10/9/16

Another big weekend of MMA is in the books. Here is what happened.

At ONE Championship 48, Phoe Thaw won the Featherweight tournament when he defeated Saw Yan Paing via TKO at 3:23 of round 1. Myanmar's own Aung La Nsang took out fellow Middleweight Michal Pasternak by way of unanimous decision. And in the main event Yoshitaka Naito retained his Strawweight belt with a third round rear naked choke of Joshua Pacio at 1:13.

WSOF 33 saw Lightweight Brian Foster get one more step closer to a rematch with Justin Gaethje when he submitted Luiz Firmino via triangle choke at 3:14 of round 1. Lightweight Joao Zeferino defeated Jason High in impressive fashion when he won by TKO at :51 of round 3. David Branch defended one of his two belts - this time the Light Heavyweight one - against Vinny Magalhaes by unanimous decision.

Next up was Legacy FC 60 where Welterweight Dakota Cochrane defeated Joe Eichelberger via rear naked choke at 4:47 of round 2. Heavyweight veteran Brian Heden won against Tyler East with a TKO at 1:51 of round 1.

The UFC made its way to England for UFC 204. Heavyweight Stefan "Skyscrapper" Struve defeated Daniel Omielanczuk via D'Arce choke at 1:41 of round 2. Light Heavyweight Jimi Manuwa obliterated Ovince Saint Preux with a KO at 2:38 of round 2. Middleweight Gegard Mousasi defeated Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort with a TKO at 2:43 of  round 2. Middleweight champion Michael "The Count" Bisping avenged his loss to Dan Henderson and defended his title in the process with a very close unanimous decision.

TUF competitor and UFC Middleweight Josh Samman passed away after being in a coma for nearly a week.

Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will look to defend his belt at UFC 206 against former title challenger Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.

UFC Fight Night 97 has been canceled after it was announced that B.J. Penn had to withdraw from his main event fight with Featherweight Ricardo Lamas.

 

10/2/16

Resurrection Fighting Alliance was surrounded by big news this past week but still had to hold, what we now know to be, one of their last events as an independent organization. At RFA 44 Lightweight Drakkar Klose remained undefeated with a unanimous decision over Hugh Pulley. Flyweight Nick Urso won a unanimous decision against Ken Porter. And in the main event Thiago Moises held on to his Lightweight belt when he got past Zach Freeman. Moises won by unanimous decision.

UFC Fight Night 96 saw Flyweight Brandon Moreno earn the biggest win of his career when he defeated Louis Smolka via guillotine at 2:23 of round 1. Welterweight newcomer Zac Ottow defeated Josh Burkman by split decision. Lightweight Alex Oliveira defeated "ill" Will Brooks via TKO after Brooks suffered an injury early on in the fight. In the main event John "Hands of Stone" Lineker won a split decision against John "The Magician" Dodson.

An open-weight fight between Mirko "Cro Cop" and Wanderlei Silva will take place on Dec. 29. The bout serves as the Rizin FF Grand Prix quarterfinals.

UFC Featherweight champion "The Notorious" Conor McGregor will fight Eddie Alvarez for the Lightweight belt at UFC 205 in NYC. The fight marks the third title that will be on the line during the promotions debut in New York.

Interim Featherweight champion Jose Aldo has requested his release from the UFC.

The UFC has welcomed new owners to the promotion, though their shares are very abysmal. Some of the new owners include the likes of Tom Brady, Guy Fieri and Ben Affleck.



I, Spencer "Pablo Diablo" Kirksey, would like to thank everyone who has followed along with the Five Round Review these past few years as this marks the one hundred fiftieth one.    

9/18/16

Texas was the place to be this weekend as Bellator, Legacy FC and the UFC all held events in the Lone Star state.

Starting things off was Legacy FC 59. Lightweight Justin Reiswerg sunk in a triangle on Jason Langellier at 3:20 of round 2. And in the main event, Middleweight Trevin Giles remained undefeated when he choked out Isaac Villanueva via arm triangle at 1:45 of round 3.

At Bellator 161 Women's Flyweight Anastasia Yankova earned a narrow split decision over a game Veta Arteaga. Bantamweight Joe Warren took out Sirwan Kakai via guillotine at 1:04 of round 3. And Cheick Kongo got one step closer to claiming the Heavyweight belt when he won a unanimous decision over Tony Johnson.

UFC Fight Night 94 saw Lightweight Evan Dunham defeat last minute replacement Rick Glenn by unanimous decision. Middleweight Derek Brunson continued his knockout streak when he KO'd Uriah Hall at 1:41 of round 1. Capping things off was Lightweight Michael Johnson knocking out Dustin "Diamond" Poirier at 1:35 of round 1.

Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion "Suga" Rashad Evans will return to action at UFC 205 iin NYC against Tim Kennedy.

Ex Middleweight champs Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman also got their next matchups. Rockhold will take on "Jacare" Souza at UFC Fight Night 101 and Weidman will face off against Yoel Romero at UFC 205.

Former UFC Middleweight and Light Heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen has signed with Bellator.

9/4/16

Only two major promotions were in action this weekend and both could be seen exclusively by online pay per view.

ONE Championship 47 saw Women's Strawweight April Osenio earn a huge win over Ann Osman via guillotine at 4:09 of round 1. ONE veteran Shannon Wiratchi defeated fellow Featherweight Peter Davis by way of TKO at 3:32 of round 2. In the main event Featherweight Ev "E.T." Ting won a unanimous decision against Rob Lisita.

