Announced for Bellator Japan on Wednesday, Kanna Asakura (15-4) will face King of the Cage atomweight champ Jayme Hinshaw (4-3). In heavyweight action, Shoma Shibisai (5-2) will face Sergei Shemetov (9-6). And in a bit of a twist, a kickboxing bout set to take place in the cage will see ex-K-1 athlete Ren Hiramoto (10-4 KB) take on a former DEEP champ in Takahiro Ashida (23-1-2 MMA).

All three fights will be featured on the “post-lim” portion of the Bellator Japan card, meaning they will air after the main event, via the Bellator App.

Six fights were also announced for RIZIN 20. Among them, Kai Asakura (14-1) gets his replacement for Kyoji Horiguchi. Horiguchi was forced to give up both his RIZIN and Bellator bantamweight titles due to an ACL injury earlier this year. Now, Asakura will face Manel Kape (14-4) for the vacant RIZIN bantamweight title. The pair have met before, with Asakura picking up the win in a close split decision.

A second title fight will see light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (25-3-1) take on promotional newcomer and UFC veteran CB Dollaway (17-9). Dollaway was last seen in a loss to Khalid Murtazaliev at UFC Moscow in September 2018.

In non-title action, RIZIN’s Rena Kubota (9-3) will square off against Lindsey Vanzandt (7-2) in a rematch of their Bellator bout, which saw Vanzandt pick up a submission win. A bantamweight number one contender’s bout, meanwhile, will feature Shintaro Ishiwatari (26-7-4) taking on Hiromasa Ogikubo (19-4-2), a TUF veteran. Heavyweight standout and PFL athlete Satoshi Ishii (22-10-1), who was eliminated from the PFL playoffs in October, returns to face Jake Heun (14-9).

Finally, Vitaly Shemetov (23-10) – brother of Sergei, fighting on the Bellator Japan event – will face EFC Light heavyweight Champion Simon Biyong (6-1). Biyong will be making his promotional debut.

Bellator Japan takes place December 29, 2019 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The main card will air live on Paramount Network on December 28 at 10PM ET.

RIZIN 20, meanwhile, will take place at the very same venue on December 31, 2019, and will air live on FITE.tv

The post Bellator Japan and RIZIN 20 Have Multiple New Bouts Announced appeared first on Cageside Press.

C.B. Dolloway will be out of action for a while. On Monday, USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency), who handle the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, announced that Dollaway had accepted a two-year sanction after after a trio of infractions that took place between late 2018 and early 2019.

The fighter, currently competing in the UFC’s middleweight division, “tested positive for anastrozole, growth hormone releasing peptide 2 (GHRP-2 or pralmorelin), a metabolite of GHRP-2, and GHRP-6 as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on December 19, 2018,” USADA revealed via press release.

Months later, he “tested positive for clomiphene in an out-of-competition urine sample collected on February 9, 2019.” And in a third strike, Dollaway “received an over-the-limit intravenous (IV) infusion on December 13, 2018.” Although IV use is sometimes permitted under USADA and the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, injections or IVs of more than 100ml per 12 hour period is not allowed.

Dollaway’s three infractions were treated as a single, first-time infraction, meaning his two-year suspension became effective December 13, 2018, the date of the earliest violation.

After entering the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter in 2008, Dollaway (17–9) has been a regular, fighting at both light heavyweight and middleweight. Overall, he’s 11-9 in the big show, most recently suffering a ref stoppage loss to Khalid Murtazaliev at UFC Moscow last September. Prior to that, he’d earned wins over Hector Lombard and Ed Herman.

Coincidentally, Murtazaliev was also hit with a doping violation this year, and was suspended two years for steroid use. The Dollaway fight was his first in the UFC.

The post Longtime UFC Vet C.B. Dollaway Hit With Two-Year Ban by USADA appeared first on Cageside Press.

CB Dollaway underwent a significant change in his career for his last, moving up to 205-pounds for the first time in his 24-fight career. Dollaway won his light heavyweight debut against Ed Herman, and in the process stopped a three-fight losing streak. For UFC 222 though, he is back at middleweight.

Hector Lombard has been a disappointing signing for the UFC. The former dominant champion for Bellator lost two of his first three fights in the Octagon, then tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2015. Since then, Lombard has lost four consecutive fights.

Dollaway whipped a head kick around to start the fight, Lombard threw a leg kick in response, which was answered with another head kick. Lombard landed a leg kick, then was caught with a great body kick from Dollaway. Lombard swept the leg out from under Dollaway with a leg kick, and another body kick landed for Dollaway along with a pair of hooks.

Naked kicks continued to be traded, then Lombard rushed in with a left hand that caught Dollaway. Lombard caught a body kick and landed a left straight down the pipe to counter. Dollaway went low with a body punch. Dollaway landed a body kick as the horn sounded, but Lombard landed a beautiful one-two combination to counter. As beautiful as it was, it was clearly after the bell.

Dollaway was knocked out by the combination, and could not get a hold of the situation. After plenty of deliberation, CB Dollaway was awarded the victory by way of disqualification. Lombard’s losing streak continues and extends to five.

Dollaway was carted out, repeatedly asking anybody who’d listen what happened, even after he was given the information, and announced as the victor by Bruce Buffer.

CB Dollaway def. Hector Lombard by Disqualification (Late Strikes) in Round 1 (5:00)

The post UFC 222 Results: CB Dollaway Wins via Disqualification After Late Punch from Hector Lombard appeared first on Cageside Press.