TUF 18 Finale Results — Diaz Smashes Maynard in First Round


(“Alright boys, this one’s for all the marbles. Well, maybe not *all* the marbles, but some of the marbles. There will definitely be marbles involved, that much I can promise you.” Photo via MMAJunkie)

After three months of an Ultimate Fighter season that we lost interest in around episode 10, we’re finally at the finish line. Tonight’s TUF 18 Finale card in Las Vegas is headlined by a quasi-rubber-match between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz — assuming that Nate’s high school reunion doesn’t run late. But the rest of the lineup shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the main card is 60% female, which is unprecedented for the UFC, and the winner of the women’s bantamweight final could theoretically wind up fighting her own TUF coach in the not-so-distant future.

Handling our liveblog of the FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your thoughts in the comments section.


(“Alright boys, this one’s for all the marbles. Well, maybe not *all* the marbles, but some of the marbles. There will definitely be marbles involved, that much I can promise you.” Photo via MMAJunkie)

After three months of an Ultimate Fighter season that we lost interest in around episode 10, we’re finally at the finish line. Tonight’s TUF 18 Finale card in Las Vegas is headlined by a quasi-rubber-match between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz — assuming that Nate’s high school reunion doesn’t run late. But the rest of the lineup shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the main card is 60% female, which is unprecedented for the UFC, and the winner of the women’s bantamweight final could theoretically wind up fighting her own TUF coach in the not-so-distant future.

Handling our liveblog of the FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your thoughts in the comments section.

Preliminary card results
– Akira Corassani def. Maximo Blanco via disqualification (intentional foul), :22 of round 1
– Tom Niinimaki def. Rani Yahya via unanimous decision  (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
– Jared Rosholt def. Walt Harris via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Sean Spencer def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Joshua Sampo def. Ryan Benoit via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:31 of round 2

Hey now. So who else is ready for the fight card of the year? Possibly the decade. Oh snap, here come the fighting robots: “It’s tiiiiime!” Man, I feel it deep in m’ plums.

Chael Sonnel  just said Jessica Rakoczy is the “eight-time world boxing champion.” Some part of that statement is wrong. I’m not going to look it up because he didn’t even seem to believe that.

Submission of the Season: Three rear naked chokes and one armbar. I like Sarah Moras in this one. Feel free to vote on my behalf.

Raquel Pennington vs. Roxanne Modafferi

Rd. 1: Both ladies work the jab early; Modafferi opens with some kicks to the lead leg of Pennington. Modafferi is a bit more actice, whereas Pennington seems to be waiting on that right hand. Good 1-2 from Modafferi. Pennington hasn’t thrown anything in combination just yet. There’s a good right from Pennington, right on cue. Modafferi is throwing in volume, but Pennington is blocking most of the shots and landing the right hand with some success. They clinch against the fence. Modafferi looks for the trip, but Pennington seems to have the strength advantage. Nice elbow from Pennington right there. Back to the center of the cage we go. Good jab from Pennington, who’s picked up momentum and lands a big right at the bell.

Rd 2: Pennington is busier and looks strong. Modafferi lands a good left to the jaw and rushes in for a takedown, but Pennington holds her off. Pennington lands some good short elbows as the two break from a clinch against the fence. 1-2 from Pennington. Big right hand from Pennington; Modafferi wants no part of the fisticuffs and drops for the takedown. Pennington stuffs it and lands in Modafferi’s guard. Modafferi landed some elbows from the bottom, but Pennington is up and starting to score with the right hand from above. Whoa. Modafferi may have Pennington’s left arm. Nope, she’s out and back to her feet. Modafferi is still down. And she’s up. Pennington takes the center of the cage and fires that right hand again. Pennington lands a big lead left hook before the round ends.

Rd. 3: Pennington is the better striker, and Modafferi’s chin is real high. This could end badly. Pennington stuffs a takedown and swats away Modafferi’s flicking jabs. Modafferi is taking shots to the jaw as she circles away. Pennington controls the brief clinch, muscling Modafferi around at will. Modafferi misses a spinning back kick, eats a 1-2, and is stuffed on her takedown attempt. Pennington drops ‘bows from side control, and now from the guard of Modafferi. Modafferi wants the arm, but Pennington is posturing her way to safety and doing damage from top position.  They’re up. Pennington wants the guillotine. Deep. Deep deep.  Not quite. The fight ends with Pennington on top of a flattened Modafferi, still working for that guillotine.

Raquel Pennington wins via unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28).

Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan

Rd. 1: Fists fly right away from both fighters. Duke lands a lead left. Morgan lands a left of her own now. Duke scores with a combo. Duke clinches as Morgan presses; Duke lands some knees. Duke works for an arm-in guillotine as she drops to her back. She’s squeezing as Morgan bridges forward. Morgan is in Duke’s guard. She pops up, but Duke wants the triangle. Duke elbows from the bottom. Morgan’s left arm is keeping her safe for now, but Duke is working from the bottom. Plenty of punches from Duke. Duke transitions to the triangle and lands some elbows. Duke elbows the neck and ears of Morgan. That looks unpleasant. Morgan just got battered.

Rd. 2: Again both fighters answer the bell with punch combinations, but it’s Duke who seems to have the striking advantage. Morgan jabs, but Duke comes over the top with the left hook. Duke just misses with the uppercut. Duke lands a right and then a left hook. Morgan is hanging in there, though. Morgan is landing her jab, but her head’s on a stick and she’s eating punches from Duke. Duke lands some knees to the body in the clinch. Right-left combination lands for Duke. More hooks from Duke. Morgan lands a jab; Duke counters with a right hook. That seems to be the story of this round. Duke lands a takedown at the bell.

Rd. 3: Morgan comes out aggressive, but Duke is the better counterpuncher and her head movement is superior. Duke kicks to the body, clinches, knees the body, and punches the face. Again Duke is landing her right hook-left hook tandem, and Morgan’s face shows it. Morgan wants a takedown. Duke does too apparently. Duke drags Morgan to the ground with a bulldog style headlock. Duke has the headlock, but Morgan is on Duke’s back. Morgan’s head is free, and Duke is flattened on her belly with Morgan working for the choke. Duke escapes and has Morgan in half guard. Morgan is punching, looking for a guard pass. Referee Lurch stands them – bad stand-up – and it’s Duke landing those hooks. And that’s that. Morgan’s face is jacked up.

Jessamyn Duke wins via unanimous decision (30-27 X 3).

Chris Holdsworth vs. Davey Grant

Rd. 1: Grant opens with some kicks to the outside of the lead leg of Holdsworth. Holdsworth misses with a huge overhand right. They clinch against the fence now, and it’s Grant with some good body shots. A big right from Holdsworth connects. Holdsworth wants Grant on the mat, but Grant is withstanding the attempt and looks for a takedown of his own. Good knee tot he body from Holdsworth. Grant lands a right hook to the body and misses the follow-up left hook upstairs. Holdsworth grabs a single leg, but Grant again holds him off. And it’s Grant now who goes for a slam. Holdsworth with a knee. Holdsworth’s jab is working for him. Fighters trade knees on the fence. Grant has the body lock, goes for a throw, but it’s Holdsworth who’s on top now. Holdsworth is in Grant’s guard as the round ends.

Rd. 2: Grant catches a head kick (after catching the shin to the face) and kicks the outside leg of the Californian. Grant with a body shot and a strong push kick. Holdsworth goes for the single leg, Grant counters with a choke, but Holdsworth escapes, takes down Grant, and is in side control. Grant’s nose is bleeding pretty badly. Holdsworth takes Grant’s back. Body triangle – check. Holdsworth gets under the chin, squeezes, ball game. Holdsworth proved to be the bigger, more proficient fighter tonight.

Chris Holdsworth wins via submission (rear naked choke), 2:50 of Rd. 2

Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy

Rd. 1: Rakoczy opens with a short lead hook, and Pena charges in, pressing her against the cage. Pena finds herself on top as the two take it to the canvas. Both fighters pop up, and Pena is again muscling Rakoczy against the fence. Rakoczy lands a knee to the body, but Pena drags her down. Pena is in half guard now, dropping bombs. Rakoczy tries to get up, but Pena ain’t having it. Uh-oh. Pena is mounted and throwing leather. Rakoczy is trying to push Pena off with those long legs, but Pena is too high. Big elbow from Pena. Punches are a plenty. Rakoczy is covering up sort of intelligently, but Mario Yamasaki calls it with about 3 seconds left.

Julianna Pena wins via TKO, 4: 59 of Rd. 1.

Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz:

Rd. 1: No glove touching (no surprise), and we’re off. Maynard takes the center of the cage. Diaz lands some early jabs and a nice hook. Maynard gets the takedown and settles into Diaz’s guard. Maynard muscles Diaz against the fence. They’re up. Nice throw from Diaz, but Maynard is up. A cut is opened above the left eye of Maynard. An overhand right from Maynard hits Diaz on the side of the head. Diaz landed some left hands and Maynard is hurt. Diaz is keeping his distance and teeing off. Big uppercuts, right crosses, left hook. Maynard looks to be in trouble, and Yves Levigne stops is. That was a shit ton of punches that landed flush by Nate Diaz. Wow.

