One and done. With only three fights left to go in this season of The Ultimate Fighter, the Blackzilians are up 7-2 in the overall competition while opening up a commanding lead in the team scores, and with a single win this week they will close o…
One and done. With only three fights left to go in this season of The Ultimate Fighter, the Blackzilians are up 7-2 in the overall competition while opening up a commanding lead in the team scores, and with a single win this week they will close out the show and put American Top Team away for good. The Blackzilians were put into the advantageous position after Kamaru Usman came out and put the clamp down on American Top Team’s chances of coming back with a dominant victory over veteran fighter Steve Carl a week ago. Just when it looked like American Top Team was getting … Read the Full Article Here
UFC® today announced the final bout for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: BISPING vs. LEITES, with bantamweights Marcus Brimage (7-4, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla. USA) set to face Englishman Ian Entwistle in front of the sell-out crowd at the SSE Hydro …
UFC® today announced the final bout for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: BISPING vs. LEITES, with bantamweights Marcus Brimage (7-4, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla. USA) set to face Englishman Ian Entwistle in front of the sell-out crowd at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on Saturday July 18.
Entwistle (9-2, fighting out of Phuket, Thailand by way of Accrington, England) will be looking to secure back-to-back victories in the UFC and will be hoping to upset his more experienced American opponent in the process.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: BISPING vs. LEITES will be the first time the UFC has hosted an event … Read the Full Article Here
In a main event that feels like it was just announced yesterday, the UFC is pitting two of its top 185-pounders center stage in Hollywood, Florida.
Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero will lock horns in the main event of UFC Fight Night 70, in what is likely…
In a main event that feels like it was just announced yesterday, the UFC is pitting two of its top 185-pounders center stage in Hollywood, Florida.
Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero will lock horns in the main event of UFC Fight Night 70, in what is likely the Brazilian striker’s final opportunity to ignite a run for UFC gold.
Machida is looking to stake a return to glory, as his last outing didn’t necessarily go according to plan. He didn’t look like a karate savant who’s been busy embarrassing most fighters inside the Octagon for the past eight years, but more like a 37-year-old fighter who’s no longer capable of dealing with bigger, stronger fighters a few years his junior.
But Romero’s not immune to lingering questions of his own. Last time we saw him, he was busy sneaking in a few extra seconds in between rounds just before clobbering Tim Kennedy at UFC 178. It wouldn’t have been as controversial if, you know, he wasn’t saved by the bell at the end of the second round. Still, save for a brief barrage from Kennedy, Romero looked as impressive as ever—and we can’t take that away from him.
Too many components cloud a surefire prediction in this one, but let us try, anyway. Follow along as we break this fight down from head to toe.
Carla Esparza has experienced the highest highs and lowest lows of being an MMA fighter in just 12 months.
Last year, Esparza won The Ultimate Fighter 20 and became the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion. Then, at UFC 185 in March, she was knocked out by Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the second round. Now? “Cookie Monster” is announcing she needs shoulder surgery and she’ll be out six to eight months. FOX Sports was the first to report the news.
Esparza (10-3) is still one of the very best 115-pound women’s fighters in the world and a former Invicta FC champion in the weight class. She was the favorite heading into the bout with Jedrzejczyk and many thought her wrestling ability would get the job done. Esparza, 27, has said that she was essentially mentally exhausted after being on the reality show, promoting it and winning the title in the span of six months before taking the fight with Jedrzejczyk.
I will be undergoing surgery as a result of a shoulder injury from my last fight. I will be out6-8months. http://t.co/1gtL5dS6y4
When she gets back, the growing division could look very different. Jedrzejczyk just beat Jessica Penne by third-round TKO on Saturday in Berlin. She’s likely to get the winner of a UFC 190 bout between Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar on Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro.
Esparza has history with both Gadelha and Aguilar. She was supposed to fight Gadelha in her final Invicta bout in 2013, but Gadelha had a tough weight cut and was deemed medically unfit to compete after weigh-ins. Afterward, the two women had a war of words on social media. Esparza has also accused Aguilar of performance-enhancing drug use.
The loser of that fight at UFC 190 could be a logical next opponent for the former champion. However, it doesn’t seem like she’ll be ready to return to the Octagon until the beginning of 2016.
