The whistling of Conor McGregor‘s hypetrain heading into UFC 178 made it easy to forget about Bellator 126. However, as always, CagePotato has you covered with a Bellator recap post.
Here’s a rundown of the fight card, with GIFs courtesy @ZProphet_MMA.
In the opener, Mike Richman knocked Ed West OUT COLD. Richman had control of the stand-up throughout the fight. He masterfully cut off the cage, forcing West to literally run from him at points. Late in the first round, West couldn’t run anymore. Richman landed a massive two-punch combo while West was against the cage that sucked the life out of him. See the GIF after the jump.
The whistling of Conor McGregor‘s hypetrain heading into UFC 178 made it easy to forget about Bellator 126. However, as always, CagePotato has you covered with a Bellator recap post.
In the opener, Mike Richman knocked Ed West OUT COLD. Richman had control of the stand-up throughout the fight. He masterfully cut off the cage, forcing West to literally run from him at points. Late in the first round, West couldn’t run anymore. Richman landed a massive two-punch combo while West was against the cage that sucked the life out of him.
Then came wrestling standout Bubba Jenkins against Thiago Meller. The fight was all Jenkins, who lived up to his grinder reputation and smothered Meller for the full 15 minutes of the fight. But it wasn’t just “lay and pray.” Jenkins punished Meller throughout the fight, making his face look like hamburger meat. Meller, to his credit, almost caught a guillotine a couple times. The Z-man (that’s what we’re calling him now) didn’t post any GIFs of this fight.
In the co-main event famed Polish prospect Marcin Held met Bellator mainstay Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in the next fight. Held put on an incredible performance. Save for a couple minutes in the first round, Held controlled the entire fight. Held’s wrestling always seemed to be deficient in his last few fights, but his improvements in that area were apparent as he took down Freire repeatedly. Once the fight went to the ground, Held maintained dominant positions and controlled the scrambles. He even opened up a nice cut underneath Freire’s eye. He won a unanimous decision win. Check out the GIF of an insane takedown he landed in the first round:
The main event was a title bout between middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko and challenger Brandon Halsey. It was the least competitive bout of the night. Halsey dragged Shlemenko to the mat, took his back, and choked him out in under a minute. If MMA were Mortal Kombat, this would be a “Flawless Victory.”
Here are the complete results of the card:
Main Card
Brandon Halsey def. Alexander Shlemenko via submission (rear naked choke), Round 1, 0:35.
Marcin Held def. Patricky Freire via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26).
Bubba Jenkins def. Thiago Meller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Mike Richman def. Ed West via KO (punches), Round 1, 2:44.
Preliminary Card
LaRue Burley def. Raymond Pina via submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 0:22.
Clifford Starks def. Jacob Ortiz via technical submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 0:52.
Nick Rossborough def. Ryan Martinez via TKO (injury), Round 1, 5:00.
Joe Taimanglo def. Michael Parker via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
Dan Charles def. Stuart Austin via knockout (punches), Round 3, 0:18.
Derek Campos def. Estevan Payan via knockout (punch), Round 1, 0:31.
Brandon Girtz def. Benny Madrid via TKO (punches), Round 1, 0:57.
Episode 5 of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America ended with one of the nastiest knockouts in TUF history, as Team Werdum bantamweight Marlon “Chito” Vera knocked Team Velasquez’s Enrique “Henry Bure” Briones clean out with an upkick from his guard. The timing of the shot was outstanding, as Briones was just getting to his feet; had the kick landed a quarter-second earlier, it would have been illegal. The victory was the first for the multi-national Team Werdum, who lost the season’s first four matches to Velasquez’s all-Mexican squad.
Episode 5 of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America ended with one of the nastiest knockouts in TUF history, as Team Werdum bantamweight Marlon “Chito” Vera knocked Team Velasquez’s Enrique “Henry Bure” Briones clean out with an upkick from his guard. The timing of the shot was outstanding, as Briones was just getting to his feet; had the kick landed a quarter-second earlier, it would have been illegal. The victory was the first for the multi-national Team Werdum, who lost the season’s first four matches to Velasquez’s all-Mexican squad.
