Tag: Recap

Bellator 64 Recap: A Busy Night for Judges

An artist’s rendering of what Askren’s ground and pound might look like (Photo: Sherdog.com)

I’m not going to say that this was the most boring Bellator card in recent memory, but I will tell you that my DVR got tired of recording it and gave up before the Welterweight title fight had even begun. One of the risks of live televised fights is that they’ll go over the allotted time frame, particularly during a decision-laden event like Bellator 64. For those fans who don’t appreciate the nuances of champion Ben Askren’s suffocating ground game, having the evening’s finale blotted from your television may have been a blessing in disguise.

This season’s Bantamweight tournament kicked off with a quarterfinal pairing of undefeated twenty year old Rodrigo Lima and the seasoned Hiroshi Nakamura. Lima found himself on his back throughout the fight, but took no rest on the canvas as he tirelessly worked for every submission in the book. Nakamura—whose 87% win-by-decision record could compete with any of the UFC’s top grinders—kept all four limbs out of serious danger and stifled Lima’s ground game long enough to launch some ground and pound in the third frame. His takedowns and top control, coupled with a point awarded for absorbing a pair of unintentional knees to the nuts, were enough to bring home the unanimous 29-27 decision.

An artist’s rendering of what Askren’s ground and pound might look like (Photo: Sherdog.com)

I’m not going to say that this was the most boring Bellator card in recent memory, but I will tell you that my DVR got tired of recording it and gave up before the Welterweight title fight had even begun. One of the risks of live televised fights is that they’ll go over the allotted time frame, particularly during a decision-laden event like Bellator 64. For those fans who don’t appreciate the nuances of champion Ben Askren‘s suffocating ground game, having the evening’s finale blotted from your television may have been a blessing in disguise.

This season’s Bantamweight tournament kicked off with a quarterfinal pairing of undefeated twenty year old Rodrigo Lima and the seasoned Hiroshi Nakamura. Lima found himself on his back throughout the fight, but took no rest on the canvas as he tirelessly worked for every submission in the book. Nakamura—whose 87% win-by-decision record could compete with any of the UFC’s top grinders—kept all four limbs out of serious danger and stifled Lima’s ground game long enough to launch some ground and pound in the third frame. His takedowns and top control, coupled with a point awarded for absorbing a pair of unintentional knees to the nuts, were enough to bring home the unanimous 29-27 decision.

In other Bantamweight tourney action, underdog Travis Marx showed little fear in welcoming Masakatsu Ueda to the U-S-of-A. The Japanese fighter was the heavy favorite in his promotional debut, but not heavy enough to deal with the size and strength of his opponent. Marx ragdolled Ueda with a massive slam in the first round, but the former Shooto champ was unfazed by the throw and started working for a kimura on impact. Marx escaped and continued to use his wrestling and strength advantage to win the grappling exchanges and maintain control when jockeying for position on the ground. All three judges scored the fight for Marx 29-28.

Brazilians Marlon Sandro and Alexandre Bezerra squared off to see who would advance to the Featherweight tournament finals. Sandro was able to get off early and often in round one, finding a home for his hands and taking ‘Popo’s’ legs out from under him with kicks while Bezerra looked to counter with a big left that never came. The exchanges played out the same in round two with both men throwing but neither unloading on their opponent. Bezerra took over as the aggressor in the final frame, driving in on Sandro and suplexing him to the mat. After a bizarre standup by referee Yves Lavigne—which came as the two dueled for leglocks—Popo rocked his hero twice with heavy hands, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the two round deficit. Sandro took home the split decision victory and will move on to the finals.

The definition of love is knowing how the Ben Askren-Douglas Lima bout played out and still watching it for you bastards. Askren employed his grappling-heavy attack to take Lima’s stand-up out of the equation, and while the challenger was able to delay some of “Funky’s” takedowns he could not keep off of his back for any significant length of time. Askren’s ground and pound was more active than it was damaging, but he dominated Lima for all five rounds. Lima attempted sweeps and threatened with multiple armbars, but he could never seize control of the fight from from the champ. Both the 50-45 decision and the boos from the audience were unanimous. The win marks six straight victories via scorecard for Askren, a fitting end to the evening’s action.

