Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

Macfarlane became the inaugural Bellator flyweight champion when she defeated Emily Ducote at Bellator 186 in November 2017.

Macfarlane’s four consecutive Bellator title defenses are tied with featherweight champ Patricio Freire for most among current champions.

Macfarlane’s four consecutive Bellator title defenses are tied for the most in company history.

Macfarlane’s five victories in Bellator title fights are tied for third most in company history behind Freire (nine) and Michael Chandler (six).

Macfarlane competes in her 11th Bellator flyweight bout, the most appearances in divisional history.

Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak is the second longest active streak in the company behind A.J. McKee (17).

Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak is tied with Michael Page for the second longest streak in company history behind McKee (17).

Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is the longest active streak in the division.

Macfarlane’s 10-fight Bellator winning streak in the longest among female fighters in the organization.

Macfarlane’s 10 Bellator victories are most among female fighters in the organization.

Macfarlane’s 10 victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.

Macfarlane’s seven stoppage victories in Bellator competition are most among female fighters in the organization.

Macfarlane’s seven stoppage victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.

Macfarlane’s six submission victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.

Juliana Velasquez

Velasquez’s five-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is the second longest active streak in the division behind Macfarlane (10).

Velasquez’s five victories in Bellator flyweight competition are third most in division history behind Macfarlane (10) and Denise Kielholtz (six).

Velasquez’s three stoppage victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Macfarlane (seven) and Kielholtz (five).

Velasquez’s two knockout victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied with four others for most in divisional history.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/bellator-254-pre-event-facts-ilima-lei-macfarlane-record-most-title-defenses

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – MAY 09: Anthony Pettis of the United States celebrates after defeating Donald Cerrone of the United States in their Welterweight fight during UFC 249 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 09, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775510622 ORIG FILE ID: 1223907246

Welterweight: Alex Morono (18-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) vs. Anthony Pettis (23-10 MMA, 10-9 UFC) (ESPN)

Flyweight: Cody Durden (11-2-1 MMA, 0-0-1 UFC) vs. Jimmy Flick (15-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Women’s flyweight: Gillian Robertson (9-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) vs. Taila Santos (16-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/matchup-roundup-ufc-bellator-fight-announcements-november-30-december-6

Dwight Grant won’t be fighting Saturday night.

According to an Instagram post by Grant (10-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) on Monday, his UFC 256 fight vs. Li Jingliang was canceled after he recently tested positive for COVID-19.

The promotion has not yet made official announcements pertaining to Grant’s removal nor a replacement opponent for Jingliang (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC).

“Hey, what’s up everyone?” Grant wrote. “I gotta give y’all some bad news, I’m not going to be fighting this weekend. My last Covid 19 test came back positive but Luckily the symptoms haven’t been severe. This news hit especially hard because of all the hard work and excitement I have for this fight. It’s out of my control so (I’m) not going to try not to dwell on it too much, but to call it disappointing is an understatement.”

Check out Grant’s full Instagram post below:

A post shared by Dwight (@dwightgrantmma)

UFC 256 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card streams on pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN2/ESPN+.

The latest UFC 256 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+ pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
• Tony Ferguson vs. Charles Oliveira
• Rafael Fiziev vs. Renato Moicano
• Kevin Holland vs. Ronaldo Souza
• Junior Dos Santos vs. Ciryl Gane

PRELIMS (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

• Daniel Pineda vs. Cub Swanson
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Billy Quarantillo vs. Gavin Tucker
• Tecia Torres vs. opponent TBA

EARLY PRELIMS (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

• Serghei Spivac vs. Jared Vanderaa
• Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Karl Roberson
• Li Jingliang vs. TBA
• Peter Barrett vs. Chase Hooper

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-256-news-dwight-grant-out-vs-li-jingliang-covid-19-test

The UFC middleweight division has a new contender. Marvin Vettori picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday when he soundly defeated No. 4 ranked Jack Hermansson in the UFC Vegas 16 main event.

With the win, Vettori is now riding a four-fight winning streak, and will likely leap his way into the top five rankings. With the top of the division in his sight, Vettori called for a rematch against champion Israel Adesanya.

Vettori gave Adesanya the toughest test of his career, taking “The Last Stylebender” to a split decision in April 2018.

“I want to go straight to the title,” Vettori said during Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

TRENDING UFC and Yoel Romero part ways

When the two faced off on the UFC on FOX 29 main card, one judge scored the fight for Vettori. “The Italian Dream” believes he defeated Adesanya that night and got the short end of the stick on a split decision.

“Israel is full of s–t. He was like, oh, I don’t think I’ll ever see Marvin again. Like he will never make it to the title against me. Guess what motherf—er, I’m here,” said the Italian contender.

“He thinks he’s got it all figured out. He’s got nothing figured out. I know his true colors. I’ve met him a few times. I’ve fought him. I know his true colors. I won that fight.”

Related Marvin Vettori wants another crack at Israel Adesanya | UFC Vegas 16

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/marvin-vettori-wants-ufc-title-fight-says-he-already-beat-champ-israel-adesanya

UFC president Dana White revealed that the fight promotion is planning to prune its roster. During Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 Post-Fight Press Conference, White said that 60 fighters are expected to be handed their walking papers by the end of the year.

“We’re going to go through some serious cuts here at the end of the year.  We’re probably going to have 60 cuts coming up before the first of the year,” White said.

White’s comments come one day after the organization parted ways with No. 5 ranked middleweight Yoel Romero. Romero has lost his last three fights and is 43 years old, but he was highly ranked and a former multiple-time title challenger. His last fight was a title bout.

TRENDING Jordan Leavitt’s knockout slam earns UFC Vegas 16 performance bonus

“Our roster is very inflated right now.  We’re going to have some big cuts coming before the end of the year.  You’re going to see a lot of names going here in the next several weeks,” White said.

Difficult times force difficult decisions. White’s choice of words may give some insight into who we can expect to see let go. He said, “a lot of names” are going.

With the recent departure of former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva followed by Romero’s sudden exit, some household names are likely going to be part of the roster pruning.

“These are the tough decisions that you have to make,” said White.

Related Dana White’s full UFC Vegas 16 post-fight press conference

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-planning-serious-cuts-to-roster-60-fighters-to-be-let-go-by-years-end