Two of the premier regional promotions in North America have come together, as Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship have formed Legacy Fighting Alliance.
The new promotion will begin in 2017 with 30 shows planned for AXS TV.
“AXS TV is proud to broadcast the LFA to help create MMA’s premier developmental league,” said Mark Cuban, founder and CEO of AXS TV, in a press release. “AXS TV FIGHTS’ expanded 2017 lineup builds on AXS TV’s 13-year, 336-fight legacy as ‘Your Home for MMA’ with more live mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other TV network.”
Current Legacy FC champions will meet current RFA titleholders to crown the first LFA champion in each weight division. Legacy FC’s Mick Maynard was recently introduced as an executive with the UFC.
To open up more hours for the live events, “Inside MMA” will air its final show on September 30. The program debuted in 2007 and featured Mauro Ranallo, Bas Rutten, Ron Kruck and Kenny Rice.
“INSIDE MMA blazed the trail for mainstream media’s acceptance of MMA,” Cuban said. “Bas, Kenny and Ron were there from the start, introducing the sport and its stars to a national television audience when other networks and newspapers were too afraid and out of touch to recognize its appeal.”
Two of the premier regional promotions in North America have come together, as Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship have formed Legacy Fighting Alliance.
The new promotion will begin in 2017 with 30 shows planned for AXS TV.
“AXS TV is proud to broadcast the LFA to help create MMA’s premier developmental league,” said Mark Cuban, founder and CEO of AXS TV, in a press release. “AXS TV FIGHTS’ expanded 2017 lineup builds on AXS TV’s 13-year, 336-fight legacy as ‘Your Home for MMA’ with more live mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other TV network.”
Current Legacy FC champions will meet current RFA titleholders to crown the first LFA champion in each weight division. Legacy FC’s Mick Maynard was recently introduced as an executive with the UFC.
To open up more hours for the live events, “Inside MMA” will air its final show on September 30. The program debuted in 2007 and featured Mauro Ranallo, Bas Rutten, Ron Kruck and Kenny Rice.
“INSIDE MMA blazed the trail for mainstream media’s acceptance of MMA,” Cuban said. “Bas, Kenny and Ron were there from the start, introducing the sport and its stars to a national television audience when other networks and newspapers were too afraid and out of touch to recognize its appeal.”
(And just six months later, a baby boy superman punched his way to freedom. via Noxii)
(*sigh*)
In perhaps the most bizarre entry in the I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant canon since the show’s inception, Brazilian fighter Kinberly (not a typo) Novaes recently competed, and won, a strawweight title fight in Brazil while 12 weeks pregnant.
How did this happen? Well, it all started when Novaes signed her bout agreement for RFA 29: USA vs. Brazil against Jocelyn Jones Lybarger…
(And just six months later, a baby boy superman punched his way to freedom. via Noxii)
(*sigh*)
In perhaps the most bizarre entry in the I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant canon since the show’s inception, Brazilian fighter Kinberly (not a typo) Novaes recently competed, and won, a strawweight title fight in Brazil while 12 weeks pregnant.
How did this happen? Well, it all started when Novaes signed her bout agreement for RFA 29: USA vs. Brazil against Jocelyn Jones Lybarger. Less than a week out from the event, Novaes was having a particularly tough time cutting weight, we she had initially passed off as an intestinal issue. When her troubles persisted and she was finally forced to consult a doctor, however, she found out that she was in fact six months pregnant. Primeiro Round broke this insane story over the weekend (via MMAFighting):
“I’m a little stubborn, I don’t like to go to the doctor,” Novaes said with a laugh. “I’ve been feeling sick for a while, colic, headaches and cramps. I was feeling tired recently, couldn’t even run, and it was really tough for me to cut weight. I was cutting weight for my RFA debut, but couldn’t lose weight. I did a stricter diet four weeks before the fight, and I actually gained 2.2 pounds in six days. I was desperate. I realized my belly was hard, so I thought I had some intestine issue. I took laxative and other things, but a guy that does massages for me told me to go to the doctor.”
“I finally decided to go to the hospital, and the doctor immediately asked me if I was pregnant,” she continued. “I insisted I was not, that I had an intestine issue, but he asked for a blood test. One hour later, he told us I was pregnant. I cried a lot, ran out of the hospital, but I realized that was good news. I thought I was sick, but I had a baby instead.”
