It was a rough start, but former WWE star Dave Bautista weathered the early storm and came out on top in his mixed martial arts debut Saturday night.Headlining CES MMA’s “Real Pain” event in Providence, R.I., Bautista somehow survived the heavy hands o…
It was a rough start, but former WWE star Dave Bautista weathered the early storm and came out on top in his mixed martial arts debut Saturday night.
Headlining CESMMA‘s “Real Pain” event in Providence, R.I., Bautista somehow survived the heavy hands of late replacement Vince Lucero before finishing the veteran of more than 40 fights via technical knockout late in the first round.
A number of UFC veterans also came out of last night’s show victorious, as John “Doomsday” Howard and former middleweight top contender David “The Crow” Loiseau both finished their opponents with devastating, early TKO stoppages.
After the fights, Bautista, Lucero and more gave their thoughts on how the main event went, fighting for a good cause as well as the former WWE champ’s future within the sport of MMA.
Bautista‘s own mother even weighed in with her thoughts on her son’s performance and how far he has come over the years.
Yours truly was there to cover all the exciting action, so check out an exclusive highlight and recap video from the CES MMA post-fight press conference in the video embedded above.
233,580. That was the number released by Invicta Fighting Championships for how many unique views they had for their inaugural show in April.The all-women promotion had their second show take place in July with high expectations, with word that show ha…
233,580. That was the number released by Invicta Fighting Championships for how many unique views they had for their inaugural show in April.
The all-women promotion had their second show take place in July with high expectations, with word that show had over 300,000 unique views.
Now with even higher expectations, their third show takes place tonight from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The card starts at 7 p.m. ET with the event’s six-bout preliminary card and continue with the eight-bout main card. You can watch the live stream of the card, which is free on InvictaFC.com.
People were wondering why Invicta didn’t release their numbers from the second show, and their President Shannon Knapp doesn’t understand what the big fuss was about in not releasing those numbers.
Knapp told Bleacher Report:
What I plan on is validation. What I don’t plan on is telling anyone how many (people watched Invicta 2). It seems that everybody is so focused on those numbers, which means nothing to everybody else. It takes away from the athletes and their performances. I believe on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after this Saturday, the only thing people should be talking about is, ‘Wow, what a show. Those were amazing fights.’
It’s insane that other people that have no dog in the fight are concerned more about the numbers than I am. Sadly, I did release the numbers from the first show and it absolutely 100 percent took away from the fights. When the focus should have been about the athletes and their performances, the promotion and the barriers we are breaking down everyday.
A lot of promotions have come and gone with a third show never happening. Promotions like Affliction and the return of Pro Elite have not done a third event. Expectations are high for Invicta, but Knapp says she doesn’t have any heading into tonight:
I always think the third show is the most significant show. One reason is there are a lot of promotions that haven’t made it to a third show. I think when you get to a third show, it’s that statement that you make and you’re saying, ‘yes we are and we are staying.’
I think this is the one that proves a lot of things. It proves that second show always proves that you’re not a one-hit wonder on the first show. The third one shows stability of what the first shows did. I don’t really have expectations. I just want to put out the most amazing product out there and platform for the female athletes. I’m going to promise you these women, when they step into the cage, they’re going to take care of the rest.
The main event of tonight’s show will crown Invicta’s first champion, as Jessica Penne will square off against Naho Sugiyama for atomweight title, which is contested at 105 pounds. Knapp feels that Invicta will have champions in every division by the end of 2013:
I believe that in early 2013, I look for us to do maybe two championship fights on the next card. The 125-pound title fight will be on the next card for sure. The next card will be taking place at the end of January or early February as we wait to see when other promotions get their dates locked in, as we always respectfully don’t want to schedule shows on the same day. I think we will have a champion in every division by the end of 2013.
When you talk about Invicta, people bring up how they air their shows for free on their website. Knapp feels a television deal can happen in 2013, but she’s not going to just take any deal and will do what is best for the promotion.
