The third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil debuted late Sunday night on UFC Fight Pass. The head coaches for the season are Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen. Their rivalry has been the driving force behind the anticipation of the season, and it has been featured prominently in the UFC’s video packages for this season […]
The third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil debuted late Sunday night on UFC Fight Pass. The head coaches for the season are Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen. Their rivalry has been the driving force behind the anticipation of the season, and it has been featured prominently in the UFC’s video packages for this season […]
Bellator continued its 10th season with Bellator 111, live from Oklahoma. The card had a title fight, as well as four heavyweight tournament fights. In two rounds of action, Eduardo Dantas was able to defend his bantamweight title against Anthony Leone with an early candidate for Submission of the Year. After spending most of the […]
Bellator continued its 10th season with Bellator 111, live from Oklahoma. The card had a title fight, as well as four heavyweight tournament fights. In two rounds of action, Eduardo Dantas was able to defend his bantamweight title against Anthony Leone with an early candidate for Submission of the Year. After spending most of the […]
(Note: The heavyweights are never photographed below the shoulders.)
Bellator 111 being able to build off Bellator 110‘s momentum was questionable. After all, three fourths of 111’s main card was comprised of heavyweights with questionable cardiovascular conditioning. What could’ve turned into a disaster instead turned into a decent night of fights (though some were not so decent), with the Bellator bantamweight title up for grabs between champion Eduardo Dantas and challenger Anthony Leone.
On the prelims: Up-and-comers Brent Primus and Abdul Razak both looked impressive. We will watch their next fights with interest. However, we can’t say that we’ll do the same for Eric Prindle, a mainstay in Bellator’s heavyweight division. In his loss to Javy Alaya, he displayed a ground game so awful it made James Toney look like Marcelo Garcia.
Also of note on the prelims: The first heavyweight tournament quarterfinal took place. Blagoi Ivanov bested Rich Hale in a tepid decision with not a whole lot of action.
(Note: The heavyweights are never photographed below the shoulders.)
Bellator 111 being able to build off Bellator 110‘s momentum was questionable. After all, three fourths of 111′s main card was comprised of heavyweights with questionable cardiovascular conditioning. What could’ve turned into a disaster instead turned into a decent night of fights (though some were not so decent), with the Bellator bantamweight title up for grabs between champion Eduardo Dantas and challenger Anthony Leone.
On the prelims: Up-and-comers Brent Primus and Abdul Razak both looked impressive. We will watch their next fights with interest. However, we can’t say that we’ll do the same for Eric Prindle, a mainstay in Bellator’s heavyweight division. In his loss to Javy Alaya, he displayed a ground game so awful it made James Toney look like Marcelo Garcia.
Also of note on the prelims: The first heavyweight tournament quarterfinal took place. Blagoi Ivanov bested Rich Hale in a tepid decision with not a whole lot of action.
In the first fight on the televised portion of the card, former Bellator heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov defeated Mark Holata via TKO. The Russian started off shaky, getting rocked early on in the first round. After some time in the clinch, Volkov managed to floor Holata with a knee and then followed up with brutal ground and pound. It was all over in 81 seconds.
In the next match, kickboxers Peter Graham and Mighty Mo squared off. The first round of this fight wasn’t terrible, but the second and third round were less than spectacular. Mighty Mo and Graham displayed some Eric Prindle-level grappling in those rounds. Mo finally put Graham out of his misery with a half-assed head and arm choke late midway through the third. If you DVR’d the fights, watch this one on fast forward.
The night’s co-main event pitted UFC and Strikeforce vet Lavar Johnson against Ryan Martinez. Martinez wrestled Johnson to the mat early on, making the UFC vet’s chances look grim. Johnson managed to return to his feet. A few of the wildest exchanges we’ve ever seen ensued (like both guys were missing by miles but still swinging anyway). Johnson managed to connect before Martinez, and it was over before the the first round ended.
So the next round of the Bellator heavyweight tournament will look like this:
Mighty Mo vs. Alexander Volkov.
Lavar Johnson vs. Blagoi Ivanov.
Now, onto the main event. Eduardo Dantas pulled off the slickest rear naked choke off all time against Anthony Leone, submitting him in the second round. Our words don’t do the martial artistry justice. You’ll just have to check out the GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA). Trust us, it’s worth it. Dantas’ submission is immediately a candidate for submission of the year (so far). Fortunately, there were no staged scuffles afterwards.
