Former UFC Fighter Thiago Silva Returns To Action Friday Night

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNBRMIHrGYQ[/embed]

Remember Thiago Silva? Well, he’s fighting again Friday night and you can catch it live from Brazil.

Silva, who was released by the UFC after a run-in with the law only to be brought back…

thiago-silva

Remember Thiago Silva? Well, he’s fighting again Friday night and you can catch it live from Brazil.

Silva, who was released by the UFC after a run-in with the law only to be brought back and released again before fighting, will headling the Fight 2 Night promotion card against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

The card airs live on GoFightLive! via stream for $14.99.

Below is a press release and the official fight card:

The Brazilian based Fight 2 Night promotion will see it’s November 4th event being headlined by a pair of UFC veterans as Thiago Silva faces Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in a light heavyweight division fight.

Silva has only won just one of three fights since getting released by the UFC, defeating Stav Economou, while suffering defeats to Teddy Holder and Marcus Sursa. Silva, during his seven year run in the UFC, earned some notable victories over James Irvin, Houston Alexander, Keith Jardine and Matt Hamill.

It has been nearly a decade since Sokoudjou last competed in the UFC, but he has spent time competing in Strikeforce, Bellator MMA, DREAM and a host of other organizations. Sokoudjou defeated Kazuhiro Nakamura to get his only UFC win, while suffering defeats to Lyoto Machida and Luiz Cane.

The card will also see UFC veteran Danny Mitchell competing in the co-main event against Leo Leite, that bout will be contested at middleweight.

Mitchell went winless during his two fight stint in the UFC, but he will be entering this fight on the strength of a three fight winning streak. Leite is currently undefeated as a professional MMA fighter and he is the current Legacy Fighting Championships Middleweight Champion.

Fight 2 Night: Silva vs. Sokoudjou takes place on Friday, November 4th from a location to be announced in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Thiago Silva and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou headlining.

Main Card:
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (17-15) vs. Thiago Silva (17-5)

Karl Amoussou (23-7) vs. Hernani Perptuo (18-5)

Cheick Kone(17-4) vs. Paulo Thiago (16-9)

Danny Mitchell (18-8 ) vs. Leo Leite (9-0)

Leo Leite (9-0) vs. Danny ‘The Cheesecake Assassin’ Mitchell (18-7-1)

Bellator 121 Results: Sokoudjou and James Thompson Emerge Victorious, Thompson Gives Rambling, Incoherent Promo About Testicles


(Oh yeah, and this happened. / via Zombie Prophet).

Bellator held it’s first extremely lackluster summer series fight card tonight with Bellator 121. We take a lot of heat for being negative, but this card warrants the hate. It was easily the worst card (on-paper) Bellator has put on in ages.

Let’s talk about the two fights you probably care about most: James Thompson vs. Eric Prindle and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Professional Jobber Terry Davinney


(Oh yeah, and this happened. / via Zombie Prophet).

Bellator held it’s first extremely lackluster summer series fight card tonight with Bellator 121. We take a lot of heat for being negative, but this card warrants the hate. It was easily the weakest card (on-paper) Bellator has put on in ages.

Let’s talk about the two fights you probably care about most: James Thompson vs. Eric Prindle and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Professional Jobber Terry Davinney

Sokoudjou controlled the fight against the doughy Davinney. He was taken down at one point, but managed to sweep Davinney after a minute or two and then finish him with a rear-naked choke (GIF via Zombie Prophet). Not a ton to say about this. It was a textbook squash match but it lacked highlight reel splendor.

Now, Eric Prindle vs. James Thompson. That fight was marketed as King Kong vs. Godzilla and bacon vs. chocolate. It wasn’t. Thompson took Prindle down with comical ease. A few soft ground-and-pound punches (GIF via Zombie Prophet) later and it was over. Nothing special or exciting–save for Thompson’s incomprehensible (but incredible) post fight interview. He talked about a guy having only one testicle. No joke. Watch it for yourself, it was without a doubt the highlight of the night.

In case you’re interested, here are the complete results for the card:

Main Card

Philipe Lins def. Austen Heidlage via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:45
James Thompson def. Eric Prindle via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:55
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Terry Davinney via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:16
Egidijus Valavicius def. Carlos Eduardo via split-decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00

Preliminary Card

Joe Vedepo def. Cortez Coleman via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27) – Round 3, 5:00
Kelly Anundson def. Rodney Wallace via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
Ray Sloan def. Jamelle Jones via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:48
Robert McDaniel def. Matt Jones via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
Steve Garcia def. Cody Walker via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:39
William Florentino def. Guillermo Martinez Ayme via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00

Bellator 121: Results and Recaps from James Thompson vs. Eric Prindle

Love MMA but hate yourself? Then Bellator 121 was the card for you. 
Bellator pulled a last-second switcheroo on fans on Friday. It moved Eric Prindle vs. James Thompson into the co-main event slot and elevated 2014 Summer Series light heavyweight…

Love MMA but hate yourself? Then Bellator 121 was the card for you. 