Full Results: (via FightoftheNight.com)

Main Card:

Ben Askren def. Douglas Lima via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Marlon Sandro def. Alexandre Bezerra via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Travis Marx def. Masakatsu Ueda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Hiroshi Nakamura def. Rodigo Lima via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Prelims:

Mike Richman def. Chris Horodecki via knockout (punches) at 1:23 of Round 1
Chad Laprise def. Josh Taveirne via submission (triangle choke) at 2:48 of Round 1
Kyle Prepolec def. Lance Snow via submission (arm-bar) at 2:54 of Round 1
Elias Theodorou def. Rich Lictawa via verbal submission (blindness) at 0:33 of Round 3
Nordine Taleb def. Matt Secor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-24)
Taylor Solomon def. Jason Fischer via via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:59 of Round 3

And Now He’s Retired: John Olav Einemo


(John Einemo, the only man to ever truly smell what The Rock was cookin’.)

Norwegian news site VG.no is reporting that former UFC heavyweight John Olav Einemo has decided to call it a career after being cut from the promotion following his loss to Mike Russow at UFC on Fox 2.

Although Einemo told reporters that the UFC had left the proverbial door open for his return if he was able to put a couple wins together in smaller promotions, Einemo felt that the time he had to spend away from his family during the training process was simply too much to handle. Apparently his wife and kids didn’t drive him crazy. For those of you who are suddenly overwhelmed with panic as to when you’ll see J.O.E again, fret not, for he plans to help build upon Norway’s ever-growing MMA scene as a coach somewhere down the line.

Nevermind, this is likely the last we’ll see of Einemo before the trolls get him.


(John Einemo, the only man to ever truly smell what The Rock was cookin’.)

Norwegian news site VG.no is reporting that former UFC heavyweight John Olav Einemo has decided to call it a career after being cut from the promotion following his loss to Mike Russow at UFC on Fox 2.

Although Einemo told reporters that the UFC had left the proverbial door open for his return if he was able to put a couple wins together in smaller promotions, Einemo felt that the time he had to spend away from his family during the training process was simply too much to handle. Apparently his wife and kids didn’t drive him crazy. For those of you who are suddenly overwhelmed with panic as to when you’ll see J.O.E again, fret not, for he plans to help build upon Norway’s ever-growing MMA scene as a coach somewhere down the line.

Nevermind, this is likely the last we’ll see of Einemo before the trolls get him.

“The Viking” started off his MMA career in October of 2000, amassing five straight wins under the Shooto, Finnfight, and Focus Fight banners, with none of those wins making it out of the first round. In 2003, Einemo became the first and last man to defeat Roger Gracie in ADCC competition at the finals of the ADCC trials (88-98 kg weight class). He also holds notable grappling victories over Alexandre Ferreira, Bellator vet Vitor Vianna, and Rolles Gracie.

Einemo would suffer his first professional defeat to Farbicio Werdum at Pride 31 in 2006, which was quickly overshadowed by an in ring riot between the Chute Box camp, Mark Coleman, and Phil Baroni in which Wanderlei Silva had his head stepped on. Ah, the good old days. After claiming his place alongside the approximately 200 men to have beaten James Thompson later that year, Einemo would take a five year hiatus from the sport, likely to help hunt the aforementioned trolls that plague Norway’s mountainous regions.

Einemo emerged from hiding in 2011 when he signed with the UFC and put in a Fight of the Night earning performance against Dave Herman at UFC 131. Despite Einemo’s extensive BJJ background, the fight was contested mostly on the feet, with both men rocking the other on more than one occasion. Herman would have the last laugh, however, finishing Einemo off midway through the second round. Shortly thereafter, Einemo was axed along with several other fighters signed under Golden Glory management due to ongoing contract disputes.

