Bellator 139 Preview and Predictions

Bellator is coming off a strong ratings weekend and hosts its second show in two weekends on Friday.
On the heels of Kimbo Slice defeating Ken Shamrock, Bellator 139 comes live on Spike TV. Headlined by heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Alexander Volkov, t…

Bellator is coming off a strong ratings weekend and hosts its second show in two weekends on Friday.

On the heels of Kimbo Slice defeating Ken Shamrock, Bellator 139 comes live on Spike TV. Headlined by heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Alexander Volkov, the card should be exciting and has some great names gracing the event.

Former champions Volkov and Pat Curran will be on the card. Kickboxing juggernaut Joe Schilling will also be on the card. UFC vet Kongo is also on the televised portion.

It sounds like an event to keep your eye on.

With that, let’s take a look at the card and make some predictions.

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3 Fights for Jessica Penne to Take Following Loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk

I think it’s safe to say that Saturday evening was not Jessica Penne’s night.
In her first UFC title challenge of her career, the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion took on UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the main event of UFC Fight N…

I think it’s safe to say that Saturday evening was not Jessica Penne‘s night.

In her first UFC title challenge of her career, the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion took on UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the main event of UFC Fight Night 69. What resulted from that bout is something that will have Penne scurrying back to the drawing board.

In three rounds of action, she was absolutely manhandled by the champion, taking huge strike after huge strike. Eventually, referee Marc Goddard had to step in and save Penne from further damage, effectively ending her bid for the title.

In the aftermath of her loss to Jedrzejczyk, let’s take a look at three bouts Penne can take in an attempt to rebound.

 

Felice Herrig

Not long ago, both Penne and Felice Herrig graced the Ultimate Fighter 20 house in an attempt to become the inaugural 115-pound champion. 

Both failed.

Also, not long ago, both Penne and Herrig won bouts at the finale of that show, earning them high rankings in the UFC. Penne defeated Randa Markos, while Herrig bested Lisa Ellis.

Even closer to present day, both women lost their sophomore outings. Penne obviously fell to Jedrzejczyk, while Herrig was put down by Paige VanZant.

These women are bound to go head-to-head sooner or later. These coincidences make this a good potential bout.

Both women are in need of a win now that both have taken losses. It would be a classic grappler-striker matchup, so it would be interesting to see whose will perseveres.

It could be a fun little scrap.

 

Angela Hill

UFC 188 was last weekend and saw Angela Hill take a loss to Tecia Torres. UFC Fight Night 69 was this weekend and saw Penne lose.

Looks like these ladies’ schedules could match up well.

Hill is way less experienced, but her standup is very effective. Penne, despite what you saw against the champion, has good standup in her own right and could test out the developing ground of Hill.

Just from a scheduling aspect, this fight makes sense. Plus, both are coming off losses, so that makes even more sense at this point.

 

Bec Rawlings-Joanne Calderwood loser

One of the UFC’s next trips to Europe will be in Scotland, where a bout between Joanne Calderwood and Bec Rawlings will go down. This could be the best matchup for Penne, as the loser is a great look for her.

Rawlings and Calderwood are both 1-1 in the UFC, just like Penne. They also shared the house with her on the aforementioned reality show, which again makes a lot of sense for this matchup.

I personally would like to see her face Rawlings. Both are intense personalities that could make the fight intriguing to those with an eye on it.

Either way, wherever Penne lands for her next fight, there should be interest. She is a title challenger that showed a ton of heart despite the fact she got beat up big time.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 69 Results: The Real Winners and Losers

The UFC’s return to Germany came with much buzz on Saturday, as UFC Fight Night 69 promised to be an exciting one. Boy, it did not disappoint.
Headlined by UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger Jessica Penne, the card was action-pa…

The UFC’s return to Germany came with much buzz on Saturday, as UFC Fight Night 69 promised to be an exciting one. Boy, it did not disappoint.

Headlined by UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger Jessica Penne, the card was action-packed and full of finishes. In fact, out of 11 fights, eight were finishes by either knockout or submission.

