Bellator

Bellator MMA fighter Cris Lencioni is hospitalized in an intensive care unit after suffering cardiac arrest earlier this month, his wife Marca announced on his Instagram page.

The post stated that Lencioni has been in the hospital since June 8 after a cardiac event occurred while he was training in a gym.

"The athletes at the gym were great and immediately called 911 and did their best to address his needs until paramedics arrived," Marca Lencioni wrote. "We are currently in another state. He has been under the care of excellent doctors with I and much of his family by his side. We are all hopeful for the progress we know he will continue to make."

According to ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Lencioni was scheduled to take on James Gallagher at Bellator 298 on Aug. 11 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The 28-year-old featherweight has a record of 11-3 and is on a four-fight winning streak.

Lencioni made his Bellator debut with a split-decision win over Cody Law in December at Bellator 289. He most recently scored an impressive second-round submission win over Blake Smith at Bellator 294 on April 21.

"We are aware of Cris Lencioni's current medical condition and are monitoring the situation closely," Bellator said in a statement. "We ask you to join us in sending thoughts and prayers to Cris and his family as he navigates his recovery process."

Marca Lencioni added that a GoFundMe page has been started by Cris' family to assist with financial costs.

Cris Cyborg is still trying to make the long-rumored bout with Kayla Harrison a reality.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Cyborg challenged Harrison to a fight in Bellator by telling her to "call Scott Coker and make this fight happen."

Harrison recently called out Cyborg for a fight with the winner getting the entire purse during an appearance on The MMA Hour (h/t Steven Marrocco of MMAFighting.com).

"We can do winner takes all, or we can do when she loses, she gets to keep her purse," Harrison said. "If she needs help getting the deal signed, I will call [PFL executives] Peter Murray ... and Donn Davis and ask them, whatever price she wants, I will speak to them on her behalf."

The two mixed martial arts legends have been circling each other for awhile, but competing in different organizations has made it difficult to make the fight.

Cyborg had a chance to join Harrison in the Professional Fighters League, but the Bellator featherweight champion opted to re-sign with the promotion on a multi-fight contract earlier this month.

Harrison told ESPN's Brett Okamoto she was told Cyborg signing with PFL was a "done deal," but now the chances of the fight happening are "slim" after the Brazilian star decided to stay with Bellator.

Harrison added she still has two fights left on her PFL contract that's set to expire in December. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo lost for the first time in 16 professional MMA fights to Larissa Pacheco in the women's lightweight tournament final at PFL 10 on Nov. 25.

Cyborg hasn't fought in mixed martial arts since April 2022 when she defeated Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279 to retain the women's featherweight championship. The 37-year-old won her first professional boxing match by unanimous decision in a four-round bout with Gabrielle Holloway on Dec. 10.

A crossover superfight between PFL star Kayla Harrison and Bellator MMA featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has long been viewed as a pipe dream, but it appears there's a chance it becomes a reality.

On Tuesday, PFL CEO Donn Davis took to Twitter for a $4 million offer to Harrison and Cyborg in hopes of getting a fight agreement done.

Cyborg responded directly to Davis, questioning Harrison's credentials and the notion they should be paid equally:

Cyborg made an appearance on Wednesday's episode of The MMA Hour and announced that her next fight would be a boxing match against Simone Silva on Sept. 25 in her hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. Afterward, Harrison made an unscheduled call into the show and laid down a challenge pleading for a fight against the 37-year-old.

"We can do winner takes all, or we can do when she loses, she gets to keep her purse," Harrison said. "If she needs help getting the deal signed, I will call [PFL executives] Peter Murray ... and Donn Davis and ask them, whatever price she wants, I will speak to them on her behalf."

Harrison continued: "And I'll go through a full [U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] drug testing—I will be drug-tested every day from now until the fight, if she's worried about that. And she doesn't have to be drug-tested at all. The only thing I ask is that they allow elbows." When asked why she wants to be allowed to strike with elbows, Harrison responded, "So I can put one through her skull."

Harrison is going after her third straight $1 million featherweight tournament victory, as she is scheduled to face Martina Jindrova on Aug. 20 in the 2022 PFL Playoffs. Still, that hasn't stopped her from calling for a fight against Cyborg because she wants to test her skills against the best fighters in the world.

However, Cyborg recently said she hasn't been contacted by PFL. She said Wednesday that she does have interest in a fight against Harrison, but it's not particularly important to her.

