The addition of the women’s 125lb weight class to the PFL tournament replaces the featherweight division, where Larissa Pacheco had won it all last year.

In Thursday night’s main event, former PFL heavyweight champ and Mirko Cro-Cop student Ante Delija returned, taking on Fedor Team’s Valentin Moldavsky, a former Bellator MMA heavyweight champion. Two big storylines encircled the bout: the arrival of Bellator talent to the PFL season, leading to unquestionably deeper divisions this year, and the rivalry between Fedor Emelianenko’s team and that of Cro-Cop, something Moldavsky downplayed during Fight Week.

Also on the PFL 1 card, Bellator champ Liz Carmouche kicked off her season against an old foe in Juliana Velasquez, while UFC alum Marcelo Golm faced Bellator staple Daniel James, who came in heavy for the bout, costing himself a point, plus 20% fine. Shanna Young, paired up with Kana Watanabe, was also heavy for the event.

Where to Watch PFL 1: Delija vs. Moldavsky

Thursday, April 4, 2024 sees PFL 1 take place at the Boeing Center in San Antonio, Texas. The card airs live on ESPN2 and ESPN+ in the US, and on DAZN in Canada. Full results from the event can be found below. The action gets underway at 6:30PM ET, 3:30PM PT.

2024 PFL 1 Results

Main Card

Heavyweight Regular Season Main Event: Valentin Moldavsky def. Ante Delija by TKO, Round 1, 2:17
Heavyweight Regular Season Co-Main Event: Denis Goltsov def. Linton Vassell by TKO, Round 3, 3:11
Women’s Flyweight Regular Season Bout: Liz Carmouche def. Juliana Velasquez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Women’s Flyweight Regular Season Bout: Dakota Ditcheva def. Lisa Mauldin by TKO, Round 3:54

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight Regular Season Bout: Daniel James def. Marcelo Golm by TKO, Round 1, 4:59
Heavyweight Regular Season Bout: Sergey Bilostenniy def. Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s Flyweight Regular Season Bout: Taila Santos def. Ilara Joanne by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:57
Heavyweight Regular Season Bout: Oleg Popov def. Steve Mowry by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 2, 3:47
Women’s Flyweight Regular Season Bout: Kana Watanabe def. Shanna Young by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Women’s Flyweight Regular Season Bout: Jena Bishop def. Chelsea Hackett by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 4:25
Featherweight: Dimitre Ivy def. Lucas Brennan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bantamweight: Bryce Meredith def. Ty Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post 2024 PFL 1: Delija vs. Moldavsky Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

The event at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL was already underway with several preliminary card bouts already in the books when Bellator officials broke the news.

Sources tell Cageside Press that Fortune took ill ahead of the fight, and was forced to withdraw. With Bellator MMA’s schedule a question mark moving forward — they have no events scheduled past Bellator 301 — it’s unclear when or if the match-up might take place.

Brazil’s Golm, a UFC veteran, arrived in Bellator in 2021 and has posted a 2-1 record to date. He was looking to shake off a loss to Daniel James in the fight with Fortune.

Tyrell Fortune (13-3, 1NC) is a Bellator product who has been with the company for his entire professional career. He last competed in April, securing a win over Sergey Bilostenniy.

Fortune is ranked #6, and Golm #7 in the promotion’s heavyweight rankings currently.

Bellator 301 is set to be headlined by a welterweight title fight featuring undefeated, 27-0 champ Yaroslav Amosov of Ukraine putting his title on the line against Jason “The Ass-Kicking Machine” Jackson. Sergio Pettis and Patchy Mix throw down in a bantamweight title unification bout in the co-main event.

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Golm was ranked #5, James at #7 in the weight class, where Linton Vassell was expected to get the next shot at champ Ryan Bader.

The fight started out slow — but ended in a flash when the third round arrived.

In the opening round, an early front kick was timed by James, who used it to dump Golm and get in position for some ground n’ pound. But the expected onslaught never came, with Golm getting vertical again almost immediately.

The pair then wound up tied up along the fence, with Golm in control initially, and James later reversing. James would fire a couple of knees from that position, until they reversed, then reversed again.

When the pair came off the fence, still clinching, it was James coming over the top with an elbow. But Golm moved back to the fence while working the body — only for James to reverse.

You could barely slip a sheet of paper between the two for much of the opening frame, so close was the clinch between them. However James found some space at the end of the round, opening up and firing off a handful of heavy punches. None would do much damage, however.

The opening half of round two played out similar to the first. In the second half, however, Golm got the fight down, gliding into half-guard. James had his head well away from the fence, and Golm appeared to be setting up an arm-triangle choke. While he wasn’t close to pulling it off, he was eating time off the clock while in a dominant position, and adding punches to the body. If nothing else, James was losing the round and unable to do anything off his back.