After pulling out of her upcoming RFA bout and doing a little math, Novaes soon realized that she had in fact been pregnant when she defeated Renata Baldan on May 17 to win the Noxii 115-pound title. And because Noxii is not regulated by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Comission for whatever reason, Novaes was not screened for pregnancy in her pre-fight medicals, which Noxii promoter Bruno Barros told MMAFighting was his mistake.
That was my first event. I didn’t ask for the exam. That’s the truth. I didn’t even think about the possibility of a woman fighting while pregnant, going through a camp and dehydrating and everything.
Barros stated that he additionally asked for HIV and hepatitis tests from all the fighters who competed at that event, but allowed those who didn’t return results to compete anyway. So there’s a bit of a learning curve going on here, you could say.
MMA fighters are supposed to be tough. They’re supposed to Face the Pain, Never Back Down, Go Out on Their Shields, and embody every Gatorade commercial cliche you can think of. They’re supposed to believe that they’re indestructible, partly because they’ve been told their entire lives that they’re damn near invincible.
Which is all to say that most of us weren’t surprised when flyweight Junior Maranhao — despite falling off of his stool between the fourth and fifth rounds of his title fight at RFA 14 and needing his coaches to revive him — made the decision to answer the bell for round five. Professional fighters are rarely the best judges of their own mortality, making objective parties such as coaches, referees and cageside physicians all the more necessary to save a fighter from excessive damage; this makes it all the more disturbing when these parties are as reckless as they were at RFA 14, and when the Wyoming State Board of MMA refused to acknowledge that there even was anything wrong with the way that this match was handled (much to the shock of the Association of Boxing Commissions).
There have already been countless articles scorning the coaches, the referee and the cageside physicians who allowed Junior Maranhao to continue fighting. There have also been just as many articles scorning the Wyoming State Board of MMA for encouraging the exact things that athletic commissions are supposed to protect our sport from. But lost in our collective outrage is perhaps the biggest tragedy to come from this incident: that Junior Maranhao is still willfully ignorant to the fact that he was in any danger at all during RFA 14. In fact, Maranhao has gone as far as to defend the very people who failed him that night.
MMA fighters are supposed to be tough. They’re supposed to Face the Pain, Never Back Down, Go Out on Their Shields, and embody every Gatorade commercial cliche you can think of. They’re supposed to believe that they’re indestructible, partly because they’ve been told their entire lives that they’re damn near invincible.
Which is all to say that most of us weren’t surprised when flyweight Junior Maranhao — despite falling off of his stool between the fourth and fifth rounds of his title fight at RFA 14 and needing his coaches to revive him — made the decision to answer the bell for round five. Professional fighters are rarely the best judges of their own mortality, making objective parties such as coaches, referees and cageside physicians all the more necessary to save a fighter from excessive damage; this makes it all the more disturbing when these parties are as reckless as they were at RFA 14, and when the Wyoming State Board of MMA refused to acknowledge that there even was anything wrong with the way that this match was handled (much to the shock of the Association of Boxing Commissions).
There have already been countless articles scorning the coaches, the referee and the cageside physicians who allowed Junior Maranhao to continue fighting. There have also been just as many articles scorning the Wyoming State Board of MMA for encouraging the exact things that athletic commissions are supposed to protect our sport from. But lost in our collective outrage is perhaps the biggest tragedy to come from this incident: that Junior Maranhao is still willfully ignorant to the fact that he was in any danger at all during RFA 14. In fact, Maranhao has gone as far as to defend the very people who failed him that night.
During the aftermath of the fight, Maranhao offered his version of the events to MMAFighting.com. He chalked the entire situation up to fans overreacting to him clumsily missing his stool when he attempted to sit down; never mind that the video clearly shows he was already sitting down when he collapsed. Maranhao then goes on to offer these quotes:
“I think that the doctors made the right call. I think I would have gone crazy if they had stopped the fight.”
…
“I saw that some people are trying to blame the commission, the promoters or even my coaches, so I’m really upset about it,” he continued. “I want to make clear that nothing happened. It’s a mistake (to blame them), and it can hurt us.”
