Sheila Gaff and Jennifer Maia met on Friday at Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 to kick off the promotion’s four-woman, 125-pound tournament. What ensued was ten seconds of furious stand-up action, followed by one of the more viciou…
Sheila Gaff and Jennifer Maia met on Friday at Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 to kick off the promotion’s four-woman, 125-pound tournament. What ensued was ten seconds of furious stand-up action, followed by one of the more vicious KO’s in recent women’s MMA history.
For the 22-year-old Gaff, the win shoots her name into the tournament finals. However, much debate has arisen regarding the nature of the knockout. Instead of touching gloves, Gaff mobbed Maia with a flurry of punches and knees. While Maia was able to regroup during the surprising exchange, the shots that started the beginning of the end were still relatively unexpected.
So what do you think, readers? Should Maia have been protecting herself at all times? Was Gaff’s knockout fair or foul? Check out the damage after the jump and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Jeff Monson defeated Alexey Oleinik via split decision in the headlining bout of M-1 Challenge 31 at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday night.
Monson (44-13), a former contender for the UFC’s heavyweight belt, o…
Jeff Monson defeated Alexey Oleinik via split decision in the headlining bout of M-1 Challenge 31 at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday night.
Monson (44-13), a former contender for the UFC’s heavyweight belt, outclassed Oleinik (33-9-1) on the mat for a majority of the first and third frames, surviving a stifling second round to earn the narrow judge’s nod via scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. The 41-year-old Monson, who appeared to be running on fumes as the final bell sounded, has now split his last four bouts, rotating wins over Oleinik and Paul Taylor between losses to Fedor Emelianenko and Daniel Cormier.
Also highlighting the card, former PRIDE standout Alexander Emelianenko (19-5) overwhelmed Tadas Rimkevicius (19-7) midway through the second frame to earn a dubious TKO victory. Emelianenko, with his brother Fedor shouting from his corner, found his mark with crisp striking throughout much of opening seven minutes, before Rimkevicius turned away and tapped out on the feet. Afterward Rimkevicius appeared to be unhurt and left the ring under his own power.
Rashid Magomedov (14-1) outworked Yasubey Enomoto (9-4) to steal away the M-1 welterweight title via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-47, 50-45). The victory pushed Magomedov’s win streak to seven straight since 2010.
Elsewhere on Friday night, UFC veteran Mike Guymon (13-5-1) crushed Cris Leyva (9-4) for a second-round TKO win in the main event of BAMMA USA ‘Badbeat 5,’ held at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA.
Fresh out of retirement and making his lightweight debut, the 37-year-old Guymon survived a shaky opening frame to blast the fading Leyva with a mixture of hammerfists and knees to the body, before being mercifully stopped at the 4:10 mark of round two. It was Guymon’s first fight in over 14 months and first win since 2010.
In the co-main event, Scott Catlin (5-6) stormed back from early trouble to defeat UFC veteran and former WEC lightweight champion Gabe Ruediger (17-8) via TKO just 36 seconds into the second frame. Ruediger dominated the opening five minutes, locking in a body triangle and unsuccessfully hunting for a rear-naked choke throughout much of the action.
His first win in two years within his grasp, Ruediger promptly ate a straight left from Catlin to kick off round two. Stunned, the TUF 5 contestant reeled backwards across the cage before being dropped with a commanding flurry and pounded out. Catlin now finds himself riding a surprising two-fight win streak since tasting defeat in five straight.
Full M-1 Challenge 31 and BAMMA USA ‘Badbeat 5′ results can be found below.
