Tag: Game Recap

Matt Mitrione Beats Fedor Emelianenko in Round 1 at Bellator 180

Matt Mitrione capitalized on the opportunity of a lifetime at Bellator 180 on Saturday, defeating Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko in the evening’s main event from Madison Square Garden in New York via first-round TKO.
Bleacher Report MMA passed al…

Matt Mitrione capitalized on the opportunity of a lifetime at Bellator 180 on Saturday, defeating Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko in the evening’s main event from Madison Square Garden in New York via first-round TKO.

Bleacher Report MMA passed along the official time of the knockout:

It was as shocking as knockouts in MMA get as the two wasted no time in getting after one another. Both fighters stepped in to massive overhands that resembled high-powered rams butting heads with one another. 

Both men went to the mat, but Mitrione was able to recover and swarm Emelianenko for the finish. 

After Fedor‘s lengthy career, it was a bittersweet experience to watch him go out in a fight so early. Josh Gross of The Guardian urged the Russian to retire after this loss:

The heavyweight division is about as unpredictable as any. Ben Fowlkes of MMAjunkie noted that if there’s a division that could give us a double knockout, the big men of MMA are the ones to do it:

This is by far the biggest win of Mitrione‘s career. The 38-year-old was a perennial mid-tier heavyweight for the UFC but is now 3-0 since making the transition to Bellator. A win over Emelianenko is a considerable achievement considering that his most high-profile win before that was a TKO win over Kimbo Slice.

With Emelianenko‘s reputation for once being the most fearsome heavyweight of all time came a certain level of preparation for Mitrione. A preparation that apparently paid off. 

“I prepped for the early 2000 Fedor, and that’s really what we expect,” Mitrione said leading up to the fight, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. “It may not be that way, and it will be a shame if it’s not. I’m as good as I’ve ever been, and if he comes out and is not that way, it will be a shame. It will be a letdown.”

Regardless of how Emelianenko performed, beating one of the all-time greats has to be the biggest achievement for the heavyweight. 

For Emelianenko, it would stand to reason this could be his last ride. The stoic Russian is one of the most dominant fighters of all time. He hinted that the result of this fight would go a long way in deciding his future. 

“I have a strong wish to continue fighting,” Emelianenko said, per Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie. “But we’ll be making decisions based on my feelings and health after the fight.”

The 40-year-old is already the most accomplished heavyweight in the history of MMA. His career was marked by a 27-fight win streak that spanned from 2001-2009 and a heavyweight title reign in Pride that went from 2003 until the end of the organization in 2007.

That win streak was eventually snapped in San Jose when Fabricio Werdum beat him by submission as part of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix.  

Emelianenko already walked away from the sport once. He had a three-year retirement from 2012 to 2015 but has now fought three times since then. Regardless of his decision, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be walking away from Bellator. 

“I would like to end my career with Bellator. I would like to work in accordance with my contract,” he said on The MMA Hour (via MMA Weekly). “Relations with people is of great importance with me. I value highly the relations with myself and Scott. So I do want to end my career with Bellator.”

Given the fall from greatest of all time to losing to Mitrione, now might be the time for the Russian to walk away from the sport to be remembered as the legend that he is. 

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UFC Fight Night 110 Results: Winners, Scorecards for Lewis vs. Hunt Card

Mark Hunt scored an impressive technical knockout of Derrick Lewis, who hinted toward potential retirement, Sunday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.
Derek Brunson, Dan Hooker and Ion Cutelaba, who all ear…

Mark Hunt scored an impressive technical knockout of Derrick Lewis, who hinted toward potential retirement, Sunday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.

Derek Brunson, Dan Hooker and Ion Cutelaba, who all earned knockout victories, were the event’s other big winners. Ben Nguyen and Alexander Volkanovski also picked up wins on the main card, which only saw one fight go the distance.

Let’s check out the complete set of results from New Zealand. That’s followed by a closer look at the much-needed triumph by Hunt.

