Tag: Breaking News

MMA: X-Ray Picture of Akira Corassani’s Broken Nose Following Illegal Knee

Akira Corassani knew Maximo Blanco didn’t have the best reputation for keeping it clean during a fight prior to their TUF 18 finale matchup.
Corassani pegged Blanco as a “dirty” fighter and has good reason to feel that way. Corassani’s night ended…

Akira Corassani knew Maximo Blanco didn’t have the best reputation for keeping it clean during a fight prior to their TUF 18 finale matchup.

Corassani pegged Blanco as a “dirty” fighter and has good reason to feel that way. Corassani‘s night ended early as Blanco hit him with a knee to the face while Corassani‘s hand was clearly on the ground.

Whether it was intentional or not, the blow was blatantly illegal. Mario Yamasaki stepped in to call a halt to the bout, and it appeared as though Corassani was down and out.

It seemed as though fans were quick to think Croassani was faking the injury after initially struggling with Blanco early on. Despite that ridiculous notion, there was quite a bit of blood coming from Corassani‘s nose, and we know why now.

It’s because his nose was broken in five separate places.

Broke my nose in 5 places which was not as bad as the concussion from the knee. The dizziness got worse gradually and I was rocked as hell. Truthfully I dont remember much but this was not the way I wanted to win, I was more than ready for this fight and due to a stupid move the fight was ruined. Thanks for all your support and I’ll be back soon! (via Instagram post)

I’m not sure why fans would immediately assume Corassani was faking the injury. He’s attempted to put off the “tough guy” attitude in the past, and given the foul occurred so early in the fight, I don’t see any advantage Corassani had in faking the injury to end the fight.

Blanco is now 1-3 in his last four fights, and the UFC has shown it’s not going to tolerate fighters who stretch the rules inside the cage (see Rousimar Palhares). He may get another shot in the UFC based on his potential, but I don’t believe anyone would miss him if he were sent packing overseas.

Corassani, meanwhile, is technically on a three-fight winning streak. He’s looked much better at featherweight, and it will be interesting to see what the UFC does with him when he returns.

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TUF 18 Finale Fight Video Highlights: Nate Diaz Stops Gray Maynard

Nate Diaz returned to the win column on Saturday, stopping Gray Maynard with a barrage of punches in the first round.
In his past two outings, Diaz was beaten by then-champion Benson Henderson and knocked out by Josh Thomson. On the verge of losing thr…

Nate Diaz returned to the win column on Saturday, stopping Gray Maynard with a barrage of punches in the first round.

In his past two outings, Diaz was beaten by then-champion Benson Henderson and knocked out by Josh Thomson. On the verge of losing three in a row, which often leads to fighters being released from the UFC roster, Diaz needed to perform well at The Ultimate Fighter 18 finale in Las Vegas.

After being taken down early, Diaz worked back to a standing position and made Maynard pay for being unable to hold him down. Once he had Maynard rocked, Diaz did not let off the gas and battered his opponent until referee Yves Lavigne had seen enough.

Now, Maynard finds himself in a bad spot after losing to Diaz on Saturday. Following a loss to TJ Grant at UFC 160, Maynard has now been knocked out in the first round of back-to-back bouts. Dating back to his title fights with Frankie Edgar, Maynard has also only won once over his past five appearances, and that victory came in an uneventful split decision with Clay Guida.

Maynard will need to get things turned around quickly or he could quickly spiral out of the world’s top MMA promotion.

With his victory at the TUF 18 finale, Diaz took a lead of sorts in his series with Maynard. Although their first meeting was an exhibition, Diaz has now submitted Maynard in the TUF semifinals and knocked him out on Saturday. Maynard, meanwhile, earned a split-decision win over Diaz in January 2010.

To recap the latest meeting between Maynard and Diaz, FoxSports.com has provided the above video highlights. 

