Tag: Rodney Wallace

Recap: Khalidov Submits Grove, Michal Materla Joins the First-Punch KO Hall of Fame at KSW 21: Final Resolution

We’re not sure if Mamed Khalidov has been workshopping any nickname ideas, but as the unofficial authorities on this subject, we’d like to suggest “The Compactor.” Because for the past two or so years, Khalidov has been making his living collecting the UFC’s trash and shredding them into bite-sized pieces before disposing of them like yesterday’s leftovers. In this regard, his victory over TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove was a success, as he secured a rarely seen achilles lock to put Grove away inside the distance. But in a way, the win was one of Khalidov’s less impressive performances in recent memory. I mean, he even let Grove get to the second round for Chrissakes, and considering UFC veterans like Rodney Wallace, James “WHY ME?!” Irvin, Matt Lindland, and Jesse Taylor couldn’t make it out of the second minute, it really makes you wonder just why Khalidov decided to dick around for as long as he did.

We kid, we kid. In his last six fights, Khalidov has scored two victories by knockout, one by armbar, one by kneebar, one by guillotine, and one by the aforementioned Achilles lock. The man is as close to a human Swiss army knife as you will ever find, and once the UFC offers him a contract worth more than the paper it’s printed on, expect to see him making waves stateside.

Unfortunately, the video of his fight with Grove in unembeddable, so you’ll have to go here to check it out.

After the jump: Videos of the night’s co-main event — which pitted Rodney Wallace against Michael Materla for the KSW middleweight title — and the scrap between UFC veterans Matt Horwich and Terry Martin.

We’re not sure if Mamed Khalidov has been workshopping any nickname ideas, but as the unofficial authorities on this subject, we’d like to suggest “The Compactor.” Because for the past two or so years, Khalidov has been making his living collecting the UFC’s trash and shredding them into bite-sized pieces before disposing of them like yesterday’s leftovers. In this regard, his victory over TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove was a success, as he secured a rarely seen achilles lock to put Grove away inside the distance. But in a way, the win was one of Khalidov’s less impressive performances in recent memory. I mean, he even let Grove get to the second round for Chrissakes, and considering UFC veterans like Rodney Wallace, James “WHY ME?!” Irvin, Matt Lindland, and Jesse Taylor couldn’t make it out of the second minute, it really makes you wonder just why Khalidov decided to dick around for as long as he did.

We kid, we kid. In his last six fights, Khalidov has scored two victories by knockout, one by armbar, one by kneebar, one by guillotine, and one by the aforementioned Achilles lock. The man is as close to a human Swiss army knife as you will ever find, and once the UFC offers him a contract worth more than the paper it’s printed on, expect to see him making waves stateside.

Unfortunately, the video of his fight with Grove in unembeddable, so you’ll have to go here to check it out.

We’re not sure how Rodney Wallace fandangled his way into a middleweight title shot considering he was knocked out by none other than Mamed Khalidov in his last KSW appearance, but be that as it may, Wallace found himself riding a two fight win streak heading into his match against 18-3 Michal “Magic” Materla. Unfortunately for Wallace, his second appearance under the KSW banner would go even worse than the first. Materla only needed one punch — specifically, the first one he threw — to send Wallace crashing to the mat like a farm plow stuck in a rut. Face down, ass up, that’s the way Michal likes to fuck Chuck.

A few follow-up hammerfists sealed the deal, and the newly crowned middleweight champ now finds himself on a six fight win streak that includes victories over UFC veterans Jay Silva and Matt Horwich, the latter of which squared off with fellow UFC vet terry Martin just beforehand.

When you read this headline, did you think it was Terry Martin who would end up on the wrong end of the first-punch KO? No one would have blamed, for your reasoning was undeniably sound, but Martin would actually succumb to an even more demoralizing loss than usual at the hands of Matt Horwich last Saturday.

Despite being taken down early, Horwich — who is looking like Roy Nelson’s meth-dealing cousin nowadays — utilized his superior grappling background to pull out a late first round TKO stoppage over Martin. And we say TKO in the loosest sense of the term, as Horwich managed to follow an omoplata sweep with some of the honest-to-God weakest ground-n-pound punches we have ever witnessed. Still, the defeat had to be somewhat of a moral victory for Martin, in that he wasn’t completely zombified by the time the fight was over like every other one of his 8 (T)KO losses. I hope that dude likes smoothies, because that’s all he’s gonna be eating in the future if he keeps this up.

–J. Jones

Knockout of the Day: Mamed Khalidov Crushes Rodney Wallace at KSW 19


(The Wallaceberries taste like Wallaceberries!) 

