Michael Stets | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Tyrone Spong on Glory 9 95Kg Tournament: ‘You have to have endurance’

The Glory Kickboxing promotion makes it way to The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday June 22, and will be broadcast early Sunday morning on the CBS Sports channel.The Glory 9 card will feature an eight-man, one-night, light-heavyweight …

The Glory Kickboxing promotion makes it way to The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday June 22, and will be broadcast early Sunday morning on the CBS Sports channel.

The Glory 9 card will feature an eight-man, one-night, light-heavyweight tournament aka the 95Kg Slam. The favorite to win it is Tyrone Spong.

Known by the moniker “King of the Ring,” Spong is one of the best the sport has ever seen. He had his first professional match in his late teens, has only tasted defeat six times in almost 80 fights and is a multi-time champion in several promotions, most notably It’s Showtime.

Spong explained some of the strategy heading into a one-night tournament:

“You have to have endurance,” Spong told Bleacher Report Thursday, at the Glory 9 open workout in downtown Manhattan.

“It’s longer, you have more rounds. Endurance…Other than that, the damage is the same,” he explained. “You are still going to feel pain if you get kicked or you kick wrong. Or, if you get punched good, you are still going to feel it. I think you should train on sharpness, and not to get injured. Don’t make stupid decisions in the fight so you get injured. Just be smart.”

The Dutch-Surinamese fighter further explained that it’s about finding a good rhythm and avoiding unnecessary damage early on:

“You have to pace yourself,” Spong said. “You have to watch. Don’t kick on a block. Don’t check kicks, if you can step back for instance. Why would you block a kick if you can step back and make a miss?”

Spong will be matched up against Michael Duut in the opening quarter-final round of the tournament. The other first-round matchups are: Filip Verlinden vs. Steve McKinnon, Danyo Ilunga vs. Mourad Bouzidi and Brian Collette vs. Dustin Jacoby.

What does Spong think of the talent pool in the tournament?

“A fight is a fight,” he said in a matter of fact tone. “You have to make sure you are ready for whatever, so I am not taking it lightly.”

The “King of the Ring” is a member of the Blackzilian training camp, and like his counterparts—who are mixed martial artists—he too has ventured into the cage, defeating Travis Bartlett by KO at WSOF 1 in November.

With a 1-0 record the 27-year-old MMA phenom was scheduled to face Angel Deanda at WSOF 3, but a visa issue forced him off the card. He will now fight Deanda at WSOF 4 on August 10.

Spong usually fights at heavyweight in kickboxing, but since he was already cutting down for the now-cancelled fight vs. Deanda, he came to terms with Glory to fight at light heavyweight for their promotion—which is 209 pounds.

The Blackzilian team member admitted the weight cut isn’t the easiest:

“The cut is a little bit heavy,” Spong confessed. “I don’t have to cut a lot, but since I’m lean already…I’m ripped and to still make the cut, it’s a little bit heavy. I haven’t done it in a long time, but we’ll see how it goes. I feel good now.”

In a heavyweight contest this past March at Glory 5 in London, the prize-fighting kickboxer became the first man to ever knock out Remy Bonjasky.

He is all too familiar with the effects of trading punches and kicks with some of the biggest and most feared strikers on the planet. On his resume are: Gokhan Saki, Peter Aerts, Melvin Manhoef, Alistair Overeem and Ray Sefo to name a few.

“It’s an advantage because you are used to the heavy blows and strong punches, but at the same time these guys are lighter and faster,” he stated. “You have to make sure you are ready for whatever.”

The No.4-ranked Glory heavyweight heads into Saturdays 95Kg slam brimming with confidence:

“I trained very hard and I’m well prepared.”

Michael Stets is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

King Mo Lawal Defeats Seth Petruzelli by Vicious KO at Bellator 96

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal returned to action Wednesday, June 19th, for the first time since his devastating loss to Emmanuel Newton back in February. It took him all of one minute and 35 seconds to return to the win column, as he knock…

After Lawal collided heads with Petruzelli on his first takedown attempt, referee “Big” John McCarthy briefly called a halt to the action.

After the restart, Lawal landed a takedown—something he hadn’t done his last two fights—which led to him standing up in Petruzelli’s open guard. From there, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy threw both of his opponent’s legs to the side to pass before landing the vicious over-hand right that would end the fight:

Petruzelli had talked a lot of trash leading up to the fight, saying he would spoil Bellator’s plans for Lawal to become a champion. Lawal is no stranger to running his mouth, but he didn’t have much of a response to Petruzelli’s pre-fight talk, letting his hands do the talking instead.

The AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) fighter is now 2-1 inside the promotion; he needed a win to avoid further criticism after his embarrassing defeat to Newton back at Bellator 90. Many media members panned Lawal for being overconfident and cocky before getting caught with Newton’s spinning-back fist.

Viacom has invested quite a bit in Lawal, and it would’ve been even harder to promote him in Bellator as well as TNA had he lost back-to-back fights at this juncture of the newest chapter in his career.

“King Mo” will now advance to the finals of the summer series four-man tournament where he will take on Jacob Noe. Noe was also victorious at Bellator 96, by third-round TKO over Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

He may not have said much about Petruzelli, but Lawal had plenty of disdain for Noe during the post-fight press conference:

“I didn’t know when the fight was going to end, but I knew I was going to stop him, and I did,” Lawal said.

He went on to talk about the Noe fight:

But now it’s time for me to fight Jacob Noe. Noe, No, I don’t know, I don’t care. I don’t like him, admitted Lawal. I don’t like the gym he trains at. He’s fake. He talked a lot of trash behind my back. I hope he’s here listening, you all can tell him this because I’m going to beat the brakes off him. I’m going to whip his ass so bad, I’m going to retire him.

The two finalists will meet on July 31 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The summer series tournament champion will earn the right to face the winner of the light heavyweight championship bout between current champ Attila Vegh and season eight tournament-winner Newton.

Those two will likely square off at some point during season nine this fall.

Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

After Defeating Roy Nelson at UFC 161, Stipe Miocic Is Now a Top-10 Heavyweight

UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic received a golden opportunity for furthering his MMA career at UFC 161 Saturday night. Not only did he deliver, he rose above and beyond the occasion, seizing the moment in dominant fashion.After picking apart the UFC&…

After picking apart the UFC’s No. 5 heavyweight Roy “Big Country” Nelson over three rounds during Saturday’s co-main event in Winnipeg, Miocic undoubtedly deserves top-10 status in the division.

Many pundits and experts picked “Big Country” to win. Perhaps they’d become overconfident in Nelson’s powerful right hand. Maybe it was his recent string of knockouts over sub-par competition. Whatever the reason, the unheralded and unranked Miocic was severely underestimated.

The opening seconds of the first round proved that it was Miocic—not Nelson—who was the better fighter on fight night. The former Golden Gloves boxer showed superior standup skills by landing crisp and accurate combinations while avoiding his counterpart’s fearsome haymakers.

Miocic also showcased excellent defensive timing with head movement and footwork, ducking under Nelson’s big punches and quickly countering during any openings.

The Ohio-born heavyweight also controlled the few grappling exchanges that took place, adding very effective knees and elbows to his steady diet of rights and lefts. “My coaches make the best game plan for me and I feel confident every time I come in,” Miocic told Ariel Helwani on FUEL TV after the fight.

Knowing Nelson has the best chin tolerance in all of MMA, Miocic’s game plan was always to go three rounds. It was a strategy executed almost flawlessly. It’s also worth noting that any time Nelson has faced a decision in his career, he’s lost.

“Three rounds,” Miocic said. “That’s all I was thinking the whole time. Three rounds, three rounds, three rounds. That’s what my coaches were telling me, that’s what I was telling me.”

The Strong Style team member’s confidence was apparent throughout the entire contest. So was his fight IQ—Miocic never forced the action when it wasn’t there. He remained calm and collected in every round, never appearing tired or showing signs of fatigue.

In the final round, Miocic knew Nelson’s only chance would be hunting for the knockout. He easily avoided Nelson’s ill-fated attempts at landing big punch, all while exposing his over-reliance on his best weapon.

Nelson gassed early on, at one point bending over in exhaustion between rounds. His condition worsened in each subsequent round. According to Fightmetric, “Big Country” also earned the embarrassing honor of setting the record for absorbing the most strikes in a single heavyweight bout without getting knocked out.

“I think I wobbled him in the beginning of one of the rounds,” Miocic said. “That’s when I was like ‘man, you know what? I belong here.’ I knew I belonged here and I just kept coming.”

The 30-year-old Croatian always had confidence in his own abilities, but now he has proved them. When the latest UFC heavyweight rankings come out later this week, Miocic will likely have a spot in the top-10, right where he belongs.

Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

#Mazzagattineedstogo Trending on Twitter

UFC president Dana White has always had a love-hate relationship with referee Steve Mazzagatti. Actually that’s not true—it’s always been hate.Time and time again, we’ve heard White pan the veteran referee on his skills, or lack…

UFC president Dana White has always had a love-hate relationship with referee Steve Mazzagatti. Actually that’s not true—it’s always been hate.

Time and time again, we’ve heard White pan the veteran referee on his skills, or lack thereof, when it comes to holding down the action in the cage.

While a lot of White’s criticism toward Mazzagatti stems from the controversial disqualification of Jon Jones for the use of illegal elbows—giving the current light heavyweight champ the only blemish on his record—the most recent criticism of the referee was for his disregard for fighter safety, particularly in regards to Jon Fitch.

Fitch, recently departed from the UFC, was beaten soundly in 41 seconds at the hands of Josh Burkman via guillotine choke, late on Friday evening at WSOF 3.

Lost in the commotion of the raucous crowd and the fight-ending call from the commentary team of Todd Harris and Bas Rutten was the improper referee procedure executed by Mazzagatti.

White immediately lashed out on Twitter:

So did MFC president Mark Pavelich:

He also started a trend on Twitter: #Mazzagattineedstogo

Mazzagatti did not stop the action until Burkman himself released the fight-ending guillotine choke, rolled the unconscious Fitch onto his back and stood up over him. This was an egregious error in judgment of the highest degree.

It is the referee’s responsibility to recognize the severity of the submission attempt, put himself into position to get the best visual of the action unfolding, check the fighters’ body language and, if needed, give verbal warnings to see if the fighter is OK and is still defending the choke—which in this fight was a deeply applied guillotine choke.

If there is no response, the referee is then required to be proactive, physically check a fighter and, if necessary, call a stop to the fight and either tell the fighter applying the submission to release the choke or break the hold himself.

Mazzagatti took none of the aforementioned steps. He didn’t put himself into proper position, follow necessary protocol or look after the safety of Fitch. Credit must be given to Burkman for having the class and professionalism to release the choke and not do further damage to Fitch. However, no fighter should ever have to stop a fight before a referee does; Burkman did Mazzagatti’s job for him.

No referee should ever make this kind of mistake, especially a seasoned official with the experience level of Mazzagatti. He needs to be held accountable, and some type of disciplinary measure needs to take place before something serious occurs. What if Burkman never let go?

White and Pavelich are scared to have him referee on their fight cards, and for good reason. After seeing what happened at WSOF 3, you cannot argue with them.

Does Mazzagatti need to go? Let Bleacher Report know in the comments below.

Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

What’s Next for Jon Fitch After Devastating Loss to Josh Burkman at WSOF 3

Jon Fitch was looking to bounce back in his first fight since being released by the UFC at World Series of Fighting 3; instead, he suffered one of the worst losses of his career Friday night in Las Vegas.Fitch was choked unconscious by Josh Burkman via…

Fitch was choked unconscious by Josh Burkman via guillotine choke at the 41-second mark of the opening round of the main event.

The AKA fighter got knocked down after getting clipped by a right hand. From there, Burkman landed a couple of left hands during the scramble and then stood up and secured the guillotine choke. Fitch grabbed a single and both fighters went to the mat.

Fitch was then choked unconscious inside of Burkman’s half-guard. Burkman had to release the choke and roll the unconscious Fitch over on his back and stand over him triumphantly, before referee Steve Mazzagatti called a halt to the action.

“I went for the lift instead of fighting the choke,” Fitch said to Joey Varner in the post-fight interview.

“I got a little over confident with my choke defense,” he admitted. “I was going to try and slam him but he locked it in too tight. Mistake on my part, I should’ve fought the choke right away.”

A devastating loss for Fitch, and the first time he has ever lost back-to-back fights in his career. He is now 1-3 in his last three fights.

He made a push to get a rubber match against Burkman. “Let’s do it again,” Fitch said. “Let’s do it for five, and let’s do it for that belt.”

If the 35-year-old welterweight thinks he is getting a title shot after that performance, he is sadly mistaken.

The WSOF currently has no belts. However, Fitch will have to go back to the drawing board if he wants to compete for one.

It is clear after the past few performances that Fitch is clearly on the down side of his career. It remains to be seen if he has any good fights left to offer.

He will have to take some time to regroup after the embarrassing defeat. As to who the WSOF matches him up against, it’s anybody’s guess.

A matchup against Aaron Simpson or Tyson Steele makes sense.

Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Stipe Miocic: From the Diamond to the Octagon

One of the beauties in all of sports is looking at the path of a multi-sport athlete, and what choices they made along their journey. Those decisions can lead an athlete to opportunities he may not have had if they chose another sport along their path. Being in the right place at the right time often enters into the equation, but ultimately it’s up to the athlete to perform when the moment arrives.

Such is the case for Stipe Miocic, who faces Roy Nelson in the co-main event on UFC 161 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on Saturday night in what is easily the most important fight of his career—a fight we wouldn’t be discussing had he chose to hold onto a baseball glove instead of trying on a pair that are four ounces and fingerless.

The NCAA Division I wrestler was also a standout third baseman for Cleveland State and Trevecca Nazarene University, receiving attention from several MLB teams during his playing days. Miocic gave up the chance at being one of the regular boys of summer, to take his strong wrestling base into the world of MMA.

The Ohio-based fighter was originally supposed to face Soa Palelei at UFC 161. However, after the interim-bantamweight title fight main event was scrapped due to injury, Roy Nelson was added to the card as his new opponent.

Just like that, Miocic went from facing a fellow unranked opponent to being matched up against the No. 5-ranked heavyweight in the UFC. A chance to bounce back into the win column has now become a huge shot at a potential career defining moment for the Croatian.

It didn’t take long for him to agree to face Nelson upon hearing the news.

“I was in the middle of training,” Miocic told Bleacher Report on Thursday. “I got a text from my manager and he told me the situation. I said ‘let’s do it.’”

If the +215 underdog earns an upset victory over Nelson on Saturday night, it could catapult him into the top 10 of the heavyweight division.

“100 percent,” Miocic said. “And it’s a great fight for me too.”

His last fight wasn’t so great, as he suffered the first loss of his career in England, on the UFC on FUEL TV 5 card to Stefan Struve by TKO. Prior to that fight, Miocic had racked up three straight wins over Joey Beltran, Phil De Fries and Shane del Rosario.

The Cleveland State alum took the loss very hard.

“Yeah of course,” Miocic said. “No one likes losing, it’s not fun.”

Even though the contest with Struve won him “Fight of the Night” honors, he has only been able to view it once along with his coaches to see what mistakes he made.

“I saw it the one time, got pissed and never watched it again,” Miocic said.

It’s been almost nine months since suffering the lone loss in his career. Miocic let his body heal up, continued his other job as a firefighter and bought a house in Parma, Ohio, only a few towns over from Euclid where he grew up. During that time his opponent has knocked out both fighters he has faced, most recently Cheick Kongo at UFC 159.

The Strong Style team member is obviously concerned with Nelson’s huge right hand; he brought in Raphael “The Silencer” Butler, a professional heavyweight boxer with 28 knockouts, to help him prepare for this fight.

Perhaps though, people are sleeping on Miocic’s power and ability to end someone’s night early. After all, seven of his nine victories have come by knockout or TKO.

“I mean it is what it is,” Miocic said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I hope they do take me lightly and think I don’t have any power. That’s fine. That’s OK. Give it to the other guy. I love it. Good.”

Miocic gives credit to baseball for his “reaction time,” in MMA, as he’s transitioned from reading pitches to reading punches. Although it’s his background in wrestling that could be his biggest ally in this matchup.

“I feel good,” Miocic said about his strengths should the fight go to the ground. “That’s something that I did wrong in the last fight was ignore it. I’m a wrestler at heart, I take anyone down. I get to hold them down and do what I want.”

The 30-year-old heavyweight is at his best when he employs his wrestling. Save for the loss to Struve and his 43-second demolishing of Phil de Fries, Miocic usually mixes it up fairly well. In his victory last year over Shane del Rosario at UFC 146, he showcased great top game with his wrestling and some vicious ground and pound to earn the victory.

Could that be the way he finds a victory over Nelson?

“I definitely see it going that way if I do what I got to do,” Miocic said. “Keep control and not give him any opportunities…He is a black belt, he knows what’s going on down there. If I do what I’m supposed to do I’ll be alright.”

A win at UFC 161 over Nelson would instantly change the landscape of the heavyweight division, and Miocic would share in the lineage of Cleveland State upsets—the biggest being the 1986 NCAA tournament, when the No. 14-seed Vikings defeated the No. 2-seed Indiana.

Win or lose on Saturday night, Miocic doesn’t ever regret his choice to pursue MMA.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he said.

Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com