Latest news with #Bellato
USA Today
07-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Paul Craig vs. Modestas Bukauskas added to UFC Paris lineup
The lineup for the UFC's return to the world's greatest city continues to build with the addition of a new light heavyweight matchup. Modestas Bukauskas is set to take on Paul Craig when the UFC touches down in Paris in two months. UFC officials announced the booking Monday. UFC Fight Night 258 (ESPN+) takes place Sept. 6 at Accor Arena. This will be the fourth straight September the UFC has visited "The City of Lights" for a Fight Night event. Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) is in the middle of the roughest stretch of his career. Officially, he's dropped five of his past six fights. Less than a month ago, his fight with Rodolfo Bellator, which already had been pushed back a month, ended in a no contest when Craig landed an illegal upkick and Bellato couldn't continue. (Bellato was widely criticized for allegedly faking the effects of the kick.) Before that, Craig had a three-fight skid with losses to Bo Nickal Caio Borralho and Brendan Allen. Since the start of the pandemic more than five years ago, though, "The Bear Jew" has been pretty reliable when he wins. Of his five wins since 2020, four have come with post-fight bonus awards, and all have been finishes. Bukauskas (18-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) has been on a great run the past three or so years with seven wins in eight fights. And while none of those have come with bonus money, three have been stoppages. After he was cut loose from the UFC in his first stint with a three-fight skid, Bukauskas went to Cage Warriors and won the light heavyweight title in late 2022 to earn his way back to the big leagues. Since then, the 31-year-old Lithuanian has gone 5-1 in the UFC, including three straight victories over Marcin Prachnio, Raffael Cerqueira and Ion Cutelaba, the latter two both coming earlier this year. With the addition, the UFC Paris lineup now includes:
USA Today
20-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
'Game over': After fighting out contract, Paul Craig would retire if not re-signed by UFC
Paul Craig fought out his contract at UFC on ESPN 69, and now he's not sure what the future holds. Craig's light heavyweight bout against Rodolfo Bellato this past Saturday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta was ruled a no contest after he illegally upkicked Bellato with just one second remaining in Round 1. The outcome of the fight leaves Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) in a quandary, because he is winless in his past four fights and closed out his deal in unceremonious fashion. He's not left in limbo, and Craig said if UFC doesn't re-sign him, he's unsure if he'll fight again – period. "This was the last fight in my contract so, I've fought my five fights for that last contract," Craig said on the "On Paper with Anthony Smith" podcast. "And it's in the balance of like do UFC sign me? I'm coming off a few losses as a middleweight. I moved back to light heavyweight to re-energize myself my career. I don't believe I'm ready to retire from this sport. I believe there's still a lot of learning that I'm doing, and it's the training. If I'm training and doing the same stuff and getting beat up in training, and going into fights and doing the exact same stuff and getting beat up, then it's time for me to walk away. "But I do believe I'm getting better. When I look at how much my striking improved against Bo Nickal, look at how my standup has improved over the years, that's where I'm working really hard. In jiu-jitsu as well, like I'm still learning. I'm still learning simple moves in jiu-jitsu which I'm able to add to my game, and as soon as that stops, then I'll walk away from this sport. But, it's not happening right now, and I would like to continue to fight for the UFC, but if they decide that it's not for me then they kind of force your hand, and then it would be game over for me. I would just walk away from the sport." Scotland's Craig, 37, holds notable wins over former champions Magomed Ankalaev and Jamahal Hill at light heavyweight. After going 1-3 at middleweight, the he returned to his original home against Bellato at 205 pounds, but wasn't able to rebound due to the unfortunate ending.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bad news, Rodolfo Bellato: MMA history suggests even the accusation of fakery is enough to tank a career
You go back and watch the video of Rodolfo Bellato's dramatic collapse after an illegal upkick from Paul Craig at Saturday's UFC Atlanta event, and it sure seems like something was up. Its the waning seconds of the opening round. Bellato is sitting there in Craig's open guard, throwing punches from the top position. Craig fires back with a kick that catches Bellato more on the neck than the face — and Bellato stays conscious just long enough to complain to the referee before falling into a deep and peaceful sleep on the canvas. Advertisement Next stop: Controversy. Bellato snapped back to his senses looking like a man who'd suddenly woken up in a haunted house. The fight was called off after a quick visit from the doctor. With the kick by Craig ruled inadvertent, the result was an unsatisfying (and unintentionally hilarious) no contest. Not everyone believed that Rodolfo Bellato was as hurt as he appeared to be by Paul Craig's accidental foul at Saturday's UFC Fight Night in Atlanta. (Cooper Neill via Getty Images) Now, for Bellato, comes the really hard part. Now he has to live with the accusation that he's a flopper and a faker. And if MMA history tells us anything, that's the one brand you don't scrub off easily. Don't believe me? Go ask Aljamain Sterling. He won a UFC title via disqualification in 2021 after taking an illegal knee from Petr Yan at UFC 259. A lot of fans have never let him hear the end of it. Even now, more than four years later, Sterling knew he couldn't weigh in on Bellato's questionable finish without hearing it all over again. Advertisement 'Now I know people are saying I'm an actor, I got my belt from acting, and I was selling it really pretending to really be hurt and not continue,' Sterling said on his YouTube channel after casting doubt on the legitimacy of Bellato's reaction. 