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TUF 18 Finale: Recapping the Fight Night Bonuses

The Ultimate Fighter 18 came to a close on Saturday, and the UFC crowned two more winners in the reality show series.
Chris Holdsworth won the men’s bantamweight competition with a second-round submission victory over David Grant. A 26-year-old me…

The Ultimate Fighter 18 came to a close on Saturday, and the UFC crowned two more winners in the reality show series.

Chris Holdsworth won the men’s bantamweight competition with a second-round submission victory over David Grant. A 26-year-old member of Team Alpha Male, Holdsworth will be a promising addition to the 135-pound division.

Also, Julianna Pena made history by stopping Jessica Rakoczy with ground-and-pound in the first round. The first-ever female winner of TUF, 24-year-old Pena has a chance to go down as a pioneer in women’s MMA history.

While the event focused on the TUF finalists, Saturday’s UFC fight card produced memorable moments outside of the reality show competition. Here are the performance bonuses for the TUF 18 finale, which was held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

 

Fight of the Night

There weren’t many prolonged barnburners on Saturday. 

Raquel Pennington vs. Roxanne Modafferi and Tom Niinimaki vs. Rani Yahya were somewhat competitive fights that went to the scorecards, but the evening’s Fight of the Night bonus went to the fight card’s opening bout between flyweights Josh Sampo and Ryan Benoit.

After Sampo missed weight on Friday, Benoit was the recipient of both sides of the bonus money, netting $100,000 in extra income despite being submitted.

 

Knockout of the Night

Heading into the main event, newly crowned TUF winner Julianna Pena was the only fighter to score a knockout win on Saturday. 

Since Pena’s knockout resulted more from Jessica Rakoczy being unable to escape full mount than damage from strikes, Knockout of the Night honors were up for grabs in a bout between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz.

Diaz took advantage, clipping Maynard on the chin in the first round and staying on the former title challenger until referee Yves Lavigne was forced to step in.

 

Submission of the Night

Saturday’s fight card featured two submissions, and both came via rear-naked chokes.

Sampo’s submission of Benoit stood as the only submission of the evening until Chris Holdsworth tapped David Grant in the men’s bantamweight finals of the TUF 18 competition. With Sampo missing weight and Holdsworth’s bout earning him the TUF win, it was an easy call for the UFC brass to award the latter $50,000 in bonus cash.

In addition to his Submission of the Night honors, Holdsworth earned a six-figure UFC contract and a Harley Davidson motorcycle with his win.

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TUF 18 Finale: What We Learned from Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard

LAS VEGAS — The old version of Nate Diaz returned Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, while the old version of Gray Maynard may be gone for good.
Diaz put an emphatic stamp on a largely listless The Ultimate Fighter finale even…

LAS VEGAS — The old version of Nate Diaz returned Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, while the old version of Gray Maynard may be gone for good.

Diaz put an emphatic stamp on a largely listless The Ultimate Fighter finale event, finishing Maynard with multiple strikes in the main event. It was a severe beating, one that referee Yves Lavigne botched badly by allowing Maynard to take far too much punishment. Maynard was essentially out on his feet, only remaining standing by the force of Diaz’s punches pushing him back against the cage.

After the fight, Diaz proclaimed himself and Gilbert Melendez the best lightweights in the world, despite indications that Diaz will move back to welterweight for his next fight.

He also called out both Josh Thomson—who beat Diaz earlier this year—and Benson Henderson, who beat Diaz almost a year ago. And then Diaz proclaimed that he had things to do and was hungry, though he chose more colorful language than I’ll use here.

Diaz may not always make sense, but he’ll always be entertaining.

What did we learn? We learned that Diaz is still one of the most exciting fighters in the lightweight division. He may never beat the Hendersons or Pettises of the world, but he’ll compete with just about anyone in the top 10. 

For Maynard, however, the end may be near. He simply cannot take the kind of punishment he used to take on a regular basis. He’s suffered three knockouts in his last four fights, and the fight Diaz clipped him with to start the fight-ending barrage was the kind of punch Maynard would’ve simply walked through in the past. 

