Category: Bellator

Francis Ngannou’s first PFL fight revealed

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, MMA News, PFL

One of MMA’s biggest storylines of 2023 was focused on Francis Ngannou’s free agency and where he would finally land. Still UFC champion heading into last year, Ngannou was stripped of the title after failing to reach a new contract with the world’s largest MMA promotion.

While the Cameroonian-born Frenchman had no shortage of detractors over his decision to leave the Octagon behind, he eventually landed a massive contract with the PFL. One that wouldn’t just pay him multiple millions for competing in MMA, but would also give him freedom to pursue a boxing career as well.

Fans have already seen the fruits of that deal, with Ngannou making his debut in the ring against Tyson Fury last October. Now, however, with a bout against Anthony Joshua on the horizon, the question has remained, when is Ngannou going to return to MMA? And who will he face once he does?

Francis Ngannou to take on Bader/Ferreira winner

In a video posted to their social media accounts, the PFL has announced that Francis Ngannou will take on the winner of Ryan Bader vs. Renan Ferreira from this Saturday’s upcoming PFL vs. Bellator: Champs card.

The 2023 PFL heavyweight tournament champion, Renan Ferreira enters his bout against Bader in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a 3-fight win streak. Those victories righted an exceptionally rocky ship for the Brazilian, who dropped three straight bouts in between 2022-2023, with losses to Klidson Abreu, Ante Delija, and Rizvan Kuniev. Fortunately for the Team Nogueira talent, however, both Abreu and Kuniev ended up with failed drug tests, resulting in both those losses getting overturned to no contests.

Most recently, Ferreira defeated Denis Goltsov at PFL 10, in the tournament finale in Washington DC, back in November of last year.

For Bader, the former Ultimate Fighter season 8 winner hasn’t competed since February of last year, when he knocked out PRIDE legend Fedor Emelianenko in a rematch to defend his Bellator heavyweight title. That bout made for three straight victories for the 40-year-old, stretching back to a 2021 loss to Corey Anderson in a light heavyweight title fight.

Bader was among many of the fighters acquired by the PFL in their recent purchase of Bellator, opening the door for this weekend’s champions vs. champions card. Alongside the main event, the card will also feature Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen. Unfortunately bouts between Patricio Pitbull & Jesus Pinedo, as well as Magomed Magomedov vs. Jason Jackson have had to be changed due to injury, leaving just the two title-vs-tile bouts at the top of the event.

Francis Ngannou talks PFL plans

With a second major boxing bout on the horizon, there’s been a lot of speculation as to whether Francis Ngannou would actually have a reason to return to the PFL in 2024. Most likely, his willingness to step back into the cage will be heavily contingent on his performance on March 8th. A win there and Ngannou will probably find himself with another major boxing bout on his hands tout de suite.

However, at least for the moment, the 37-year-old has remained bullish on the idea that fans should expect him back in MMA again soon.

“If it doesn’t work,” Ngannou said of a potential 2024 Tyson Fury rematch in an interview back in November, “then I can still fight February or March in MMA, then expect him by the end of the year—like, this time, by October.”

At the moment, Fury has his hands full with an upcoming bout against Oleksandr Usyk. The ‘Gypsy King’ has been set to take on the unbeaten Ukrainian champ for months now, with the bout now expected for May 18th. In a recent interview of his own, Fury laid out his plans for the future, including a pair of Usyk fights, and Pair of bouts against Anthony Joshua, and a rematch against Ngannou.

At the moment it seems the ‘Predator’ has plenty of options on the table, and a return to MMA is just one small piece of the puzzle.

PFL wins the battle for Saudi Arabia, still losing on PPV

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, MMA News, PFL

Just the other day, the UFC made headlines with the news that it has been forced to delay their planned March debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Middle Eastern dictatorship has positioned itself as a major event destination in the sporting world, courting massive boxing, soccer, and track & field events.

They’ve also started making a bigger play for MMA as well, finding the UFC through their recent partnership with the WWE, and the Professional Fighter’s League through their constant need for outside investors. But where the UFC failed to offer a strong enough event to match the nation’s sports-washing ambitions, the PFL appears to have hit a home run.

PFL/Bellator announces lineup for champion vs. champion PPV

One of the biggest shakeups in the combat sports world last year came when longtime Viacom/Paramount-owned promotion Bellator announced their sale to rival competition the PFL. That deal will involve the PFL running Bellator as an independent property for the foreseeable future, with eventual plans to fold the two talent pools together. Until that happens, however, Donn Davis & co. get to have some fun smashing their toys together.

Immediately after the sale, Davis announced plans to hold a champion vs. champion event, with current Bellator title holders facing off against their PFL counterparts. The full lineup for that card has now been announced, set for February 24th in Riyadh. Although no price for the PPV has been announced, past PFL offerings have run around $50.

ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD (3pm ET/12pm PT)

  • Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader
  • Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen
  • Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Jason Jackson
  • Jesus Pinedo vs. Patricio Pitbull
  • Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov
  • Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero
  • Clay Collard vs. AJ McKee

ESPN News PRELIMS (12:30pm ET/9:30am PT)

  • Gabriel Braga vs. Aaron Pico
  • Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Chris Morris
  • Claressa Shields vs. Kelsey DeSantis
  • Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao
  • Malik Basahel vs. Vinicius Pereira

The PFL/Bellator card is good, but…

For hardcore MMA fans, this PFL/Bellator PPV is clearly about the best offering the promotion could hope to make. Unlike the UFC’s recently cancelled Fight Night attempt, it’s clear that the promotion actually cares about trying to deliver a quality event for their Saudi investors. The obvious read then would be to argue that PFL has won the day. But have they, really?

Unfortunately for the PFL, the day they hope to bring fans to spend some extra cash on ESPN+ is the same one where the UFC will make their first return to Mexico since 2019. To honor the occasion, they’re bringing a Fight Night card headlined by Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval 2 and Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega, along with a host of other Mexican talent.

It’s not half as deep in top quality elite fight bookings as the PFL vs. Bellator card, but it’s hard not to also feel that Moreno vs. Royval 2 and Rodriguez vs. Ortega are a whole hell of a lot more interesting than a Ryan Bader fight or Eblen vs. a man still best known for being on the receiving end of history’s most spectacular knockout.

Plus, with both events on ESPN+ on the same day, advertised alongside one another, what many fans will see is that the UFC card is free. PFL may have won the battle when it comes to pleasing a major financier, but until they can get some real star headlining talent in the cage, their PPV offerings still feel like they’re losing the war.

Bellator champ in limbo with brand new contract

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, MMA News, PFL

News of Bellator’s sale to the PFL has been this week’s big story in the combat sports world. For fighters in the formerly Paramount-owned promotion, the reactions have largely been positive. It seems Bellator talent is pretty excited about the potential of combining rosters with their now sister promotion over on ESPN+.

That said, the shakeup likely won’t leave everyone positioned for the better. For one, it sounds like the new Bellator will be running a lot fewer events than previous. And while the idea of some champion vs. champion ‘bragging rights’ bouts seems like it could make for fun spectacle, the PFL and Bellator’s divisions don’t entirely overlap.

Patchy Mix talks new Bellator contract, hopeful future

Principal among the fighters who might find their opportunities curtailed by the merger is Bellator’s bantamweight champion Patchy Mix. Mix is fresh off a rear naked choke submission win over Sergio Pettis at Bellator 301 (the promotion’s final card before leaving Showtime). In a recent interview the 30-year-old detailed his fresh new contract and what might be in store for the future.

“I’m getting paid a ****-ton of money,” Mix revealed. “I got paid a ****-ton of money on Friday. I signed a new deal, that was my first one on my new deal, and I got paid out very, very good, as a champion should. As one of the best bantamweights in the world should.”

Without a clear path over to the PFL right now for Mix, his principal hope is that the PFL will give him a rematch with only man to defeat him inside the cage: Juan Archuleta.

“I have [almost] cleared out the division, one through five,” Mix said in a recent interview for MMA Fighting’s ‘The Fighter vs. The Writer‘ podcast. “No. 1, Sergio Pettis, I’ve beat him. No. 2 Raufeon Stots [I beat him], No. 3 is [Juan] Archuleta, No. 4 is [Magomed Magomedov] and No. 5 is Kyoji Horiguchi so I’ve beat four out of five. There’s one guy sitting there, and there’s only one fight to make.

“I’ve been chasing it since the day it happened, and it has to happen. Why not make me versus Juan Archuleta?”

Archuleta’s weird contract deal

There may be at least one reason that the PFL can’t go ahead with a Patchy Mix vs. Juan Archuleta 2 title fight. Juan Archuleta hasn’t been competing for Bellator for the last year. In that time, ‘The Spaniard has gone 3-0, fighting under the RIZIN banner in Japan. Bellator and RIZIN have had a talent sharing agreement in place for years, creating multiple opportunities for high level fighters to cross over and compete both in America and Japan.

In an interview back in May, Archuleta detailed how that agreement had worked wonders for his career.

“I couldn’t ask for a better position than I’m in now,” Archuleta explained. “Especially after losing the title fight in Hawaii, going into Japan, it gives me the extra motivation to keep going forward. After you lose a title fight it is draining on you. Then I got this opportunity, now I’m super stoked.

“How many fighters have you seen basically rented out for the year to another promotion?” he added. “Yeah, they’ve done fights here and there, but to actually say like — I’m still signed with Bellator but I’m fighting for RIZIN. I’ve made history in this type of deal that they’ve done. I’m the first fighter that’s ever done this. I’m excited to do my part and go and win the title then going back to Bellator.”