With all the freak show greatness that comprised this past weekend, we all but forgot to report on some of the matchups that actually, you know, mattered. It’s kind of like when you went to Disney World with the intent of riding Space Mountain until you puked, but ended up stuck at the ring toss game all day because some ginger and his group of middle school friends called your form “faggy” and you HAD TO WIN THAT STUFFED DRAGON TO PROVE THEM WRONG. And we hate to say it, but Bob Sapp and Kimbo Slice will forever be the crappy carnival games that we simply cannot avoid.

In fact, while we were all watching “The Beast’s” record dip below the .500 mark at Saturday’s KSW-19 card (because somehow that just happened), there was a fight that took place earlier on the card that didn’t make us laugh and then immediately hang our heads in shame, believe it or not. We’re talking, of course, about Mamed Khalidov vs. Rodney Wallace. As we’ve stated before, Mamed Khalidov may be the best fighter out there not signed to a major promotion, and it kind of baffles us as to why. The Polish powerhouse’s record currently stands at 25-4, and over the past few years, he has quietly decimated every UFC washout that has crossed his path without batting an eye. Khalidov started out his 2011 season by adding to the legend of Irvin’s Curse, then rounded it out by scoring lightning quick submission victories over Matt Lindland and Jesse Taylor in successive bouts. But like a psychopathic Japanese girl after a mock casting audition, Khalidov is still waiting for that phone call.

Last weekend, he looked to make it four Zuffa vets in a row when he faced off against Rodney “Sho Nuff the Master” Wallace in a middleweight contest. As has become the standard for Khalidov, the bout featured a multitude of spinning based attacks and ended in less than two minutes.

Check out the brutal one punch-KO after the jump. 


(The Wallaceberries taste like Wallaceberries!) 

With all the freak show greatness that comprised this past weekend, we all but forgot to report on some of the matchups that actually, you know, mattered. It’s kind of like when you went to Disney World with the intent of riding Space Mountain until you puked, but ended up stuck at the ring toss game all day because some ginger and his group of middle school friends called your form “faggy” and you HAD TO WIN THAT STUFFED DRAGON TO PROVE THEM WRONG. And we hate to say it, but Bob Sapp and Kimbo Slice will forever be the crappy carnival games that we simply cannot avoid.

In fact, while we were all watching “The Beast’s” record dip below the .500 mark at Saturday’s KSW-19 card (because somehow that just happened), there was a fight that took place earlier on the card that didn’t make us laugh and then immediately hang our heads in shame, believe it or not. We’re talking, of course, about Mamed Khalidov vs. Rodney Wallace. As we’ve stated before, Mamed Khalidov may be the best fighter out there not signed to a major promotion, and it kind of baffles us as to why. The Polish powerhouse’s record currently stands at 25-4, and over the past few years, he has quietly decimated every UFC washout that has crossed his path without batting an eye. Khalidov started out his 2011 season by adding to the legend of Irvin’s Curse, then rounded it out by scoring lightning quick submission victories over Matt Lindland and Jesse Taylor in successive bouts. But like a psychopathic Japanese girl after a mock casting audition, Khalidov is still waiting for that phone call.

Last weekend, he looked to make it four Zuffa vets in a row when he faced off against Rodney “Sho Nuff the Master” Wallace in a middleweight contest. As has become the standard for Khalidov, the bout featured a multitude of spinning based attacks and ended in less than two minutes.


(Fight starts at the 7:00 mark.) 

Now that Hector Lombard has signed with the UFC, Khalidov truly stands alone as a 185er that deserves a shot at the big time. Say what you want about the quality of the opponents he’s faced, but the man has not lost since 2010 (via decision to Jorge Santiago) and has only lost twice in the past seven years. If that doesn’t earn you at least an appearance on a Strikeforce card, then everything we’ve claimed to know about this sport is a lie. Wallace may not have been a star in the UFC by any means, but he managed to take Brian Stann, Jared Hamman, and Phil Davis to the judges scorecards, which is a feat in it’s own right. Khalidov, however, might not even be aware that judges exist in the MMA spectrum — he’s gone the distance just twice in nearly 30 fights and has only been out of the first round a handful of times. We owe it to ourselves to get this guy in the UFC, so let’s follow the words of famed author, comedian, and occasional fighter Forrest Griffin, who once said, “Do you wanna know how fights get done now? If enough people get on Twitter, it’ll happen.”

The proof is in the pudding, Potato Nation. Let the Twitter-bombing begin.

-J. Jones

KSW 19 Recap: Multiverse – 1 Dignity – 0


Is there ANYTHING about this man that makes him unqualified to talk about the infinitely accelerating current of creativity? Didn’t think so.

