Sunday, December 29, 2013

12/29/13

My final Five Round Review of the year will be focusing solely on the final UFC event of the year, UFC 168. The year end events for The Ultimate Fighting Championship are always significant but this one might have been a little more important then past ones and for the wrong reasons.

Heavyweight Travis Browne made sure that everyone knows that he now belongs in the upper tier of the division. Browne knocked out Josh Barnett at just 1:00 of round 1. In the co-main event, Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey successfully defended her belt against long time rival Miesha Tate. Tate put up a way better fight than she did the first time the two fought but it still wasn't enough as she lost via armbar at :58 of round 3. The main event saw UFC legend Anderson Silva try to win his Middleweight belt back from Chris Weidman. Weidman won in gruesome fashion after a checked leg kick broke Silva's leg. The stoppage due to injury (TKO) came at 1:16 of round 2. This horrific injury could possibly be the end of Anderson Silva's career. 

Additional Notes:

Middleweight Chris Leben is possibly retiring after losing to Uriah Hall via doctor stoppage at the end of round 1. 

Ronda Rousey will defend her Women's Bantamweight belt against Sara McMann at UFC 170. A Light Heavyweight fight between Daniel Cormier and Rashad Evans has been moved to the co-main event.

Chris Weidman will next defend his Middleweight belt against veteran Vitor Belfort. The fight has not officially been booked on any card thus far. 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

12/15/13

The XFC headed up north for XFC 27 this past weekend. Lightweight Dom O'Grady earned an upset win over Eric Reynolds via rear naked choke at 1:42 of round 2. In the main event the Inaugural Featherweight title was on the line. Deivison Ribeiro won a unanimous decision over Farkhad Sharipov to become the XFC Featherweight tournament champion.

BAMMA 14 saw Welterweight Jim Wallhead return to the win column in impressive fashion by knocking out Florent Betorangal with a slam at :21 of round 3. Mansour Barnaoui defended his Lightweight belt for the first time by defeating Colin Fletcher via rear naked choke at 4:00 of round 1. And finally Welterweight Paul "Semtex" Daley added another KO to his record after landing a devastating upper cut on Romario Manoel da Silva at 1:42 of round 2.

Despite multiple fights being scrapped from the fight card, UFC on FOX 9 still maintained some exciting fights. Featherweight contender Chad Mendes earned a unanimous decision over Nik Lentz. Bantamweight Urijah Faber proved yet again why he is one of the best in the division by defeating Michael McDonald via guillotine at 3:22 of round 2. In the main event Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson successfully defended his belt in a rematch with Joseph Benavidez. Johnson knocked out Benavidez at 2:08 of round 1.

Keoni Koch and Brian Ortega will fight for the Featherweight title at RFA 12 on January 24th.

Former Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren has signed with ONEFC.

Anthony Hamilton will defend his Heavyweight belt for the first time at MFC 39 against Darrill Schoonover.

Light Heavyweight Aaron Rosa has signed with Legacy FC.

Brad Pickett has moved to the UFC Flyweight division and will fight against Ian McCall at the UFC European Tour in London.

The XFC has announced that they will be launching their new MMA series called MMA Copa (Latin American MMA cup) in 2014.

The UFC has signed 11 WMMA Strawweights who will be featured on TUF 20. The winner of that season will be the first UFC Strawweight champion.

UFC Welterweight champion Georges St Pierre has announced that he will vacate his belt. Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler will fight for the vacant belt at UFC 171.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

12/8/13

This weekend was an MMA fans paradise with a total of six major events taking place around the world. So take your seat and get comfortable as I break down exactly what happened over the past three days.

ONE FC kicked things off in the Philippines with a main event that was not only a rematch but also for the Featherweight title. Koji Oishi gave Honorio Banario a familiar blemish on his record as he defeated him via KO (just like the first meeting) at 1:43 of round 3 to win the belt.

Staying on that side of the world, the UFC headed down to Australia for UFC Fight Night 33. Heavyweight Soa Palelei gave his fellow countrymen what they wanted with a KO win over Pat Barry at just 2:09 of round 1. Light Heavyweight Ryan Bader earned a one sided unanimous decision win over Anthony Perosh by dropping him with big shots and dominating him on the ground. Light Heavyweight legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua returned to the win column with a nasty KO of James Te Huna at 1:03 of round 1. And in the main event Heavyweights Mark Hunt and "Bigfoot" Silva put on a fight of the year nomination with a back and forth blood bath that ultimately ended in a majority draw.

Wrapping up Friday was Legacy FC 26 which featured a main event for the Featherweight title. Former UFC fighter Leonard Garcia claimed the belt by defeating Kevin Aguilar via TKO at 2:57 of round 1.

Cage Warriors 62 kicked off the second day of nonstop MMA action. In the main event Lightweight Curt Warburton defeated Wesley Murch via rear naked choke at just :49 of round 1.

World Series of Fighting made its international debut with WSOF 7. One armed Lightweight Nick Newell remained undefeated by sinking in a guillotine on Sabah Fadai at 1:21 of round 1. In a Middleweight semifinal fight Jesse Taylor earned a unanimous decision victory over Elvis Mutapcic. Taylor will now take on David Branch for the Middleweight belt. In the main event Georgi Karakhanyan handed Lance Palmer his first professional  loss while also claiming the Featherweight title. Karakhanyan won via guillotine at 4:40 of round 3.

Invicta FC 7 wrapped the weekend up the right way with two title fights. Lauren Murphy defeated Miriam Nakamoto via TKO (injury) at :23 of round 4. Although it may not have been the ideal finish Murphy still won the Women's Bantamweight title. In the main event Barb Honchak earned a unaimous decision win over Leslie Smith to win the Women's Flyweight title.

Former UFC Welterweight fighter Tim Means will headline Legacy FC 27 against Aretenas Young.

WSOF 8 will be headlined by a Lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Gesias Cavalcante. Also on the card will be a Light Heavyweight fight between Anthony Johnson and Mike Kyle that was originally scheduled for WSOF 7. Finally there will be a Bantamweight fight with Tyson Nam welcoming WSOF newcomer and TUF 18 cast member Cody Bollinger.

Jon Jones will defend his Light Heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira at UFC 171.


Sunday, December 1, 2013

12/1/13

I would love to write a big lengthy blog for you guys tonight but the fact of the matter is I do not have enough MMA news from this past week. So instead I'm going to inform you on what I have and then go to bed... because I'm tired.

The Ultimate Fighter 18 came to a close on Saturday with two new TUF winners being crowned. The first was Chris Holdsworth who defeated Davey Grant via rear naked choke at 2:10 of round 2 to become the Men's Bantamweight winner of season 18. The Women's Bantamweight winner was Julianna Pena who dominated Jessica Rakoczy by earning a TKO at 4:59 of round 1. In the main event Lightweight Nate Diaz won his rubber match with Gray Maynard by winning via TKO at 2:38 of round 1. The only thing as entertaining as the main event fight was Diaz's post fight rant.

UFC Welterweight cast off Rousimar Palhares has officially signed with the WSOF. They have also signed Razak Al-Hassan, Luis Palomino and Kelvin Tiller.

Bellator has signed former NCAA national champion wrestler Darion Caldwell to their Featherweight roster.

Welterweight Tarec Saffiedine will now meet Hyun Gyu Lim due to Jake Ellenberger suffering an injury that caused him to withdraw from the UFC Fight Night 34 main event fight.

My thoughts are with UFC Heavyweight Shane Del Rosario. He is starting to show signs of recovery after suffering from cardiac arrest late last week. He is still very much in a fight for his life.



Sunday, November 24, 2013

11/25/13

First things first, I know how much you guys missed this review last weekend. I apologize and promise not to disappoint you any longer. I have returned this weekend solely for you!

Resurrection Fighting Alliance continues to crank out more and more upcoming talent and this remained true with RFA 11. In the main event, former Bellator Bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky won the Flyweight title by defeating Matt Manzanares by unanimous decision. Perhaps the biggest winner on this card was Chinzo Machida, brother of UFC Middleweight Lyoto Machida. Chinzo returned to the Featherweight division after a long layoff and landed one of the most horrific knees to the face that I have ever seen to defeat Brian Wood via KO at 4:53 of round 1.