M-1 Challenge 31 results:
Jeff Monson def. Alexey Oleinik via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Alexander Emelianenko def. Tadas Rimkevičius via TKO (punches) at 1:52 of round 2 Rashid Magomedov def. Yasubey Enomoto via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-47, 50-45) Alexander Yakovlev def. Shamil Zavurov via TKO (retirement) at 5:00 of round 3 Deniss Smoldarev def. Denis Komkin via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) Abdulmajid Magomedov def. Arthur Shumakov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:53 of round 1 Vugar Bakhshiev def. Jerome Bouisson via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2 Marat Gafurov def. David Kozma via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:10 of round 2 Ilya Doderkin def. Alexey Martynov via submission (triangle choke) at 1:57 of round 1 Bruno Carvalho def. Ramazan Esenbaev via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
BAMMA USA ‘Badbeat 5′ results:
Michael Guymon def. Cris Leyva via TKO (punches) at 4:10 of round 2 Scott Catlin def. Gabe Ruediger via TKO (punches) at :36 of round 2 Chad George def. Shad Smith via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:56 of round 1 Mychal Clark def. Josh Bennett via KO (spinning back elbow) at 2:36 of round 1 Chris Beal def. Jose Morales via TKO (elbows) at 4:44 of round 1 Joe Condon def. Ismael Gonzalez via split decision Jason Carbajal def. Bobby Sanchez via submission (triangle choke) at 3:05 of round 1 Eric Brown def. Brandon Anderson via submission (guillotine choke) at :20 of round 1 Gil Guardado def. Chris Costello via TKO (punches) at 2:21 of round 2
Every fighter handles their first loss differently. Some fall victim to their own splintered expectations and never recover. Others see it only as an inevitable step towards their ultimate goal.
Matt Mitrione falls in the latte…
Every fighter handles their first loss differently. Some fall victim to their own splintered expectations and never recover. Others see it only as an inevitable step towards their ultimate goal.
So when Mitrione’s run to title contention crashed and burned with an uninspired decision loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC 137, he decided it was time to climb out of the spotlight, get back in the gym and reassess his game.
“I lost that fight because I didn’t know how to fight a fight like that,” Mitrione admitted on Monday’s The MMA Hour. “… I had to get a loss under my belt to find out things like that, to really change up my training.”
“I didn’t now how to engage somebody that didn’t want to engage, without making myself vulnerable and over-committing to something. So that’s something that Chris Lytle and I went back to the drawing board, and he taught me how to do that, and I think that really made a pretty substantial difference. I feel much more confident. If I ever have a fight like that again, I’ll be able to handle that and address it pretty aggressively.”
Though the time off wasn’t exactly filled with flowers and sunshine. Last October’s training camp left Mitrione with a slew of injuries that negated his ability to kick or shoot in for takedowns against Kongo.
Only now, after a pair of surgeries to repair a sports hernia and bone chips in his elbow, does Mitrione say he feels back at full strength.
“I am completely on the mend,” Mitrione announced rather excitedly. “I’m at to the point today where I was wrestling with Coach Rashad (Evans) — funny I still call him Coach — I was wrestling with Coach Rashad today and we were getting down.”
That Mitrione and Evans are still training partners is surprising to many outside observers. The pair first met on the set of The Ultimate Fighter 10, where the specter of Kimbo Slice overshadowed a season that also introduced fellow UFC mainstays Roy Nelson and Brendan Schaub.
Both men had their rough patches on the show, whether it was “Meathead’s” snitching or his bizarre head games, but their relationship has since grown stronger, and tucked away at Florida’s Blackzilian camp, the two have become remarkably fast friends.
“You know man, Rashad and I are actually really cool,” Mitrione revealed. “I think we have a lot of parallels in our lives, and I think that he and I both know that and we have a lot of mutual respect for each other.”
Even though Evans’ sole loss came in a championship bout, he can still relate to the emotion of unbeaten record gone wrong. So when Mitrione came looking for a new camp to split his time with, it only felt natural to rejoin his old coach in Boca Raton.
The switch has already done wonders for Mitrione’s growth, and as he runs down a list of training partners he describes as “phenomenal,” it’s easy to hear the confidence oozing through his words. He still seems to regret his meeting with Kongo, but only to the degree one would regret a mishandled dinner decision.
