Sunday, January 31, 2016

1/31/16

ONE Championship held its second event in a week with ONE Championship 38. Lightweight Eduard Folayang got past Tetsuya Yamada for a unanimous decision win. The main event saw Ev Ting dominate Eric Kelley in a Lightweight contest. Ting won via guillotine choke at 1:58 of round 3.

Bellator kicked off their 2016, which is sure to bring fireworks, with Bellator 148. Lightweight Patricky "Pitbull" Freire continued his up and down Bellator career with a vicious KO of Ryan Couture that came at 3:00 of round 1. Welterweight Paul Bradley snapped Chris Honeycutt's unblemished record with a TKO win at just :40 of the opening round. In the main event, flashy Welterweight Paul "Semtex" Daley took out Andy Uhrich via KO at 2:00 of round 1.

At UFC on FOX 18 Lightweight Sage Northcutt moved up to Welterweight but lost to last minute replacement Bryan Barberena by way of arm triangle at 3:06 of round 2. Bantamweight prospect Jimmie Rivera looked impressive in his unanimous decision win against seasoned veteran Iuri Alcantara. Heavyweight Ben Rothwell continued his win streak with a slick guillotine of Josh Barnett. The submission came at 3:48 of round 2. Finally, Light Heavyweight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson defeated Ryan "Darth" Bader via TKO at 1:26 of round 1.

With the multiple injuries resulting in fighters pulling out, UFC 196 has shifted from a pay-per-view to airing on Fox Sports 1.

Former UFC Middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen will be a contestant on next seasons Celebrity Apprentice.

Titan FC 37 has been scheduled for March 4 and will feature three title fights. Champion Tim Elliot will defend his Flyweight belt against Pedro Nobre, Featherweight title holder Andre Harrison welcomes title challenger Steven Silver and Brett Johns will face off against Ricky Simon for the vacant Bantamweight strap. The fights will air on UFC Fight Pass.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

1/24/16

Three entertaining fight cards took place this past weekend, and not one happened to be in the UFC.

Kicking things off was a monumental event for Legacy FC. Legacy FC 50 saw long time promotional man Justin Reiswerg defeat fellow Lightweight Jonathan Harris via rear naked choke at 1:43 of round 1. In another Lightweight battle, Ray Blodget took out Jared Chaffee by way of guillotine at 3:38 of round 1. The main event marked the return of Welterweight Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. Cyborg made it a successful one with a unanimous decision victory over Artenas Young.

ONE Championship 36 went down early in the morning for us here in the states. Ma Hao Bin won the Changsha Bantamweight tournament (winning both fights in similar fashion) with a semifinal win over Wu Ting Shen that came by way of guillotine at just :27 of round 1. His finals win was also with a guillotine choke, this time against Bu Huo You Ga at 1:08 of round 1. ONE Bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes made his title defense look easy when he dispatched Kevin Belingon with a kimura at 4:04 of the opening round.

At WSOF 27 Light Heavyweight Shamil Gamzatov looked impressive as he TKO'd Teddy Holder at 2:32 of round 1. In the main event Lightweight Luiz Firmino won a unanimous decision over Caros Fodor.

The UFC announced that a Middleweight match-up between Vitor Belfort and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza will headline UFC Fight Night 87.

Saturdays SNL was hosted by former UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. It marked the first time an MMA fighter hosted the show.

Heavyweight Cain Velasquez is injured and has withdrawn from his title rematch against champion Fabricio Werdum. Instead Werdum will meet Stipe Miocic for the belt at UFC 196.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

1/17/16

Well it has definitely been awhile. The Five Round Review is back and hopefully here to stay. To answer anyone who is wondering why this review has been so inconsistent over the past two months, I am wrapping up college while simultaneously traveling... a lot. But that is neither here nor there. Let's get to what you clicked here for.

Opening up this weekend of MMA was RFA 34 which took place in Broomfield, Colorado. The fight card was headlined by a title fight for the vacant Welterweight belt between Bojan Velickovic and Benjamin Smith. Velickovic finished the bout before it reached the championship rounds with a guillotine choke at 1:51 of round 3.

Invicta FC 15 was non stop action with six of the seven fights ending with a finish. Two of those finishes took place in the two title fights. The first, for the Strawweight strap, saw Livia Renata Souza remain undefeated by earning a TKO over DeAnna Bennett at just 1:30 of round 1. In the main event Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino dominated Daria Ibragimova, keeping the Featherweight title. Justino won via KO at 4:58 of round 1.

A lot of big fights took place at Sunday's UFC Fight Night 81. Heavyweight Travis Browne busted up Matt Mitrione's eye on his way to a TKO victory at 4:09 of round 3. Lightweight Eddie Alvarez won his second split decision in a row, this one against former champion Anthony "Showtime" Pettis. And capping off the night was the return of Dominic Cruz. Cruz regained his Bantamweight belt with a split decision over now former champion T.J. Dillashaw.

UFC Middleweight Yoel Romero has been flagged by the USADA for a positive drug test following his UFC 194 win over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.

Bellator announced its headliner for their first event in Europe, which will take place in Italy. UFC vet Alessio Sakara will fight Brian Rogers on April 16 in Torino.