“Definitely in 2021 I really want to come into the top 10. I’m aiming for the top 10, that’s it right now. Last time, after I fought Bethe (Correia), I called out ‘Rocky’ (Raquel) Pennington. I would love that fight. I know that Yana (Kunitskaya) and (Ketlen) Vieira are fighting right now. But there’s a lot of names between there too, that would love to fight. I’ve had two losses, two previous fighters that beat me. Macy (Chiasson) beat me and Julia Avila beat me, so any of those, as well. I just want to get up there. It doesn’t matter who’s there – nothing personal to anybody – I just want to fight. And I would love to fight before April.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-183-pannie-kianzad-aims-for-top-10-after-victory-over-sijara-eubanks

Poland’s leading promotion returns to action on Jan. 30 with “KSW 58: Kolecki vs. Zawada.”

Promotion officials today announced the new event, which streams live globally on KSWTV.com from an undisclosed studio in Lodz due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In the night’s main event, Polish Olympic gold medalist weightlifter Szymon Kolecki (8-1) seeks his third consecutive win for the promotion when he takes on 17-year German veteran Martin Zawada (29-15-1).

The 39-year-old Kolecki earned a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and later turned his attention to MMA, making his pro debut in 2017. He fought twice under the KSW banner in 2019, scoring victories over Olympic wrestling medalist Damian Janikowksi and famed strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski. He now takes on Zawada, the brother of current UFC welterweight David Zawada.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Frenchman Salahdine Parnasse (14-0-1) puts his KSW featherweight tile on the line against Brazilian challenger Daniel Torres (11-4).

Considered one of the top prospects in the sport, Parnasse sat out in 2020 but earned a pair of title wins in 2019 with a decision over Ivan Buchinger and a TKO of Roman Szymanski. He now takes on Torres, a 26-year-old based in Austria who carries a three-fight winning streak into the contest.

Additional bouts will be announced shortly.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ksw-58-szymon-kolecki-vs-martin-zawada

Conor McGregor has the receipts to show he’s still one of MMA’s top draws – but is he at the very top?

McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), a former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, made the unprecedented move of sharing purported official UFC documents showing the pay-per-view buy rate for his January fight with Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

Although it was reported through the media that the event, which took place Jan. 19 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and saw McGregor win by knockout in 40 seconds, had topped 1 million buys, the numbers shared by McGregor shows it cleared that benchmark by a good margin.

According to the document McGregor posted to his social media Monday, UFC 246 pulled in 1,353,429 buys (via Twitter):

Congrats to the @ufc on a well fought 2020! The only sporting company on the planet to come through the entire year! Incredible!
I am honoured to secure their highest PPV of the year with McGregor Vs Cerrone.
Congrats Donald, and also on his double submission win last night. #No1 pic.twitter.com/Xvh76Gki3U

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 21, 2020

Congrats to the @ufc on a well fought 2020! The only sporting company on the planet to come through the entire year! Incredible!
I am honoured to secure their highest PPV of the year with McGregor Vs Cerrone.
Congrats Donald, and also on his double submission win last night. #No1

In his comment, McGregor claimed UFC 246 was the promotion’s highest selling pay-per-view of the year. The other massive pay-per-view for the promotion in 2020 was UFC 251 in July, headlined by Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal for the welterweight title, along with two other championship contests.

Masvidal’s (35-14 MMA, 12-7 UFC) manager, Abraham Kawa of First Round Management, disputed McGregor’s claim and said UFC 251 surpassed those numbers – but wouldn’t reveal proof (via Twitter):

More

— Ibrahim Kawa (@Abraham_kawa) December 21, 2020

I don’t think Jorge would like that. We don’t dim another man’s light to make ourselves shine brighter. He knows as we do

— Ibrahim Kawa (@Abraham_kawa) December 21, 2020

Masvidal chimed in, as well (via Twitter):

I’m not even trying #supernecessary

— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) December 21, 2020

I’m not even trying #supernecessary

Whether or not McGregor achieved the top pay-per-view of 2020 or was slightly behind, it’s clear many still have a vested interest in watching him fight, and he gave the promotion a strong start to what turned out to be a year filled with unprecedented challenges caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

McGregor will have a chance to do the same in 2021, as he headlines the first card of the year again in a lightweight rematch with Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23 at UFC 257.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/conor-mcgregor-posts-specific-ufc-246-ppv-buys-jorge-masvidal-disputes

While it might not make quite the waves of some of the promotion’s other recent signings, Bellator has inked another notable light heavyweight.

MMA Junkie today learned that Bellator has added Absolute Championship Akhmat light heavyweight champion Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov to its 205-pound roster. Promotion officials confirmed the exclusive, multi-fight deal, though terms of the contract were not provided.

A Turkmenistan native, Yagshimuradov (18-5-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) brings an eight-fight winning streak with him to Bellator. Fighting professionally since 2012, Yagshimuradov saw action most recently in December 2019, scoring a five-round decision win over Alexey Butorin for his second consecutive defense of the ACA title.

The 31-year-old is a proven finisher, with 15 of his career wins coming by stoppage, including 11 by knockout. Ten of his wins have come in the first round, including a 74-second knockout of four-time UFC veteran Joachim Christensen in 2017.

Yagshimuradov joins a division currently ruled by Russian champion Vadim Nemkov that recently added such high-profile names as Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson. Bellator officials did not reveal when he is expected to make his promotional debut.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/bellator-signs-aca-light-heavyweight-champion-dovletdzhan-yagshimuradov

The old adage says that a change is as good as a rest and, for Anthony Pettis, a change of scenery might be just the ticket for a fighter who has nothing left to prove in the UFC.

He’s made it clear he wants to return to 155 pounds and make a run at a title, but with the UFC’s lightweight title picture looking pretty crowded heading into 2021, Pettis may be better served looking to pastures new for his latest title tilt.

Pettis has fought in three organizations in his 34-fight career – UFC, WEC and Gladiator Cage Fighting – and he’s won titles in each of them. So why not try to add another promotion’s strap to the trophy cabinet?

ONE Championship would arguably offer the quickest route to a major title, but all the stars seem aligned for Pettis to follow his younger brother Sergio to the Bellator cage in 2021. The Bellator lightweight division is wide open, but it also offers him the chance to renew his rivalry with the man who brought out the best in him during his WEC and UFC days, Benson Henderson.

I’m sure Bellator would happily accommodate Pettis if he wanted to fight across two weight classes, too, which would open up some mouth-watering possibilities at welterweight, as well as lightweight. Just think, in addition to a possible trilogy fight with Henderson, there could also be the potential for crowd-pleasing clashes with fellow spectacular strikers Raymond Daniels and Michael Page at 170 pounds.

Whether Pettis is looking for a fresh challenge, a run at a title, the flexibility to fight across weight classes, the prospect of some big-ticket matchups against exciting opposition, or all of the above, Bellator certainly seems like the perfect next step for “Showtime.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/anthony-pettis-free-agent-future-ufc-contract-bellator-pfl-triple-take