Nick Newell scored a guillotine choke victory over Sabah Fadai at WSOF 7 last night. It looked like Newell, who’s now 11-0, hardly broke a sweat during the 81 seconds the match lasted.
Nick Newell kicked ass and tore up the regional lightweight scene en route the WSOF. He even left the XFC because he felt he was fighting beneath his level of competition; he wanted UFC veterans and promising prospects. Newell deserves a fight against such an opponent at this point in his career; his abilities surely can’t be denied at this point.
Also of note on WSOF 7: Georgi Karakhanyan defeated the highly accomplished wrestler Lance Palmer to become the first-ever WSOF featherweight champion. Jesse Taylor, the guy who got kicked off TUF for trashing a casino with a drunken possy (except without the possy), won a No.1 contender fight against Elvis Mutapcic. Taylor will now face David Branch for the inaugural WSOF middleweight title.
See other highlights from the weekend after the jump.
Nick Newell scored a guillotine choke victory over Sabah Fadai at WSOF 7 last night. It looked like Newell, who’s now 11-0, hardly broke a sweat during the 81 seconds the match lasted.
Newell kicked ass and tore up the regional lightweight scene en route the WSOF. He even left the XFC because he felt he was fighting beneath his level of competition. Newell wanted UFC veterans and promising prospects. He deserves a fight against such an opponent at this point in his career; his abilities surely can’t be denied at this point.
Also of note on WSOF 7: Georgi Karakhanyan defeated the highly accomplished wrestler Lance Palmer to become the first-ever WSOF featherweight champion. Jesse Taylor, the guy who got kicked off TUF for trashing a casino with a drunken possy (except without the possy), won a No.1 contender fight against Elvis Mutapcic. Taylor will now face David Branch for the inaugural WSOF middleweight title. Check out the complete WSOF 7 results here.
A couple of other important highlights from the weekend, specifically Invicta FC 7: Barb Honchak defended her Invicta FC flyweight title against Leslie Smith. And apparently inaugural titles were in vogue last night, as Lauren Murphy captured the inaugural Invicta FC bantamweight championship by defeating Miriam Nakamoto. Felice Herrig dropped a decision to Tecia Torres. Former Bellator women’s champ Zolia Frausto Gurgel was on the card too but came up short against Vanessa Porto. Here are the card’s complete results.
Also, Leonard Garcia became the Legacy FC featherweight champ by knocking out Kevin Aguilar. We’ve embedded the video for you:
Overall, it was a fun weekend of fights. We had one of the best fights of all time Friday night, followed by some great action on Saturday.
(INVICTA FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs Smith via Invicta FC)
With the UFC putting on an event practically every weekend nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder for even the most hardcore fan to keep up with all the action, let alone the great fights transpiring under lower-level banners like WSOF, Invicta FC, Cage Warriors, and the like. So while most of the MMA world will remain focused on Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot (which is a relatively stacked card, all things considered) this Friday, we’ve decided to highlight a handful of lesser-known-yet-equally-intriguing bouts for you Taters to keep an eye out for this weekend. And here you thought we weren’t MMA fans anymore.
Thanks to a last second toe injury, the originally scheduled (also, cursed) main event between Mike Kyle and Anthony Johnson was recently scrapped from WSOF 7, shuffling the co-main event matchup between Armenian powerhouse Georgi Karakhanyan and undefeated grappler Lance Palmer into the spotlight. And quite honestly, it’s a far more compelling fight in our opinion.
(INVICTA FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs Smith via Invicta FC)
With the UFC putting on an event practically every weekend nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder for even the most hardcore fan to keep up with all the action, let alone the great fights transpiring under lower-level banners like WSOF, Invicta FC, Cage Warriors, and the like. So while most of the MMA world will remain focused on Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot (which is a relatively stacked card, all things considered) this Friday, we’ve decided to highlight a handful of lesser-known-yet-equally-intriguing bouts for you Taters to keep an eye out for this weekend. And here you thought we weren’t MMA fans anymore.
