Kamal Shalorus | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

‘ONE FC: Reign of Champions’ Results + GIFs — Aoki, Askren, Huerta Score First-Round Finishes

(Roger Huerta destroys Christian Holley with the help of ONE FC’s “Sure, knee ’em in the head when they’re down, we don’t really care” rule. / GIF via ZP)

ONE FC: Reign of Champions (aka ONE FC 19) went down today at the World Trade Centre in Dubai, featuring Shinya Aoki, Ben Askren, and the return of Roger Huerta after a two-year absence and four-fight losing streak. Quick results are below, and more GIFs are after the jump, via ZombieProphet.

– Shina Aoki def. Kamal Shalorus via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:15 of round 1; Aoki retains the ONE FC lightweight championship

– Ben Askren def. Nobutatsu Suzuki via TKO, 1:24 of round 1; Askren becomes the new ONE FC welterweight champion, and secures his second-straight first-round stoppage. How ’bout that!

– Jadamba Narantungalag def. Koji Oishi via unanimous decision; Narantungalag becomes the new ONE FC featherweight champion

– Roger Huerta def. Christian Holley via TKO (knees & punches), 3:13 of round 1

– James McSweeney def. Cristiano Kaminishi via KO (punch & soccer kick), 1:17 of round 1

– Herbert Burns def. Hiroshige Tanaka via unanimous decision

– Mohamad Walid def. Vaughn Donayre via submission (armbar), 1:05 of round 1

– Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke def. Ali Yaakub via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:34 of round 1

– Ann Osman def. Ana Julaton via split-decision

(Roger Huerta destroys Christian Holley with the help of ONE FC’s “Sure, knee ‘em in the head when they’re down, we don’t really care” rule. / GIF via ZP)

ONE FC: Reign of Champions (aka ONE FC 19) went down today at the World Trade Centre in Dubai, featuring Shinya Aoki, Ben Askren, and the return of Roger Huerta after a two-year absence and four-fight losing streak. Quick results are below, and more GIFs are after the jump, via ZombieProphet.

– Shina Aoki def. Kamal Shalorus via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:15 of round 1; Aoki retains the ONE FC lightweight championship

– Ben Askren def. Nobutatsu Suzuki via TKO, 1:24 of round 1; Askren becomes the new ONE FC welterweight champion, and secures his second-straight first-round stoppage. How ’bout that!

– Jadamba Narantungalag def. Koji Oishi via unanimous decision; Narantungalag becomes the new ONE FC featherweight champion

– Roger Huerta def. Christian Holley via TKO (knees & punches), 3:13 of round 1

– James McSweeney def. Cristiano Kaminishi via KO (punch & soccer kick), 1:17 of round 1

– Herbert Burns def. Hiroshige Tanaka via unanimous decision

– Mohamad Walid def. Vaughn Donayre via submission (armbar), 1:05 of round 1

– Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke def. Ali Yaakub via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:34 of round 1

– Ann Osman def. Ana Julaton via split-decision

(Shinya Aoki chokes out Kamal Shalorus)

(Ben Askren beats the tar out of Nobutatsu Suzuki)

(TUF 10 vet James McSweeney, soccer-kicking the daylights out of Cristiano Kaminishi)

(Mohamad Walid armbars Vaughn Donayre with the quickness.)

(Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke sinks the RNC on Ali Yaakub)

Family Matters: Kamal Shalorus and the Battle to Fight for the Right Reasons

Less than three years ago, when the WEC merged with the UFC, Kamal Shalorus was one of the lightweight division’s top prospects, making the transfer alongside names like Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. With an undefeated r…

Less than three years ago, when the WEC merged with the UFC, Kamal Shalorus was one of the lightweight division’s top prospects, making the transfer alongside names like Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

With an undefeated record and a decorated wrestling background, Shalorus was looked at as a raw, but talented fighter who, with the right time and training, could become an elite competitor.

That all changed when he made his UFC debut in March 2011, and he received a rather rude welcome courtesy of Jim Miller, who finished Shalorus with strikes in the third round of their fight at UFC 128.

Shalorus only fought in the UFC two more times, and while the competition he was facing was among the best in the lightweight division (Khabib Nurmagomedov and Rafael Dos Anjos), the fighter that showed up on those nights was not the same person who competed in the WEC just a couple of years earlier.

At the time, Shalorus was a man living two lives—one where he tried his best to be a fighter and the other where he lived in shame because his family did not approve in his choice of careers.

“For my last few fights I lost in the UFC, honestly mentally I wasn’t ready. I just moved by myself to the United States, and my family expected different things from me,” Shalorus told Bleacher Report recently. “They wanted me to finish my college or something like that, and go into business, but no fighting. They disagreed so much with me, they said “fighting is not a career for you”. So I had so much mental challenge, and really mentally I don’t want to fight, but I have to.”

Shalorus grew up with his family in Iran before eventually moving to the United Kingdom where he competed in wrestling, making it all the way to the Olympic qualification tournament. From there, Shalorus was expected to finish school and find a career in business or some other occupation, as his family back home had no desire to see him compete in a cage.