In the replay, you can see that a short left started it all. Diaz stayed poised and landed flush shots on Maynard, who may have been out on his feet.

Nate Diaz wins via Rd. 1 TKO (2:38).

Hey now. Can Nate say “motherfuckers” on Fox Sports 1? If not, too late.

Nighty night.

Mk

(P.S. Ronda Rousey says of her friend Nate Diaz’s win, “It was great to end the night on a high note.” Weed reference?)

TUF 18 Finale Lineup Complete With Pena vs. Rakoczy, Modafferi vs. Pennington + More

(Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington full fight video, via TheUltimateFighterFX)

Assuming you had better things to do on Wednesday night, you probably missed the 13th and final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18, in which Team Rousey dark horse Jessica Rakoczy fought through an injured shoulder to win a unanimous decision over Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington. (Now everybody pat Jared on the back for calling it.) Rakoczy, who came into this season with a rather stinky professional record of 1-3, now heads into the TUF 18 Finals against Julianna Pena. New prediction: Bruce Buffer will announce Rakoczy’s record as “4-3,” including her exhibition bouts on the show. Call it a hunch.

After Wednesday’s episode aired, the UFC released the full fight lineup for this Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Headlined by the lightweight grudge match between Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard, the main card will kick off with two bouts between female TUF 18 castmembers, including the Happy friggin’ Warrior herself. None of TUF 18‘s male castmembers made the cut, besides Chris Holdsworth and David Grant in the men’s final. Harsh, but fair, considering how badly some of these dudes embarrassed themselves.

Check out the full TUF 18 Finale lineup after the jump, and come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.


(Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington full fight video, via TheUltimateFighterFX)

Assuming you had better things to do on Wednesday night, you probably missed the 13th and final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18, in which Team Rousey dark horse Jessica Rakoczy fought through an injured shoulder to win a unanimous decision over Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington. (Now everybody pat Jared on the back for calling it.) Rakoczy, who came into this season with a rather stinky professional record of 1-3, now heads into the TUF 18 Finals against Julianna Pena. New prediction: Bruce Buffer will announce Rakoczy’s record as “4-3,” including her exhibition bouts on the show. Call it a hunch.

After Wednesday’s episode aired, the UFC released the full fight lineup for this Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Headlined by the lightweight grudge match between Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard, the main card will kick off with two bouts between female TUF 18 castmembers, including the Happy friggin’ Warrior herself. None of TUF 18‘s male castmembers made the cut, besides Chris Holdsworth and David Grant in the men’s final. Harsh, but fair, considering how badly some of these dudes embarrassed themselves.

Check out the full TUF 18 Finale lineup after the jump, and come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.

FOX Sports 1 Main Card (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT)
Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz
Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy
Chris Holdsworth vs. David Grant
Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Raquel Pennington

FOX Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT)
Akira Corassini vs. Maximo Blanco
Rani Yahya vs. Tom Niinimaki
Jared Rosholt vs. Walt Harris
Sean Spencer vs. Drew Dober

Facebook Prelim (7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT)
Ryan Benoit vs. Joshua Sampo

TUF 18 Episode 4 Recap: Piss Fits, Toilet Paper Roll Men, And a Gnarly Dive-Bomb KO

(Rakoczy vs. Modafferi highlights, via Fox Sports.)

While the first women’s quarterfinal bout on TUF 18 featured an ego-driven meeting of Team Rousey and Team Tate’s top picks, the second one pitted the female bracket’s #4 seeds against each other. At the end of last week’s episode, we saw coach Miesha Tate select WMMA veteran Roxanne Modafferi (who comes onto the show with a five-fight losing streak) to go in against Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy, a former boxing champ who has only earned one victory in five MMA fights. Once again, we have a meeting of the old school vs. the new school — not to mention a classic matchup between a grappler who’s shaky on her feet vs. a striker who’s still learning this jiu-jitsu stuff. Spoiler alert: The fight ends by stoppage, and it’s ugly.

Ronda Rousey is psyched about the matchup, though. “They’re such predictable little pussies,” she says. “[Modafferi’s] not gonna be able to bully in, you’ll be able to pick her apart, it’s perfect.” Rakoczy apparently suffered a shoulder injury during her elimination fight, but she’s ready, and Miesha Tate will pay for every smile she smirked.