Thanks to a last second toe injury, the originally scheduled (also, cursed) main event between Mike Kyle and Anthony Johnson was recently scrapped from WSOF 7, shuffling the co-main event matchup between Armenian powerhouse Georgi Karakhanyan and undefeated grappler Lance Palmer into the spotlight. And quite honestly, it’s a far more compelling fight in our opinion — Karakhanyan has scored 8 straight victories (5 finishes) since being released from Bellator back in 2011, including a first round submission over UFC veteran Waylon Lowe in his WSOF debut. Prior to that, the current Tachi Palace featherweight champion put the stamp on another, more well known UFC vet, Din Thomas, at Legacy FC 19.
While Karakhanyan has proven himself to be a well-rounded fighter — he balances 12 submission victories against 4 knockouts — he’ll be facing a stiff test in late replacement opponent Lance Palmer. Currently 7-0 as a professional, Palmer is a hard-nosed grappler fresh off a tough split decision win over Jared Downing at RFA 8. Given the relative lack of pressure being placed on Palmer’s shoulders, we could be in for a huge upset should “The Party” (eesh) be able to take Karakhanyan to the mat early and often.
Our history with Nick Newell has been extensively documented, but that doesn’t change the fact that “Notorious” will be facing one of the biggest tests of his career this weekend. On the heels of another successful first round ass-kicking in his own promotional debut (his 9th in 10 fights), Newell will be squaring off with British Columbia native Sabah Fadai, a 7-2 fighter who has finished all of his victories by either TKO or submission. While Fadai has been out of action for over a year now, a win over a rising star like Newell would more than make up for his lost time.
To refresh your memory, here’s a video of Newell kicking some dude’s ass at XFC 19 last December:
If you’ve been following the WMMA scene at all over the past few years, chances are that you’ve heard of Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith, an Invicta and Bellator veteran known for her tough-as-nails demeanor and penchant for putting on wild slugfests. MMAFighting’s Chuck Mindenhall recently wrote an excellent profile on Smith, who has fought on 5 of the 6 Invicta cards (and who holds a record of 3-1-1 in the promotion) and holds victories over Kaitlin Young and TUF 18 semifinalist Raquel Pennington. We’d highly recommend that you check it out to learn a little more about the fan-friendly fighter, who recently earned her shot at flyweight champion Barb Honchak with a FOTN-earning unanimous decision victory over Jennifer Maia in her flyweight debut at Invicta 6.
Speaking of Honchak, we’d be remiss if we did not sing the praises of the current champ in the days prior to her first title defense. Although her career got off to a bumpy 1-2 start, Honchak has put together 7 straight wins including 3 under the Invicta banner since 2011. A fierce counter striker with solid boxing mechanics, Honchak has been criticized (by Young, amongst others) for being a “points fighter,” so it will be interesting to see how she responds to the criticism in her biggest fight to date. And that’s saying something for a woman who holds victories over Roxanne Modafferi, Vanessa Porto, and…
We might have irked Herrig with our recent criticism of the TUF 18 Finale, but we only did it out of love. And the truth is, aside from being a dynamic, intelligent, and visually-striking woman who knows how to market herself, Herrig is also a legitimately talented fighter who is a surefire poster girl for the UFC’s upcoming strawweight division. Currently 4-1 in her last 5 and coming off back-to-back decision wins in Bellator, Herrig’s extensive Muay Thai/kickboxing background has been coupled with an ever-improving ground game under the tutelage of Jeff Curran and has led her to victory over the likes of TUF 18 finalist Jessica Rakoczy and Patricia Vidonic (twice).
Looking to steal some of Herrig’s thunder, however, will be 3-0 Tecia Torres. Perhaps one of the more overlooked fighters in strawweight division, “The Tiny Tornado” is no stranger to halting hype trains, as she is fresh off a decision victory over our own “Thug” Rose Namajunas at Invicta FC 6…
If Torres is able to knock off Herrig this weekend, she will more or less become the female Lawrence of Arabia of the strawweight division (confusing analogy much?), so keep an eye out for this matchup, Taters.
While Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia was known for putting on Fight of the Year contenders in the UFC, he wasn’t known for actually winning fights at the end of his second tour of duty (as for the fights he “won,” well…). However, since being mercifully released from the promotion in April following five straight losses, Garcia has managed to both put on entertaining fights and walk away with his hand raised. Since signing with Legacy Fighting Championships, Garcia has scored back-to-back stoppage victories over Rey Trujillo and Nick Gonzalez at LFC 21 and 23, respectfully. A big win over undefeated “Angel of Death” Kevin Aguilar could easily see Garcia reinstated in the UFC for another run.