'Guys, I legitimately was really hurt. Oh my God, I can't believe we're still talking about this, people still bring this up. At this point it's just hilarious, because it's like I don't know what else I need to do to prove to you that I was actually hurt. How do I prove that I was throwing up in the bathroom and had a concussion?' Again, just to be clear, it's Sterling who brought it up this time. He's basically having this conversation with an imagined YouTube commenter, heading off the criticism that he knows is coming. And yeah, if you scroll down to the actual comments, you'll see he's not far off. There are definitely those who still think he overreacted his way to a UFC title, and there's probably nothing that could convince them otherwise. Same thing with Josh Koscheck. Remember how he played up a couple different illegal knees — one against Paul Daley, another against Anthony Johnson — grasping at his eye even though replays showed pretty conclusively that neither one really landed? Advertisement Or how about Henry Cejudo? Just a few months ago he went to the scorecards early after insisting he couldn't see following eye pokes from Song Yadong in a UFC headliner. It seemed like a pretty reasonable claim after the way Yadong's fingers dug all the way into his eye sockets, and still Cejudo had to defend himself in interviews for weeks. No sport really loves a flopper or a faker, but none hates the very idea like fight sports do. A soccer player can throw himself to the pitch after mild contact and roll around like he just had his liver removed without anesthesia and it's to be expected. A basketball player can get knocked over by a stiff indoor breeze and at least his own team will appreciate the effort to draw a whistle. But if a fighter is even suspected of pretending to be hurt worse than he is, it's practically a hanging offense. Here, unlike in other sports, no one is on your team. No one feels like your display was all in service of doing a favor for their side. They just feel like you're faking it so you can go home early. Fans will never let him hear the end of that. Advertisement The cruel irony is that it doesn't work the same way in reverse. Dramatize an injury in the hopes of a disqualification or a point deduction and we will despise you for it. But if you put on that stiff upper lip and insist the foul was no biggie, you can expect very muted gratitude. The best example of this might be Anthony Smith. In his 2019 light heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones at UFC 235, Smith ate a blatantly illegal knee late in a fight he was losing on the scorecards. There was no question about it. He'd been fouled, badly, and in a way that clearly hurt his chances to come back and win the fight. He could have stayed down and tried for a disqualification win to steal away the belt, which he likely would have gotten. Instead he got up and lost. Did people appreciate him for that? Sure, a little bit. For a time. Then they mostly forgot and moved on. The attaboys you get for continuing on always pale in comparison with the hate you'd receive if you didn't. It's not even close, really. Consider what Bellato would have to do in order to put this all the way behind him. He could become UFC champion and still, for a lot of fans, this would be the one thing they'd remember about him. (This and the fact that the first scheduled fight with Craig was called off due to Bellato's herpes infection, which doesn't exactly help the public image campaign.) Something like this — whether the accusation has merit or not, whether you were really hurt or just really committed to the bit — is a potentially lifelong stain in a sport so unforgiving. You can scrub it with wins and triumphs all you want afterward. Still it will never come all the way out.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
UFC's Rodolfo Bellato issues statement on 'actor' accusations after appearing to flop
Rodolfo Bellato takes umbrage with the notion that he wanted out of his fight with Paul Craig at UFC on ESPN 69. This past Saturday's light heavyweight bout between Bellato (12-2-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) and Paul Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) was ruled a no contest after Bellato was illegally upkicked with just one second remaining in Round 1. As soon as he was struck, Bellato complained to referee Kevin MacDonald, then fell back to the canvas as he appeared knocked out. He immediately regained consciousness and tried to wrestle MacDonald, which had many people – including the ESPN broadcast team – accusing him of milking the extent of the damage. Advertisement Well aware of the criticism, Bellato released a statement on Instagram. "I saw some things on the internet, saying I was an actor there and stuff," Bellato wrote. ".. the moment i was on the ground, i didn't expect to get kicked in the face (illegally).. it was a strong kick, when I looked at the judge to complain, my whole body began to tingle and my vision disappeared.. after that i dont remember anything "Anyone who's known me the longest knows I would NEVER do this, I've never run from war. I hit 2x in less than 30 days, 2 trips in a row. Why would I fake something after all I been through and on top of that winning the first round?" Craig refused to accuse Bellato of quitting and took full responsibility for throwing the illegal upkick that caused the fight-ending sequence. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC fighter who appeared to flop addresses 'actor' accusations
USA Today
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
UFC's Rodolfo Bellato issues statement on 'actor' accusations after appearing to flop
UFC's Rodolfo Bellato issues statement on 'actor' accusations after appearing to flop Rodolfo Bellato takes umbrage with the notion that he wanted out of his fight with Paul Craig at UFC on ESPN 69. This past Saturday's light heavyweight bout between Bellato (12-2-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) and Paul Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) was ruled a no contest after Bellato was illegally upkicked with just one second remaining in Round 1. As soon as he was struck, Bellato complained to referee Kevin MacDonald, then fell back to the canvas as he appeared knocked out. He immediately regained consciousness and tried to wrestle MacDonald, which had many people – including the ESPN broadcast team – accusing him of milking the extent of the damage. Well aware of the criticism, Bellato released a statement on Instagram. "I saw some things on the internet, saying I was an actor there and stuff," Bellato wrote. ".. the moment i was on the ground, i didn't expect to get kicked in the face (illegally).. it was a strong kick, when I looked at the judge to complain, my whole body began to tingle and my vision disappeared.. after that i dont remember anything "Anyone who's known me the longest knows I would NEVER do this, I've never run from war. I hit 2x in less than 30 days, 2 trips in a row. Why would I fake something after all I been through and on top of that winning the first round?" Craig refused to accuse Bellato of quitting and took full responsibility for throwing the illegal upkick that caused the fight-ending sequence.
