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What’s worse than the company you work for going under? Not getting a heads up about the news. That’s what happened to current (or now former) Bellator light heavyweight champion, Corey Anderson, and featherweight king, Patricio Pitbull, who were blindsided by the recent bombshell report that revealed Professional Fighters League’s (PFL) plans to take the promotion out to pasture in 2025 after acquiring it in late 2023.

“Imagine being the champion of an organization chilling on the couch and your wife walks in and tells you “did you see this? Bellator is dead now?”… and all you can do is shrug your shoulders in confusion, because you still haven’t heard a thing. Lol Yeaaaah, that was me,” wrote Anderson on X.

It’s been a rocky year and a half for all Bellator fighters, to say the least.

Lack of communication between the PFL higher ups and Bellator champions has been a topic of discussion over the last year, and it seems it’s an issue that never quite got remedied. The good news, at least for certain fighters, is that PFL plans to absorb some of the talent to build up its roster, and one can only imagine that it’s almost a foregone conclusion that all champions, Anderson and Pitbull included, would be the first to sign new contracts…assuming they don’t get released altogether.

The lack of communication is one of the big issues Pitbull had with the promotion in his lengthy rant following the news of the closure.

“The self-called co-leader in MMA is ghosting some fighters/managers and leaving them with no answers while the owner makes silly and disrespectful posts on social media,” he wrote on X.

That isn’t the only change PFL made this year, as it was also recently revealed that the $1 million jackpot at the end of the season will be knocked down to $500,000. That format was one of the big reasons several free agents jumped at the chance to sign with PFL, so there is no telling how much this move will affect future signings for the promotion.

That didn’t sit well with Pitbull, either.

“The self-called fighters first organization is also changing its contracts so it’s almost impossible for fighters to be free agents and to leave on free agency. Also tying down fighters payments for many years and taking away all their leverage. Self called co-leader in MMA and fighters first organization is cutting a bunch of fighters and forcing others to take pay cuts of up to 70%. No respect for fighter contracts and what they’ve accomplished,” he added.

“When fighters were treated with respect, contracts were fair and the production had a big step up in quality, to Viacom burying it in channels nobody watched and forcing decisions the administration wasn’t in favor of, and dying in PFL’s hands once again low-balling fighters promising to lock them up forever, to ‘exercise every legal right they have’ so fighters take as long as possible to become free agents but don’t have a chance to sign for the competition. PFL has retained some of the people that made Bellator work but zero of their values.”

Anderson was in line to take on Vadim Nemkov in a trilogy fight at the upcoming “Road to Dubai” event on Jan. 25, 2025, but that fight went up in smoke, further adding to the champion’s frustrations. As for Pitbull, he was in talks to face Aaron Pico, but that fight fell through, as well. Earlier today, however, Bellator finally granted Pitbull’s request and released him form his contract.

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For all the latest PFL news and notes click here.

Russian Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) prospect Victoria Dudakova suffered her second straight loss at UFC Vegas 101 this past weekend (Sat., Jan. 11, 2025) when he got battered on the ground and eventually stopped by Fatima Kline from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (watch highlights).

Dudakova’s loss was amplified when she was caught on camera slapping her coach after her disappointing loss.

Check it out:

Now that the dust has settled, the Russian took to her Instagram to apologize for her actions.

“Emotions are a little off…

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to my husband and my coach,” Dudakova wrote. “I was sorry that in such a difficult moment, he turned his back on me and didn’t want to enter the cage. This is not an excuse and I am not looking for excuses for myself. I did wrong, I couldn’t cope with my emotions. I set a bad example for athletes and the younger generation.

I also want to apologize to sports fans.

Thanks to everyone who stays with me in this difficult situation”

After starting her career undefeated and with a lot of hype, Dudakova (8-2) has dropped two straight and missed weight in one of her two UFC wins.

At just 25 years old, she has plenty of time to turn her career around—if she gets a new UFC contract after going 2-2.

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For complete UFC Vegas 101 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

Listen to your coach? Nah!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) resident loudmouth and fan favorite Kevin Holland returns to action at UFC 311 this weekend (Sat., Jan. 18, 2025) against former ONE Championship two-division champion-turned-UFC fighter Reinier de Ridder, which is set to go down inside the brand-new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.

On paper, Holland vs. De Ridder sticks out like a sore thumb as an old-school UFC 1-style matchup between a grappler and a striker, and ultimately, that might be what it turns out to be.

Nevertheless, Holland’s motive is simple—to put on a show, as he tends to do, whether or not that includes listening to his coach, Bob Perez.

“[I’m looking at this fight the] same as any other fight, go in there and bang it out,” Holland told Demetrious Johnson. “Coaches have a game plan. They always have ideas on what I should do, and they’re usually right. It’s just a matter if go out there and implement that s—t. Hopefully, I’m in a listening mood when I go out there, but if not, I’ll give you guys what I always give you: a good scrap until it’s not.”

Holland, 32, is coming off a loss to Roman Dolizde, and he could not continue because of a nasty rib injury at UFC 307. Prior to that, he tapped Michal Oleksiejczuk, securing his eighth Performance of the Night.

On the flip side, De Ridder is coming off a sloppy win against Gerald Meerschaert in his UFC debut at UFC Vegas 100.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 311 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+/ESPNEWS “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 311: “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.