MMA WEEKEND--UFC ON ESPN+ 17

UFC on ESPN+ 17: Rodriguez vs. Stephens

Saturday 09.21.2019 at 05:00 PM ET

U.S. Broadcast: ESPN+

Yair Rodriguez  vs.  Jeremy Stephens 145 lbs

Carla Esparza  vs.  Alexa Grasso 115 lbs

Askar Askarov  vs.  Brandon Moreno 125 lbs

Irene Aldana  vs.  Vanessa Melo 135 lbs

Martín Bravo  vs.  Steven Peterson 145 lbs

J. Quiñones  vs.  Carlos Huachin 135 lbs

Polo Reyes  vs.  Kyle Nelson 145 lbs

Angela Hill  vs.  Ariane Carnelossi 115 lbs

Sergio Pettis  vs.  Tyson Nam 125 lbs

Vinicius Moreira  vs.  Paul Craig 205 lbs

Sijara Eubanks  vs.  Bethe Correia 135 lbs

Claudio Puelles  vs.  Marcos Mariano 155 lbs

NEF FIGHT VIDEOS: Dom Jones vs. Josh Harvey | Ras Hylton vs. Chris Sarro | Tom Pagliarulo vs. Jimmy Jackson

RICHARD AND MURRAY TO SQUARE OFF FOR VACANT LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE AT NEF 41

Zac Richard

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

Portland, Maine (September 18, 2019) – New England Fights (NEF) returns to Aura in Portland, Maine on November 9, 2019 with its next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 41: Collision Course.”  Earlier today, NEF announced the addition of an amateur lightweight title fight to the card.  Zac “Rocky” Richard (4-2-1) is scheduled to meet “Magic” Mike Murray (2-0) for the vacant NEF Amateur Lightweight Championship.

 Zac Richard is coming off an impressive win earlier this month at “NEF 40” in Orono, Maine.  Richard was caught in an armbar against his opponent, Erik Tainter (0-2), when he lifted Tainter into the air and slammed him on the back of his head, getting the win by knockout.  It was Richard’s first win since November 2018.

 The fight with Murray will be Richard’s second attempt at capturing gold this year in the NEF cage.  He lost to Tom Pagliarulo (4-1) in April at “NEF 38” in a bout for the promotion’s vacant featherweight title.  Richard represents Nostos MMA of Somersworth, New Hampshire where he trains under current UFC competitor, and former NEF Professional Lightweight Champion, Devin Powell (9-4).

 “I’m very excited to be back in Portland and thankful I get to fight for the lightweight title,” said Richard.  “This is my second opponent already for this fight. I don’t care who shows up, I’m just ready to fight.”

SMITH WILL DEFEND WELTERWEIGHT TITLE AGAINST NORMAN IN PORTLAND

Duncan Smith

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

 Portland, Maine (September 17, 2019) – New England Fights (NEF) returns to Aura in Portland, Maine on November 9, 2019 with its next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 41: Collision Course.”  Earlier today, NEF announced the addition of an amateur welterweight title fight to the card.  Duncan “The Highlander” Smith (5-3) is scheduled to defend the NEF Amateur Welterweight Championship against Jordan Norman (2-1).

 Duncan Smith has held the 170-pound title since June 2018 when he defeated Carlton Charles (3-2) by fourth-round submission at “NEF 34” in Portland for the then-vacant belt.  He is a perfect 3-0 in the NEF cage as an amateur.  In his most recent appearance with the promotion, Smith successfully defended his title against Jon Tefft (2-1) this past April at “NEF 38.”  He represents Evolution Athletix based in Saco, Maine.

SHEA TO CHALLENGE ARNOLD FOR BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE AT NEF 41

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

 Portland, Maine (September 16, 2019) – New England Fights (NEF) returns to Aura in Portland, Maine on November 9, 2019 with its next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 41: Collision Course.”  “Killa” Kam Arnold (5-1) is scheduled to defend the NEF Amateur Bantamweight Championship that evening against challenger Walt Shea (3-1) at a scratch weight of 135 pounds.

 This is not the first time Arnold and Shea were to meet for the belt.  Arnold was originally scheduled to defend the title against Shea in November 2018 at “NEF 36.”  Unfortunately, the bout was canceled when Shea was injured in training.

 Kam Arnold has held the championship for well over a year, having defeated Killian Murphy (1-2) via technical knockout at “NEF 34” in June 2018.  His most recent win in the NEF cage came in April of this year when Arnold knocked out Henry Clark (5-5) in just 21 seconds.  Arnold is a perfect 5-0 in the NEF cage, the only loss of his amateur MMA career coming on a card in Massachusetts earlier this summer.  He currently represents Recon Fitness based in Westbrook, Maine.

Breaking News: After Dropping Jaws at NEF 40; Chris “Golden Gloves” Sarro (1-0 Professional MMA) Inks “Dream Deal” with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

Travis Lizotte

Ellsworth, Maine - Friday; September 13th, 2019; Cruiserweight Chris “Golden Gloves” Sarro (1-0, Acadia BJJ) has signed an exclusive three fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), a Philidelphia, PA based national promoter of Bare-Knuckle Boxing. Sarro gained the attention of BKFC over a year ago after capturing the title of Super-Heavyweight Northern New England Golden Gloves Champion and finishing his amateur boxing career with an impressive 7-1 record. Sarro says it has been a dream of his to fight nationally for BKFC for a long time now, even telling WesternMassMMA.com that the letters BKFC have been branded above his bedroom door since the promotion showed interest in him last summer. Sarro however had one last hurdle to jump before he could sign with the promotion, and that hurdle was demolished at New England Fights 40: School of Hard Knocks just last Saturday (September 7th) in Orono, Maine when Sarro took just over a minute to dispatch New England Cruiserweight veteran Ras Hylton (4-3) by vicious Knockout in his professional MMA debut. With an impressive showing in his professional MMA debut, Sarro’s phone has been ringing off the hook with offers from regional MMA promotions but Chris has been steadfast all along waiting for the call from David Feldman, President/ Owner of BKFC, so that he could put pen to paper and make year long dream become a reality. As of 4 pm Eastern time the contract has been signed and Sarro is now waiting on the promotion to match his first contest that could take place as soon as BKFC 9; November 22nd.