KSW-17 “Revenge” Results: Mariusz Pudzianowski Puts the Heavyweight World on Notice (LOLZ!!)

(Pudz v. Thompson, courtesy of Ironforgesiron

If there was anyone out there who felt that a rematch between former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowksi and world renowned punching bag James Thompson was an absolute necessity, well then I hope you’re satisfied. The fight, which went down yesterday and thankfully was only scheduled for two rounds, saw Thompson thoroughly dominate Pudzianowski in the first round with top control and pitter-patter punches from side control. In fact, the most significant offense Pudianowski was able to mount was a fricken’ jab early in the second that managed to rock Thompson nonetheless. However, the judges, whom I can only assume were members of Pudzianowski’s immediate family, saw the fight in his favor, despite Thompson’s multiple takedowns that would have won him the fight in any other promotion on this planet. “Revenge” indeed.

It’s just baffling how anyone could have given Mariusz that fight, especially considering how the first round went. But perhaps more interesting than the fight itself was that of the post fight interview, wherein Thompson stole the microphone and went on a verbal tirade that would have made Brock Lesnar be like, “Chill, bro.”

The evening’s main event saw Mamed Khalidov score another quick submission win over TUF 7 alum and late replacement for Paulo Filho, Jesse Taylor, to retain his middleweight title. Capitalizing on an early takedown from “JT Money,” Khalidov transitioned beautifully between submission attempts, finally locking in a kneebar just 46 seconds into the fight. I think it’s safe to say that Khalidov is currently one of the most overlooked fighters in the middleweight division, and if the UFC doesn’t give him a call then they will be seriously missing out.

In other action, Polish born fighter Jan Blachowicz evened the score with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, taking away a unanimous decision victory over the Cameroonian and scoring some revenge of his own for his second round TKO via retirement loss to Sokoudjou back at KSW 15.

And the bad luck streak continued for our buddy Matt Horwich, who dropped his third straight unanimous decision loss to Michal Materla. I guess we can salvage the fact that someone with a Dan Quinn level of craziness is still competing on a professional level, right?

Full results from the event, Thompson’s tirade, and the Khalidov submission are all after the jump, courtesy of Ironforgesiron


(Pudz v. Thompson, courtesy of Ironforgesiron

If there was anyone out there who felt that a rematch between former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowksi and world renowned punching bag James Thompson was an absolute necessity, well then I hope you’re satisfied. The fight, which went down yesterday and thankfully was only scheduled for two rounds, saw Thompson thoroughly dominate Pudzianowski in the first round with top control and pitter-patter punches from side control. In fact, the most significant offense Pudianowski was able to mount was a fricken’ jab early in the second that managed to rock Thompson nonetheless. However, the judges, whom I can only assume were members of Pudzianowski’s immediate family, saw the fight in his favor, despite Thompson’s multiple takedowns that would have won him the fight in any other promotion on this planet. “Revenge” indeed.

It’s just baffling how anyone could have given Mariusz that fight, especially considering how the first round went. But perhaps more interesting than the fight itself was that of the post fight interview, wherein Thompson stole the microphone and went on a verbal tirade that would have made Brock Lesnar be like, “Chill, bro.”

The evening’s main event saw Mamed Khalidov score another quick submission win over TUF 7 alum and late replacement for Paulo FilhoJesse Taylor, to retain his middleweight title. Capitalizing on an early takedown from “JT Money,” Khalidov transitioned beautifully between submission attempts, finally locking in a kneebar just 46 seconds into the fight. I think it’s safe to say that Khalidov is currently one of the most overlooked fighters in the middleweight division, and if the UFC doesn’t give him a call then they will be seriously missing out.

In other action, Polish born fighter Jan Blachowicz evened the score with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, taking away a unanimous decision victory over the Cameroonian and scoring some revenge of his own for his second round TKO via retirement loss to Sokoudjou back at KSW 15.

And the bad luck streak continued for our buddy Matt Horwich, who dropped his third straight unanimous decision loss to Michal Materla. I guess we can salvage the fact that someone with a Dan Quinn level of craziness is still competing on a professional level, right?

KSW 17 Results
Mamed Khalidov defeated Jesse Taylor via submission (kneebar) in round 1
Mariusz Pudzianowski defeated James Thompson via majority decision
Jan Bachowicz defeated Sokoudjou via unanimous decision
Michal Materla defeated Matt Horwich via unanimous decision in an overtime round
Artur Sowiski defeated Maciej Jewtuszko via KO (punches) in round 1
Antoni Chmielewski defeated James Zikic via split decision in an overtime round
Aslambek Saidov defeated Rafal Moks via majority decision

Thompson’s speech, for anyone who can understand it

Khalidov v. Taylor (video missing first 30 seconds)

-Danga 

Reminder: KSW 17 Goes down Tonight, Should be Completely Insane

Weigh-in video, courtesy of IronForgesIron.com

In the absence of a UFC event tonight, many of you are going to tune in to Bellator 59 to catch this season’s Heavyweight and Bantamweight tournament finals. But let’s say that Bellator isn’t your scene. Let’s say that you’re the type of person to watch an event and say “This is fun and all, but I’d much rather watch freak show fights and can crushing”. Well, good news: Your favorite Polish promotion, KSW returns tonight with both of the above.

