King of the Cage: Opposing Force housed one knockout that went a little extra. So here, courtesy of MMA Knockout of the Day, we bring you not one, but two knockouts in the same fight. Both fighters entered the second round and were doing pretty well. A…
King of the Cage: Opposing Force housed one knockout that went a little extra. So here, courtesy of MMA Knockout of the Day, we bring you not one, but two knockouts in the same fight.
Both fighters entered the second round and were doing pretty well. Anthony Lapsley threw a nice head kick, and it looked like he should have won there. Only moments later, though, both Lapsley and Aaron Wetherspoon landed connecting shots to each others’ head.
Wetherspoon’s nickname is “Slam,” and after seeing the way he dropped to the mat on this knockout, I can think of about seven bad jokes. So I’m going to spare everyone the verbal abuse, since you can probably think of them yourselves.
Better yet, referee Herb Dean’s reaction at the end of the fight is pretty priceless. In his head, he is definitely going, “What the heck? Seriously?”
Lapsley and Wetherspoon met again three months later, and thankfully, this time they settled the fight within the first round. Lapsley won by submission, and that submission was a scarf hold armlock.
Since their rematch, Wetherspoon has fought only once, and that was last February where he won by unanimous decision.
For Lapsley, since the rematch, he has gone 5-2 with his most recent loss coming against Jay Hieron in March where he lost by submission. That bout against Hieron was at Bellator 35 and was part of their welterweight tournament.
You might know Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez from MTV’s Bully Beatdown show, hosted by Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Or, you might know him for the work he has done inside of the MMA ring. Regardless of how you know him, Tony Lopez is stepping up to the plate and f…
You might know Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez from MTV’s Bully Beatdown show, hosted by Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Or, you might know him for the work he has done inside of the MMA ring.
Regardless of how you know him, Tony Lopez is stepping up to the plate and fighting an amazing three times in only a 15-day span. To think, this is an era where the majority of fighters compete only three times in a single year and Lopez is attempting this feat in just barely over two weeks.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself that he must be fighting some really unknown fighters, but that is where you are mistaken. All but one of his opponents are widely known to the majority of MMA fans while the combined record for his three opponents is 92-29. If Lopez is successful against all three, he could land a contract from a major MMA organization.
For those of you who do not know Tony Lopez, he is a veteran of the sport and was the “King of the Cage” Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight Champion. Lopez has the rare distinction of holding both titles simultaneously while going on a remarkable 16 fight win streak.
Lopez has a record of 24-7, beating fighters such as Kyle Kingsbury and Joey Beltran along his journey as a mixed martial arts fighter.
Here is a look at the fighters that Tony Lopez will be facing in his 15-day stretch.
Cage Contender X is heating up to be one of the most anticipated fight cards in Irish history with the bad blood between Chris Fields and John Redmond dominating most of the headlines. The main event of the night, however, sees Cage Contender Featherwe…
Cage Contender X is heating up to be one of the most anticipated fight cards in Irish history with the bad blood between Chris Fields and John Redmond dominating most of the headlines.
The main event of the night, however, sees Cage Contender Featherweight Champion, Owen Roddy (8-3) squaring off against sanshou master Ben “Son of Life” Davis (3-1). This one looks to be an explosive encounter with both men known to have great ability in their striking, with the champion boasting four of his eight wins by technical or straight knockout.
Ben Davis has endeared himself to the crowds at Cage Contender, coming back from the jaws of defeat with a stunning KO with a left head kick in his last bout under the promotions banner. Two of his wins have come by spectacular knockout and one by stoppage from the opposition corner.
The main focus for this card will undoubtedly be on the co-main event of the evening when Chris “The Killing” Fields will defend his Middleweight title against John “The Wrecking Machine” Redmond.
The beef between the two is mostly based on a video of Redmond that surfaced, made three months ago, showing the Rush Fight Academy product dishing out some G’n’P on a heavy bag which sported an SBGi t-shirt. With SBGi being Fields’ camp, the gesture has not been taken kindly.
“Wrecking Machine” Redmond was also cage side for Field’s catch weight performance at Cage Contender IX where he faced the massive Lee Chadwick. On Fields winning the bout Redmond stood up and signaled that the middleweight strap was his for the taking on July 23.
This card is sure to live to expectation with such an array of talent on the undercard, the featured bouts and the previously mentioned double headline events.
Cage Contender has established itself as Ireland’s premier mixed martial arts pedestal over the last year, and this card could be a real water shed moment for MMA in the Irish media, with Sky Sports now courting the John Ferguson promotion.
“This card is jam packed stacked! My job is simple – to provide the fans with what they want to see. That’s why they spend their hard earned cash coming to Cage Contender events.
“We know that it’s the fans and fighters who make the promotion what it is and that’s why we take on their views and opinions to create the end product”, said Cage Contender C.E.O John Ferguson.
