Antonio Carlos Jr was among the recent list of fighters cut by the UFC — this and much more on your Fightful Fix roundup.
UFC Releases Three, Including Antonio Carlos Jr.
The UFC continues the trimming process that Dana White has been promising for months, with three fighters being given their walking papers, including TUF Brazil winner Antonio Carlos Jr.
PFL Announces Welterweight & Light Heavyweight Tournament Rosters
With their return scheduled for April 23rd, the Professional Fighters League has announced their rosters for the upcoming 3rd season, and it features such names as former UFC champion Rory MacDonald, and defending 2019 champion Ray Cooper III.
While the location for their return is still unknown the promotion is beginning to round out the rosters for all of their divisions. A full bio of each fighter can be seen at MMA Junkie.
2021 Welterweight Roster
- Nikolai Aleksakhin
- Ray Cooper III
- Rory MacDonald
- Magomed Magomedkerimov
- David Michaud
- Sadibou Sy
- Joao Zeferino
The prize among the welterweight roster is of course former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald, who along with lightweight Anthony Pettis was the PFL's feature signing during 2020. Surrounding MacDonald is a roster of tough PFL veterans, including 2019 defending champion Ray Cooper III.
2021 Light Heavyweight Roster
- Chris Camozzi
- Cezar Ferreira
- Marthin Hamlet
- Jordan Johnson
- Tom Lawlor
- Smealinho Rama
- Emiliano Sordi
- Dan Spohn
- Jordan Young
Notable standouts on the light heavyweight side include professional wrestler and former UFC fighter Tom Lawlor, and 2019 PFL champion Emiliano Sordi.
Kayla Harrison Responds To Cris Cyborg's Most Recent Callout
PFL champion Kayla Harrison has commented on the recent callout from former UFC champion Cris "Cyborg" Justino.
The Olympic gold medalist Harrison claimed that for all the talk she's hearing from Justino, her actions don't quite back up her words.
“I was disappointed because obviously she’s one of the best,” Harrison said (h/t MMAmania.com). “I wanna test myself, I wanna challenge myself. I want to prove I’m the best, not just to myself but to everyone. But I wasn't surprised, I knew she was gonna sign with Bellator because I knew that it was a place where she would be more comfortable. Now she’s saying she wants to fight me but she had an opportunity to fight me last year. She does a lot of talking but not a lot of signing on the dotted line.”
Despite the hurdles that now stand between the two facing each other, Harrison repeated her desire to share the cage with the women's MMA pioneer.
“I have a lot of respect for Cyborg, I feel like she’s had an uphill battle her whole career,” Harrison continued. “She’s another pioneer of the sport and she was basically so good that UFC could no longer ignore her. I respect that, but I’m not afraid of anybody. I don’t have any ill will toward anyone. I just want to fight. I just want to be the best.”
Harrison began her MMA career by winning the PFL's lightweight tournament and is due to return to action when the PFL does in April after an extended Covid-19 related hiatus.
Bellator Expected To Start 2021 Schedule April 9th At The Mohegan Sun
After being on hiatus since early December, Bellator is lining up their series of return fights starting April 9th, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Bellator has taken the late winter of 2021 off but their return will be scheduled for the location they've used to create a Covid safe bubble for all their events dating back to mid-July. MMA Fighting confirmed that the promotion has delayed their return to April after it was initially believed the company had been targetting February for their return.
It's currently unknown what the cards will look like for their return, but 2020 has featured numerous high profile free agents, such as Yoel Romero, and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, and it would be expected that they would make their debut around that time.
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