Bellator pulled a last-second switcheroo on fans on Friday. It moved Eric Prindle vs. James Thompson into the co-main event slot and elevated 2014 Summer Series light heavyweight tournament bout Austen Heidlage vs. Philipe Lins into the main event.

Lins, to his credit, proved that he deserved the extra exposure. The Nova Uniao product displayed some formidable Brazilian jiu-jitsu and demonstrated serious strength by maintaining a standing back mount for well over a minute. Eventually, he managed to get a tight, crushing rear-naked choke and forced Heidlage to tap.

Prindle vs. Thompson, however, proved to be a “colossal” disappointment (See what I did there?). While the bout was pitched as two big dudes who were going to head-butt each other and play reauchambeau until they couldn’t stand up anymore, Prindle came just short of throwing the fight as he simply turtled and awaited defeat after Thompson scored a takedown in the opening seconds.

The fight was partly redeemed, however, when Thompson took the microphone during the post-fight speech and called out Cheick Kongo. He did so, by the way, by launching into a ridiculous tirade involving numerous references to the male anatomy (I am not joking).

In the card’s other bout that made fans say “wait, who is fighting?” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou utterly embarrassed Terry Davinney. The Pride and UFC veteran took the paunchy, beer-loving, probably-should-be-fighting-at-170-pounds light heavyweight down early in the fight, roughed him up with punches and finished him with a rear-naked choke (which is the first submission victory of his silly career).

In addition to that wackiness, the other two bouts in the opening round of the Summer Series light heavyweight tournament also went down.

Egidijus Valavicius took a narrow decision win over Carlos Eduardo in a generally unremarkable fight. Kelly Anundson, meanwhile, took a simple, clean unanimous decision win over Rodney Wallace.

That sets up the tournament’s two semifinal bouts, which will see Valavicius face Liam McGeary (who advanced to the semifinals by beating Mike Mucitelli at Bellator 119) and Anundson face Lins.

The full results are as follows, per MMAFighting.com:

 

Main Card

  • Austen Heidlage vs. Philipe Lins 
  • James Thompson def. Eric Prindle via TKO (punches) at 1:55 of Round 1 
  • Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Terry Davinney via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:16 of Round 1 
  • Egidijus Valavicius def. Carlos Eduardo via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) 

Preliminary Card

  • Kelly Anundson def. Rodney Wallace via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)  
  • Joe Vedepo def. Cortez Coleman via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27) 
  • Stephen Banaszak vs. Treston Thomison 
  • William Florentino def. Guillermo Martinez Ayme via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Steve Garcia def. Cody Walker via first-round KO (0:39)
  • Bubba McDaniel def. Matt Jones via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Ray Sloan def. Jamelle Jones via submission (rear-naked choke) at :48 of Round 1

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Sokoudjou, James Thompson Added to Bellator 121 Main Card [PRIDE NEVA DIE]


(I love the serious, half-bored expressions on the Japanese fans’ faces, as if Giant Silva vs. James Thompson is something totally normal that happens all the time. / Photo via Sherdog)

If Bellator’s “Rampage vs. King Mo” pay-per-view proved one thing, it’s that the promotion could have a future as the world’s premiere home for high-profile freak show MMA. Sure, they’ll never be able to compete with the UFC in terms of talent, but who else is going to throw together open-weight fights featuring broken-down legends or allow furious losing fighters to grab the mic and insult high-ranking executives in profanity-filled tirades?

To put it another way — Bellator isn’t the best MMA league in the world, but it has the potential to be the craziest, and that makes it undeniably compelling. The promotion surely recognizes this, which could help explain the new signings of MMA freak-show veterans Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and James Thompson. Both fighters have been added to the main card of Bellator 121, June 6th at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma (aka, the event that just lost its legitimate headliner).

Sokoudjou’s career highlights include knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the #1 greatest betting-odds upset in MMA history, then putting together a disappointing 1-2 run in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division, then making it to the finals of DREAM’s 2009 Super Hulk Grand Prix, where he was knocked out by Ikuhisa Minowa, of all people. Sokoudjou has gone 7-6 since then, and has lost his two most recent fights by KO/TKO. He’ll be making his Bellator debut against Terry Davinney, a 10-6 journeyman from Grand Rapids, Michigan who scored a 15-second KO of Matt Van Buren in his sole Bellator appearance.

