Bellator Fighting Championship held the weigh-ins for it’s latest event, Bellator 26, on Wednesday evening in the downtown Kansas City Marriott Hotel.
The event will take place Thursday night at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Miss., with four bouts making the live Fox Sports Net broadcast and it’s regional sports network […]
Bellator Fighting Championship held the weigh-ins for it’s latest event, Bellator 26, on Wednesday evening in the downtown Kansas City Marriott Hotel.
The event will take place Thursday night at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Miss., with four bouts making the live Fox Sports Net broadcast and it’s regional sports network affiliates.
Thursday’s show is highlighted by three tournament bouts. Jose Vega (134) takes on Danny Tims (135.5) in a first round bantamweight fight. Mike Hayes (238) faces Alexey Oleinik (230) in a first round heavyweight matchup. And Aisling Daly (115) meets Lisa Ward (114) in a womens 115 pound opening round fight.
Here are the full weigh-in results for Bellator 26.
Tournament bouts
Heavyweight bout: Mike Hayes (238) vs. Alexey Oleinik (230)
Bantamweight bout: Jose Vega (134) vs. Danny Tims (135.5)
Women’s (115 lbs.) bout: Aisling Daly (115) vs. Lisa Ward (114)
Non-Tournament bouts
Catchweight (175 lbs) bout: Tyler Stinson (173) vs. Steve Carl (174)
Middleweight bout: Zak Cummings (181) vs. Rudy Bears (182)
Featherweight bout: Brian Davidson (145) vs. Kevin Croom (145)
Middleweight bout: Brian Imes (185) vs. John Ott (184.75)
Light Heavyweight bout: Demetrius Richards (201 lbs.) vs. Jeb Chiles (203 lbs.)
Natural ambassador for mixed martial arts, Randy Couture explains how his upcoming bout with James Toney came about. He also breaks down the tactics he’ll like to use, and mentions his role in The Expendables.
Natural ambassador for mixed martial arts, Randy Couture explains how his upcoming bout with James Toney came about. He also breaks down the tactics he’ll like to use, and mentions his role in The Expendables.
Although unknown to the five-year-old or those around him as he ran the South Florida streets, Jose Vega’s destiny to become a fighter was laid out for him virtually at birth.
“When I was a kid living in Florida my uncles and my dad used to get drunk together a lot,” said Vega. “One […]
Although unknown to the five-year-old or those around him as he ran the South Florida streets, Jose Vega’s destiny to become a fighter was laid out for him virtually at birth.
“When I was a kid living in Florida my uncles and my dad used to get drunk together a lot,” said Vega. “One night we were outside, and there was this kid next door that always used to fight with my cousin, and they said, “We’ll give you a dollar if you go over there and punch that kid in the face”, so I went over there and punched him in the face and we got to fighting.”
Close to15 years later Vega found himself pouring over MMA fight videos, while at the same time going on a tear through the amateur and professional ranks in his backyard of Missouri with literally not a single day of formal training under his belt.
All-in-all, Vega somehow managed to string together seven victories as a professional prior to ever stepping foot inside an MMA gym with all of his wins coming by way of submission, before a call from Bellator Fighting Championships recently gave the naturally gifted Vega the incentive he had been looking for to completely change his approach to the sport.
“I’m more complete now than I’ve ever been before,” boasted Vega in the days leading up to his bantamweight tournament fight with longtime rival Danny Tims at Bellator 26 in Kansas City. “Up until right before my most recent win over Jarrod Card with Bellator I had been training myself by watching fight tapes and instructionals. Now I finally have someone watching over me telling me if what I’m doing is right or wrong.”
And the results spoke for themselves as Vega put the favored Card to sleep with a crushing punch that catapulted the budding 135 lb prospect directly into his current place in the Season 3 Bellator Bantamweight Tournament.
Standing in front of Vega this Thursday evening in the Bellator cage is a man that is far from a stranger to the self-taught Kansas City bantamweight, Danny Tims.
The pair of Missouri-based fan-favorites first met at the amateur level in a closely contested battle that saw Tims’ hand raised in victory when the dust had a chance to settle. However, Vega didn’t exactly agree with the judges’ decision, stating, “Our first fight was in his hometown, and I don’t like to be a sore loser, but I got him to admit that I beat him right after that fight. I ended up losing a real close decision, but we all know why they gave him that, because it was in his hometown.”
There are two sides to every story, and Tims’ side to this one is that Vega is “crazy.” Tims states that he dominated the fight between the two from the beginning to the sound of the final bell.
The second time the pair met, the result couldn’t have been any more different.
“I fought him for the second time in the finals of a tournament in Sturgis,” said Vega. “In the second round he reversed me while I was ground and pounding him and I upkicked him right before he got up and he just turned around and tapped on the cage.