In that same interview, Archuleta explained how he’d like to win gold with RIZIN and then come back to Bellator and unify the titles, just like Kyoji Horiguchi did. The 36-year-old completed the first leg of that task back in July, defeating Hiromasa Ogikubo to win the RIZIN bantamweight championship. With a title around his waist, will he be eager to jump back into a new Bellator that might not even recognize the belt?

MMA fighters react to PFL’s Bellator buyout

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, MMA Business, MMA News, PFL

The news has finally become official, MMA promotion Bellator has been bought out by the PFL. First teased all the way back in July, fans and pundits have been waiting for the other shoe to drop for months now. But with an announcement from PFL chairman Donn Davis, it appears all the ‘i’s have been dotted and the ‘t’s have been crossed.

Sources close to the deal have reported that the purchasing price for Bellator was somewhere in the $200-$300M range, with Davis himself explaining that the deal was a stock trade for his company, with the PFL acquiring majority ownership of Bellator in exchange for granting Paramount a minority stake in the PFL.

Current plans are to continue running Bellator shows at least through 2024, with a limited series of international events, featuring Bellator title fights and champion vs. champion bouts. After that, it sounds like the PFL plans to expand their roster and event run in 2025. Obviously pundits have been weighing in all across the board, but here’s what the fighters had to say about the big news:

Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul weigh in

Perhaps the biggest stars to give their take on the breaking news are a pair of PFL PPV stars: Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and celebrity boxing star Jake Paul. Ngannou didn’t offer much more than a post of his support for social media, but Paul recorded a short video message.

“Massive news! The PFL has acquired Bellator,” Paul announced. “This is insane news for the whole entire industry and makes PFL even more of a global powerhouse; with a fight roster now equal to that of the UFC’s. We have some challenges. Let’s prove it: Their champions vs. our champions. Let’s make it happen.”

PFL & Bellator employees give their thoughts

A few of the broadcast team members from both the PFL and Bellator weighed in on the news as well.

MMA fighters in support of Mike Kogan

Other reactions

Bellator vs. UFC? A narrative that never changed

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Bellator 301, MMA Editorial, MMA News

This was originally posted on the Bloody Elbow substack earlier this week. Subscribers get our best stuff first.

When Bellator first emerged on the MMA scene, it seemed like an energetic startup with a unique plan: constant tournament MMA. Get away from the championship formula, get away from the chatter and the hype and the matchmaking favoritism and make something more sporting, more hardcore.

In retrospect, it’s the same formula many promotions have tried in order to differentiate themselves from the UFC. From PRIDE, and the IFL, to Sengoku, and the PFL. Even late era Strikeforce got into the tournament model. For a while it made Bellator the (much smaller) ying to the UFC’s yang, but whatever the format they brought to the table, the narrative always stayed the same. The UFC was number 1, and Bellator struggled along in second place trying to build their reputation.

A decade later, and Bellator’s formula may have changed, but the zeitgeist has remained exactly the same.

A fitting sendoff for Bellator

Word on the street is that the Viacom/Paramount based MMA promotion may have just run their last event; selling their assets off to the PFL as Showtime announced that they’re washing their hands of all sports programming in 2024. If that all goes according to plan, then Bellator will walk away off of a rock solid MMA card that absolutely nobody cared about. Just like always.

To really push that fact home, I present readers with a prime example of viewer interest: me. As I write this, a devastatingly mediocre UFC card plays in the background. A card for which—were I not on vacation last week—I would have recorded a 2-3 hour Vivi podcast and will be recording a 6th Round, as well as running a live chat thread and some light X/Twitter duty. Meanwhile, for Bellator, I got through the prelims before I found other things I needed to do and dipped out on even watching the main card.

That’s not because I wasn’t interested or thought the fights were going to be bad. Hell, I gave Yaroslav Amosov his nickname; I had every reason to be personally invested. The card looked good and (by all accounts, from what I saw) was good. It was meaningful and had fighters I liked in matchups I cared about. But if my job is to stay on top of what fight fans care about, then my incentive to watch Bellator was entirely based on what I felt like making time for, paying attention to it and/or creating work for it would have done nothing to help me produce stuff people would read.

Media can only create so much interest

It’s one of things I’ve learned over time working this beat. Media requires a ton of hustle and offers little in the way of reward. Don’t spend time where you don’t have a clear plan to make money. With no real audience of Bellator’s to deliver a product to, it’s never made much sense to build a career out of covering their fights.

To that point, if Bellator’s ‘maybe next year’ underdog aura never left right up until the moment they closed their doors, the UFC is increasingly feeling like a promotion on the move—largely in the wrong direction. In the very same way that readership trends told websites that Bellator was a hole down which money shouldn’t be thrown, the UFC is starting to play a very similar tune.

This bargain basement Apex card may have fans more excited than a pair of Bellator title fights, but it doesn’t have them half as excited as a TUF Finale did a decade ago, and that’s a problem.

