Plenty of things can happen in the world of MMA in seven days.

From event announcements and the fights on the weekend to the best tweets and latest trash talk between fighters, we’ll keep you in the know at the end of each week with the latest happenings in the sport.

But first off, make sure you buy this year’s Holiday Issue of Fighters Only Magazine! It’s now available on all good newsstands and on the Fighters Only app, featuring the likes of Tyron Woodley, Michael “Venom” Page, Weili Zhang, Demetrious Johnson and more:

 

The Fights

Michael “Venom” Page sends Gianni Melillo into orbit with KO at Bellator London

Michael “Venom” Page continued his path to redemption with a brutal walk-off knockout over Italian Gianni Melillo at Bellator London on Saturday night.

Melillo, who bravely stepped up to face “MVP” on short notice after original opponent Derek Anderson withdrew, was little match for Page.

It’s fair to say this wasn’t an unexpected outcome. MVP toyed with Melillo and got his foe to respond to nearly all the feints he threw in his trademark point karate stance.

In the fight’s crescendo, Melillo was in retreat – again reacting to his advancing foe’s feints. As soon as the Italian sought to engage, Page was waiting with a big overhand right to send Melillo crashing down to the canvas to send the audience at Wembley’s SSE Arena into raptures.

After the bout, MVP called out Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima – the one man to ever hand the Londoner a defeat inside the cage.

Bellator London: MVP vs. Melillo main card results
Welterweight: Michael Page def. Gianni Melillo by KO (punch) at 1:47 of round one
Middleweight: Fabian Edwards def. Michael Shipman by split decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Soren Bak def. Terry Brazier by unanimous decision after three rounds

 

Cage Warriors 111: Nathias Frederick wins middleweight title, Modestas Bukauskas defends his

Birmingham’s Nathias Frederick became the second city’s second Cage Warriors champion on Friday night, joining lightweight champion Jai Herbert, after snatching away James Webb’s middleweight title.

Frederick had to weather the storm in the contest’s early stages as Webb sought to utilise his grappling advantage. Frederick kept his composure to stay in the fight until he unleashed a barrage of punches and a knee to force the fight to be stopped with just one second remaining the in the fourth round.

This Frederick win comes after he and Webb fought to a majority draw earlier in the summer.

In the co-main event, Lithuania’s Modestas Bukauskas defended his Cage Warriors light heavyweight championship with a first-round knockout over Riccardo Nosiglia.

While defending a takedown against the cage, Bukauskas drove a number of powerful elbows into the side of Nosiglia’s head, eventually rendering him unconscious.

It was an emphatic win for Bukauskas, who then pleaded for the UFC to sign him. Will we see Bukauskas competing in the Octagon any time soon?

Cage Warriors 111 main card results
Middleweight Championship: Nathias Frederick def. James Webb by TKO (strikes) in the fourth round
Light Heavyweight Championship: Modestas Bukauskas def. Riccardo Nosiglia by KO (elbows) in the first round
Lightweight: Mads Burnell def. Steve Aimable by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Joilton Lutterbach def. Alex Lahore by KO (punches) in the first round

 

MMA News

Ben Askren announced his retirement from MMA

Last week, former One Championship and Bellator MMA welterweight champion announced his retirement from mixed martial arts competition.

Askren made his decision after find out he has been told he requires a hip replacement after years of nagging injuries.

Read more about this story here.

UFC announces return to London’s O2 Arena on 21 March 2020

The UFC are set for a return to London on 21 March next year.

At present, there are no official fights announced for the promotion’s return to the O2 Arena in 2020, but rumours of a fight between Liverpool’s Darren Till and former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker are swirling.

Read more about this story here.

Conor McGregor manager says Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fight talks are “progressing”

It looks like former UFC two-weight champion Conor McGregor is set for a return to the Octagon in 2020 against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

McGregor’s long-time manager Audie Attar hopes there will be an announcement in the coming weeks.

Read more about this story here.

Khabib Nurmagomedov still wants to fight Georges St. Pierre

Khabib Nurmagomedov has made it no secret that he would like to fight the retired Georges St. Pierre even if he is fighting Tony Ferguson next.

Despite the French Canadian’s retirement, Khabib still wants the fight.

Read more about this story here.

Jon Jones set to defend his UFC light heavyweight championship against Dominick Reyes in Houston

 

Top Tweets of the Week

Israel Adesanya

It looks like the ever-growing beef between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones isn’t going away any time soon.

Conor McGregor

As mentioned above, Conor McGregor is angling for an MMA comeback in 2020 after not setting foot in the UFC’s Octagon in 2019.

Jorge Masvidal

While McGregor has been on a hiatus, Jorge Masvidal’s rise to super stardom has been MMA’s biggest story this calendar year.

It appears the UFC’s “BMF” wants a big payday fight with “The Notorious.”

Dana White

UFC President Dana White has long fuelled the rumours that he will be getting involved in the sport of boxing some time in the future.

This week, he and Floyd Mayweather Jr. dropped the bomb that they will be working together for the latter’s comeback next year.