Carla Esparza has experienced the highest highs and lowest lows of being an MMA fighter in just 12 months.
Last year, Esparza won The Ultimate Fighter 20 and became the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion. Then, at UFC 185 in March, she was knocked out by Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the second round. Now? “Cookie Monster” is announcing she needs shoulder surgery and she’ll be out six to eight months. FOX Sports was the first to report the news.
Esparza (10-3) is still one of the very best 115-pound women’s fighters in the world and a former Invicta FC champion in the weight class. She was the favorite heading into the bout with Jedrzejczyk and many thought her wrestling ability would get the job done. Esparza, 27, has said that she was essentially mentally exhausted after being on the reality show, promoting it and winning the title in the span of six months before taking the fight with Jedrzejczyk.
I will be undergoing surgery as a result of a shoulder injury from my last fight. I will be out6-8months. http://t.co/1gtL5dS6y4
When she gets back, the growing division could look very different. Jedrzejczyk just beat Jessica Penne by third-round TKO on Saturday in Berlin. She’s likely to get the winner of a UFC 190 bout between Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar on Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro.
Esparza has history with both Gadelha and Aguilar. She was supposed to fight Gadelha in her final Invicta bout in 2013, but Gadelha had a tough weight cut and was deemed medically unfit to compete after weigh-ins. Afterward, the two women had a war of words on social media. Esparza has also accused Aguilar of performance-enhancing drug use.
The loser of that fight at UFC 190 could be a logical next opponent for the former champion. However, it doesn’t seem like she’ll be ready to return to the Octagon until the beginning of 2016.
Sergio Moraes pulled out from a UFC Fight Night 69 bout with Peter Sobotta due to a spine injury, but Sobotta doesn’t believe he’s really injured.
Sobotta, who tapped late replacement Steven Kennedy in the first round Saturday night in Berlin, Germany, called out Moraes after the fight, accusing him of faking an injury to avoid the fight.
“My sources tell me that he was never injured in the first place”, Sobotta told GNP.de (translated by Bloody Elbow). “He didn’t want the fight, wasn’t hungry enough or whatever. I don’t know. Maybe he simply shit his pants. I hope he will get his shit together and has the courage to get in the ring with me. I mean, he is injured, but posted a picture of him training today. That doesn’t fit. It’s sad, but maybe we can still do the fight someway down the road.”
Moraes vs. Sobotta was originally booked for UFC Fight Night 64 in Krakow on April 11, but was the one to Sobotta pull out with an injury. Mickael Lebout ended up taking the fight on short notice and lost to Moraes via unanimous decision.
In a statement sent to MMAFighting.com, Moraes responded to Sobotta’s allegations.
First and foremost, I have to remind him that I went to Poland to fight and he didn’t show up. I wasn’t the one to pull out of the card. And let’s remind him again that he was scheduled to fight someone else who got hurt, and I accepted to go there because I was ready. I wanted to fight him this time, but I got injured. I’m already treating this injury. I have no reasons to lie.
I didn’t post a photo of me training. I wasn’t training. I still teach jiu-jitsu classes, and I have done seminars in Poland, Germany all over Europe. But now I have to teach a private class, a private class to Sobotta. I will show him that even injured I can teach him a lesson.
My students have nothing to do with it. I have to teach classes even when I’m injured. And I can teach a class only speaking. But now I want to show him that my jiu-jitsu is available for everyone, including him. I’m not afraid of Sobotta. We have to understand that sometimes God changes our destiny for a reason. God gave him a chance, ‘don’t go that way because it’s not going to be good for you’, and Sobotta is insisting. He wants this fight. So this fight will happen.
I’m not afraid of fighting you in Europe. I went there after you. You were not there, but I never said you were afraid. I don’t think Sobotta is afraid, I only think Sobotta is stupid. He’s stupid. Ok, let’s do this fight. Whenever I’m ready, I’ll post a video on my Instagram inviting you for a fight. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to submit me? Are you going to knock me out? I heard you are a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, so I want to know what are you going to do about it? Where are you running to? Ah, okay, you will try to keep it standing, but, hey, I’m getting better standing and I can complicate it for you.
Sergio Moraes pulled out from a UFC Fight Night 69 bout with Peter Sobotta due to a spine injury, but Sobotta doesn’t believe he’s really injured.