Not for the UFC—a seemingly never-ending juggernaut who has found so many ways to funnel money into their company that they could probably play in front of 10 comped seats for the next decade and still make money—but for people like myself. People looking to stay on top of the stories fans care about, and maintain even a niche audience (like nerdy fight breakdown fans).

The future of combat sports media is likely less UFC

Bellator’s likely death isn’t great news for fighters, who can use every bidder for their services possible. Or for fans, who can always use another scrap to fill the free time. But it feels more like a more ominous sign of the times, that everything is drifting away from mixed martial arts as a hot topic. MMA fandom may have never truly supported ‘Spikeforce’, but the interest especially isn’t there right now.

Bellator is on its way to the boneyard. The UFC is still here and running strong, but if anybody needs me, I’ll be reading up on this ‘Salt Papi’ dude, and trying to figure out exactly how much is too much attention to pay to this upcoming ESPN card in December. Maybe, if I can find a little extra time, I’ll remember to shed a tear for Bellator while I’m at it.

Former UFC contender faces more weigh-in woes

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Bellator 300, MMA News

A good rule of thumb in MMA is that no booking is truly final until both fighters step inside the cage. Even beyond all the potential injuries and accidents that can crop up in training, fight week holds its own perils. After weeks of weight cutting and constant workouts, chances for last minute illness are always high—and that’s to say nothing of the struggle just to hit the right numbers on the scale.

It’s a problem every promotion is well aware of, and unfortunately for Bellator, it’s their problem today. The Viacom owned MMA organization is set to put on the 300th event in their 14-year history. As of a week ago, it looked like it was going to be a big one. In the main event, heavyweight champion Ryan Bader would defend his title against Linton Vassell, supported by a lightweight title defense for champion Usman Nurmagomedov, a women’s featherweight title defense for Cris Cyborg, and a women’s flyweight title defense for Liz Carmouche.

As of Friday, October 6th, only two of those fights remain unchanged.

Contender misses weight for fight with ex-UFC contender Liz Carmouche

After leaving the UFC back in 2019, off a title fight loss to Valentina Shevchenko, things have been going pretty damn well for Liz Carmouche. The 39-year-old ‘Girl-Rilla’ is currently riding a six-fight winning streak, including victories over former Invicta champion Vanessa Porto and then-reigning Bellator champion Juliana Velasquez.

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is all set to mark the third defense of Carmouche’s flyweight title belt, but that’s even after missing weight badly for the fight. In something of a strange scene, Macfarlane actually stepped on the scale three times in attempt to make the 125 lb flyweight title fight limit. In her first attempt she came in at 127.4 lbs. With an additional hour to try and make the title weight, Macfarlane then weighed in at 126.6 lbs, before attempting one last cut, only to come in higher at 128.2 lbs.

As a result, the title fight will still remain on the card, however even if Macfarlane manages to win the bout, she will be inelligible for the title and the belt would simply be vacated (thus still counting as an official defense on Carmouche’s record). Coincidentally, this is actually the second-stright time Carmouche has had to fight for her title under these circumstances.

Earlier this year, the former UFC title contender defended her belt against DeAnna Bennett. Having missed weight against Carmouche once before—when the two women met back in 2020—the champion was notably wary about having to face someone she felt was unable to conduct herself as a professional.

“She, just like her previous fights, was like, ‘I’m so sorry, I just didn’t make weight.’ Those excuses don’t fly,” Carmouche told reporters of Bennett at the time. “I stay up until 11:00 at night cutting the weight, then I wake up at 5:00 to double and triple check. We’re professionals in this sport, and we’re in one of the biggest organizations in the sport, so we need to do everything the best way possible. She said she had nothing but respect for me. To me, if you don’t make weight, you don’t respect your opponent.”

Complete Bellator 300 weigh-in results

Unfortunately for Macfarlane, it seems she has the inglorious designation fo being the only fighter on this weekend’s Bellator card to miss her contracted weight. While several bouts saw both fighters weigh in outside of the traditional lines for MMA weight classes (Hrytsenko vs. Montalvo, Berkhamov vs. Terrado, and Seronio vs. Garcia) it appears those books are all taking place at pre-agreed catchweights.