"I've been in a lot of big fights in my career," Cyborg said on The MMA Hour. "I think she really needs one biggest fight for her career too. I'm happy with my career. I can finish my career and not fight Kayla. But it's going to be great if this fight happens. If people would like to watch the fight, it's going to be great. But just not on the internet, they have to make it happen."

After Cyborg announced her agreement to fight Silva, Harrison called her out in a series of tweets and also made reference to Cyborg's 2012 positive steroid test result. Cyborg then blocked her on Twitter.

Cris Cyborg is headed toward the boxing ring.

The MMA legend revealed she is planning to make her boxing debut once a contract is finalized.

“My team already received the contract, we’ve been back and forth working on the contract, I believe soon, we’ll finish and I’ll sign,” Cyborg said on The Catch-Up. “Then you guys are gonna know who and where is gonna be my next fight. I’m very excited to do my first fight in boxing. Very, very excited. It’s one of my dreams.”

Cyborg, the current Bellator featherweight champion, has not fought since defeating Arlene Blencowe in April. Her contract with Bellator expired this summer, allowing her to become a free agent.

The 37-year-old has been an MMA nomad over the course of her career, winning championships in Strikeforce, Invicta FC, UFC and Bellator. UFC is the only promotion she fought in more than five times.

There was talk of Cyborg potentially fighting Kayla Harrison of the PFL, but Cyborg says there have not been any discussions with the promotion. PFL previously blocked Harrison from fighting Cyborg in Bellator by matching her contract.

“We’ve never had any talks with PFL,” Cyborg said. “They never talk about this fight. I know it’s a lot of talks on the internet to make this fight happen with [Harrison], two different ways, but I’ve never had the opportunity to talk about anything.

Cyborg has no boxing experience. She has tried her hand at professional grappling and muay thai in the past, but boxing had never seemed like much of an option. That said, most of Cyborg's career victories in MMA have come via knockout with her fists.

Corey Anderson was about five seconds away from being $1 million richer. 

The MMA fighter thought he had defeated Vadim Nemkov and won both the light heavyweight title and Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix, which came with a $1 million prize, after referee Frank Trigg stopped the fight at 4:55 in the third round. 

He told ESPN's Marc Raimondi that multiple people inside the cage told him he'd won the fight. 

But instead of going to the cards, it was ruled a no-contest because of an illegal bumping of heads that left Nemkov with a nasty cut on his left eyebrow. Had it gone into the fourth round, the stoppage could have then gone to a technical decision. 

"I jump on the cage, I get excited," Anderson said. "My mom is crying. My family in the crowd is jumping up and down. All of a sudden, I jump down from the cage and you see the [$1 million] check walking down the stairs. All of a sudden, the ref comes back and tells me there's [five] seconds left and you have to go all the way to the end of the third round to be declared the winner."

Anderson said he was the one who told Trigg of the clashing of the heads that caused the cut, which came while he was in the top position and went to hit Nemkov with an elbow while Nemkov took his legs out simultaneously. The ref initially ruled that the cut came from a legal blow.

"I know [Trigg] would have kept it going," Anderson said. "But the sportsman in me was like, 'Let him know that wasn't from me—I didn't hit him, I accidentally headbutted him.' ... That was just me being a good person."

Anderson will still have the opportunity to win the $1 million prize he thought he already earned, with the grand prix championship and prize money still up for grabs in a rematch. Anderson told Raimondi that he's been informed the rematch would happen once Nemkov's eyebrow heals, and that his opponent didn't suffer a broken orbital bone. 

The hope to stage the rematch before the end of the summer. And Anderson is trying to keep the feeling he had when he thought he was the champion fresh in his mind. 

"The motivation is like that's what it should have been," he said. "I need that. I've already seen it, I've already tasted it, I've already felt it. I had that excitement from being the champ. Now, I have to really feel it. I know how it feels to believe you're the champ. Now, I have to go out there and actually be the champ. I need that feeling."

For the time being, however, Nemkov remains the light heavyweight champion and is ESPN's No. 6-ranked fighter in the division. Anderson (16-5 with the one no-contest) comes in at No. 3 behind UFC champion Glover Teixeira and the UFC's Jan Blachowicz. 

Anderson, who fought in the UFC from 2014-20, beat Teixeira in 2018 but lost to Blachowicz two years ago in his final UFC bout. 

Bellator CEO Scott Coker says the door is wide-open for Jake Paul and Logan Paul to join his promotion.

"We've had conversations with [Logan] and Jake about, 'What does MMA mean to you guys?' and 'What do you guys wanna do?'" Coker told TMZ Sports. "There's ongoing dialogue, but if they wanted to really get down and really get serious and do it, we could bring them in. Sure, why not?"

