LFA 8: Hamilton VS. Bazzi Main Card Line-Up Revealed
(mmaweekly.com)Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) CEO Ed Soares announced earlier this month that LFA will host three consecutive weeks of LFA events in April. The first of the three will be LFA 8, which will serve as the first nationally televised MMA event to take place in the state of South Carolina. It will also be the eighth LFA event to take place after the strategic merger between leading developmental organizations Legacy Fighting Championship (Legacy FC) and Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA).
The main event of LFA 8 will feature a heated battle between two of the hottest flyweight prospects in the sport. The surging Legacy FC standout Cee Jay “The Autobot” Hamilton will look to defend his southern stomping grounds against unrelenting upstart Jesse Bazzi. LFA 8 – Hamilton vs. Bazzi takes place Friday, April 7th at the TD Convention Center in Greenville, South Carolina. The entire main card will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
2017 NCAA Wrestling National Championships recap: Penn State captures another team title
(bloodyelbow.com)Penn State’s dominant wrestling program continued its success at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
After another season of collegiate wrestling, Penn State once again proves that they have the best team in the country; securing the sixth team championship in seven years. Along with that Kyle Snyder and J’Den Cox earned additional national titles along with a few surprise upsets to close out the final day of wrestling for this season.
From a team standpoint, Penn State continued the dominance that the Big Ten conference has enjoyed in recent memory. By the time the showcase was over, the PSU Lions had champions at five different weights; Zain Retheford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174), Bo Nickal (184) each walked away with titles after impressive performances. Freshman Joseph is perhaps the biggest surprise of the group as he pinned two-time national champion, Isaiah Martinez at the 5:26 mark. Nickal shocked many in the wrestling world when he became the first to defeat Gabe Dean in what was yet another surprise finish on the day.
Why a Mayweather vs. McGregor type fight never happened historically, and why it can happen now
(mmafighting.com)Dana White's latest revelation, that a proposed Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight will probably happen, besides being a quick about-face from what he was saying just days earlier, speaks more to modern technology's ability to drive so much revenue on a singular night than anything else.
It's been roughly 11 years since the UFC was able to hang with boxing, and eventually surpass boxing (except for rare superfights) as a consistent pay-per-view draw. From that point, the idea of a true top drawing boxer vs. top drawing UFC fighter would have always been a big one-night money grab. But there was a logical reason it would never happen, aside from when the past-his-prime James Toney faced Randy Couture. It's the same reason that for the last 100 years similar matches with the biggest boxer of any given era against the biggest wrestling star of any given era never took place...
Three fighters test positive for marijuana at UFC Fight Night 104
(mmafighting.com)Three UFC fighters have failed drug tests and have been sanctioned in the state of Texas. But not with USADA.
Niko Price, Curtis Blaydes and Abel Trujillo all tested positive for marijuana in in-competition drug tests in relation to UFC Fight Night 104 in Houston, sources told MMA Fighting on Friday. All three have been suspended 90 days and fined $1,000 by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), sources said.
'UFC Fight Night 108: Swanson vs. Lobov' lineup set for Nashville with 13 bouts
(mmajunkie.com)The 13-bout lineup up is set for next month’s “UFC Fight Night 108: Swanson vs. Lobov” event in Tennessee.
UFC Fight Night 108 takes place April 22 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The main card airs on FS1 following prelims on FS2 and UFC Fight Pass.
In the headliner, Cub Swanson (24-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC), who’s No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, takes on Artem Lobov (13-12-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC), who headlines his first UFC event.
UFC’s Hacran Dias considering return to lightweight
(mmafighting.com)Hacran Dias is likely done fighting at 145 pounds.
The Nova Uniao talent, who fought seven times as a featherweight under the UFC banner, is considering a return to the lightweight division.
Dias, who competed the majority of his career before signing with the UFC in 2012, entered the promotion with a 20-1-1 record. After joining the UFC, the Rio de Janeiro native went 3-4.
UFC Announces Upcoming Events in Scotland, Netherlands, Poland
(sherdog.com)The Ultimate Fighting Championship has revealed a trio of European events for the second half of 2017.
The Las Vegas-based promotion will travel to Glasgow, Scotland, on July 16; Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sept. 2 and Gdansk, Poland, on Oct. 21. According to a release, those events will complete the UFC’s European schedule — which features a total of five fight cards — for the year.