After a pep talk from his corner ahead of the third, Daniel James woke up. Living up to his “American Predator” nickname, James put the fight away care of three punches: an uppercut, a left, and a right hand as Golm was already on his way down. The ref moved in to make the save, and after a disastrous second round, James had stormed back to claim victory in the third.

.@djames1981 with the finish at #Bellator293 https://t.co/vQS3URdQqG

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) April 1, 2023

James called for the fight with Bader after the win. “I would love to share the cage with Bader,” James said, adding that he was a big fan of the champ.

Official Result: Daniel James def. Marcelo Golm by TKO (punches), Round 3, 0:26

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In addition to those ranked heavyweights, what felt like a women’s featherweight title eliminator anchored the co-main event, with Cat Zingano taking on Leah McCourt. While there had been talk of an interim title being attached to the fight, that never materialized, though champ Cris Cyborg is yet to sign a new deal with the organization.

Also in action, top prospects including Lance Gibson Jr., Lucas Brennan, Sullivan Cauley and more.

Bellator 293 takes place at the Pechanga Resort and Casino on Friday, March 31, 2023, with the main card airing live on Showtime in the U.S. following online prelims (which you can stream above). Where available, the main card streams below; full results can also be found below.

Bellator 293: Golm vs. James Results

Main card

Daniel James def. Marcelo Golm by TKO (punches), Round 3, 0:26
Cat Zingano def. Leah McCourt by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
John Salter def. Aaron Jeffrey by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Archie Colgan def. Justin Montalvo by TKO, Round 1, 3:33
Luke Trainer def. Sullivan Cauley by subnmission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:58

Preliminary card

Rakim Cleveland def. Christian Edwards by submission (guillotine choke), Round 3, 3:55
Mike Hamel def. Nick Browne by TKO, Round 1, 0:42
Adam Piccolotti def. Mandel Nallo by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 4:26
Sara Collins def. Pam Sorenson by submission (scarf hold armlock), Round 1, 2:43
Jeff Creighton def. Joey Davis by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lucas Brennan def. Josh San Diego by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:14
Vladimir Tokov def. Lance Gibson Jr. by KO, Round 1, 1:02
Randi Field def. Ashley Cummins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Bryce Meredith def. Brandon Carrillo by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 4:57
Mackenzie Stiller def. Maria Henderson by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 3:17

The post Bellator 293: Golm vs. James Live Stream and Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Topping the card is a heavyweight affair, with UFC vet Marcelo Golm, ranked fifth in the weight class, taking on seventh-ranked Daniel James. Having made his debut with Bellator (and as a pro) back in 2014, “The American Predator” did not return to the promotion until last year, where he finished a top prospect in Tyrell Fortune.

Friday night in Temecula would give James the chance, at age 41, to prove that was no one-off, and insert himself into the title picture, with champ Ryan Bader expected to defend his belt against Linton Vassell later this year.

The co-main event might have been even more intriguing. With women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg yet to re-sign with the organization, Cat Zingano and Leah McCourt were looking to stake their claim as the best female 145’er active in Bellator. The winner would likely be next in line for the title, dependent on whether Cyborg re-signs sometime later this year.

Full results from Thursday’s Bellator 293 official weigh-ins can be found below. The event takes place at the Pechanga Resort and Casino on Friday, March 31, 2023.

Ahead of Thursday’s weigh-in, the welterweight match-up between Rustam Khabilov and Jaleel Willis was cancelled, per promotion officials. Cageside Press has confirmed that visa issues on Khabilov’s part resulted in the fight being scratched.

All fighters, meanwhile, successfully made weight on Thursday.

Bellator 293: Golm vs. James Weigh-In Results

Main card

Heavyweight: Marcelo Golm (257.6) vs. Daniel James (265.4)
Women’s Featherweight: Cat Zingano (145.2) vs. Leah McCourt (145.4)
Middleweight: John Salter (185.8) vs. Aaron Jeffrey (185.2)
Welterweight: Rustam Khabilov vs. Jaleel Willis
Light Heavyweight: Sullivan Cauley (205.8) vs. Luke Trainer (205.2)

