Felice Herrig Wants to Be the Last Fighter to Face Megumi Fujii

Women’s MMA will lose a legend this October when former No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Megumi Fujii hangs up her gloves after one final fight in October under the Vale Tudo Japan banner.
Fujii has been recognized as one of the best women’s fighte…

Women’s MMA will lose a legend this October when former No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Megumi Fujii hangs up her gloves after one final fight in October under the Vale Tudo Japan banner.

Fujii has been recognized as one of the best women’s fighters for several years. She held an undefeated record for most of her career and faced the top competition in Japan before she tried her hand in Bellator back in 2010.

The Japanese star has wins over several top names including current Invicta champion Carla Esparza, but she will still put a bow on her career this October. There’s at least one current women’s star who hopes to travel to Japan and land the retirement fight with Fujii.

Felice Herrig, who has won her last four bouts in a row, including two victories in Bellator, is putting her name in the hat as the person to draw the final fight with Fujii in October.

While her hope is to land the fight, Herrig isn’t trying to be disrespectful towards Fujii—it’s exactly the opposite.

Herrig knows that Fujii is a legend, and the best way to honor that is to give her the best fight possible before she calls it a career.

“It would truly be an honor to compete against Megumi in her final fight,” Herrig told Bleacher Report. “She is a true pioneer for WMMA and I would like to be able to look back on my career and say I had the opportunity to face her.”

Herrig is one of the top rising prospects in the women’s division at 115 pounds, who also carries solid name value in the sport.

It’s unknown at this time who the candidates are to face Fujii in her final fight, but it’s well known that many promotions in Japan don’t settle on a fight until just weeks before it’s set to actually take place.

To make sure she’s in fighting shape in case she gets the call, Herrig is staying busy in the mean time.

She will return to her striking roots this weekend in a Muay Thai fight in Chicago when she takes on Amanda LaVoy in a special attraction bout.

Herrig hopes that her next fight will be against Fujii in Japan this October.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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John Howard Thinks Uriah Hall Is Good, but Perhaps a Little Overrated

John Howard hasn’t competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship since a 2011 loss to Matt Brown capped a three-fight losing streak and sent him packing from the world’s biggest promotion all the way to the minor leagues around the United States.
Even…

John Howard hasn’t competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship since a 2011 loss to Matt Brown capped a three-fight losing streak and sent him packing from the world’s biggest promotion all the way to the minor leagues around the United States.

Even in his sabbatical from the UFC, there was no question that Howard had the talent to compete with the mid- to upper-tier guys in his division. After all, the three consecutive losses that sent him packing from the company? They came at the hands of Jake Ellenberger, Thiago Alves and Brown. Even today, that’s what we call a welterweight Murderers’ Row. 

After compiling a 6-1 record outside the UFC (and even offering to fight for free if given the opportunity to compete in Boston), Howard makes his return to the promotion against last season’s Ultimate Fighter golden boy Uriah Hall. 

Hall was built up as a monster during the filming of the show, but he ultimately fell flat on his face in the live finale against Kelvin Gastelum. And in the immortal words of Shania Twain, that don’t impress Howard much:

Fighting Uriah Hall, I think he’s good. A little overrated. He knocked out some guys with some flashy stuff. That’s good, it’s impressive, but my thing is, who did he fight? He fought Ultimate Fighter fighters. What people have to understand is these guys are not legit UFC fighters; they’re guys who are trying to be a UFC fighter. Let’s switch sides, let me be Uriah Hall, put me in the house. What do you think would happen? Not only do I have knockouts in the UFC, I have knockouts throughout my career. I have more knockouts than him. And the people I knocked out were more creditable.

I believe the word Howard intended to use was “credible,” since “creditable” is actually a bit of a backhand insult and I don’t think that’s the effect he intended. 

But either way, does Howard have a point? In his previous UFC stint, Howard knocked out Daniel Roberts and Dennis Hallman. After being released, Howard knocked out a whole bunch of dudes I’ve never heard of. And not that this is the hallmark of how good someone is, but exactly zero of Howard’s post-UFC knockout victims have their own Wikipedia page. 