Bellator Fighting Championship kept the ball rolling with another Friday event, Bellator 109. Former UFC Lightweight Terry Etim returned to the win column by getting a unanimous decision victory over Patrick Cenoble. Will Brooks defeated Alexander Sarnavskiy by unanimous decision to win the season 9 Lightweight tournament. Rick Hawn defeated Ron Keslar via KO at :55 of round 3 to win the season 9 Welterweight tournament. In the main event Alexander Shlemenko successfully defended his Middleweight belt by getting a TKO stoppage due to body shots over Doug Marshall at 4:28 of round 1.

Bellator Welterweight Matthew Riddle has yet again suffered an injury that has forced him out of a fight. This time around Bellator has decided to release him from their roster.

BAMMA 14 will now have a new main event following an injury to Scott Askham. Ion Pascu will now fight Max Nunes for the Middleweight title.

The UFC has signed Bantamweight Ryan Benoit. He will debut against Joshua Sampo at the TUF 18 finale.

After WSOF main event fighter Mike Kyle suffered an injury, the Light Heavyweight main event against Anthony Johnson has now been cut from the card completely. The Flyweight championship between Georgi Karakhanyan and Lance Palmer will now feature as the main event.

Former undefeated Welterweight turned Lightweight, Frank Trevino has signed with the UFC.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

11/10/13

The Ultimate Fighting Championship held not one, but two Fight Nights this past week. The first was UFC Fight Night 31 on Wednesday. Women's Bantamweight Alexis Davis defeated Liz Carmouche via unanimous decision. In the main event Middleweight Tim Kennedy earned a KO victory over Rafael Natal at 4:40 of round 1.

Following Bellator 106 it was next to impossible for the promotion to pull off another fight card of that magnitude. While it did not quite measure up, it did make for an exciting night of fights. Brennan Ward defeated Mikkel Parlo via TKO at 1:39 of round 2 to win the Season 9 Middleweight tournament. Joe Warren defeated Travis Marx via TKO at 1:56 of round 2 to become the Season 9 Bantamweight tournament winner. And in the main event Cheick Kongo earned a unanimous decision over Peter Graham to win the Season 9 Heavyweight tournament.

The second Fight Night for the Ultimate Fighting Championship was UFC Fight Night 32. It was a night filled with almost all finishes. Middleweight Cezar Ferreira won a split decision over Daniel Sarafian. In the main event Light Heavyweight Vitor Belfort defeated Dan Henderson via TKO (yet another head kick) at 1:17 of round 1.

Light Heavyweight Jimi Manuwa will put his undefeated record on the line against former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in March. The fight will take place in London England. Gustafsson was initially supposed to fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira until UFC President Dana White announced that the fight was never officially confirmed.

Bellator FC will hold open tryouts on December 14th in Philedelphia.


Sunday, November 3, 2013

11/3/13

Over the past few months many have argued as to whether or not Bellator 106 was pay per view worthy. Of course none of that matter once Tito Ortiz dropped out of the fight due to a neck injury and the fight card was moved to Spike TV. Looking back on it now, even though Ortiz vs Rampage didn't happen, Bellator 106 was still a huge success. Featherweight Mike Richman opened up the main card with a TKO win over Akop Stepanyan at 4:05 of round 1. Joe Riggs defeated Mike Bronzoulis by unanimous decision to become the Fight Masters Welterweight tournament champion. Daniel Straus got revenge and a Featherweight title by defeating former champion Pat Curran via unanimous decision. Emanuel Newton defeated Muhammed Lawal for a second time in his career, this time by unanimous decision to become the interim Light Heavyweight champion. In the main event Eddie Alvarez avenged his loss to Michael Chandler. Their first fight was amazing and this one was yet another fight of the year performance. Alvarez won via split decision to claim the Lightweight title. 

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Paul Buentello will fight Isaac Villanueva at Legacy FC 27. 

XFC Flyweight Courtney Casey is appealing her title losing effort against Pearl Gonzalez. She claims that Gonzalez was slippery and unable to submit because she had too much spray tan. 

Rumor has it that the UFC will add a Women's Strawweight weight class in 2014. 

WSOF has partnered with Japan's Pancrase organization. 

Featherweight champion Jose Aldo will defend his belt against Ricardo Lamas and Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will return to defend his belt against Renan Barao. Both fights will take place at UFC 169 on Super Bowl weekend.

Light Heavyweight "Rampage" Jackson will fight Joey Beltran at Bellator 108. The fight will serve as the main event. 

Featherweights Rick Glenn and Georgi Karakhanyan will fight for the Featherweight title at WSOF 7.

Former UFC Lightweight John Maguire has signed with Cage Warriors and will debut in December. 

The UFC has signed Welterweight Hernani Perpetuo.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

10/27/13

The Cage Warriors promotion headed to Jordan for Cage Warriors Fight Night 9 this past weekend. Bantamweight Ronnie Mann earned a unanimous decision win over Marat Pekov. Faycal Hucin defeated former UFC fighter Che Mills in his Middleweight debut via TKO at 4:23 of round 2. In the main event Welterweight Gael Grimaud made quick work of Bruno Carvalho defeating him by KO at just :45 of round 1.

At RFA 10 former UFC Featherweight Justin Lawrence returned to the win column after defeating Luis Saldana by unanimous decision. In the main event Mike Rhodes defeated Alan Jouban by unanimous decision to win the inaugural Welterweight title.

Bellator 105 saw Alexander Sarnavskiy sink in a quick triangle choke at 1:08 of round 1 to defeat Ricadro Tirloni and move on to the Lightweight tournament final. In that final he will face Will Brooks who won a unanimous decision against Saad Awad.

The UFC made its return to England for UFC Fight Night 30. Light Heavyweight Jimi Manuwa defeated Ryan Jimmo in bizarre fashion at 4:41 of round 2. It was declared a TKO but Jimmo appeared to have blown out something in his leg forcing him to stop fighting. The co-main event also ended unusually. Lightweight Melvin Guillard landed a knee to the head of Ross Pearson when he was a "grounded opponent" thus causing the fight to be declared a no contest. In the main event Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida made an impressive Middleweight debut knocking out Mark Munoz with a head kick at 3:10 of round 1.

WSOF 6 saw former UFC Welterweight Jon Fitch win a split decision over Marcelo Alfaya. Bantamweight Marlon Moraes continued his hot streak by defeating Carson Beebe via TKO at :32 of round 1. And in the main event Steve Carl outlasted Josh Burkman to win the inaugural Welterweight title via triangle choke at 1:02 of round 4.

UFC Flyweight veteran Ulysses Gomez will challenge Neil Seery for the title at Cage Warriors 62.

Featherweight Tatsuya Kawajiri and Lightweight Katsunori Kikuno both signed with the UFC.

Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva have been announced as The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 coaches.

Bellator has signed Brazilians Julio Cesar Neves, Cleiton Duarte and Diego Marlon.

Koji Oishi and Honorio Banario will rematch for the Featherweight title at ONE FC 13. Oishi won the first meeting between the two by KO in round 2.

Legacy FC has signed TUF Smashes contestant Ben Wall.

With Light Heavyweight Tito Ortiz out due to an injured neck, his fight with Rampae Jackson has been scratched and Bellator 106 goes from being a pay per view to a free card on Spike TV.

UFC Light Heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson will fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira March 8th in London.

After suffering an injury Light Heavyweight Vinicius Queiroz will no longer face Cheick Kongo at Bellator 107.


Sunday, October 20, 2013

10/20/13

ONE FC 11 opened up a busy weekend of MMA. Shinya Aoki made a successful move to Featherweight by defeating Cody Stevens by unanimous decision. In the main event, Bibiano Fernandes unified the Bantamweight belts by defeating Soo Chul Kim via unanimous decision.