Aguilar, on the other hand, is no slouch. Currently 8-0, this Bellator veteran has gone the distance just once in his professional career and has balanced 5 TKOs against 2 submissions. Could he be the man to bring Garcia’s resurgence to a halt? FIND OUT THIS WEEKEND. It’s kind of the point of this article.
Finally, we have a potential barnburner of a scrap taking place between two always entertaining, if inconsistent, fighters in Ulysses Gomez vs. Neil Seery. Transpiring under the London-based Cage Warriors banner, Gomez vs. Seery will serve as the main event of Cage Warriors 62 and promises to be one for the ages. Despite going 0-2 in the UFC, Gomez is an incredible grappler who has previously secured both the flyweight and bantamweight titles while fighting for Tachi Palace Fights back in 2010-11. In his 9 professional victories, Gomez has claimed all but two of them by submission.
After trading wins and losses for the majority of his career, Seery has been on a roll as of late, scoring 4 straight wins over the past year. Seery and Gomez share a common opponent in current UFC fighter Phil Harris, who has defeated them both by way of UD, but we’ll be tuning into this fight solely to see how a guy who calls himself “2 Tap” will hold up against a ground wizard like Gomez.
Are there any other lower-level fights taking place this weekend that warrant a mention? Let us know in the comments section.
(Strawweights: Willing to go the extra mile on weigh-in night, and that’s really all that matters. Photo via Bellator.)
Hold onto your butts, Potato Nation, because Dana White just dropped a bomb that will make your insides explode faster than the Denny’s Hobbit menu.
During a recent interview on FOX Sports.com’s “The Fighter & The Kid” podcast, The Baldfather announced that the UFC is currently “working on” putting together a women’s strawweight division, thanks in no small part to the emphatic success of The Ultimate Fighter 18:
“I’ll give you guys something nobody knows yet. We’re actually working on bringing in another division for the women, which I said would never happen for a long time,” White told hosts Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen. “125 pounds or 145 pounds?” Schaub asked. “Neither . . . 115 pounds,” White replied.
“I never in a million years thought that it would take off the way that it has.”
When asked whether or not the significant downturn TUF ratings have taken over the past few weeks have weighed into his decision, White allegedly told Schaub to “go f*ck himself” before storming out of the room yelling “LALALALALA CAN’T HEAR YOU” with his fingers in his ears. Allegedly.
(Strawweights: Willing to go the extra mile on weigh-in night, and that’s really all that matters. Photo via Bellator.)
Hold onto your butts, Potato Nation, because Dana White just dropped a bomb that will make your insides explode faster than the Denny’s Hobbit menu.
During a recent interview on FOX Sports.com’s “The Fighter & The Kid” podcast, The Baldfather announced that the UFC is currently “working on” putting together a women’s strawweight division, thanks in no small part to the emphatic success of The Ultimate Fighter 18:
“I’ll give you guys something nobody knows yet. We’re actually working on bringing in another division for the women, which I said would never happen for a long time,” White told hosts Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen. “125 pounds or 145 pounds?” Schaub asked. “Neither . . . 115 pounds,” White replied.
“I never in a million years thought that it would take off the way that it has.”
When asked whether or not the significant downturn TUF ratings have taken over the past few weeks have weighed into his decision, White allegedly told Schaub to “go f*ck himself” before storming out of the room yelling “LALALALALA CAN’T HEAR YOU” with his fingers in his ears. Allegedly.
In all seriousness, this is undoubtedly a great move on the UFC’s part — women have consistently outperformed their male counterparts in terms of viewership this season (save for the recent hiccup that we shall never discuss again) — and have yet to put on a truly boring fight in the octagon thus far. One has to wonder, however, what led the UFC to land on arguably the least stacked division in the already shallow WMMA landscape next. I mean, it’s not like the strawweights have an incredibly talented, charismatic, blonde, Rousey-esque poster girl who knows how to market her sexuality or anything…
(MMA Nostradamus Alert: Jeff Curran predicts the future while preparing Felice Herrig for her Bellator 94 bout against Heather Clark. / Video via 1inchBoom)
(MMA Nostradamus Alert: Jeff Curran predicts the future while preparing Felice Herrig for her Bellator 94 bout against Heather Clark. / Video via 1inchBoom)
As has become the standard for a Bellator event, last night’s Bellator 94 was packed to the brim with exciting stoppages, grueling decisions, and a fair share of controversy thrown in for good measure.