She continued:
I think it’s (a TV deal) going to happen in 2013. I want to get on the other side of the show. It’s always been our plan. It is exactly what we mapped out for the first year to be where we are at right at this moment. I have had offers. We’re not saying no to those offers. We just want to get the on the other side of this event before we really start the process to see what works out best for the promotion and the athletes.
For us, it is about getting the product out there, but it’s also about finding a good home for the athletes as well. We just want to take our time. It’s more important for us to have a good partner and a partnership that works for them and us. We aren’t greedy. We’re not those kind of people that impose our will on them. We just want it to be a partnership that works for both parties and makes a difference.
Jacob Volkmann is finally set to face off against fellow lightweight Shane Roller at UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot in front of a hometown crowd.Just over a month ago, Volkmann, Roller and many other UFC fighters were being told they’d have to live to f…
Jacob Volkmann is finally set to face off against fellow lightweight Shane Roller at UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot in front of a hometown crowd.
Just over a month ago, Volkmann, Roller and many other UFC fighters were being told they’d have to live to fight another day with the cancellation of UFC 151.
“It kind of sucked because I was ready to fight,” Volkmann told Bleacher Report.
Luckily for Volkmann, the UFC was able to reschedule his match with Roller just four weeks after the originally scheduled bout.
The cancellation of UFC 151 back in August lead to a lot of backlash against current light heavyweight Jon Jones by the fans, media and UFC president Dana White himself.
Despite challenger Dan Henderson being the one who had to pull out with injury, people felt that Jones should have taken the replacement fight offered to him by the UFC, which was none other than former middleweight challenger ChaelSonnen. Vokmann isn’t one to side with Jones on the topic either.
“I think he [Jones] should’ve taken the fight, there’s no reason he shouldn’t have” Volkmann said. “He had a whole training camp leading up to that fight and the guy [Dan Henderson] gets injured and then someone else comes along to fight him on short notice, there’s no reason he shouldn’t have fought. I consider ChaelSonnen the true champion at light heavyweight.”
Sonnen would probably be quick to agree with Volkmann as Mr. Sonnen called himself the true middleweight champion for quite sometime despite the first loss to Anderson Silva.
The cancellation of UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson lead many people to believe that the UFC was maybe putting on too many shows and spreading its roster thin.
“They’re not thin, I don’t know what people are thinking, there are so many fighters that are only getting two fights a year,” he said.
Volkmann is right, there are a lot of guys who are only fighting one to two times a year. The problem probably lies with the fact that the UFC hasn’t built up enough of its roster with the fans, so it ends up being the top guys who are spread too thin.
For Volkmann though, he is just happy to have a fight so soon after the cancellation, and despite having to put in four extra weeks of hard camp, he’s ready to go.
Volkmann is coming off his first loss in six fight since dropping to lightweight. He lost to English fighter Paul Sass via submission, something Sass was used to doing until last weekend where he lost by submission himself.
One would wonder why Volkmann—a solid wrestler—ended up on the ground with someone as crafty as Sass, and Volkmann himself hopes to avoid making mistakes like this going forward.
“I had a game plan and right as soon as I got into the fight the game plan kind of just fell apart. I played his game, I landed in his guard and fought up in there which is not what I wanted to do at the beginning. The main thing I learned is just to stay with the game plan,” Volkmann said. “I wanted to stay standing with [Sass], but we locked up and I was like fine I’ll take him to the ground.”
Roller has a collegiate wrestling background himself, and similarly to Sass he has quite a few submission victories to his name. Roller has had a bit of a rocky road in the UFC, and Volkmann hopes to exploit that tonight.
“I need to (get) on him and get him on the ground and wear him out,” Volkmann said. “As soon as I do that, he should break, he has been broken.”
We will see if Volkmann, as a former University of Minnesota alum, breaks Roller or not later tonight on Fuel TV. He’ll definitely have the crowd behind him for this fight.
