VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
The undercard bouts are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins, Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa, Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young, Nick Ring vs. James Head and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio.
Round 1: A very calm Omigawa walks to the center of the cage with his hands down low. They feel each other out with punches from far out. Omigawa has the better head movement early, but Elkins is outworking him with punch combos. Good lead left hook from Omigawa jacks Elkins’ jaw. Elkins comes back moments later with a hard right hand that backs Omigawa up. Elkins clips Omigawa behind the ear and makes his legs go shaky for a second. Omigawa leaps in and Elkins takes him down, but is forced to relinquish top position when Omigawa looks for a heel hook. Very active first round by both men. Omigawa looks to be loading up for one big punch, and Elkins corner implores him to get off before the Japanese fighter can throw. Elkins is landing more punches, but a lot of them look like arm punches. He gets after Omigawa in the final twenty seconds and has him reeling a bit before the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.
Round 2: Omigawa starts the second much more aggressively, chasing Elkins across the cage with punches. Elkins corner assures him that Omigawa can’t keep it up the whole round. Almost on cue, Omigawa’s pace slows. Elkins tags Omigawa, but it’s Elkins who seems to be cut around his right eye. Elkins backs Omigawa against the fence and throws a combo, but Omigawa slips most of the punches and fires back one of his own that connects. Omigawa throws a left hook and Elkins beats him with a right hand counter. Good right hand by Omigawa. Elkins unloads a flurry in response, with Omigawa avoiding most of the blows. Omigawa ducks under a punch and lands a nice right. Elkins dives for an awkward takedown, but it’s not even close. Omigawa is the fresher, less damaged fighter at the end of two. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Omigawa.
Round 3: They touch it up to start the final frame and the crowd cheers their efforts so far. Omigawa wastes little time getting a takedown. Elkins thinks about a guillotine, but it isn’t there. Omigawa goes to work with some nice elbows in Elkins’ guard. Elkins thinks about a triangle/armbar combo, but Omigawa escapes and looks to pass. In the process, Elkins scrambles and tries to take top position before they eventually work back to their feet. Elkins’ face is a bloody mess now. Omigawa is still bobbing and weaving well, while Elkins might have tired a bit. Neither man is terribly active in the final thirty seconds, but the crowd cheers them anyway. Good first fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Omigawa.
Darren Elkins def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
The undercard bouts are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins, Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa, Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young, Nick Ring vs. James Head and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio.
Round 1: A very calm Omigawa walks to the center of the cage with his hands down low. They feel each other out with punches from far out. Omigawa has the better head movement early, but Elkins is outworking him with punch combos. Good lead left hook from Omigawa jacks Elkins’ jaw. Elkins comes back moments later with a hard right hand that backs Omigawa up. Elkins clips Omigawa behind the ear and makes his legs go shaky for a second. Omigawa leaps in and Elkins takes him down, but is forced to relinquish top position when Omigawa looks for a heel hook. Very active first round by both men. Omigawa looks to be loading up for one big punch, and Elkins corner implores him to get off before the Japanese fighter can throw. Elkins is landing more punches, but a lot of them look like arm punches. He gets after Omigawa in the final twenty seconds and has him reeling a bit before the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.
Round 2: Omigawa starts the second much more aggressively, chasing Elkins across the cage with punches. Elkins corner assures him that Omigawa can’t keep it up the whole round. Almost on cue, Omigawa’s pace slows. Elkins tags Omigawa, but it’s Elkins who seems to be cut around his right eye. Elkins backs Omigawa against the fence and throws a combo, but Omigawa slips most of the punches and fires back one of his own that connects. Omigawa throws a left hook and Elkins beats him with a right hand counter. Good right hand by Omigawa. Elkins unloads a flurry in response, with Omigawa avoiding most of the blows. Omigawa ducks under a punch and lands a nice right. Elkins dives for an awkward takedown, but it’s not even close. Omigawa is the fresher, less damaged fighter at the end of two. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Omigawa.