When talking about winners, those who watched or attended the event should be considered winners. They were treated to a fun series of bouts and got to see a fancy display of violence.

However, who were the real winners and losers from the fight card? Let’s examine that now.

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Bellator 138’s Justin Lawrence: Looking to Jump into Contention in New Company

When you become a champion of a major organization, you usually stay there. That is, however, unless a bigger, better opportunity comes calling.
That’s what happened to RFA featherweight champion Justin Lawrence.
If you know anything about the RFA orga…

When you become a champion of a major organization, you usually stay there. That is, however, unless a bigger, better opportunity comes calling.

That’s what happened to RFA featherweight champion Justin Lawrence.

If you know anything about the RFA organization, it is the unofficial feeder organization to the UFC. Just look at what it sent there recently. It sent its heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight champions pretty quickly to the UFC in Josh Copeland, Jake Collier and Christos Giagos, respectively.

For Lawrence, the opportunity to rejoin the UFC was there. It was just a more lucrative, enticing offer came his way.

“Bellator came calling right after my last fight with RFA,” Lawrence explained in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report. “They basically gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse and blew the deal the UFC gave me out of the water.”

That deal got him a spot on this weekend’s Bellator 138, which is headlined by Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock. It wasn’t a main card bout, but it was a start with an organization that gave him a better deal than the UFC.

“There were two big selling points that were also big motivators. Bellator offered me a fight in my home state, which I really wanted. The other thing that scared me off from UFC was the Reebok deal. I don’t think it’s good for the fighters, and it made choosing Bellator that much easier.”

If you remember, Lawrence was a young gun when he became a member of the UFC roster. He was talented, but inexperienced. It showed in his fights before he was eventually released and sent back to the drawing board.

That’s when he hooked up with RFA, where many of his Black House comrades compete. There, he went undefeated en route to a championship win over Mark Dickman. He then defended that title in his most recent bout against Sam Toomer. He also made a big move in recent times that helped him grow.

“My last fight with Sam Toomer kind of showed how I have grown as a fighter since my time in the UFC,” Lawrence admitted. “When I was in the UFC, I was still young and was not sure how to properly train as a pro athlete. I started working with Alliance MMA, I hired a sports psychologist to help me figure that out and things have worked out well for me since.”

With RFA in the rearview mirror for now, Lawrence looks to the future with Bellator. As mentioned, he makes his debut this weekend against Sean Wilson on the prelims, a good place for him to start right now.

“I want to make it to the main card of Bellator. I think for that to happen, I completely have to dominate my opponent, Sean Wilson,” Lawrence asserted. “If I do that and win impressively enough, I think I can get a fight against a top contender and move toward the title picture.”

“Wilson is dangerous, don’t just judge him based on his record,” Lawrence explained. “He has a lot of power in both of his hands, and he likes to throw them. I need to approach this fight with caution and know he can knock anybody out with one of those power punches at any time.”

Not to look past Wilson, but Lawrence has big plans for himself in Bellator. Between guys like Patricio Freire, Daniel Weichel, Daniel Straus and Pat Curran, the featherweight division is a shark tank he would gladly swim in.

“I just want to jump into title contention. Bellator‘s featherweight division is loaded with talent and I look forward to testing myself against the top guys.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

TUF 21 American Top Team vs. Blackzilians: Episode 9 Recap and Results

American Top Team is back on the board and within striking distance, as The Ultimate Fighter 21 heads to the 100-point round. With four fights left, who would strike to push their point total ahead toward the finish line?
This episode focused…

American Top Team is back on the board and within striking distance, as The Ultimate Fighter 21 heads to the 100-point round. With four fights left, who would strike to push their point total ahead toward the finish line?

This episode focused on giving both teams a reward for their hard work during the season.

American Top Team took its squad on a boat ride through the waterway outside its house. It rode on a luxury boat with food and drink, which was a nice reward.

As for the Blackzilians, they had a night out at a tavern where they were surprised by their families. It was highly emotional for all of them, as most are married, have a girlfriend or kids.