                                 

UFC Fight Night 110 Card Results

Main Card

Mark Hunt d. Derrick Lewis by fourth-round TKO

Derek Brunson d. Dan Kelly by first-round KO

Dan Hooker d. Ross Pearson by second-round KO

Ion Cutelaba d. Henrique da Silva by first-round KO

Ben Nguyen d. Tim Elliott by first-round submission

Alexander Volkanovski d. Mizuto Hirota by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Vinc Pichel d. Damien Brown by first-round KO

Luke Jumeau d. Dominique Steele by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

John Moraga d. Ashkan Mokhtarian by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)

Zak Ottow d. Kiichi Kunimoto by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

JJ Aldrich d. Chan-Mi Jeon by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

                               

Main Event Recap

Hunt faced a lot of pressure heading into Sunday’s bout. Not only was he coming off a loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 209, his third defeat in his past six trips to the Octagon, but he received the opportunity to fight professionally in front of his hometown fans in Auckland for the first time.

It never turned into the hard-hitting, quick-ending battle most expected. Instead, the 43-year-old veteran known as the Super Samoan controlled a vast majority of the action against Lewis, who struggled to keep pace physically in the heavyweight clash.

Finally, after a sustained stretch of one-way offense by Hunt in the fourth round, the referee stepped into to prevent the New Orleans native from suffering any unnecessary injuries as his offensive forays had become few and far between in the latter stages.

FOX Sports UFC‏ highlighted the fight’s final moments:

Former UFC star Kenny Florian provided his take on the bout:

Although the highly anticipated collision didn’t live up to expectations, it was still named Fight of the Night to earn both fighters an additional $50,000, per MMA Fighting.

Afterward, Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie passed along comments from Hunt about the emphatic triumph and what he’s got planned for the future.

“It’s a pretty good feeling,” he said. “I know Derrick Lewis is from the ‘hood, but this is my ‘hood. I run this town.”

Hunt added: “Anybody above me is good. I stepped down for Derrick because he was No. 6, but anyone above me, I’ll take. I’ve only got a few more fights left, so for me, if it ended here tonight, so be it. I’ve had a good run. I’ve had a lot of fun, traveled the world. But it looks like it’s still continuing.”

Meanwhile, Lewis admitted he could be done with MMA as he gets prepared to take a major step in his personal life following the loss, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

“I’m getting married next week and I don’t want to keep putting my family through this,” Lewis said. “… Most likely, this will be my last fight in the UFC.”

If he does walk away from the Octagon for good, he’ll finish his career with a 18-5 record, including 16 knockout wins and one no-contest. Sunday’s loss ended a six-fight winning streak.

Hunt improved to 13-11-1 with one no-contest thanks to the win, which was his 10th knockout victory.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see whether Hunt is given a chance to slow the momentum of Francis Ngannou. The Predator is coming off three straight first-round wins, two by knockout and one by submission, to move himself toward the heavyweight title conversation.

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UFC Auckland Results: Mark Hunt Possibly Retires Derrick Lewis with TKO Win

Mark Hunt didn’t add to his impressive highlight reel at UFC Fight Night 110, but he scored one of the most joyous wins of his career. Facing Derrick Lewis in his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, the Super Samoan got back in the win column with a fou…

Mark Hunt didn’t add to his impressive highlight reel at UFC Fight Night 110, but he scored one of the most joyous wins of his career. Facing Derrick Lewis in his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, the Super Samoan got back in the win column with a fourth-round TKO.

While many were expecting the fight to be a short one, Hunt set a deliberate pace early. Whether it was out of respect for Lewis’ pure power or a symptom of his huge height and reach disadvantages, Hunt spent much of the fight stalking Lewis along the perimeter of the cage and stopping any attempts to advance to more favorable territory. Both men found homes for their heavy hands at times, with Lewis landing his devastating uppercuts and Hunt working his counters and lunging crosses, but Hunt’s effective pressure likely put him ahead on the scorecards in each round.

Though Hunt is known for his atomic bomb of a left hand, the finish came from an accumulation of damage rather than his signature deathstroke.