James Thompson, of course, is best known for the angry faces he was making before getting dummied up by Aleksander Emelianenko at PRIDE 28, smushing noses with Don Frye before beating him to death, suffering a questionable stoppage loss against Kimbo Slice, and an even more questionable decision loss against Mariusz Pudzianowski. He’s won his last three fights, most recently submitting Colin Robinson at something called Underdog Xtreme Championships 2 in Belfast back in March. At Bellator 121, he’ll be facing former heavyweight title contender Eric Prindle, who has suffered defeats in his last four Bellator appearances.

After the jump: Videos of Sokoudjou and Thompson beating the crap out of Bob Sapp.


(I love the serious, half-bored expressions on the Japanese fans’ faces, as if Giant Silva vs. James Thompson is something totally normal that happens all the time. / Photo via Sherdog)

If Bellator’s “Rampage vs. King Mo” pay-per-view proved one thing, it’s that the promotion could have a future as the world’s premiere home for high-profile freak show MMA. Sure, they’ll never be able to compete with the UFC in terms of talent, but who else is going to throw together open-weight fights featuring broken-down legends or allow furious losing fighters to grab the mic and insult high-ranking executives in profanity-filled tirades?

To put it another way — Bellator isn’t the best MMA league in the world, but it has the potential to be the craziest, and that makes it undeniably compelling. The promotion surely recognizes this, which could help explain the new signings of MMA freak-show veterans Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and James Thompson. Both fighters have been added to the main card of Bellator 121, June 6th at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma (aka, the event that just lost its legitimate headliner).

Sokoudjou’s career highlights include knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the #1 greatest betting-odds upset in MMA history, then putting together a disappointing 1-2 run in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division, then making it to the finals of DREAM’s 2009 Super Hulk Grand Prix, where he was knocked out by Ikuhisa Minowa, of all people. Sokoudjou has gone 7-6 since then, and has lost his two most recent fights by KO/TKO. He’ll be making his Bellator debut against Terry Davinney, a 10-6 journeyman from Grand Rapids, Michigan who scored a 15-second KO of Matt Van Buren in his sole Bellator appearance.

James Thompson, of course, is best known for the angry faces he was making before getting dummied up by Aleksander Emelianenko at PRIDE 28, smushing noses with Don Frye before beating him to death, suffering a questionable stoppage loss against Kimbo Slice, and an even more questionable decision loss against Mariusz Pudzianowski. He’s won his last three fights, most recently submitting Colin Robinson at something called Underdog Xtreme Championships 2 in Belfast back in March. At Bellator 121, he’ll be facing former heavyweight title contender Eric Prindle, who has suffered defeats in his last four Bellator appearances.

After the jump: Videos of Sokoudjou and Thompson beating the crap out of Bob Sapp.


(Sokoudjou vs. Bob Sapp, DREAM.11, 10/6/09. Listen to Lenne Hardt’s introduction of Sapp from 1:15-1:30. Damn, I’m getting kind of emotional over here.)


(James Thompson vs. Bob Sapp, Super Fight League 1, 3/11/12)

The Nine Most Disappointing Debuts in UFC History


(Photo via Getty)

By Adam Martin

Tomorrow night in Georgia, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returns to the Octagon for the first time since having his face kicked into space by Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8 last May. Although Belfort was coming off a blistering head kick KO of Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7, many were still picking and betting on Rockhold to defeat “The Phenom” in his UFC debut, and the betting line surprisingly closed as a pick ‘em.

Things didn’t go Rockhold’s way that night, to say the least. In hindsight it’s not such a bad loss considering what Belfort did to iron-chinned Dan Henderson in his next bout, but it was still incredibly disappointing for the highly-touted Californian to be knocked out in less than five minutes when — on paper at least — the fight with Belfort should have been much more competitive.

Of course, Rockhold isn’t the first UFC fighter who fell short of expectations in his Octagon debut. The question is, will he rebound in his second fight, or fall deeper into “bust” territory? Read on for our list of eight other fighters who didn’t live up to the hype in their first UFC appearances, and let us know if we’ve left out any notable disappointments.

Ben Rothwell

(Photo via Getty)

After the IFL collapsed, the promotion’s former heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell made his way over to the UFC and debuted against fast-rising contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104. Although Rothwell’s aura of invincibility had been cracked by Andrei Arlovski’s limbs at Affliction: Banned the previous summer, there was still hope that he could get back to his winning ways and make a run for the UFC heavyweight title.

