Author: Nick Caron

Bellator 88: Mike Richman Knocks out Mitch Jackson in Minnesota 145-Lb Showdown

Those watching Bellator 88 from afar had to be impressed by Mike “The Marine” Richman’s knockout victory over Mitch Jackson. The win moved him onto the second round of the Bellator Season 8 featherweight tournament for the second straight sea…

Those watching Bellator 88 from afar had to be impressed by Mike “The Marine” Richman‘s knockout victory over Mitch Jackson. The win moved him onto the second round of the Bellator Season 8 featherweight tournament for the second straight season. 

But for those who have followed the rivalry between these two top-level 145-pounders from Minnesota, the victory meant much, much more than that.

The rivalry between Richman‘s team at The Academy and Jackson’s team at American Top Team in Savage has been percolating. Trash talk from both sides began years ago when these fighters were just beginning their careers, and continued all the way up until just minutes before the fight on Spike TV.

“He doesn’t even deserve to be in Bellator. Just because you’re 19-2 doesn’t mean s***,” Richman told Bleacher Report MMA earlier in the week. 

Jackson’s supporters and teammates naturally predicted a win for their fighter who was making his Bellator debut.

On Thursday night, all the talk finally ended in a one-on-one confrontation in the cage.

Richman, a three-fight veteran of Bellator coming into Thursday’s card, did exactly what he said he was going to do, tagging Jackson repeatedly before finally finishing him off with just seconds left in the first round. The first-round knockout was Richman‘s third in four fights for the promotion, but perhaps his most impressive performance to date.

After suffering a knockout loss in his previous fight, Richman toned down his overly aggressive style a bit. He kept the pressure on, but rather than pushing for the finish, Richman stayed calm and looked for the right opportunity to put away his opponent. 

His ability to stay cool under pressure in this bout was particularly impressive given the longstanding rivalry between he and Jackson. It would have been very easy for him to come out and make a mistake by trying to create a highlight reel finish early on, but by staying patient, he was able to inflict maximum damage and ended up getting a brutal knockout anyway. 

Up next for “The Marine” will be his second-round bout against Alexandre Bezerra in the Season 8 Bellator featherweight tournament. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 156 Results: Top 10 Light Heavyweights in the UFC

The ever-shifting amoeba that is the UFC light heavyweight division continued to morph on Saturday night during the UFC 156 event which featured a bout between two top-10 stars—Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.Evans (-345) came into the …

The ever-shifting amoeba that is the UFC light heavyweight division continued to morph on Saturday night during the UFC 156 event which featured a bout between two top-10 stars—Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Evans (-345) came into the bout as the favorite, but was never quite able to get anything going. His typically smooth style wasn’t working for him against Nogueira, who played into Evans’ perceived strength on the feet and tagged him multiple times throughout the bout. 

In the end it was the underdog Nogueira (+265) who came out with the victory by judges’ decision.

The fight, of course, changed the course of the UFC light heavyweight division, so let’s take a look at the 10 best UFC light heavyweights after Saturday night’s UFC 156  event. 

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SEG/Driller MN MMA Results: Karam, Gilliam Become New Champions at the Hyatt

The Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis was packed on Saturday night as Sterling Entertainment Group and Driller Promotions hosted what might have been the biggest event in the history of their partnership. Fans filled the area, even lining the walls for Dow…

The Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis was packed on Saturday night as Sterling Entertainment Group and Driller Promotions hosted what might have been the biggest event in the history of their partnership.

Fans filled the area, even lining the walls for Downtown Showdown 12 featuring the main event between Randy Lene and Ehsan Karam for the Driller Promotions amateur bantamweight championship.

The 15-bout fight card was filled with great matchups from start to finish including the return of Andre “The Diva” Tieva, the second professional fight of John “The Sexy Mexi” Castaneda, as well as the highly-anticipated debut of Nick Olson.

Here are the results from another night where Minnesota MMA shined bright in downtown Minneapolis. 

Thanks to Fight to Finish Photography and Kasey Jean Photography for the great photos from the fights!

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Power Ranking the Top 10 Fighters from Black House MMA

As the debate about the best team in all of MMA rages on in 2013, one group of fighters has really begun to accumulate much of the elite talent in the sport, particularly from their home country of Brazil. I’m talking, of course, about Black House MMA….