  • Usman Nurmagomedov (154.8) vs. Brent Primus (154.8)
  • Cris Cyborg (144.6) vs. Cat Zingano (144.6)
  • Liz Carmouche (124.8) vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (126.6)*
  • Davion Franklin (265) vs. Slim Trabelsi (238.8)
  • Henry Corrales (146) vs. Kai Kamaka III (145.6)
  • Sara McMann (145.4) vs. Leah McCourt (146)
  • Ilara Joanne (125.6) vs. Jena Bishop (125.4)
  • Bobby Seronio III (138) vs. Alberto Garcia (137)
  • Romero Cotton (185.6) vs. Grant Neal (183.6)
  • Sergio Cossio (156) vs. Jesse Roberts (155.8)
  • Mukhamed Berkhamov (178.4) vs. Herman Terrado (178.2)
  • Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (205.4) vs. Maciej Rozanski (204.4)
  • Dmytrii Hrytsenko (158.8) vs. Justin Montalvo (158.6)
  • Bryce Meredith (136) vs. Miguel Peimbert (134.8)
  • Lorrany Santos (145.6) vs. Jackie Cataline (145.4)
  • Josh Hokit (246) vs. Spencer Smith (247.8)

For fans noticing that this card is a bout short, unfortunately, the headlining fight between Linton Vassell and Ryan Bader was scrapped just a few days out from the event, after Vassell withdrew due to illness. After the cancellation, Bader took to social media to decry Viacom’s stinginess, claiming that because the company is on the verge of selling the promotion, they were uninterested in spending extra money to find a replacement opponent for Bader.

That means Bellator will be going ahead with just a three fight main card, starting at 10 pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific on Showtime. The prelims will stream live on YouTube starting at 6:30 pm Eastern, 3:30 pm Pacific.

Bellator 300: Champion reveals why his fight was scrapped, ‘Viacom didn’t want to pay’

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, MMA News

Former top ranked UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader has found a whole world of success outside the confines of the Octagon. Darth left the UFC all the way back in 2016, off a TKO win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In the seven years since, the Power MMA product has put together a 9-2 (1 NC) record, capturing the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles in the process.

This week, at Bellator 300, Bader was expected to defend his heavyweight belt against multiple-time title contender Linton Vassell. Unfortunately, just a few days before fight night, Vassell was forced from the event due to illness. Which is when fellow UFC vet and recent Bellator light heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Corey Anderson made an offer to step up.

Corey Anderson calls out Bellator champ Ryan Bader

Ryan Bader enters the cage at Bellator 290.
Ryan Bader enters the cage at Bellator 290. – Matt Davies IMAGO/ZUMA WIRE

Beyond his 4-1 (1 NC) run of success in the Viacom owned promotion, Corey Anderson has good reason to claim rights to a title fight against Ryan Bader. Back in 2021, ‘Overtime’ provided one of the rare speed bumps in Bader’s Bellator career, defeating the man via TKO in the semifinal round of the light heavyweight Grand Prix. That loss sent Bader up to heavyweight full time and feels like a rematch that would be meaningful to both men.

Unfortunately for the Renzo Gracie Academy talent, however, in a recent video posted to his Instagram account, Bader revealed that he was not going to be fighting, as planned, at Bellator 300 this weekend.

“Bad news, fight with Linton Vassell is off. Got notified by Bellator officials later last week that he was sick and refusing to fight. Hard no. So, we did everything we could possibly do, had a great camp, were leaving tomorrow. We’re trying a few more things, but it looks like—talking to Bellator and everybody—it is off.

“I don’t get it. Heavyweight title fight, you show up to fight. If you’re ill a week and a half before, I mean, you could get better in a couple days. I’ve been there, I’ve fought sick, but I’m not here to bash him. That just sucks. And everybody who has bought tickets and flew out there and is spending money and all that stuff, but nothing we can do. I’ll probably be out there regardless. If you’re out there, I hope to see ya. And we’re still working on a few more solutions, and I’ll let you guys know.”

Ryan Bader claims Viacom is against booking a new fight

Of course, once Ryan Bader announced that his booking had been officially cancelled, fans were quick to chime in with Corey Anderson’s offer. After all, here was an elite opponent, coming off a win, with a victory over the champ already in his pocket. Anderson has said he’s ready to take the fight, so what’s stopping it from getting booked?

Bader took to the comments of his own Instagram video to respond.

“We told Bellator we are good with anything,” Bader wrote in response to a fan on his social media page. “And it looks like Viacom doesn’t want to pay. They are out Oct and this falling through saves them money.”

That cryptic line about Viacom being “out” has raised a few eyebrows on its own, but rumors have been swirling for months that Bellator was on the verge of being sold to the PFL. Most recently, reports are that the PFL plans on maintaing the Bellator brand for another couple years following the sale, before shuttering the promotion entirely. Something akin to the UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce, back in 2011.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull more or less confirmed the news, suggesting that he would like to make the leap over to the UFC now that Bellator is on its way to the scrapyard.

“Well, I’m 36 years old, I’m the biggest record holder in the organization I love,” Freire said, (transcript via FanSided). “It looks like Bellator is really going to be taken over by another organization. I will fulfill my agreement, I will see what proposals will be on the table, but I think my career deserves a trip to the UFC.”

In the meantime, Bellator 300 will go ahead with three title fights on the main card, rather than four. In the main event, lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his title against Brent Primus. Women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is set to defend her title against Cat Zingano in the co-main. Liz Carmouche will defend the women’s flyweight title against Ilima-Lei Macfarlane on the night as well.