“I think I broke him mentally because he couldn’t take me down or do anything. He just quit.”
Again, Tims has a slightly different recollection of events when it comes to his second meeting with Vega, stating that dehydration at the end of a single-evening elimination tournament as the reason he tapped out, and stresses that the defeat had nothing to do with him breaking mentally.
This Thursday evening from the Kansas City Power and Light District, the score will be settled once and for all as Vega meets Tims for the third time in what is undoubtedly the biggest fight of either fighter’s professional career.
Vega will be entering the bout riding a wave of confidence and vows to silence his rival with his actions in the cage at Bellator 26.
“I’m sure that I can put him to sleep the same way I did to Jarrod Card if he decides to stand with me and I also believe I can submit him if the fight goes to the ground,” said Vega. “All of his submission wins are rear-naked chokes. You don’t see him throwing up triangles or armbars. It makes him one-dimensional. I’ve submitted people with triangles, gogoplatas, armbars, keylocks and a variety of other submissions, so I feel like I have a lot more options at my disposal in the submission department.
“There’s no way he’s going to take me down and grind me out. I see the same fighter that I fought at amateur. I don’t think he has any tools he can beat me with.”
Get your tickets now for Bellator 26, taking place live from the Kansas City Power and Light District on Thursday, August 26.
Marcus Davis “The Irish Hand Gernade” is set to take on long limbed Gracie fighter Nate Diaz as part of the upcoming UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn II card, and the 36 year old fighter will look to continue to deliver fan friendly fights. While his overall record in the UFC is 8-3 his […]
Marcus Davis “The Irish Hand Gernade” is set to take on long limbed Gracie fighter Nate Diaz as part of the upcoming UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn II card, and the 36 year old fighter will look to continue to deliver fan friendly fights. While his overall record in the UFC is 8-3 his age, mixed with a 1-2 recent record(although he’s coming off a victory over Jonathan Goulet via TKO at UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2) makes each fight that much more important to his career. He broke down his view of fighting wrestlers, and his thoughts on his upcoming fight with Nick Diaz when he spoke to Heavy.com:
“That’s what I hunt for, fights that make sense. It doesn’t make sense for me to fight wrestlers that are going to try to take me down and lay on top of me and try to grind out a decision just by being safe. It makes more sense for me to be fighting the guys that are going to fight a little bit on the ground, but are also going to fight standing up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s MMA and I do enjoy the whole aspect of it, but I don’t like the laying and praying stuff. Yeah, we are supposed to win fights, but our job is to entertain. That’s what we are. We’re entertainers. I think that we can entertain a lot of people that night.”
“He’s similar to me as far as what he uses in his arsenal. I think that what Diaz does for his boxing, being long, throwing out his lead left hand a lot, he has some good things that he does. But I have more tools. I have better footwork. He moves forwards and backwards. I move side to side. I’m good at closing the gap quickly and getting my shots off and getting back out. I think that I’m the more powerful puncher. I don’t think there is any question about that. I hit guys with one shot and they go out. As far as boxing skill goes, I think I have the advantage there.”
Davis may not be championship material, but his “Fight of the Night” or “KO of the Night” mentality has made him a fan favorite, and you can bet that droves of those same fans will be rooting for him at UFC 118. UFC 118: Edgar Vs. Penn II takes place on August 28, 2010 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and the event will also host the 3rd UFC Fan Expo.
New York City, New York (August 25, 2010) Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko has made it clear that he would like to fight the current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem as his next opponent later this year.
“This is an important match for me and something that I personally want to happen,” says Fedor. […]
New York City, New York (August 25, 2010) Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko has made it clear that he would like to fight the current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem as his next opponent later this year.
“This is an important match for me and something that I personally want to happen,” says Fedor. “There have been conversations about putting this match-up together in the past and now is the time to begin making this bout possible.”
Conversations have been taking place behind closed doors between M-1 Global and Strikeforce for some time and injuries, timing and differences of opinion have been roadblocks to putting Overeem and Emelianenko together. “M-1 Global wants to make this fight happen,” says M-1’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan. “As a global mixed martial arts company committed to driving the evolution of the sport and showcasing match-ups that the fans deserve to see, we want to make this bout a reality in 2010.”
The roadblocks that once previously were preventing one of the most highly anticipated bouts this year seem to be disappearing.
About M-1 Global:
Founded in 1998 by Vadim Finkelchtein and Sergey Matvienko, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand stages its M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Breakthrough events worldwide and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States; captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups.
