As we mentioned last week in our profile of Muay Thai coach Said Hatim, Andrei Arlovski competed in his homeland of Belarus on Friday night, taking on German journeyman Andreas Kraniotakes in the headliner of Fight Nights: Battle on Nyamiha. Arlovski appeared loose and in control throughout the fight, which ended in the second round with a big right hand from The Pitbull and some follow-up shots on the ground. You can watch the fight above, which we’ve cued up to the TKO finish.
The match gave Arlovski his second straight win, and his fourth victory in his last five appearances. Hatim won his fight as well, stopping Artem Kazersky by second-round TKO. We’ll update this post if video of that match pops up on the Internet.
As we mentioned last week in our profile of Muay Thai coach Said Hatim, Andrei Arlovski competed in his homeland of Belarus on Friday night, taking on German journeyman Andreas Kraniotakes in the headliner of Fight Nights: Battle on Nyamiha. Arlovski appeared loose and in control throughout the fight, which ended in the second round with a big right hand from The Pitbull and some follow-up shots on the ground. You can watch the fight above, which we’ve cued up to the TKO finish.
The match gave Arlovski his second straight win, and his fourth victory in his last five appearances. Hatim won his fight as well, stopping Artem Kazersky by second-round TKO. We’ll update this post if video of that match pops up on the Internet.
While their first show back from exile was largely a success, ProElite took a gamble last night and lost by focusing their attention on heavyweights. When a mere pair of heavyweight fights can mar an otherwise enjoyable UFC card, the odds of twelve second-and-third-tier big boys delivering a memorable night of fights for ProElite seemed unlikely.
Fans slept through the first 899 seconds of the bout, and Fulton through the last one.
While their first show back from exile was largely a success, ProElite took a gamble last night and lost by focusing their attention on heavyweights. When a mere pair of heavyweight fights can mar an otherwise enjoyable UFC card, the odds of twelve second-and-third-tier big boys delivering a memorable night of fights for ProElite seemed unlikely.
In the evening’s main event, Tim Sylvia took home his second consecutive win in a plodding unanimous decision over Andreas Kraniotakes. The former UFC champion employed a strict gameplan of wall & stall to keep his smaller opponent pinned to the cage while periodically dispensing knees and punches. It was a win, and that’s about all you can say for it.
In his second fight under the ProElite banner, Andrei Arlovski returned to action against the Cal Ripken of MMA, Travis Fulton. Though the two showed a slight interest in exchanging strikes in the first round, that desire had waned by the second. The judges were spared the embarrassment of admitting that they’d stopped watching the fight at quite literally the last second, when “The Pit Bull” connected with a powerful left high kick that dropped Fulton cold at 4:59 of the final round.
In his pro debut last August, Reagan Penn displayed the same adept submission game and killer instinct as his older brother BJ. Last night he revealed that they share the same cardio training regimen as well. The first round was an active back-and-forth grappling battle, but Reagan was noticeably slower with nearly two minutes left in the frame. He started the second round with his hands hanging low, which allowed Evan Cutts to unload solid punches and kicks before taking the fight to the ground. Cutts spent the rest of the round grinding down Penn and working for submissions while taking his back and gaining full mount. Round three was rinse and repeat. Cutts picked up his third pro victory with the unanimous decision.
Heavyweight Tournament cliffs notes:
– Jake Heun picked up his second pro win with a first round TKO over Ed Carpenter. After spending much of the round pinned beneath Ed Carpenter, Heun worked his way back up and landed a body kick and big right hand that sent his opponent falling backward. Heavy ground and pound forced the ref to stop the fight.
– Justyn Riley spent most of round one brutalizing Cody Griffin’s body with knees while holding him down on all fours. In round two he secured the same position, but opted for punches and elbows to Griffin’s flanks instead. Griffin survived being back mounted at the end of the round and opened the third stanza throwing bombs. He dropped Riley and stood over him raining down blows until waived off by the official just 32 seconds into round three.
– Richard Odoms was simply too big and strong for Rodney Housley. Odoms was able to successfully control Housley against the cage and on the mat en route to a unanimous decision.
– Former NCAA champ Mark Ellis failed to parlay his considerable wrestling talent into a successful offense against Ryan Martinez. Martinez easily sprawled out of Ellis’ attempts to get the fight to the mat and made him pay with punches, hammerfists and knees (both legal and not). Martinez advances with the UD.
