(Video courtesy YouTube/FightHubTV)
At last week’s Bellator show, middleweight Hector Lombard raised a few eyebrows when he said he wanted to face recently-signed Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett in his next bout.
It turns out that the pair ha…
It turns out that the pair have a beef between them that can be traced back to a particular sparring session in 2008.
According to Lombard’s former and Barnett’s current trainer from Combat Submission Wrestling, Erik Paulson, a day or two after a bloody 30-minute boxing match between the duo at the gym, "The Babyfaced Assassin" dragged Lombard into the cage and used his weight advantage to hold him on the canvas and humiliate the Cuban judoka in front of his teammates.
Paulson revealed that the incident was the reason Lombard walked away from the gym to join American Top Team and said he’s surprised that he’s still upset over it.
(You think Huerta’s had it rough over the last couple years, imagine how this guy feels. PicProps: ImageShack)
It’s hard not to feel a little bit bad for Bellator this month. Here the upstart promotion is about to stage the biggest fight of its short h…
(You think Huerta’s had it rough over the last couple years, imagine how this guy feels. PicProps: ImageShack)
It’s hard not to feel a little bit bad for Bellator this month. Here the upstart promotion is about to stage the biggest fight of its short history when Roger Huerta takes on Eddie Alvarez next Thursday and it seems like nobody even cares. Part of that is just sheer bad luck, what with Brock Lesnar and his magnificent new beard gobbling up the headlines prior to his title defense against Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 two days later. Some of it has to be thrown at Bellator’s feet too, since this bout would certainly be garnering some more attention if it weren’t a weirdo nontitle affair. Then there’s Huerta who, after losing three of his last four, is putting waaay too much pressure on himself this week.
“I feel like if Eddie wins, he ends up killing my career,” Huerta told Sherdog Radio on Monday. “I can’t take another loss. This is really personal for me. This is my life.”
(They call him "The Hurricane" because he makes opponents want to hide in the basement when he touches down on them.)
If you don’t know who Ferrid Kheder is, by this time next year you will.
Here’s the story of The Hurricane:
The …
(They call him "The Hurricane" because he makes opponents want to hide in the basement when he touches down on them.)
If you don’t know who Ferrid Kheder is, by this time next year you will.
Here’s the story of The Hurricane:
The French-born Tunisian judoka who placed seventh as a lightweight at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia has completely dedicated himself to becoming a mixed martial artist since discovering the sport in 2005 and has done so impressively, compiling an 18-5 record in the process.
Hooking up with Hector Lombard, a fellow judo competitor and friend who was living and training in Australia at Sydney satellite of The Lion’s Den, the pair soon became the best fighters in the gym and were looking for a change.
Out of the blue, Kheder received a MySpace message from Ryan Parsons, the manager of Dan Henderson’s Temecula, California branch of Team Quest, inviting him and Lombard to move to the states to train with the stacked fight team that at the time included guys like Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Krzystof Soszynski, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Joey Warren.
He jumped at the offer.
“To make a living at MMA, I knew it would be hard because every day I had to work. I couldn’t even speak English, so I had to work doing jobs that I didn’t need to talk to do. I worked as a mover and security at a nightclub and I trained in the morning and at night between working. You can’t expect to be one of the best in the world living and training like that, so after I had a few wins, I was contacted by Ryan Parsons," he recalls. "He contacted me through MySpace and he wanted me and Hector to come over to train at Team Quest. That was why we decided to move to America. Hector didn’t get his visa at the same time as me, so I started in 2007 to train at Team Quest.”
(Bryan Baker putting the stomp on Jeremy Horn and cancer. Photo props Fight!Mag)
Bellator came back around to Louisville, Kentucky last night with a passel of pint sized contestants in the first bantamwe…
By ReX “Charles Bukkake” Richardson
(Bryan Baker putting the stomp on Jeremy Horn and cancer. Photo props Fight!Mag)
Bellator came back around to Louisville, Kentucky last night with a passel of pint sized contestants in the first bantamweight championship field, a middleweight fight featuring Bellator regular Bryan Baker and a man who has somewhere over 9000(!) fights at Moneyweight, and the standard assortment of young up and comers looking to have a breakout performance. Come on in and we’ll find out who’s going to the bantamweight tourney finals, who is bouncing back from serious illness, and who has a juvenile sense of humor.
You know who has the juvenile sense of humor? You do. But we dig that about you. Check it out: through pure coincidence (or epic matchmaking radness), Bellator’s thirtieth show features a card full of fighters with somewhat suggestive nicknames.
Just try to skim the names and not picture them working for Vivid Entertainment. (PS: You just lost the game.) (PPS: I’m sorry Mom, I was raised better than this.)
(Above: ‘Ayyyyyy’ — An expression of combat known worldwide. / Below: Matt Major shows off the design that got him eliminated on last night’s episode of Project Runway.)
By ReX “I H8 FSN” Richardson
Last night, Bellator XXIX went …
(Above: ‘Ayyyyyy‘ — An expression of combat known worldwide. / Below: Matt Major shows off the design that got him eliminated on last night’s episode of Project Runway.)
By ReX “I H8 FSN” Richardson
Last night, Bellator XXIX went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin (which I believe is a Native American word meaning “Dude, I Think We’re Lost”) and put on the first nationally-televised MMA event ever in the state. Bellator seems to thrive by signing fighters hungry for wins, and has kept the energy up by focusing on the lighter weight classes, so it was a bit of a curveball when a heavyweight tournament was announced. Many questioned if Bellator could pull enough quality heavyweights with the conditioning necessary to put on entertaining fights. Heavyweight fights in the Bellator promotion to this point have been a mixed bag, but we’re starting to see the cream rise so I’m optimistic that some fun stuff happens. A couple of loser-leaves-town matches round out the televised card, featuring some guys who’ve been bounced out of tournaments previously (and want back in), plus they snagged the tubby Guida brother to test the light heavyweight waters.
Come on in and I’ll fill you in on the latest Bellator results and news. I promise I’ll lay off the fat jokes this time.
By DL “Dance Lord” Richardson
(Video courtesy YouTube/BellatorMMA)
When it comes to MMA, everyone has preferences. Some people want nothing but knockouts (these are the people waiting three hours to get Chuck Liddell’s autograph)…
When it comes to MMA, everyone has preferences. Some people want nothing but knockouts (these are the people waiting three hours to get Chuck Liddell’s autograph), some people love nothing more than a fighter scoring a submission win off their back (if you don’t heart Sakuraba, I don’t want to be your friend). Some people love the heavy leather of the weight classes over 200 pounds (looking at you, Stak40), and some people love the non-stop dynamos that compete below 160 pounds. For those who dig an “I just gave my four year old Starbucks and meth” pace, Bellator hooked it up with a bantamweight showcase at The Majestic Theatre in San Antonio last night, and topped off the card with a much-anticipated matchup between current Featherweight Champion Joe Soto and Joe Warren. If you missed it, you better have a damn good reason or a note from your mom.
Come on in for a recap, but I *highly suggest* you watch Soto – Warren before you read it. These guys both wanted the belt like a thirteen year old girl wants a vampire boyfriend, and they put on a jaw dropper. I’ll talk about it, run down the other fights on the card, and if you’re good boys and girls, I’ll even tell you about bantams.
