The UFC are reportedly seeking a replacement for Bobby Green, and have just over a week to do so. Despite it being the co-main event, Hooker and Green were scheduled for five rounds.

Hooker finally returned to action earlier this year in July, as he took on Jalin Turner at UFC 290. Originally the two were set to fight in March, but Hooker withdrew due to a broken hand.

In his fight with Turner, Hooker suffered a broken arm after absorbing a front kick in round one, the same injury that has ruled him out of his fight with Green.

If Green is able to stay on the card, he will look to continue an impressive 2023 thus far. His last outing came against Grant Dawson in October, where he scored a huge upset win in just over 30 seconds.

UFC Austin takes place on December 2nd from the Moody Center. The fight night is headlined by highly ranked lightweights, Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan.

Other bouts on the card include:

• Rob Font vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
• Sean Brady vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• Punahele Soriano vs. Dustin Stolzfus
• Khalil Rountree vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Clay Guida vs. Joaquim Silva
• Miesha Tate vs. Julia Avila
• Cody Brundage vs. Zachary Reese
• Joe Solecki vs. Drakkar Klose
• Steve Garcia vs. Melquizael Costa
• Rodolfo Bellato vs. Ihor Potieria
• Wellington Turman vs. Jared Gooden
• Veronica Hardy vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth

The post Dan Hooker Out Of UFC Austin Co-Main Event With Reccurring Arm Injury appeared first on Cageside Press.

Having a likely main event already in place, the latest addition to the Pay-Per-View show is a heavyweight affair pitting New Zealand’s Justin Tafa (7-3, 1NC) against Brazilian Marcos Rogerio de Lima (21-9-1).

“Pezao” de Lima confirmed the booking following an initial report by MMA Fighting.

Tafa, 29, goes by the nickname “Bad Man” and has proven to be just that, securing a finish by KO/TKO in all seven of his professional victories. Most recently, he picked up a win over Austen Lane in his second fight with the Contender Series alum, after the first ended in a No Contest due to an accidental eye poke.

Marcos Rogerio de Lima will be looking to bounce back from a stunning loss at the hands of Derrick Lewis this past July. That setback snapped a two-fight win streak.

Though not officially announced by the promotion, rumors of UFC 298 being hosted in both Los Angeles and Australia have made the rounds. Promotion president and CEO Dana White previously revealed that featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski would defend his 145lb title against Ilia Topuria in February, a fight almost certain to headline the UFC 298 card.

Thus far, only three fights have been reported for the event set to take place on February 17, 2024. They are:

Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Ilia Topuria — for the UFC Featherweight Championship
Danny Barlow vs. Yusaku Kinoshita
Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Justin Tafa

The post Justin Tafa vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima Lined Up for UFC 298 appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It just makes all the non-believers into believers. And I have a belt to show my country that yes, Jason Jackson can be champ. Anywhere he goes. And it’s just a matter of time before he becomes the best welterweight on the planet,” Jackson told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

Jackson finished Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 301 to claim the title in the main event. Betting lines put the Amosov as a heavy favorite leaving Jackson to play spoiler, and in his post-fight scrum he let them know about it.

“It felt good. On MMA Junkie and ESPN, they got him at what, #1 and #5? So where’s that put me at, #6? So that put me at #5 if I just jumped him. Or #4 or #1. Alright, #1. I like that, I’ll take that,” Jackson said.

Jackson may be the new champion, but he still has to go to work on Monday. He’s one of many professional fighters who hold a day job in addition to their dream job.

“I feel good that I could give all upcoming fighters who just think is just, you know, get up and go to the gym and come home and play game, and find excuse not to be in (the) gym. I get up and I work and I try to find every little way possible to make money,” he said talking about not making excuses and taking fights regardless of pay.

“I just want to make everybody a believer in that. Hard work always pays off.”

Just minutes removed from his title victory Jackson still wasn’t sure it was even real.

“Not yet, it hasn’t set in. Like I said, every man has a dream, and everyone has a nightmare,” Jackson said.

And I was his nightmare.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Jason Jackson above.

The post Jason Jackson Was Amosov’s “Nightmare” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Fortune and his team received word recently that his bout against Daniel James at Bellator 288 in Nov. 2022 had been overturned and changed to a ‘no-contest’. The reason for the change was a reported failed PED test by James the day before the bout took place.

