5/29/16

Memorial Day Weekend brought with it a couple of action packed fight cards. 

First, heading far away from the land of red, white and blue was ONE Championship 43. In the most impressive win of his career, Featherweight Timofey Nastyukhin defeated Rob Lisita in just six seconds with a KO brought on by a punch and followed up by soccer kicks. The first of two title fights saw Marat Gafurov successfully defend his Featherweight belt over Kazunori Yokota via rear naked choke at 4:45 of round 2. In the main event Yoshitaka Naito claimed the Strawweight title by getting past Dejdamrong Sor Amnaysirichoke. Naito won with a rear naked choke at 4:00 of round 4. 

On Sunday night, back in America, UFC Fight Night 88 took place. Welterweight Rick Story returned with a unanimous decision victory against Tarec Saffiedine. Jeremey Stephens welcomed former Bantamweight champion Renan Barao to the Featherweight division. Stephens landed heavy shot after heavy shot but was unable to take out Barao. Nevertheless, Stehpens won a unanimous decision. The main event saw two young Bantamweight prospects fight as Cody Garbrandt went up against Thomas Almeida. Garbrandt was the one to keep his record unblemished with a KO of Almeida at 2:53 of round 1. 

Cage Warriors 76 will be headlined by Middleweights Jack Marshman and Ali Arish.

WSOF Global will now feature Swedish promotion IRFA. 

Heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett will headline UFC Fight Night in Hamburg, Germany on Sept. 3. 

5/15/16

The weekend of MMA events began with Legacy FC 55. Welterweight Bilal Williams sunk in a rear naked choke on Artenas Young at 3:25 of round 3 to earn his third straight win. Light Heavyweight Isaac Villanueva won a unanimous decision over Brandon Farran. The main event between Justin Ledet and Brice Ritani-Coe ended in less than impressive fashion when an eye poke led to a no contest.

The first of the two major events held on Saturday was Bellator 154. Lightweight Adam Piccolotti remained undefeated when he took out late notice replacement Ray Wood with a rear naked choke at 3:17 of round 1. Lightweight Saad Awad made a successful return, defeating Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos via TKO at 4:31 of round 1. In the main event Light Heavyweight Phil Davis solidified his spot as a title challenger by earning a decision against Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal.

Around the same time, only in Brazil, UFC 198 was taking place. Legendary Light Heavyweight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua won a split decision against Corey Anderson. Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino obliterated Leslie Smith in a Catchweight fight that ended by way of TKO at just 1:21 of round 1. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza made his case for a shot at the Middleweight belt when he defeated Vitor Belfort via TKO at 4:38 of round 1. In the main event Stipe Miocic became the latest of many Heavyweight champions. Miocic shocked the world with a first round KO of Fabricio Werdum at 2:47.

Bellator 155 no longer has a Women's Featherweight title fight as Julia Budd was forced out due to injury. Instead, Marloes Coenen will face off against UFC vet Alexis Dufresne in a non title fight.

UFC President Dana White denied rumors that they were looking to sell the promotion. The public statement came after reports that a Chinese business would possibly be purchasing the MMA organization.

Flyweight title contenders Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo have been selected to coach TUF 24. The winner of the show will earn an automatic title fight against current kingpin Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson.

5/8/16

It's safe to say that this past weekend of MMA action was pretty bad ass. Innovative finishes and lighting fast knockouts were among some of what fans witnessed.

Kicking things off on Friday was ONE Championship 42 in Singapore. Featherweight Narantungalag Jadambaa defeated Kotetsu Boku via Von Flue choke at 1:27 of round 1. Light Heavyweight Roger Gracie won his second straight fight with the promotion with an arm triangle choke of Michal Pasternak at 2:13 of round 1. In the main event Women's Strawweight standout Angela Lee remained undefeated when she won a unanimous decision over Mei Yamaguchi.

Invicta FC 17 just might have been the best event for the promotion thus far. Lightweight Charmaine Tweet delivered a timely spinning back fist on Latoya Walker that led to a TKO at 3:41 of round 1. In the first of two title fights, former TUF competitor Angela Hill became the new Strawweight champion when she won a split decision over now former title holder Livia Renata Souza. Tonya Evinger successfully defended her Bantamweight belt against challenger Colleen Schneider via unanimous decision.

The UFC made its way to Rotterdam, Netherlands for UFC Fight Night 86. Women's Bantamweight Germaine da Randamie, in front of her home crowd, defeated Anna Elmose via TKO at 3:46 of round 1. Welterweight Gunnar Nelson rebounded from a loss to take out a surging Albert Tumenov by way of rear naked choke at 3:15 of round 2. Heavyweight Stefan Struve made quick work of Antonio Silva when he earned a TKO at just :16 of round 1. In the main event Alistair Overeem defeated fellow Heavyweight legend Andrei Arlovski via TKO. The stoppage came at 1:12 of round 2.

WSOF 32 is set with a title rematch between new Featherweight champion Alexandre Almeida and former champion Lance Palmer. Additionally, two (adopted) brothers will be fighting as "Phoenix" Jones faces off against fellow Lightweight Caros Fodor.

Titan FC has signed former TUF competitor Dhiego Lima.

Former UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Holly Holm will look to rebound from her title loss when she faces off against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 20.

5/1/16

There may not have been any major promotions in action this past weekend, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any great fights to be watched.

In one of the biggest local fight cards on the map - Valor Fights 32 in Tennessee - Lightweight Damir Ferhatbegovic took out Robert Covington with a TKO at just :24 of round 1. In the main event Lightweight Nick Gehrts got back on the right track with a first round heel hook win against Steven New.

Flying all the way over to Russia, Absolute Championship Berkut 34 saw a total of 19 fights take place. Lightweight Khamzat Aushev defeated Magomed Dzhabarov via triangle choke at 3:18 of round 1. In the main event Middleweight Ibragim Chuzhigaev took out Vadim Orischak by way of arm triangle at 2:33 of round 1.

On Saturday, Titan FC 38 took place and aired exclusively on UFC Fight Pass. Flyweight Pedro Nobre won a narrow split decision over Sid Bice. In a very rare result, Lightweights Yosdenis Cedeno and Jason Novelli fought to a draw. Despite the two lackluster fights that came before it, the main event for the Welterweight title brought some excitement. Belal Muhammad claimed the vacant Welterweight title with a TKO of WSOF veteran Steve Carl at 4:07 of round 4.

A rematch between Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and interim Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones is now set to headline a stacked UFC 200.

Featherweight Diego Brandao has been released from the UFC following an incident taking place at a strip club.

Josh Thomson will have to forgo his homecoming fight against former Bellator Lightweight champion Michael Chandler due to injury. The two were originally supposed to fight in San Jose at Bellator 154.