Sobotta, who tapped late replacement Steven Kennedy in the first round Saturday night in Berlin, Germany, called out Moraes after the fight, accusing him of faking an injury to avoid the fight.
“My sources tell me that he was never injured in the first place”, Sobotta told GNP.de (translated by Bloody Elbow). “He didn’t want the fight, wasn’t hungry enough or whatever. I don’t know. Maybe he simply shit his pants. I hope he will get his shit together and has the courage to get in the ring with me. I mean, he is injured, but posted a picture of him training today. That doesn’t fit. It’s sad, but maybe we can still do the fight someway down the road.”
Moraes vs. Sobotta was originally booked for UFC Fight Night 64 in Krakow on April 11, but was the one to Sobotta pull out with an injury. Mickael Lebout ended up taking the fight on short notice and lost to Moraes via unanimous decision.
In a statement sent to MMAFighting.com, Moraes responded to Sobotta’s allegations.
First and foremost, I have to remind him that I went to Poland to fight and he didn’t show up. I wasn’t the one to pull out of the card. And let’s remind him again that he was scheduled to fight someone else who got hurt, and I accepted to go there because I was ready. I wanted to fight him this time, but I got injured. I’m already treating this injury. I have no reasons to lie.
I didn’t post a photo of me training. I wasn’t training. I still teach jiu-jitsu classes, and I have done seminars in Poland, Germany all over Europe. But now I have to teach a private class, a private class to Sobotta. I will show him that even injured I can teach him a lesson.
My students have nothing to do with it. I have to teach classes even when I’m injured. And I can teach a class only speaking. But now I want to show him that my jiu-jitsu is available for everyone, including him. I’m not afraid of Sobotta. We have to understand that sometimes God changes our destiny for a reason. God gave him a chance, ‘don’t go that way because it’s not going to be good for you’, and Sobotta is insisting. He wants this fight. So this fight will happen.
I’m not afraid of fighting you in Europe. I went there after you. You were not there, but I never said you were afraid. I don’t think Sobotta is afraid, I only think Sobotta is stupid. He’s stupid. Ok, let’s do this fight. Whenever I’m ready, I’ll post a video on my Instagram inviting you for a fight. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to submit me? Are you going to knock me out? I heard you are a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, so I want to know what are you going to do about it? Where are you running to? Ah, okay, you will try to keep it standing, but, hey, I’m getting better standing and I can complicate it for you.
The heavily criticized Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock main event on Friday night set Bellator’s all-time record with 1.58 million viewers on average for the three-hour presentation, with the main event doing 2.1 million over the 15-minute pres…
The heavily criticized Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock main event on Friday night set Bellator’s all-time record with 1.58 million viewers on average for the three-hour presentation, with the main event doing 2.1 million over the 15-minute presentation.
For those who put their money on the side of record ratings for a sloppy fight, you’d be the big winner for Friday night’s Bellator show.
The promotion broke its all-time viewership record for Bellator 138, the Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock-led card, doing 1.58 million viewers on average for the three-hour presentation from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The highest quarter hour was the main event, which did 2.1 million viewers.
Spike was almost the highest rated network on cable in both Men 18-49 and Adults 18-49 during the three hours, and doubled FOX’s coverage of the U.S. Open Golf tournament in the Male 18-49 demo in the same time slot.
The number beat the previous record by 27 percent, beating the promotion’s old record of 1.24 million viewers on average for the Nov. 15 show that was headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar. The Ortiz vs. Bonnar main event did 1.84 million viewers for the peak quarter hour.
The number was impressive because it was a Friday, which is usually not as good a night for combat sports as Saturday. Also, the main event only lasted 2:22 before Slice won via knockout, so most of the peak quarter hour included the build-up, intros and post-match interviews, and the fight itself is likely to end up a higher number.
The main event, expected to be the peak period of the show, didn’t have as much time to build an audience as Ortiz vs. Bonnar, which went three rounds.
While the numbers are nowhere close to what Slice did in his heyday on CBS, or Shamrock did with Tito Ortiz in 2005 on Spike for their television match, it was the second highest numbers of the year on cable, beating every UFC event with the exception of the Jan. 17 FOX Sports 1 broadcast of the Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver fight, which did 2.75 million viewers.