Leon Horne enjoys all sports and has a particular interest in MMA; give him a follow on Twitter for more information and keep an eye out for interesting interviews and news,Follow @Leon_Horne
You would think that a fighter who has been around for 10 years with a record of 21-2, going undefeated for five and a half years, facing some of the best in the world, could be recognized as one of the best fighters in the world. Who is the fighter yo…
You would think that a fighter who has been around for 10 years with a record of 21-2, going undefeated for five and a half years, facing some of the best in the world, could be recognized as one of the best fighters in the world. Who is the fighter you might be asking?
The fighter is former Bodog world champion Tara Larosa. She returns to the cage this Saturday for Invicta Fighting Championships, as Larosa squares off against MMA veteran Vanessa Porto.
Larosa has been around the block in the last 10 years in various promotions and has seen the MMA landscape changed drastically for the better.
“My very first fight took place as an amateur,” Larosa told Bleacher Report. “The fight was only one round, but lasted 10 minutes. The weight classes were all over the place back then. It wasn’t uncommon for people to fight each other from different weight classes. Now we have specific weight classes, medical testing, rules and regulations and fighting in a cage.
“Back then, fighting in a cage was a novelty. The UFC had a cage. Here and there were a couple more promotions that started having cages, but most fights were in a ring. There are so many fighters, especially on the male side. The amount of talent that’s come out in recent years is unbelievable. For the women, we have seen a lot more emerge and have crossed over from other sports like judo with Ronda Rousey, wrestling with Sara McMahon, kickboxing and some from boxing. It’s insane.”
The hardship though in Women’s MMA is finding fights. Fights don’t happen due to fighters missing weight, not showing, finding out that their opponent is better than them. The list goes on and on. Larosa has had that problem, having gone as long as 14 months without fighting and recently went without fighting from March 11, 2011 until March 30 of this year.
“I had a lot of fights fall through between these two dates (March 2011-March 2012),” Larosa stated. “I had between six-eight fights fall through. Your in the gym training, trying to stay motivated and a promotion tells you, ‘I’m going to create a title for you and I’ll get you on the next show.'”
“Then the show falls through for some reason. You get really fed up with it. You get really unmotivated. It’s just one promotion after another making promises and getting lip service. Then it’s opponents getting injured, pulling out, declining fights or some other reasons.”
Larosa sometimes finds it hard to get that motivation, but has learned to channel the struggle and use her teammates at Salaverry MMA in Seattle.
“I used to do a lot of grappling tournaments, and that really kept me going in between fights,” Larosa stated. “I haven’t really done any of those in recent years. It’s tough to stay in the gym and stay motivated. You really try to get into your teammates, help them train for their fights and try to get excited for that.”
Invicta Fighting Championships made their debut in April and had their second show take place in July. Larosa has been campaigning to fight for Invicta since they came out, and now she gets her chance versus Porto on Saturday night. Larosa is glad she’s with Invicta, thinks she will get a lot of fights and feels this is the stage she needs to be talked about among the best fighters of today and all-time.
“They (Invicta) seem to be able to offer something more steady and able to bring in opponents from all over the world,” Larosa stated. “Whereas with the smaller shows I’ve been contracted with, they have a limited budget and can’t bring someone in from Japan, Europe or Brazil. Invicta is dedicated to bringing in women from all over the world. I need somebody to bring in high-level opponents. I saw Invicta opening up and seen what they have done, the people they are working with, I was like, ‘”oh my god I have to be there.'”
“This is the place for women. They came around at the perfect time. Before there had been a lot of women’s shows here in the United States, they never did real well because they didn’t come around at the right time or didn’t have the right people running them. With Invicta, they are coming around at just the right time when Women’s MMA is starting to get a lot of exposure.
There’s a buzz going on about Women’s MMA with Gina (Carano), Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey. Women’s MMA is getting a lot of attention. With Shannon Knapp (President of Invicta) at the helm, who knows what she’s doing. She’s been around the sport forever, as she’s worked with the UFC, the IFL and Strikeforce.
