Once considered one of the greatest 125-pounders in the world, Gomez couldn’t find success on the sport’s largest stage, going 0-2 in the UFC. He was released by the promotion February, and was subsequently denied the chance to try out for TUF 18. The Cage Warriors 62 main event was supposed to be Gomez’s return to competition. Unfortunately, his layoff will continue until he gets his next fight booked.
Once considered one of the greatest 125-pounders in the world, Gomez couldn’t find success on the sport’s largest stage, going 0-2 in the UFC. He was released by the promotion February, and was subsequently denied the chance to try out for TUF 18. The Cage Warriors 62 main event was supposed to be Gomez’s return to competition. Unfortunately, his layoff will continue until he gets his next fight booked.
(INVICTA FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs Smith via Invicta FC)
With the UFC putting on an event practically every weekend nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder for even the most hardcore fan to keep up with all the action, let alone the great fights transpiring under lower-level banners like WSOF, Invicta FC, Cage Warriors, and the like. So while most of the MMA world will remain focused on Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot (which is a relatively stacked card, all things considered) this Friday, we’ve decided to highlight a handful of lesser-known-yet-equally-intriguing bouts for you Taters to keep an eye out for this weekend. And here you thought we weren’t MMA fans anymore.
Thanks to a last second toe injury, the originally scheduled (also, cursed) main event between Mike Kyle and Anthony Johnson was recently scrapped from WSOF 7, shuffling the co-main event matchup between Armenian powerhouse Georgi Karakhanyan and undefeated grappler Lance Palmer into the spotlight. And quite honestly, it’s a far more compelling fight in our opinion.
(INVICTA FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs Smith via Invicta FC)
With the UFC putting on an event practically every weekend nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder for even the most hardcore fan to keep up with all the action, let alone the great fights transpiring under lower-level banners like WSOF, Invicta FC, Cage Warriors, and the like. So while most of the MMA world will remain focused on Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot (which is a relatively stacked card, all things considered) this Friday, we’ve decided to highlight a handful of lesser-known-yet-equally-intriguing bouts for you Taters to keep an eye out for this weekend. And here you thought we weren’t MMA fans anymore.
Thanks to a last second toe injury, the originally scheduled (also, cursed) main event between Mike Kyle and Anthony Johnson was recently scrapped from WSOF 7, shuffling the co-main event matchup between Armenian powerhouse Georgi Karakhanyan and undefeated grappler Lance Palmer into the spotlight. And quite honestly, it’s a far more compelling fight in our opinion — Karakhanyan has scored 8 straight victories (5 finishes) since being released from Bellator back in 2011, including a first round submission over UFC veteran Waylon Lowe in his WSOF debut. Prior to that, the current Tachi Palace featherweight champion put the stamp on another, more well known UFC vet, Din Thomas, at Legacy FC 19.
While Karakhanyan has proven himself to be a well-rounded fighter — he balances 12 submission victories against 4 knockouts — he’ll be facing a stiff test in late replacement opponent Lance Palmer. Currently 7-0 as a professional, Palmer is a hard-nosed grappler fresh off a tough split decision win over Jared Downing at RFA 8. Given the relative lack of pressure being placed on Palmer’s shoulders, we could be in for a huge upset should “The Party” (eesh) be able to take Karakhanyan to the mat early and often.
Our history with Nick Newell has been extensively documented, but that doesn’t change the fact that “Notorious” will be facing one of the biggest tests of his career this weekend. On the heels of another successful first round ass-kicking in his own promotional debut (his 9th in 10 fights), Newell will be squaring off with British Columbia native Sabah Fadai, a 7-2 fighter who has finished all of his victories by either TKO or submission. While Fadai has been out of action for over a year now, a win over a rising star like Newell would more than make up for his lost time.
To refresh your memory, here’s a video of Newell kicking some dude’s ass at XFC 19 last December:
If you’ve been following the WMMA scene at all over the past few years, chances are that you’ve heard of Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith, an Invicta and Bellator veteran known for her tough-as-nails demeanor and penchant for putting on wild slugfests. MMAFighting’s Chuck Mindenhall recently wrote an excellent profile on Smith, who has fought on 5 of the 6 Invicta cards (and who holds a record of 3-1-1 in the promotion) and holds victories over Kaitlin Young and TUF 18 semifinalist Raquel Pennington. We’d highly recommend that you check it out to learn a little more about the fan-friendly fighter, who recently earned her shot at flyweight champion Barb Honchak with a FOTN-earning unanimous decision victory over Jennifer Maia in her flyweight debut at Invicta 6.