Preliminary card

Lightweight: Adam Piccolotti (156) vs. Mandel Nallo (154.8)
Women’s Featherweight: Pam Sorenson (145.2) vs. Sara Collins (145.8)
Welterweight: Joey Davis (169.2) vs. Jeff Creighton (169.8)
Lightweight: Archie Colgan (155.4) vs. Justin Montalvo (154.4)
Featherweight: Lucas Brennan (145.4) vs. Josh San Diego (146)
Lightweight: Lance Gibson Jr. (156) vs. Vladimir Tokov (155.2)
Heavyweight: Christian Edwards (237.8) vs. Rakim Cleveland (240.4)
Lightweight: Mike Hamel (155.6) vs. Nick Browne (155.6)
Women’s Catchweight (120lb): Randi Field (120) vs. Ashley Cummins (119.2)
Bantamweight: Bryce Meredith (135.6) vs. Brandon Carrillo (135.4)
Women’s Strawweight: Maria Henderson (115.4) vs. Mackenzie Stiller (115.4)

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After finishing his UFC run on a trio of losses, Golm has won his last four bouts, with two coming under the MMA banner. In that stretch, he holds a 100% finish rate, with two submission victories, and two wins by TKO.

“In my whole career, I tried to finish my fights. It’s my style,” Golm (10-3) told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, asked about his recent success. “Aggressive.”

You can expect more of that aggression heading into Golm’s first main event, which sees him paired up with American Daniel James. The Brazilian explained that he’s “always ready to fight five rounds,” and “1000% ready to be the main event. Looking forward to it.”

Despite always being ready for a full 25 minutes, however, Golm says he’s coming into Bellator 293 “with a lot more intensity,” adding that he’s “definitely well-prepared, and taking a little bit more time to work on cardio in this fight.”

Opponent James has bounced around a fair bit throughout his MMA career, and has just two fights in Bellator, eight years apart. But for Golm, getting James next was not necessarily a surprise.

“He finished a top ranked opponent, and it was a knockout,” noted Golm. “Daniel James has been around the block, he’s a well-respected opponent.” Adding that James is “a very tough guy” with “heavy hands,” Golm doesn’t expect any surprises. “He’s not going to surprise me with anything, he’s not going to show me anything I haven’t seen before.”

There has been talk of late of a Bellator event finally taking place in Brazil, with the promotion now featured on Combate in the South American nation. “I would love to fight on my home turf,” said Golm on that front. “I’m always the bad guy when I fight in the U.S. It’s good to be the good guy once in a while.”

Good guy or bad guy, however, “I love that pressure, whether they’re booing me or cheering me, I love it,” Golm added. “It’s a totally different element when you have fans.”

As for where Golm wants to be by the end of the year, that’s simple: holding gold.

“I want to be a champ. By the end of the year, end of this year,” he told us. “And I will.” Asked how far away he though he was from that title shot, “two fights,” answered Marcelo Golm. “March, and I don’t know, July. And then next for the belt.”

Watch our full interview with Bellator 293 headliner Marcelo Golm above.

The post Bellator 293: Marcelo Golm Sees Himself as Champ by End of the Year appeared first on Cageside Press.

On Monday, promotion officials announced that Bellator 293 will take place at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California on March 31, 2023. It’s the second California date in March for Bellator, who also stop at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA on March 10.

Headlining Bellator 293 will be UFC veteran Marcelo Golm (10-3), in a heavyweight match-up with Daniel James (14-6-1). The co-feature sees Cat Zingano (13-4) booked opposite Leah McCourt (7-2) in a women’s featherweight match-up that will almost certainly have an impact on the division’s title picture.

Also announced for the event, John Salter (18-6), former middleweight title challenger, takes on Canadian Aaron Jeffrey (13-3).

With a 100% finish rate among his ten wins, Golm represents fresh blood in the promotion’s heavyweight division. The Brazilian is undefeated since exiting the UFC in 2019, and has won his first two bouts under the Bellator MMA banner. Most recently, he submitted rising heavyweight prospect Davion Franklin.

Daniel James, meanwhile, became an unlikely star when he returned to the Bellator cage last year after spending years competing mainly overseas. James had made his professional debut with the company in 2014, but did not compete in the organization again until his November finish of Tyrell Fortune.

That win landed “The American Predator,” 41, in the #8 spot in the division’s official rankings. Golm sits at #7.

Cat Zingano (13-4) has won all three of her Bellator fights to date, after debuting with the company in 2020. Having competed just once per year since, many expected her to be next in line for a shot at women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg. The pair have butted heads over drug testing, however, while Cyborg has recently turned her attention to boxing, going 2-0 in the ring in 2022.

McCourt went 1-1 for her part in 2022, losing a decision against Sinead Kavanagh before getting back in the win column opposite Dayana Silva.

Bellator 293 currently has the following bouts announced:

• Marcelo Golm vs. Daniel James
• Cat Zingano vs. Leah McCourt
• John Salter vs. Aaron Jeffrey
• Jaleel Willis Rustam Khabilov
• Archie Colgan vs. Justin Montalvo
• Mike Hamel vs. Nick Browne
• Jay-Jay Wilson vs. Mandel Nallo

The post Bellator 293 Topped by Golm vs. James, Zingano vs. McCourt on March 31 appeared first on Cageside Press.