Before we go any further, let me be clear that I wasn’t expecting Maranhao to call for anyone’s license to be revoked. But to outright refuse to acknowledge that anything dangerous took place that night?
With all due respect to Maranhao, of course he would have been upset by a stoppage. That’s the entire point of having a doctor at cageside: to protect the fighter from taking excessive damage just because the fighter wants to keep competing. The fighters are trained to play Superman when they’re hurt, the doctors are trained to know the dangers of Second Impact Syndrome. Maranhao may have dodged a bullet on Friday night, but the reframing necessary to say that the situation was handled correctly is incredibly unsettling.
As for the argument that his coaches don’t deserve ridicule? If Maranhao insists on believing that his coaches would never put him in harm’s way for their own personal gain, perhaps he should look up “That Part of Muhammad Ali’s Career We Never Talk About.” You know which one: the one when Ali suffered lopsided beat-downs at the hands of Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick — Holmes wound up beating Ali so badly that he actually cried after the fight for Ali – simply because his coaches knew they could still profit off of Ali’s legacy. For what it’s worth, Pat Healy also disagrees with Maranhao on this.
We can — and should — continue to talk about how the failures of leadership on display at RFA 14 could have gotten a fighter killed. But equally important is that the fighters involved at least acknowledge that situations like these are dangerous. We’re all in agreement that the system currently in place in Wyoming is broken, but we can’t actually fix it until the fighters the system is supposed to protect start advocating for themselves.
We’re sure you’ve heard all about it by now, but this issue warrants covering by every MMA media outlet around.
At yesterday’s RFA 14, flyweight fighter Junior Maranhao blacked out in his corner between the fourth and fifth rounds.
Did his corner stop the fight?
No.
Did the doctor stop the fight?
No.
Did the referee stop the fight?
No.
The man fell unconscious on the floor (he was out cold) and the fight was allowed to continue. Here’s a GIF (via Zombie Prophet):
We have to stop writing such things off as part of MMA’s inherent dangers. Doctors, cornermen, and referees are there to protect the fighters, not send them into the meat grinder. This sentiment was touched on in a Deadspin article recently. We even wrote about it here on CagePotato, saying that the culture of “going out on your shield” is guaranteed to result in disaster.
Is there anything that can be done? It’s beyond CagePotato’s power to revoke licenses, but the Wyoming’s MMA commission can do that. Hopefully they see the error of their ways, lest the unthinkable happen.
Thank you for reaching out to the Board. As to your question regarding Mr. Maranhao, he was thoroughly examined by a licensed physician after he fell off his stool between the 4th and 5th round of the RFA event in Cheyenne on April 11. He was also examined by his corner men and the referee. All parties, including Mr.Maranhao, believed and stated unequivocally that Mr. Maranhao was medically safe to and capable of finishing the fight. In fact, he fought well in the last round and lost in a close split decision. He was examined by a licensed physician after the bout as well and again found to have no neurological or other medical issues of concern.
The Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts stands by our physicians and officials and has the utmost confidence in their ability to assess the medical status of Wyoming contestants. Safety is the Board’s number one priority and all necessary precautions were taken at the April 11 RFA event to ensure that Mr. Maranhao was safe to continue fighting.
Again, thank you for your interest in Wyoming MMA.
This isn’t good enough. It’s far worse than “not good enough,” in fact. I know expecting accountability from an athletic commission is asking a lot, but a fighter collapsing in his corner and being allowed to continue is criminal. Despite what the commission said, there was no thorough examination performed by the doctor. This is what MMA is like in some parts of the country, people.
Yesterday, we informed you that UFC veteran Jeff Curran was forced to pull out of his RFA 8 headlining bout with Sergio Pettis last weekend on account of his injured dog. While we will never knock a guy for loving his pooch, it goes without saying that his withdrawal left short notice replacement, Dillard “Joe” Pegg, up shit creek without a paddle. Scratch that, Pegg had a paddle, but as he was about to put it in the aforementioned shit-water, Pettis leapt up from beneath the murky surface and broke it off in Pegg’s ass.