“The loss, it sucked. I still feel like I didn’t get beaten at all in that fight, I just feel like I lost it, via decision,” he uneasily explained. “So as a result, I’m ready for whoever comes my way.”
And who that is, isn’t a secret to Mitrione. The fighter already knows his next opponent, and while he was unable to reveal any names, he seemed extremely happy with the match-up.
“I cannot wait. Cannot wait,” Mitrione raved. “It’s a fight I’ve wanted for a long time. I think it’s a great match-up. I think the fans will really be happy with it.”
Even at the age of 33, Mitrione considers himself to be “green” when it comes to MMA. But with naturally heavy hands, NFL pedigree and potential through the roof, the man they call “Meathead” is finally ready to start phase two of his UFC career.
“I’m excited, man,” he declared. “I’m really happy I got my fight. I’m really, really happy to get my life back in order, to start scrapping again and get back into the winning ways.”
Rampage Jackson’s strange UFC saga hit a snag and tonight’s Bellator 61 card underwent a late shake-up. But you want to know yesterday’s sneaky-important MMA story? It doesn’t even involve MMA.
Day one of the NCAA Division I Wr…
Rampage Jackson’s strange UFC saga hit a snag and tonight’s Bellator 61 card underwent a late shake-up. But you want to know yesterday’s sneaky-important MMA story? It doesn’t even involve MMA.
Day one of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Brock Lesnar, Phil Davis, Johny Hendricks — these guys were all D-1 champs, and with the diverging paths of today’s wrestling and MMA scenes, more and more blue-chip prospects are forgoing the mat for the more lucrative call of mixed martial arts.
If you’ve never seen combat sports’ version of March Madness, give it a shot and check out some of today’s matches. You could be seeing the guys again real soon.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
NCAA Division I wrestling championship session 1 results. Penn State University took the early lead at the opening day of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Check out the all the day one results.
Rampage Jackson to have double knee surgery. Rampage revealed via Twitter that he will undergo surgery on both of his knees, delaying his recently announced farewell bout against Shogun.
The hurt business: highs and lows in the brick city. Ben Fowlkes offers the second installment of his hit multi-part series that examines the hidden lives of pro fighters within Colorado’s Grudge Training Center.
Bellator 61 weigh-in results. Official weigh-ins for tonight’s Bellator 61 fight card were held at The Orleans Room at Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, Louisiana. All main card fighters met their required weight.
Eric Prindle scratched from Bellator 61. Tonight’s planned Bellator 61 headliner, Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos, has been rescheduled for Bellator 62 after Prindle was unable to overcome flu-like symptoms on Thursday.
COUNTDOWN TO A SLIMMER ROY NELSON
Started (on March 4th): 32,000 likes. Yesterday’s mark: 102,094 likes. As of this writing: 102,242 Goal (by March 18th): 132,000 likes.
And that’s a wrap, folks. At least we tried.
MEDIA STEW
I’d be lying if I said watching Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar ham it up with little teacups didn’t make my day better.
2011 was all about keepin’ it real for Donald Cerrone. Fight as often as possible and watch the bonus checks rain in. No worries about rankings or title shots. 2012, on the other hand, is going to be a little bit different. Now “Cowboy” wants that belt.
When you’re in slow times like these, sometimes it feels right to dust off the old classics, and this Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner clip fits the bill perfectly. One of the most absurd finishes in MMA history. Makes it better: his nickname is “Hello Japan” now.
SO SHOGUN’S BACK ON THE SHELF TOO
2 keep it real,the Shogun fight will have 2 wait,I just found out that I have 2 get surgery on both knees,but I heal fast don’t trip
“To me the ten point must is fine. I think definitions of the criteria need to be defined greater. I think that’s where discrepancies come into play with it. The way you look at it, is you have striking, grappling, control, and then you have aggression. If you’re saying striking is first, you’re automatically giving an advantage to the striker, opposed to the grappler, who’s category comes second.
