Cris Cyborg to Return to Boxing Ring to Fight Kelsey Wickstrum in January

Posted on November 10, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Cris Cyborg is heading to the boxing ring…

The 38-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, the current Bellator women’s featherweight champion, will fight Kelsey Wickstrum.

Cyborg, one of the greatest women’s fighters in MMA history, will face Wickstrum in a boxing event on January 19 at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California, according to sources.

The future of Bellator is uncertain. Showtime, its broadcast partner, has announced that it will be leaving the combat sports business at the end of 2023. Viacom, Bellator’s parent company, has the MMA promotion up for sale, and PFL is the front-runner to acquire it, sources said. That deal could be done in the near future.

Cyborg is 1-0 as a pro boxer and has another victory in a boxing exhibition in her home country of Brazil.

The California resident is coming off a first-round TKO over Cat Zingano at Bellator 300 last month to pick up her fifth title defense.

Wickstrum, 36, is 2-0 as a pro boxer with one knockout. The bout is contracted for 154 pounds over six rounds.

Cyborg is expected to compete in both MMA and boxing in the latter portion of an illustrious career. She is the only fighter in MMA history to win championships in four different major promotions: UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce and Invicta. Cyborg has a total of 12 title defenses across those four title reigns.

Earlier this week, Chantelle Cameron, who is boxing Katie Taylor next, called out Cyborg for a fight in PFL or Bellator.

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire to Find Japanese Kickboxer Chihiro Suzuki in Bellator-Rizin Co-Promotional Card in Japan

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire has rizin to rush…

The 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, Bellator‘s franchise fighter will fight this weekend on short notice as part of the Bellator-Rizin co-promotional card at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Freire, the Bellator featherweight champion, will face Japanese kickboxer Chihiro Suzuki at a 154-pound catchweight on the Rizin portion of the card, just a little more than one month after falling to Sergio Pettis in a Bellator bantamweight title fight.

Freire vs. Suzuki will be contested under Rizin rules in a ring.

The Bellator portion of the card, with bouts in a cage, will begin the proceedings Sunday afternoon in Japan (Saturday night in the U.S.), with the Rizin card following immediately after it.

AJ McKee, the former Bellator featherweight champion, was supposed to headline the Bellator portion of the event against Patricky “Pitbull” Freire, Patricio’s brother, in a Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal fight. But McKee had to withdraw for medical reasons, it was announced Wednesday.

Rizin lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” Souza will replace McKee in the fight and in the tournament.

The Bellator card will include the promotion’s inaugural flyweight title fight, with former Bellator and Rizin bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi taking on Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi.

Mikuru Asakura — arguably Rizin’s most popular fighter, who also boxed Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year — will face Vugar Karamov in a Rizin featherweight title bout in the Rizin headliner.

In the Rizin co-main event, Bellator’s Juan Archuleta will fight Hiromasa Ougikubo for the Rizin bantamweight title.

And in another title bout, the undefeated Seika Izawa will defend her Rizin women’s super atomweight title against Combate Global’s Claire Lopez.

Chris Avila to Fight Jeremy Stephens in Pro Boxing Match

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Chris Avila has lined up his next opponent…

The Latino pro mixed martial artist turned boxer, a longtime teammate of Nate Diaz, will face UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens in a pro boxing match on the undercard of the Jake Paul–Nate Diaz card on August 5 in Dallas.

The bout is contracted for 168 pounds over eight rounds, according to a release.

Avila, who first mentioned the fight Wednesday on The MMA Hour, is the more experienced boxer, but Stephens spent 14 years in the UFC.

Stephens made his pro boxing debut in April with a draw against UFC legend Jose Aldo. The San Diego resident fought in the PFL last year after departing from the UFC, where he was a heavy hitter with the second-most knockdowns in promotion history (18, tied with Anderson Silva).

Avila is 3-1 as a pro boxer and has won three in a row. The Stockton, California, native is coming off a four-round unanimous decision win over social media influencer Paul Bamba in April. Avila, who also has fought for the UFC and Bellator, was on Paul’s undercard last October, beating YouTube star Mikhail “Dr. Mike” Varshavski.

The Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) also announced Wednesday that Paul and Diaz will be taking part in its program for the August 5 bout.

Stephens vs. Avila is the second undercard bout announced for the event. In the semi main event, Amanda Serrano will put her featherweight titles on the line against Brooklyn rival Heather Hardy.

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire to Fight AJ McKee in Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinals

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire has lined up his next opponent…

The 37-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist will take on fellow former Bellator champion AJ McKee in the Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinals on July 30 at the storied Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo in one of the headlining fights for a card billed as Bellator x Rizin 2.