But against Velasquez, it was clear that Rothwell was thoroughly outclassed by a far superior mixed martial artist, and “Big Ben” suffered the second true knockout loss of his career. In hindsight, it’s not surprising that Rothwell couldn’t hang with Velasquez, the current UFC heavyweight champion, but at the time it was a harsh reality check for those hardcore MMA fans who believed in Rothwell after his IFL run.


(Photo via Getty)

By Adam Martin

Tomorrow night in Georgia, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returns to the Octagon for the first time since having his face kicked into space by Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8 last May. Although Belfort was coming off a blistering head kick KO of Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7, many were still picking and betting on Rockhold to defeat “The Phenom” in his UFC debut, and the betting line surprisingly closed as a pick ‘em.

Things didn’t go Rockhold’s way that night, to say the least. In hindsight it’s not such a bad loss considering what Belfort did to iron-chinned Dan Henderson in his next bout, but it was still incredibly disappointing for the highly-touted Californian to be knocked out in less than five minutes when — on paper at least — the fight with Belfort should have been much more competitive.

Of course, Rockhold isn’t the first UFC fighter who fell short of expectations in his Octagon debut. The question is, will he rebound in his second fight, or fall deeper into “bust” territory? Read on for our list of eight other fighters who didn’t live up to the hype in their first UFC appearances, and let us know if we’ve left out any notable disappointments.

Ben Rothwell

(Photo via Getty)

After the IFL collapsed, the promotion’s former heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell made his way over to the UFC and debuted against fast-rising contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104. Although Rothwell’s aura of invincibility had been cracked by Andrei Arlovski’s limbs at Affliction: Banned the previous summer, there was still hope that he could get back to his winning ways and make a run for the UFC heavyweight title.

But against Velasquez, it was clear that Rothwell was thoroughly outclassed by a far superior mixed martial artist, and “Big Ben” suffered the second true knockout loss of his career. In hindsight, it’s not surprising that Rothwell couldn’t hang with Velasquez, the current UFC heavyweight champion, but at the time it was a harsh reality check for those hardcore MMA fans who believed in Rothwell after his IFL run.

Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto

(Photo via Tracy Lee/Yahoo!)

For years, North American fans were hoping and praying for Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto to make his way over to the WEC and fight the other top bantamweights in the world. “KID” never fought in the WEC, but after the UFC swallowed up the promotion and transferred their fighters over to the Octagon, the Japanese superstar got his shot at the big show and took on Demetrious Johnson at UFC 126.

But although Yamamoto was a 2-to-1 favorite over Johnson, he was outwrestled by Johnson and ended up losing a very disappointing three-round decision. Yamamoto then followed that up with two more losses to Darren Uyenoyama and Vaughan Lee, and when you think about how bad he looked in all three bouts, it’s clear Yamamoto wasn’t the same guy who was knocking dudes out left, right and center in Japan. Not even close.

Anthony Pettis

(Photo via MMAWeekly)

Anthony Pettis had just won the last-ever WEC championship with his highlight-reel showtime kick against Benson Henderson at WEC 53 and had earned his way into a UFC title fight against the winner of UFC 125’s Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II. But when Edgar and Maynard fought to a draw, UFC president Dana White told Pettis to take another fight and at the TUF 13 Finale he took on veteran Clay Guida in a fight most expected him to dominate.

But despite Pettis’s flashy striking and Guida’s love of standing and banging with his opponents, “The Carpenter” was able to use a smart wrestling gameplan against Pettis, scoring takedowns and sitting in top control long enough to get the judges’ decision. It was a poor performance by Pettis and he had to win three more fights before he finally got his UFC title shot, but when finally got his crack at the belt he made the most of it, with a submission win over Benson Henderson at UFC 164.

Jake Shields

(Photo via Getty)

Jake Shields had won 14 fights in a row and was coming off a gigantic win over Dan Henderson to retain the Strikeforce middleweight championship when the UFC decided to sign him and put him on the fast track to a title shot. For his first fight, Shields would take on top contender Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, and the winner would earn a fight against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

Despite Shields being a sizeable favorite heading into the match, Kampmann and Shields grappled back-and-forth for 15 minutes, and at the end of three rounds it was tough to say who had won. Although many thought Kampmann did enough to secure the victory, Shields ended up getting his hand raised by split-decision. But while the fight went down as a win on his record, it didn’t help him win any fans in his Octagon debut, as his bout with Kampmann was a total snoozer — something that nearly all of Shields’s UFC fights have ended up being.