Five major fight cards in only two days, what more could you ask for as a MMA fan? Not to mention Cage Warriors event that featured two main cards. This weekend was like a buffet of fights.
Starting things off was Legacy FC 37 on Friday night. Mike Bronzoulis made a successful move to Lightweight with a second round rear naked choke win over Justin Reiswerg at 4:51. The main event put two UFC veterans against one another as Daniel Pineda took on Leonard Garcia in a Bantamweight bout. Pineda made quick work of him with a kimura at 1:54 of round 1. Following the loss, Garcia announced his retirement.
Cage Warriors made its way back to London for two main cards at Cage Warriors 74. The main events for both consisted of title fights. The first was for the inaugural Women's Bantamweight title. Pannie Kianzad won a unanimous decision over Eeva Siiskonen to claim the belt. The second was for the Welterweight belt. Nicolas Dalby retained his title with a unanimous decision over Mohsen Bahari.
WSOF 15 put three belts on the line, though Melvin Guillard missing weight made it two. First was Jessica Aguilar defending her Women's Strawweight title with a unanimous decision over Kalindra Faria. Next up was Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje whose fight was made into a Catchweight bout because of Guillard missing weight. Gaethje won a slug fest by way of a split decision. In the main event David Branch successfully defended his Middleweight title for the first time against UFC veteran Yushin Okami. Branch won via TKO at 3:39 of round 4.
At Bellator 131 Welterweight kick boxer Joe Schilling made his return to MMA after a six year layoff. He did so impressively as he earned a flash KO over veteran Melvin Manhoef at :32 of round 2. Will Brooks solidified his interim Lightweight championship with a TKO win over former champion Michael Chandler at 3:48 of round 4. The main event saw an end to the trash talk between Light Heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar. Ortiz won a split decision.
Finishing up the eventful weekend was UFC 180. Featherweight Ricardo Lamas returned to the win column with an impressive win over Dennis Bermudez via guillotine at 3:18 of round 1. Welterweight Kelvin Gastelum earned a rear naked choke win over Jake Ellenberger at 4:46 of round 1. In the main event Fabricio Werdum won the interim Heavyweight title over Mark Hunt with a big TKO from a knee at 2:27 of round 2.
Bellator FC has announced its first four title fights to be held in 2015. At Bellator 132 Patricio Freire will look to defend his Featherweight belt against former champion Daniel Straus. At Bellator 133 Welterweight champion Douglas Lima will take on former UFC fighter Paul Daley and Light Heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton will fight against the undefeated Liam McGeary. Finally, at Bellator 134 Bantamweight champion Joe Warren will take on Marcos Galvao.
ESPN has hired Chael Sonnen as their newest MMA analyst.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Sunday, November 9, 2014
11/9/14
At ONE FC 22, Welterweight Luis "Sapo" Santos continued his hot streak of finishes by dispatching Bakhtiyar Abbasov via submission (knee to the body) at :53 of round 1. Lightweight Koji Ando defeated Zorobabel Moreira by TKO 4:21 of round 3. The main event saw Igor Svirid claim the inaugural Middleweight belt by defeating Leandro Ataides by KO at just :17 of round 1.
RFA 20 saw undefeated Luke Sanders win the vacant Bantamweight belt against Jarred Mercado in impressive fashion. Sanders won via TKO (knee) at 1:06 of round 1.
UFC Fight Night 55 in Australia set a promotional record with 11 finishes in 11 fights. Lightweight Al Iaquinta earned a big TKO win against Ross Pearson at 1:39 of round 2. The main event put an end to months of trash talk as Middleweight Luke Rockhold took on Michael Bisping. Rockhold won by one armed guillotine at :57 of round 2.
UFC Fight Night 56 took place on the other side of the world in Brazil. Welterweight Warlley Alves won a controversial decision over Alan Jouban. In the main event Light Heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux shocked everyone by getting a TKO victory over veteran "Shogun" Rua. The stoppage came at :34 of round 1.