The division inside of Shalorus cut so deep in fact that by the time he approached his final fight with Dos Anjos in May 2012, he just wanted out of the sport for good.

“It was so difficult. To be honest, even in my last fight I really couldn’t focus. I was fighting myself,” Shalorus admitted. “Honestly, myself defeated myself, I shot my own leg. It was two people inside the Octagon, and I get confused. I’d say I want this fight over and I want to go home.”

Following the loss, Shalorus was released by the UFC and the pressure to compete in fighting was over. He decided to listen to his family and started his own contracting business in Washington D.C., where he continues to work today.

The new career choice made his family very happy, but Shalorus still had an empty feeling inside his stomach that needed to be filled. It was a desire to compete again, but this time for his own enjoyment of the sport not because it was the only way he could survive financially.

So Shalorus put back on the gloves, stepped back on the mats and began training for his return to action.

“Now that I have a job in D.C. and really I’m so excited for this fight. Fighting is not a career, it’s a passion, it’s a love. I want to do it,” Shalorus said. “I’m focused and happy and now I want to do it. The mental is everything.”

Once he decided to get back in action, it didn’t take long for Asian promotion ONE FC to pay attention. They signed him immediately to compete on their upcoming show this weekend taking place in Manila in the Philippines.

Shalorus is now a fighter with a purpose, instead of a fighter trying to survive. The losses provided him with an exit to pursue other goals, but it also reads on his record that he was released from the UFC after three straight defeats.

That’s not how Shalorus wants to be remembered when his fighting days are finally over, so he’s stepping into the cage this weekend with a whole new objective.

“I needed to get my pride back. Because in my last two fights, I didn’t fight. I just got beat up, and that’s not me. I didn’t fight back,” Shalorus said. “The winning and losing doesn’t matter. It matters whether you fight, you do your best. If you lose, that’s okay, you gave your best, but I didn’t try.

“Now I need to get my pride back. A man lives with his pride. I need to get my pride back, I need to fight.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Where Are They Now – Damacio Page and Kamal Shalorus Receive Future Opponents

Photo courtesy of LegacyFights.Net

UFC veterans Damacio Page and Kamal Shalorus both had fairly similar runs in the Octagon. After showing promise in the WEC, both men were disappointing at best once called up to the sport’s biggest stage. Both men went 0-3 in the UFC before receiving their walking papers during the summer of 2012. Now, they’ve both recently booked their first fights in their post-UFC careers, and neither man has an easy rebound fight lined up.

When we last saw Damacio Page, he was being choked out by Alex Caceres during UFC on Fuel TV 4, marking his fourth straight loss. “The Angel of Death” was released from his contract shortly afterwards, and now, the former UFC bantamweight has decided to sign with Legacy FC. He will make his promotional debut against 4-0 prospect Patrick Ybarra at Legacy FC 20 on May 31.

Before you start screaming “squash match,” know that Ybarra has finished all four of his professional fights by armbar, and that none of those fights made it out of the first round. Combined with the fact that seven of Page’s eight losses have come by submission, Ybarra probably has a better chance at pulling off the upset than you think.

Photo courtesy of LegacyFights.Net

UFC veterans Damacio Page and Kamal Shalorus both had fairly similar runs in the Octagon. After showing promise in the WEC, both men were disappointing at best once called up to the sport’s biggest stage. Both men went 0-3 in the UFC before receiving their walking papers during the summer of 2012. Now, they’ve both recently booked their first fights in their post-UFC careers, and neither man has an easy rebound fight lined up.

When we last saw Damacio Page, he was being choked out by Alex Caceres during UFC on Fuel TV 4, marking his fourth straight loss. “The Angel of Death” was released from his contract shortly afterwards, and now, the former UFC bantamweight has decided to sign with Legacy FC. He will make his promotional debut against 4-0 prospect Patrick Ybarra at Legacy FC 20 on May 31.

Before you start screaming “squash match,” know that Ybarra has finished all four of his professional fights by armbar, and that none of those fights made it out of the first round. Combined with the fact that seven of Page’s eight losses have come by submission, Ybarra probably has a better chance at pulling off the upset than you think.

Likewise, when we last saw Kamal Shalorus, he was getting choked out by Rafael dos Anjos in the first round of their fight at UFC on Fuel TV 3. “The Prince of Persia” has recently signed on with ONE FC, and will be facing Eduard Folayang during his promotional debut at ONE FC 9 – which coincidentally also takes place on May 31. Even though both fighters are coming off of losses, this should be a very interesting match-up. Folayang is a very entertaining striker, and one of the top fighters that ONE FC has to offer.

So what do you think? Which fighter has the better chance of ending their losing streak this May?

5 UFC Lightweights Who Should Drop to Featherweight

The UFC’s lightweight division is the most stacked weight class in the entire promotion.It wasn’t always this way. Two years ago, the idea of immediate rematches between B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar wasn’t such a bad thing, mostly because there were no …

The UFC’s lightweight division is the most stacked weight class in the entire promotion.

It wasn’t always this way. Two years ago, the idea of immediate rematches between B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar wasn’t such a bad thing, mostly because there were no other real contenders prepared to step up and face championship-level fighters.

