Sunday, April 26, 2015

4/26/15

ONE Championship 26 was perhaps the biggest event in the young promotions history, but it didn't end in the way fans expected. Young Featherweight prospect Mark Striegl made a successful ONE debut with a rear naked choke win over previously undefeated Casey Suire at 3:48 of round 1. The main event ended in bizarre fashion when Welterweight champion Ben Askren accidentally poked Luis "Sapo" Santos in the eye resulting in a no contest ruling. Askren will keep the belt for now and no rematch has been scheduled at this point.

Invicta Fighting Championship made its way back to Kansas City, the place where the promotion began, for Invicta FC 12. Women's Featherweight Faith Van Duin looked impressive against Amanda Bell with a second round rear naked choke at :38. Vanessa Porto avenged a previous loss to Roxanne Modafferi with a unanimous decision win in a Women's Flyweight contest. And in the main event Livia Renata Souza defeated Katja Kankaanpaa via triangle choke at 3:58 of round 4 to win the Women's Strawweight title.

At UFC 186, Middleweight Michael Bisping defeated C.B. Dollaway by unanimous decision. Light Heavyweight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson made his return to the promotion with a unanimous decision win over Fabio Maldonado. And in the main event Flyweight kingpin Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson dominated challenger Kyoji Horiguchi with an armbar coming with only a second left in the fight. The round 5 (4:59) stoppage was the latest in UFC history.

Bellator Welterweight champion Douglas Lima will look to defend his belt against Russian fighter Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 140.

Bellator 139 will be headlined by a Heavyweight bout between Cheick Kongo and Alexander Volkov.

WSOF 22 will be highlighted by a Welterweight title fight between champion Rousimar Palhares and Jake Shields.

Olympic medalist Bilyal Makhov has signed with the UFC.

 

Sunday, April 19, 2015

4/19/15

UFC on FOX 15 had every MMA fans attention this past Saturday. Four big time fights highlighted the main card, and boy did they deliver. Women's Strawweight prospect Paige VanZant kept her hype train going with a dominate unanimous decision win over Felice Herrig. Another young fighter, Featherweight Max Holloway, added another victory to his win streak after defeating Cub Swanson via guillotine at 3:58 of round 3. Middleweight Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza made quick work of late replacement Chris Camozzi with an armbar at 2:33 of round 1. And in the main event Middleweight Luke Rockhold earned the biggest win of his career. Rockhold defeated former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida by way of rear naked choke at 2:31 of round 2. Rockhold's next fight will most likely be against the winner of Vitor Belfort and Chris Weidman for the Middleweight title.

Three bouts have been announced for UFC on FOX 16. The main event will feature a rematch between Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao. The co-main event will mark the return of Anthony "Showtime" Pettis as he faces off against Myles Jury. Finally, Jessica Eye and Miesha Tate will fight in a Women's Bantamweight contender fight.

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Phil Davis has signed with Bellator. Also signing with Bellator is former TUF contestant, Featherweight Justin Lawrence.

Cage Fury Fighting Championship has signed a television agreement with CBS Sports Network.

Several sources say former UFC Lightweight champion Benson Henderson will fight Micheal Johnson at the TUF 21 finale.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

4/12/15

Even though injuries and other various things have plagued the last two World Series of Fighting fight cards, they still have managed to entertain. At WSOF 20 lightweight Nick Newell regained some of his momentum by earning a unanimous decision win over Joe Condon. The main event, which featured a last minute (or rather days) change, saw Middleweight champion turned Light Heavyweight contender dominate. David Branch defeated replacement fighter Jesse McElligott via Von Flue choke at 1:28 of round 2. Branch will now face Teddy Holder for the inaugural WSOF Light Heavyweight belt.

Bellator put some of their best Lightweights in the spotlight at Bellator 136. One of those was Marcin Held who won impressively via kneebar over Alexander "Tiger" Sarnavskiy at 1:11 of round 3. The submission was verbal (screams). Next up was Middleweight Rafael Carvalho who edged out a narrow split decision victory over kick boxer Joe Schilling. In the main event Lightweight champion Will Brooks came back from a slow start to defeat Dave Jansen via unanimous decision. Brooks will now attempt to defend his title against Held.

Two belts were up for grabs at RFA 25. The first, the vacant Middleweight strap, was won by Francisco France by way of unanimous decision over Gabriel Checco. The second title saw Featherweight champion Justin Lawrence successfully defend with a TKO win over Sam Toomer at 4:55 of round 1.

The weekend was capped off by UFC Fight Night 64. Light Heavyweight Jimi Manuwa got back on track with a unanimous decision win over hometown favorite Jan Blachowicz. In the main event Heavyweight legend Mirko "Cro Cop" avenged a previous loss to Gabriel Gonzaga with a third round TKO coming at 3:30. "Cro Cop" is now 6-0 in career rematch bouts.

A New Jersey judge has ruled in favor of Bellator in relation to the battle over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's contract. This will result in "Rampage" being pulled from his UFC 186 co-main event fight. The UFC is still looking to reverse the decision.

Former Bellator Featherweight champion Pat Curran will fight Goiti Yamauchi in the Bellator 139 main event.    

A fight between UFC Heavyweights Frank Mir and Todd Duffee will headline a UFC Fight Night card set for July 15.