Despite some success with his hands, the Super Samoan’s biggest victories came via his leg kicks. After testing a couple in the first and second rounds, he began actively working Lewis’ left thigh in the third. By the fourth, Lewis was unable to plant his left leg.

Hunt was wise to this and kept the pressure on, mixing up the attack on his enfeebled foe. Eventually, the damage was just too much, and Lewis began ducking and covering to avoid further harm. That drew the referee to stop the match at 3:51 of the fourth round.

It was a critical win for Hunt, who’s now 13-11-1. Despite being one of the most beloved fighters in the UFC, the Kiwi was coming off back-to-back losses at the hands of Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem (though the former has since been overturned to a no contest). A third loss in a row could have been devastating to his career and likely would have killed his hope of a Cinderella title run.

In the shallow heavyweight division, this victory put him right back in line for a title shot, which could be just a couple of fights away.

But while Hunt’s future is bright, Lewis’ is completely uncertain. Following the decision, Lewis took to the microphone to possibly announce his retirement:

It was a huge, and hugely sad, surprise. Despite the loss, the Black Beast was cemented into the division’s top 10, courtesy of a six-fight winning streak that started in October 2015 and didn’t end until Saturday. What’s more, at 32 years old in an aging division, he had a long, bright future ahead of him.

Granted, Lewis would be far from the first fighter to renege on a retirement announcement. If he does walk away, however, the heavyweight division will be lesser without him.

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UFC 212 Results: Max Holloway Defeats Jose Aldo via TKO in Main Event

Max Holloway won the undisputed featherweight championship with a third-round TKO victory over Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.
Both Aldo and Holloway entered the matchup with legitimate claim to the title of …

Max Holloway won the undisputed featherweight championship with a third-round TKO victory over Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.

Both Aldo and Holloway entered the matchup with legitimate claim to the title of best 145-pound fighter in the world. Aldo is one of the greatest mixed martial artists already at the age of 30, with a 26-2 career prior to the bout, while Holloway came into the fight riding a 10-fight winning streak over the last three years.

In the end, Holloway was able to prevail and leave no doubt about the best fighter in the division.

   

UFC 212 Results

Featherweight Championship: Max Holloway def. Jose Aldo via TKO (third round)

Women’s Strawweight: Claudia Gadelha def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via submission (first round)

Middleweight: Vitor Belfort def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Middleweight: Paulo Borrachinha def. Oluwale Bamgbose via TKO (second round)

Welterweight: Yancy Medeiros def. Erick Silva via TKO (second round)

Bantamweight: Raphael Assuncao def. Marlon Moraes via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

Middleweight: Antonio Carlos Junior def. Eric Spicely via submission (second round)

Bantamweight: Matthew Lopez def. Johnny Eduardo via TKO (first round)

Bantamweight: Brian Kelleher def. Iuri Alcantara via submission (first round)

Women’s Strawweight: Viviane Pereira def. Jamie Moyle via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Welterweight: Luan Chagas def. Jim Wallhead via submission (second round)

Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo def. Marco Beltran via TKO (second round)

   

Holloway’s win capped off his rise to stardom. The 25-year-old’s last loss was against Conor McGregor in 2013. McGregor’s career exploded after knocking out Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015.

This was Holloway’s biggest fight in UFC, and he made it count in grand fashion with a third-round stoppage.

After Holloway disposed of Aldo, social media expressed its respect for the Hawaii native:

Prior to the main event, the biggest story of the show was Vitor Belfort and Nate Marquardt fighting all 15 minutes.

Belfort in particular is not known for having long, drawn-out battles. Saturday marked his first match that went past the second round since his 2012 light-heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones and his first fight decided by the judges since Cage Rage 23 in 2007.

The judges awarded Belfort a unanimous-decision win, with all three scoring the fight 29-28 for the 40-year-old.

Following the win, Belfort didn’t sound like he was going to hang up his gloves anytime soon, per MMA Fighting:

This was Belfort’s first win since November 2015 against Dan Henderson. Retired UFC fighter Patrick Cote thinks this would be the perfect way for Belfort to end his long and storied career:

Whatever Belfort decides to do, getting a hard-fought and emotional win over Marquardt in his native Brazil was exactly what he needed after a difficult two-year stretch in the sport.