In addition to McKee vs. Pitbull, former Bellator and Rizin bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi will face Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi in the inaugural Bellator flyweight title fight. Kana Watanabe will take on Mexican American mixed martial artist Veta Arteaga in a battle of Bellator women’s flyweight contenders.

The card comes on the heels of a successful co-promotion between Bellator and Rizin on New Year’s Eve, which was headlined by McKee and Rizin lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza in a non title bout.

The event in July will be unique. The Bellator fights will take place in a cage under the Unified Rules of MMA. The Rizin fights will take place in a ring under Rizin rules, which include kicks and knees to the head of grounded opponents.

On the Rizin side, former Rizin bantamweight champion Kai Asakura will face former Bellator bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta for the vacant Rizin bantamweight title, and Mikuru Asakura will face Vugar Karamov in a Rizin featherweight title eliminator bout. The Asakura brothers are two of Rizin’s top stars, both popular YouTubers in Japan. Bellator’s Tofiq Musayev will also be on the Rizin portion of the event.

McKee (20-1) has won two straight at lightweight since dropping the Bellator featherweight title to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, the brother of Patricky. A native of California, McKee, 28, has the most stoppage victories (13) and most submissions wins in Bellator history (7). He won the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix in 2021, beating Patricio in the finals.

Patricky (24-11) lost the Bellator lightweight title to current champion Usman Nurmagomedov in November. The Brazilian-born striker has dropped three of four. Patricky is tied for the most knockout wins in Bellator history (10) with Michael “Venom” Page.

The McKee vs. Pitbull winner will face Alexandr Shabliy in the grand prix semifinals.

Amanda Serrano to Fight Heather Hardy in Highly Anticipated Rematch

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano will be facing an old rival…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler will put her undisputed featherweight title on the line against Heather Hardy in the co-main event of the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz card on August 5 in Dallas, according to ESPN.

Serrano beat Hardy, her fellow Brooklyn resident, in a grueling unanimous decision victory in 2019 to win the WBO women’s featherweight belt.

With a win in August, Serrano will seek a rematch with Katie Taylor in Taylor’s home country of Ireland. The two fought last year in what was the first-ever women’s headliner at Madison Square Garden and one of the biggest women’s boxing matches ever. Serrano is promoted by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

“Amanda is one of the most decorated and elite athletes ever and is on path to become the winningest female boxer of all time,” Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said in a statement. “After some much-needed recovery time, Amanda is excited to return to the ring and remind fans why she is the most devastating puncher in women’s boxing. If Amanda prevails in the fight, the plan is to immediately pursue the rematch with Katie Taylor in Ireland.”

Serrano (44-2-1) has won two straight since falling to Taylor in a close split decision in April 2022. She is the first Puerto Rican-born undisputed world champion in boxing history. Serrano has 30 knockout victories in her career and has lost just once — the Taylor fight — in 11 years. She has won titles in seven different weight divisions.

“I am the undisputed featherweight champion today because Heather Hardy agreed to fight me in 2019 for her WBO title,” Serrano said. “That was the first step in my current run at featherweight. It’s only right that I give her the opportunity to earn it back. I’m excited to once again share the card with Jake and put on an exciting war.”

Hardy (24-2, 1 NC) has won two straight, most recently a majority decision win over Taynna Cardoso in February. “The Heat,” who is promoted by Lou DiBella, had her undefeated record spoiled by Serrano in 2019. Hardy, 41, has also competed in MMA under the Bellator banner. She was the WBO women’s featherweight champion in 2018 and 2019.

“I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity,” Hardy said. “In 2021, I came back to boxing with a renewed passion for the sport. My late trainer told me, the day before he died, that 2023 would be my year. Now, I have the opportunity to prove him right and become an undisputed champion. Thank you to Amanda and team for keeping their word on giving me the rematch, but come fight night, I only have winning on my mind and stealing the show from Jake Paul and Nate Diaz.”

Cris Cyborg Re-Signs with Bellator MMA

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Cris Cyborg is staying put…

Bellator MMA has announced that it has re-signed the 37-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, one of the greatest women’s MMA fighters of all time, to a new, multi-fight contract.

Cyborg had been a free agent since last summer, though she has remained the Bellator women’s featherweight champion. She competed in two boxing matches during her time out of contract, winning both.

While Cyborg returning to Bellator has always been the most likely scenario, she was entertaining other opportunities and even attended a PFL event in person recently.

PFL has been trying to make a huge fight between Cyborg and two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison for more than a year.

Cyborg re-signing with Bellator doesn’t necessarily completely harpoon that fight, because PFL has expressed a willingness to co-promote with Bellator to make it happen.