Let’s hope Howard, despite being a late replacement and having nothing to lose, is not underestimating Hall. If he is, we might see the Hall from the TUF house return.

You know, the one Chael Sonnen said could beat Anderson Silva right now.

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Melvin Guillard vs. Ross Pearson Booked as Co-Main Event of UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Munoz


(NOW, MAC! USE YOUR BREAKDANCE-FIGHTING! / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

After saving his job by wrecking Mac Danzig at UFC on FOX 8, Melvin Guillard already has his next Octagon appearance booked. The Young Assassin will face off against fellow lightweight banger Ross Pearson in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Munoz, October 26th in Manchester, England.

While Guillard’s win over Danzig marked his first KO victory since 2011, Pearson has been on a minor tear since returning to lightweight last year, with impressive TKO wins against George Sotiropoulos and Ryan Couture. We’d call this matchup a “guaranteed slugfest,” but we’ve been officially banned from using that phrase, following the passage of the MacDonald/Ellenberger Unfulfilled Hype Act of 2013. (THANKS OBAMA.) But yeah, it’s pretty likely that this one will end before the judges have a chance to screw it up.

In a semi-related story: Michael Bisping is now using Mark Munoz’s battle with depression as fodder for his trash-talk. Add another one to the pile…


(NOW, MAC! USE YOUR BREAKDANCE-FIGHTING! / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

After saving his job by wrecking Mac Danzig at UFC on FOX 8, Melvin Guillard already has his next Octagon appearance booked. The Young Assassin will face off against fellow lightweight banger Ross Pearson in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Munoz, October 26th in Manchester, England.

While Guillard’s win over Danzig marked his first KO victory since 2011, Pearson has been on a minor tear since returning to lightweight last year, with impressive TKO wins against George Sotiropoulos and Ryan Couture. We’d call this matchup a “guaranteed slugfest,” but we’ve been officially banned from using that phrase, following the passage of the MacDonald/Ellenberger Unfulfilled Hype Act of 2013. (THANKS OBAMA.) But yeah, it’s pretty likely that this one will end before the judges have a chance to screw it up.

In a semi-related story: Michael Bisping is now using Mark Munoz’s battle with depression as fodder for his trash-talk. Add another one to the pile…

Jussier Formiga expects a title shot with win over Joseph Benavidez

Jussier Formiga is getting closer to a title shot in the UFC, and all the hard work he has done is the past motivates him to bring the flyweight belt to Brazil.
Born and raised in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a state where 13 percent…

Formiga_moto

Jussier Formiga is getting closer to a title shot in the UFC, and all the hard work he has done is the past motivates him to bring the flyweight belt to Brazil.

Born and raised in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a state where 13 percent of the population is extremely poor (the average salary is $200 a month), da Silva always had to work to help bringing money to his family.

Before signing with the UFC, “Formiga” was considered the world’s best 125-pound fighter, but he still had to work as a courier for a local hospital to make a living.

“Life was always very tough for me,” Jussier told MMAFighting.com “Working as a courier and training everyday to fight … I remember all the storms I had to face, everything I had to do with my motorcycle, but thank God all my work paid off. Today, I can finally live to fight.”

“I had to work seven hours and drive 100 miles every day for Varela Santiago hospital. They treat kids with cancer, so there were a few places I had to go to collect donations for them,” he added.

Fortunately for him, he never suffered any serious accidents while riding his motorcycle in the chaotic Brazilian traffic.

“I’ve been through a lot of stuff,” da Silva said. “I had to argue with a lot of people in the streets, nobody respects (motorcycles) here. But thank God I only crashed once, and it wasn’t that bad.”

Riding a motorcycle by day and sparring at Kimura Nova Uniao gym by night, with the likes of Renan Barao, Ronny Markes and Claudia Gadelha, isn’t an easy routine, but his family used to care more about his MMA career than the danger of spending seven hours per day on the top of a motorcycle.

“My mom never watches my fights, so I believe she cares more with my fights than my motorcycle,” Formiga said with a laugh.