The main card kicked off with a Season 9 bantamweight tournament qualifier bout between Rodrigo Lima and Ronnie Mann, the latter of which was making his bantamweight debut. As noted by the Bellator broadcast team, the characteristic speed that led Mann to the featherweight tourney semifinals in Season 6 was all but negated against Lima, who outgunned, outgrappled, and plain outworked Mann in every aspect of the fight en route to a unanimous decision victory.
The evening’s next bout was also a season 9 qualifier, this time at welterweight, and pitted Trey “That Just Happened?” Houston (Seriously, that’s his nickname. Do we have a Worst Nickname category for this year’s Potato Awards? Because I think we have found yet another front-runner.) against Luis Melo. In what turned out to be a rather entertaining affair, Houston attempted to turn things into a brawl while Melo opted to take things to the ground as often as possible. After getting rocked and nearly submitted in the second round, Melo was able to turn the tides on a fading Houston in the third and secured an arm-triangle finish just over a minute into the round.
As has become the standard for a Bellator event, last night’s Bellator 94 was packed to the brim with exciting stoppages, grueling decisions, and a fair share of controversy thrown in for good measure.
The main card kicked off with a Season 9 bantamweight tournament qualifier bout between Rodrigo Lima and Ronnie Mann, the latter of which was making his bantamweight debut. As noted by the Bellator broadcast team, the characteristic speed that led Mann to the featherweight tourney semifinals in Season 6 was all but negated against Lima, who outgunned, outgrappled, and plain outworked Mann in every aspect of the fight en route to a unanimous decision victory.
The evening’s next bout was also a season 9 qualifier, this time at welterweight, and pitted Trey “That Just Happened?” Houston (Seriously, that’s his nickname. Do we have a Worst Nickname category for this year’s Potato Awards? Because I think we have found yet another front-runner.) against Luis Melo. In what turned out to be a rather entertaining affair, Houston attempted to turn things into a brawl while Melo opted to take things to the ground as often as possible. After getting rocked and nearly submitted in the second round, Melo was able to turn the tides on a fading Houston in the third and secured an arm-triangle finish just over a minute into the round.
Now, onto the “controversial” ending of the co-main event, lightweight tournament final between David Rickels and Saad Awad. After spending the majority of the first round on the defensive, Rickels was able to get his offense going in the second. As the 10 second clack went off, so did Rickels, unleashing a flurry of punches that ended with a brutal right hand that sent Awad crashing face first to the canvas as the bell rung. While Awad wasn’t exactly Thiago Silva vs. Lyoto Machida unconscious, he was clearly out of it, as he rolled over to his back and was initially unable to get to his feet.
Recognizing this, referee Troy Waugh waved off the bout, which was immediately met with protest by both Awad and commentator Jimmy Smith. Although if you were to ask me, the fact that Awad was on rubber legs the entire time he was protesting should say more about Waugh’s decision than anything else. In either case, Rickels will now face Michael Chandler for the Bellator lightweight title. No word yet on whether he will be forced to trim his Glorious Beard of Absolute Victory before that fight.
Emanuel Newton’s Cinderella story continued in the night’s main event, as he was able to successfully utilize his grappling background and heavy hands to keep fellow tournament underdog Mikhail Zayats off balance en route to a UD victory. Although Zayats was able to land early and often in the first round, Newton secured the second with a few strong takedowns and sealed the deal in the third with a two-punch combo that dropped Zayats. The tough-nosed Russian was able to brave the storm but was ultimately unable to put together anything that could have balanced the round out. With the win, Newton will now face newly crowned champ Atilla Vegh in a rematch of their controversial scrap at Bellator 72 that saw Vegh emerge victorious by way of split decision.
Now, let’s talk about our girl Felice Herrig, the cosplay-enthusiast who got all up in opponent Heather Clark’s grill at the weigh-ins yesterday. In the first round of their card-opening affair, Herrig was utterly dominated by Clark’s relentless top game and positioning. In the second, however, Herrig was able to turn the tables with her trademark combinations and managed to capitalize on a botched headlock throw by Clark to take her back as the round expired.