When it came down to the fight picks, ATT went with veteran and champion Steve Carl. The former World Series of Fighting champ is 0-1 in the competition already, taking a loss to Valdir Araujo.

His weight was a focus in the lead-up to the bout. He came in heavy against Araujo and had to cut the extra weight in an allotted amount of time last time out.

The Blackzilians went with Kamaru Usman, who defeated Mike Graves in his first bout on the show. He had the job of bringing the fight back to the Blackzilians gym, as Hayder Hassan‘s win in the last episode brought it back to ATT‘s gym.

At the weigh-ins, Carl had a scare, as he was a quarter-pound overweight. However, after dropping his underwear, Carl made weight, saving an extra cut.

Come fight time, it was a one-sided affair for Usman. He used wrestling, clinch and superior striking to stifle Carl. After two rounds, it was a clear decision victory for Usman.

That earned his team the 100 points, making the score 300-100 going into the final three fights.

 

Season Results

Winner Loser Points Leader
Kamaru Usman (B) Mike Graves (A) 25 Blackzilians lead 25-0
Luiz Firmino (B) Uros Jurisic (A) 25 Blackzilians lead 50-0
Valdir Araujo (B) Steve Carl (A) 25 Blackzilians lead 75-0
Carrington Banks (B) Sabah Homasi (A) 25 Blackzilians lead 100-0
Hayder Hassan (A) Andrews Nakahara (B) 50 Blackzilians lead 100-50
Jason Jackson (B) Marcelo Alfaya (A) 50 Blackzilians lead 150-50
Vicente Luque (B) Nathan Coy (A) 50 Blackzilians lead 200-50
Hayder Hassan (A) Felipe Portela (B) 50 Blackzilians lead 200-100
Kamaru Usman (B) Steve Carl (A) 100 Blackzilians lead 300-100

 

Notes and Observations

  • As of now, two people are 2-0 in the competition, which could be an indication of who makes the finale. The two fighters are Usman of the Blackzilians (victories over Graves and Carl) and Hayder Hassan of ATT (wins over Andrews Nakahara and Felipe Portela).
  • Speaking of Usman, in both fights, he was fairly boring but effective. He ground for most of it, despite the fact that he showed glimpses of decent striking. That’s not going to win him fans through excitement, but it certainly will snag him some wins down the road.
  • Carl has definitely been the biggest disappointment of the season. Between his weight cut issues and performances, he has not looked like the world champion he was not long ago. He is the only guy who is 0-2 in the competition. To be fair, he fought two of the better guys on the Blackzilians, but he didn’t even look good or competitive in those fights.
  • We have three fights to go. There are 300 points left to earn. In my mind, both teams need to go with their three best remaining talents. ATT has to go with captain Nathan Coy for his grinding ability, Hassan for his hot streak and Marcelo Alfaya for his experience. As for the Blackzilians, they should probably go with Luiz Firmino, Valdir Araujo and Jason Jackson, unless Usman can go one more time.
  • From the looks of things in the previews, it looks like ATT is going to close the distance on points, so don’t be surprised if it wins the next fight or two.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 69 Preliminary Card Predictions

The UFC makes its return to Germany this weekend, as UFC Fight Night 69 comes to you live on Fight Pass. Headlined by a UFC Strawweight Championship bout, the card is loaded with European talent and local fighters who should make for a fun night of fig…

The UFC makes its return to Germany this weekend, as UFC Fight Night 69 comes to you live on Fight Pass. Headlined by a UFC Strawweight Championship bout, the card is loaded with European talent and local fighters who should make for a fun night of fights.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends her title for the first time against Jessica Penne in the headliner. Jedrzejczyk is charismatic and charming, which in unison with her violent style has quickly earned her fans.

Before that, we have the prelims. UFC 188 saw this author’s win-loss record improve after a rough patch, so hopefully things continue at this event.

With that, let’s take a look at the prelims and make some predictions.

 

2015 Riley’s Record: 70-49

Last Event: UFC 188 (5-1)

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