MMA Odds and Ends for Thursday: MMAAA Conference Call, TUF 24 Winner Announced, Gastleum clear for UFC 206

MMAAA Conference Call  Georges St-Pierre, Tim Kennedy, Cain Velasquez, Donald Cerrone, T.J. Dillashaw and former Bellator MMA President Bjorn Rebney announced Thursday the start of the MMA Athletes Association. Listen to the full conference call below.     Tim Elliott wins ‘TUF 24’, faces Demetrious Johnson Saturday at TUF 24 Finale The main event for The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale is official, Tim Elliott will return to the UFC to face flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Elliott (13-6-1) defeated Hiromasa Ogikubo in the TUF 24 tournament final, to punch his ticket to a UFC flyweight title shot. Prior to that, the 29-year old was the Titan FC flyweight champion and had heads into this matchup off three-straight wins. Johnson (24-2-1) hasn’t lost a fight since 2011 and has won 10-straight fights including a first round TKO over Henry Cejudo at UFC 197. The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale takes place at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Here’s an updated look at the card. MAIN CARD (10 p.m. ET) Champ Demetrious Johnson vs. Tim Elliott – for flyweight title Joseph Benavidez vs. Henry Cejudo Jake Ellenberger vs. Jorge Masvidal Jared Cannonier vs. Ion Cutelaba Alexis Davis vs. Sara McMann Ryan Benoit vs. Brandon Moreno PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET) Ryan Hall vs. Gray Maynard Rob Font vs. Matt Schnell Kailin Curran vs. Jamie Moyle Devin Clark vs. Josh Stansbury PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET) Elvis Mutapcic vs. Anthony Smith “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim vs. Brendan O’Reilly   Kelvin Gastelum suspension with New York commission lifted, cleared to fight at UFC 206 According to ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, the NYSAC settled and lifted their six-month suspension with Kelvin Gastelum as the UFC middleweight paid a $2,000 fine for missing weight at UFC 205. Gastelum (12-2) will officially face Tim Kennedy at UFC 206 next week and is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 200 back in July. Kennedy (18-5) competes for the first time since Sept 2014 and heads into this matchup off a TKO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178. UFC 206 takes place at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada next Saturday (December 10th).   Paul Daley vs. Brennan Ward set for Bellator 170 Bellator officials announced that welterweights Paul Daley and Brennan Ward will clash at Bellator 170 on January 21st, 2017. Daley (38-14-2) suffered his first defeat in the Bellator cage back in July, as he endured a unanimous-decision loss to welterweight champion Douglas Lima. The loss snapped his five-fight win streak. Ward (14-4) is coming off a first-round knockout win over Saad Awad at Bellator 163. Bellator 170 takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Here’s an updated look at the card… MAIN CARD Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen Ralek Gracie vs. Hisaki Kato Paul Daley vs. Brennan Ward Colleen Schneider vs. opponent TBA PRELIMINARY CARD Gabriel Green vs. Jalin Turner Christian Gonzalez vs. Daniel Rodriguez

Written by James Lynch

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