To me, grappling and striking are one thing, as far as how they should be judged. They’re different systems of combat, but they should be weighed equally. You have to judge each thing in the context of where it’s being done. So if a guy is in his guard, and he’s throwing elbows from the bottom, and he’s damaging the guy, then that’s effective striking. Be it that it’s on the ground, and not on the feet, it’s still effective striking. When you have a fight where a guy is completely smothering the other with grappling, he’s taking the back, he’s mounting, he’s attacking the neck, he’s attacking the arm, what’s to say that that’s not scoring greater than the striking? They all need to be looked at in the context of what they are.
Personally, I like the idea of who’s trying to win the fight, like the Japanese style, which is focusing on finishing the fight, and scoring technique. By doing that, you kind of push the striking and the grappling context together, because you’re now judging who’s actually trying to finish the match, be it with striking or grappling. I believe damage should be a criteria, which it’s not really at this point, but I believe it should be. Damage doesn’t have to be acute damage of a cut or blood. You end up with fights where guys are getting a lot of body shots, or in positions where their head’s not going to get banged around because it’s buried in a guy’s chest, or in his leg, and he’s trying to take him down. You have to look at it positionally, what’s happening as opposed to the traditional of ‘It’s striking on the feet, and it’s grappling on the ground.’ You have to look at it as a whole. I think the ten point must is fine, I just think the definitions of the criteria need to be looked at a little bit, and adjusted.”
Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s post.
Eric Prindle, Bellator’s season five heavyweight tournament finalist, has been scratched from his Bellator 61 headlining scrap against Thiago Santos due to flu-like symptoms following a significant weight cut.
As a result, prom…
Eric Prindle, Bellator’s season five heavyweight tournament finalist, has been scratched from his Bellator 61 headlining scrap against Thiago Santos due to flu-like symptoms following a significant weight cut.
As a result, promotion officials have postponed the heavyweight rematch to March 23 at Bellator 62 in Laredo, TX. Friday night’s fight card will instead be headlined by a middleweight quarterfinal bout between UFC veteran Maiquel Falcao (28-4, 1 NC) and TUF 11 contestant Norman Paraisy (10-1-1, 1 NC).
USA Today first reported the switch, which was then confirmed by Prindle via Twitter.
Prindle (7-1, 1 NC) reportedly began vomiting on Tuesday night and has struggled with the illness throughout the ensuing days. The 35-year-old bruiser expressed willingness to fight as planned, but Louisiana officials ultimately felt it best to cancel the bout.
The announcement marks another chapter in the ever-expanding history of Prindle-Santos. The two heavyweights initially met last November, at Bellator 59 for season five’s heavyweight tournament finals. However, action stopped just 94 seconds into the contest, when Santos (10-1) whizzed a soccer kick straight into the groin of a downed Prindle.
Prindle was eventually ruled unable to continue and the match was declared a no contest.
The winner of the eventual rematch is expected to receive $100,000 and a shot at Bellator’s reigning heavyweight champion, Cole Konrad.
Nick Diaz may be in the midst of the most bizarre five-month stretch in MMA history. Let’s recap.
Diaz destroys B.J. Penn’s face so hard, Penn retires. Diaz then enrages Georges St. Pierre so badly, Georges demands Diaz take Ca…
Nick Diaz may be in the midst of the most bizarre five-month stretch in MMA history. Let’s recap.
Diaz gets his fight, Carlos is sad, but one Canadian knee eruption later, he’s back in the game. Both men hype the match as a “dogfight,” but Condit works a counter-heavy gameplan into a divisive decision victory. An incredulous Diaz promptly retires.