I sacrificed my Sunday to watch these fights so you don’t have to, but if you’re feeling full of self-hate you can catch them over at IronForgesIron.com.
Filed under: News, ProEliteIt’s nothing short of a soap opera script.
Less than 24 hours after main event heavyweight Andreas Kraniotakes was denied a license to fight Tim Slyvia in the ProElite 2 main event on Nov. 5, Sylvia has his new opponent.
Less than 24 hours after main event heavyweight Andreas Kraniotakes was denied a license to fight Tim Slyvia in the ProElite 2 main event on Nov. 5, Sylvia has his new opponent.
After his fight with Pedro Rizzo was scrapped due to an injury, and Kraniotakes wasn’t approved by the Illinois State Professional Athletic Commission just Wednesday, Sylvia’s new opponent will be … Andreas Kraniotakes.
In a somewhat surprising reversal, the Illinois commission, according to sources close to ProElite, took another look at the fight and decided to grant Kraniotakes a license after all. In a story first reported by MMA Fighting, the commission had initially denied Kraniotakes a license because of a lack of sanctioned fights on his 12-4 record, many of which have taken place in his native Germany, which has only a short history with legalized mixed martial arts.
Sources told MMA Fighting that ProElite had indeed lined up a replacement fighter for Slyvia on Wednesday and anticipated that new opponent being approved by the Illinois commission on Thursday for a fight on just nine days notice. Now that won’t be necessary, and Sylvia-Kraniotakes is back on.
In addition, HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon took to his Twitter feed on Thursday to say the fight would indeed remain as the main event of the show, which will take place at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill., on Nov. 5. The main card will air live on HDNet. MMA Fighting first reported last month that the card moved from Atlantic City to the Quad Cities area in western Illinois and would feature a main event between Sylvia and Rizzo with a co-main event of Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton.
But less than two weeks ago, Rizzo pulled out of the fight with an injury and Kraniotakes, who has cracked the Top 100 heavyweights in the world in some rankings, was tapped as the replacement.
Early Thursday, Kraniotakes, who has been training for the Sylvia fight in San Diego, took to his official website to voice his disappointment in being pulled from the card.
“?Eventually, the commission wouldn’t give me a license for some reasons no one understands,” Kraniotakes said. “I think the people making those decisions probably don’t know anything about the sport. I did everything I could do, my management did everything it could do, ProElite did everything it could do to make the fight happen. But the commission just said no.”
Perhaps everything that could be done eventually was enough, even if it is a day later.
A message asking for comment left for the Illinois commission’s director of athletics, Ron Puccillo, was not immediately returned on Thursday.
ProElite’s second fight card since returning to the major mixed martial arts landscape has hit another snag.
Just 10 days after main event heavyweight Pedro Rizzo had to pull out of his fight against former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia with an injury, Rizzo’s replacement, Andreas Kraniotakes, now also is off the card.
Sources close to ProElite on Wednesday told MMA Fighting that Kraniotakes’ fighter license was not approved by the Illinois State Professional Athletic Commission, which oversees MMA in the state. That leaves ProElite scrambling for a replacement to fight Sylvia on what will be less than 10 days notice for ProElite 2 at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill., on Nov. 5.
According to sources close to the event, the reason behind the state commission’s refusal to approve Kraniotakes stems from a lack of sanctioned fights on his record. Though the German heavyweight is 12-4, the bulk of his 16 career fights have come in Europe, leaving him without any sanctioned fights in the United States for the commission to base its decision on.
ProElite is said to have a replacement fighter lined up to face Sylvia, and attempted to present that fighter to the Illinois commission on Wednesday – only to find the board had closed up shop for the business day. A decision on Sylvia’s new opponent is expected Thursday, which will give him nine days to prepare for the fight – and Slyvia nine days to prepare for what will be his third opponent since signing on for the event.
Kraniotakes, who had come to the States to train in San Diego leading up to the fight, said he is unsure what his next move will be, but he’d like to get a fight in 2011.
“I thought this was the moment in my career where all the suffering and the hard stuff I’ve put into it, all the training and all the work, finally paid off,” Kraniotakes said. “And now I stand here and don’t really know what to think. It’s kind of tough for me. I don’t really know where to go from here, but I know this eon’t hold me down.”