It’s almost fitting that a fighter known for pulling out of fights would pull out of his retirement fight. Astute readers may have remembered that KSW 17 was supposed to be Paulo Filho’s final fight, but that FIlho, as he’s known to do, pulled out of the fight at the last minute. Jesse “JT Money” Taylor has been recruited as a late replacement to take on Mamed Khalidov, who was last seen choking out Matt Lindland at KSW 16.


Weigh-in video, courtesy of IronForgesIron.com

In the absence of a UFC event tonight, many of you are going to tune in to Bellator 59 to catch this season’s Heavyweight and Bantamweight tournament finals. But let’s say that Bellator isn’t your scene. Let’s say that you’re the type of person to watch an event and say “This is fun and all, but I’d much rather watch freak show fights and can crushing”. Well, good news: Your favorite Polish promotion, KSW returns tonight with both of the above.

It’s almost fitting that a fighter known for pulling out of fights would pull out of his retirement fight. Astute readers may have remembered that KSW 17 was supposed to be Paulo Filho’s final fight, but that FIlho, as he’s known to do, pulled out of the fight at the last minute. Jesse “JT Money” Taylor has been recruited as a late replacement to take on Mamed Khalidov, who was last seen choking out Matt Lindland at KSW 16.

Speaking of KSW 16, this card also features a rematch between Mariusz Pudzianowski and James Thompson. Their first fight was a surprisingly entertaining affair that saw Thompson walk away victorious. Shogun vs. Henderson it will not be, but it should be a decent fight nonetheless.

Also in action tonight: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defends his LHW championship against Jan Blachowicz, who he defeated at KSW 15 to win the vacant title. Meanwhile, Matt Horwich attempts to pick up his first victory since 2010 when he takes on Michal Materla. Horwich has gone 4-9 since the start of 2008.

Full weigh-in results, courtesy of Pro MMA Now:

Aslambek Saidov (77.0 kg/169.4 lbs) vs. Rafa? Moks (76.6 kg/168.5 lbs)
James Zikic (83.7 kg/184.1 lbs) vs. Antoni Chmielewski (84.0 kg/184.8 lbs)
Maciej Jewtuszko (70.1 kg/154.2 lbs) vs. Artur Sowi?ski (70.1 kg/154.2 lbs)
Matt Horwich (84.2 kg/185.2 lbs) vs. Micha? Materla (84.0 kg/184.8 lbs)
Sokoudjou (93.0 kg/204.6 lbs) vs. Jan B?achowicz (93.0 kg/204.6 lbs)
James Thompson (125.3 kg/275.7 lbs) vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski (116.0 kg/255.2 lbs)
Jesse Taylor (84.1 kg/185 lbs) vs. Mamed Khalidov (85.0 kg/187 lbs)

So Aleksander Emelianenko Actually Trains. With Mariusz Pudzianowski, Go Figure.

Video Props: MiddleEasy via MMARocks.pl

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the day of a UFC event is always a pretty slow news day. Aside from last second hype for the event and the occasional minor league show with people you’ve actually heard of, we have to get creative with our definition of “news”. So when MiddleEasy posted a video of Aleksander Emelianenko training with World’s Strongest Man turned MMA fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski, it was a pretty easy decision to pass this along.

I’ll be honest, I kind of assumed that Aleksander’s busy schedule of crushing cans, getting prison tattoos and not having hepatitis left him zero time to actually train. For that matter, I also assumed that when you’re a decorated Russian criminal and Fedor Emelianenko’s younger brother, you wouldn’t need to practice to be really good at hurting people. Different strokes, I suppose.


Video Props: MiddleEasy via MMARocks.pl

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the day of a UFC event is always a pretty slow news day. Aside from last second hype for the event and the occasional minor league show with people you’ve actually heard of, we have to get creative with our definition of “news”. So when MiddleEasy posted a video of Aleksander Emelianenko training with World’s Strongest Man turned MMA fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski, it was a pretty easy decision to pass this along.

I’ll be honest, I kind of assumed that Aleksander’s busy schedule of crushing cans, getting prison tattoos and not having hepatitis left him zero time to actually train. For that matter, I also assumed that when you’re a decorated Russian criminal and Fedor Emelianenko’s younger brother, you wouldn’t need to practice to be really good at hurting people. Different strokes, I suppose.

If you’re expecting this session to be two guys swilling vodka and pulling airplanes, prepare for disappointment.  After warming up, Mariusz Pudzianowski, who rocks flesh colored spandex shorts throughout the session, holds pads for Aleksander. It’s a pretty random pair to see training together, but it makes sense when you consider that Aleksander will be fighting in Poland in October. No word yet on whether Mariusz will be on this card as well.