Two titles were on the line at XFC 26 this past weekend. The first was the Women's Flyweight title which served as the co-main event. Pearl Gonzalez survived multiple submission attempts only to sink in one of her own, defeating Courtney Casey by armbar at 4:43 of round 3. In the main event Scott "Hotsauce" Holtzman successfully defended his Lightweight belt by dominating Roger Carroll and earning a unanimous decision victory.

Bellator continued its weekly events with Bellator 104. Unfortunately, unlike the last couple of events under the promotion, this one lacked excitement. Ron Keslar moved on to the Welterweight tournament final by earning an upset rear naked choke win over War Machine at 3:31 of round 1. Also advancing to the Welterweight tournament final was Rick Hawn who defeated Brent Weedmen for the second time in his career by unanimous decision. Other notable winners on the card were Kendall Grove, Peter Graham and Paul Sass.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has possibly pulled off its best fight card of the year (so far) with UFC 166. Flyweight John Dodson landed a devastating KO at 4:15 of round 1 to defeat UFC newcomer Darrell Montague. Heavyweight veteran Gabriel Gonzaga also earned a KO victory of his own by knocking out Shawn Jordan at 1:33 of round 1. Lightweight Gilbert Melendez defeated Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision in a fight that some are saying is fight of the year. Heavyweight Daniel Cormier defeated Roy "Big Country" Nelson by unanimous decision. And in the main event, Cain Valasquez outlasted Junior dos Santos by getting a TKO at 3:09 of round 5 to retain his Heavyweight belt.

Former UFC Middleweight title challenger Yushin Okami along with Light Heavyweight veteran Raphael Davis, have both signed with the WSOF.

Women's Bantamweight prospect Holly Holm will fight Angela Hayes at Legacy FC 25 on December 6th.

Undefeated Lightweight Nick Newell's next fight will be against Sabah Fadai at WSOF 7.


Sunday, October 13, 2013

10/13/13

UFC Fight Night 29 had more split decisions in a single fight card than I had ever seen before. You would think the night would lean in favor of the Brazilian fighters because the event was held in their home country. For the most part that was not the case. Light Heavyweight veteran Thiago Silva earned a unanimous decision win over another veteran, Matt Hamill. In the co-main event Welterweight Dong Hyun Kim won in surprising fashion, knocking out Erick Silva at 3:01 of round 2. The main event wasn't the most exciting fight ever. Welterweight Jake Shields did just enough to win a split decision over Demian Maia.

Bellator 103 saw Lightweight David "Caveman" Rickels return to the win column after defeating J.J. Ambrose via TKO at 2:37 of round 3. Justin Wilcox dominated Joe Taimanglo to earn a unanimous decision win and move on to the Featherweight tournament final. The second man to advance to the Featherweight tournament final was Patricio "Pitbull" Freire who defeated Fabricio Guerreiro via unanimous decision.

At Legacy FC 24, Women's Bantamweight prospect Holly Holm remained undefeated by defeating Nikki Knudsen via TKO at 1:18 of round 2. Flyweight Henry Cejudo also remained undefeated after earning a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Hollis. In the main event Lightweight Carlos Diego Ferreira won a unanimous decision over Chris Feist.

For a fight card that only had five fights on it, CFA 12 delivered in every single way imaginable. Yoisdenis Cedeno squeaked out a split decision win over Torrance Taylor to win the vacant Lightweight title. Valdir Araujo defeated Romario Manoel Da Silva via guillotine at 4:09 of round 2 to win the vacant Welterweight title. Ashlee Evans-Smith stole the show by getting an upset win over Fallon Fox via TKO at 3:15 of round 3 to win the Women's Featherweight tournament. Former UFC Lightweight fighter Efrain Escudero won a unanimous decision over Luis Palomino. And in the main event Joshua Sampo successfully defended his Flyweight title by defeating Sam Thao via unanimous decision.

Jon Jones will no longer defend his Light Heavyweight title at UFC 169. The fight with Glover Teixeira will be pushed back to a fight card at a later date.

Paul Daley will fight against fellow Welterweight Romario Manoel Da Silva at BAMMA 14 on December 14th.

UFC Middleweight (turned Welterweight) Rousimar Palhares has been banned by the promotion following his win over Mike Pierce. Palhares won via heel hook at :31 of round 1 at UFC Fight Night 29. Despite multiple taps from Pierce and the referee jumping in, Palhares did not let go of the submission until a few seconds later. He has a history of holding on to submissions too long which comes into play with him being banned.

Invicta FC has announced that it will hold its next event on December 7th.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

10/6/13

My review is back after taking a week off. I know how much you missed me so I'll get right to it!

Bellator 102 marked the opening rounds of the four man Heavyweight tournament. In the first Heavyweight fight, Vinicius Queiroz knocked out UFC vet Lavar Johnson at :23 of round 1. In the second Heavyweight fight which also served as the main event, UFC vet Cheick Kongo defeated Mark Godbeer via TKO at 2:04 of round 2. Also on the card Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward advanced to the finals of the Middleweight tournament while Anthony Leone advanced to the finals of the Bantamweight tournament.

Maximum Fighting Championship held its biggest fight card to date, hosting not one, not two, but THREE title fights at MFC 38. The first belt that was on the line was the Heavyweight strap. Anthony Hamilton pulled off a surprising head kick KO to defeat Smealinho Rama at :12 of round 2. Up next was the Middleweight title fight. Sam Alvey defeated Jason South via TKO in one of the latest stoppages in MMA history (4:56 of round 5). Finally the main event saw two Bantamweights battle for the belt. Anthony Birchak out lasted Tito Jones and won via rear naked choke at 3:30 of round 2.

In the main event of Cage Warriors 60 Stevie Ray defeated Sean Carter via rear naked choke at 4:40 of round 1 to claim the Lightweight belt.

The UFC has signed Flyweight Sergio Pettis and Women's Bantamweight Bethe Correia.

Bellator Middleweight champion Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko will defend his title against Doug Marshall at Bellator 108 on November 15th.

Reebok has extended their deal with UFC Welterweight title contender Johny Hendricks.

The World Series of Fighting has announced they will be heading to Canada for the very first time for WSOF 7. The headliner of the card will be Light Heavyweight Mike Kyle against Anthony Johnson.

Former UFC Lightweight fighter Efrain Escudero is scheduled to fight Luis Palomino at CFA 12.

Welterweight fighter Matthew Riddle has announced that he will be coming out of retirement and fighting at Bellator 109.

The UFC has suspended Heavyweight Ben Rothwell for elevated testosterone levels following his latest win against Brandon Vera.

A Heavyweight fight between Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir has been moved to UFC 169 on Super Bowl weekend. It will be the co main event to the Light Heavyweight title fight of Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira.

Bellator Heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov will defend his title against Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 109.

UFC Heavyweight veteran Mike Russow has signed with the WSOF.



Sunday, September 22, 2013

9/22/13

Bellator has reached a milestone that most organizations dream of... 100 events! The main event of the night did not disappoint either. After picking apart Ben Saunders for a round and a half, Welterweight Douglas Lima landed a miraculous head kick KO at 4:33 of round 2 to claim the season 8 tournament title. Also advancing in tournament bouts were Welterweights War Machine, Rick Hawn, Ron Keslar, Brent Weedman and Bantamweight Travis Marx.

UFC 165 may have been a boring fight card early on, but the two title fights definitely made up for it. In the co-main event Bantamweight Renan Barao landed a rarely seen spinning head kick to defeat Eddie Wineland via TKO at :35 of round 2. Barao retained his interim title. The main event featured a fight which many are saying could be fight of the year. Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones defended his title successfully in a slug fest with Alexander Gustafsson. Jones won via unanimous decision.

TJ Grant suffered a concussion in training so now Josh Thomson will step in to challenge new Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.

Joseph Benavidez  will face champion Demetrious Johnson in a rematch for the Flyweight belt at the TUF 18 finale.

It has been announced that if Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (who has been injured for quite some time) can't come back to defend his belt against Barao, then he will be stripped of it and Barao will be made out right champion.

UFC Lightweight veteran Paul Taylor has announced his retirement following an injury.