ProElite has not yet announced its third event, though it is not likely to take place this calendar year. Its first event since folding up shop in late 2008 took place in August in Hawaii, and a return to the Aloha State would seem possible – and may prove to be an easier road to getting Kraniotakes a license than in Illinois, a state commission that has not been without trouble in the past.
In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that the commission’s No. 2 official was put on administrative leave so the state could investigate complaints he used his position to benefit, in part, political campaigns run by his wife and his brother’s work as a boxing judge.
Last month, MMA Fighting was first to report Sylvia in the main event of ProElite 2 against Rizzo on a card that was moved to the Quad Cities area of western Illinois from its original planned home in Atlantic City. Sylvia, a Maine native, has lived in the Quad Cities for years, training with the Pat Miletich team during his UFC run as heavyweight champion.
But just 10 days ago, Rizzo had to pull out of the fight with an injury and Kraniotakes was tapped as his replacement. Though Kraniotakes is largely unknown outside of Europe, he is ranked in the Top 100 of some MMA heavyweight lists.
Slyvia (29-7) has won five of his last six. In August, he beat Patrick Barrentine (9-6) on a show in Rockford, Ill., a fight which was approved by the Illinois commission.
ProElite 2 features a co-main event between former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and Travis Fulton, a veteran of more than 300 career fights. BJ Penn‘s brother Reagan meets Evan Cutts, and former UFC fighter Waylon Lowe fights Floyd Hodges. In addition, a ProElite heavyweight tournament gets underway with four quarterfinal bouts, including one featuring NCAA wrestling standout Mark Ellis (1-0).
Sylvia vs. Kraniotakes will be just one of six heavyweight fights on ProElite 2’s beefy main card. In addition to the main event and the Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Wiuff co-headliner, the card will host the opening round of a heavyweight tournament featuring prospects from around the country. (Swagger-jackin’ Bellator, ‘eh guys?)
As confirmed on Inside MMA last night, ProElite has signed a multi-fight, multi-year television deal with HDNet, and the November 5th event will be aired live on the cable network. The current lineup of “ProElite 2: Big Guns” is after the jump…
(And here we have Andreas Kraniotakes slugging the crap out of someone.)
Sylvia vs. Kraniotakes will be just one of six heavyweight fights on ProElite 2′s beefy main card. In addition to the main event and the Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Wiuff co-headliner, the card will host the opening round of a heavyweight tournament featuring prospects from around the country. (Swagger-jackin’ Bellator, ‘eh guys?)
As confirmed on Inside MMA last night, ProElite has signed a multi-fight, multi-year television deal with HDNet, and the November 5th event will be aired live on the cable network. The current lineup of “ProElite 2: Big Guns” is after the jump…
MAIN CARD
Tim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes
Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Wiuff
Mark Ellis vs. Ryan Martinez (heavyweight tournament quarterfinals)
Jason Bosler vs. Richard Odoms (heavyweight tournament quarterfinals)
Chris Birchler vs. Jake Heun (heavyweight tournament quarterfinals)
Walter Harris vs. Esteves Jones (heavyweight tournament quarterfinals)
Reagan Penn vs. TBA
Waylon Lowe vs. TBA
PRELIMINARY CARD
Todd Monaghan vs. TBA (heavyweight tournament reserve bout)
Filed under: ProEliteTim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes and Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton will lead the Nov. 5 ProElite 2 fight card at the i wireless Center in Moline, Ill.
Also on the card will be an eight-man heavyweight tournament as well as t…
Tim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes and Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton will lead the Nov. 5 ProElite 2 fight card at the i wireless Center in Moline, Ill.
Also on the card will be an eight-man heavyweight tournament as well as the second fight for Reagan Penn, the younger brother of B.J.
Non-Tournament Pro Bouts
Tim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes
Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton
Reagan Penn vs. TBA Waylon Lowe vs. TBA
Heavyweight Tournament Bouts
Mark Ellis vs. Ryan Martinez
Richard Odoms vs. Jason Bosler
Jake Heun vs. Chris Birchler
Esteves Jones vs. Walter Harris
Todd Monaghan vs. TBA (tournament reserve bout) Amateur Bouts
Kelly Skeffington vs. Jonathon Thomson
Daniel DeCamp vs. Nick McClean
ProElite’s second fight card since returning to the major mixed martial arts landscape has hit another snag. 
Tim Sylvia