On Sunday, 46-year-old MMA old-schooler Don Frye competed at a Gladiator Challenge event in Lincoln, California, making his first cage appearance since a one-minute TKO loss to Dave Herman in 2009. This one lasted a little longer, but ended the same way, with Don eating punches until he fell over. Poor Don.
Frye was originally supposed to face Mike Gonzales, but ended up throwing leather with journeyman Ruben “Warpath” Villareal; Frye and Warpath had previously fought to a draw at a King of the Cage event back in 2006. Villareal didn’t leave it to the judges this time, KO’ing Frye about two-and-a-half minutes into the fight. The win snapped a five-fight losing streak for Warpath, and earned him the Gladiator Challenge light-heavyweight title.
On Sunday, 46-year-old MMA old-schooler Don Frye competed at a Gladiator Challenge event in Lincoln, California, making his first cage appearance since a one-minute TKO loss to Dave Herman in 2009. This one lasted a little longer, but ended the same way, with Don eating punches until he fell over. Poor Don.
Frye was originally supposed to face Mike Gonzales, but ended up throwing leather with journeyman Ruben “Warpath” Villareal; Frye and Warpath had previously fought to a draw at a King of the Cage event back in 2006. Villareal didn’t leave it to the judges this time, KO’ing Frye about two-and-a-half minutes into the fight. The win snapped a five-fight losing streak for Warpath, and earned him the Gladiator Challenge light-heavyweight title.
(Props: oneness2004. Fight begins at the 2:40 mark.)
On Friday night, undefeated MMA fighter and CagePotato film criticNick Newell increased his pro record to 6-0, picking up yet another first-round stoppage at XFC 15 in Tampa, Florida. Nick was the aggressor early, slugging opponent Denis Hernandez to the fence and taking him down with relative ease. From there, he softened up Hernandez with ground-and-pound before dropping back into a heel-hook. It’s as surprising as it is painful, and Hernandez is forced to tap. Newell’s attempt at an off-the-cage victory somersault is somewhat less successful, but overall, it’s a great showing from our homeboy. Congrats, Nick.
After the jump: Full results from XFC 15, plus another sick submission from the Ryan Thomas vs. John Kolosci bout.
(Props: oneness2004. Fight begins at the 2:40 mark.)
On Friday night, undefeated MMA fighter and CagePotato film criticNick Newell increased his pro record to 6-0, picking up yet another first-round stoppage at XFC 15 in Tampa, Florida. Nick was the aggressor early, slugging opponent Denis Hernandez to the fence and taking him down with relative ease. From there, he softened up Hernandez with ground-and-pound before dropping back into a heel-hook. It’s as surprising as it is painful, and Hernandez is forced to tap. Newell’s attempt at an off-the-cage victory somersault is somewhat less successful, but overall, it’s a great showing from our homeboy. Congrats, Nick.
After the jump: Full results from XFC 15, plus another sick submission from the Ryan Thomas vs. John Kolosci bout.
– Eric Reynolds def. Jonatas Novaes via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Carla Esparza def. Felice Herrig via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Nick Newell def. Denis Hernandez via submission (heel hook), 1:11 of round 1
– Corey Hill def. Charlie Rader via submission (brabo choke), 3:58 of round 1
– Brandon Sayles def. Imani Lee via verbal submission (punches), 3:09 of round 1
– Ryan Thomas def. John Kolosci via submission (reverse triangle choke), 4:46 of round 1
– Marlon Moraes def. Chris Manuel via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Socrates Pierre def. Phil Daru via unanimous decision
– Anthony Christodoulou def. Bruce Lutchmedial via TKO, 3:59 of round 3
(Brandao vs. Casteel @ Evolution 1, 10/30/10. Fight begins at the 1:58 mark and ends 40 seconds later. The ref is kind of a dick afterwards. Props: landsharkian)
As Johnny Bedford observed on Wednesday, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is not unbeatable; in fact, he entered the reality show with a journeyman’s record of 13-7. But when he’s on his game, he’s as dangerous a fighter as you’ll ever see. Here’s a video from Brandao’s pre-UFC career, in which he starches Michael Casteel with a counter right hook within the first minute of their fight. It’s that kind of power that could give Dennis Bermudez serious headaches when they meet up at the finale show tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Was Michael Bisping right to predict future UFC stardom for the Madman from Manaus?
(Brandao vs. Casteel @ Evolution 1, 10/30/10. Fight begins at the 1:58 mark and ends 40 seconds later. The ref is kind of a dick afterwards. Props: landsharkian)
As Johnny Bedford observed on Wednesday, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is not unbeatable; in fact, he entered the reality show with a journeyman’s record of 13-7. But when he’s on his game, he’s as dangerous a fighter as you’ll ever see. Here’s a video from Brandao’s pre-UFC career, in which he starches Michael Casteel with a counter right hook within the first minute of their fight. It’s that kind of power that could give Dennis Bermudez serious headaches when they meet up at the finale show tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Was Michael Bisping right to predict future UFC stardom for the Madman from Manaus?