“We immediately contested the fight because of the illegal blows. If you watch the replay Bellator continues to post you can see I’m struck to the back of my head six times before he transfers it to elbows that were legal,” Fortune told Cageside Press.

“But you had hit me six times to the back of my head and Daniel James is a big man.”

When Fortune and his manager Matt Aptaker contested the fight they were told that Fortune had lost that contest.

Fortune said “They then get back to me to tell me that have a congruent case that will overturn the contest but they can’t state why.”

Tyrell Fortune and his team waited over 11 months for an answer regarding his fight with Daniel James and wanted to get answers.

After going back and forth with the Commission for months and waiting for some clarification they received news a few days before Fortune’s scheduled bout with Marcelo Golm at Bellator 301 that his fight with Daniel James would be ruled a no contest.

Cageside Press was able to verify the positive PED test through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. An unspecified anabolic substance was to blame; James was fined $5,000 for the incident, and suspended three months. He received an additional suspension for unpaid child support.

Combatreg.com subsequently changed the Tyrell Fortune vs. Daniel James fight to a no contest as a result of the positive test and the fight will not reflect either fighters’ record. Fortune added he was notified by the commission by letter that the result was overturned.

“Daniel James was a big man on steroids. It took almost a year for them to tell me he popped positive for steroids and my fight was now officially ruled a no contest,” Fortune told Cageside Press.

According to Tyrell Fortune, Bellator MMA had no idea that Daniel James tested positive for a banned substance, because Illinois does not fall under the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC).

“I walked from the commission office to Bellator to tell them Daniel James got popped for steroids and my fight was ruled a no contest and they said they had no idea,” said Fortune.

Daniel James was previously pulled from his scheduled fight against Davion Franklin in May 2022 due to a positive test, making this his second drug test failure in less than two years.

“I contacted Bellator before our fight to ask them what are we doing to make sure I’m safe fighting him and they said he’s going to have to test negative before you guys fight and he passed that test so between that test and the time we fought he started taking steroids again,” he said.

Fortune and his team feel very strongly about fighting clean and not taking steroids, because as Fortune put it, “peoples lives are at stake and my career is on the line.”

The post Tyrell Fortune Says Bellator 288 Fight with Daniel James Ruled No Contest Due to Failed Drug Test appeared first on Cageside Press.

Donn Davis’ highly anticipated appearance on Ariel Helwani’s show came on the heels of the Professional Fighters League purchase of rival Bellator MMA being officially announced. Starting in 2024, the PFL will run both brands, Bellator in eight standalone events mainly focusing on international markets.

Davis revealed that they reached out to Viacom/Paramount, under which Bellator fell, in January of 2023, with no idea that the company would beginning divesting assets in the Spring. It was a slow process, in terms of talks. “Mergers take time,” as Davis pointed out.

Viacom becomes a minority owner in the company. Davis, who built his reputation as an entrepreneur and businessman with America Online, the Chicago Cubs, and his own venture capital firm, revealed the deal was done entirely in stock. “I think what they saw with PFL was an opportunity become part of a big company moving forward. So this was a stock deal, not a cash deal.”

With Paramount a “small” owner and no cash changing hands, it was a “great deal for us,” said Davis, adding he was “very happy” with how things played out.

Asked how close he thought the PFL was to the UFC, Donn Davis took note of UFC President and CEO Dana White being more vocal about the rival promotion recently. The company made waves in 2023 by signing the likes of Francis Ngannou, Jake Paul, Cedric Doumbe, and others.

“Everybody knows Dana well enough that he only dismisses things that worry him, or else he just doesn’t comment. He didn’t comment on the PFL for four years, because he wasn’t worried,” suggested Davis. “He’s commented on the PFL a lot the last six months. He’s worried.”

“What specifically worried him about Bellator is the metrics we put out in the press release. 30% of that roster ranked in the top 25 per Fight Matrix rankings. So this isn’t, Dana gets to rank his own guys, Donn’s ranking his own guys. As you know there’s only one group that ranks all fighters, Fight Matrix, independently. 30% of the UFC roster is top 25-ranked, and now our combined company of PFL and Bellator, 30%.”

“The same. Now, to UFC’s credit, if you look at top five in the world, they still own the top five, one through five. So call it PPV cards, we couldn’t compete with them right now, which is why we’re only going to have two, and they have twelve.”