When your chin goes, it’s time to start considering other career options. And unfortunately for Maynard, that time might be now. It can’t be a good feeling to come as close as Maynard did to that lightweight championship, only to fall short. But even though it hurts, taking more punishment like he did Saturday night in search of a goal that might be futile will hurt even more in the long run.

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TUF 18 Finale Live Streaming Post-Fight Press Conference

On Saturday, the UFC will crown two more winners of its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.
Season 18 will reach its conclusion over the weekend on a fight card headlined by former TUF winner Nate Diaz and TUF contest…

On Saturday, the UFC will crown two more winners of its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.

Season 18 will reach its conclusion over the weekend on a fight card headlined by former TUF winner Nate Diaz and TUF contestant Gray Maynard. In the main event, the slumping top-10 lightweights will battle to return to the win column.

Finalists in the first ever female TUF competition include Julianna Pena and Jessica Rakoczy. History will be made when one has their hand raised on Saturday. In the men’s bantamweight final, Chris Holdsworth will meet David Grant.

While all women participants on TUF 18 are expected to get another shot inside the Octagon, Holdsworth and Grant will be the only male representatives from the season.

At the conclusion of the TUF 18 finale, several fighters will join UFC president Dana White for a post-fight press conference, which can be viewed live on the above video player.

Below is the entire TUF 18 finale fight card.

 

TUF 18 Finale Main Card (10 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 1)

  • Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz
  • Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy
  • Chris Holdsworth vs. David Grant
  • Jessamyn Duke vs. Margaret Morgan
  • Roxanne Modafferi vs. Raquel Pennington

 

TUF 18 Finale Fox Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m EST on Fox Sports 1)

  • Akira Corassani vs. Maximo Blanco
  • Rani Yahya vs. Tom Niinimaki
  • Jared Rosholt vs. Walt Harris
  • Sean Spencer vs. Drew Dober

 

TUF 18 Finale Online Prelims (7:30 p.m EST on UFC.com)

  • Josh Sampo vs. Ryan Benoit

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Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua: Soccer Kicks Are Safer Than Elbows on the Ground

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua would like to see soccer kicks made legal inside the Octagon, especially since, in his opinion, they are safer than elbows on the ground. 
“Shogun” said as much in a recent interview with MMA Junk…

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua would like to see soccer kicks made legal inside the Octagon, especially since, in his opinion, they are safer than elbows on the ground. 

“Shogun” said as much in a recent interview with MMA Junkie: 

“For sure, the new rules hinder me,” Rua recently said. “I think that the rule set from when I fought in Japan was safer than today’s rules. Elbows hurt a lot more than stomps. I had adapted to their rules. So when I came to the UFC, to get comfortable, it took some time. And, truthfully, my fight style relied greatly on stomps and soccer kicks. So to me, the greatest minus when coming to the UFC was the change in rules … I hope that one day, the UFC can legalize foot stomps and soccer kicks,” he said. “It would be great. I miss it. During the PRIDE era, I have no recollection of anyone getting hurt badly from stomps or soccer kicks. Elbows, in truth, really do hurt an opponent”

The hard-hitting Brazilian compiled a solid 12-1 mark inside the Pride ring over a roughly four-year span before the UFC signed Rua in July 2007. 

Half of those wins incorporated either soccer kicks or stomps, so clearly those attacks were a big part of the 32-year-old’s repertoire.

Rua has unarguably struggled inside the Octagon, posting a 5-6 record in 11 fights.

As a matter of fact, it’s been most downhill for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt since capturing UFC gold, going just 2-4 since March 2011—the skid began when he lost the belt to current champ Jon Jones at UFC 128. 

Rua looks to get back on the winning track at UFC Fight Night 33, which takes place on December 7, when he faces off with James Te-Huna.

After that bout is in the books, the former Pride Middleweight Grand Prix winner is seriously contemplating a drop to 185 pounds, per MMA Mania. 

Would the UFC ever consider adopting Pride rules after 20 years of using their own set of regulations?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

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