Michael Venom Page should skip the UFC

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bare Knuckle Fighting, Bellator, MMA News

For the last decade, one of Bellator’s most successful and notable home-grown prospects has been former W.A.K.O. semi-contact kickboxing champion Michael ‘Venom’ Page. After years of traditional martial arts training, Page made the jump to MMA, where his elusive, power-striking style made him an instant attention getter.

Page went just 3-0 on the regional UK and neophyte Indian MMA scenes before signing to his first contract with America’s number 2 promotion. He took his last MMA bout outside the Bellator cage in 2014, and has been part of the organization ever since.

Michael Venom Page’s draw was never about being the best

The years that followed MVP’s jump to Bellator were marked by a steady stream of thrilling knockouts and a steady stream of critique about a lack of meaningful competition. The Paramount Global company seemingly slow played Page’s star potential, building him to a 14-0 unbeaten record before throwing him into the cage with former welterweight champion Douglas Lima.

As many had long expected, when faced with an opponent who wasn’t instantly over-awed (or entirely washed from age and cagewear), MVP’s game looked a lot less fearsome and dynamic. From Page’s standpoint, that 2019 booking had the feeling of a complete mess.

It’s a credit to him though, that after Bellator went back to building him up slowly with a couple more badly over-matched fighters and men not dangerous or dynamic enough to close him down, that MVP took a second shot at Lima in 2021—defeating him by split decision. It was unquestionably a better performance from Page—he didn’t get KO’d for one—but despite showing off his continued danger as a striker, it also showed that there still wasn’t much wrestling or depth to the then 34-year-old’s game.

A fight against Logan Storley for the interim welterweight title the next year very much exposed that fact. With Page losing a split decision to Storley’s wrestle-heavy game. Since then, Page has competed just once in MMA, defeating Goiti Yamauchi via leg kick TKO in just 26-seconds back in March.

As was ever the case, the man has continued to be a highlight machine in just the right kind of bookings. But there are no signs that opponents with a reasonable takedown arsenal and a strong top game aren’t still the kryptonite to MVP’s powers. Page is at his best when he’s in a promotion designed for him to shine—the UFC’s sluice box styled matchmaking, meant to shake out elite-level performers in a constant grind of tough fights likely has no interest in being that.

MVP’s boxing interests leave him perfectly positioned for other opportunities

Alongside his MMA career, one of the most recent bouts Page has taken part in came not inside the cage, but inside the ring instead. MVP took his talents over to bare-knuckle boxing last August, with a fight against former UFC talent Mike Perry at BKFC 27 in London. Page wasn’t successful, but acquitted himself decently, losing a majority decision to ‘Platinum’ after the two men initial battled to a 5-round split draw.

Also in the midst of his Bellator run, Page took a pair of traditional-rules pro boxing bouts in 2017-2018, winning both by knockout. At 36, the man pretty certainly doesn’t have any sort of comprehensive career ahead of him as a top level pugilist. But in the current climate of celebrity boxing crossovers, opportunities are almost certainly out there for him to make some solid money against opponents of similar or lower skill.

Those are the kinds of opportunities that will be closed off to Page if he looks for a contract with the world’s largest MMA promotion. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun, MVP talked about his plans for the future, and the possibility of a return to bare knuckle boxing.

“It may be something I want to do again,” Page admitted, speaking of his one-off BKFC bout. “Most of my family and friends would probably be against me on that one, but it’s definitely something I might do again, simply because I don’t like to go out on a loss.”

“I love fighting,” Page added, when asked what interested him right now. “I love turning into that person. I love feeling that energy that I get walking down the ramp towards cage, ring, mat, whatever it is.”

If he really wants to keep his options open—to chase a future fight with Mike Perry or try his hands in a pair of boxing gloves again, or even to take a few more kickboxing bouts—the UFC is not a place that’ll let that kind of creativity happen.

Bellator free agency was actually an accident

In fact, in all honesty, fans may very well see Page end up right back where he started. He’s sounded very open to the idea of re-signing with Bellator when all’s said and done. There’s the potential for a fight with welterweight champ Yaroslav Amosov out there sometime in the future, and the real truth is that Page never meant to test free agency in the first place.

When he fought Yamauchi, this last spring, the idea that his contract was ending was never discussed. All parties only realized that he had fought out his deal after the fight was over and Page started looking to get his next bout in place.

“[Bellator officials are] normally a lot sharper on that, and even usually when you’ve still got a few fights left, they’re already talking about what the progression is,” Page told Ariel Helwani in a recent interview on the MMA Hour (transcript via MMA Fighting). “So I think there’s a lot going on in the back office with their potential transition as well, and new owners, and so on and so forth.