Leonard Garcia will fight for the vacant Featherweight belt at Legacy FC 26 against undefeated fighter Kevin Aguilar.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

9/15/13

This past weekend was paradise for any big fan of MMA! A total of six events went on in just two days. From Indonesia, to the USA, to England nowhere was safe from one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Who said you need a UFC fight to have a good weekend?

ONE FC 10 started it all off. Light Heavyweight Jake Butler remained undefeated by defeating James Kouame via arm triangle at 2:11 of round 1. Lightweight Vincent Latoel defeated Willy Ni via guillotine at 1:25 of round 1. In the main event Lightweight Vuyisile Colossa defeated veteran Kotetsu Boku via unanimous decision.

The next event in this packed lineup was Legacy FC 23. Featherweight and fan favorite Leonard Garcia defeated Nick Gonzalez in a slug fest. The bout ended at 4:43 of round 3 with Garcia winning by RNC. In the main event Welterweight Tim Means, fresh off a stint in the UFC, earned a win at 2:24 of round 1 by knocking out Pete Spratt. Spratt who is now 42 announced after the fight that he is now retiring.

Any night that involves Bellator is welcomed by me. Bellator 99 saw the opening round of the Featherweight tournament. There was also a featured fight between Light Heavyweights Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander. Matyushenko won a unanimous decision victory. In the main event Featherweight Patricio "Pitbull" Freire delivered a devastating knockout, earning the win over Diego Nunes at 1:19 of round 1.

Cage Warriors 59 saw Jim Alers earn the Featherweight title by defeating Martin Svensson via unanimous decision. In the main event Brett Johns earned the Bantamweight tournament championship by getting a split decision win over Jordan Desborough.

At BAMMA 13 Lightweight Colin Fletcher returned to the win column by defeating Tim Newman via unanimous decision. In the main event Jason Jones defeated Max Nunes via arm triangle at 3:50 of round 2 to earn the Light Heavyweight title. Other notable winners were Eddy Ellis, Mansour Barnaoui and Scott Askham.

The final event of this jam packed weekend was the World Series of Fighting 5. Heavyweight Derrick Mehmen earned a huge win by defeating Rolles Gracie via KO at 2:40 of round 2. Middleweight David Branch defeated Danillo Villefort via unanimous decision. In the main event Light Heavyweight veteran Andrei Arlovski defeated Mike Kyle via unanimous decision.

Strawweight Megumi Fujii will take on Jessica Aguilar in Fujii's retirement bout. The fight will be held at Vale Tudo Japan 3rd on October 5th.

Former UFC fighter Matthew Riddle who recently signed with Bellator has announced his retirement after suffering an injury.

Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn will be the coaches of TUF 19. They will fight at Featherweight after the show concludes.


Sunday, September 8, 2013

9/8/13

Wednesday fights are always good with me! UFC fight night 28 in Brazil was a great mid week fight card. Flyweight contender Joseph Benavidez defeated Jussier Formiga via TKO at 3:07 of round 1. In the co-main event Middleweight Ronaldo Souza took out Yushin Okami via TKO at 2:47 of round 1. In the main event Light Heavyweight Glover Teixeira earned the right to fight the winner of Jones and Gustafsson by getting a win over Ryan Bader via TKO at 2:55 of round 1.

The ever growing XFC hosted XFC 25 this past weekend. In the co-main event Welterweight Dhiego Lima earned a controversial split decision win over Ricky Rainey. This was a fight that left fans yelling "rematch" at their TV's. In the main event Stephanie Eggink claimed the Strawweight title by defeating Angela Magana via triangle choke at 3:10 of round 2.

It sure feels good to have Bellator back. Bellator 98 opened up the Fall series with the Middleweight championship as the main event. The Middleweight tournament opening round was also featured on the fight card and though there were four winners, the biggest was Mikkel Parlo who earned a one sided decision win over Brian Rogers. In the main event Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko retained his belt by defeating Brett Cooper in a memorable decision victory.

Former UFC Lightweight champion Sean Sherk announced his retirement this past week.

Bantamweight Cornelius Godfrey, a veteran of the XFC, passed away earlier in the week after his motorcycle crashed. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Women's Bantamweight Holly Holm will face Erica Paes at Legacy FC 24.

Middleweight Giva Santana retired after his loss at Bellator 98.



Sunday, September 1, 2013

9/1/13

UFC Fight Night 27 saw the latest Ultimate Fighter winner Kelvin Gastelum defeat Brian Melancon via rear naked choke at 2:26 of round 1 in a Welterweight contest. Lightweight Rafael Dos Anjos won against Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision. In the main event Welterweight Carlos Condit returned to the win column with a TKO at :54 of round 4 over Martin Kampman.

Titan Fighting Championship 26 didn't exactly end their event on the best of notes. The Welterweight main event saw two veterans go at it for three rounds. UFC vet Dennis Hallman came out with a weird victory over Dan Hornbuckle via unanimous decision.

UFC 164 saw the crowning of a new Lightweight champion. Before I get to that though Featherweight Chad "Money" Mendes earned a TKO victory over Clay Guida at :30 of round 3. In the co-main event, infamous Heavyweight Josh Barnett got a controversial win over Frank Mir via TKO at 1:56 of round 1. In the main event of the evening Lightweight challenger Anthony Pettis defeated (former) champion Benson Henderson for a second time, this time by armbar at 4:31 of round 1. Pettis won the belt in front of his home crowd.

Pat Curran vs Daniel Straus Featherweight title fight has been added to Bellator 106.

Former UFC Heavyweight fighter Cheick Kongo has signed with Bellator.

Ex-WEC champion Miguel Torres was arrested for marijuana possession.

Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren will take part in the AGON wrestling championships debut show. The promotion features nothing but wrestling matches.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

8/26/13

Legacy FC 22 saw former UFC Bantamweight fighter Joseph Sandoval return to the win column with a TKO victory over Jonathan Lopez at 4:18 of round 2. Welterweight Eric Davila earned a questionable split decision win over Artenas Young in a grueling fight. And in the main event Heavyweight veteran Paul Buentello defeated James McSweeney via TKO at 2:44 of round 2.

Cage Warriors MMA traveled all the way to Chechnya for Cage Warriors 58. In the main event Welterweight Beslan Isaev earned a guillotine choke over Viktor Halmi at 3:27 of round 1.

Bellator 99 has added a Light Heavyweight contest between Houston Alexander and Vladimir Matyushenko along with a Featherweight headliner featuring Diego Nunes and Patricio Freire.

Brett Cooper will replace the injured Doug Marshall to challenge Alexander Shlemenko for the Middleweight belt at Bellator 98.

Will Campuzano has announced his vacancy of the Legacy FC Flyweight title.

Womens Flyweight turned Bantamweight Jessica Eye has signed with the UFC. She will take on Sarah Kaufman at UFC 166.

UFC Heavyweight fighter Stefan Struve has been diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve and enlarged heart. His return to action will be delayed as he recovers from this condition.

Rolles, Gregor and Neiman Gracie have all been added to World Series of Fighting 5.

Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will drop to Middleweight to fight Tim Kennedy at UFC Fight For the Troops 3.

Invicta FC has signed former Bellator fighter Munah Holland.

UFC Featherweight Conor McGregor wll be sidelined for awhile. It has recently been found out that he has an ACL tear, MCL strain and posterior horn meniscal tear.

Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo has signed with Legacy FC.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

8/18/13

It's not everyday that you see an outdoor MMA event. This past weekend Resurrection Fighting Alliance 9 happened to fall into that category. Fresh off of TUF 17, Middleweight Kevin Casey earned a unanimous decision nod over Casey Ryan. In the main event Pedro Munhoz and Jeff Curran fought for the vacant RFA Bantamweight title. Munhoz earned a split decision win over Curran to claim the belt. Afterwards Curran (a seasoned veteran of the sport) retired.

