Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, NewsAs Zuffa moves forward on its plans to fold Strikeforce’s heavyweight division into the UFC, the company announced Tuesday that Lavar Johnson will be the next Strikeforce heavyweight to set foot in the Octagon.
As Zuffa moves forward on its plans to fold Strikeforce‘s heavyweight division into the UFC, the company announced Tuesday that Lavar Johnson will be the next Strikeforce heavyweight to set foot in the Octagon.
Johnson will fight Joey Beltran at UFC on Fox 2 on January 28 in Chicago.
The hard-punching Johnson won three straight fights on Strikeforce Challengers cards in 2009 and 2010, but this year he lost to Shane Del Rosario in an alternate bout in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, then bounced back down to Challengers and lost to Shawn Jordan. He’s in a must-win situation at UFC on Fox 2, and so is Beltran, who has lost three of his last four.
The UFC also made a few other fight announcements on Tuesday afternoon:
— Featherweight Erik Koch has suffered an injury and is out of his planned UFC 143 fight against Dustin Poirier. Koch and Poirier are two of the best young featherweights in the sport, and that fight should have been a big one. The UFC will seek a replacement to fight Poirier.
— The 5-0 Brazilian prospect Caio Magalhaes has been signed and will make his Octagon debut in his home country against Fabio Maldonado at UFC 142. Maldonado had previously been scheduled to face Stansislav Nedkov, but he was forced to withdraw from the fight.
— John Albert, a bantamweight who competed on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter and beat Dustin Pague in the Finale, will return and take a step up in quality of competition when he takes on Ivan Menjivar at the February 15 UFC on Fuel TV card in Omaha.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
The undercard bouts are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins, Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa, Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young, Nick Ring vs. James Head and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio.
Round 1: A very calm Omigawa walks to the center of the cage with his hands down low. They feel each other out with punches from far out. Omigawa has the better head movement early, but Elkins is outworking him with punch combos. Good lead left hook from Omigawa jacks Elkins’ jaw. Elkins comes back moments later with a hard right hand that backs Omigawa up. Elkins clips Omigawa behind the ear and makes his legs go shaky for a second. Omigawa leaps in and Elkins takes him down, but is forced to relinquish top position when Omigawa looks for a heel hook. Very active first round by both men. Omigawa looks to be loading up for one big punch, and Elkins corner implores him to get off before the Japanese fighter can throw. Elkins is landing more punches, but a lot of them look like arm punches. He gets after Omigawa in the final twenty seconds and has him reeling a bit before the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.
Round 2: Omigawa starts the second much more aggressively, chasing Elkins across the cage with punches. Elkins corner assures him that Omigawa can’t keep it up the whole round. Almost on cue, Omigawa’s pace slows. Elkins tags Omigawa, but it’s Elkins who seems to be cut around his right eye. Elkins backs Omigawa against the fence and throws a combo, but Omigawa slips most of the punches and fires back one of his own that connects. Omigawa throws a left hook and Elkins beats him with a right hand counter. Good right hand by Omigawa. Elkins unloads a flurry in response, with Omigawa avoiding most of the blows. Omigawa ducks under a punch and lands a nice right. Elkins dives for an awkward takedown, but it’s not even close. Omigawa is the fresher, less damaged fighter at the end of two. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Omigawa.
Round 3: They touch it up to start the final frame and the crowd cheers their efforts so far. Omigawa wastes little time getting a takedown. Elkins thinks about a guillotine, but it isn’t there. Omigawa goes to work with some nice elbows in Elkins’ guard. Elkins thinks about a triangle/armbar combo, but Omigawa escapes and looks to pass. In the process, Elkins scrambles and tries to take top position before they eventually work back to their feet. Elkins’ face is a bloody mess now. Omigawa is still bobbing and weaving well, while Elkins might have tired a bit. Neither man is terribly active in the final thirty seconds, but the crowd cheers them anyway. Good first fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Omigawa.
Darren Elkins def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
The undercard bouts are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins, Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa, Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young, Nick Ring vs. James Head and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio.
Round 1: A very calm Omigawa walks to the center of the cage with his hands down low. They feel each other out with punches from far out. Omigawa has the better head movement early, but Elkins is outworking him with punch combos. Good lead left hook from Omigawa jacks Elkins’ jaw. Elkins comes back moments later with a hard right hand that backs Omigawa up. Elkins clips Omigawa behind the ear and makes his legs go shaky for a second. Omigawa leaps in and Elkins takes him down, but is forced to relinquish top position when Omigawa looks for a heel hook. Very active first round by both men. Omigawa looks to be loading up for one big punch, and Elkins corner implores him to get off before the Japanese fighter can throw. Elkins is landing more punches, but a lot of them look like arm punches. He gets after Omigawa in the final twenty seconds and has him reeling a bit before the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.