Speaking of Honchak, we’d be remiss if we did not sing the praises of the current champ in the days prior to her first title defense. Although her career got off to a bumpy 1-2 start, Honchak has put together 7 straight wins including 3 under the Invicta banner since 2011. A fierce counter striker with solid boxing mechanics, Honchak has been criticized (by Young, amongst others) for being a “points fighter,” so it will be interesting to see how she responds to the criticism in her biggest fight to date. And that’s saying something for a woman who holds victories over Roxanne Modafferi, Vanessa Porto, and…
We might have irked Herrig with our recent criticism of the TUF 18 Finale, but we only did it out of love. And the truth is, aside from being a dynamic, intelligent, and visually-striking woman who knows how to market herself, Herrig is also a legitimately talented fighter who is a surefire poster girl for the UFC’s upcoming strawweight division. Currently 4-1 in her last 5 and coming off back-to-back decision wins in Bellator, Herrig’s extensive Muay Thai/kickboxing background has been coupled with an ever-improving ground game under the tutelage of Jeff Curran and has led her to victory over the likes of TUF 18 finalist Jessica Rakoczy and Patricia Vidonic (twice).
Looking to steal some of Herrig’s thunder, however, will be 3-0 Tecia Torres. Perhaps one of the more overlooked fighters in strawweight division, “The Tiny Tornado” is no stranger to halting hype trains, as she is fresh off a decision victory over our own “Thug” Rose Namajunas at Invicta FC 6…
If Torres is able to knock off Herrig this weekend, she will more or less become the female Lawrence of Arabia of the strawweight division (confusing analogy much?), so keep an eye out for this matchup, Taters.
While Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia was known for putting on Fight of the Year contenders in the UFC, he wasn’t known for actually winning fights at the end of his second tour of duty (as for the fights he “won,” well…). However, since being mercifully released from the promotion in April following five straight losses, Garcia has managed to both put on entertaining fights and walk away with his hand raised. Since signing with Legacy Fighting Championships, Garcia has scored back-to-back stoppage victories over Rey Trujillo and Nick Gonzalez at LFC 21 and 23, respectfully. A big win over undefeated “Angel of Death” Kevin Aguilar could easily see Garcia reinstated in the UFC for another run.
Aguilar, on the other hand, is no slouch. Currently 8-0, this Bellator veteran has gone the distance just once in his professional career and has balanced 5 TKOs against 2 submissions. Could he be the man to bring Garcia’s resurgence to a halt? FIND OUT THIS WEEKEND. It’s kind of the point of this article.
Finally, we have a potential barnburner of a scrap taking place between two always entertaining, if inconsistent, fighters in Ulysses Gomez vs. Neil Seery. Transpiring under the London-based Cage Warriors banner, Gomez vs. Seery will serve as the main event of Cage Warriors 62 and promises to be one for the ages. Despite going 0-2 in the UFC, Gomez is an incredible grappler who has previously secured both the flyweight and bantamweight titles while fighting for Tachi Palace Fights back in 2010-11. In his 9 professional victories, Gomez has claimed all but two of them by submission.
After trading wins and losses for the majority of his career, Seery has been on a roll as of late, scoring 4 straight wins over the past year. Seery and Gomez share a common opponent in current UFC fighter Phil Harris, who has defeated them both by way of UD, but we’ll be tuning into this fight solely to see how a guy who calls himself “2 Tap” will hold up against a ground wizard like Gomez.
Are there any other lower-level fights taking place this weekend that warrant a mention? Let us know in the comments section.
(Barao puts one upside Faber’s head at UFC 149. Photo via Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
The interim bantamweight title fight between Renan Barao and challenger Michael McDonald will go down at UFC on FUEL 7, February 16th at London’s Wembley Arena. UFC UK confirmed the news earlier today, and revealed a crop of supporting fights. They are…
– Paul Sass vs. Danny Castillo (LW): The British two-trick pony took his first career loss against Matt Wiman in September, while Team Alpha Male member Castillo had a three-fight win streak snapped in October when he was KO’d by Michael Johnson.
