Botelho announced the news on social media on Friday. The 34-year old posted photo and video footage of herself in hospital, stating that she was battling the disease and promising victory.

“One more battle for my life… But this victory will be mine,” wrote Botelho (translation via Google Translate).

The unfortunate news will no doubt evoke memories of the late Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, a former UFC title challenger and Bellator MMA standout who tragically passed away due to complications from cancer last year.

Botelho did not specify the type of cancer. The flyweight last competed under the Invicta FC banner in September, notching a win over The Ultimate Fighter 30 alum Helen Peralta.

Poliana Botelho joined the UFC in 2017 after posting a 5-1 record on the regional circuit. Making her debut at UFC 216, she picked up wins in her first two bouts, competing as a strawweight. Following a loss to Cynthia Calvillo in 2018, Botelho returned to flyweight, with the promotion having recently introduced the 125lb weight class for women.

She posted a 1-3 record in her final four bouts, then returned in her lone Invicta FC fight. Botelho inked a deal with Bellator MMA late last year, but has not had a debut date set. She has a more important fight on her hands at the moment, however. One all fans can get behind her in.

The post Former UFC, Current Bellator MMA Fighter Poliana Botelho Announces She Has Cancer appeared first on Cageside Press.

Promotion officials announced the news in a press release posted to their official website on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. News of the signing was previously reported by Ag.Fight.

“I’m very excited to sign with BELLATOR because they have a very strong roster in the women’s flyweight division,” Botelho said in a statement released as part of Wednesday’s announcement. “I’m coming to make a lot of noise, climb my way to the top, and become BELLATOR World Champion! I’m ready for that!”

Botelho (9-5) fought seven times under the UFC banner, joining the promotion in 2017 after starting her career on the regional circuit in Brazil. She would earn a win over Pearl Gonzalez in her promotional debut, which came at strawweight. Botelho posted a 2-1 record at 115lbs before returning to flyweight in 2019, starting out with a win over Lauren Mueller. Three straight losses would follow, however, before Botelho was released by the organization.

She returned to the win column late last month with a win over TUF alum Helen Peralta at Invicta FC 49.

Outside of her win over Gonzalez, Botelho holds victories over current UFC fighter Silvana Gómez Juárez and current Bellator flyweight Karina Rodriguez, herself a former Invicta FC champ.

The post Bellator MMA Signs Former UFC Flyweight Poliana Botelho to Multi-Fight Deal appeared first on Cageside Press.

A previously reported atomweight title fight will top the Invicta FC 49 card on September 28, 2022, in a bout that sees champ Jessica Delboni take on “Lionheart” Jillian DeCoursey.

In addition to that match-up, promotion officials announced five more fights for the Invicta FC 49 card on Wednesday. Among the names included, Bellator veteran Kristina “Warhorse” Williams, and The Ultimate Fighter 30 competitor Helen Peralta, fighting for the first time since her appearance on the show.

Peralta (5-2) has five wins and just a single loss under the Invicta FC banner, but fell to Katlyn Neil during the TUF 30 women’s flyweight tournament. Peralta’s only other loss as a pro came against fellow TUF 30 fighter Laura Gallardo in CFFC last year.

In addition to her MMA career, Peralta has gone 2-0 in bare-knuckle boxing, taking part in a couple of early BKFC events.

At Invicta FC 49, Peralta will face UFC veteran Poliana Botelho (8-5), who went 3-4 inside the octagon and was released on the tail of a three-fight losing streak earlier this year.

Williams (6-3) has won back-to-back fights in Invicta FC, and will be facing Ketlen Souza on September 28. Souza (11-3) had been expected to fight for flyweight gold back in March, in what would have been her promotional debut. She was forced out of the bout on short notice.

Williams vs. Souza will serve as the evening’s co-main event, with “Warhorse” fighting at home in Oklahoma.