If last night taught us anything, it’s that some things never change. Nick Diaz will be Nick Diaz. Kimbo Slice will crush cans. And literally anything that involves Bob Sapp will lack anything that resembles dignity. What a universe we live in.

But today is Mother’s Day, so I’m going to try to be somewhat positive for a few sentences. The good news to come out of this event is that Matt Horwich managed to snap a four fight skid with a third round TKO over Poland’s own Antoni Chmielewski, who was 22-8 coming into this fight. Horwich has always been an interesting character, sort of a non-juiced up hippy Ultimate Warrior. Even though he’s too crazy for most major promotions to take a chance on him (not to mention his pedestrian 27-21 record), he fits in just fine with KSW’s roster. That wouldn’t usually be intended as a compliment, but in whatever section of the multiverse Matt Horwich is from, it is.

Video of Horwich’s victory and the freak show that was Bob Sapp vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski after the jump.


Is there ANYTHING about this man that makes him unqualified to talk about the infinitely accelerating current of creativity? Didn’t think so.

If last night taught us anything, it’s that some things never change. Nick Diaz will be Nick Diaz. Kimbo Slice will crush cans. And literally anything that involves Bob Sapp will lack anything that resembles dignity. What a universe we live in.

But today is Mother’s Day, so I’m going to try to be somewhat positive for a few sentences. The good news to come out of this event is that Matt Horwich managed to snap a four fight skid with a third round TKO over Poland’s own Antoni Chmielewski, who was 22-8 coming into this fight. Horwich has always been an interesting character, sort of a non-juiced up hippy Ultimate Warrior. Even though he’s too crazy for most major promotions to take a chance on him (not to mention his pedestrian 27-21 record), he fits in just fine with KSW’s roster. That wouldn’t usually be intended as a compliment, but in whatever section of the multiverse Matt Horwich is from, it is.

Okay, positive sentences over. Time to talk about Bob Sapp vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski.

I think it’s safe to say that Bob Sapp can’t do anything right at this point in his career, except be a large, scary looking guy that has zero chance of winning and even less of a chance of hurting his opponent. At the weigh-ins, he put a picture of Pudzianowski on a (presumably uncooked) chicken. See, because he thinks Mariusz is “chicken”, get it? It’s not exactly the most clever way to mock someone- especially when you remember that Bob Sapp just tapped out to a double leg takedown- but he clearly put far more effort into that than he did training.

Perhaps it’s only because he was fighting Bob Sapp, but Mariusz seems to have made strides in his standup. I’m not saying he’s ready for legit competition or anything, but still, props to him for taking this fight seriously. You know the drill by now: Sapp gets caught, Sapp covers up and waits for the “fight” to end, the referee decides that the fight should stop before Bob Sapp actually takes some kind of damage (even though Pudzianowski initially doesn’t oblige), and then everyone is laughing and giving out bro-grabs afterwards, seemingly forgetting that Sapp was “out” just a few seconds ago.

As KSW likes to say, biznes jak zwykle. At least I think it’s them that says that.

Full Results

Mariusz Pudzianowski def. Bob Sapp via TKO, Round One
Mamed Khalidov def. Rodney Wallace via KO, Round One
Michal Materla def. Jay Silva via Majority Decision
Matt Horwich def. Antoni Chmielewski via TKO, Round Three
Aslambek Saidov def. Grigor Aschugbabjan via submission (Kimura), Round One
Marta Chojnoska def. Paulina Suska via submission (Scarf Hold Armlock), Round One
Borys Mankowski def. Marcin Naruszczka via Majority Decision

Jared Hamman Looking to Continue UFC Bonus Streak at Middleweight

Filed under: UFCIt’s hard for a UFC fighter not to feel a little conflicted when he gets a Fight of the Night bonus for a fight that he lost. On one hand, losing sucks. On the other hand, getting handed a wad of extra money doesn’t.

Just ask Jared Ham…

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It’s hard for a UFC fighter not to feel a little conflicted when he gets a Fight of the Night bonus for a fight that he lost. On one hand, losing sucks. On the other hand, getting handed a wad of extra money doesn’t.

Just ask Jared Hamman, who’s pocketed the bonus cash in each of his last two UFC fights, though he only won one of them.

“Any time you get a big, fat paycheck like that, you’re like, thank you Lord,” Hamman told MMA Fighting. “But I would take the win over the Fight of the Night money any day.”

Perhaps what’s most remarkable about Hamman’s recent streak of bonuses is that both came in prelim bouts. The Fight of the Night check is more often handed out to main eventers, or least main card fighters, but his performances against Rodney Wallace and Kyle Kingsbury so impressed his boss that Hamman went home with the extra cash anyway.