Modafferi thanks Tate for the fight-selection — in Japanese, obviously — and says she’s not going to underestimate Rakoczy, even though her team (and guest coach Dennis Hallman) are convinced that Modafferi’s got this one in the bag. Vengeful MMA Gods, that’s your cue to enter.

Edmond Tarverdyan mean-mugs Hallman and tries to pick a fight as soon as he sees him. Hallman calls his bluff and offers to settle it right then in the training center. Rousey holds her coach back, then gets in Hallman’s face and throws a “piss fit.” (Miesha’s words, not mine.) Dana White has to come in and play peacemaker, which is kind of an unexpected role for him. I’m sure it’s just that infamous reality show editing, but man, Tarverdyan and Rousey are really coming off like crazy assholes here.


(Rakoczy vs. Modafferi highlights, via Fox Sports.)

While the first women’s quarterfinal bout on TUF 18 featured an ego-driven meeting of Team Rousey and Team Tate’s top picks, the second one pitted the female bracket’s #4 seeds against each other. At the end of last week’s episode, we saw coach Miesha Tate select WMMA veteran Roxanne Modafferi (who comes onto the show with a five-fight losing streak) to go in against Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy, a former boxing champ who has only earned one victory in five MMA fights. Once again, we have a meeting of the old school vs. the new school — not to mention a classic matchup between a grappler who’s shaky on her feet vs. a striker who’s still learning this jiu-jitsu stuff. Spoiler alert: The fight ends by stoppage, and it’s ugly.

Ronda Rousey is psyched about the matchup, though. “They’re such predictable little pussies,” she says. “[Modafferi’s] not gonna be able to bully in, you’ll be able to pick her apart, it’s perfect.” Rakoczy apparently suffered a shoulder injury during her elimination fight, but she’s ready, and Miesha Tate will pay for every smile she smirked.

Modafferi thanks Tate for the fight-selection — in Japanese, obviously — and says she’s not going to underestimate Rakoczy, even though her team (and guest coach Dennis Hallman) are convinced that Modafferi’s got this one in the bag. Vengeful MMA Gods, that’s your cue to enter.

Edmond Tarverdyan mean-mugs Hallman and tries to pick a fight as soon as he sees him. Hallman calls his bluff and offers to settle it right then in the training center. Rousey holds her coach back, then gets in Hallman’s face and throws a “piss fit.” (Miesha’s words, not mine.) Dana White has to come in and play peacemaker, which is kind of an unexpected role for him. I’m sure it’s just that infamous reality show editing, but man, Tarverdyan and Rousey are really coming off like crazy assholes here.

Raquel Pennington gets frustrated by Modafferi’s lower intensity during a grappling session, and wants to train with the male fighters instead. So, Coach Tate makes it happen, running a men vs. women sparring session. Sarah Moras demands that Louis Fisette hit her in the face when she senses that Fisette might be taking it easy on her. He takes her down and pounds on her a bit. So now you’ve seen men fighting women (technically) in the UFC. Happy now, you weirdos?

Jessica Rakoczy has taken on the role of house mother, cleaning the house and kissing boo-boos. With her team down 0-2, she feels the pressure to carry the team on her back, despite her weakened shoulder.

Modafferi and Shayna Baszler are old friends from the dark ages of WMMA, and fought each other in Japan back in 2006. Now, the Happy Warrior spends her free time teaching Baszler Japanese. Everybody loves Roxanne Modafferi. Her constant kindness and sheer unguarded weirdness have made her something of a beloved team mascot.

Rakoczy opens up about the abusive step-father who haunted her childhood and ended up beating her mother to death. “He’ll have his karma,” she says. “He’ll be going to hell, that’s for sure.” Luckily, Jessica was able to focus her resulting anger and aggression into boxing.

Roxanne and Jessica both come in under the bantamweight limit (133 and 132 pounds, respectively), then have a little fun with some nunchucks and a dart-gun before they face-off. Suddenly, Roxanne’s “Happy Warrior” smile goes away. Even the men feel the chill in the room.

Jessica talks about how awkward it is to be preparing for a fight while living in the same house as your opponent. Roxanne makes a life-sized man out of toilet paper rolls. (I’m…so…roneryyyy….) Jessica starts to get emotional thinking about not having her son around. Roxanne gets emotional after reading a note of encouragement from Julianna. Pfft, women, amirite?