The UFC debuted on the new  FOX Sports 1 network with their fight night 26 card. Welterweight Matt Brown earned yet another impressive victory, this time defeating Mike Pyle via KO at just :29 of round 1. Bantamweight Urijah Faber defeated Iuri Alcantara with a one sided unanimous decision. Heavyweight Travis Browne came from behind to KO Alistair Overeem at 4:08 of round 1. In the main event, Light Heavyweight Chael Sonnen returned to the win column defeating Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via guillotine at 4:47 of round 1.

ONE FC announced that Soo Chul Kim and Bibiano Fernandes will unify their Bantamweight titles at ONE FC 11 "Total Domination" on October 18th. 

Women's Strawweight fighter Felice Herrig has signed with Invicta FC.

Eddie Alvarez and Bellator FC have finally struck an agreement. Alvarez will rematch Michael Chandler for the Lightweight title at Bellator 106 on November 2nd. The fight will feature as the co-main event. The main event being "Rampage" Jackson vs Tito Ortiz.

The Ultimate Fighter season 18 cast has been revealed. The cast which consists of both male and female Bantamweights includes Tara LaRosa, Shayna Baszler, and Anthony Gutierrez.


Sunday, August 11, 2013

8/11/13

World Series of Fighting held their forth event this past weekend which featured a couple of big names in the MMA world. Former XFC Lightweight and one armed fighter, Nick Newell earned his tenth win defeating Keon Caldwell via guillotine choke at 2:07 of round 1. Bantamweight Marlon Moraes got the unanimous decision victory over Brandon Hempleman by crippling him with some sick leg kicks. In the main event, Light Heavyweight and kickboxing great Tyrone Spong won a unanimous decision over Angel DeAnda. Other notable winners were Dave Huckaba, JZ Cavalcante and Gerald Harris.

Former UFC and Bellator Welterweight Paul Daley has signed a three fight deal with BAMMA.

Dennis Hallman will face off against Dan Hornbuckle in a Welterweight fight that will headline Titan FC 26 on August 30th.

 The XFC has announced that Scott Holtzman will defend his Lightweight title against Roger Carroll and that Courtney Casey and Pearl Gonzales will fight for the inaugural Women's Flyweight title. Both fights will take place at XFC 26 on October 18th.

Light Heavyweight veteran Andrei Arlovski will step in for the injured Anthony Johnson to fight Mike Kyle at WSOF 5.

After his recent UFC release Tim Means will now fight Pete Spratt in a Lightweight headliner at Legacy FC 23.


Sunday, August 4, 2013

8/4/13

In what was arguably Bellator's biggest fight card to date (Bellator 97), two titles were defended and two tournaments were won. Vitaly Minakov claimed the Heavyweight tournament by defeating Ryan Martinez via TKO at 4:02 of round 3. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal won the Light Heavyweight tournament after defeating Jacob Noe via verbal submission at 2:51 of round 3. In the first of two title fights, Ben Askren defended his Welterweight belt by dominating Andrey Koreshkov. Askren won via TKO at 2:58 of round 4. In the main event Michael Chandler defended his Lightweight belt easily, defeating David Rickels via KO at :44 of round 1. Other notable winners on the card were Patricio Freire, Anthony Leone and Rafael Silva.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its way down to Brazilian yet again for UFC 163. Middleweight Thales Leites made a successful return to the octagon, winning via unanimous decision over Tom Watson. Another Middleweight bout saw Cezar Ferreira win impressively defeating Thiago Santos via guillotine at :47 of round 1. In the co-main event Light Heavyweight Phil Davis earned an upset win defeating Lyoto Machida via unanimous decision. In the main event Jose Aldo defended his Featherweight belt in an anti climatic way. Aldo earned a win over "the Korean Zombie" via TKO at 2:00 of round 4.

Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has signed with Bellator. He is scheduled to face Quinton "Rampage" Jackson November 2nd on a card that will mark the first ever pay per view event for Bellator FC.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

7/28/13

UFC on FOX 8 featured a Flyweight title fight where the latest stoppage in UFC history was pulled off. Demetrious Johnson defended his title defeating John Moraga via armbar at 3:43 of round five. The co-main event saw a Welterweight fight that was built up for weeks fall short as far as excitement is concerned. Rory MacDonald in the end defeated Jake Ellenberger via unanimous decision. Welterweight Robbie Lawler pulled off a vicious head kick KO over Bobby Voelker at :24 of round two. Women's Bantamweight Liz Carmouche returned to the win column after defeating Jessica Andrade via TKO at 3:57 of round two.

UFC veteran James McSweeney will replace Marcus Sursa and face off against Paul Buentello at Legazy FC 22.

UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has been confirmed to have a roll in The Expendables 3.

Paul Daley and Maiquel Falcao have both been released from Bellator FC.

Brazilian star Goiti Yamauchi who was recently signed by Bellator will make his debut at Bellator 99.

Monday, July 22, 2013

7/21/13

Legacy FC 21 held not one but two title fights! In the main event, Matt Hobar and Angel Huerta fought for the Bantamweight belt. Hobar got the better of Huerta earning a win via RNC that came at just 3:05 of round one. In the co-main event William Bush defeated Larry Crowe to earn the Middleweight belt. The win came at 2:41 of round two via TKO. WEC and UFC veteran Leonard Garcia finally returned to the win column. Garcia defeated Reynaldo Trujillo via KO at :24 of round three in what was definitely the most exciting fight of the night. In the Women's Bantamweight division, Holly Holm delivered a brutal head kick KO to beat Allanna Jones at 2:22 of round two.

At Cage Warriors 57, former UFC fighter Paul Daley earned another win (his forth straight). At Welterweight Daley defeated Lukasz Chlewicki via doctors stoppage at the end of the first round. Other notable winners on the card were Danny Roberts, Ronnie Mann and Norman Paraisy.

Light Heavyweight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson will take on Mike Kyle in the WSOF 5 main event.

UFC fight night bonuses are officially staying according to Dana White.

Andrew Leone will replace Yasuhiro Urushitani and face off against Shinichi Kojima in the ONE FC 10 Flyweight title fight.

Vladimir Matyushenko will take on Christian M'Pumbu at Bellator 99. The Light Heavyweight bout will serve as the main event.

WSOF and the XFC have both announced four man tournaments. WSOF will have their tournament consist of Middleweights while the XFC tournament will consist of Featherweights.

Jeff Curran will replace the injured Keoni Koch and take on Pedro Munhoz for the Bantamweight title at RFA 9.

Fallon Fox will take on Ashlee Evans-Smith for the CFA Women's Featherweight title on October 10th.



Monday, July 15, 2013

7/14/13

Invicta Fighting Championship held their biggest fight card in the history of the promotion this past week. In the main event of Invicta FC 6, women's Featherweight fighters "Cyborg" Santos and Marloes Coenen faced off for the title. "Cyborg" claimed the belt with a forth round TKO of Coenen coming at 4:02. In the co-main event Claudia Gadelha defeated Ayaka Hamasaki via TKO at 3:58 of round three in a women's Strawweight bout.

Former UFC and Bellator fighter Paul Buentello will fight in the main event of Legacy FC 22. Buentello will take on fellow Heavyweight Marcus Sursa.

Cage Warriors 61 is set to take place in Russia in November.

Welterweight Josh Koscheck has suffered an injury and is out of his UFC 163 fight against Damien Maia.

T.J. Grant has also suffered an injury and is out of his Lightweight title fight against champion Benson Henderson. Anthony Pettis (the last man to defeat Henderson) will take Grant's spot in the UFC 164 main event.

Pedro Munhoz will face Keoni Koch at RFA 9 for the Bantamweight title.

Chris Weidman vs Anderson Silva II is set to take place on December 28th at UFC 168. The Middleweight title rematch will be the headliner while women's Bantamweights Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate will be the co-main event.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

7/7/13

And... ... ... NEW UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman! Yeah, you could say UFC 162 didn't go how most thought it would. Anderson Silva who was once (and still arguably) one of the best P4P fighters in MMA, couldn't defend his Middleweight belt against title challenger Chris Weidman. Weidman won via KO at 1:18 of round 2. Frankie Edgar returned to the win column after defeating Charles Oliveira via unanimous decision in a Featherweight co-main event fight. Middleweight Tim Kennedy won a rather boring UFC debut fight against Roger Gracie by unanimous decision. Mark Munoz showed why he is still a force to be reckoned with in the Middleweight division. Munoz dominated Tim Boetsch to win a unanimous decision. Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver kicked off the main card with what most would say was the best fight on the card. Swanson started slow but ended up coming back and TKOing Siver at 2:24 of round 3.