Welterweight Roan Carneiro will only be fined $100 rather than the original amount of $15,000. The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission fined Carneiro after he showed up late to his pre-fight physical for the Battleground MMA O.N.E. tournament. Carneiro, who won the tournament, received $50,000 in prize money for doing so.
The UFC will serve as a title sponsor for the 2015 British Open Judo Championships.
RFA 20 saw undefeated Luke Sanders win the vacant Bantamweight belt against Jarred Mercado in impressive fashion. Sanders won via TKO (knee) at 1:06 of round 1.
UFC Fight Night 55 in Australia set a promotional record with 11 finishes in 11 fights. Lightweight Al Iaquinta earned a big TKO win against Ross Pearson at 1:39 of round 2. The main event put an end to months of trash talk as Middleweight Luke Rockhold took on Michael Bisping. Rockhold won by one armed guillotine at :57 of round 2.
UFC Fight Night 56 took place on the other side of the world in Brazil. Welterweight Warlley Alves won a controversial decision over Alan Jouban. In the main event Light Heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux shocked everyone by getting a TKO victory over veteran "Shogun" Rua. The stoppage came at :34 of round 1.
Welterweight Roan Carneiro will only be fined $100 rather than the original amount of $15,000. The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission fined Carneiro after he showed up late to his pre-fight physical for the Battleground MMA O.N.E. tournament. Carneiro, who won the tournament, received $50,000 in prize money for doing so.
The UFC will serve as a title sponsor for the 2015 British Open Judo Championships.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
10/16/14
Bellator 130 started off a weekend with only two major MMA cards. Women's Featherweight veteran Marloes Coenen held the honors of bringing back WMMA to Bellator with a third round rear naked choke of Linton Vassell at :57. Heavyweight Bobby Lashley moved to 2-0 under the Bellator banner with a submission due to strikes of Karl Etherington at 1:31 of round 2. In the main event Emanuel Newton successfully defended his Light Heavyweight belt against Linton Vassell in a come from behind win. Newton won via rear naked choke at :47 of round 5.
UFC 179 won't exactly go down as the best card in the promotions history. Light Heavyweight Phil Davis won a unanimous decision over Glover Teixeira by utilizing his wrestling and grappling. Jose Aldo defended his Featherweight title against Chad Mendes. The unanimous decision earned fight of the night.
UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been forced out of his UFC 180 title defense due to injury. The UFC 180 main event will now be for the interim Heavyweight belt, putting Mark Hunt against Fabricio Werdum.
UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will attempt to defend her belt against Cat Zingano at UFC 182. The contest will serve as the co-main event.
A third UFC title fight is now official. Middleweight champion Chris Weidman will finally fight Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 184.
Titan Fighting Championship has signed former UFC Featherweight Steven Siler along with four other fighters. This continues the trend of Titan FC signing a mass amount of young experienced fighters.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
10/19/14
ONE FC kept up their high frequency of events this weekend with a fight card in Malaysia. In the main event undefeated Russian Featherweight Marat Gafurov defeated Rob Lisita by rear naked choke at 1:08 of round 1.
Two belts were on the line at Legacy FC 36. First up was the Flyweight title. Damacio Page delivered a highlight reel KO against Brian Hall at 1:48 of round 1 to claim the belt. The second title fight was in the Heavyweight division. Cody East took home the belt after defeating Vernon Lewis via TKO at 3:26 of round 1.
At Bellator 129 Light Heavyweights Housten Alexander and Virgil Zwicker fought to a majority draw after Alexander was docked a point for headbutting. In the main event Welterweight Paul Bradley defeated Josh Neer by utilizing his wrestling in a hard fought unanimous decision.
UFC Featherweight "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung will be sidelined for no less than two years as he has to fulfill South Korea's military service requirement.
Both UFC Welterweight contender Rory MacDonald and Titan FC Heavyweight champion Vinny Maghalaes will compete in Metamoris 5.