Invicta FC 49 will take place on September 28 at the Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, Oklahoma. The full list of fights announced on Wednesday is as follows:

• Atomweight Title Fight: Jéssica Delboni vs. Jillian DeCoursey
• Flyweight: Kristina Williams vs. Ketlen Souza
• Strawweight: Liz Tracy vs. Valesca Machado
• Flyweight: Helen Peralta vs. Poliana Botelho
• Bantamweight: Brittney Cloudy vs. Montserrat Rendon
• Strawweight: Nadia Vera vs. Shauna Bannon

The post Multiple Fights Announced for Invicta FC 49 in Oklahoma appeared first on Cageside Press.

Not that it really should have.

Mozharov and Poliana Botelho, both of whom competed at UFC Vegas 56 earlier this month, are the latest fighters to exit the promotion. In the case of Botelho, it’s unclear whether the promotion simply opted not to renew her contract, or whether she was cut outright. For Mozharov, however, he’s an obvious cut after becoming one of the most controversial UFC signings in years.

UFC Roster Watch, an automated service which monitors changes to the UFC’s athlete database, first noted the moves.

Mozharov (19-13 — we think) was picked up by the UFC last year, after he pulled out of the PFL’s 2021 season without ever having competed for the league. The Ukrainian fighter from AKA Thailand saw his debut delayed several times, before finally landing on June 4’s UFC Vegas 56 card against Alonzo Menifield.

With a promising record of 25-7… no, sorry, 21-11… wait, no, 19-12— well, you get the idea. As Mozharov’s debut approached, numerous irregularities were uncovered by MMA’s online record keepers, primarily Tapology and Sherdog. In particular, Sherdog’s FF-Files series ran an article on the fighter entitled “It’s All Been A Pack of Lies” documenting the ongoing manipulation of his professional record, which involved losses being absent, and fights appearing under another name.

By the time his fight with Menifield arrived, with his record at 19-12, it was clear a win would be needed to keep him in the UFC. That didn’t happen, as Menifield served up loss #13 (again… we think) in violent fashion.

On Thursday, Mozharov released a statement that appeared to reference his release, and the blowback he’d received on social media, by way of his Instagram Story.

“Rats who write bad things to me you are unsatisfied, envious little people.

You are like a tumor that grows and writes me the same thing.

I don’t care about you, don’t you understand? I don’t care what you write to me.

I love to fight and will do it no matter where MMA or other fights.

I am a happy person I have everything I want you better look at yourself who you are and what you have.

Every day I go one step higher and you rats do nothing but sit on the couch and write nonsense!

Mozharov also claimed that he was leaving MMA, on his own initiative (translation via Giorgi Kokiashvili):

Askar Mozharov announced on Instagram that he left MMA – Many people ask what I have with the UFC – I have moved away from MMA and decided to stop cooperation, on my initiative! I'm not surprised by what media writes there! I'm done with MMA! There are other plans, thank you all! pic.twitter.com/QUqFzzSumc

— Giorgi Kokiashvili 🇬🇪 (@iHeartGeorgius1) June 16, 2022

Botelho (8-5), meanwhile, had lost three straight with her defeat at the hands of promotional newcomer Karine Silva earlier this month. With the UFC since 2017, she posted a record of 2-4 inside the octagon.

She had previously said she believed she was fighting for her job against Silva. Unfortunately, the fight did not go her way, ending via submission late in the opening round.

The post Infamous Askar Mozharov, Poliana Botelho Latest to Exit UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

Where does Rozenstruik go from here? We’ll try to answer that, and play matchmaker for the losing side of the UFC Vegas 56 main card.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Jair Rozenstruik remains something of a conundrum ten fights into his UFC career. At times, he has been hesitant in fights where he should have been aggressive. In others, he’s opted to swing for the fences. At UFC Vegas 56, he went up against something of a rarity — an opponent bigger than himself. Ultimately, he was tagged a few times, and the ref waved the fight off. While Rozenstruik immediately protested the stoppage, those protests don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. On paper, a loss is a loss, and athletic commissions simply will not overturn that sort of result, given the ref was doing his job and protecting the fighter.

The end result is that Rozenstruik is on the first losing streak of his career. He remains a threat thanks to his kickboxing and knockout power, but he’ll need to pull out of this slump.