Complete results:
Main Card
Eduardo Dantas def. Anthony Leone via submission (rear naked choke), 2:04 of round 2
Lavar Johnson def. Ryan Martinez via TKO (punches), 4:22 of round 1
Mighty Mo def. Peter Graham via submission (head and arm choke), 2:31 of round 3
Alexander Volkov def. Mark Holata (punches), 1:21 of round 1
Preliminary Card
Blagoi Ivanov def. Rich Hale via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cortez Coleman def. Daniel Miller via verbal submission (strikes), 4:49 of round 2
Javy Ayala def. Eric Prindle via TKO (doctor stoppage), 2:05 of round 3
Abdul Razak def. Matt Jones via TKO (punches), 1:23 of round 1
Brent Primus def. Chris Jones via TKO (punches), 1:45 of round 1
Chris Gutierrez def. Justin McNally via TKO (strikes), 2:50 of round 1
The UFC’s first TUF season in China is over. Zhang Lipeng defeated Wang Sai to become the first-ever Chinese Ultimate Fighter winner.
But I’m sure most of you don’t really care too much about that. After all, TUF china was a show with a recruitment policy so lax that an 0-0 yoga instructor somehow made it into the cast.
Despite the questionable levels of talent present, there were a few important fights on the card—relevant matches and interesting clashes of styles. Which fights were those? We’re gonna recap them for you.
(Photo via Getty)
The UFC’s first TUF season in China is over. Zhang Lipeng defeated Wang Sai to become the first-ever Chinese Ultimate Fighter winner.
But I’m sure most of you don’t really care too much about that. After all, TUF china was a show with a recruitment policy so lax that an 0-0 yoga instructor somehow made it into the cast.
Despite the questionable levels of talent present, there were a few important fights on the card—relevant matches and interesting clashes of styles. Which fights were those? We’re gonna recap them for you.
Vaughan Lee decisioned Nam Phan. It was a fight in which Lee never lost control. His striking was too accurate and too quick for Phan to counter. Lee was able to shrug off Phan’s takedown attempts as well.
Kazuki Tokudome was on the wrong side of a split decision against Yui Chul Nam in what was a barn-burner. Nam nearly finished Tokudome in the first round, but punched himself out. This enabled a stunning comeback from Tokudome in the second round, where he returned the favor and nearly finished Nam. The match was decided in the third round, where Nam wobbled Tokudome with a right hand and landed two takedowns.
Hatsu Hioki vs. Ivan Menjivar kicked off the four-fight main card. This fight was pretty straightforward. Hioki was the superior grappler, and he let Menjivar know it throughout the first two rounds, taking him down and working for a variety of submissions. Menjivar had a glimmer of hope in the third round when he landed a right hand that had Hioki hurt, but Menjivar couldn’t capitalize on it. Hioki took home a unanimous decision win for his efforts.
The heavyweights came in for the next fight. Matt Mitrione and Shawn Jordan met in the center of the cage and threw leather. Mitrione managed to throw a bit more, however, and ultimately knocked out Jordan at the 4:59 mark of the first round. Here’s the GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA).
The co-main event featured TUF: China welterweight finalists Zhang Lipeng and Wang Sai. In a closely contested fight, Lipeng managed to edge past Sai by less than a hair’s width.
The night’s main event (or morning’s main event since the card began at around 6:30 am EST) was worth the price of UFC Fight Pass admission. John Hathaway and Dong Hyun Kim put on a show. Kim decided to abandon his grappling in favor of brawling. Hathaway was happy to oblige, which for him was a poor decision—a gorgeous spinning back elbow from Kim left him staring at the ceiling. Kim won the fight via KO at 1:02 of round 3. Check out the GIF (again via @ZProphet_MMA).
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Dong Hyun Kim def. John Hathaway via knockout (elbow) – Round 3, 1:02
Zhang Lipeng def. Wang Sai via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Matt Mitrione def. Shawn Jordan via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
Hatsu Hioki def. Ivan Menjivar via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Yui Chul Nam def. Kazuki Tokudome via split decision (29-27, 27-28, 29-28)
Vaughan Lee def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Anying Wang def. Albert Cheng via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
Mark Eddiva def. Jumabieke Tuerxun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Make it two-for-two for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in Bellator, as he knocked out Christian M’Pumbu in the first round at Bellator 110 Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., to advance to the final of the light heavyweight tournament. The knockout seemingly came out of nowhere. For most of the first round, the […]
Make it two-for-two for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in Bellator, as he knocked out Christian M’Pumbu in the first round at Bellator 110 Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., to advance to the final of the light heavyweight tournament. The knockout seemingly came out of nowhere. For most of the first round, the […]
Bellator is back, but not necessarily in a big way. Bellator 110 saw the more marketable Rampage Jackson and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal prevail, but neither man looked stellar.