In the main event of Cage Warriors 56, Welterweight Bola Omoyele (former TUF "The Smashes competitor) defeated Vincent Del Guerra via TKO at 3:21 of round 1.

Ronda Rousey is set to defend her Women's Bantamweight title against Miesha Tate at UFC 168 (year end event).

Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland will fight for the interim belt after all. The two Bantamweights will be the co-main event at UFC 165.


Sunday, June 30, 2013

6/30/13

With no major MMA events taking place this past week, I had to scrape to get worthy news to put for this weeks review. The reason for the lack of fights most likely has to do with next week being the forth of July. Promoters are smart, and that's exactly why a ton of great fight cards will take place next week(end). 

Spike TV will now feature GLORY Kickboxing events. The events will be aired on select Saturdays starting in the Fall.

TUF will be heading to China next! Tryouts will be in July and August for Featherweights, Lightweights and Welterweights.

Notable fighters Bobby Lashley, Kendall Grove, Andre Winner and LC Davis all earned wins in the debut of a new promotion called Global Warrior Challenge.


Sunday, June 23, 2013

6/23/13

Bellator kicked off their highly anticipated Summer Series with Bellator 96. And oh what a kick off it was! All the main card fights ended with a finish. After nearly two years of being sidelined (by jail time), Welterweight fighter War Machine made his MMA return. He TKO'd Blas Avena at 3:55 of round one. In the opening round of the Heavyweight tournament Vitaly Minakov defeated Ron Sparks via TKO at :35 of round one. Minakov will now face Ryan Martinez who won via KO over Richard Hale at 2:19 of round one. In the opening round of the Light Heavyweight tournament Jacob Noe defeated "Babalu" Sobral via TKO at 3:32 of round three. Noe will now face Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal who defeated Seth Petruzelli via KO at 1:35 of round one.

Resurrection Fighting Alliance held it's eighth event which featured two title fights. Featherweight Lance Palmer won the second title of his undefeated career by getting the split decision victory over Jared Downing. Flyweight Sergio Pettis (Brother of UFC fighter Anthony Pettis) got a quick KO victory over Joe Pegg at just :51 of round one to win the title.

After "The Korean Zombie" was pulled from UFC 162 and bumped up to fight Jose Aldo for the Featherweight title, Ricardo Lamas was left without an opponent. Lamas is now being taken off the fight card completely. A new opponent will be announced for him in the near future.

Bellator Middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko is scheduled for his first title defense against Doug Marshall at Bellator 99.

"Babalu" Sobral and Seth Petruzelli both announced their retirments following their Bellator 96 losses.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

6/16/13

With a busy week of MMA behind us, it's safe to say XFC 24 topped all other cards. Eric Reynolds returned to the win column with a first round arm-triangle win over fellow Lightweight Kevin Forant at 4:13. OH and not to mention Reynolds pulled off a LEGAL pile drive during the fight. If that wasn't enough excitement for the fans, Welterweight Luis Santos followed up with a ten second first round TKO win over David Courchaine. Next up was Middleweight Rickey Rainy delivering a devastating KO to get the win over Reggie Pena at 4:33 of round one. In the nights main event, Scott Holtzman and John Mahlow battled it out for the XFC Lightweight title that was abandoned by Nick Newell. The undefeated Holtzman claimed the title with a TKO win coming at 2:53 of round two.

Nobody expected what took place at WSOF 3. The main event consisted of a rematch between underdog Josh Burkman and former UFC contender Jon Fitch. Burkman proceeded in shocking the world by putting Fitch to sleep with a first round guillotine coming at just :41. Other notable winners were Steve Carl, Jacob Volkmann, Justin Gaethje and Dan Lauzon (brother of UFC fighter Joe Lauzon).

UFC 161 wasn't what most hoped it'd be. In one of the nights only exciting fights, Heavyweight Shawn Jordan defeated Pat Barry via TKO at :59 of round one. In the women's Bantamweight division Alexis Davis earned a unanimous decision victory over Rosi Sexton. Light Heavyweight Ryan Jimmo remained conservative (not taking any chances) in his unanimous decision win over Igor Pokrajac. Heavyweight Stipe Miocic earned an upset win over "Big Country" Roy Nelson. Miocic won via unanimous decision. In the nights main event, Rashad Evans squeaked past Dan Henderson with a split decision victory that could've went either way.

WEC and UFC Featherweight veteran Diego Nunes has signed with Bellator FC.

ONE FC 10 is set for September 13th. On the card the first ever ONE FC Flyweight title will be up for grabs between Yasuhiro Urushitani and Shinichi Kojima. The fight will also be a rubber match since both have a win over each other.

Cage Warriors 57 will be headlined by Welterweight fighter Paul Daley taking on Lukasz Chlewicki.

The Bellator 97 Welterweight tournament final between Douglas Lima and Ben Saunders has been postponed due to an injury suffered by Lima.

UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title at UFC 165 in Toronto against Alexander Gustafsson.

Patrick Cote and Kyle Noke will be the coaches for a TUF season that will consist of Austrailia vs Canada.

Chan Sung Jung (The Korean Zombie) will replace Anthony Pettis and fight Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight title at UFC 163.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

6/9/13

Another action packed week of MMA is under our belt. It's safe to say this was a great week for Jiu Jitsu fans! There were submissions as far as the eye can see. From Titan FC to the UFC, no limb was safe in the past seven days of MMA.

In the main event of Titan FC 25, Heavyweight Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Asplund via keylock at 1:23 of round two.

The UFC on Fuel TV 10 set a promotion record with eight total submission victories in a single night. Contributing to that number was Welterweight Erik Silva who submitted Jason High via armbar at just 1:11 of round one. Thiago Silva, the long time UFC Light Heavyweight fighter, returned to the win column by knocking out Rafael Cavalcante at 4:29 of round one. Leonardo Santos won the second season of TUF Brazil by defeating fellow Welterweight fighter William Macario via arm-triangle at 4:43 of round two. In the main event two Heavyweight legends went head to head. Fabricio Werdum avenged a loss early in his career by defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by way of armbar (verbal submission) at 2:41 of round two.

Switching it up a bit to submission grappling, Metamoris 2 saw Kron Gracie submit Shinya Aoki via guillotine choke in the main event.

Bellator Lightweight champion Michael Chandler will now meet David Rickels at Bellator 97. Rickels replaces the injured Dave Jansen.

Former UFC Light Heavyweight contender Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has signed with Bellator FC. His contract allows him to compete in TNA as well as Bellator itself.

Submission ace Robert Drysdale is now a member of the UFC Heavyweight division after being signed by the organization earlier in the week. He will make his debut against Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 163.

UFC Lightweight champion Benson Henderson will defend his belt against TJ Grant at UFC 164. The fight will serve as the main event.

The UFC has also signed Flyweight prospect Ali Bagautinov.

Monday, June 3, 2013

6/2/13

It's amazing how much MMA news you miss when you're gone on vacation for a week. That's the reason why no review was posted last Sunday. Hopefully you kept up on all of the news on your own. Luckily this week I'm back and ready to review!

At ONE FC 9 Bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes won the interim title with a unanimous decision victory over Koetsu Okazaki. In the Featherweight division Koji Oishi pulled off an upset, knocking out Honorio Banario at 1:45 of round number two. Former UFC fighters Yasuhiro Urushitani and Kamal Shalorus also earned victories.

Legacy FC 20 saw Bantamweight Damacio Page return to the win column in dominate fashion. Page picked up a first round KO win over Patrick Ybarra at 1:57. In the main event, Lightweight Carlos Diego Ferreira remained undefeated defeating former UFC fighter Carlo Prater via unanimous decision.