– Terry Etim vs. Renee Forte (LW): Inactive since becoming a permanent part of Edson Barboza’s highlight reel in January, Etim returns from injuries to face TUF Brazilcastmember Renee Forte, who just suffered his first official UFC loss when he was submitted by Sergio Moraes at UFC 153.
– Andy Ogle vs. Josh Grispi (FW): Grispi is on a three-fight losing streak, while TUF: Live castmember Ogle lost his official UFC debut in a decision against Akira Corassani in September. Oh, you bet your ass it’s “win or go home” time.
(Barao puts one upside Faber’s head at UFC 149. Photo via Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
The interim bantamweight title fight between Renan Barao and challenger Michael McDonald will go down at UFC on FUEL 7, February 16th at London’s Wembley Arena. UFC UK confirmed the news earlier today, and revealed a crop of supporting fights. They are…
– Paul Sass vs. Danny Castillo (LW): The British two-trick pony took his first career loss against Matt Wiman in September, while Team Alpha Male member Castillo had a three-fight win streak snapped in October when he was KO’d by Michael Johnson.
– Terry Etim vs. Renee Forte (LW): Inactive since becoming a permanent part of Edson Barboza’s highlight reel in January, Etim returns from injuries to face TUF Brazilcastmember Renee Forte, who just suffered his first official UFC loss when he was submitted by Sergio Moraes at UFC 153.
– Andy Ogle vs. Josh Grispi (FW): Grispi is on a three-fight losing streak, while TUF: Live castmember Ogle lost his official UFC debut in a decision against Akira Corassani in September. Oh, you bet your ass it’s “win or go home” time.
– Vaughan Lee vs. Motonobu Tezuka (BW): British bantamweight Vaughan Lee is 1-2 in the Octagon, most recently eating a submission loss against TJ Dillashaw in July. Tezuka is a Pancrase vet who lost his UFC debut at UFC Macao in a split-decision against Alex Caceres.
– Phil Harris vs. Ulysses Gomez (FlyW): The first UFC flyweight match to be held in Europe (true story!), British vet Phil Harris was submitted by Darren Uyenoyama during his UFC debut in October, while former Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champ Ulysses Gomez was knocked out by John Moraga during his own debut in August.
As previously reported, welterweights Matt Riddle and Che Mills will also be squaring off on the card, which marks the UFC’s first London trip since “Bisping vs. Akiyama” in October 2010. But if you were paying attention, you’d notice that all ten fighters in the newly-announced fights listed above are coming off losses. And although the main event will feature a pair of amazing fighters in a competitive matchup, it’s not exactly a blockbuster fight in terms of star power. (At this point, I’d call Renan Barao the fourth-most famous bantamweight on the UFC’s roster, after Ronda Rousey, Urijah Faber, and champion Dominick Cruz, in that order.) So…condolences, London.
Will you care enough to watch this card, or are we giving UFC on FUEL 7 early “garbage ass” status?
It has been a very frustrating couple of years for M-1 Light Heavyweight champion and TUF 8 finalist Vinny Magalhaes. After winning the M-1 belt with a mounted gogoplata submission over Victor Nemkov in April of 2011, then defending it with a head kick TKO of Mikhail Zayats the following October, Magalhaes found himself in a bit of contract limbo with the well documented shysters at M-1. In short, they refused to offer him any more fights under his current contract while simultaneously trying to ink him a new one. Like we said, shysters.
Anyway, after nearly a year on the shelf, Magalhaes got desperate. So desperate, in fact, that he tried selling his belt on Ebay, which was valued at an astounding $99,999 before it was suddenly pulled off the market for reasons that have yet to be explained. However, it appears that Vinny has finally reached an agreement (re: his mercifully release) with his M-1 counterparts, as word has broke that the champ, who has gone 7-1 since being ousted from the UFC following a pair of losses to Ryan Bader and Elliot Marshall, will return to the sport’s highest promotion at UFC 151, which goes down from the Mandalay Bay in Vegas on September 1st. His opponent has yet to be named, but Tatame has the scoop:
Vinny “Pezao” Magalhaes is back to the UFC. The light heavyweight, who lost to Ryan Bader on the TUF 8 Finale, signed a contract with the organization and is set to fight at UFC 151, on September 1st, TATAME learned with sources.