With the event quickly approaching, a number of key match-ups have now been announced for the card. On Tuesday, Bellator officials confirmed via press release that a main card welterweight bout between Lorenz Larkin (24-7) and Mukhamed Berkhamov (15-1) had been added to the event, in a fight that will see Larkin return to 170 pounds after a stint at middleweight.

MMA Junkie previously reported the booking.

In addition to Larkin vs. Berkhamov, a heavyweight scrap featuring undefeated prospect Davion Franklin (5-0) taking on UFC vet Marcelo Golm (9-3) has been added to the card. The fight will almost certainly be Franklin’s toughest test to date. Golm, who made his promotional debut last year, will be looking for his second straight win in the Bellator cage, and fourth overall.

Golm posted a 1-3 record in the UFC from 2017 to 2019.

Among the other additions to the July card are familiar names including Jaylon Bates and Kai Kamaka III. Bellator 283 is headlined by a lightweight title fight between champ Patricky Pitbull and challenger Sidney Outlaw. The card as announced by the promotion breaks down as follows:

• Patricky Freire (c) vs. Sidney Outlaw – for the Bellator MMA lightweight championship
• Douglas Lima vs. Jason Jackson
• Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Chris Gonzalez
• Lorenz Larkin vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov
• Davion Franklin vs. Marcelo Golm
• Viktor Nemkov vs. Jose Augusto
• Adam Piccolotti vs. Tofiq Musayev
• Romero Cotton vs. Dalton Rosta
• Veta Arteaga vs. Vanessa Porto
• Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Bobby King
• Jaylon Bates vs. Mark Coates
• Roman Faraldo vs. Luis Iniguez
• Vladimir Tokov vs. Justin Montalvo
• Ethan Hughes vs. Kevin Hand
• Kai Kamaka III vs. Akhmed Magomedov

Bellator 283 takes place at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington on July 22, 2022, with the main card airing on Showtime in the U.S. following online prelims.

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In his sixth Bellator fight, “Tall” Steve defeated Rakim Cleveland via first-round submission. The submission win kept his 100% rate intact.

Coming into the fight at Bellator 271, Mowry was ranked No. 7 in the Bellator heavyweight division. During his in-cage interview, after his win, he was asked who he wanted next.

Mowry excluded a couple of names from his hit list, but he had one name that he wants soon.

“Linton Vassell is a good friend; my daughter calls him uncle Linton; I’m not going to fight him. Gokhan Saricam is a good friend, he comes and trains with us. But everyone else in the top 10, we’re going to figure it out, and whenever I come get that title, I’m going to turn it around and take out the whole division. With that said, I know he thinks I’m not paying attention, but Marcelo Golm – we can do it, we got business,” Mowry told Big John McCarty.

Golm picked up his first Bellator win in his debut at Bellator 265 in August by finishing Billy Swanson.

Mowry would explain the Golm callout during his post-fight interview with the media.

“We kind of had a misconnection, I guess. It’s not disrespect; it’s not that I don’t like the guy. It just makes sense for him and I right now. I’d love to. This game is all about fighting the other best guys, and if Marcelo has the idea of us fight, I think we should act on that,” Mowry said.

When asked where he feels he has the advantage over Golm, Mowry was very confident.

“No disrespect, but everywhere.”

Watch the rest of Steve Mowry’s Bellator 271 post-fight interview above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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He did so in style, finishing the unheralded Billy Swanson at Bellator 265 by first-round TKO.

Swanson may not be a household name, but the match-up can be forgiven, considering Linton Vassell, Steve Mowry, and Kelvin Tiller all pulled out of fights with the Brazilian.

“I feel great. I’m very happy,” Golm (9-3) said following the win. Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, the 28-year old credited Swanson for being a “real man with a big set of balls” for taking the fight on four days’ notice.

Golm doesn’t believe securing opponents will be a problem moving forward. And he’s still interested in fighting Steve Mowry. “The fight fell out, the reason we don’t know,” said Golm, adding that he has a lot of respect for Mowry, and that it’s the fight he wants next.

Then there’s old foe Tim Johnson, who will be fighting Fedor Emelianenko this fall. “It’s definitely something that’s on the list,” said Golm, adding that he wants the rematch, after Johnson defeated him via unanimous decision in the pair’s UFC days.

With Bellator rolling out their fall schedule, Marcelo Golm is hoping to stay busy moving forward. “If everything goes well, I want to fight twice more this year.”

Watch the full Bellator 265 post-fight press scrum with Marcelo Golm above.

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