“So yeah, I definitely feel like they kind of missed something there, but I think things happen for a reason in my opinion. I think it all happened for me to be able to have this space now and to make this decision, to actually say to myself, ‘OK cool, let me explore the waters in the MMA ocean and see see what bites.”

MVP has found his place in the combat sports ecosystem as a highlight machine on some of the biggest stages combat sports have to offer. A jump to the UFC could mean the possibility of some long term huge future payday. But much more likely it seems like he’d just end up swallowed up in sea of other elite talents looking to make their mark in the Octagon.

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A new change coming to Bellator

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, MMA News

For much of the past decade there’s been something of a mystery in Bellator’s business. No, not ‘How do they make money without seeming to have a dedicated fanbase?’ Instead it’s been a mystery why, despite having former and future men’s flyweight fighters on their roster, the promotion has never had a men’s flyweight division.

The promotion introduced their first bantamweight title in 2010, with a fight between future UFC flyweight Zach Makovsky and Ed West. Despite picking up word class talents former flyweight talents like Kyoji Horiguchi and Sergio Pettis over the years the promotion has never seemed all that interested in actually building a 125-pound division for its male fighters. That is up until now.

Bellator to launch men’s flyweight division

First reported by MMA Junkie, the news has since been confirmed by multiple outlets, that Bellator plans to open up a new weight class for their talent to compete. That decision comes on the heels of a botched previous attempt at launching the weight class back in April, when Ray Borg failed to even make it to the scales for a planned bout against Kyoji Horiguchi. Borg was subsequently released from the promotion, and even publicly dumped from his management team.

“Ray couldn’t even make it to ‘35,” said Coker, speaking of Borg’s miss. “I think Horiguchi would’ve probably fought him at ‘35 today, just because he wanted to fight so bad. But listen, in the past, I get it—but his management and my team assured me that he was going to be able to make weight and make the catchweight, which was 130, for sure, no problem. And so you go by their word, because usually we don’t have a problem like this in a fight that big. But unfortunately, that’s what happened today.”

As of the moment, that move means that ex-UFC title contender and former Bellator & RIZIN bantamweight champ Horiguchi is the only flyweight fighter currently signed to the promotion’s roster. No planned debut for the promotion’s newest weight class has been announced, although expectations are that the promotion will make the move official with a public statement in the immediate future.

What’s on the horizon?

In the meantime, the Showtime promotion is gearing up for a fight card on June 16th in Chicago, IL. Bellator 297 takes place at the Wintrust Arena and is expected to feature a pair of title bouts. In the main event, light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov will take on former UFC title contender Yoel Romero. With bantamweight champ Sergio Pettis taking on featherweight king Patricio Pitbull in the co-main.

Here’s a look at the full card:

  • Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero
  • Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Pitbull
  • Corey Anderson vs. Phil Davis
  • Daniel James vs. Gokhan Saricam
  • Karl Moore vs. Alex Polizzi
  • Pieter Buist vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov
  • Jaleel Willis vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov
  • Archie Colgan vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
  • Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs Kamil Onizsczuk
  • Timur Khizriev vs. Richie Smullen
  • Kyle Crutchmer vs. Bobby Nash
  • Austin Vanderford vs. Imamshafi Aliev
  • Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov
  • Wladmir Gouvea vs. Kevin Childs
  • Mike Hamel vs. Shamil Nikaev
  • Jordan Newman vs. Matthew Perry
  • Cody Law vs. Edwin Chaven
  • Max Metzgar vs. David McKinney

The uncrowned king of cancelled fights, plus title chaos mark Bellator weigh-in drama

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Bellator 294, Bellator 295, MMA Events, MMA News

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Forget twitter beefs, training camp struggles, or even fight night. For fans looking for the real drama in MMA, that goes down 24 hours before the fighters ever set foot in the cage. The real drama happens at the weigh-ins. And Bellator has turned in some doozies over the years.

Unfortunately for the Showtime based fight promotion, this week was no different. Bellator is running back to back events this Friday and Saturday, with multiple titles on the line. Well, that was the plan anyway. The problem is, at Thursday’s Bellator 294 weigh-in event, title challenger DeAnna Bennett missed weight for her rematch bout against current flyweight champion and former UFC contender Liz Carmouche.

DeAnna Bennett misses weight for title fight

Bennett came in at 126.2 pounds, more than a pound over the 125 pound limit on her third attempt to make championship weight. It’s the third time Bennett has failed to make the flyweight limit. As a result she’s now ineligible to take home the the title, should she defeat Carmouche on Friday night in Honolulu, HI. Given the opportunity to decide her own fate, Carmouche elected to keep her title on the line in the booking. So should Bennett defeat ‘Girl-Rilla’ in the Bellator 294 main event, the belt will be vacated, with neither woman taking home gold.

Liz Carmouche gave her thoughts on the situation in a media scrum after weigh ins.