Round 2: Omigawa starts the second much more aggressively, chasing Elkins across the cage with punches. Elkins corner assures him that Omigawa can’t keep it up the whole round. Almost on cue, Omigawa’s pace slows. Elkins tags Omigawa, but it’s Elkins who seems to be cut around his right eye. Elkins backs Omigawa against the fence and throws a combo, but Omigawa slips most of the punches and fires back one of his own that connects. Omigawa throws a left hook and Elkins beats him with a right hand counter. Good right hand by Omigawa. Elkins unloads a flurry in response, with Omigawa avoiding most of the blows. Omigawa ducks under a punch and lands a nice right. Elkins dives for an awkward takedown, but it’s not even close. Omigawa is the fresher, less damaged fighter at the end of two. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Omigawa.
Round 3: They touch it up to start the final frame and the crowd cheers their efforts so far. Omigawa wastes little time getting a takedown. Elkins thinks about a guillotine, but it isn’t there. Omigawa goes to work with some nice elbows in Elkins’ guard. Elkins thinks about a triangle/armbar combo, but Omigawa escapes and looks to pass. In the process, Elkins scrambles and tries to take top position before they eventually work back to their feet. Elkins’ face is a bloody mess now. Omigawa is still bobbing and weaving well, while Elkins might have tired a bit. Neither man is terribly active in the final thirty seconds, but the crowd cheers them anyway. Good first fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Omigawa.
Darren Elkins def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Filed under: UFCFORT HOOD, Texas – This is the live blog for the six undercard bouts on the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” show at Fort Hood, Texas. The event is being attended exclusively by enlisted military personnel and also serves as a fund raiser b…
FORT HOOD, Texas – This is the live blog for the six undercard bouts on the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” show at Fort Hood, Texas. The event is being attended exclusively by enlisted military personnel and also serves as a fund raiser by the UFC and Spike for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
For the first time, four of the six preliminary card fights will be streamed live on the promotion’s Facebook page for fans who “like” the UFC. Yves Edwards-Cody McKenzie, Mike Guymon-DaMarques Johnson, Mike Brown vs. Rani Yahya and Willamy Freire vs. Waylon Lowe will be available online.
The weigh-in event took place on the Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas, and was attended by several hundred members of the military.
All fighters on Saturday’s card made weight for their bouts, including main-event lightweights Evan Dunham and Melvin Guillard. Guillard weighed in at 155 pounds; Dunham was 156. And co-main event heavyweights Matt Mitrione and Tim Hague put on one of the event’s most intense staredowns, their faces pressed against each other. Mitrione was 260 pounds; Hague came in at 256.
FORT HOOD, Texas – It seems like everywhere Joey Beltran turns the last few months, there’s Matt Mitrione.
Beltran fought Mitrione at UFC 119 in September in Mitrione’s Indianapolis back yard, losing a decision. A few weeks after the fight, Mitrione spent a day working with Beltran and the team at Alliance MMA outside San Diego. And the next thing Beltran knew, he was signing up for a fight against Pat Barry – the same Pat Barry who is a regular training partner of Mitrione.
Beltran said Thursday that comments he claims Mitrione made after working with Team Alliance had him a little perturbed – and he admitted he might still be a little perturbed, but that he won’t let it get in the way of his heavyweight tussle with Barry on Saturday’s Fight for the Troops 2 card.
“We had some candid conversation, where I thought we were talking amongst boys,” Beltran said. “He came out, and it was all good – we opened our doors to him at Alliance MMA. He came through, worked out and we had a conversation, talking about the fight and how it went down, and he said some disrespectful stuff afterward. And we’ll address that when the time comes. Let’s just say that I’ve got a special place in my heart for Matt Mitrione, and it will always be there. (But) it doesn’t matter. I’ll be able to focus on Pat Barry.”
The former NFL and all-Big Ten Conference lineman at Purdue had already been labeled a rat by his “Ultimate Fighter” housemates for spilling his team’s planned matchups to the opposition. He had been ca…
The former NFL and all-Big Ten Conference lineman at Purdue had already been labeled a rat by his “Ultimate Fighter” housemates for spilling his team’s planned matchups to the opposition. He had been called out by his coach, Rashad Evans, for being merely sore and not injured. And then there were the voices in his head (which he has said after the fact was just an act to alleviate boredom).
Against Scott Junk in a preliminary fight on TUF 10, Mitrione threw kicks and punches with wild abandon. Near the end of the first round, it was clear he had already used up most of his energy. He won a majority decision in a fight that was a mashup of ugly and fun.
A year later, Mitrione is 2-0 in the UFC with a knockout win over Marcus Jones on the TUF 10 live finale last December and a TKO of Kimbo Slice at UFC 113 in May. But it was the fight with Junk that helped make a different voice go off in his head. It was a voice that told him to slow up a little, and Mitrione said that’s the most important thing he’s learned since leaving the TUF house.
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