“After receiving multiple offers from several promotions, I’m very happy that I was able to come to terms with Bellator and remain the face of their women’s featherweight division,” Cyborg said in a statement. “Scott Coker is a promoter that I’ve worked with and respected for many years. He’s done so much to further women’s MMA and give us a platform to showcase our skills. When making this decision, it was important to me that I was signing with the organization that I felt had the biggest names and the top talent at 145 pounds for me to challenge myself against. There is no question that all the top female featherweights are signed with Bellator and I can’t wait to get back in there and defend my belt.”

Bellator did note in its news release that Cyborg re-signing sets her up for title defenses against Cat Zingano and Sara McMann, two former UFC title challengers who are undefeated since signing with the promotion.

Cyborg (26-2, 1 NC) has lost just once since her pro debut in 2005, a knockout defeat to UFC double champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 in December 2018. She lives and trains in California and has been Bellator women’s featherweight champion since 2020 and has four successful title defenses. Cyborg is the only fighter to ever win championships in four different major promotions: the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce and Invicta FC.

ESPN has her ranked No. 4 pound-for-pound in its women’s MMA rankings.

Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza to Fight AJ McKee in Bellator vs. Rizin Card on New Year’s Eve

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza will ring in the New Year in the ring…

The 33-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, Rizin’s lightweight champion, will fight in an ambitious Bellator vs. Rizin card on New Year’s Eve.

de Souza will fight Bellator star AJ McKee in the main event of the December 31 card at Japan’s Saitama Super Arena. That will be a nontitle matchup.

In the co-main event, it will be both promotion’s featherweight champions — Bellator’s Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Rizin’s Kleber Koike Erbst — facing off in a superfight.

Also on the card, former Bellator and current Rizin bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi will face Ultimate Fighter veteran Hiromasa Ougikubo, and former Bellator bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta will meet ROAD FC featherweight champion Soo Chul Kim in a bantamweight bout.

All the fights on the card will take place in a ring, rather than a cage, as is tradition in Japanese MMA. The bouts will be held under Rizin rules and not the Unified Rules of MMA, meaning kicks and knees to the head of grounded opponents will be legal. This card is the last addition of an annual big MMA event in Japan on New Year’s Eve.

De Souza (14-1), a Brazilian-born fighter who lives in Japan, has won five straight and is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist.

Freire (34-5) is the greatest fighter in Bellator history, a three-time Bellator featherweight champion and former Bellator lightweight champion. The Brazilian MMA fighter has won nine of his last 10 fights.

Koike (31-5-1), a 33-year-old Brazilian-born fighter who lives and trains in Japan, has won seven straight and has 27 submission finishes in 31 career wins.

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire Defeats Adam Borics to Retain Bellator Featherweight Title

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire continues his winning ways…

The 35-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist beat Adam Borics via one-sided unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 50-45) in the main event of Bellator 286 on Saturday night at Long Beach Arena to maintain his stranglehold on the Bellator featherweight division.

“Pitbull” retained his 145-pound belt with the victory and now has a total of eight title defenses across three reigns.

Freire, one of the best MMA fighters ever to not have competed in the UFC, first won the title in 2014. Saturday’s fight marked his first defense of the current reign.

ESPN has “Pitbull” ranked No. 3 in the world at featherweight. His longevity and consistency as an elite fighter have been a marvel.

Freire was better in all aspects of MMA on Saturday night. He landed some clean counter combinations on Borics early, landed some takedowns and got onto Borics’ back in the third round after somehow catching a Borics flying knee and using it for a mat return.

Borics took Freire down in the fifth round but wasn’t able to do much with it, and “Pitbull” ended up sweeping using a Kimura submission attempt.

Freire (34-5) has won two in a row and nine of his past 10 fights, the only loss in that stretch coming to rival AJ McKee. The Brazilian-born fighter is also the former Bellator lightweight champion, courtesy of a knockout win over current UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler in 2019. Freire arguably has the best résumé in Bellator history.

“Maybe I’ll go down to the bantamweight division and take that belt,” Freire said of his potential next move.

Borics (18-2), 29, had a four-fight winning streak snapped. A Hungarian-born fighter who trains out of Kill Cliff FC in Florida, he fell to 9-2 in his Bellator career.

Cris Cyborg to Make Professional Boxing Debut Against Simone de Silva

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Cris Cyborg is switching sports…

The 37-year-old mixed martial artist’s next fight won’t be inside an MMA cage — it’ll be in a boxing ring against Simone de Silva.

Cyborg, one of the best women’s MMA fighters of all time, said on her “The Catchup” YouTube show Monday that was finalizing a contract for her professional boxing debut.

By Wednesday, that was done.