After days of public fervor, Condit’s camp asks to run it back. Only problem, Diaz sure does love his weed. Weeks go by and the story fades out until the Diaz camp unexpectedly lawyers up, claiming Diaz didn’t technically break any of the NSAC’s rules. And now we’re here, with the NSAC calling Diaz a liar, and the story is very, very far from over.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
NSAC claims Nick Diaz violated the law on UFC 143 pre-fight questionnaire. Nevada State Athletic Commission representative Jennifer M. Lopez revealed that Nick Diaz “lied” to the commission by swearing he had not taken any prescribed medications two weeks out from UFC 143.
Bellator 61 dissection. Dallas Winston is back with another gif-tastic breakdown of Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos and Bellator’s middleweight quarterfinals.
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve confirmed for UFC 146. The addition of Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve completes UFC 146’s all-heavyweight main card, slated for Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas.
Cesar Gracie says Pettis or Penn may challenge Melendez next. Zuffa is struggling to find viable opponents for Gilbert Melendez, so Cesar Gracie threw down the gauntlet for a pair of surprising names.
Demian Maia moving down to welterweight. Maia announced his impending drop from 185 pounds to 170 on Wednesday morning. An opponent or timetable for his welterweight debut has yet to be decided.
COUNTDOWN TO A SLIMMER ROY NELSON
Started (on March 4th): 32,000 likes. Yesterday’s mark: 101,780 likes. As of this writing: 102,094 likes. Goal (by March 18th): 132,000 likes.
Roy, you may not have technically lost this bet, but over 70,000 people wanted to see you cut down to 205. That has to count for something, right?
MEDIA STEW
Brendan Schaub got his ghostbuster on as the Ghost Adventures crew investigated the gnarly tale of Denver’s Peabody-Whitehead Mansion. (HT: MMA Mania)
Ryan Hall, in case you don’t know, is one of the most successful American-born BJJ players we have today. Abu Dhabi medalist. Absurd win totals. Books, instructional DVDs, the works. So anyway, Hall’s just sitting in this restaurant with his friends, enjoying himself a sandwich, and this drunk guy shuffles up asking for a lighter. No one has one, so drunk guy gets upset. Like, very upset. Then he decides it’s time to throw down. And that, my friends, was a poor decision.
War Machine is back in jail for another year, even if the circumstances are slightly more dubious than they were last time. So tonight, Spike TV’s MMA Uncensored is set to chronicle the fighter’s final 48 hours before he headed back to the slammer. Check out the sneak preview below.
Chris Tickle needed just 24 seconds to KO Austin Lyons and pave his way into the TUF 15 house. But the quick finish wasn’t exactly a fluke. Check out Trickle (white & black shorts) taking on Dave Cochran in a fight that features not only an automatic nutshot, but also a pretty damn impressive knockout.
MIESHA TATE’S ARM IS FINE AND SHE’LL PROVE IT TO YOU
So for your benefit folks, I’ve compiled a list of Quinton’s grievances with the UFC. I know a lot of folks have expressed displeasure, disagreement or most commonly, confusion at some of Quinton’s remarks. I’ll admit, that was my first reaction as well.
Then I stayed up all night fasting and pounding Red Bulls, and the picture suddenly became a whole lot clearer. Also, I now like house music for some reason. So without further ado, here’s Rampage’s case against the UFC, as best as I can fathom it.
1) “Why are you giving me wrestlers that are gonna take me down and hump me?”
This is Quinton’s latest complaint, and it makes perfect sense coming from him. He’s a devout Christian, “God’s Street Soldier” (yes, God has “Street Soldiers” – Zeus showed you can have all the fancy artillery and air support you want, but without boots on the ground, your religion’s going the way of lawnmower worship) and thus has no inclination to get “humped” by another man.
But more then that, Jackson is angry with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, for making “Rampage” fight all these lay and prayers! The fans want to see a fight, damnit! And besides, in a division featuring Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Dan Henderson, a Karate guy with solid wrestling of his own and “Shogun” freakin’ Rua, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a non-wrestler for ol’ Quinton!
Oh, he’s facing “Shogun” next? Splendid. That leads us right into grievance number two:
Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit us on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s post.