Coming up, Derrick Lewis is fighting Sergei Pavlovich. Should he lose, Lewis will be on a similar two-fight skid. That’s a fun fight. If Pavlovich comes up short, that works as well. So give Rozenstruik the loser of that match-up.

Rozenstruik’s next fight: Lewis-Pavlovich loser

Dan Ige

Thanks to a split decision win over Edson Barboza back in 2020, Dan Ige began to be looked at as a real player in the featherweight division. In hindsight, that may have been premature. Many had Barboza winning that fight, and while Ige is as game as they come and puts on exciting fights, he’s been losing them more often than not. Since the Barboza fight, Ige is 1-4, with losses to Calvin Kattar, The Korean Zombie, Josh Emmett, and now Movsar Evloev. The only win in that span came against Gavin Tucker, who has struggled to fight consistently.

Ige probably needs a step back at this point, and some time to regroup. There’s no way you cut the Hawaiian despite three straight losses, but give him an opponent in a similar spot. Doo-Ho Choi was once the next big thing at featherweight, but has lost three straight fights. He was supposed to return last year against Danny Chavez, but pulled out due to injury. If he’s ready to go, that fight could be fireworks — and serves as a rehabilitation project of sorts for the winner.

Ige’s next fight: Doo-Ho Choi

Michael Trizano

History has not been kind to some of The Ultimate Fighter’s more recent winners. Jesse Taylor, Nicco Montano, and Brad Katona are no longer with the promotion, while Michael Trizano, who won on the same season as Katona, has struggled to stay active, and relevant.

He suffered another setback at UFC Vegas 56, losing to promotional newcomer Lucas Almeida — a fighter who came up short on the Contender Series. Trizano is now 3-3 in the UFC, including his win at the TUF 27 finale. While he won the show at lightweight, he’s now at 145, but that hasn’t panned out either.

That sort of uninspiring run means Trizano’s next fight will be a must-win, and pairing him up with another Contender Series fighter might be the play. Tucker Lutz is 1-1 in the UFC, and coming off a loss to Pat Sabatini that has aged better than most. He was supposed to fight in March, only for his opponent to drop out. Book this one.

Trizano’s next opponent: Tucker Lutz

Poliana Botelho

A 1-4 record in her last five fights, and three straight losses, may end up with Poliana Botelho being shown the door. But if the UFC opts to give her one more go, then try her against Mariya Agapova, who is coming off a loss back in March.

Botelho’s next fight: Mariya Agapova

Zarrukh Adashev

It’s obvious now that Zarrukh Adashev jumped to the UFC way too early in his MMA career. While he has a kickboxing background, he arrived with a record of 3-1 in MMA. Not even five fights. While his three wins to that point had come under the Bellator banner, he wasn’t exactly fighting top guys over there. Bellator has some real killers, but Adashev didn’t so much as sniff them.

Now, he’s 1-3 through four UFC fights. Assuming he was on a four-fight deal, if they bring him back, it feels like the right play is to book him against an up-and-comer. Jake Hadley just suffered a considerable setback in his promotional debut, against a far more experienced opponent in Allan Nascimento. Adashev might be more his speed at this point.

Adashev’s next fight: Jake Hadley

Askar Mozharov

Ukraine’s Askar Mozharov became the most talked about fighter on the UFC Vegas 56 card, but not for any of the usual reasons. Rather, what can now be called “record-gate” saw his pro MMA record drop from 25-7 to 21-11 to 19-12 in the days leading up to his fight with Alonzo Menifield. The UFC certainly took notice, adjusting his record on the broadcast. The controversy stemmed from online record keepers Sherdog and Tapology discovering Mozharov had multiple profiles under different names, and had over the years attempted to have his record changed. Allegedly, of course. Sherdog’s FF Files has a pretty good breakdown of what they believe transpired, and have labelled Mozharov a fraud.

We’re not here to pass judgment on any fighter, nor should any media outlet really. And we say that as one of the few outlets who actually has a writer who has stepped into the cage. Still, Mozharov’s “preposterous” record, to borrow a term Menifield himself used ahead of the fight, may see him cut from the UFC as a result. He was smashed by elbows and put away early, and fought very much like a fighter with a padded record.