What about the rest of the card? The event started off rocky. The first two preliminary bouts ended in unsatisfying no contests—the first due to an accidental illegal knee. The second was the result of an accidental eye poke.
Of note: Daniel Weichel defeated Scott Cleve in the quarterfinal round of Bellator’s season 10 featherweight tournament. He won via submission, though the rear-naked choke was set up by a gorgeous straight right. When Cleve was on the mat, his brains were far too scrambled to adequately prevent Weichel from taking his back and working for the choke. In another prelim quarterfinal bout, Will Martinez upset the highly touted, 21-year-old prospect, Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision. Martinez was stronger and fought a smarter fight. He bullied and smothered Yamauchi, who was stymied by Martinez’s aggression.
The main card kicked off with the third featherweight tournament quarterfinal.
(Photo via Getty)
Bellator is back, but not necessarily in a big way. Bellator 110 saw the more marketable Rampage Jackson and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal prevail, but neither man looked stellar.
What about the rest of the card? The event started off rocky. The first two preliminary bouts ended in unsatisfying no contests—the first due to an accidental illegal knee. The second was the result of an accidental eye poke.
Of note: Daniel Weichel defeated Scott Cleve in the quarterfinal round of Bellator’s season 10 featherweight tournament. He won via submission, though the rear-naked choke was set up by a gorgeous straight right. When Cleve was on the mat, his brains were far too scrambled to adequately prevent Weichel from taking his back and working for the choke. In another prelim quarterfinal bout, Will Martinez upset the highly touted, 21-year-old prospect, Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision. Martinez was stronger and fought a smarter fight. He bullied and smothered Yamauchi, who was stymied by Martinez’s aggression.
The main card kicked off with the third featherweight tournament quarterfinal. Mike Richman met Des Green. The latter fighter prevailed in a closely contested but ultimately forgettable decision win.
Up next came the fourth and final featherweight tournament quarterfinal bout. Matt Bessette faced off against UFC veteran Diego Nunes . This match was even closer than Richman-Green, and had more entertainment value to boot (head kicks galore, good exchanges, an active guard on display, etc). Bessette walked away with a split decision victory.
The co-main event of the evening featured Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in a light heavyweight tournament semifinal (yes, you read that right. It’s a semifinal; the Bellator season 10 LHW tourney only has four fights) against Mikhail Zayats. This was by far the worst fight of the night. King Mo was expected to thrash Zayats, but he did no such thing. He gassed early, and never mounted much meaningful offense. Some few-and-far-between strikes and takedown attempts earned King Mo a unanimous decision win. If he shows up like this against Rampage Jackson (yes, even de -motivated 2014 Rampage), he’ll be destroyed—especially since Jackson’s performance was superior to Mo’s.
Jackson fought Christian M’Pumbu in the main event. The fight was awful until Jackson capitalized on M’Pumbu slipping, earning a TKO with ground and pound. How bad was the fight though? Both men literally put their hands down and started shrugging at each other in the first 30 seconds, perplexed at the other’s inactivity. This glorified dance routine continued until the end of the fight (save for one impressive flurry by Jackson).
If the fight was bad, the post-fight hysterics were worse. First, Jackson stood over M’pumbu’s listless body and started shouting at him. After that bit of theater, Jackson interrupted his own post-fight interview to start screaming at King Mo when he was brought into the cage. It got ugly, a bunch of pudgy production guys had to separate the two. It wasn’t quite Strikeforce: Nashville bad but it was close.
Rampage Jackson def. Christian M’Pumbu via KO, 4:34 of round 1
Muhammad Lawal def. Mikhail Zayats via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Matt Bessette def. Diego Nunes via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Desmond Green def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Will Martinez def. Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Daniel Weichel def. Scott Cleve via submission (rear naked choke), 3:46 of round 1
Saul Almeida def. Andrew Fisher via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Egidijus Valavicius def. Atanas Djambazov via KO, 0:48 of round 1
Ryan Quinn de. Andrew Calandrelli via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Manny Lara vs. Josh Diekman, No Contest, 0:18 of round 1
Marvin Maldonado vs. Rico DiSciullo, No Contest, 1:53 of round 1