The Future Is Bright This is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports. Baseball is back on, NFL camps are scheduled to open shortly (normally), the NBA and NHL are down to their two best. MMA is now in a position to be co…
The Future Is Bright
This is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports. Baseball is back on, NFL camps are scheduled to open shortly (normally), the NBA and NHL are down to their two best. MMA is now in a position to be contributing to the drama as well. UFC 131 is in Vancouver this Saturday and The Score Fighting Series is broadcasting a well conceived card.
Lethbridge, Alberta’s Jordan Mein will be fighting on The Score Fighting Series this Friday at 7:30 (EST). The event is being held at The Hershey Center in Mississauga, Ontario. The 21 year old, with a 21-7 record, has been dubbed the “Future of Canadian MMA” by many pundits. His test on Friday will demonstrate how worthy he is of that title.
Naturally, the face of Canadian MMA today is Georges St- Pierre. Jordan may never achieve all that the future UFC Hall of Famer has, but he has proven that his journey to reach that goal just may well be worth watching.
Jordan not only oozes talent, he is equally as charismatic. Sincere humility, infectious enthusiasm, and an affable disposition aligned with striking, wrestling, and submission skills make this a potential blue chip stock to be excited about. He is the first generation of MMA fighters. People schooled in the sport of MMA and not gravitating towards it with a strong base in one discipline.
When asked if people do not recognize his intelligence and articulate nature because he is an MMA fighter he joked with the confidence to use self-deprecating humour, ” I am not that intelligent nor articulate. I’m just straight MMA. ” While Jordan has impressed people with his well-rounded skills that have earned him this unofficial title, he has backed up the hype.
His past two fights were against former UFC fighters: Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman. Riggs once contested Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight title and defeated G.S.P.’s next title challenger Nick Diaz: Mein vanquished him in the second round via TKO. He then won a convincing, unanimous decision over Burkman.
Mein’s take on the Burkman fight was an example of what a humble and respectful person he is:”It taught me that I could get rocked and comeback. I learned that I can overcome adversity as I got rocked several times and was hurt a lot.”
Being the future of anything can often create the opposite effect. It inherently creates pressure and often paradoxically manifests failure. Jordan on the pressure: ” Pressure is what one needs in life. High pressure fights and competing at the highest level is what I want. The pressure is awesome because I know I can achieve the expectations.”
Those that know of Jordan already, know of his father: Lee Mein. Lee is a stalwart in Western Canadian MMA. The iconic figure recently won on his 44th birthday and bolstered his record to 5-9. His real contributions have been to developing talent in Alberta and Western Canada. C.M.C. (Canadian Martial Arts Center) is where he grooms fighters and like many dads worked hard on his son.
According to Jordan, the plan was absolutely always for him to become an MMA fighter. ” We started with Karate, Karate tournaments, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and Jiu Jitsu tournaments. It then progressed to Sport Jiu Jitsu which was basically MMA. Everything was geared towards doing MMA.”
It has been well documented that fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, and Oscar De La Hoya have had problems dealing with the father/coach relationship. Jordan happily says, ” I want my father to get his percentage from his manager fee. He deserves it. Absolutely, he is still the key person driving my development.”
People have asked for this young man to represent a nation. They expect titles and great fame. In considering the path G.S.P. has forged, emulated Canada’s current king might be near impossible. Jordan’s hopes for himself: ” When I put my head on my pillow I hope to see myself being a great entertainer and filling seats. I want to give the people exciting shows.”
Jordan’s fight will air live on The Score in Canada and be broadcast on http://www.thescore.com/. The card begins at 7:30 (E.S.T.) The show will also feature former Pride star Rameau Sokoudjou (11-8) vs. Roy Boughton (5-1), host a battle between UFC veterans Joe Doerksen (46-15) and Luigi Fioravanti (22-9), and features, in separate matches, up-and-coming Canadians Antonio Carvalho (12-4) and Adrian Wooley (7-1). Check it out.
The second of my British MMA double bill sees us going back to Wembley Arena in London this past Saturday as Murilo “Ninja” Rua challenged Tom “Kong” Watson for the Middleweight title at BAMMA 6, shown live on Syfy here in Brita…
The second of my British MMA double bill sees us going back to Wembley Arena in London this past Saturday as Murilo “Ninja” Rua challenged Tom “Kong” Watson for the Middleweight title at BAMMA 6, shown live on Syfy here in Britain.
The broadcast began with action from the middleweight division as Matt Ewin faced Ivan Salaverry.
Salaverry took this fight at two week’s notice after a three-year absence from the fight game, and he certainly looked like a man who’d been out of it for a few years.
Ewin, who is one year old than Salaverry at 41, was in great form as he stalked his man around the cage, connecting with a series of crisp blows.
Ewin fought the perfect fight, taking his time as Salaverry looked to get rid of the rust.
The only real ground action came in the third, when Ewin took Salaverry down. They didn’t stay there for long, however, and although Salaverry upped his game a little towards the end of the fight, it wasn’t enough as all three judges scored in favour of Ewin.
The middleweight action continued as John Phillips took on Frank Trigg.