The UFC made its way to Germany for UFC Fight Night 93. Fellow German and Lightweight fighter, Nick Hein defeated Tae Hyun Bang by unanimous decision. Light Heavyweight Ryan "Darth" Bader looked impressive with a KO of Ilir Latifi at 2:06 of round 2. Light Heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Jan Blachowicz. And in the main event former UFC Heavyweight champion Josh Barnett submitted fellow veteran Andrei Arlovski via rear naked choke at 2:53 of round 3.

Bellator Lightweight prospect Marcin Held has signed with the UFC. He will make his debut against Diego Sanchez.

ONE Lightweight champion Shinya Aoki will look to defend his title against Eduard Folayang at their Nov. 11 event.

 UFC Featherweight champion Conor McGregor will have a role in the video game "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare."

8/28/16

Bellator 160, which took place in Anaheim, California, kicked off a stellar weekend of fights. Featherweight A.J. McKee remained undefeated with a first round guillotine against Cody Walker at just :32. Featherweight Georgi "Inane" Karakhanyan refused to give Bubba Jenkins revenge when he defeated him via KO at :53 of round 1. Top Lightweight, Derek Anderson earned a unanimous decision over Saad Awad. And in the main event, Benson Henderson received a Lightweight title shot after defeating Patricio "Pitbull" Freire via TKO (injury) at 2:26 of round 1. 

In one of the most exciting fight cards of the weekend, ONE Championship 46 saw Featherweight Edward Kelly take out Vincent Latoel at just :57 of round 1. In the main event Welterweight Luis "Sapo" Santos survived a slow start to defeat Igor Svirid by unanimous decision.

At UFC on FOX 21 Lightweight legends Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon battled to a decision that went Miller's way, though only by the narrowest of margins. Women's Strawweight Paige VanZant came off of Dancing With the Stars only to KO "Rowdy" Bec Rawlings at :17 of round 2. Anthony "Showtime" Pettis made a successful Featherweight debut when he defeated Charles Oliveira by way of guillotine at 1:49 of round 3. In the main event Damian Maia made quick work of Carlos Condit with a rear naked choke at 1:52 of round 1. 

Former Bellator Middleweight champion Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko will return to the promotion and fight Kendall Grove at Bellator 162. 

Welterweight superstar Michael "Venom" Page will return to take on Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 163. 

UFC Welterweight Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone has resigned with the promotion while former title challenger Rory MacDonald has decided to sign with Bellator.     

8/7/16

Two titles were on the line at Titan FC 40, shown exclusively on UFC Fight Pass. But before that, Heavyweight D.J. Linderman snapped a two fight losing streak by defeating Derrick Mehmen via unanimous decision. Welterweight Desmond Green won a unanimous decision against James Freeman. In the first title fight Jose Torres claimed the inaugural Flyweight belt after stopping Abdiel Velazquez via TKO at 3:52 of round 2. In the main event Freddy Assuncao defeated Gesias Cavalcante and took home the Lightweight strap in the process. Assuncao won by putting Cavalcante to sleep by way of guillotine at :27 of round 4.

UFC Fight Night 92 featured a main card with numerous decision victories. Maryna Moroz, Trevor Smith, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Dennis Bermudez all won by decision. Middleweight Thales Leites defeated fellow UFC veteran Chris Camozzi via rear naked choke at 2:58 of round 3. Capping off the night, Featherweight Yair Rodriguez won a rather weird split decision against Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Caceres.

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson's son, Kevin Ferguson Jr (also known as Baby Slice) will make his Bellator debut at Bellator 160 against Johnny Tomasian.

Former Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will look to rebound against a surging Tony "El Cucuy" Ferguson at the TUF Latin American 3 Finale.

Cris "Cyborg" Justino will compete in her second UFC bout against Lina Lansberg at a UFC Fight Night event in Brazil on Sept 24.

7/31/16

It was an important weekend for WMMA and it was only right that Invicta FC 18 kicked it off. Bantamweight Cindy Dandois defeated Jessamyn Duke with an armbar that came at 1:33 of round 1. Strawweight Mizuki Inoue echoed the fight before her when she submitted Lynn Alvarez by armbar at 3:00 of round 2. Young Polish phenom Agnieszka Niedzwiedz defeated fellow Flyweight Christine Stanley via unanimous decision. And finally, Strawweight Alexa Grasso remained undefeated when she took home a unanimous decision against Jodie Esquibel.

At RFA 41 Lightweight Alexander Hernandez took out Chris Pecero via rear naked choke at 1:27 of round 1. Featherweight Jamall Emmers bounced back from a loss with a unanimous decision win over Rivaldo Junior. And in the main event Middleweight Trevin Giles looked impressive against Josh Clark, defeating him via rear naked choke at 1:10 of round 2.

Two titles were on the line at WSOF 32. But before all of that, brother took on brother as Welterweight superhero Ben "Phoenix" Jones fought Caros Fodor. Caros took home bragging rights with a unanimous decision. In the first of two title fights, Lance Palmer reclaimed his Featherweight belt when he defeated Alexandre Almeida via majority decision. Marlon Moraes dramatically retained his Bantamweight belt when he knocked out Josh Hill with a head kick at :38 of round 2.

Finishing off a busy weekend of fights was UFC 201. Bantamweight Erik Perez out slugged Francisco Rivera for a unanimous decision victory. Welterweight Jake Ellenberger defeated Matt Brown via TKO at 1:46 of round 1. Karolina Kowalkiewicz set up a future date with Joanna Jedrzejczyk when she defeated "Thug" Rose Namajunas by split decision. And in the main event Tyron Woodley captured the Welterweight belt with a nasty KO of "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler at 2:12 of round 1.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan has resigned with the promotion. However, Rogan will commentate less fights than before.

A matchup between MMA legends Gegard Mousasi and Vitor Belfort has been scheduled for UFC 204.