Davis, however, thinks the TV product from the PFL this year will be better. “Our cards are going to be better. Better. Because what they put on this year was ranked 70 and what we’re going to put on next year is ranked 40.” Davis believes that has White talking, questioning why the PFL would buy Bellator, “because he’s smart.”

“UFC ain’t the NFL. We’re not the XFL. But he wants you to think that. And it’s just a matter of time before that starts to get more well-known, and we’re not the number two, we’re a co-leader. He doesn’t want that. That’s what’s going on.”

Later, Davis would make it clear that there’s no axe to grind with the UFC, nor an attempt to take over the MMA market and displace the leading promotion in the sport.

“UFC is a great company and they invented this industry. This is not about taking share or shifting share. MMA is growing. MMA is growing 10% a year, every other sport 2-3%. They’re going to do well. We’re just going to do really, really well,” said Davis. “And I’m excited to have my new teammates at Bellator, I’m excited to have all our new fighters propelling us forward, and we’re going to win. The next time we’re on here, when people laughed that we’re going to be a co-leader, we’re going to be a co-leader. Just like they laughed when we said we’re going to be #2, and we’re #2. And so to me, if you’re on the new Bellator team, if you’re on the new combined team, declare victory.”

In five years, Donn Davis expects to be able to reach that co-leader goal. “We’re the co-leader in MMA, flat out. But we do things different, we think different, we innovate different. We don’t have dogma. We co-promote. We give fighters opportunity, we let them box, we give 50% PPV share, we think different. And we’re the co-leader. They do what they do, fantastic. We do what we do, market’s big enough for two very, very big companies.”

The 2023 PFL Championship takes place this Friday in Washington, D.C. A Bellator vs. PFL champion versus champion card is expected for Q1 2024, said Davis, with TV deals in the U.S. and Canada ready to be announced for the PFL, while Bellator TV deals are in the works. As for Bellator’s Lightweight Grand Prix, Davis couldn’t answer whether it will complete as scheduled or not.

The post Donn Davis Reveals PFL Plans for Bellator MMA, Believes Dana White “Worried” appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Yeah I really believe so,” Mix (19-1) told media outlets including Cageside Press following Bellator 301 in Chicago this past Friday. “My opponent there, Sergio Pettis, you look at his 25 [flyweight] run, but this kid was young when he was in the UFC. He’s great, he just beat Patricio Pitbull, he smoked the only man to beat me, [Juan] Archuleta didn’t win a round against him. I think Sergio is up there with the top three bantamweights in the world right now.”

Mix, in laying out his argument for being the best bantamweight on the planet, suggested that Pettis had beaten better competition that UFC champ Sean O’Malley.

“I think he [Pettis] was so young in the UFC, at 24, 25 years old. He just turned 30-years old, him and I. I feel like we’re both entering our prime. They hold Sean O’Malley in such a high regard, it’s like, Sean O’Malley never beat someone on the level of Patricio Pitbull like Sergio Pettis did. And that’s why I respected him the way I did. That’s why I took this fight very seriously. I feel like a lot of people underestimated him, and I overestimated him because I knew how good he was.”

Having submitted Pettis to unify the Bellator MMA bantamweight champion — Mix won the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix and an interim belt in the process earlier this year — Patchy Mix can now look ahead. Which, in this particular case, might actually mean looking behind him, to a trio of fighters he’s already faced. That includes the only man to ever beat him, RIZIN champ Juan Archuleta.

“I want to avenge a loss that I got of course, but Archuleta is tied up in Japan, he’s fighting, I think he’s on New Year’s. I necessarily don’t like to wait and see, and I know he’s got his deal over there, I’m not sure what Bellator’s deal is,” stated Mix. “But I’m not necessarily chasing anyone. Now that I’m the title holder, whoever they approach me with, I’m willing to do. I don’t mind, I can run it back with all three of them. Any one of them. If they wanted to do me and Serg again, if they wanted to do me and Stots again, or if they wanted to do me and Arculeta. Or even me and Maga. I fought all the top guys, and I just want to fight who they believe is the best.”

Any of those fights would no doubt be entertaining. When Mix will fight again remains to be seen, however. On Monday, the PFL’s purchase of Bellator MMA was officially announced. The promotion will continue as its own brand, mainly with international events, moving forward, though for how long remains unclear.

Watch the full Bellator 301 post-fight press conference with Patchy Mix above.

The post Bellator 301: Patchy Mix Open to Any Number of Rematches appeared first on Cageside Press.

