Sunday, May 25, 2014

5/25/14

Taking last week off from my review was a bummer but boy is it good to be back. Unfortunately I have nothing to say about last weeks Bellator event or their first Pay Per View effort because by now that is old news. I do however have a lot to say about UFC 173.

On what seemed to be a down weekend in terms of MMA, UFC 173 looked like it was going to be a sub-par fight card. That was not the case whatsoever. Welterweight Robbie Lawler, fresh off his failed title attempt against Johny Hendricks, looked impressive. Lawler defeated Jake Ellenberger via TKO at 3:06 of round 3. The co-main event saw Light Heavyweight Daniel Cormier remain undefeated following a dismantling of veteran Dan Henderson. Cormier put Henderson to sleep with a rear naked choke at 3:53 of round 3. The main event ended the night in a way that barely anyone other than Rashad Evans could have predicted. Bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw put on the performance of his life by out striking, out grappling and out wrestling the champion Renan Barao. Dillashaw became the new champion by finishing Barao via TKO at 2:26 of round 5. 

Titan FC has booked two title fights that will most likely take place at Titan FC 29 in August. Jason Brilz and Vinny Magalhaes will fight for the vacant Light Heavyweight title while Matthew Riddle and Jose Landi-Jons will fight for the vacant Welterweight belt. 

After Jake Shields pulled out of the fight, Jon Fitch will now face Josh Burkman for a third time at WSOF 11. The fight will serve as the co-main event.


Sunday, May 11, 2014

5/11/14

It's not every week that an MMA filled weekend is kicked off with a lackluster Bellator fight card. Unfortunately, this weekends Bellator 119 event fit into that category. An event that was cursed with the injury bug saw all but one of the main card fights go the distance. The only main card fight that ended due to a stoppage was the main event between Daniel Weichel and Desmond Green. Weichel defeated Green via rear naked choke at 2:07 of round 2 to win the season 10 Featherweight tournament.

MFC 40 was the complete opposite of Bellator 119 in regards to the amount of excitement. Bantamweight Jesse Brock defeated Kevin Croom by split decision in a fight that served as a title eliminator. Tom Gallicchio won the Lightweight belt by finishing Kurt Southern for the second time by rear naked choke. This one came in the first round at 4:11. The main event saw Sam Alvey successfully defend his Middleweight belt against Wes Swofford. Alvey won by KO at 1:02 of round 4.

It was the night of the knockout at UFC Fight Night 40. Middleweight Constantinos Philippou got back to his winning ways by KOing Lorenz Larkin at 3:47 of round 1. In the main event Welterweight Matt Brown continued his winning streak in a fight of the year performance against Erik Silva. Brown came back to win by TKO at 2:11 of round 3.

Junior Dos Santos has been forced out of his TUF Brazil 3 Finale fight with Stipe Miocic due to injury. Fellow Heavyweight Fabio Maldonado will step in.

Bellator 120 will remain a PPV event despite losing half of the headlining fight. Eddie Alvarez is out because of an injury and Will Brooks will step up to face Michael Chandler for the interim Lightweight title.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

5/4/14

MMA in May kicked off with ONE FC 15. Lightweight Eduard Folayang defeated the man they call "no face", Kotetsu Boku by unanimous decision. In the main event Bibiano Fernandes successfully defended his Bantamweight belt against Masakatsu Ueda by unanimous decision.

Up next was Bellator 118. Andrey Koreshkov moved on to the season 10 Welterweight tournament final by knocking out Justin Baesman with a flying knee fit for a highlight tape. The KO came at 1:41 of round 1. The main event saw Joe Warren become the first man in Bellator to have won belts in two different weight classes. Warren, the former Featherweight champion, defeated Rafael Silva by unanimous decision to become the interim Bantamweight champion. His next fight will be against current Bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas.

The main event of Cage Warriors 68 saw Welterweight Danny Roberts earn a TKO win over veteran Jim Wallhead at 4:49 of round 1.

Andrei Arlovski's return to the UFC will be against fellow Heavyweight Brendan Schaub at UFC 174 on June 14.

The UFC is suing a New York man for allegedly pirating the promotions fights. If true, the man could be forced to fork over $32 million.

WSOF 11 has added a Welterweight contest between former UFC fighters Jon Fitch and Jake Shields. The fight will serve as the co-main event.

A third title fight has been added to WSOF 10. This one will feature Jessica Aguilar attempting to defend her Women's Strawweight belt for the first time against Emi Fujino.

UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo will defend his title against Chad Mendes in the main event of UFC 176. The two first fought at UFC 142 with Aldo finishing the fight by KO (knee) late in round 1.