Those days are over. The top of the division is crowded and filled with plenty of fighters who are deserving of title shots. But instead of getting their crack at gold, they’re forced to wait and take fights in the interim. It rarely works out in their favor: just ask Anthony Pettis and Jim Miller.

But 10 pounds below, the featherweight champion awaits without a truly interesting and deserving challenger. Jose Aldo needs an opponent, and Hatsu Hioki, easily the most deserving contender at the moment, just doesn’t interest the masses.

Hioki challenging for the title doesn’t even interest me, and I’m a journalist and hardcore fan.

But it’s a situation that is easily rectified. There are plenty of lightweights who sit just outside of title contention, but they can jump directly into the championship fray by dropping weight and moving to featherweight.

For most of these names, all they need is one solid featherweight win and they’ll either earn a title shot or be very close to title contention. Sounds like a good deal, right?

Let’s take a look at five lightweights who should seriously consider the drop.

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Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus Set for UFC on FUEL 3 in May

(Dos Anjos pulls off a picture perfect lawn chair KO on George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132.)

Kamal Shalorus has had a difficult time making the leap from the WEC to the UFC. After putting together a 3-0-1 record in the now deceased promotion, “The Prince of Persia” has dropped two straight — a first round TKO to top contender Jim Miller at UFC 128 and a third round submission at the hands of newcomer Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. In what his final shot under the Zuffa banner, Shalorus will not be given an easy victory, as he has been booked to take on Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC on FUEL 3, which goes down on May 15 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Dos Anjos, on the other hand, sandwiched the above KO over G-Sots between a pair of losses to Clay Guida (via submission due to jaw injury) and the Anthony Johnson of the lightweight division, Gleison Tibau (by SD).

Also booked for Fairfax…

(Dos Anjos pulls off a picture perfect lawn chair KO on George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132.)

Kamal Shalorus has had a difficult time making the leap from the WEC to the UFC. After putting together a 3-0-1 record in the now deceased promotion, “The Prince of Persia” has dropped two straight — a first round TKO to top contender Jim Miller at UFC 128 and a third round submission at the hands of newcomer Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. In what his final shot under the Zuffa banner, Shalorus will not be given an easy victory, as he has been booked to take on Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC on FUEL 3, which goes down on May 15 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Dos Anjos, on the other hand, sandwiched the above KO over G-Sots between a pair of losses to Clay Guida (via submission due to jaw injury) and the Anthony Johnson of the lightweight division, Gleison Tibau (by SD).

Also booked for Fairfax…

Following a seven year absence from the octagon that saw him go 19-6, Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran returned to the UFC last October at UFC 137. It was less than successful, as he dropped a unanimous decision to Scott Jorgensen in a match that was forgotten about before it was even over. For his next fight, Curran will be taking a significant step down in competition when he faces Johnny Eduardo in a bantamweight contest. Eduardo, a 25-9 product out of Nova Uniao, came up short in his UFC debut in August, where he was out grappled by Raphael Assuncao en route to a unanimous decision loss.

Finally, lightweights T.J Grant and Carlo Prater are set to throw down on the UFC on FUEL 3 undercard as well. You remember Carlo Prater, don’t you? He was the guy who took the road less traveled to victory at UFC 142, upsetting Erick Silva by way of superior positioning to allow illegal punches to the back of his head. It’s called strategery, Potato Nation.

Anyway, check out the full lineup for UFC on FUEL 3 below. I DEFY YOU to name the website I copy/pasted it from.

Featherweight bout: Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung
Light Heavyweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Igor Pokrajac
Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens
Lightweight bout: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus
Lightweight bout: TJ Grant vs. Carlo Prater
Middleweight bout: Tom Lawlor vs. Jason MacDonald
Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez
Lightweight bout: Cody McKenzie vs. Aaron Riley
Middleweight bout: Brad Tavares vs. Dongi Yang
Bantamweight bout: Yves Jabouin vs. Mike Easton
Bantamweight bout: Jeff Curran vs. Johnny Eduardo
Bantamweight bout: Alex Soto vs. Azamat Gashimov

-J. Jones

‘UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller’ GIF Party: The Finishes & Other Highlights

Guillard choking, in every sense of the word. (Photo: UFC.com)

While the ‘UFC on FX’ debut may have lacked the big names of UFC 142, the fights themselves packed just as much fire-power. For the second straight week, six fighters were able to put away their opponent and double their earnings in less than a round. Punches, chokes, and a torrent of brutal hellbows were all used to send grown men into la-la land, and we’ve got the GIF’s to prove it.

(Thanks to Zombie Prophet for the GIFs)

Guillard choking, in every sense of the word. (Photo: UFC.com)

While the ‘UFC on FX’ debut may have lacked the big names of UFC 142, the fights themselves packed just as much fire-power. For the second straight week, six fighters were able to put away their opponent and double their earnings in less than a round. Punches, chokes, and a torrent of brutal hellbows were all used to send grown men into la-la land, and we’ve got the GIF’s to prove it.

(Thanks to Zombie Prophet for the GIFs)

Jorge Rivera vs. Eric Schafer

Habib Nurmagomedov vs. Kamal Shalorus