It wasn’t long until an agreement was reached between the two and Einemo, along with Alistair and Valentijn Overeem, were allowed to come back to their Zuffa-financed jobs. Marloes Coenen, on the other hand, was shipped off to a deserted island and forced to feed on Dutch celebrities whilst searching for buried treasure. And they say chivalry is dead in the world.

Einemo would try to bounce back at UFC on FOX 2, where he faced off against the deceivingly talented Mike Russow, who was riding a ten fight win streak at the time. Things would not go Einemo’s way, as he would find himself trapped beneath Russow’s amorphous figure for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision loss.

We here at CP would just like to wish John (can we call you John?) the best of luck in all of his future endeavors. Do the same in the comments section, Potato Nation.

-J. Jones

‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’ Complete Episode 2 Video


(On next week’s episode: The machete-and-claws deathmatch between Rony Jason and Hugo Wolverine.)

My complete ignorance of the Portugeuse language kept me from fully appreciating yesterday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, but I do know that teams were selected, UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo stopped by to hang out with Team Wanderlei, and the first featherweight quarterfinal went down between Wagner “Galeto” Campos and Godofredo “Pepey” de Oliveira. Team breakdowns are below, and the full episode video (including result spoiler) is after the jump, courtesy of TUFBrazil…

Team Wanderlei: [FEATHERWEIGHTS] Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra, John “Macapa” Teixeira, Wagner “Galeto” Campos, Marcos Vinicius “Vina” Borges Pancini, [MIDDLEWEIGHTS] Leonardo “Macarrao” Mafra Teixeira, Delson “Pe de Chumbo” Heleno, Francisco “Massaranduba” Drinaldo, Renee Forte

Team Vitor: [FEATHERWEIGHTS] Hugo “Wolverine” Viana, Anistavio “Gasparzinho” Medeiros, Godofredo “Pepey” de Oliveira, Rodrigo Damm, [MIDDLEWEIGHTS] Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira, Daniel Sarafian, Sergio “Serginho” Moraes, Thiago “Bodao” Rela


(On next week’s episode: The machete-and-claws deathmatch between Rony Jason and Hugo Wolverine.)

My complete ignorance of the Portugeuse language kept me from fully appreciating yesterday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, but I do know that teams were selected, UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo stopped by to hang out with Team Wanderlei, and the first featherweight quarterfinal went down between Wagner “Galeto” Campos and Godofredo “Pepey” de Oliveira. Team breakdowns are below, and the full episode video (including result spoiler) is after the jump, courtesy of TUFBrazil…

Team Wanderlei: [FEATHERWEIGHTS] Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra, John “Macapa” Teixeira, Wagner “Galeto” Campos, Marcos Vinicius “Vina” Borges Pancini, [MIDDLEWEIGHTS] Leonardo “Macarrao” Mafra Teixeira, Delson “Pe de Chumbo” Heleno, Francisco “Massaranduba” Drinaldo, Renee Forte

Team Vitor: [FEATHERWEIGHTS] Hugo “Wolverine” Viana, Anistavio “Gasparzinho” Medeiros, Godofredo “Pepey” de Oliveira, Rodrigo Damm, [MIDDLEWEIGHTS] Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira, Daniel Sarafian, Sergio “Serginho” Moraes, Thiago “Bodao” Rela


(Godofredo “Pepey” de Oliveira def. Wagner “Galeto” Campos via decision, and advances to the featherweight semis; fight starts at the 34-minute mark. Any Brazilians in the house want to teach us the phrase that Yamasaki uses to start the fight? You know, the one that sounds like “POPOUT’UH!”?)

“WMMA: McCorkle vs. Heden” — Big Sexy Gets TKO’d, Parisyan and Fancy Pants Win Big

(McCorkle vs. Heden round 1; round 2 is after the jump. Props: PVTHansen16)

Notably stacked for a regional card, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts‘ debut event went down Saturday night in El Paso, Texas, and was highlighted by an upset in the main event and a handful of UFC vets smashing their way into the win column.

