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.