Two belts were on the line at Legacy FC 36. First up was the Flyweight title. Damacio Page delivered a highlight reel KO against Brian Hall at 1:48 of round 1 to claim the belt. The second title fight was in the Heavyweight division. Cody East took home the belt after defeating Vernon Lewis via TKO at 3:26 of round 1.
At Bellator 129 Light Heavyweights Housten Alexander and Virgil Zwicker fought to a majority draw after Alexander was docked a point for headbutting. In the main event Welterweight Paul Bradley defeated Josh Neer by utilizing his wrestling in a hard fought unanimous decision.
UFC Featherweight "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung will be sidelined for no less than two years as he has to fulfill South Korea's military service requirement.
Both UFC Welterweight contender Rory MacDonald and Titan FC Heavyweight champion Vinny Maghalaes will compete in Metamoris 5.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
10/12/14
At Bellator 128 the ever so flashy Michael Page put on a show with his striking skills against Nah-Shon Burrell. Page won by unanimous decision by keeping it standing for a majority of the fight. In the main event "The Baddest Man on the Planet" Joe Warren unified the Bantamweight titles by defeating Eduardo Dantas via unanimous decision in an exciting affair.
RFA 19 saw Jake Collier claim the vacant Middleweight belt by submitting Gabriel Checco via rear naked choke at 4:27 of round 1.
World Series of Fighting made its return to Canada for WSOF 14. Featherweight Chris Horodecki defeated Luis Huete by unanimous decision. Smealinho Rama claimed the inaugural Heavyweight strap by battering Derrick Mehmen. Rama won by TKO at just :51 of round 1. In the main event Welterweight Jake Shields cruised past Ryan Ford by putting his grappling skills to use. Shields won by way of rear naked choke at 4:29 of round 1.
Invicta FC has officially partnered with TUFF-N-UFF. The winner of TUFF-N-UFF's amateur tournaments will be awarded an Invicta contract.
Rory MacDonald will meet the winner of Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler who fight for the Welterweight title at UFC 181. MacDonald earned his title shot after knocking out Tarec Saffiedine at UFC Fight Night 54.
UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie is now Bellator's national brand ambassador.
RFA 19 saw Jake Collier claim the vacant Middleweight belt by submitting Gabriel Checco via rear naked choke at 4:27 of round 1.
World Series of Fighting made its return to Canada for WSOF 14. Featherweight Chris Horodecki defeated Luis Huete by unanimous decision. Smealinho Rama claimed the inaugural Heavyweight strap by battering Derrick Mehmen. Rama won by TKO at just :51 of round 1. In the main event Welterweight Jake Shields cruised past Ryan Ford by putting his grappling skills to use. Shields won by way of rear naked choke at 4:29 of round 1.
Invicta FC has officially partnered with TUFF-N-UFF. The winner of TUFF-N-UFF's amateur tournaments will be awarded an Invicta contract.
Rory MacDonald will meet the winner of Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler who fight for the Welterweight title at UFC 181. MacDonald earned his title shot after knocking out Tarec Saffiedine at UFC Fight Night 54.
UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie is now Bellator's national brand ambassador.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
10/5/14
MFC 41 went down Friday night and the main event featured a super fight between Lightweights Shane Campbell and Marcus Edwards. Campbell got the win in a very exciting fight. His TKO victory came at :29 of round 2.
At Bellator 127 Welterweight Fernando Gonzalez earned an upset win over veteran Karo Parisyan by TKO at 1:43 of round 1. In the main event Former Featherweight champion Daniel Straus got back on track with a devastating KO of Justin Wilcox at :50 of round 1.
One night tournaments are rare in MMA. BattleGrounds MMA gave us that rare occasion on Friday night with a one night Welterweight tournament. The eight man tournament featured many prominent fighters such as Brock Larson, Cody McKenzie and Jesse Taylor. However, not one of those fighters won it all. It was Roan Carneiro who emerged on top at the end of the night. Carneiro defeated Randall Wallace via armbar at 3:29 of round 1 in the opening round of the tournament. In the semi finals he beat Trey Houston by TKO at 2:11 of round 2. In the tournament final he defeated Brock Larson by unanimous decision. Winning the tournament earned Carneiro the $50,000 grand prize.