At this point, when Sean McCorkle gets booked against a smaller, doughier opponent with a journeyman’s record, we just assume that “Big Sexy” will bully his way to a first-round stoppage without much difficulty. But WMMA 1’s super-heavyweight main event didn’t go down like that. Though McCorkle (who tipped the scales at 312 pounds) came very close to finishing the 287-pound Brian Heden near the end of the first round, he blew his cardio wad in the process. With McCorkle barely able to lift his arms in round two, Heden was able to reverse a takedown, trap McCorkle’s left arm, and slug his way to a TKO victory. According to Danga, the announcer referred to the win as “the upset of the century.” (Somewhere, Gus Johnson is masturbating.) In a follow-up post on the UG, McCorkle lamented the cardio problems that have plagued his entire athletic career, credited Heden for showing up in “decent shape”* and vowed to retire if his cardio ever contributed to another loss.

In the co-main event, Karo Parisyan snapped a three-fight losing streak when he scored a unanimous decision over veteran Thomas Denny. Even more impressive, Drew Fickett snapped a four-fight losing streak when he choked out WEC/Bellator vet Kevin Knabjian, despite reports that Fickett was pretty well sauced throughout fight week. (Obviously, it could have been worse.)


(McCorkle vs. Heden round 1; round 2 is after the jump. Props: PVTHansen16)

Notably stacked for a regional card, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts‘ debut event went down Saturday night in El Paso, Texas, and was highlighted by an upset in the main event and a handful of UFC vets smashing their way into the win column.

At this point, when Sean McCorkle gets booked against a smaller, doughier opponent with a journeyman’s record, we just assume that “Big Sexy” will bully his way to a first-round stoppage without much difficulty. But WMMA 1′s super-heavyweight main event didn’t go down like that. Though McCorkle (who tipped the scales at 312 pounds) came very close to finishing the 287-pound Brian Heden near the end of the first round, he blew his cardio wad in the process. With McCorkle barely able to lift his arms in round two, Heden was able to reverse a takedown, trap McCorkle’s left arm, and slug his way to a TKO victory. According to Danga, the announcer referred to the win as “the upset of the century.” (Somewhere, Gus Johnson is masturbating.) In a follow-up post on the UG, McCorkle lamented the cardio problems that have plagued his entire athletic career, credited Heden for showing up in “decent shape”* and vowed to retire if his cardio ever contributed to another loss.

In the co-main event, Karo Parisyan snapped a three-fight losing streak when he scored a unanimous decision over veteran Thomas Denny. Even more impressive, Drew Fickett snapped a four-fight losing streak when he choked out WEC/Bellator vet Kevin Knabjian, despite reports that Fickett was pretty well sauced throughout fight week. (Obviously, it could have been worse.)

Further down the card, Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm rebounded from his two-fight skid in Strikeforce with a first-round guillotine choke against Cleburn Walker. Also, UFC veteran Rodney “Sho Nuff the Master” Wallace outpointed Derrick Mehmen, while TUF 10 punchline Darrill Schoonover scored the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision against Paul Buentello. The full list of results from WMMA 1 — as well as the stunning conclusion of McCorkle vs. Heden — are below.

– Brian Heden def. Sean McCorkle via TKO in round two
– Karo Parisyan def. Thomas Denny via unanimous decision
– Lyle Beerbohm def. Cleburn Walker via submission (guillotine choke) in round one
– Drew Fickett def. Kevin Knabjian via submission (guillotine choke) in round one
– Willie Parks def. Jamaine Facey via unanimous decision
– Rodney Wallace def. Derrick Mehmen via unanimous decision
– Darrill Schoonover def. Paul Buentello via unanimous decision
– Chris Gruetzemacher def. Frank Gomez via TKO in round one
– Esteves Jones def. Deutsch Pu’u via TKO in round one
– Lionel Lanham def. Brad Peterson via TKO in round one

* I was going to make a lame joke about “round” being a shape, but Heden’s body-type is more “amorphous” than anything else.