Today was Judgement Day for a trio of misbehaving UFC stars, as the Nevada State Athletic Commission held a disciplinary hearing today to address the infamous Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormiermedia day brawl in August, as well as Wanderlei Silva‘s equally-infamous dodging of a random drug test in May. Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first — the punishments:
– Jon Jones was fined $50,000 for his role in the brawl, which is 10% of his disclosed purse for his upcoming fight against Cormier in January. He will also be required to complete 40 hours of community service in Las Vegas; Jones is not psychedabout that part, as he feels it will impact his training for the fight.
– Daniel Cormier was fined $9,000, which is 10% of his disclosed purse for his upcoming fight against Jones. Cormier will be required to complete 20 hours of community service in his hometown of San Jose, CA. The Nevada Commission felt that Cormier had less responsibility in the brawl — despite the fact that Cormier made first contact — and gave DC a smaller community service requirement as a result.
Today was Judgement Day for a trio of misbehaving UFC stars, as the Nevada State Athletic Commission held a disciplinary hearing today to address the infamous Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormiermedia day brawl in August, as well as Wanderlei Silva‘s equally-infamous dodging of a random drug test in May. Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first — the punishments:
– Jon Jones was fined $50,000 for his role in the brawl, which is 10% of his disclosed purse for his upcoming fight against Cormier in January. He will also be required to complete 40 hours of community service in Las Vegas; Jones is not psychedabout that part, as he feels it will impact his training for the fight.
– Daniel Cormier was fined $9,000, which is 10% of his disclosed purse for his upcoming fight against Jones. Cormier will be required to complete 20 hours of community service in his hometown of San Jose, CA. The Nevada Commission felt that Cormier had less responsibility in the brawl — despite the fact that Cormier made first contact — and gave DC a smaller community service requirement as a result.
Here’s what else you missed, if you didn’t watch the Fight Pass stream…
Jon Jones claimed that his brawl with Cormier cost him a six-figure sponsorship with Nike, as well as another potential six-figure sponsorship that he and his lawyer wouldn’t name. Cormier said that some of the kids in his wrestling program left because of the brawl. Advantage: Jones.
Jones apologized to the commission, to the fans and to the sports of wrestling, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and boxing as well as the “great sport of MMA.”
Jones told the commission that he had planned to make forehead to forehead contact with Cormier that he had made with other fighters Rashad Evans, Brandon Vera and others. He said that when Cormier touched his throat he felt he had to respond to show he was still champion.
Jones said his howl after the brawl was an instinctive, primal gesture, not a planned action. He said he was feeding off the excitement of the crowd and their enthusiasm for the brawl…
Another commissioner pointed out the absence of Dana White might have played a role and that the UFC learned that “a real presence” is required…
(Underhooks, Sholler! Like we did in practice!)
Commissioner Brady asked for mercy for Jones due to his having already lost one of his fights this year due to injury…
The commissioners said they are “pissed off” at the outcome of “the last time we tried to do something non-traditional” which presumably refers to attempts to use Chael Sonnen as an advisor on drug testing and testosterone replacement issues…
Cormier then appeared before the commission. His attorney said the NSAC was under pressure from the media due to the “non-sporting event actions of athletes” and he pointed out that “this is not a domestic violence situation, not a drunken driving situation and not a brawl between a professional athlete and a non-professional. Rather it was a brawl at an event designed to promote a fight.”
Cormier’s attorney says that he is standing by his filing that the brawl was a self-defense action on Cormier’s part and that his client is not at fault…
One of the commissioners asked Cormier what he could have done differently. Cormier said he could have taken a step back. [Ed. note: Like a punk?? Nah, son.]
Cormier told the commission that he was surprised by the intensity of the stare down because he and Jones had been cordial backstage before the stare down.