The MMA landscape changed forever. A new era has 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗗@PFLMMA acquires @BellatorMMA creating a 𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗕𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗠𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘 pic.twitter.com/fWldsDNpPC

— PFL (@PFLMMA) November 20, 2023

The PFL has officially acquired Bellator and it means a new day has officially arrived in the MMA landscape.

Per a press release, Bellator will continue as a “reimagined brand” in 2024 with “all Bellator fighters becoming available to compete in PFL franchises.”  Exactly how this is expected to be divided is still uncertain but it does confirm that the contracts of all Bellator fighters will indeed go under the umbrella of the PFL, thus adding a significant amount of elite talent to their already respectable roster.

The Todd Atkins MMA Show first reported news of a potential sale of Bellator to the PFL earlier this year. In late October, journalist Al Zullino reported that the sale had been finalized.

PFL CEO Donn Davis announced that the Bellator brand would operate primarily outside of the US as “Bellator International Champions Series” which hints that the brand would continue their strong presence in Europe where fan reception to events has been astronomical.

Davis also announced that the plan was to host a super-event next year that would feature the Bellator champions against the PFL champions, the latter of which will be determined at their event this Friday which concludes the 2023 season.

As of this writing, it has not been established exactly which fighters will continue to anchor the Bellator brand and which will be part of the PFL vs Bellator event.  It should be noted, however, that the PFL does not currently have divisions for several of the weight classes that Bellator does such as men’s bantamweight, men’s middleweight, and women’s flyweight.  Another point to address is that it is completely possible that just because the fighters are in a division that the PFL houses it does not mean that they will fight in the PFL immediately.

Exactly where Bellator goes with their lightweight Grand Prix is unclear and has not yet been addressed.  On Friday, Alexandr Shabliy defeated Patricky “Pitbull” Freire to reach the finals of the tournament.  A week earlier, champion  Usman Nurmagomedov had his victory over Brent Primus overturned to a No Contest after testing positive for a banned substance.  What the promotion’s plan, if there was one at all with the impending merger, for the tournament going forward was not made official.  Whether there is a tournament final at all as part of the Bellator International Series has not been announced.

PFL CEO Donn Davis is scheduled to make a media appearance later today to discuss the merger.

The post PFL Officially Acquires Bellator MMA, Bellator to Continue Internationally appeared first on Cageside Press.

Sam Alvey gets title shot at Karate Combat 43

He may have left the UFC off one of the worst slumps imaginable, but the always smiling Sam Alvey has plenty of reasons to be grinning these days — as he’s landed a title shot at Karate Combat 43.

Alvey is actually on a two-fight win streak in combat sports, having won his first MMA fight outside the UFC, then his Karate Combat debut. Looks like there’s still some gas in “Smile’n” Sam’s tank after all.

The fight is at heavyweight, which is the weight class Alvey has been competing in of late.

The card goes down on December 15. Alvey is up against Ross Levine for the title.

We’re bringin the HEAT to Las Vegas December 15th! 🥋🔥@rossTURBOlevine will look to become the first double champ in KC history against @smilensam!!

Omaira Molina will scrap with Melinda Fabien for bantamweight gold!! #KC43 pic.twitter.com/PUZz1nYt5i

— Karate Combat (@KarateCombat) November 14, 2023

John Lineker is trying his hand at Muay Thai

Those “Hands of Stone” could be deadly in Muay Thai.

Per ONE Championship officials, John Lineker is booked for a Muay Thai bout against Liam Harrison at ONE Fight Night 18 on January 12, 2024. It’s a detour from his MMA run, that has him with two straight wins after losing a rematch with Fabricio Andrade. The pair have fought twice, with the first bout ending in a No Contest after a low blow left Lineker unable to continue.

Guaranteed FIREWORKS 💥 John Lineker crosses over to Muay Thai to take on the legendary Liam Harrison at ONE Fight Night 18 on Prime Video! Who you got? 👀#ONEFightNight18 | Jan 12 at 8PM ET
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch Live on Prime pic.twitter.com/tQDRTbsDM1

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 18, 2023

The Rock’s PRIDE tale

Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock, was the biggest thing in wrestling in the late 90s/early 2000s. Big enough that he had an entire show named for him (which is still going today in WWE SmackDown).

Things weren’t always so rosey in Rockland, however. Early on, the third generation wrestler struggled to get over with fans. According to The Rock, speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience recently, that led him to consider trying his hand at MMA. Believable? We’ll get to that. He’s what Johnson had to say on the matter (h/t Bloody Elbow).