On the flip side, all publicity is good publicity, right? If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying, so on and so forth. We’re talking about a promotion who booked Dean Barry vs. Mike Jackson in 2022, so maybe they give Mozharov another shot, in the hopes that people will tune in to see him smashed again.

Caio Borralho won a technical decision in his UFC debut, thanks to illegal strikes he committed that ended the fight early. He’s fighting fellow Contender Series winner Armen Petrosyan next. Give Mozharov the loser, if he sticks around.

Mozharov’s next fight: Borralho-Petrosyan loser

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 56 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Silva finished Poliana Botelho via first round submission at the UFC APEX.

“Very happy. Everything that (we) trained for happened in the fight so (I’m) really glad everything worked out,” Silva told reporters through a translator at her post-fight scrum.

Silva earned her way into the UFC after a submission victory on Dana White’s Contender Series in October following years on Brazilian MMA promotions.

“I’m out of words to describe how special it is to be here now,” Silva said.

The fight began with a very tentative Silva reading Botelho’s reactions to certain attacks and then planning her own offense. After dropping Botelho with strikes she shot in, took her down, and ultimately finished the bout with a d’arce choke.

“When I dropped her and I got on top of her I knew I was going to finish her. I was really well prepared by my team. The game plan was, if we were standing up, I was going to find the distance and try to knock her out. If the fight goes to the ground I knew I had a better ground game to finish her,” she said.

“Killer” Silva lived up to her name at UFC Vegas 56 and the origins of her nickname proved the name fight just right.

“It was my first MMA coach. I was coming up with some good wins. He named me ‘Killer’ and I stuck with it,” said Silva.

UFC debut finally achieved Silva wasn’t in a rush to call anyone out or say when she would like to return to the octagon next.

“I don’t have anyone in mind right now. I just want to go back to Brazil, sit down with my team and look at the mistakes and the things that we did well, then come up with something else, but I’ll be ready,” Silva said.

Watch the full UFC Vegas 56 post-fight media scrum with Karine Silva above. More coverage of the event can be found below.

The post UFC Vegas 56: Karine Silva Knew She Would Finish Botelho, Will Be Ready For Next Bout appeared first on Cageside Press.

The women’s flyweight match-up featured on the Fight Night event’s main card and saw Botelho returning to action after over a year on the sidelines. Silva, meanwhile, was debuting after winning her way into the promotion on Dana White’s Contender Series.

Botelho was off to a good start with more success on the outside with a lot of kicks. Silva was throwing some kicks as well, catching up to Botelho before long. Silva was more busy throwing in the first, but wasn’t as accurate as Botelho. Silva eventually landed a big right hand and fell right into top position for a recorded takedown. Botelho was showing good movement but got caught. Silva locked in a d’arce choke as Botelho was adjusting and it was tight! It wasn’t long before Botelho tapped.

WHAT A FINISH! Welcome to the UFC @KillerKarine!#UFCVegas56 pic.twitter.com/sNsdroiEQo

— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2022

An impressive debut for the Contender Series veteran, who had to wait over seven months to finally debut on the big stage. The submission victory extends her winning streak to six, with finishes in all six of those contests. She should be one to watch in the flyweight division moving forward.

Official Result: Karina Silva def. Poliana Botelho by Submission (D’arce choke), Round 1, 4:55

The post UFC Vegas 56: Karine Silva Makes UFC Debut, Finishes Botelho With D’Arce appeared first on Cageside Press.

Botelho (8-4) returns from a 13-month layoff at UFC Vegas 56. While she started her UFC career winning two straight, she is currently on a two-fight skid. A third loss in a row could end her time in the UFC, and she knows it.

“Yeah, [I’m fighting for my job], and I’m going to fight my heart out. And my heart is going to be at the edge of my punches,” Botelho told Cageside Press during her UFC Vegas 56 media day interview.

The 33-year-old Brazilian made some changes in this fight camp, which included changing her entire coaching staff. She still trains at the famous Nova União in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just with different coaches.