“She showed up weigh-in day 11-pounds over. And then we were able to convince her and her fight team to continue cutting. She showed up and she was five-and-a-half pounds over, and the commission tried to step in cut the fight. And just like then, I said, ‘No, I want the fight. I came here to fight.’ Just like I am now. I came here because I’m a champion, I came here because I wanted to fight. Knowing full well that this is an opponent who has a far more consistent history of not making weight than of ever making weight.”

As for why she chose to keep the title on the line? For Carmouche it’s a matter of confidence and principal. She came ready to prove that she’s a champion, whether her opponent was prepared or not.

“It’s a risk coming into the fight altogether. I could face her and at least I know, because I did everything right—anything could happen. I could lose that fight, and that would have been what would have happened anyway, right? [The belt] just doesn’t go to her. So, at least this is us really putting it on the line, and me showing how much I believe that I am the champion. And how much I truly believe that it’s not going to be her.”

“This is going to make me want to be that much more violent. And to shut her up, and to see if I can’t push for her to get cut from Bellator. And not have to listen, and anybody have to put up with this anymore. That’s my goal on Friday night; is to shut her up and end her career.”

Ray Borg keeps fight cancellation record strong

For Bellator’s 295 card on Saturday, the weigh in flub isn’t quite so high profile or disastrous in terms of carrying the event, but it is every bit as—if not even more—expected. Former UFC flyweight title challengers Ray Borg and Kyoji Horiguchi had been set for a clash at 125 lbs.

It’s not a division Bellator has spent much time promoting over the years. They’ve never even had a flyweight champion, but it seems they were prepared to take a crack at opening up the weight class. For some reason, they chose Ray Borg for the task.

“I’ve made a lot of changes in my life in terms of not just dieting and how all that goes, but it’s psychological with me now,” Borg told MMA Fighting of dropping down to flyweight again, while also admitting that he was hesitant to accept the offer initially. “I’m not hung up on dumb stuff. I’m not cheating on diets, and I just have a really strong mentality going into [weight] cuts. My last three [fights] showed that I was first on the scale, first to weigh-in. The questions are going to come up, the doubts are going to be there, but I brought those upon myself.

“One thing I’ve accepted is I’ve had a bunch of bad weight cuts, and it’s kind of helped me move forward, and I don’t really eat from that tree anymore.”

According to an announcement from Bellator officials, Borg had to be removed from his bout against Horiguchi due to “weight management issues.” He never even made it to the scales on Friday.

It’s just the latest problem for the ‘Tazmexican Devil’ in a career plagued by them. At this point, the 29-year-old is more or less the uncrowned king of flyweight fight cancellations—having had 17 bouts in his 21 fight career fall through before getting to the cage. That puts him ahead of UFC contender Alex Perez at 14, and ‘OG’ flyweight fight cancellation legend Ian McCall at 12 (h/t Caposa).

In other news, featherweight fighter Chris Lencioni missed weight by more than 6 pounds for a bout against Bellator newcomer Blake Smith, who also missed the featherweight limit by .4 pounds. All other fighters across the two Bellator events came in at or under their agreed upon limits.

Bellator 294 weigh-in results

Main Card

  • Liz Carmouche (125) vs. Deanna Bennett (126.2)*
  • Tim Johnson (262) vs. Said Sowma (239.2)
  • Arlene Blencowe (146) vs. Sara McMann (145.6)
  • Danny Sabatello (135.6) vs. Marcos Breno (136)
  • Levan Chokheli (169.6) vs. Michael Lombardo (170.8)

Prelims

  • Killys Mota (156) vs. Kenneth Cross (155.2)
  • Tyrell Fortune (259.6) vs. Sergei Bilostennyi (240)
  • Cris Lencioni (152.4)** vs. Blake Smith (146.4)**
  • Anthony Adams (185.6) vs. Sharaf Davlatmurodov (185.4)

Bellator 295 weigh-in results

Main Card

  • Raufeon Stots (134.2) vs. Patchy Mix (135)
  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (126) vs. Kana Watanabe (125.6)
  • James Gonzalez (145.8) vs. Aaron Pico (145.6)
  • Charlie Leary (164.2) vs. Yancy Medeiros (162.4)

Prelims

  • Mads Burnell (144.4) vs. Justin Gonzales (145.6)
  • Adli Edwards (145.6) vs. Kai Kamaka (145.4)
  • Veta Arteaga (125.8) vs. Sumiko Inaba (124.4)
  • Aalon Cruz (156) vs. Bobby King (155.4)
  • Kasim Aras (251.8) vs. Davion Franklin (259.2)
  • Bruna Ellen (125.6) vs. Ilara Joanne (125.4)
  • Masayuki Kikuiri (169) vs. Alexey Shurkevich (170.8)

*Due to Bennet’s weight miss, she will be ineligible to win the Bellator flyweight title.
**Chris Lencioni vs. Blake Smith will move ahead at a catchweight.