Saturday was dominated by the Ultimate Fighting Championship who held two events in one day. The first event took place in Stockholm, Sweden where Welterweight Rick Story won a split decision on questionable scoring over Gunnar Nelson. The second was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Welterweight contender and crowd favorite Rory MacDonald earned a TKO win over Tarec Saffiedine at 1:28 of round 3. The win will most likely get him a title shot.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
9/28/14
The month of September went out with a BANG in regards to MMA. Out of the five major events this past weekend, we saw: A champion losing his title, an inaugural title being won dramatically and two fighters returning from long layoffs.
Titan Fighting Championship 30 kicked things off in a great way. The co-main event saw Bantamweight Walel Watson come from behind and submit Anthony Gutierrez via triangle choke. The sub came at 3:02 of round 1 after Watson survived a barrage of punches from Gutierrez. The main event saw Vinny Magalhaes claim the inaugural Light Heavyweight title from Jason Brilz after he secured an arm triangle at :36 of round 4.
Bellator 126 featured a fight in the season 10 Lightweight tournament final. Marcin Held won that title by grinding out a hard fought decision win over Patricky "Pitbull" Freire. In the main event Alexander Shlemenko lost his Middleweight belt in just :35. He lost it to Brandon Halsey by rear naked choke in round 1.
A Light Heavyweight championship was on the line at Legacy FC 35. Leonardo Leite won that championship by earning a TKO over Myron Dennis at 4:50 of round 4.
The XFC returned with XFC International 6. The main event saw Deivison Ribeiro retain his Featherweight belt against Waylon Lowe by getting a TKO at :11 of round 4.
UFC 178 easily lived up to its hype. Featherweight Conor McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier at just 1:46 of round 1 by TKO. Lightweight veteran Donald Cerrone successfully came back from a slow start to beat former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez by unanimous decision. The main event saw Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson defend his belt yet again, this time against Chris Cariaso. Johnson won via kimura at 2:29 of round 2. Other winners included Dominick Cruz and Cat Zingano, both of which were returning from long layoffs.
With Chris Weidman hurt, the Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler Welterweight title rematch will now headline UFC 181.
Titan Fighting Championship 30 kicked things off in a great way. The co-main event saw Bantamweight Walel Watson come from behind and submit Anthony Gutierrez via triangle choke. The sub came at 3:02 of round 1 after Watson survived a barrage of punches from Gutierrez. The main event saw Vinny Magalhaes claim the inaugural Light Heavyweight title from Jason Brilz after he secured an arm triangle at :36 of round 4.
Bellator 126 featured a fight in the season 10 Lightweight tournament final. Marcin Held won that title by grinding out a hard fought decision win over Patricky "Pitbull" Freire. In the main event Alexander Shlemenko lost his Middleweight belt in just :35. He lost it to Brandon Halsey by rear naked choke in round 1.
A Light Heavyweight championship was on the line at Legacy FC 35. Leonardo Leite won that championship by earning a TKO over Myron Dennis at 4:50 of round 4.
The XFC returned with XFC International 6. The main event saw Deivison Ribeiro retain his Featherweight belt against Waylon Lowe by getting a TKO at :11 of round 4.
UFC 178 easily lived up to its hype. Featherweight Conor McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier at just 1:46 of round 1 by TKO. Lightweight veteran Donald Cerrone successfully came back from a slow start to beat former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez by unanimous decision. The main event saw Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson defend his belt yet again, this time against Chris Cariaso. Johnson won via kimura at 2:29 of round 2. Other winners included Dominick Cruz and Cat Zingano, both of which were returning from long layoffs.
With Chris Weidman hurt, the Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler Welterweight title rematch will now headline UFC 181.
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