At Cage Warriors 55 Neil Seery defeated Mikael Silander via armbar at 3:57 of round three to win the Flyweight title. Welterweight Cathal Pendred defeated former UFC fighter Che Mills (who missed weight) via TKO at 1:47 of round three.

Former XFC Lightweight champion Nick Newell announced that he will be competing in the World Series of Fighting.

Miesha Tate will replace the injured Cat Zingano on the upcoming season of TUF. She will coach opposite of women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

Legacy Fighting Championship signed former pro boxer Holly Holm. Holm is 3-0 and has competed in Bellator FC.

Undefeated Lightweight prospect Bubba Jenkins signed with Bellator FC. Jenkins served as an assistant coach for Jon Jones on TUF 17.


Sunday, May 19, 2013

5/19/13

Vitor Belfort pretty much saved an entire fight card on his own. UFC on FX 8 wasn't the most exciting fight card, that is until Middleweight Vitor Belfort delivered a nasty spinning kick KO in the main event. Belfort won over former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold via KO at 2:32 of the first round. Also, Ronaldo Souza made a successful UFC debut defeating Chris Camozzi via arm triangle at 3:37 of round one.

After losing to Gleison Tibau at UFC on FX 8, Lightweight John Cholish announced that he will be retiring. He has lost his last two fights.

Pat Healy will have $130,00 in post fight bonus money taken away from him after testing positive for marijuana. Healy, a UFC Lightweight fighter, won the bonus money after submitting Jim Miller.

UFC Lightweight and Welterweight fighter Nate Diaz has been suspended for 90 days and fined $20,000 for his derogatory tweet referring to the Pat Healy situation.

The UFC has signed European Heavyweights Daniel Omielanczuk and Nikita Krylov.

Bellator Fighting Championship has announced that Bellator 96 will have a six fight main card. Bellator 96 marks the opening of the Summer Series. Added to the card is the Heavyweight tournament which will feature Vinicius Queiroz vs Rich Hale and Vitaly Minakov vs Ron Sparks.

UFC veteran Paul Kelly has been found guilty of heroin trafficking in the United Kingdom. Kelly was a UFC veteran of nine fights.

Bellator has now acquired former UFC welterweight fighter Matt Riddle. Riddle had initially signed with Legacy FC but Bellator has bought out his contract.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

5/12/13

The Maximum Fighting Championship hosted another great event with MFC 37 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In the main event the newly founded MFC Bantamweight division brought the house down. Anthony Birchak defeated Ryan Benoit by way of a unanimous decision in a fight that could arguably be fight of the year for 2013. Middleweight submission ace Luke Harris defeated Jason Zentgraf via neck crank at 2:21 of round one. Lightweight Kurt Southern defeated Mukai Maromo via north-south choke at 2:54 in round one. And in a highly controversial stoppage, Middleweight Sam Alvey defeated Jay Silva via TKO at 1:05 of round three.

Cage Warriors held their eighth fight night event which saw Welterweight Jack Mason get the unanimous decision win over Collin Reuter in the main event of the evening.

Spike TV announced the 32 member cast of the upcoming Bellator reality series "Fight Masters". The cast includes UFC and Strikeforce veteran Joe Riggs, and Bellator veterans Chris Lozano and Marcus Aurelio.

UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva was fined $50,000 for not showing up to a press conference. He later claimed he had no idea that there was a press conference.

Former UFC Heavyweight interim champion Shane Carwin announced his retirement.

The UFC announced the release of nine fighters including Bart Palaszewski, Leonard Garcia, and Pablo Garza.

After being released, Leonard Garcia has now signed with Legacy Fighting Championship.

Nick Newell, the XFC Lightweight champion and one armed fighter has been stripped of his belt after refusing to defend it at an upcoming XFC event. No word yet on if he is still with the promotion.   

Former UFC Welterweight fighter Paul Daley racked up another win. This one was at Dubai FC 4.


Sunday, May 5, 2013

5/5/13

It seems like Jesse Taylor has fought in every single MMA promotion possible. From the UFC to the MFC, he is definitely a veteran of the sport. Cage Warriors 54 had Taylor defending his Middleweight belt against John Phillips. Taylor won via guillotine choke at 2:43 of round one to retain the Middleweight strap.

Sergio Pettis (brother to UFC fighter Anthony Pettis) will headline RFA 8 against Bellator veteran Jeff Curran in a Flyweight fight. RFA 8 will take place on June 21.

In his first fight after being cut from the UFC, Lightweight Jacob Volkmann will fight Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm at WSOF 3.

In other news out of the WSOF, Tyrone Spong has been pulled from the WSOF 3 card due to visa issues. Also, UFC vet Tyson Griffin signed a multiple fight deal with the promotion.

Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga's appeal for his recent KO loss to Travis Browne at the TUF 17 finale has been denied.

After his loss to Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen has announced he will not be retiring. In the process he called out Wanderlei Silva for a Light-Heavyweight fight. 

Robbie Peralta has tested positive for Marijuana following his UFC on FUEL TV 9 loss. He now faces suspension and rehab.

Multiple fights have been announced for the Bellator Summer Series kick off at Bellator 96. Michael Chandler will defend his Lightweight belt against tournament winner Dave Jansen. Also the Light Heavyweight tournament opening round will feature Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal vs Seth Petruzelli and Jacob Noe vs Renato Sobral.

Longtime UFC Heavyweight Cheick Kongo has been removed from the UFC roster. He has not been cut however, the removal was prompted by the refusal to sign a new contract with the promotion.

 



Sunday, April 28, 2013

4/28/13

UFC 159 didn't turn out how most expected it to. A lot of strange things happened but the main event was not one of them. Jon Jones defended his Light-Heavyweight title defeating Chael Sonnen via TKO at 4:33 in the first round. Middleweight Michael Bisping won a technical decision over Alan Belcher after an accidental eye poke. Heavyweight Roy "Big Country" Nelson delivered a huge KO at 2:03 of round one to defeat Cheick Kongo. Light-Heavyweight Phil Davis won an easy decision over Vinny Magalhaes. In what was the best fight of the night, Lightweight Pat Healy defeated Jim Miller at 4:02 of round three via RNC.

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is scheduled to defend his belt against John Moraga at UFC on FOX 8 which takes place in Seattle Washington on July 27th. Also added to the card is Women's Bantamweight Miesha Tate who will take on Liz Carmouche.

Bellator FC's Summer Series will kick off on June 19th in Oklahoma. It will feature the semi-finals of the Light-Heavyweight tournament. "King Mo Lawal will be one of the four men competing. The others have yet to be announced.

ONE FC 9 added two Flyweight bouts to their May 31st card. Former UFC fighter Yasuhiro Urushitani will take on Rey Docyogen and Geje Eustaquio will take on Andrew Leone. The card is headlined by a Featherweight title fight between Honorio Banario and Koji Oishi.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

4/21/13

Xtreme Fighting Championships made it's way to Louisville this past Friday, where it held XFC 23. The main event featured two experienced Welterweights. Former UFC fighter Shamar Bailey took on former Bellator fighter Luis "Sapo" Santos. Santos, a veteran of 64 fights, made quick work of Bailey defeating him via TKO at 1:02 in the very first round. Other notable winners at XFC 23 were Featherweight Zach Underwood and Straw-weight Stephanie Eggink.

UFC on FOX 7 went down as one of the better UFC cards of 2013 thus far. Unofficially called "UFC vs Strikeforce", the two promotions (Strikeforce of which no longer exists) split the fights 2 to 2 on the main card. In the Welterweight division, Matt Brown defeated Jordan Mein via TKO at 1:00 of round two. Lightweight Josh Thomson became the first person to stop Nate Diaz. Thomson won via TKO at 3:44 of round two. In the Heavyweight division Daniel Cormier won a unanimous decision over Frank Mir. In the main event of the evening, Lightweight champion Benson Henderson won a split decision victory over Gilbert Melendez to defend his title.

It was announced that Shinya Aoki, The ONE FC Lightweight champion, will compete against Kron Gracie at Metamoris 2. The jiu-jitsu competition will take place on June 9.