After a year in the pokey, War Machine finally returned to competition Saturday night at Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1 in Pharr, Texas, where he faced off against former UFC lightweight darling Roger Huerta in the event’s welterweight headliner. And even though prison ring-rust has to be the worst kind of ring-rust — nutraloaf and sandwich masturbation don’t exactly make for an ideal fighter lifestyle — Mr. Machine handled himself admirably, out-hustling Huerta in a gritty back-and-forth scrap.
Unfortunately, Huerta broke his rib during a scramble in round three, seemingly when War sneaks in that knee at the video’s 15:10 mark. War Machine took advantage of Huerta’s weakened state and laid on punches from the top until the match was stopped. And so, War Machine writes the first chapter of his unlikely comeback story, while Huerta picks up the fifth loss in his last six attempts.
After a year in the pokey, War Machine finally returned to competition Saturday night at Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1 in Pharr, Texas, where he faced off against former UFC lightweight darling Roger Huerta in the event’s welterweight headliner. And even though prison ring-rust has to be the worst kind of ring-rust — nutraloaf and sandwich masturbation don’t exactly make for an ideal fighter lifestyle — Mr. Machine handled himself admirably, out-hustling Huerta in a gritty back-and-forth scrap.
Unfortunately, Huerta broke his rib during a scramble in round three, seemingly when War sneaks in that knee at the video’s 15:10 mark. War Machine took advantage of Huerta’s weakened state and laid on punches from the top until the match was stopped. And so, War Machine writes the first chapter of his unlikely comeback story, while Huerta picks up the fifth loss in his last six attempts.
Special props to the always colorful Phil Baroni, who was particularly qualified for his commentary gig considering he’s trained with War Machine at Xtreme Couture, and used to drink snake-blood in Thailand with Huerta. But he’s an even better TV director. (“There’s a ring card girl with a nice ass; put it on her, not on me, dude…The camera guy’s telling me to look at him! Shut up camera-guy before I knock you out!”)
Lord knows the broadcast needed the help. You know you’re watching a second-rate MMA production when they show fans in the crowd while the fight is happening. Check out the portly cowboy at the 2:59 mark. Even he’s like, “bro, of all the people to film right now.”
(Fight starts at the 2:38 mark.And is that Fedor’s new lady at the 29:22 mark? Alright, buddy. Upgrade. / Props: valetudorus via MMAMania)
It’s been a tough couple of years for heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. First, a brilliant MMA strategist named Damian Demento went public with a groundbreaking strategy on how to defeat him, which involved putting the boots to Fedor’s belly and intentionally mispronouncing his name. Then, his next three opponents beat him by stoppage. Coincidence? I don’t know. You tell me.
What’s important is that Fedor finally got back in the win column on Sunday, winning a unanimous decision over American grappler Jeff Monson at M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson, in front of a crowd of over 20,000 at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium that included Vladimir Putin. The full fight video is above, which shows Fedor in more controlled, measured form than his recent appearances, choosing to stay on the outside and score with leg kicks and long punches for the majority of the fight.
Monson, unfortunately, had nothing for him. In fact, the only times the Snowman was able to get the fight to the ground is when he fell over after getting punched in the face.
(Fight starts at the 2:38 mark.And is that Fedor’s new lady at the 29:22 mark? Alright, buddy. Upgrade. / Props: valetudorus via MMAMania)
It’s been a tough couple of years for heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. First, a brilliant MMA strategist named Damian Demento went public with a groundbreaking strategy on how to defeat him, which involved putting the boots to Fedor’s belly and intentionally mispronouncing his name. Then, his next three opponents beat him by stoppage. Coincidence? I don’t know. You tell me.
What’s important is that Fedor finally got back in the win column on Sunday, winning a unanimous decision over American grappler Jeff Monson at M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson, in front of a crowd of over 20,000 at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium that included Vladimir Putin. The full fight video is above, which shows Fedor in more controlled, measured form than his recent appearances, choosing to stay on the outside and score with leg kicks and long punches for the majority of the fight.
Monson, unfortunately, had nothing for him. In fact, the only times the Snowman was able to get the fight to the ground is when he fell over after getting punched in the face.
So, is Fedor “back”? Since we don’t know if he’ll ever face top-ten competition again, it’ll be hard to answer that question. He’ll reportedly return at DREAM’s New Year’s Eve show against Japanese judoka Satoshi Ishii (4-1-1), who most recently fought to a draw against Paulo Filho at Amazon Forest Combat. Full results from M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson are below.
– Fedor Emelianenko def. Jeff Monson via unanimous decision
– Daniel Weichel def. Jose Figueroa via KO, round 1 (becomes new M-1 lightweight champion)
– Alexander Yakovlev def. Juan Manuel Suarez via TKO, round 2
– Yuri Ivlev def. Jerome Bouisson via TKO, round 1
– Mairbek Taisumov def. Joshua Thorpe via KO, round 2
– Mikhail Malyutin def. Seydina Seck via KO, round 1
– Albert Duraev def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via submission (triangle choke), round 2
– Salim Davidov def. Sergey Kornev via unanimous decision