Round 3: They touch it up to start the final frame and the crowd cheers their efforts so far. Omigawa wastes little time getting a takedown. Elkins thinks about a guillotine, but it isn’t there. Omigawa goes to work with some nice elbows in Elkins’ guard. Elkins thinks about a triangle/armbar combo, but Omigawa escapes and looks to pass. In the process, Elkins scrambles and tries to take top position before they eventually work back to their feet. Elkins’ face is a bloody mess now. Omigawa is still bobbing and weaving well, while Elkins might have tired a bit. Neither man is terribly active in the final thirty seconds, but the crowd cheers them anyway. Good first fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Omigawa.
Darren Elkins def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Filed under: UFC, Bellator, Rankings, FeatherweightsJose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the U…
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?
The fight I think the UFC really wants to make for Aldo is against Kenny Florian, who has more name recognition than anyone else on the UFC’s featherweight roster. If Florian wins his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, he’ll instantly step into title contention — and into the featherweight Top 10.
But for now, the No. 1 featherweight appears headed toward an August showdown with the undefeated Chad Mendes — and on my featherweight rankings, that’s the right call.
The UFC announced yesterday that featherweight veteran Rani Yahya — who most recently scored an upset decision over Mike Brown at Fight for the Troops 2 — has suffered an injury, and will not be able to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 131 (June 11th, Vancouver). Filling in for him will be Octagon first-timer Jason “Shotgun” Young (8-3), a former Cage Rage lightweight champion based in London, England. Last month, Young competed at Ontario’s first sanctioned MMA event, where he scored a unanimous decision over Jorge Britto. (You can see Jason talk about that match here, if you want to get a sense of the dude’s vibe.)
The UFC announced yesterday that featherweight veteran Rani Yahya — who most recently scored an upset decision over Mike Brown at Fight for the Troops 2 — has suffered an injury, and will not be able to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 131 (June 11th, Vancouver). Filling in for him will be Octagon first-timer Jason “Shotgun” Young (8-3), a former Cage Rage lightweight champion based in London, England. Last month, Young competed at Ontario’s first sanctioned MMA event, where he scored a unanimous decision over Jorge Britto. (You can see Jason talk about that match here, if you want to get a sense of the dude’s vibe.)
Filed under: UFC, NewsFormer Cage Rage lightweight champion Jason Young has signed with the UFC and will make his promotional debut against Dustin Poirier (pictured) at UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos on June 11 in Vancouver.
Young replaces the injured Rani Yahya in the featherweight bout. It’s an especially nice opportunity for Young since Poirier is coming off a win this past January over former No. 1 contender Josh Grispi and a win over Poirier could conceivably catapult Young right into the title picture.
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Sengoku, Featherweights
An injury forced featherweight champion Jose Aldo to drop out of his scheduled fight at UFC 125, and while Aldo was on the sideline for New Year’s, the featherweight division underwent some radical chang…
An injury forced featherweight champion Jose Aldo to drop out of his scheduled fight at UFC 125, and while Aldo was on the sideline for New Year’s, the featherweight division underwent some radical changes.
The New Year’s cards for the UFC, Dream and Sengoku all had big featherweight fights that featured several surprise results, and now that the dust has settled, the featherweight division looks a whole lot different heading into 2011 than it did for most of 2010 — with the exception, of course, that Aldo is still the king.
Check out our rankings of the rest of the featherweight division below.
Filed under: UFCBetween the free UFC 125 prelims and a power-packed pay-per-view card, MMA fans began 2011 with enough fighting action to choke a horse on Saturday night.
Plus, if you tuned in early to ION, as I did, you got to see the tail end of “T…
Between the free UFC 125 prelims and a power-packed pay-per-view card, MMA fans began 2011 with enough fighting action to choke a horse on Saturday night.
Plus, if you tuned in early to ION, as I did, you got to see the tail end of “Timecop,” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. If you haven’t seen it, take my word for it, it’s a great film to show if you want to give your audience a real sense of appreciation for whatever’s coming next.
But after a great event in Las Vegas full of both rising and falling stars, it’s time to get our Monday morning quarterback on and sort through the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between from UFC 125. Won’t you join me below?
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?
Former Cage Rage lightweight champion 
Between the free