Trigg was looking to make a big statement after being cut by the UFC last year, and make that statement he did, scoring with the early take down and going for the ground and pound immediately.
It was a brutal performance from Trigg, as he quickly opened up three deep cuts on Phillips’ head. The red stuff was soon flowing into Phillips’ eyes, so the referee stepped in, checked with the doctor and called the fight off, giving Trigg the TKO win.
The main event saw Murilo Rua challenging Tom Watson for the Middleweight title.
This proved to be a tremendous fight. As soon as the action began, Watson went to work, rolling off a series of combinations and devastating kicks to Rua’s lead leg.
It was brutal watching Kong going to work like this. Rua scored with only one take down but didn’t have much time to go to work.
The end came in the third round. Rua’s left knee and face were swelling up badly, and as a flurry sent Rua crashing to the mat, his corner threw in the towel as the referee stopped the fight. Both referees came to the same conclusion at the same time, giving Watson the tremendous TKO win.
Filler material rounded out the show, as Che Mills faced Marcio Cesar in the welterweight division.
This one featured some nice grappling from both men, first from Mills and then from Cesar.
The Brazilian looked the stronger when on the ground, but when Mills re-established control, a sustained period of ground and pound saw the referee stepping in to give Mills the TKO win.
In conclusion, this was another strong and very enjoyable show from the BAMMA crew, with four very good fights, topped off nicely by the excellent main event.
Tom Watson’s demolition job was certainly the highlight of the night and must certainly put the Kong man up with the likes of Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy as Britain’s top MMA fighters.
So in all, BAMMA 6 gets the big thumbs up from me.
The first of a British MMA double bill sees us going back to last weekend and The Troxy in London as we take a look at the latest Ultimate Challenge MMA show, Fists of Fire, shown this past Wednesday night on Sky Sports here in Britain.The broadcast be…
The first of a British MMA double bill sees us going back to last weekend and The Troxy in London as we take a look at the latest Ultimate Challenge MMA show, Fists of Fire, shown this past Wednesday night on Sky Sports here in Britain.
The broadcast began in the middleweight division as David Zetolofsky faced Karl Lawrence.
Lawrence began by testing the waters with a few strikes, Zetolofsky responding with a couple of take downs.
However, he didn’t stay in top position too long as Lawrence soon reversed. Zetolofsky went for an arm bar, but Lawrence survived, taking Zetolofsky’s back seconds later and getting the win with a knockout.
The big boys of the heavyweight division were up next as Deivida Banaitis took on Ben Smith.
Smith was looking to get back to winning ways after losing the title to Oli Thompson. Things didn’t go his way though.
Banaitis came forward with the heavy leather early on. An inadvertent low blow stopped his progress for a few seconds before an uppercut sent Smith down.
Banaitis then unleashed with the ground and pound from behind. Smith tried to cover up, but when things got too much he tapped out, giving Banaitis the stoppage win.
The first championship fight saw Nathan Beer challenging Dave Lee for the Featherweight title.
The first fight on the broadcast to make it out of the first round was an intriguing three-rounder in which both fighters gave their all.
Beer did a good job early on the ground, although Lee managed to neutralize him at times. Beer upped his game from the second round onwards, particularly in the striking department.
Both men look exhausted at the start of the third, but that didn’t stop them from unloading with the big blows.
But in the end neither man could get the job done, so the judges came into play as all three scored in favour of Beer, giving him the big title win.
It was back to heavyweight for the next fight as Tomasz Czerwinski went up against Amokrane Sabet.
No fancy stuff in this one. These two began swinging for the fences from the start. It was fought at a frantic pace to begin with, but it was obvious that the big unit that was Czerwinski wouldn’t be able to keep up that pace for long.
Indeed, after just two minutes Czerwinski was gassed, and actually stopped a couple of times to take in deep breaths.
But just as Sabet looked like he was going in for the kill, Czerwinski connected with a big right that sent Sabet crashing. He was completely out of it as the referee stepped in to give Czerwinski the knockout win.
The main event saw Jamaine Facey challenging John Maguire for the Welterweight title.
The best was saved for last with this one. Maguire put in a great performance on the ground, although Facey didn’t make things easy for him.
The action went to the ground quickly, only for Facey to tie Maguire up with a couple of over hooks. It was a sound defensive tactic. He also put on an acrobatic display of sorts, flipping out from under Maguire while the champion was on the offensive.
It was in the second round where Maguire took control, taking the mount and going for the ground and pound a couple of times before locking in a kimura to get the hard fought title retaining win.
In conclusion—UCMMA’s 20th outing proved to be a very enjoyable show.
Every fight shown delivered, and I even found myself enjoying the wild brawl between Sabet and Czerwinski. Nothing could match the main event though.
So in all another good show from the UCMMA crew, and a big thumbs up from me.
One word for head honcho Dave O’Donnell, and his singing performance at the beginning of the show. Don’t give up the day job, mate!
King of the Cage: Opposing Force housed one knockout that went a little extra. So here, courtesy of MMA Knockout of the Day, we bring you not one, but two knockouts in the same fight.