UFC Fight Night 52 delivered in the wee hours of the morning. From the undercard to the main card, the card from the land of the rising sun gave fans of MMA action throughout. The card was capped off by a heavyweight tilt between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson. It was everything people wanted it […]
UFC Fight Night 52 delivered in the wee hours of the morning. From the undercard to the main card, the card from the land of the rising sun gave fans of MMA action throughout. The card was capped off by a heavyweight tilt between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson. It was everything people wanted it […]
I decided not to do a “TUF Checklist” post for TUF 20 episode 2, because there were no absurd Dana White exaggerations, none of the women said “I’m not here to make friends” or made any scary proclamations, there were no misleading teases for future episodes, and honestly, the ladies didn’t really “bring it” during the fight. (#2-ranked Joanne Calderwood looked hesitant and flat in the first round, and still managed to beat #15-seed Emily Kagan in a two-round majority decision.) The updated TUF 20 bracket is here, if you’re interested.
Luckily, the Ultimate Fighter YouTube channel has posted clips of the relevant moments from last night’s episode, as well as some unaired footage. Notably absent: The scene where some of the Team Pettis fighters tell their coaches that they’re not happy with the stop-and-go vibe of the training. According to Randa Markos, that confrontation may have compelled Duke Roufus to leave the show.
The clips continue after the jump. If you have any thoughts on the episode — other than the obvious — please share ’em.
I decided not to do a “TUF Checklist” post for TUF 20 episode 2, because there were no absurd Dana White exaggerations, none of the women said “I’m not here to make friends” or made any scary proclamations, there were no misleading teases for future episodes, and honestly, the ladies didn’t really “bring it” during the fight. (#2-ranked Joanne Calderwood looked hesitant and flat in the first round, and still managed to beat #15-seed Emily Kagan in a two-round majority decision.) The updated TUF 20 bracket is here, if you’re interested.
Luckily, the Ultimate Fighter YouTube channel has posted clips of the relevant moments from last night’s episode, as well as some unaired footage. Notably absent: The scene where some of the Team Pettis fighters tell their coaches that they’re not happy with the stop-and-go vibe of the training. According to Randa Markos, that confrontation may have compelled Duke Roufus to leave the show.
The clips continue after the jump. If you have any thoughts on the episode — other than the obvious — please share ‘em.
I decided not to do a “TUF Checklist” post for TUF 20 episode 2, because there were no absurd Dana White exaggerations, none of the women said “I’m not here to make friends” or made any scary proclamations, there were no misleading teases for future episodes, and honestly, the ladies didn’t really “bring it” during the fight. (#2-ranked Joanne Calderwood looked hesitant and flat in the first round, and still managed to beat #15-seed Emily Kagan in a two-round majority decision.) The updated TUF 20 bracket is here, if you’re interested.
Luckily, the Ultimate Fighter YouTube channel has posted clips of the relevant moments from last night’s episode, as well as some unaired footage. Notably absent: The scene where some of the Team Pettis fighters tell their coaches that they’re not happy with the stop-and-go vibe of the training. According to Randa Markos, that confrontation may have compelled Duke Roufus to leave the show.
The clips continue after the jump. If you have any thoughts on the episode — other than the obvious — please share ’em.
I decided not to do a “TUF Checklist” post for TUF 20 episode 2, because there were no absurd Dana White exaggerations, none of the women said “I’m not here to make friends” or made any scary proclamations, there were no misleading teases for future episodes, and honestly, the ladies didn’t really “bring it” during the fight. (#2-ranked Joanne Calderwood looked hesitant and flat in the first round, and still managed to beat #15-seed Emily Kagan in a two-round majority decision.) The updated TUF 20 bracket is here, if you’re interested.
Luckily, the Ultimate Fighter YouTube channel has posted clips of the relevant moments from last night’s episode, as well as some unaired footage. Notably absent: The scene where some of the Team Pettis fighters tell their coaches that they’re not happy with the stop-and-go vibe of the training. According to Randa Markos, that confrontation may have compelled Duke Roufus to leave the show.
The clips continue after the jump. If you have any thoughts on the episode — other than the obvious — please share ‘em.