Videos of Magalhaes’ title win and defense await you after the jump, along with the skinny on a potential signing in the UFC’s flyweight division.
It has been a very frustrating couple of years for M-1 Light Heavyweight champion and TUF 8 finalist Vinny Magalhaes. After winning the M-1 belt with a mounted gogoplata submission over Victor Nemkov in April of 2011, then defending it with a head kick TKO of Mikhail Zayats the following October, Magalhaes found himself in a bit of contract limbo with the well documented shysters at M-1. In short, they refused to offer him any more fights under his current contract while simultaneously trying to ink him a new one. Like we said, shysters.
Anyway, after nearly a year on the shelf, Magalhaes got desperate. So desperate, in fact, that he tried selling his belt on Ebay, which was valued at an astounding $99,999 before it was suddenly pulled off the market for reasons that have yet to be explained. However, it appears that Vinny has finally reached an agreement (re: his mercifully release) with his M-1 counterparts, as word has broke that the champ, who has gone 7-1 since being ousted from the UFC following a pair of losses to Ryan Bader and Elliot Marshall, will return to the sport’s highest promotion at UFC 151, which goes down from the Mandalay Bay in Vegas on September 1st. His opponent has yet to be named, but Tatame has the scoop:
Vinny “Pezao” Magalhaes is back to the UFC. The light heavyweight, who lost to Ryan Bader on the TUF 8 Finale, signed a contract with the organization and is set to fight at UFC 151, on September 1st, TATAME learned with sources.
Videos of Magalhaes’ title win and defense await you after the jump, along with the skinny on a potential signing in the UFC’s flyweight division.
Magalhaes vs. Nemkov finish
Magalhaes vs. Zayats (finish comes at 15:33)
Although you’ve gotta imagine that Vinny will fare much better in the UFC his second time around, based on the evidence, do you think we may very well be looking at a contender to Jon Jones’ (or possibly Dan Henderson’s) throne?
And speaking of hot prospects, rumor has it that inaugural/former Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion and current bantamweight champion Ulysses Gomez has signed with the UFC as well. The rumor was started by none other than the man himself, who Tweeted/retweeted the following:
Currently 9-2 in professional competition, Gomez is a submission specialist who most recently earned said bantamweight belt with a third round submission via guillotine over Cody Gibson last December. Gomez joins such prospects as Gunnar Nelson and Tom Watson to have recently signed with the UFC, and will make for a great addition to the UFC’s compact but stacked flyweight division.
And if you’re wondering who the mysterious “Formiga” is that UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby is referring to in that tweet, it would be none other than Jussier “Formiga” da Silva, a 14-1 Jiu-Jitsu powerhouse and fellow TPF veteran that is currently the #2 ranked flyweight in the world according to Sherdog (that is, if you believe in the “bullshit rankings system” created by the JewishMMA media with the sole purpose of pissing off Josh Koscheck). It was announced that da Silva signed with the UFC just a few days ago, and it’s not looking like he will be given a walk in the park for his big debut.
Filed under: NewsThe fighter salaries for last Friday’s Tachi Palace Fights 10 event in Lemoore ranged from $1,000 to $10,000, according to purses reported by promoters to the California athletic commission.
The fighter salaries for last Friday’s Tachi Palace Fights 10 event in Lemoore ranged from $1,000 to $10,000, according to purses reported by promoters to the California athletic commission.
In the main event, Ian McCall earned $8,000 ($4,000 to show and $4,000 to win) for his third-round submission over Darrell Montague to become the promotion’s flyweight champion.
The first-ever Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto, under permission from Bellator, fought for the TPF title, but lost via guillotine choke to Eddie Yagin. Soto made $6,000 for his work, while Yagin earned $6,000, half of which was his win bonus.
The highest earner was longtime company man Ulysses Gomez, who earned $10,000 for his submission win over Drew Bittner.
Ulysses Gomez@uselessgomez