Maybe that’s good news, considering that he’s booked for a bout with C.B. Dollaway on the prelim portion of Sunday night’s UFC Live event in Milwaukee.

The bout will be Hamman’s first since moving down to 185 pounds following the decision loss to Kingsbury at light heavyweight. The former Division III college football standout said he was motivated to make the drop after seeing how much size he was giving up to guys like Kingsbury, who typically walk around 25 or 30 pounds heavier than he does.

“When I got started in MMA, it was a hobby,” said Hamman. “I just fought at the weight I was at. Being a football player, I always tried to gain weight. Even in my fight camps I would try to maintain this weight gain, because I could always cut it really easily. But after this last fight with Kyle, man, he was humongous. I started looking around at these other 205-[pound]ers and they’re all huge. That’s when I started thinking about going down to 185.”

It helped that he was forced to take some time off to deal with an injury, Hamman said. It allowed him to do a practice cut to see how his body would respond, during which he tried to simulate the UFC experience as closely as possible.

“Weigh-ins are at four o’clock, you have so much time spent traveling to the event, all that, so I did that and I weighed in at four p.m. at 186 [pounds]. Then the next day, on Saturday, I did a fight scenario. I did three five-minute rounds, and I felt great. From there I just decided to go for it.”

Now Hamman — who usually clocks in at around 215 pounds — will move down in weight to face Dollaway, who’s coming off a knockout loss to Mark Munoz in March. And while a lot gets made of Dollaway’s history as an All-American wrestler, Hamman said he isn’t particularly worried that the bout will turn into a slow grind where no one has the potential to scoop up any bonus cash.

“Even though he has a wrestling background, I think the guy likes to fight. He likes to stand and throw punches and kicks and everything. He obviously also likes to do submissions and wrestling, but I think he’s a fighter. I like to fight guys who aren’t boring, who will come forward and fight me, and the UFC has done a good job of matching me up with guys who like to fight, and I enjoy that. I think this will be another one.”

For Hamman, the move down in weight was less about looking for easier prey, he said, than taking the next step toward being a total professional. Cutting weight, adhering to a strict diet — it’s all part of finding out just how far he can go with his career inside the cage, he explained.

“This was just a hobby before. I love to scrap, to get in there and fight. And to me, I’m grateful that I get to do it at this level. But some things put it in perspective. Like my wife got into a car accident the other week — and she’s fine, not hurt or anything — but it could have gone a lot worse. It reminded me, you’re not always guaranteed to get that next heartbeat. You’re not guaranteed to get that next fight. I’ve tried to hold that in my mind. It makes me take every fight and just go for it.”

 

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Weekend Results: Matt Horwich TKOs Jake Rosholt

Filed under: FightingFormer IFL champion Matt Horwich’s up-and-down career is as of now back on the upswing after defeating three-time NCAA wrestling champion Jake Rosholt Friday in the main event of an Xtreme Fight Night card in Tulsa, Okla.

Horwich …

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Former IFL champion Matt Horwich‘s up-and-down career is as of now back on the upswing after defeating three-time NCAA wrestling champion Jake Rosholt Friday in the main event of an Xtreme Fight Night card in Tulsa, Okla.

Horwich (26-16-1), who submitted former UFC title challenger Thales Leites in August and lost to Eric Schambari at Bellator 28 in September, stopped Rosholt with strikes in the third round. The loss placed Rosholt at 1-1 since his release one year ago from the UFC.

Jared Hamman Wonders, What Do You Do with a $65,000 Check?

Filed under: UFCPeople kept telling him he’d won Fight of the Night, but Jared Hamman didn’t realize they were serious. It was nice to hear, and he appreciated the compliment. He knew his three-round slobberknocker with Rodney Wallace at UFC 111 had be…

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People kept telling him he’d won Fight of the Night, but Jared Hamman didn’t realize they were serious. It was nice to hear, and he appreciated the compliment. He knew his three-round slobberknocker with Rodney Wallace at UFC 111 had been an entertaining one, but Fight of the Night? On the same card that featured guys like Georges St. Pierre and Shane Carwin? That didn’t sound right.

“I thought they were telling me like, basically, that was a really good fight,” Hamman (12-2) told MMA Fighting. “I was like, thanks, I appreciate that. They had to be like, ‘No, you really won the Fight of the Night bonus.’ I had to call my manager and ask him if it was true.”

And it was. After a fifteen-minute scrap with Wallace that sometimes resembled a blur of furious arms and legs roving around the Octagon like a contained tornado, Hamman won a unanimous decision victory and, as he would learn later in the night, a $65,000 bonus for Fight of the Night.