“As well as far as the physical side is concerned, there was a change to my boxing coach, a change to my grappling coach, and a change from my Muay Thai as well,” Botelho said. “I do feel that I became more of an intelligent fighter, someone that’s smarter during the fight that knows when to let it loose and when to pull it back. And that’s part of this new Poliana, someone that’s mentally clear to be in this fight.”

On top of changing three coaches, she sought help from a mental coach. The mental coach helped with her mindset for this upcoming fight but also helped with trauma from her childhood that she hasn’t dealt with.

“One of the things that I did was also get a mental coach to actually get somebody to work the psychological science, so that’s a change that happened,” Botelho said. “There were things that they tapped into that go back to childhood. They were able to change, so I understand that there are some vices out there that we need to get over.”

“After that work, I was even actually [able] to get my bearings inside the octagon things changed for me there. You know, visualizing the game and as you can see, it’s something that made me really confident for the fight.”

Poliana Botelho welcomes Karine Silva to the UFC this weekend. Watch the rest of her UFC Vegas 56 media day interview above. More coverage of the event, which takes place Saturday, June 4, 2022 at the Apex in Las Vegas, can be found below.

The post Poliana Botelho Says She Is Fighting For Her Job At UFC Vegas 56 appeared first on Cageside Press.

As first reported by Combate, Luana Carolina will replace Mayra Bueno Silva and fight Botelho on May 1. Both fighters would confirm the booking via their social media.

On May 1, Poliana Botelho (8-3) will be looking to get back in the win column after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Gillian Robertson on ‘Fight Island.’ Botelho is 1-1 since moving up to flyweight, with her only win against Lauren Mueller. As a strawweight, the Brazilian went 2-1 inside the octagon but missed weight for her lone loss against Cynthia Calvillo. That prompted a move up to 125lbs, where she fought prior to joining the UFC.

Carolina (6-2) had her win streak snapped against Ariane Lipski at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 on ‘Fight Island.’ She lost via a nasty kneebar that sidelined her for the rest of the year. Before her loss to Lipski, “Dread” was on a six-fight win streak with a win over Priscila Cachoeira in her UFC debut.

The UFC’s May 1 event does not have an official location, venue, or broadcast details announced. The card currently consists of the following bouts:

• Jiri Prochazka vs. Dominick Reyes
• Cub Swanson vs. Giga Chikadze
• TJ Brown vs. Kai Kamaka III
• Dean Barry vs. Mike Jackson
• Poliana Botelho vs. Ji Yeon Kim
• B. Bhullar vs. Andreas Michailidis
• Sam Hughes vs. Loma Lookboonmee
• Damon Jackson vs. TJ Laramie
• Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Augusto Sakai
• Krzysztof Jotko vs. Sean Strickland
• Gabriel Benitez vs. Jonathan Pearce
• Felipe Colares vs. Journey Newson
• Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cody Stamann
• Poliana Botelho vs. Luana Carolina

The post UFC: Poliana Botelho Gets Third Opponent; Faces Luana Carolina On May 1 appeared first on Cageside Press.

On May 1, Poliana Botelho (8-3) will be looking to get back in the win column after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Gillian Robertson on ‘Fight Island.’ Botelho is 1-1 since moving up to flyweight, with her only win against Lauren Mueller. As a strawweight, the Brazilian went 2-1 inside the octagon, but missed weight for her lone loss, against Cynthia Calvillo. That prompted a move up to 125lbs, where she fought prior to joining the UFC.

Ji Yeon Kim (9-3-2) will be looking to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Alexa Grasso. Kim will be looking to get her first win since 2019, after only fighting once in 2020.

Both women are looking to get back on track, get their first win in 2021 and avoid the dreaded back-to-back loss.

No official location or venue has been announced for the UFC’s May 1, 2021 event. The main event has not been announced.

As of now, the fight card looks like this.

Cub Swanson vs. Gavin Tucker
Damon Jackson vs. T.J. Laramie
Poliana Botelho vs. Ji Yeon Kim
TJ Brown vs. Kai Kamaka
Dean Barry vs. Mike Jackson
Ji Yeon Kim vs. Poliana Botelho

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