Sunday, June 21, 2015

6/21/15

I've been lazy in my recent attempts to keep this Five Round Review consistent in the month of June. With several vacations looming I regretfully have to say that trend will continue. But, I couldn't resist getting one out early for this weekends three big events.

At ONE Championship 28 two single night tournament winners were crowned. Ze Wu won the Flyweight tournament by defeating both Hui Qiang Wu and Jianbing Yang. Di Yuan Huang won the Featherweight tournament by defeating both Jian She Tian and Jia Wen Ma. In the main event Featherweight Timofey Nastyukhin won his second straight fight by soccer kicks. The TKO over Yusuke Kawanago came at 1:32 of round 1.

Bellator 138 was an awkward, yet stacked fight card that went down on Friday. Heavyweight Bobby Lashley remained undefeated in the promotion with a second round TKO over Dan Charles at 4:14. Patricio Freire successfully defended his Featherweight belt in dramatic fashion after Daniel Weichel nearly finished him in round 1. Freire came back with a KO finish at :32 of round 2. The bad blood was settled in the main event as Kimbo Slice defeated Ken Shamrock via TKO at 2:22 of round 1. Former champions Michael Chandler and Daniel Straus also picked up wins at Bellator 138.

UFC Fight Night 69 saw Peter Sobotta earn his second win in his second stint with the promotion. Sobotta defeated Steve Kennedy via rear naked choke at 2:57 of round 1. Featherweight legend Tatsuya Kawajiri did just enough to defeat Dennis Siver by way of unanimous decision. Finally, Women's Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk dominated challenger Jessica Penne, severely cutting her nose in the process. Jedrzejczyk's TKO win came at 4:22 of round 3.

Titan Fighting Championship events will now be exclusively aired on UFC Fight Pass. Their first event under the streaming service has been set for July 18 and will be headlined by a Lightweight title fight between UFC veterans Mike Ricci and Pat Healy.

Bellator once again is changing things up with "Bellator 141: Dynamite." The promotion has partnered up with GLORY Kickboxing and will feature two (possibly three) kickboxing contests alongside the MMA fights. Also on the fight card will be a one night Light Heavyweight tournament featuring notable fighters "King Mo", Emanuel Newton, Linton Vassell and Phil Davis. Not only that but the night will be capped off by a Light Heavyweight title fight between challenger Tito Ortiz and champion Liam McGeary.

Monday, June 8, 2015

6/7/15

The busy weekend of MMA was kicked off with WSOF 21 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. TUF veteran Micheal Hill won his third straight fight in the promotion with a split decision win over fellow Welterweight Mark Drummond. Blagoi Ivanov claimed the Heavyweight title with a guillotine win that came at 1:17 of round 3 over former champion Smealinho Rama. Ivanov was able to sink in the choke after severely stunning Rama with crisp striking. In the main event Lance Palmer successfully defended his Featherweight belt for the first time with a win over Chris Horodecki. Palmer won via rear naked choke at 4:28 of round 1.

At RFA 26 Welterweight Marcus Edwards, a veteran of the MFC and Titan FC, won a unanimous decision over Thiago Alves Cavalcante Rodrigues. TUF veteran Gilbert Smith won the Welterweight title over Benjamin Smith with a quick, out of nowhere armbar at 3:27 of round 3.

Saying UFC Fight Night 68 was a good fight card would be a severe understatement. The event tied a promotion record for most first round finishes (7). Featherweight prospect Brian Ortega defeated Thiago Tavares by way of TKO at 4:10 of round 3. The fight was good enough to earn "Fight of the Night". Dustin Poirier made a big move to Lightweight and defeated Yancy Medeiros via TKO at 2:38 of round 1. Heavyweight Ben Rothwell made another step up in the division with a first round front choke submission over Matt Mitrione at 1:54. And in the main event future hall of famer Dan Henderson had no problem defeating Tim Boetsch in a Middleweight contest. Henderson won via KO at just :28 of round 1.

The UFC has announced that Luke Rockhold will be next in line to fight Chris Weidman for the Middleweight belt. Also, in the Light Heavyweight division, Daniel Cormier will look to defend his title for the first time against Alxander Gustafsson.

The UFC has released 10 fighters which includes Flyweights Tim Elliot and Louis Gaudinot and Middleweight Dylan Andrews.