Time to bang…

Round 1: Both fighters measuring distance with leg kicks. Jessica throws some fast straight punches to the body and head. She starts out as the aggressor, but then Roxanne fires back some punches of her own, moves Jessica back to the fence, and takes her to the mat. Roxanne hangs out in guard for a bit, Jessica kicks her off, Roxanne comes right back in. Jessica looks for a submission off her back, but can’t put anything together. Roxanne on top in side control, sneaks in a short elbow after a moment of inactivity. Jessica scrambles to her knees, Roxanne looking for back control. She can’t get it, and Jessica winds up on top. Now it’s Roxy looking for an armbar. She loses it and Jessica comes in hard with an elbow from the top. A couple more strikes from above from Jessica, as Roxanne tries to tie her down. Jessica escapes when Roxanne tries for a heel-hook, somersaulting out of danger. Back on the feet, Roxanne misses a spinning backfist by a mile; it is truly Sonnen-esque. Roxanne shoots for a double, Jessica stays on her feet and defends. A bit of dirty boxing against the fence, and Roxanne takes Jessica to the mat again. Jessica tries to work her guard as time expires.

Back on the stool, Roxanne sucks in some very deep breaths as Miesha Tate politely asks her for one takedown in the next round. They know they probably won the opening frame due to top control, and Roxanne’s best bet is to do it all over again. Back on Team Rousey, Edmond’s advice to Jessica is simple: Box the shit out of her.

Round 2: Jessica flashes some punches, and Roxanne wades in to clinch, her arms out like a mummy. Jessica fends her off and scores a brilliant backpedaling knockdown with a left hook. Roxanne pops up and they scrap from close quarters until Roxy falls back into guard. Instead of immediately letting Roxanne up, Jessica tries to make Roxanne pay right then and there, diving in with a punch and trying to work some ground and pound. Roxy nearly catches her in an armbar, and Jessica realizes that maybe standing and banging is the best option here. She retreats to her feet and starts putting on a boxing clinic, tagging Roxy once, twice, then sending her to mat again with another left hook. Hammerfists from Jessica as Roxanne clutches at her legs, trying to convert a double. The ref stops the action and then stands there for a few seconds as everybody wonders what the hell is happening. Finally, the ref takes Jessica aside and tells her that if she grabs the fence again, he’s taking a point. (He also warned her for fence-grabbing in round 1, saying that if she did it again, he’d take a point. Well, he’s not exactly following up on that threat, but the pause does give Roxy a long moment to clear the cobwebs, which is sort of fair, I guess.)

The ref restarts the fight in the same position, with Jessica against the fence and Roxanne down on her legs. Roxanne is tenacious, and eventually drags Jessica down. Jessica flips her with ease and gets on top. Coach Ronda screams at her to stand up — seriously, Jessica, WTF? — but Jessica insists on playing around in guard. As soon as Roxanne latches onto her arms, Jessica takes a page out of the Sarah Kaufman playbook and picks Roxanne, slamming her hard on the mat. Roxanne’s head takes a rather hard bounce. She’s visibly dazed, trying to get up while half-asleep. Jessica stuffs a left hand in her face from above, and Roxy endures what might be her third flash-knockout of this fight. Jessica gets on top, grinds down with some strikes, and gets to her feet. Once more, she pops Roxanne in the face from above, as Roxy rolls around on her back, trying to find the strength to get up. Roxanne gets to one knee, collapses to the mat, and Jessica fires off a perfect dive-bomb KO. It’s over. Thank God, it’s over. Roxanne fought the last 20 of that fight while unconscious. Late stoppage, but at least they let a samurai go out on her sword.

Eventually, Roxanne wakes up screaming. She calls out for her big sister, and Jessica comes over for a post-fight hug and pep-talk. Everybody on Team Tate is gutted for Roxy, but it’s a great moment of inter-Team unity. No hard feelings. Everybody lives to fight another day, hopefully with the lessons they learned from this moment. Roxanne shouts some nonsensical gibberish. Or maybe it’s Japanese, but clearly, the poor kid has suffered some brain damage. She cries into Shayna Baszler’s arms, the only other person in the building who understands exactly how fucking badly this sucks right now.

And so, “Team Rowdy” has control of the fight picks, and Ronda chooses her #2 guy Davey Grant to face Team Tate’s injury replacement Louis Fisette.

On the next episode: Ronda’s mom shows up. HIDE. YOUR. WEED.