The Legacy FC 21 fight card is set with two title fights taking place. William Bush will fight Larry Crowe for the vacant Middleweight title and Matt Hobar will fight Angel Huerta for the vacant Bantamweight title. Former UFC fighter Matt Riddle will also make his Legacy FC debut on that fight card.

Jon Jones and Nike released shoes and shirts that went on sale this past Friday.

Bellator Fighting Championship announced the signing of veteran fighter Vladimir Matyushenko.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

4/14/13

AXS TV has been known to televise some pretty awesome fight cards. Legacy Fighting Championship 19 was just another one of them. Flyweight champion and former UFC fighter Will Campuzano successfully defended his belt against Allan Nascimento, winning by unanimous decision. Featherweight Georgi Karakhanyan defeated another former UFC fighter, Din Thomas, by unanimous decision as well. Light Heavyweight Robert Drysdale kept his hot streak going with another first round submission win. This time it was over D.J Linderman via RNC at 1:48.

At Cage Warriors 53 Jim Alers won the Featherweight title, defeating Joni Salovaara via armbar at 3:43 in round four. Alers won the title which was vacated by now UFC fighter Conor McGregor.

Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter came to an end this past weekend, and what a way to send it off! Bantamweight Urijah Faber defeated Scott Jorgensen via RNC at 3:16 in the fourth round. Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum pulled off a huge upset defeating Uriah Hall to win TUF 17 via split decision. Women's Bantamweights Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate stole the show putting on a back and forth fight. The winner would coach opposite of Ronda Rousey on season 18 of TUF. Zingano won via TKO at 2:55 in the third round.

Invicta Fighting Championship announced that Marloes Coenen and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will fight for a title rematch at Invicta FC 6.

Heavyweight Matt Mitrione, fresh off his KO victory of Philip De Fries, has been suspended by the UFC after his rude comments towards transgender fighter Fallon Fox.

Former MFC Middleweight champion Elvis Mutapcic has signed with World Series of Fighting.

ONE FC 9 has been scheduled to take place on May 31.

Bellator announced that their summer series will be four man tournaments rather then their usual eight.


Sunday, April 7, 2013

4/7/13

I know everyone dearly missed the weekly review this past weekend because of Easter Sunday but it's back!

Bellator 95 wrapped up the season 8 tournaments. The biggest win of the night belonged to champ Pat Curran, who defended his Featherweight belt against Russian fighter Shahbulat Shamhalaev. He defeated Shamhalaev via guillotine choke at 2:38 in the first round. "Frodo" Khasbulaev beat out Mike Richman for this seasons Featherweight tournament championship by winning a unanimous decision. Doug Marshall won via flashy KO at 3:39 in the first round over Brett Cooper. Marshall claimed this seasons Middleweight tournament championship. In other action, welterweight Rick Hawn defeated former UFC fighter Karo Parisyan via KO at 1:55 in the second round.

Invicta FC, the MMA organization for women only, held it's fifth event which hosted two title fights. Michelle Waterson pulled off a huge upset to win the Atomweight title over Jessica Penne. Waterson won via armbar at 2:31 in the forth round. Barb Honchak claimed a unanimous decision victory over Vanessa Porto to win the Flyweight belt.

At ONE FC 8, Shinya Aoki did what he does best and won via RNC at 2:01 in round one over Kotetsu Boku. With this win Aoki claims the lightweight title. Middleweight Brock Larson won a unanimous decision over Melvin Manhoef. Masakatsu Ueda and Kevin Belingon both advance to face each other for the Bantamweight tournament championship.

UFC on FUEL TV 9 seemed like it was going to be a disaster with Alexander Gustafsson having to drop out of the fight. Though the main event wasn't what it probably would have been if Gustafsson was fighting, the rest of the card made it worth while. Brad Pickett defeated Mike Easton in a Bantamweight fight that was definitely worthy of Fight of the Night. Heavyweight Matt Mitrione KO'd Philip De Fries in just 19 seconds. Ross Pearson spoiled fellow Lightweight Ryan Couture's UFC debut with a TKO at 3:45 of round two. In the main event Gegard Mousasi destroyed Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

3/24/13

An action packed Bellator 93 saw a total of 8 stoppages (not counting the Davis vs Spiritwolf  no contest). The main event however went all three rounds with Dave Jansen winning the season 7 lightweight title over Marcin Held by unanimous decision.

The up and coming promotion Resurrection Fighting Alliance had their seventh event (RFA 7) this past weekend. In the co-main event Chidi Njokuani, brother of Anthony Njokuani, was upset in the second round by Jeremy Kimball. Kimball won via RNC. In the main event Brandon Thatch tapped out Mike Rhodes in the first round also by RNC.

WSOF 2 put on a fantastic fight card. Josh Burkman defeated Aaron Simpson via KO (knee) in the first round. Dave Branch won a decision Paulo Filho. Marlon Moraes pulled off what some might consider an upset, knocking out Tyson Nam in the first round with a head kick. And in the main event Anthony Johnson defeated Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision.

After being cut from the UFC, Matt Riddle will make his Legacy Fighting Championship debut against Artenas Young at Legacy FC 21.

Lavar Johnson and Riki Fukuda have both been cut from the UFC after testing positive for banned substances. Alex Caceras (Bruce Leeroy) has been suspended for 6 months after marijuana metabolites were found in his post fight drug test.

One armed fighter and XFC champion Nick Newell will defend his belt against Scott Holtzman at XFC 24.

Paul Daley will return to action in May taking on Rodrigo Ribeiro at Dubai Fighting Championship 4.

Darren Elkins fresh off his first round victory will step in for injured Clay Guida and take on Chad Mendes at UFC on FOX 7.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

3/17/13

UFC 158 is over and the key victors on the card were GSP and Johnny Hendricks. Both Welterweights won unanimous decision victories. GSP defended his title against Nick Diaz and Hendricks defeated former title challenger Carlos Condit. The two will now face each other for the title, most likely in Las Vegas. The date for the fight has not yet been announced.

Ronda Rousey will be the next coach on TUF. She will coach against the winner of Tate and Zingano which is the second women's bout in UFC history. Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter will feature both men and women Bantamweights.

In other UFC news the Korean Zombie (Chan Sung Jung) will make his return, after being out due to injury, against Ricardo Lamas. The Featherweight bout announced this week will be a part of UFC 162.

Former MMA star Mirko "CroCop" won the 2013 K-1 World Grand Prix after defeating Ismael Londt in his home country of Croatia. It is an accomplishment that has alluded CroCop despite his spectacular career.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

3/10/13

Matt Riddle will now fight for Legacy FC after being cut from the UFC for testing positive for Marijuana. No opponent has been named for Riddle yet. Also cut from the UFC were Ulysses Gomez and Jon Fitch. Gomez signed with Pandemonium Fights (California based promotion) and Fitch signed with World Series of Fighting.

Renan Barao will defend his interim championship again in a UFC 161 headlining fight. He will fight fellow Bantamweight  Eddie Wineland.

Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman will officially fight at UFC 162 for the Middleweight belt.

Mark Hunt fresh off a vicious KO of Stefan Struve has stepped up as Overeem's replacement to fight Junior Dos Santos at UFC 160.

Australian Heavyweight Soa Palelei signs with the UFC.

Bellator 92 saw a dominate TKO victory for Magomedrasul Khasbulaev over Marlon Sandro. Khasbulaev will now face fellow Featherweight Mike Richman who won a narrow split decision earlier in the night over Alexandre Bezerr. Their fight will mark the Featherweight tournament championship. Also Brett Cooper won with a crazy come from behind TKO over Dan Cramer. Cooper will face Doug Marshall in the Middleweight tournament championship. Marshall won a controversial decision over Sultan Aliev.

Cage Warriors 52 helped crown a new Welterweight champion as Cathal Pendred won a decision over Gael Grimaud.

BAMMA 12 helped Jim Wallhead return to the win column. He scored a RNC over Matt Veach in the very first round. Other notable winners include Max Nunes and Curt Warburton.

Joachim Hansen (a veteran of DREAM) will now fight for Korean Promotion ROAD FC.