The third was largely contested on the mat, with Herrig scoring mount at one point and nearly securing a one-armed rear-naked choke. Although Clark was able to wriggle her way out of it and get on top toward the end of the round, things really got interesting after the bell (see above). Apparently still harboring some ill will towards Clark, Herrig decided to engage her opponent in a little post-fight taunting. Clark didn’t appreciate this and promptly backhanded Herrig (because she’s been pimpin’ been since pimpin’ since been pimpin’), who had to be separated by the ref to ensure that a Paul Daley-type incident didn’t occur.
Full results for Bellator 94 are below.
Emanuel Newton def. Mikhail Zayats by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-David “Caveman” Rickels def. Saad Award by TKO at 5:00, R1
-Luis Melo def. Trey Houston by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:09, R3|
-Rodrigo Lima def. Ronnie Mann by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Julien Williams def. Kenny Moss by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:19, R1
-Augusto Sakai def. Rob Horton by TKO at 4:01, R2
-Jessica Aguilar def. Patricia Vidonic by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
-Joe Taimanglo def. Ronnie Rogers by submission (north-south choke) at :33, R2
-Edson Berto def. Bruno Carvalho by submission (heel hook) at 1:27, R1
-Tony Fryklund vs. Patrick Cenoble fought to a draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28)
-Felice Herrig def. Heather Clark by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
(Props: 1inchBoom. Felice appears at 1:10, and bullrushes Clark at 1:53.)
Bellator is at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa tonight with an event that will decide the Season 8 Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight tournament winners. The fighters weighed-in yesterday, and if you’re reading this, it’s probably not because you care that David Rickels came in 0.1 pound heavier than Saad Awad. (Although he totally did; results are at the end of this post, via Sherdog.)
No, you probably just want to see how Felice Herrig looked in her latest scale-appearance. Never one to disappoint (see here and here), Herrig transformed into Supergirl on stage, then got directly up in the face of her much-taller opponent, Heather Clark, who was herself wearing a tiny bikini and high heels in an attempt to win the evening’s swimwear competition. Clearly, this enraged Herrig, and the two women had to be separated by Bjorn Rebney.
Check out a couple photos of Felice in her superhero outfit below, and watch her fight during the Bellator 94 prelims on Spike.com or Bellator.com beginning at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT.
(Props: 1inchBoom. Felice appears at 1:10, and bullrushes Clark at 1:53.)
Bellator is at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa tonight with an event that will decide the Season 8 Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight tournament winners. The fighters weighed-in yesterday, and if you’re reading this, it’s probably not because you care that David Rickels came in 0.1 pound heavier than Saad Awad. (Although he totally did; results are at the end of this post, via Sherdog.)
No, you probably just want to see how Felice Herrig looked in her latest scale-appearance. Never one to disappoint (see here and here), Herrig transformed into Supergirl on stage, then got directly up in the face of her much-taller opponent, Heather Clark, who was herself wearing a tiny bikini and high heels in an attempt to win the evening’s swimwear competition. Clearly, this enraged Herrig, and the two women had to be separated by Bjorn Rebney.
Check out a couple photos of Felice in her superhero outfit below, and watch her fight during the Bellator 94 prelims on Spike.com or Bellator.com beginning at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT.
MAIN CARD
David Rickels (155.8) vs. Saad Awad (155.7)
Emanuel Newton (204.4) vs. Mikhail Zayats (205.6)
Trey Houston (170.4) vs. Luis Sergio da Fonseca Melo (169.8)
Ronnie Mann (135.7) vs. Rodrigo Lima (135.8)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Tony Fryklund (155.6) vs. Patrick Cenoble (156.2)
Joe Taimanglo (145.6) vs. Ronnie Rogers (146)
Julien Williams (170) vs. Kenny Moss (171)
Felice Herrig (115.7) vs. Heather Clark (115.9)
Jessica Aguilar (114.6) vs. Patricia Vidonic (115)
Augusto Sakai (261.3) vs. Rob Horton (242.2)
James Edson Berto (155.6) vs. Bruno Carvalho (155.3)