As the debate about the best team in all of MMA rages on in 2013, one group of fighters has really begun to accumulate much of the elite talent in the sport, particularly from their home country of Brazil. I’m talking, of course, about Black House MMA.

Founded by Ed Soares, Carlos Barreto, Jorge Guimaraes and Rogerio Camoes in November 2006, Black House MMA has become almost a synonym for excellence in mixed martial arts.

Focusing primarily on the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the pinpoint precision striking that has turned out numerous UFC champions, Black House produces some of the most well-rounded, dangerous fighters who are always looking to finish.

With Glover Teixeira still relatively new to most fans, power ranking him and the current occupants of Black House MMA might be a good way to see just how good this guy is before he fights Rampage Jackson at UFC on FOX.

So here are the top 10 performers currently fighting out of Black House MMA.

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UFC on FX 7 Results: Will Michael Bisping Ever Challenge for the UFC Title?

Michael Bisping fell short in his effort to earn a title fight when he was knocked out by Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC on FX 7. The loss has to be particularly devastating for Bisping as it is now the third time in his career that he has…

Michael Bisping fell short in his effort to earn a title fight when he was knocked out by Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC on FX 7. 

The loss has to be particularly devastating for Bisping as it is now the third time in his career that he has lost a fight that most believed was essentially a No. 1 contenders’ bout. Having come up short that many times, the question now has to be asked—not only will Bisping ever hold UFC gold, but will he ever even get a chance?

A former The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner as a light heavyweight, Bisping made his move down to 185 pounds back in April 2007 at UFC 83. In his previous bout against Rashad Evans, Bisping was simply overpowered and realized that he needed to make a change. The move down to 185 gave him a new career opportunity.

As good as Bisping has been at 185, the truth is that he has never quite gotten to that top level despite numerous opportunities to get there.

It started at UFC 100 when Bisping had a chance to move to the next level with a chance against former Pride champion Dan Henderson. He failed in that opportunity, getting knocked out by the slugger late in Round 2.

After winning five of his next six fights, Bisping was given another opportunity against Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2. Despite a near comeback late in the fight, Bisping came up short again, losing the decision.

Finally we got to UFC on FX 7 on Saturday night. Although Belfort is certainly still a solid fighter, the consensus seemed to be that if Bisping made it out of Round 1, the Brit would be the one with his hand raised.

As it turned out, he was knocked out yet again, marking the third time that he lost an apparent No. 1 contenders’ bout throughout his UFC career. 

Bisping gave a good post-fight speech, telling fans that he’s not going anywhere and that he’ll be back, but at this point, it’s hard to have much confidence in him. He simply doesn’t rise to the occasion for his biggest fights.

I hate to label Bisping as a “choke artist,” but what Michael Bisping has done is actually worse than what Kenny Florian did in his numerous title fights. At least Florian was losing championship fights—Bisping isn’t even getting there. 

Bisping fans will note that their fighter is still relatively young and does have a chance to get a championship at some point. But when you look at his body of work in important fights, would you really put your money on it?  

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FX 7 Results: Nik Lentz and the 5 Best Grinders in MMA Today

The phrase “grinding” isn’t always viewed with the most respect from casual MMA fans who simply look for the highlight-reel knockouts in every fight, but for those who truly enjoy the sport of mixed martial arts, sometimes, there can …

The phrase “grinding” isn’t always viewed with the most respect from casual MMA fans who simply look for the highlight-reel knockouts in every fight, but for those who truly enjoy the sport of mixed martial arts, sometimes, there can be nothing more impressive than a great, dominating performance where one guy simply imposes his will on his opponent.

That’s what happened on Saturday night when Minnesota-native Nik Lentz took it to Diego Nunes on the Fuel TV portion of the UFC on FX 7 fight card. Like he has done so many times in the past, Lentz made use of his non-stop motor to bully Nunes around the cage on his way to a unanimous-decision victory.

Lentz has become known for his grinding style, but he’s not the only guy who’s making a living by being a gritty grappler.

Here are the five best grinders in MMA today.

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