Filed under: NewsComing off a quarterfinal exit in Bellator’s most recent welterweight tournament, “Judo” Jim Wallhead will return to the U.K. circuit as a replacement to face Frank Trigg at BAMMA 7 on Sept. 10 in Birmingham.
Coming off a quarterfinal exit in Bellator‘s most recent welterweight tournament, “Judo” Jim Wallhead will return to the U.K. circuit as a replacement to face Frank Trigg at BAMMA 7 on Sept. 10 in Birmingham.
Tom Watson, who had been scheduled to face Trigg, was forced to withdraw due to a back injury.
Wallhead (21-6), who trains out of Team Rough House with the likes of Dan Hardy, Paul Daley and Ross Pearson, won his Bellator debut in October, but earlier this year had an eight-fight win streak snapped by tournament runner-up Rick Hawn. Prior to Bellator, the judo black belt was a reserve on The Ultimate Fighter 9, but never received the call up.
Trigg (21-8) made his BAMMA debut in May, stopping John Phillips in the first round. Trigg, 39, has won back-to-back fights since his release from the UFC last year.
Also on the BAMMA 7 card are: Leonardo Santos vs. Rob Sinclair, Efrain Escudero vs. Tim Radcliffe and Matt Ewin vs. Valentino Petrescu.
A good nickname in MMA is never a bad thing to go along with solid, committed training, and a few quality wins on a resume. So what does a bad nickname do? In all likelihood, probably next to nothing, but it is pretty amusing how terrible s…
A good nickname in MMA is never a bad thing to go along with solid, committed training, and a few quality wins on a resume.
So what does a bad nickname do? In all likelihood, probably next to nothing, but it is pretty amusing how terrible some nicknames can get.
That’s what this slideshow is about: nicknames that should have no place in the world of mixed martial arts.
I did my best to stick with known fighters that have at least been in one major American MMA promotion; of course there are a number of worse aliases out there in more obscure fight leagues.
The second of my British MMA double bill sees us going back to Wembley Arena in London this past Saturday as Murilo “Ninja” Rua challenged Tom “Kong” Watson for the Middleweight title at BAMMA 6, shown live on Syfy here in Brita…
The second of my British MMA double bill sees us going back to Wembley Arena in London this past Saturday as Murilo “Ninja” Rua challenged Tom “Kong” Watson for the Middleweight title at BAMMA 6, shown live on Syfy here in Britain.
The broadcast began with action from the middleweight division as Matt Ewin faced Ivan Salaverry.
Salaverry took this fight at two week’s notice after a three-year absence from the fight game, and he certainly looked like a man who’d been out of it for a few years.
Ewin, who is one year old than Salaverry at 41, was in great form as he stalked his man around the cage, connecting with a series of crisp blows.
Ewin fought the perfect fight, taking his time as Salaverry looked to get rid of the rust.
The only real ground action came in the third, when Ewin took Salaverry down. They didn’t stay there for long, however, and although Salaverry upped his game a little towards the end of the fight, it wasn’t enough as all three judges scored in favour of Ewin.
The middleweight action continued as John Phillips took on Frank Trigg.
Trigg was looking to make a big statement after being cut by the UFC last year, and make that statement he did, scoring with the early take down and going for the ground and pound immediately.
It was a brutal performance from Trigg, as he quickly opened up three deep cuts on Phillips’ head. The red stuff was soon flowing into Phillips’ eyes, so the referee stepped in, checked with the doctor and called the fight off, giving Trigg the TKO win.
The main event saw Murilo Rua challenging Tom Watson for the Middleweight title.
This proved to be a tremendous fight. As soon as the action began, Watson went to work, rolling off a series of combinations and devastating kicks to Rua’s lead leg.
It was brutal watching Kong going to work like this. Rua scored with only one take down but didn’t have much time to go to work.
The end came in the third round. Rua’s left knee and face were swelling up badly, and as a flurry sent Rua crashing to the mat, his corner threw in the towel as the referee stopped the fight. Both referees came to the same conclusion at the same time, giving Watson the tremendous TKO win.
Filler material rounded out the show, as Che Mills faced Marcio Cesar in the welterweight division.
This one featured some nice grappling from both men, first from Mills and then from Cesar.
The Brazilian looked the stronger when on the ground, but when Mills re-established control, a sustained period of ground and pound saw the referee stepping in to give Mills the TKO win.
In conclusion, this was another strong and very enjoyable show from the BAMMA crew, with four very good fights, topped off nicely by the excellent main event.
Tom Watson’s demolition job was certainly the highlight of the night and must certainly put the Kong man up with the likes of Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy as Britain’s top MMA fighters.
So in all, BAMMA 6 gets the big thumbs up from me.
If you’re here to read about Murilo Rua running through Tom Watson to claim the Bamma Middleweight strap, have a seat, we need to talk. “Ninja” looked content to stand and bang with Watson early on, but he was clearly getting the worst of the exchanges. By round two, the damage from Watson’s leg kick assault showed in every step Rua took. From there the hobbled fighter served as target practice for “Kong”, whose time at Tristar and Greg Jackson’s has clearly paid off. To his credit Ninja never stopped fighting, at least not until that head kick from Watson put him out on his feet. Following the third round TKO loss, Rua took to twitter to thank his family and friends for their support and to announce his retirement from MMA.
Video of the Trigg-Phillips fight, and full results, after the jump.