Bellator 63 Recap: Cleveland Chokes, Cavemen Rejoice

Karl Amoussou vs. Chris Lozano, courtesy of IronForgesIron.com

As dangerous as Cleveland can be as a city, it has struggled to field decent sports teams and produce champions (not to mention keeping them). Last night at Bellator 63, which gave viewers the Quarterfinal round of this season’s welterweight tournament, “The Cleveland Assassin” Chris Lozano looked to break the cycle and make a run at Bellator’s welterweight title. If you’ve been paying any attention, you already know what to expect.

Perhaps no one in MMA other than Chael Sonnen embraces his alter-ego more than Lozano’s opponent, “Psycho” Karl Amoussou, who had Lozano uncharacteristically angered with his psycho routine before the fight. While that didn’t translate to either man swinging for the fences at the bell, it did lead to an early finish for the French judoka. After Amoussou cut Lozano with a head kick, “The Cleveland Assassin” took Amoussou down and landed in his guard, which would be Lozano’s only offense for the fight. From there, Amoussou swept Lozano, mounted him and took his back to sink in the rear-naked choke. Karl Amoussou improves to 14-4-2 in his welterweight debut.


Karl Amoussou vs. Chris Lozano, courtesy of IronForgesIron.com

As dangerous as Cleveland can be as a city, it has struggled to field decent sports teams and produce champions (not to mention keeping them). Last night at Bellator 63, which gave viewers the Quarterfinal round of this season’s welterweight tournament, “The Cleveland Assassin” Chris Lozano looked to break the cycle and make a run at Bellator’s welterweight title. If you’ve been paying any attention, you already know what to expect.

Perhaps no one in MMA other than Chael Sonnen embraces his alter-ego more than Lozano’s opponent, “Psycho” Karl Amoussou, who had Lozano uncharacteristically angered with his psycho routine before the fight. While that didn’t translate to either man swinging for the fences at the bell, it did lead to an early finish for the French judoka. After Amoussou cut Lozano with a head kick, ”The Cleveland Assassin” took Amoussou down and landed in his guard, which would be Lozano’s only offense for the fight. From there, Amoussou swept Lozano, mounted him and took his back to sink in the rear-naked choke. Karl Amoussou improves to 14-4-2 in his welterweight debut.

In a rare miss for the promotion, the evening’s co-main event saw Bryan Baker take home a split decision over Carlos Alexandre Pereira. Perhaps due to this fight being Baker’s first at welterweight, perhaps due to both fighters respecting each other’s striking, or more than likely due to some combination of the two, neither fighter seemed eager to exchange. Despite the lack of overall action in the fight, Baker landed more takedowns and successfully used his kicks to keep Pereira outside, which was enough to earn him the victory. Hopefully Baker works out his cut to welterweight, as his performance from last night won’t be enough for the next round of the tournament.

It’s likely that it will take you longer to read our description of Jordan Smith vs. David Rickels than it will to actually watch the fight. Both men came out swinging, with David Rickels landing pretty much everything he threw. The stoppage came only twenty two seconds into the fight, putting ”The Caveman” at a perfect 10-0 in his MMA career.

One final note, UFC veteran Ben Saunders put in a dominant performance against Raul Amaya. Save for a brief period in the third round when Amaya managed to take Saunders’ back, Raul Amaya had zero answers for anything “Killa B” attempted. Saunders was clearly the better striker, and constantly attempted submissions once the fight hit the mats. Saunders is now 5-1 since being released from the UFC, and is an early favorite to win this season’s welterweight tournament.

