.

“When I look at Oliveira, [he’s a] dangerous fighter,” Volkanovski said. “Dangerous fighter, a lot of people love watching him fight, …

Guido Cannetti will lock horns with Randy Costa in a bantamweight bout at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Oct. 1.

Advertisement

ESPN Deportes was first to report the booking. The card currently doesn’t have a location or headliner.

Cannetti snapped a three-bout skid in his last outing, when he defeated Kris Moutinho via first-round technical knockout at UFC fight Night 203 on March 12. The 42-year-old Argentina native is 3-5 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Costa, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back TKO defeats at the hands of Tony Kelley and Adrian Yanez in the Octagon. Costa entered the UFC after with a 4-0 career mark and has gone 2-3 in the Octagon, with first-round knockouts of Boston Salmon and Journey Newson to his credit.

LFA brings #RiodeJaneiro vs. #SãoPaulo team challenge to Brazil at #LFA136! #LFA136: Rio de Janeiro vs. São PauloFriday, July 15#CIDECasaBranca#Caraguatatuba, #SaoPaulo, #Brazil

: https://t.co/9CSqWrV4C0#MMA#LFANation@UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/PjpoJDvasv

— LFA (@LFAfighting) June 22, 2022

Advertisement

Legacy Fighting Alliance’s next trip to Brazil will pit some of the country’s top prospects from Rio Janeiro and Sao Paulo against one another.

The promotion recently announced that LFA 136 “Rio de Janeiro vs. Sao Paulo” will take place on July 15 at CIDE Casa Branca in Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is headlined by a featherweight clash pitting Italo Gomes against Wellinton Prado. The main card airs on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Four other man card bouts were confirmed for the event: Davi Bittencourt Costa vs. Eduardo Henrique da Silva at flyweight; Alexia Thainara vs. Janaina Silva at strawweight; Jo…

Retired from MMA for 14 months, Ronaldo Souza couldn't stay away from the fighting world for too long.

Advertisement

Earlier this year, Souza teased a foray into professional boxing. While that hasn’t yet come to fruition, “Jacare” is still planning on making his debut in the near future.

"What was breaking my body was the grappling routine. Boxing is something that relaxes my body and mind. I’m really in love with boxing and I’m looking forward to testing myself in a boxing ring,” the two-time world absolute BJJ champion told Sherdog.com.

After hearing that his former UFC opponent, Vitor Belfort, had accepted a challenge from Brazilian boxing legend Acelino "Popo" Freitas, “Jacare” taunted "the Phenom.” Souza and Belfort initially fought at UFC 198, with “Jacare” winning via first-round TKO in their May 2016 bout.

”Come on Belfort, Popo is a small guy. Come to fight someone of your size, maybe in a boxing rematch you can do something,” Souza sa…

Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance Credit: Richard Burmaster/Legacy Fighting Alliance

Friday’s PFL 5 event will have a significantly different look on the preliminary card than originally planned.

Advertisement

The promotion announced five updated pairings on Tuesday for PFL 5, which features heavyweights, featherweights and lightweights at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The original main card remains intact, as all of the new bouts are on the prelims. One notable addition is UFC veteran Juan Adams, who will step in to take on Sam Kei in a heavyweight affair.

The other new pairings are as follows: Ante Delija vs. Shelton Graves at heavyweight; Denis Goltsov vs. Maurice Green at heavyweight; Bubba Jenkins vs. Reinaldo Ekson at featherweight and Brendan Loughnane vs. Ago Huskic at featherweight.

Fighters who are no longer on th…

While Robert Whittaker may have been much more competitive with Israel Adesanya in their rematch earlier this year at UFC 271, it doesn’t seem like a third meeting will be happening anytime soon, if at all.

Advertisement

That’s according to the reigning middleweight champion, who dismissed the possibility of a trilogy with Whittaker during a recent UFC press conference. Adesanya is currently slated to defend the 185-pound belt against Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner on July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“He’s a great fighter, I’ll give it to him,” Adesanya said of Whittaker. “But I know how that book ends. I’ve read that book twice already. The first time was a quick read. The second time a little bit longer.

“He’s probably gonna be at the top for a while. If we fight again, I know how that book ends. That’s why I’m excited about this next fight, some new blood, someone I’ve never fought before. If [Whittaker] wants to he should go up to 2…

While Alexander Volkanovski is 2-0 against Max Holloway, the close nature of their second meeting has given the rivalry a feel of unfinished business heading into their trilogy at UFC 276.

Advertisement

Volkanovski claimed featherweight gold with a unanimous verdict over Holloway at UFC 245 and edged the Hawaiian via split decision in their rematch at UFC 251. The second meeting was highly disputed in the MMA community, as many observers felt that Holloway deserved the nod. Nonetheless, Volkanvovski is the one entering the third bout with championship gold, a 21-fight winning streak and a lofty pound-for-pound ranking.

The 33-year-old City Kickboxing respresentative doesn’t think he has anything to prove at this point, but he hopes to make a more emphatic statement against “Blessed” the third time around.

“I don’t think I have to do anything, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try,” Volkanovski said at a recent press conference. “I plan on putting a beati…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Deron Winn took a beating at the hands of Phil Hawes at UFC on ESPN 37, and he’ll have to undergo surgery to repair some of the damage he absorbed.

Advertisement

The American Kickboxing Academy product revealed that he suffered a broken orbital in the middleweight bout in a recent post on his Instagram account.

“I don’t know what to say except that I got my ass beat tonight,” Winn wrote. “Got rocked early and I couldn’t fully get my legs back. I have a broken orbital bone in my face that I believe came in the first round. Will need surgery.

“I tried so hard in every aspect of preparing for this fight. I had to overcome some serious issues in my life to even be able to come back and step into the cage tonight or ever again for that matter. I’m sad of course. But I will hold my head high on the person I know I am becoming. My support system is out of this planet. The people who have stuck with me through…

Jessica Andrade’s triumphant return to the strawweight division proved to be short lived.

Advertisement

After a first-round submission of Amanda Lemos in her return to 115 pounds at UFC Fight Night 205, the plan was for Andrade to climb the rankings in the weight class until she earned a title shot. Things changed when she was given a short-notice opportunity to face Manon Fiorot in a flyweight bout at UFC Paris on Sept. 3.

"Our focus was 100% on strawweight, but it´s pretty clear that [Carla] Esparza must face [Weili] Zhang and Marina [Rodriguez] must face Rose [Namajunas]. We cannot keep waiting on results,” her coach, Giliard Parana, told Sherdog.com. “The point is that Jessica is one of the best-paid girls in any female division and the reality is that is not easy for the UFC to find opponents for her. Since we moved to the United States and need to pay our bills, she needs to fight and UFC knows that whenever they need, they can count on us.”

&nb…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

The lineup for UFC 278 appears to be nearly complete, as the Las Vegas-based promotion announced 12 bouts for the Aug. 20 card on Monday.

Advertisement

Among the notable new additions is a heavyweight showdown pitting Alexander Romanov against Marcin Tybura and a flyweight tilt between Amir Albazi and Francisco Figueiredo.

UFC 278 takes place at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah and is headlined by a welterweight title clash between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards. Also confirmed for the event is a bantamweight fight between Jose Aldo and Merab Dvalishvili and a middleweight scrap between Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold.

The following bouts were also announced for UFC 278: Leonardo Santos vs. Jared Gordon at lightweight; Yanan Wu vs. Lucie Pudilova at bantamweight; Tyson Pedro vs. Harry Hunsucker at light heavyweight; Daniel Lacerda vs. Victor Altamirano at flyweight; Qileng Aori vs. Jay Perrin at bantam…