M-1 Global’s greatest asset is the number one heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts history, Fedor Emelianenko. With daily coverage on all MMA-related websites in the world, and articles in Time Magazine, LA times and New York times, Fedor and M-1 Global make a lifetime match serving as the catalyst to grow MMA in the 21st century.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2010) – A grudge rematch that fans, media, and the confident fighters themselves have been clamoring for since the first fight ended in bloody controversy nearly three years ago, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9, when KJ Noons (9-1), fresh off a knockout victory last Saturday, challenges STRIKEFORCE World […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2010) – A grudge rematch that fans, media, and the confident fighters themselves have been clamoring for since the first fight ended in bloody controversy nearly three years ago, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9, when KJ Noons (9-1), fresh off a knockout victory last Saturday, challenges STRIKEFORCE World Welterweight (170 pounds) Champion Nick Diaz (22-7, 1 NC) in the main event at HP Pavilion here, live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).
In the co-feature, undefeated STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight World Champion Sarah Kaufman (12-0) will make the second defense of her 135-pound title against No. 1 contender and Dutch superstar Marloes Coenen (17-4).
Another featured fight will pit an emerging star from the STRIKEFORCE Challengers series, up-and-coming Luke Rockhold (7-1), against the vastly more experienced, 2000 Olympic Games wrestling silver medalist, Matt “The Law” Lindland (22-7), in a middleweight (185 pounds) contest.
Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday, Aug. 28, at 10 a.m. PT online at Ticketmaster.com, at HP Pavilion ticket office, or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
A special presale opportunity for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers begins today, Wednesday, Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. PT. Sign up to become a “STRIKEFORCE Insider” at http://www.strikeforce.com/insider.html.
Diaz has not lost a fight since he faced Noons, losing via disputed first-round TKO on Nov. 7, 2007. Diaz, of Stockton, Calif., has been devastating in recent outings, notching seven in a row. The talented, outspoken, no-nonsense brawler also boasts a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
The always-dangerous Noons is an aggressive and prolific striker who has won his last six fights, including the thrilling slugfest against Diaz that ended when the cageside physician halted the proceedings due to excessive cuts around Diaz’ eyes.
Since that fight, there has been no love lost between the pair of brash fighters. Seven months after their first fight, on June 14, 2008, the fighters and their camp members nearly came to blows in the cage after the fighters registered victories in separate bouts.
“Nick has no class, he’s a bum, a piece of (expletive) and he and his team disrespected my family and I with their gestures and trash talk and tried to upstage my fight,” said Noons after the near-fracas.
Offered Diaz: “I’m sorry about what happened in the cage afterward, but I didn’t start it. His guys were talking (expletive) to us.”
Diaz is coming off a first-round submission (armbar) over fellow superstar Hayato “Mach” Sakurai last May 29 at DREAM 14 in Japan. The six-foot, 27-year-old Diaz won the STRIKEFORCE title with a convincing first-round TKO (punches) over Marius “The Whitemare” Žaromskis on Jan. 30, 2010.
The 5-foot-11, 27-year-old Noons, who was born and raised in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, registered a spectacular, crowd-pleasing second-round knockout over Jorge Gurgel during last Saturday’s STRIKEFORCE: Houston, live on SHOWTIME.
Kaufman, a former ballet dancer, retained her belt for the first time with an explosive third-round body slam KO over Roxanne Modafferi at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in Everett, Wash., on July 23.
The personable, hard-hitting, 5-foot-5, 24-year-old Kaufman, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, has scored knockouts in nine of her 12 victories.
Coenen, 29, will appear before an audience for the first time since suffering a hard-fought third-round TKO loss to Cris Cyborg for the STRIKEFORCE Women’s Middleweight (145 pounds) Championship at STRIKEFORCE: Miami last Jan. 30.
The game and courageous, 5-foot-9 Coenen gave Cyborg one of her toughest fights. A member of Holland’s Team Golden Glory, Coenen has been a mixed martial artist since the age of 14. She will be moving down in weight to challenge for the title.
Rockhold, of Santa Cruz, Calif. will bring a six-fight winning streak into what figures to be the toughest assignment of his career. Many feel the 25-year-old is one of STRIKEFORCE’s next great middleweight stars. He has been victorious by submission in all but one of his wins. A member of Team AKA in San Jose, Rockhold won his last start with a first-round TKO (knees to body) over Paul Bradley on Feb. 26, in San Jose.
Lindland, of Oregon City, Ore, brought home the silver in Greco-Roman wrestling. He’s fought the best in a 13-year MMAs career, including the famed Fedor Emelianenko. An All-American at the University of Nebraska before turning pro in 1997, Lindland holds victories over Pat Miletich, Jeremy Horn, former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton and remains one of only two men to submit Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Travis Lutter.
In his most recent fight, the six-foot-tall Lindland scored a third-round TKO over “King” Kevin Casey on May 21 during a STRIKEFORCE Challengers in Portland, Ore.
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.
Bellator Fighting Championship held the weigh-ins for it’s latest event, Bellator 26, on Wednesday evening in the downtown Kansas City Marriott Hotel.