“She really knows the ins and outs of the sport. She knows how to make it work. I’m really optimistic that this is a steady place to find fights and they’re going to be able to bring in the best women in the world to fight me.”
In life, you don’t get many chances to make a second impression. Brett Rogers almost lost that chance last June. Rogers had a physical altercation with his wife and left her with injuries to her neck, ear, back, jaw and a missing tooth.Rogers was …
In life, you don’t get many chances to make a second impression. Brett Rogers almost lost that chance last June. Rogers had a physical altercation with his wife and left her with injuries to her neck, ear, back, jaw and a missing tooth.
Rogers was arrested and then the following day was released by Strikeforce. The worst was yet to come when he was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Things weren’t so great for Rogers when he was released from jail and went back to his profession, being an MMA fighter. He has gone 1-1-1 since his release. Rogers knew something good needed to happen. Enter Bellator Chairman, Bjorn Rebney.
Rebney was reluctant at first as he needed to be reassured Rogers had put the past behind him. After talking to Rogers, Rebney knew he was a changed man and decided to give Rogers a shot.
Rogers made his debut for Bellator at the end of June and defeated Kevin Asplund with a second-round TKO. It was his first win by KO/TKO since he defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski via TKO in June of 2009. Rogers felt a sense of relief to get a win like that once again in spectacular fashion.
“It was the greatest feeling,” Rogers told Bleacher Report. “This is my sport. I love what I do. When you’re in someone’s face and you catch them with a nice hook or a straight right hand, they go down and you go down to finish them, it is the greatest feeling.”
Their was a different feeling though about the fight with Asplund. The fight took place on the preliminary portion of the card. After main-eventing cards against the likes of FedorEmelianenko and Alistair Overeem, it was a humbling experience for Rogers.
“It was definitely a humbling experience for me because I feel in my mind a lot of people knew me, but I realized a lot of people didn’t know me,” Rogers stated. “I knew I was at the building point. I take everything into consideration. Wins and losses are important in this sport. It doesn’t do any good to go out there and get your a** kicked and expect to bounce back.
“I’m not trying to fight like that and be that fighter. I’m going to go out there and fight to the best of my abilities. I learned through the losses you can’t be whatever in the cage, you have to give your all. That’s the only way of survival.”
Now Rogers returns to the Bellator cage on Friday night, where he will be competing in the first round of the heavyweight tournament as he squares off against Alexander Volkov. The card takes place at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The Rogers vs Volkov fight is apart of the main card and you can watch it on MTV 2 starting at 8 PM ET.
The man known as “Da Grim” knew changes needed to be made to his career, so Rogers packed his bags, left the cold of Minnepolis to head down to Cocunut Creek, Florida to the gym of American Top Team.
“I have to credit my manager Jerry Millen. He’s opening my ears and eyes as far as the do’s and don’t’s of MMA,” Rogers stated. He said you are not going to be able to do what your have been doing (in terms of his career) in Minnepolis. All the heavyweights there, are spread out. We got great wrestling programs in Minnesota, but after those programs are done, they go home and don’t want to do nothing to step up in MMA.
“That’s when I decided to go to ATT. It’s a great feeling to be here. Ricardo Liborio (head trainer at ATT and Brazilian Ji-Jitsu black belt) is a master of his craft. He has great coaches and a great team. I can’t complain whatsoever. I’m training with Bigfoot Silva, Steve Mocco, who drilled Cole Konrad to the ground every time they rolled and wrestled in college.
“They are constantly in my face and taking down in multiple training sessions per day. It’s definitely a step up for me and being around guys who definitely want it, will definitely make me rise to the top.”
A lot of people feel Rogers doesn’t deserve this opportunity in Bellator and feel this is his last shot at glory. Rogers doesn’t feel this is the case and is ready to make the most of this second chance.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that (in this being his last shot at glory),” Rogers stated. “I’m a hard worker and I love this sport. I’m getting older and I have a lot of wants and needs. I’m going to make it happen and not lose out on this chance on showing that a lot of stuff happened to me and have overcame a lot in my personal life. I’m going to capitalize on this chance.”