Full Results:

Main Card:

Karl Amoussou def. Chris Lozano via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:05 of Round 1
Bryan Baker def. Carlos Alexandre Pereira via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
David Rickels def. Jordan Smith via TKO (Punches) at 0:22 of Round 1
Ben Saunders def. Raul Amaya via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Ryan Quinn def. Marc Stevens via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Saul Almeida vs. Matt Bessette def. Saul Almeida via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Brandon Fleming def. Pete Rogers via Submission (Peruvian Necktie) at 3:39 of Round 1
Dan Cramer def. Jeff Nader via Split Decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Andrey Koreshkov def. Tiawan Howard via Knockout (Uppercut and Punches) at 1:26 of Round 1
Munah Holland def. Marianna Kheyfets via Knockout (Punch) at 4:45 of Round 2

[Video] Gilbert Yvel Renders Alexander Unconscious, Maurice Smith Head Kicks Father Time at RFA 2

Yvel vs Alexander (spoiler: no flying triangles)

We may be in the midst of a Zuffa drought, but that doesn’t mean we must thirst for knockouts. Last night Resurrection Fighting Alliance hooked up with Sherdog to bring you a live stream of their second card, which featured a pair of heavy hitters and a pioneer of the sport. Jens Pulver also returned to action for the promotion, though thankfully it was in the announcer’s booth this time.

The evening’s main event promised brain damage, and it lived up to our expectations. Houston Alexander displayed the one-strike power that launched his UFC-career, stammering Gilbert Yvel with an overhand right before knocking him down with a leg kick all in the opening thirty seconds of the bout. Yvel looked reserved in his second bout as a light-heavyweight, though against a brawler like Alexander pretty much everyone looks passive. “The Hurricane” started to open up in the latter half of the first round, and with just over a minute remaining on the clock he connected with a left hook that rocked Alexander followed by a big right hand that dropped him face first to the canvas–time to update our planking homage. That’s two straight wins for the recently re-invented 205’er and the second consecutive knockout loss for “The Assassin”.

Join us after the jump for videos and recaps of the Maurice Smith-Jorge Cordoba and Tara LaRosa-Kelly Warren bouts.

Yvel vs Alexander (spoiler: no flying triangles)

We may be in the midst of a Zuffa drought, but that doesn’t mean we must thirst for knockouts. Last night Resurrection Fighting Alliance hooked up with Sherdog to bring you a live stream of their second card, which featured a pair of heavy hitters and a pioneer of the sport. Jens Pulver also returned to action for the promotion, though thankfully it was in the announcer’s booth this time.

The evening’s main event promised brain damage, and it lived up to our expectations. Houston Alexander displayed the one-strike power that launched his UFC-career, stammering Gilbert Yvel with an overhand right before knocking him down with a leg kick all in the opening thirty seconds of the bout. Yvel looked reserved in his second bout as a light-heavyweight, though against a brawler like Alexander pretty much everyone looks passive. “The Hurricane” started to open up in the latter half of the first round, and with just over a minute remaining on the clock he connected with a left hook that rocked Alexander followed by a big right hand that dropped him face first to the canvas–time to update our planking homage. That’s two straight wins for the recently re-invented 205′er and the second consecutive knockout loss for “The Assassin”.



Smith-Cordoba bout. The beginning of the end starts at 15:50.

In a battle against father time, fifty year old Maurice Smith climbed back into the cage for the first time in four years to take on Jorge Cordoba. Though the the twenty eight year old had youth on his side, he was reportedly fighting outside of his normal weight class for this bout. The former UFC Heavyweight champ used footwork and head movement to avoid the Cordoba’s lunging haymakers early in the round, and rolled through a takedown attempt to end the frame on top and in control. Smith showed the sort of calm composure that other Mo’s could learn from, easily avoiding Cordoba’s frenzied punches while bloodying his face and punishing his left thigh with kicks. Smith, who was making his light heavyweight debut, landed everything he threw, which unfortunately for Cordoba included a right high kick to the chin that crumpled him to the mat.

 

(Tara LaRosa vs Kelly Warren)

And in WMMA action, Tara LaRosa scored an armbar victory over Kelly Warren at 4:59 of the third and final round!(!!!) Man, last second finishes, they’re so hot right now.