Knockdown Daily 3/24/22: Sergio Pettis Out of Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix
Sergio Pettis' departure from Bellator's upcoming tournament leads the MMA headlines for Thursday
Welcome back! And welcome to the Thursday edition of the Knockdown Daily. We’re going to be catching up on the top headlines over the next few days, so expect today and tomorrow to be packed issues. Let’s begin.
News
Sergio Pettis, James Gallagher Out of Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix
Bellator’s upcoming bantamweight tournament has taken two big hits. Current champ Sergio Pettis has withdrawn from the tournament, along with Irish fan-favorite James Gallagher.
Pettis’ withdrawal from the tournament was first reported Tuesday by Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports.
Pettis was booked to meet Raufeon Stots at Bellator 279 on April 23rd. He will now be replaced by former titleholder Juan Archuleta, who was already announced for the bracket but hadn’t been booked for a matchup yet.
Another fight in the opening round of the bracket between Kyoji Horiguchi and Patchy Mix is also expected to take place on that April card.
Pettis played a big part in the tournament, as he was the defending champion at bantamweight. Due to his absence from the tournament, an interim belt will be on the line instead.
The first interim champion will be crowned in the opening round of the tournament when Archuleta and Stots face off. The expectation is that the interim champ will then attempt to defend their belt through the next two rounds of the bracket.
Pettis reportedly withdrew from the tournament with an undisclosed injury. It is not known when he will be able to compete next.
Gallagher’s departure from the tournament was reported Wednesday by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.
Gallagher did not have a fight for the tournament announced yet, but was expected to be part of the eight-man field. His replacement has not been confirmed yet, but will reportedly be announced soon.
Report: Jorge Masvidal Suspected of Battery Following Alleged Altercation With Colby Covington
UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal was arrested Wednesday night and charged with aggravated battery with bodily hard and criminal mischief in Florida, USA.
News of Masvidal’s arrest was confirmed by Marc Raimondi of ESPN. The former title challenger reportedly has a bail of $15,000 currently set.
A police report obtained by Mike Coppinger of ESPN alleges that Masvidal attacked someone who was exiting a restaurant. This person told authorities that Masvidal “sucker punched” him twice, causing a fractured tooth and an abrasion to one of his wrists.
While police details do not identify the alleged victim of the attack, social media postings from Masvidal along with footage from the evening show that MMA rival Colby Covington may have been the victim of an attack.
In a now-deleted Twitter post that had Covington tagged in it, Masvidal said “You talk that s*** you gotta back it up.” The next day, Masvidal followed up with a cryptic tweet that said “Good morning to everyone except those that think talking about someone’s kids is cool.”
Masvidal and Covington have had a well-documented rivalry, going from being training partners at the American Top Team gym to enemies.
This rivalry was utilized by the UFC a few weeks back to hype up their main event bout at UFC 272. In that contest, Covington pulled off a unanimous decision victory after five rounds.
Conor McGregor Arrested, Charged With Dangerous Driving In Ireland
Former two-division UFC Champion Conor McGregor is facing more legal troubles, recently getting arrested in Ireland on dangerous driving charges.
McGregor, 33, was arrested in Dublin, Ireland on Tuesday evening and charged with dangerous driving, per a report from Robin Schiller of the Irish Independent.
McGregor has been released on bail since his arrest earlier this week. His Bentley Continental GT car was reportedly seized at the time but has since been returned to him as well.
A statement provided to Marc Raimondi of ESPN from McGregor’s spokesperson claimed that he passed drug and alcohol tests done by the police later that evening.
McGregor is expected to appear in court as soon as next month regarding his charges. A dangerous driving charge can give someone a fine or jail time, or both, depending on the context of a legal case in Ireland.
McGregor has become a reoccurring name in headlines due to legal issues and other incidents of misconduct in a public setting.
In the Fall, an Italian DJ accused McGregor of assaulting him during a night out. A month before then, the UFC star was seen getting into a hectic incident with rapper Machine Gun Kelly at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
McGregor was most notoriously involved with an attack during the fight week of UFC 223 in 2018, damaging a bus that contained talent inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA. McGregor later pleaded no contest to a count of disorderly conduct for the incident.
PFL Announces 2022 Regular Season Schedule, Lineup For First Event
PFL’s fourth season is officially set.
The promotion is scheduled to start its regular season in April, with six divisions each competing to win a grand prize of $1 million, per an announcement made earlier this week.
PFL is scheduled to begin their 2022 season with three events at the eSports Arena in Arlington, Texas, USA. The season opener will take place on April 20th, featuring men’s lightweights and light heavyweights.
A week after that, PFL will have their featherweight and heavyweight divisions compete on April 28th. The promotion will then conclude their first leg of the season on May 6th with the welterweight and women’s lightweight division.
The season will wrap up in a mid-June to early July run in Atlanta, Georgia, with the specific venue pending at the moment. Dates at that event will be June 17th, 24th, and July 1st.
More details on the lineup for PFL’s first event of the year can be read here.
Here’s the April 20th lineup as it stands currently:
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (ESPN)
Bout 10: Raush Manfio (15-3) vs. Don Madge (10-3-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 9: Anthony Pettis (24-12) vs. Myles Price (11-7) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Antonio Carlos Junior (13-5) vs. Delan Monte (8-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Clay Collard (20-9) vs. Jeremy Stephens (28-19) (LIghtweight)
Preliminary Card
Bout 6: Emiliano Sordi (23-9-1) vs. Josh Silveira (8-0) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 5: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (13-5) vs. TBA (Lightweight)
Bout 4: Marthin Hamlet (8-3) vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis (11-5) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 3: Omari Akhmedov (21-7-1) vs. Viktor Pesta (18-6) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 2: Rob Wilkinson (13-2) vs. Bruco Souto (15-3) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 1: Alexander Martinez (8-2) vs. Stevie Ray (23-9) (Lightweight)
Bellator Aiming To Book Gegard Mousasi vs. Johnny Eblen For June
Bellator Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi already has his next challenge lined up.
The promotion is currently looking to book their veteran champ against undefeated contender Johnny Eblen, per a report from Ariel Helwani on Tuesday.
While a specific date for the fight hasn’t been set, the matchup is reportedly being targeted for June.
Eblen has an undefeated record of 11 wins. He has quickly attained most of those victories in Bellator since joining the promotion in 2019. His last appearance saw him beat former title challenger John Salter, defeating him via unanimous decision earlier this month.
Before them, Eblen scored three wins in 2021, with two of those wins coming via stoppage.
Mousasi has defended his 185-pound belt twice since regaining it in 2020. His last win saw him stop the undefeated run of Austin Vanderford, stopping him in less than two minutes with strikes in February.
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