He added that he's "impressed with how much they've grown over the last two years."

Jake has entertained the idea of entering the MMA realm, and it would be a natural pivot if his boxing career stagnates.

Were the Paul brothers to make the transition, Bellator would be the likeliest spot given the cold war between Jake and UFC President Dana White. Granted, White might be willing to put that aside if there's enough money to be made.

Cris Cyborg has unfinished business with Amanda Nunes.

The Bellator women's featherweight champion told TMZ Sports she'd relish the opportunity to avenge her December 2018 loss to Nunes.

The 36-year-old made her professional debut in May 2005, and she'll be just shy of her 17th anniversary in the cage when she fights Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279 on April 23. The Brazilian star told TMZ Sports she set a goal of trying to hit 20 years before she hangs up her gloves.

That gives her some more time for the stars to align regarding the Nunes rematch.

Nunes only needed 51 seconds to knock Cyborg out at UFC 232. Cyborg later said the defeat provided a silver lining since she may not have signed with Bellator when she did if she had beaten Nunes.

As long as the two are fighting in separate promotions, a return bout obviously isn't going to happen. Cyborg's Bellator deal may be nearing an end, though, which could set the stage for a return to the UFC.

Considering how the sides parted ways in 2019, however, UFC president Dana White may not be rolling out the red carpet.

Cris Cyborg will put the Bellator women's featherweight title on the line April 23 when she faces Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 278 in Honolulu.

According to ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Cyborg vs. Blencowe will be the co-main event of the card along with the Bellator bantamweight title bout between Sergio Pettis and Raufeon Stots.

Cyborg vs. Blencowe will be a rematch from Bellator 249 in 2020 when Cyborg won by second-round submission to retain the Bellator women's featherweight title.

Since making the move from UFC to Bellator, the 36-year-old Cyborg is a perfect 4-0 with three knockouts and one submission. That includes beating Julia Budd for the featherweight title in her Bellator debut in 2020.

Most recently, she knocked out Sinead Kavanagh in the first round of their bout at Bellator 271 in November.

Overall, Cyborg owns a career professional record of 25-2 with one no contest. Aside from a loss in her first pro fight in 2005, the Brazilian star's only defeat came at the hands of Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 in 2018.

During her illustrious career, Cyborg has held titles in Strikeforce, Invicta FC, UFC and Bellator, making her one of the most decorated MMA fighters of all time.

MMA Fighting has Cyborg ranked as the No. 4 pound-for-pound female fighter in the world currently, behind only Valentina Shevchenko, Nunes and Rose Namajunas.

Blencowe, 38, is a native of Australia and a 10-year veteran of professional MMA.

She is 15-8 with eight knockout wins during her career, including 8-4 in 12 Bellator fights since first joining the promotion in 2015.

Blencowe has won five of her past six fights with the only loss coming at the hands of Cyborg. At Bellator 271 in November, Blencowe beat Pam Sorenson by unanimous decision to put herself in line for another shot at Cyborg.

Other fights scheduled for the Bellator 278 card include Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Patchy Mix and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Justine Kish.

Kayla Harrison has reportedly re-signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) despite interest from the UFC and Bellator.

According to ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Bellator made Harrison a "lucrative offer" earlier this year, but PFL had the right to match any offer Harrison received from another promotion, and it decided to do so.

The undefeated Harrison is a two-time PFL women's lightweight champion in addition to being a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo.

After becoming the first American to win Olympic gold in judo at the 2012 Summer Games in London and then repeating the feat four years later in Rio de Janeiro, Harrison transitioned to MMA.

She made her pro MMA debut for PFL in 2018 and has had all but one of her fights as part of the promotion. The exception was a bout for Invicta FC in 2020 when the PFL season was canceled because of COVID-19.

Harrison won the 2019 and 2021 tournaments for the PFL women's lightweight title, and she holds an overall record of 12-0 with five knockouts and five submissions.

Per Raimondi, Harrison was "fully expecting" to sign with Bellator and have a dream fight with Cris Cyborg as early as next month, but PFL managed to keep its biggest star.

Raimondi also reported that the UFC made an offer for Harrison, although it wasn't close to the deals offered by PFL and Bellator.

Signing with the UFC could have opened the door for a highly anticipated clash with Amanda Nunes.

The 31-year-old Harrison closed last season by beating Taylor Guardado in the finals of the PFL women's lightweight title tournament on Oct. 27 and will look to become a three-time champion in PFL this year.