 

KSW 16 Videos: Lindland vs. Khalidov, Pudzianowski vs. Thompson

(Matt Lindland vs. Mamed Khalidov)

From today’s KSW event at the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. The night’s headliner between Mariusz Pudzianowski and James Thompson — which turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining back-and-forth brawl — is after the jump. (Damn, check out those shots Thompson survives at the 4:27 mark.) Go to IronForgesIron.com for the rest of the videos from the event; full results are here.


(Matt Lindland vs. Mamed Khalidov)

From today’s KSW event at the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. The night’s headliner between Mariusz Pudzianowski and James Thompson — which turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining back-and-forth brawl — is after the jump. (Damn, check out those shots Thompson survives at the 4:27 mark.) Go to IronForgesIron.com for the rest of the videos from the event; full results are here.

Wait, What?: Matt Lindland Is Fighting Tomorrow in Poland, I Guess

Matt Lindland Strikeforce Robbie Lawler knockout MMA photos
(“Hey man, look on the bright side — if you had won, it would have ruined my parlay bet.”)

Talk about flying under the radar. Not sure how this slipped past us until just now, but apparently MMA veteran Matt Lindland will be facing Mamed Khalidov in the co-main event of KSW 16, tomorrow in Gdansk, Poland. (Remember when it was mentioned at Chael Sonnen’s appeals hearing that Lindland couldn’t be at the proceedings because he was in Poland? Yeah, that’s why.)

Lindland, who has suffered first-round stoppage losses in three of his last four fights, is coming off a brain-melting knockout loss to Robbie Lawler last December. Khalidov is on a two-fight win streak, and is returning to action after his quick, predictable submission of James Irvin at KSW’s last event in March.

KSW’s main event will be a heavyweight wheeze-off between strongman-turned-fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski — who’s coming off his submission-via-punches win over Butterbean — and James Thompson, who has secured just one victory in his last ten fights. I appreciated this bit from Sherdog’s weigh-in report:

Matt Lindland Strikeforce Robbie Lawler knockout MMA photos
(“Hey man, look on the bright side — if you had won, it would have ruined my parlay bet.”)

Talk about flying under the radar. Not sure how this slipped past us until just now, but apparently MMA veteran Matt Lindland will be facing Mamed Khalidov in the co-main event of KSW 16, tomorrow in Gdansk, Poland. (Remember when it was mentioned at Chael Sonnen’s appeals hearing that Lindland couldn’t be at the proceedings because he was in Poland? Yeah, that’s why.)

Lindland, who has suffered first-round stoppage losses in three of his last four fights, is coming off a brain-melting knockout loss to Robbie Lawler last December. Khalidov is on a two-fight win streak, and is returning to action after his quick, predictable submission of James Irvin at KSW’s last event in March.

KSW’s main event will be a heavyweight wheeze-off between strongman-turned-fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski — who’s coming off his submission-via-punches win over Butterbean — and James Thompson, who has secured just one victory in his last ten fights. I appreciated this bit from Sherdog’s weigh-in report:

Both fighters were in good spirits during the weigh-in. In a recent interview, Thompson called the Pole “an extremely ugly creature.” In response, Pudzianowski brought him a mirror so, as he put it, the Brit could realize his own ugliness. Thompson was to quick respond. “Mariusz invents his own jokes,” Thompson said. “You’re actually an attractive — but slightly retarded — man.”

Delightful! Speaking of which, the Nazi-tatted Toni Valtonnen will also be on the card. The Finnish hate-machine will be looking for his fourth-straight win against Jan Blachowicz

Butterbean Has Now Officially Proven He Has No Clue About MMA

(Video courtesy YouTube/rattsnakeratt)
Having watched quite a few of Eric "Butterbean" Esch’s MMA fights over the years, purely for the comedic value, I’ve taken to calling him "Turtle," because every time he got on his back he …

(Video courtesy YouTube/rattsnakeratt)

Having watched quite a few of Eric "Butterbean" Esch‘s MMA fights over the years, purely for the comedic value, I’ve taken to calling him "Turtle," because every time he got on his back he was fucked. 

Despite joining American Top Team — a camp known as much for its high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts as it is for it’s dangerous strikers, Esch has done very little to round out his game in his nearly seven years in the sport. He’s basically just an older, fatter version of the hard-punching jobber he was in boxing.

So when he says things like "Mariusz Pudzianowski is going to be the best heavyweight in the world in two years," his opinion doesn’t hold much water.

He could be trying to talk up the terrible showing he had against The World’s Strongest Man" last weekend in Poland in a first round TKO loss that looked suspiciously like a WWE work, but if Turtle Butterbean truly believes that Mariusz will be the next Fedor or Brock, Moosin might want to reconsider having him as its spokesperson.

"He’s learning very much. He’s come a long way. In two years, I don’t think there would be anybody out there that would be able to compete with Mariusz. So, Poland, they might have to wait two years to have the best MMA man out there. But it’s coming. He’s learning very, very fast," Esch said in an interview after his KSW bout last weekend. "He’s a very smart man. He’s not stupid. He’s very smart. I’ve never said anything bad about Mario, other than he punches like a girl. But he’s a very smart man, very nice, very strong. Two years he’ll be unbeatable."

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