(Tom Watson vs. Murilo Rua)
If you’re here to read about Murilo Rua running through Tom Watson to claim the Bamma Middleweight strap, have a seat, we need to talk. “Ninja” looked content to stand and bang with Watson early on, but he was clearly getting the worst of the exchanges. By round two, the damage from Watson’s leg kick assault showed in every step Rua took. From there the hobbled fighter served as target practice for “Kong”, whose time at Tristar and Greg Jackson’s has clearly paid off. To his credit Ninja never stopped fighting, at least not until that head kick from Watson put him out on his feet. Following the third round TKO loss, Rua took to twitter to thank his family and friends for their support and to announce his retirement from MMA.
(Frank Trigg vs. John Phillips)
Trigg wasted little time in getting “The White Mike Tyson” to the mat, securing a takedown just thirty seconds into their bout. From half guard, Trigg landed a big elbow and opened up a deep gash over Phillips’s left eye. Blood poured directly into Phillips’s eye and was clearly causing him trouble, but the ground and pound continued until the 2:20 mark, when the referee halted the action to have the cut checked out and cageside physicians called an end to the fight.
Filed under: Fighting, NewsTom “Kong” Watson retained his BAMMA middleweight title Saturday night by defeating Murilo “Ninja” Rua via third-round TKO at BAMMA 6. “Kong” used a wide array of kicks to finish the former EliteXC middleweight champion.
Tom “Kong” Watson retained his BAMMA middleweight title Saturday night by defeating Murilo “Ninja” Rua via third-round TKO at BAMMA 6. “Kong” used a wide array of kicks to finish the former EliteXC middleweight champion.
Following the loss, “Ninja,” the older brother of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, announced his retirement from MMA on his Twitter account.
“I would like to announce officially my retirement from pro MMA fights,” Rua wrote. “It was an amazing run, and [it’s] a very tough moment, but there comes a time for all in life, and it’s time to move on. I am proud of all I did in MMA and all experiences I had. I will continue to work with MMA, doing seminars, [teaching] classes, training fighters, and doing my share to help our sport that I love so much. It’s time now to help others and enjoy my family, my wife, my kids and move [on].”
The 31-year-old Rua leaves MMA with a 20-12-1 record. He began his career in May 2000, and along the way, fought for PRIDE, DREAM, EliteXC and Cage Rage.
The win improved Watson’s record to 14-4 overall at 10-1 in his last 11 fights.
In other BAMMA 6 action, Frank Trigg defeated John Phillips via first-round TKO and Matt Ewin beat Ivan Salaverry via unanimous decision.
Full results from the event, which was held at Wembley Arena in London, England, are below, courtesy of MMA Mania:
Tom Watson def. Murilo Rua via knockout in round three
Frank Trigg def. John Phillips via TKO (doctor stoppage for cuts) in round 1
Matt Ewin def. Ivan Salaverry via unanimous decision
Leonardo Santos def. Jason Ball via unanimous decision
Che Mills def. Marcio Cesar via KO in round 1
Scott Jansen def. Craig Chesters via TKO in round 2
Catalin Zmarandescu def. Sharif Mohammed Ali via submission in round 1
Valentino Petrescu def. Joao Paulo de Souza via majority decision
Shane Omer def. Aaron Wilkinson via TKO
Sam Watling def. Leigh Cohoon via unanimous decision
Costas Doru and Jeremy Petley fought to a draw
Lee Taylor def. Kenny Moyston via TKO
Ryan White def. Fraser Opie via submission
Murray Fullerton def. Charles Scott via submission
Filed under: Fighting, NewsTom “Kong” Watson retained his BAMMA middleweight title Saturday night by defeating Murilo “Ninja” Rua via third-round TKO at BAMMA 6. “Kong” used a wide array of kicks to finish the former EliteXC middleweight champion.
Tom “Kong” Watson retained his BAMMA middleweight title Saturday night by defeating Murilo “Ninja” Rua via third-round TKO at BAMMA 6. “Kong” used a wide array of kicks to finish the former EliteXC middleweight champion.
Following the loss, “Ninja,” the older brother of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, announced his retirement from MMA on his Twitter account.
“I would like to announce officially my retirement from pro MMA fights,” Rua wrote. “It was an amazing run, and [it’s] a very tough moment, but there comes a time for all in life, and it’s time to move on. I am proud of all I did in MMA and all experiences I had. I will continue to work with MMA, doing seminars, [teaching] classes, training fighters, and doing my share to help our sport that I love so much. It’s time now to help others and enjoy my family, my wife, my kids and move [on].”
The 31-year-old Rua leaves MMA with a 20-12-1 record. He began his career in May 2000, and along the way, fought for PRIDE, DREAM, EliteXC and Cage Rage.
The win improved Watson’s record to 14-4 overall at 10-1 in his last 11 fights.
In other BAMMA 6 action, Frank Trigg defeated John Phillips via first-round TKO and Matt Ewin beat Ivan Salaverry via unanimous decision.
Full results from the event, which was held at Wembley Arena in London, England, are below, courtesy of MMA Mania:
Tom Watson def. Murilo Rua via knockout in round three
Frank Trigg def. John Phillips via TKO (doctor stoppage for cuts) in round 1
Matt Ewin def. Ivan Salaverry via unanimous decision
Leonardo Santos def. Jason Ball via unanimous decision
Che Mills def. Marcio Cesar via KO in round 1
Scott Jansen def. Craig Chesters via TKO in round 2
Catalin Zmarandescu def. Sharif Mohammed Ali via submission in round 1
Valentino Petrescu def. Joao Paulo de Souza via majority decision
Shane Omer def. Aaron Wilkinson via TKO
Sam Watling def. Leigh Cohoon via unanimous decision
Costas Doru and Jeremy Petley fought to a draw
Lee Taylor def. Kenny Moyston via TKO
Ryan White def. Fraser Opie via submission
Murray Fullerton def. Charles Scott via submission
Tom “Kong” Watson