To be fair, the 5-1 Pegg — who had collected all of his previous victories by first round stoppage — wasn’t afraid to bring the fight to Sergio, even landing a couple decent shots in the early going. But once “Showtime’s” little bro found his range, a 1-2 combination was all he needed to send Pegg looking for the nearest exit. The win improved Pettis’ incredible, undefeated record (the kid is only 19) to a perfect 8-0. If he plans on following in the footsteps of his brother, we should hear an announcement that Pettis is dropping down a weight class and fighting for the RFA strawweight title any day now. They have one of those, right?
Yesterday, we informed you that UFC veteran Jeff Curran was forced to pull out of his RFA 8 headlining bout with Sergio Pettis last weekend on account of his injured dog. While we will never knock a guy for loving his pooch, it goes without saying that his withdrawal left short notice replacement, Dillard “Joe” Pegg, up shit creek without a paddle. Scratch that, Pegg had a paddle, but as he was about to put it in the aforementioned shit-water, Pettis leapt up from beneath the murky surface and broke it off in Pegg’s ass.
To be fair, the 5-1 Pegg — who had collected all of his previous victories by first round stoppage — wasn’t afraid to bring the fight to Sergio, even landing a couple decent shots in the early going. But once “Showtime’s” little bro found his range, a 1-2 combination was all he needed to send Pegg looking for the nearest exit. The win improved Pettis’ incredible, undefeated record (the kid is only 19) to a perfect 8-0. If he plans on following in the footsteps of his brother, we should hear an announcement that Pettis is dropping down a weight class and fighting for the RFA strawweight title any day now. They have one of those, right?
WEC and UFC veteran Jeff Curran once fought at 155 pounds, but these days the thirty five year-old is campaigning at 125 pounds in an effort to give some new fire to his career. He looked serious about his effort to get back into the big show when he signed to fight top prospect Sergio Pettis at RFA 8 this past Friday in Milwaukee, WI.
Pettis is undefeated and nineteen years old. He’s also the younger brother of top UFC moneyweight contender Anthony Pettis. You may have heard that Pettis won Friday night, but not against Curran. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt pulled out at the last minute and was replaced by Dillard Pegg.
Pettis finished Pegg with apparent ease in the first round, but the real story here is the reason why Curran says he pulled out of the fight in the first place.
WEC and UFC veteran Jeff Curran once fought at 155 pounds, but these days the thirty five year-old is campaigning at 125 pounds in an effort to give some new fire to his career. He looked serious about his effort to get back into the big show when he signed to fight top prospect Sergio Pettis at RFA 8 this past Friday in Milwaukee, WI.
Pettis is undefeated and nineteen years old. He’s also the younger brother of top UFC moneyweight contender Anthony Pettis. You may have heard that Pettis won Friday night, but not against Curran. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt pulled out at the last minute and was replaced by Dillard Pegg.
Pettis finished Pegg with apparent ease in the first round, but the real story here is the reason why Curran says he pulled out of the fight in the first place.
Curran didn’t get injured. His dog did.
We haven’t seen or heard much of an explanation about the situation from Curran yet, but he was busy defending himself on Twitter this past weekend. Turns out, Curran’s family dog was injured badly, breaking both arms recently. As a result, Curran pulled out of the RFA 8 bout with Pettis.
“The only people that deserve explanation of my reasons to pull from this fight was @RFAfighting and my team/family. None of anyones Biz!” Curran tweeted on June 21st.
He went on, “i am a 16 year pro who never missed dude. i fought sick, injured after family tragedy. grow up”
The fighter suggested through his tweets that it wasn’t simply about his dog, but also about supporting his kids and being there for his wife who needed help during this time of difficulty.
When the twitterverse criticized Curran for his decision, things got real. “introduce yourself to me if u ever see me, i will knock your teeth in.. no charge,”he replied to one critic.
“remove ‘dog lover’ from your bio and add ‘family hater’ to it. then your comment will fit your profile,” he tweeted at another.
A full picture of the Curran family saga isn’t yet available, but you can check out the strange, long string of tweets on his account for yourself. It kinda sounds like his dog got messed up, and it would have been a gigantic hassle for his wife to take care of it and a houseful of kids, to say nothing of the business affairs from his gym, while he went away for a few days to fight. What do we know?
In any case, Curran says that his dog is on the mend. What would you degenerates have done if you were in Curran’s shoes this past week: Stay at home with the family and crippled dog or head to Milwaukee for a weekend of fighting, hookers and blow?