Rizin FF adds many UFC veterans to April 16 card
(bloodyelbow.com)Rizin will stage their next card in April, and it will feature a few familiar names if you’re a UFC fan.
One of the best flyweights in the world will make his Rizin debut on April 16th. Kyoji Horiguchi, a former UFC flyweight title challenger, was let go by the promotion and quickly scooped up by the company that operates out of his own country to headline their show against Yuki Motoya. Now, they’ve added a bunch more familiar names to the event.
Tatsuya Kawajiri, who lost his Rizin debut on New Year’s Eve to Kron Gracie, will take on fellow UFC vet Anthony Birchak. Birchak, who is coming up a weight class for the bout, went 2-2 in four 135-pound bouts in the UFC and won his last one, but wasn’t re-signed.
Bellator MMA officially signs Lorenz Larkin
(bloodyelbow.com)Bellator MMA has beefed up its welterweight division even more, as ex-UFC contender Lorenz Larkin has signed with the promotion.
Seven months removed from his last fight with the UFC, welterweight contender Lorenz Larkin is now part of the Bellator MMA family. Larkin became a free agent following his TKO win over Neil Magny at UFC 202, having turned down a “lowball” offer from the UFC prior to the fight. It should be noted, of course, that Larkin vs. Magny was the “feature Fight Pass prelim,” so a battle between two top-10 fighters was essentially fought in a mostly empty T-Mobile Arena.
Aljamain Sterling meets Augusto Mendes at UFC on FOX 24
(mmafighting.com)Aljamain Sterling's return to the Octagon is set for April 15, when he takes on Brazilian grappler Augusto Mendes in a bantamweight bout at UFC on FOX 24 in Kansas City. MMA Fighting confirmed the bout with sources close to the situation.
Sterling (12-2) is looking to bounce back from consecutive decision losses to Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao, snapping his 12-fight unbeaten streak.
Why White believes McGregor vs. Mayweather will happen
(mixedmartialarts.com)UFC president Dana White was once asked when women would be in the UFC. “Never,” he replied. He later said adding women’s divisions was the single best thing he ever did at the company.
In April Floyd Mayweather floated the idea of boxing Conor McGregor, and White has repeatedly described the chances of it happening as never. However, the UFC boss appeared Wednesday night on “Conan” and said he believes the fight will happen.
Angela Lee to defend title vs. Istela Nunes on May 26
(mixedmartialarts.com)ONE Championship has just announced the blockbuster main event for ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES which takes place 26 May at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. ONE women’s atomweight world champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, fresh off a successful first title defense in her last bout, will put her title on the line once again when she returns to Singapore to take on Istela Nunes of Parana, Brazil.
Report: Over a dozen fighters removed from UFC roster, including Brandon Thatch
(mmamania.com)Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is doing some spring cleaning as it wraps up the first quarter of its 2017 fight campaign, removing nearly a dozen fighters from its mixed martial arts (MMA) roster this week.
That’s according to UFC Fighter’s Info (via Bloody Elbow).
Chief among them is welterweight slugger Brandon Thatch, who debuted with very high expectations — along with a pair of violent back-to-back wins — but since dropped four straight, getting submitted in all four losses.
Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie is in preliminary discussion
(mixedmartialarts.com)Royce Gracie, 50, only lost twice – to Kazushi Sakuraba and Matt Hughes. The former fight lasted 90 minutes, while the latter went just 4:39. Gracie won a rematch vs. Saku. He has repeatedly said there is one fight he wants, but won’t say who it is. It’s Matt Hughes.
Hughes retired in 2011 and was given a no-show job with the UFC, something president Dana White did with several fighters who wanted to fight on past a point that seems healthy. However, the new UFC owners cut the position, leaving nothing to stop Hughes from fighting again if he wants to.
Bellator 175 lineup complete after two main-card additions
(mmafighting.com)The main card lineup is set for the next major Bellator event.
The company announced a pair of fights Wednesday for Bellator 175 at Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago on March 31
In a lightweight matchup, unbeaten Steve Kozola (7-0) will meet Jake Roberts (7-1). Kozola, a San Diego native nicknamed “Thunderbeast,” has finishes in all seven of his career matchups, including two in Bellator and one in World Series of Fighting. Roberts, an MMA Lab competitor, looks to shake off a decision loss to Carrington Banks at Bellator 165.
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