Holloway made himself a star on this night, but the entire card made this a highlight of the year for UFC. There were 12 total fights, with nine endings via stoppage.

It was a thrilling showcase for the Brazilian fans, even though their hometown hero was unable to capture the undisputed featherweight title in the main event.

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UFC 212 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Aldo vs. Holloway Fight Card

UFC 212 went down Saturday from one of the world’s true capitals of combat sports: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In a lot of minds, the evening’s main event lost some luster before it was ever booked. Jose Aldo, widely considered the greatest featherweight o…

UFC 212 went down Saturday from one of the world’s true capitals of combat sports: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In a lot of minds, the evening’s main event lost some luster before it was ever booked. Jose Aldo, widely considered the greatest featherweight of all time, lost his UFC title and more than a little of mystique back on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194. Before that night, he had only one pro loss on his record, and that was back in 2005. But Conor McGregor only needed 13 seconds to hand him his second defeat by way of a stunning knockout.

Aldo’s career has been mercurial, but it’s been marked far more deeply by greatness. Before his loss to McGregor, no other fighter had ever even held the UFC featherweight belt.

Saturday he faced one of the best featherweights of this or any other era in Hawaiian Max Holloway. All he’s done is win 10 in a row over the division’s best fighters. Still only 25 years old, Holloway improves with every contest despite already being considered a legitimately great fighter.

Aldo has the lineal championship again after UFC brass stripped McGregor (long story). Holloway has the interim title after he defeated Anthony Pettis. UFC belts don’t mean as much as they used to because of all the various interim shenanigans and what have you, but the chance to unify the straps is enticing. We’ll have that after the UFC 212 main event.

In the co-main event, strawweight contenders Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz battled it out in an exciting women’s bout.

And there were 10 other bouts besides. As usual, the final stat lines don’t reveal everything. Read on for the real winners and losers from UFC 212.

 

Begin Slideshow

Gadelha vs. Kowalkiewicz Results: Winner and Reaction from UFC 212

Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz entered as the top two contenders in the strawweight division, and their three combined losses all came at the hands of its champion—Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
3:03 would all it take for Gadelha to put a second …

Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz entered as the top two contenders in the strawweight division, and their three combined losses all came at the hands of its champion—Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

3:03 would all it take for Gadelha to put a second loss on Kowalkiewicz’s career.

Kowalkiewicz and Gadelha had early exchanges, and Kowalkiewicz’s length allowed her to score more early. Gadelha had to get Kowalkiewicz’s respect, and she did that with elbows from the clinch. Gadelha was able to get the double-underhooks and put Kowalkiewicz on her back.

Gadelha got to the back and sunk in a rear-naked choke for the easy win.

Kowalkiewicz was in tears after tapping, and Gadelha came over to console her opponent. The two embraced as they enter new paths in the strawweight division.

Gadelha had changed camps and moved to the United States to continually improve as she marches back toward a title shot. Saturday’s performance in her home of Rio de Janeiro showed those improvements. Gadelha walked through a true top contender as if she were an unranked foe.

The win for Gadelha should almost assure that Rose Namajunas is next in line for a title shot. Gadelha, having suffered two losses to Jedrzejczyk, will still need another fight or two before she gets her call. In the post-fight interview, Gadelha made no callout, saying only that she plans on moving full-time to Albuquerque, buying a new car and a fancy dog. Fair enough.

Kowalkiewicz will have to go back into the pack as she falls off the pace for her title chance. Meeting Viviane Pereira, who won on the UFC 212 undercard, would be an appropriate fight.

Gadelha will no doubt fight another contender. Of those top contenders, only Tecia Torres is coming off a win. That makes her the logical choice.

Gadelha’s move to Albuquerque paid off in a massive way with one of her most impressive performances to date. No matter who the UFC chooses for both women in their next outings, we can expect both to be perennial contenders for the foreseeable future.

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