According to the Minnesota Office of Combative Sports, Formiga was paid $9,000 in his UFC debut, when he got knocked out by The Ultimate Fighter season 14 winner John Dodson. That may not look too much if compared with the money paid to the big UFC stars, but it was good enough for the 28-year-old Brazilian.

“I never made the money I’m making now in the UFC, and now I can dedicate myself to fight and have a better life with that,” he said.

Former Shooto South America 123-pound champion da Silva returned to the win column with a unanimous decision victory over Chris Cariaso at UFC on FX 8 in Brazil, and it was enough to bring his confidence back.

“That was a great fight,” Formiga said. “I was a little anxious because I didn’t win my debut, but thank God everything went right.”

Formiga is set to return to the Octagon against Joseph Benavidez on Sept. 4, at Brazil’s UFC Fight Night 28, and he hopes not only to add another win to his record, but to make a statement.

“I believe so,” he said when asked if he will earn a title shot with a win next month. “But I try not to think too much about that. I rather focus on the fight itself. The preparation is perfect. I will fight him in every aspect of the fight, I will put my heart there. He’s one of the toughest guys in this division. Winning this fight, I will leave that up to the UFC if I’m getting a shot to the title or not, but this possibility motivates me a lot.”

The reigning champion in the flyweight division is Demetrious Johnson, but “Formiga” believes he has what it takes to dethrone “Mighty Mouse”.

“Demetrious is a fast and well-rounded fighter, but he doesn’t change too much,” da Silva said. “I believe my ground game is good (compared to other fighters from) this division, but I have to surprise them on the feet too. I will find a way to win.”

Joe Lauzon Looking to Set UFC Bonus Record at UFC Fight Night 26

Joe Lauzon is a bonus machine. During his UFC tenure he has compiled 12 fight-night bonuses, a grand total comprised of six Submission of the Night awards, five Fight of the Night honors and one Knockout of the Night victory. That number puts him in a …

Joe Lauzon is a bonus machine. During his UFC tenure he has compiled 12 fight-night bonuses, a grand total comprised of six Submission of the Night awards, five Fight of the Night honors and one Knockout of the Night victory. That number puts him in a tie with Anderson Silva for the most bonuses garnered […]

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Rousimar Palhares Plans to Shed Tons of Muscle, Drop to Welterweight

It’s a sad day, of sorts: Rousimar Palhares is planning a drop to welterweight, and that means we’ll marvel no more at his incredible ability to pack 250 pounds of muscle on a frame that’s much more suited for featherweight than middleweight. 
Pal…

It’s a sad day, of sorts: Rousimar Palhares is planning a drop to welterweight, and that means we’ll marvel no more at his incredible ability to pack 250 pounds of muscle on a frame that’s much more suited for featherweight than middleweight. 

Palhares, the 5’8″ grappling dynamo who constantly draws references to inanimate objects like fire hydrants, revealed via last night’s episode of UFC Tonight that he’s planning to drop to welterweight when he returns from his nine-month suspension for elevated testosterone levels. Palhares, affectionately known as “Paul Harris” by denizens of the internet MMA fan community, failed the drug test following his December loss to Hector Lombard.

After the loss (and ensuing suspension), Palhares noted to Gracie Magazine that he was already considering a drop in weight class: 

My desire to get down to the welterweight division is great, but I don’t want to make a hasty decision … I will only really do it if my body’s response is positive. I’m doing a fully integrated work of nutrition, fitness, supplementation and orthomolecular medicine. I’m with a very good team taking care of me.

The change in weight class is more of a necessity than anything else for Palhares. His “desire to get down to the welterweight division” is only great because the UFC tends to have very little patience for fighters who fight above their weight class thanks to the muscle-building properties of performance-enhancing drugs. Of course he’s in a hurry to get to 170; he’d be cut in an instant if he returned and lost another middleweight fight. 

The loss to Lombard was the second in a row for Palhares, so he’ll be urgently seeking to right the ship when he’s eligible to return with his new welterweight body later this year. 

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