Cyborg shared on Instagram that she would be fighting de Silva at 154 pounds in the main event of a card on Sept. 25 in Cyborg’s hometown of Curitiba, Brazil.

“It’s one of my dreams,” the 37-year-old Cyborg, currently the Bellator women’s featherweight champion, said of boxing.

The fight will be an eight-round boxing match with two-minute rounds and contested with 8-ounce gloves.

Cyborg is currently a restricted free agent in an exclusive negotiating period with Bellator, and sources said Bellator president Scott Coker has given his support for this boxing match.

PFL had made public overtures about putting together a fight between Cyborg and the two-time Olympic judo gold medalist, with the implication that PFL could potentially sign Cyborg as a free agent.

Cyborg said she has not spoken with PFL at all at this point.

“No, we never have any talks with PFL,” Cyborg said. “We never talked about this fight. I know there’s a lot of talk on the internet about making this fight happens in different ways, but we’ve never had the talk about anything.”

Cyborg did not say she is disinterested in the Harrison matchup, but Cyborg has always been vocal about the positives of her relationship with Coker and Bellator, which she has touted as having the best women’s featherweight division in MMA.

Cyborg said on the show that if Cyborg vs. Harrison happens while she is still with

Bellator, that would be “great.”

“I’m open to the best fights for my fans,” Cyborg said.

Cyborg (26-2, 1 NC), whose real name is Cristiane Justino, is a former UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion. She has four Bellator title defenses and has won six straight fights overall. Cyborg’s only loss since her pro debut in 2005 was to current UFC double champion Amanda Nunes in 2018.

Valerie Loureda Signs Multiyear Contract with WWE

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a whole new world for Valerie Loureda.

The 23-year-old Cuban American mixed martial artist, wrestler and pro fighter, a top women’s MMA prospect with Bellator, has signed a multiyear contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), according to ESPN.

Loureda plans to move to Orlando from Miami and report to the WWE Performance Center on July 19. She’ll remain under contract with Bellator, the promotion told ESPN in a statement, but now she’ll be a full-time WWE athlete.

“I’m an entertainer,” Loureda said “I love glamour. I love production, I love storytelling. And when I saw the WWE, I realized this is everything I’m good at in one place. Not only that, but I saw the opportunity to be the first Cuban American woman to be a WWE superstar.”

Loureda said she attended WrestleMania and immediately fell in love with the glitz and spectacle of WWE, comparing it to the Super Bowl. She had a tryout in late April and early May with WWE and became so addicted with performing in the ring that she didn’t want to leave even though she hadn’t been signed yet. Loureda said she actually called her manager, Abe Kawa of First Round Management, crying.

“I said, ‘Abraham, I know I don’t have a contract, but is there any way I can stay here? I’m losing a week of training,'” Loureda said. “I just want to get better.”

WWE coaches praised Loureda’s ability, according to ESPN, and view her as a high-ceiling talent after her tryout, which included a match. Loureda signed with WWE soon after. She will remain under Bellator contract, though, per promotion president Scott Coker.

“Valerie Loureda is a very young and talented athlete who can accomplish plenty in MMA for years to come, but for now we wish her the best of luck as she pursues her dream of becoming a WWE Superstar,” Coker told ESPN in a statement. “She will remain an active and under contract fighter with Bellator, and we look forward to welcoming her back into the cage in the near future. We take great pride in allowing our athletes to test themselves in additional arenas such as boxing and pro wrestling.”

Up until the last few months, Loureda said she was committed to her MMA career with Bellator. But earlier this year, Loureda’s manager was having a conversation with former UFC executive James Kimball about WWE’s name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with AJ Ferrari, a college wrestler repped by First Round. Kawa brought up Loureda and Kimball, WWE’s senior vice president of global talent strategy & development, was interested.

Kimball suggested Kawa bring Loureda to WrestleMania, but Loureda initially was not interested. She wanted to focus on her MMA career.

“I had to beg her to come out to WrestleMania with me,” Kawa said. “I kept telling her over and over again, just trust me. When you come see this, this is you. I would never take you to something that’s not you. This is everything for you. You will fall in love with it. And she did.”

Loureda said she was sold almost instantly when she arrived at AT&T Stadium in Texas for WrestleMania 38 in early April.

“The moment I stepped into the suite and I saw the WWE organization, the professionalism and the production, I fell in love,” Loureda said. “I had goosebumps like the first time I saw MMA on the TV.”

Loureda, who is 4-1 as a pro fighter and projected to be a future star for Bellator, said her goal is to make NXT television by the end of the year and be on the WWE main roster within one year.

“I have big goals and I’m a little crazy,” Loureda said with a laugh. … “I just know what I’m gonna be able to do in the WWE. There’s no limits. I’m limitless.”

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