Rogers feels this is a new version of himself and he plans on showing that to the world, starting tomorrow night.
“This is Brett Rogers 2.5,” Rogers stated. “Everbody is going to see a difference. I’m going to come out cool, calm, collected and collect my money. I’m not overlooking Alexander Volkov because he is a fighter, but I believe he hasn’t fought a fighter like me.”
Country pride is strong with Brad Pickett and he’s going into Saturday night’s bout against Yves Jabouin with something to prove. The last time “One Punch” fought in his home country, he suffered a first round submission defeat to future interim champi…
Country pride is strong with Brad Pickett and he’s going into Saturday night’s bout against Yves Jabouin with something to prove. The last time “One Punch” fought in his home country, he suffered a first round submission defeat to future interim champion RenanBarao. Despite the bout not making it into the second frame, it was an action-packed affair as both men walked away with “Fight of the Night” honors.
The bonus was nice for his bank account, but the loss in Birmingham left Pickett eager to redeem himself in front of his fellow countrymen. He will have the perfect opportunity to do just that when he squares off with Jabouin at UFC on Fuel TV 5 tomorrow night.
“I have mixed emotions about fighting back in England,” Pickett told Bleacher Report. “Personally, I will fight anywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter where I fight but it is nice to fight in front of your home crowd and being back on your home soil. Obviously the last time I fought here things didn’t go according to plan. But I’m looking to mend that in this fight with Jabouin and get my first UFC win on my home soil.”
Throughout his career Pickett has earned a reputation as being an exciting fighter. The 34-year-old is known for bringing the heat from the opening bell and being willing to mix it up no matter where the action takes place. With forward pressure, Pickett consistently sets the type of pace that guarantees a healthy scrap.
Jabouin is cut from the same cloth. “The Tiger” has been known to exchange leather no matter the cost as he works behind a sharp striking skill set. This bout has the potential to rack up another fight night bonus for both fighters and Pickett is looking forward to the throw down.
“I think it’s a great matchup stylistically,” Pickett said. “We are both strikers who are well rounded at the same time. He’s more of a kick boxer where I’m more of a boxer. I think it honestly paves the way for an exciting and entertaining fight. Of course the potential for another ‘Fight of the Night’ is there but it takes two to tango.
“I’m going out there, taking the fight to him, and we’ll see what he wants to do. I’m going to put the pressure on him and come out there in typical Brad Pickett style. I’m going to absorb some punishment and dish some out. I want to get the job done in whatever way I can. It’s just the way I am. I’m coming out to win the fight in the first minute. I always like to push the pace and come forward. If we get the bonus — brilliant. If not, then hopefully I will come away with the win because winning means more to me than anything else does.”
The fight between Pickett and Jabouin comes at an interesting time in the UFC bantamweight division. Champion Dominick Cruz has been sidelined since May and doesn’t appear to be returning any time in the near future. In his absence the UFC instituted an interim title which was claimed by rising Brazilian star RenanBarao.
The situation atop the division has left plenty of room for the other fighters in the weight class to fast track their way to contender status. While Pickett can see the window of opportunity is open, he is not quite ready to look too far into the future.
“Honestly the division is a little bit open at the moment,” Pickett said. “Cruz has been out for a long time and Barao now holds the interim belt. A lot of it is in Barao‘s hands because he may want to defend his interim belt or hold out for Cruz. I’ve had knee injuries before. Sometimes you think you are coming back and re-tweak it. Those things happen and you never know how long Cruz is going to be out for. At the same time you can only be on the shelf for so long.
“Personally I’m not really looking too far ahead right at this moment. I’ll obviously look at things with a lot more detail after Saturday. If I win it will look one way but if I lose it will obviously look differently for me.”
233,580. 
You would think that a fighter who has been around for 10 years with a record of 21-2, going undefeated for five and a half years, facing some of the best in the world, could be recognized as one of the best fighters in the world. Who is the fighter you might be asking?