“97, during that time, I was was still going to LA and working out. We were crossing all the MMA guys. PRIDE just opened up in Japan. I started seeing all these MMA guys going over to PRIDE,” Johnson told Joe Rogan. “At that time, I was making $150,000 wrestling 235 days a year. Do the math on that and how much you’re making per match.”

The allure of big money in Japan appears to have been a motivating factor (when you consider what The Rock is worth today, you can understand that ultimately, he made a smart decision in staying put).

“We start hearing, ‘Hey, these guys in PRIDE are making $250,000, $350,000, $500,000.’ I thought then, ‘F—, I don’t think I’m going to make it in WWE. People are booing me out of the arenas. I can’t be myself. They’re telling me to f*cking smile, I don’t want to f*cking smile. That’s not who I am.’

“I start talking to Ken Shamrock at that time, who is wrestling with us. I run into Mark Kerr, I start talking to him,’ Tell me a little bit about PRIDE’. I have this idea in my head, ‘Maybe I should train in MMA, go to PRIDE, and make real money and then I don’t have to smile’. I’m sure I’m going to get f*cked up, knock one of my lungs loose, but maybe I could do something like that.

“Find the right coach and train, so I had this whole thing in my head. I was talking to my wife at that time, I said, ‘I think that’s the way to go. Those guys are paying real money and these fans are booing me over here for 150 grand.’”

The Rock did not end up joining PRIDE, or fighting anywhere. Instead, the ex-college football star was put into the Nation of Domination in WWE by Vince McMahon, a faction/storyline that turned his wrestling career around.

How legit is this PRIDE story? Let’s not forget that pro wrestlers are almost always working, and The Rock knows just who Rogan’s audience is. This feels a lot like Hulk Hogan’s “I was going to be the bassist in Metallica” story.

The post Sunday MMA Quick Hits: Alvey Gets Title Fight, Lineker Gets Muay Thai Bout appeared first on Cageside Press.

No Fight of the Night was named at the Fight Night show, which got off to an early start on Saturday afternoon (or morning, if you were on the west coast). Four Performance of the Night awards, however, were issued, including one to main event middleweight Brendan Allen.

Earning his sixth straight victory to cement himself as a real contender at 185lbs, Allen locked up a rear-naked choke on Scotland’s Paul Craig just over 30 seconds into round number three. Craig was forced to tap, giving Allen five rear-naked choke submissions in his current six-fight win streak.

Additional Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 82 went to Joanderson Brito, Amanda Ribas, and Jeka Saragih. Brazil’s Ribas mounted a comeback victory in her strawweight match-up with Luana Pinheiro, after being pieced up in the opening round. Fellow Brazilian Brito, meanwhile, called for a bonus after his ninja choke submission win over Jonathan “JSP” Pearce to close out the preliminary card.

Brito had some pointed criticism, complaining previous finishes had gone unrewarded.

As for Jeka Saragih, his UFC Vegas 82 knockout of favorite Lucas Alexander, who missed weight for their featherweight fight, was historic, as he became the first UFC fighter from Indonesia to earn a win in the organization.

All four bonus-winning fighters will pocket an extra $50,000 for their efforts, on top of their fight purse, outfitting pay, etc.

The post UFC Vegas 82 Sees Four Performance Bonuses Awarded, Including Headliner Allen appeared first on Cageside Press.

It’s somewhat strange to both write and read that sentence, given Craig was so well-known as a light heavyweight throughout his UFC run. But having made the move to middleweight, Craig had already been earning dividends, and landed in his first-ever main event for the UFC against Allen, a former LFA champ.

“All In” Allen isn’t one to talk trash or dazzle anyone outside the cage, but inside the octagon, his skill, especially on the ground, has proven sublime. Five straight wins at 185, and four of those by submission (all four rear-naked chokes) show exactly what Brendan Allen is about.

Of course, Paul Craig has been no slouch on the ground either over the years. Making for a very promising match-up atop UFC Vegas 82.

In the co-main event, meanwhile, Australian welterweight Jake Matthews took on undefeated Brazilian standout Michael Morales.

Following UFC Vegas 82 on Saturday, November 18, 2023, tune in for the post-fight press conference to stay on top of all the latest developments. A live stream of the affair is available in the embed above.

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