Team Rousey Women
Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2)
Jessamyn Duke
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy

Team Rousey Men
Chris Beal (eliminated by Chris Holdsworth in the quarterfinals, episode 3)
Davey Grant
Anthony Gutierrez
Michael Wootten

Team Tate Women
Julianna Pena
Sarah Moras
Raquel Pennington
Roxanne Modafferi (eliminated by Jessica Rakoczy in the quarterfinals, episode 4)

Team Tate Men
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill
Louis Fisette

— Ben Goldstein

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club: Worst Blind Date Ever

(Shinya Aoki tries to hide his disgust next to kickboxer/cosplayer Yuichiro Nagashima, who he’ll be facing in a strange mixed-rules bout at Dynamite!! 2010. Though we suppose any match against Nagashima could be described as "strange, mixed-rules…

Shinya Aoki Yuichiro Nagashima K-1 Dynamite!! 2010
(Shinya Aoki tries to hide his disgust next to kickboxer/cosplayer Yuichiro Nagashima, who he’ll be facing in a strange mixed-rules bout at Dynamite!! 2010. Though we suppose any match against Nagashima could be described as "strange, mixed-rules.")

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Tito Ortiz vs. Lil’ Nog Will Now Headline UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle (MMA Convert)

– ‘UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch’ in Sydney Ties Sellout Record (Versus MMA Beat)

– WEC 53: Five Fights To Make (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Clay Guida: Livin’ in an RV Down by the River [VIDEO] (FightMagazine)

– While His Management Negotiates, Fedor Emelianenko’s Legacy Suffers (MMA Fighting)

– Keith Jardine Gets the Help of the US Secret Service to Prosecute Nemesis Fighting (MiddleEasy)

– Five Reasons Why Jake Shields Will Beat Georges St. Pierre (Or Not) (LowKick)

– Roxanne Modafferi Discusses Fight With Hitomi Akano at Sengoku’s New Year’s Event (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Eddie Bravo Breaks Down What Went Wrong in Dustin Hazelett’s Loss to Mark Bocek (MMA Scraps)

– The MMA Year In Review Part 1: Randy Couture, Herschel Waker, James Toney and More (SBNation.com/MMA)

Maximo Blanco vs. Won Sik Park Added to Soul of Fight

Filed under: Sengoku, News, JapanSengoku Raiden Championship promoter World Victory Road added four more fights on Friday to its “Soul of Fight” end of year event, bringing the total to 27 fights.

Sengoku’s brightest prospect Maximo Blanco will face …

Filed under: , ,

Sengoku Raiden Championship promoter World Victory Road added four more fights on Friday to its “Soul of Fight” end of year event, bringing the total to 27 fights.

Sengoku’s brightest prospect Maximo Blanco will face one of the toughest tests of his young career as he takes on the underrated Won Sik “Parky” Park. Blanco was originally set for a lightweight title fight but as his planned opponent, Kazunori Yokota, was unable to get past Brian Cobb at SRC 15 in October ended those plans. Park has been the victim of unfortunate circumstances over they past year as his debut against Kuniyoshi Hironaka at DREAM 12 in October 2009 was spoiled by an eye poke and his tune-up fight in Deep against Ryuki Ueyama was ruled a no contest after a disputed referee stoppage.

Former SRC featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara will return to action to take on DREAM representative Yoshiro Maeda. Maeda is coming off a solid but narrow victory over former DEEP featherweight champ Takafumi Otsuka while Kanehara will be looking for his first win since losing his belt to Marlon Sandro.

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(The Rampage Jackson Diaries, vol. 1: A quick look at Rampage’s secret training camp for UFC 123.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA L…

(The Rampage Jackson Diaries, vol. 1: A quick look at Rampage’s secret training camp for UFC 123.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– A Lean BJ Penn Already on Weight For UFC 123 (MMA Convert)

– Tim Boetsch Talks Davis Fight, Learning From Past Losses (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Five Lessons: UFC 122 & WEC 52 (Versus MMA Beat)

– My First Fight: Dennis Hallman (MMA Fighting)

– Aleksander Emelianenko Is Singing in Front of a Live Audience and No One Knows Why (MiddleEasy)

– Strikeforce Cuts Ties With Roxanne Modafferi (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Why Brock Lesnar Should Fight Nogueira Next (LowKick)

– FIGHT! Rankings: Okami is the #2 middleweight in the world, Marquardt drops to #12 (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Jean-Claude Van Damme Gets Emotional While Discussing his Upcoming Fight (MMA Scraps)

– Fabricio Werdum’s Tune-Up Fight Plan Causes Needless Worry By Fans (SBNation.com/MMA)