Knockdown Daily 7/30/22: Donovan Beard Claims CFFC Belt With Late Win
Results from CFFC 111 lead the MMA headlines for Saturday
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today, we have some regional results plus a preview of the top events of the weekend.
News
Donovan Beard Scores Late Submission Against Miles Lee To Earn CFFC Middleweight Belt
Donovan Beard erased Miles Lee’s strong lead on scorecards in their title fight this weekend, catching him late with a triangle choke to end their bout.
Beard’s victory headlined CFFC 111 from the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, USA on Friday night.
Lee controlled the opening three rounds of their title fight, using his wrestling to keep Beard down. A late jolt of energy from Beard in the fourth and final round of the fight allowed him to take back momentum and secure a finish.
A visibly tired Lee started to consume punches in the fourth round. In an attempt to stop this success from Beard, Lee scored a takedown. However, from his back, Beard was able to slip in a triangle choke that forced their fight to end while on the ground.
The fight made Beard CFFC’s eighth-ever middleweight champion. The belt was vacant heading into this weekend, as the previous titleholder, Aaron Jeffery, dropped the belt after signing with Bellator earlier this year.
Beard’s record is now a strong seven wins and one loss. His previous fight this year was a first-round victory over Tracy Hardy in May.
Lee suffered his first pro loss in Friday’s main event. He went undefeated in previous amateur and pro bouts, including a trio of wins in CFFC last year.
A full report on CFFC 111 can be read here.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card (Youtube)
Bout 1: Alzarius Boykins def. Chris Betancourt via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:24) (Amateur)
Bout 2: Gilbert Cuzdey Jr. def. Casey McDonald via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:15) (Amateur)
Bout 3: Nick Delahoussaye def. Kris Cloud via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:25) (Amateur)
Bout 4: Chase Mann def. Quadarrius McGinnis via Decision, Unanimous (Amateur)
Bout 5: Kris Williams def. Joe Tran via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:55)
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 6: Petera Wilson def. Stan Tippins via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Dakota Smith def. Nehemias Cruz via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:23)
Bout 8: Jonathan Piersma def. TJ Welch via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 1:26)
Bout 9: Beau Samaniego def. DeAndre Anderson via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:57)
Bout 10: Raheam Forest def. Trevor Ollison via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 2:43)
Bout 11: Donovan Beard def. Miles Lee via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 4, 2:09) (Vacant CFFC Middleweight Championship)
Previews
UFC 277: Pena vs. Nunes 2
One of the biggest upsets in UFC history will get its sequel this weekend. Attempting to defend her UFC Bantamweight Championship for the first time, Julianna Pena will face former titleholder Amana Nunes in the main event of UFC 277 on Saturday night.
The bout, which is a rematch from December 2021, will headline a card from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, USA.
A full preview of the card can be read here.
Here’s the lineup:
Early Prelims (6:00PM EDT / 3:00PM PDT) (ESPN / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 1: Orion Cosce (7-1) vs. Blood Diamond (3-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Nick Negumereanu (12-1) vs. Ihor Potieria (20-2) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 3: Kim Ji-yeon (9-5-2) vs. Joselyne Edwards (11-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Michael Morales (13-0) vs. Adam Fugitt (8-2) (Welterweight)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EDT / 5:00PM PDT) (ABC / TSN 2)
Bout 5: Drakkar Klose (12-2-1) vs. Rafa Garcia (14-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 6: Don’Tale Mayes (9-4) vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab (3-0) (Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Drew Dober (24-11) vs. Rafael Alves (20-10) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Alex Morono (21-7) vs. Matthew Semelsberger (10-3) (Welterweight)
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (PPV)
Bout 9: Magomed Ankalaev (17-1) vs. Anthony Smith (36-16) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 10: Alexandre Pantoja (24-5) vs. Alex Perez (24-6) (Flyweight)
Bout 11: Derrick Lewis (26-9) vs. Sergei Pavlovich (15-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 12: Brandon Moreno (19-6-2) vs. Kai Kara-France (24-9) (Vacant Interim UFC Flyweight Championship)
Bout 13: Julianna Pena (11-4) vs. Amanda Nunes (21-5) (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
RIZIN 37
Since its launch in 2015, RIZIN has focused heavily on a select few divisions in MMA. Among them is super atomweight, a rare weight class that limits fighters to 108 pounds. That division will be the main focus once again on Sunday night when the promotion returns to the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan for RIZIN 37.
RIZIN will kick off an eight-woman super atomweight tournament this weekend. The bracket will include current divisional champ Seika Izawa, former titleholder Ayaka Hamasaki, and previous grand prix winner Kanna Asakura, among the many names set to appear.
A full preview of RIZIN 37 can be read at this link.
Here’s the bout order:
Main Card (12:00AM EDT / 1:00PM JST) (RIZIN Live)
Bout 1: YUSHI (1-1) vs. Haruki (0-0) (137 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Hiroki Kasahara vs. Yusaku Ishizuki (138 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 3: Ryusei vs. Kaishi (128 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 4: Vugar Karamov (16-4) vs. Sora Yamamoto (16-6-2) (146 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Marcos Yoshio Souza (9-2) vs. Daichi Abe (10-5) (176 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Yuki Motoya (30-10) vs. Shinobu Ota (2-1) (134 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 7: Hideki Sekine (12-5) vs. Tsuyoshi Sudario (4-1) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 8: RENA (12-4) vs. Anastasiya Svetkivska (2-0) (RIZIN Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final Bout)
Bout 9: Kanna Asakura (19-6) vs. Park Si-woo (7-4) (RIZIN Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final Bout)
Bout 10: Kota Miura (1-0) vs. Felipe Masoni (9-4) (146 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 11: Johnny Case (27-8-1) vs. Koji Takeda (13-3) (159 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 12: Hideo Tokoro (35-30-2) vs. Makoto Shinryu (13-1-1) (126 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 13: Ayaka Hamasaki (23-5) vs. Jessica Aguilar (20-9) (RIZIN Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final Bout)
Bout 14: Seika Izawa (6-0) vs. Laura Fontoura (7-0) (RIZIN Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final Bout)
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