Megumi Fujii, perhaps the greatest female mixed martial arts fighter of all time, lost her retirement fight Saturday night at Vale Tudo Japan 3rd against Jessica Aguilar in a second round stoppage. Fujii was twice poked in the eye by Aguilar in the first round and sustained a serious-looking injury because of them.
“Mega Megu” decided to fight on despite the injury but in the second round, Aguilar began to take control of the fight and hurt Fujii more. In between the second and third rounds, a ring side doctor inspected Fujii and decided to stop the fight. The fight between Fujii and Aguilar was a rematch of their 2012 Bellator bout which ended with a controversial decision win for Aguilar.
Fujii finishes her career with a record of 26-3, overall. After the fight, the promotion held a retirement ceremony for the pioneering fighter. Watch the fight and ceremony in the video above.
Megumi Fujii, perhaps the greatest female mixed martial arts fighter of all time, lost her retirement fight Saturday night at Vale Tudo Japan 3rd against Jessica Aguilar in a second round stoppage. Fujii was twice poked in the eye by Aguilar in the first round and sustained a serious-looking injury because of them.
“Mega Megu” decided to fight on despite the injury but in the second round, Aguilar began to take control of the fight and hurt Fujii more. In between the second and third rounds, a ring side doctor inspected Fujii and decided to stop the fight. The fight between Fujii and Aguilar was a rematch of their 2012 Bellator bout which ended with a controversial decision win for Aguilar.
Fujii finishes her career with a record of 26-3, overall. After the fight, the promotion held a retirement ceremony for the pioneering fighter. Watch the fight and ceremony in the video above.
The first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 begins with Ronda Rousey finding out that she will be coaching against Meisha Tate instead of Cat Zingano. She isn’t very happy. In fact, she loses her shit, storms around the TUF gym after Meisha walks in and surprises her, looking for Dana White so he can explain.
When he does, Rousey looks relieved. For some reason, she thought that seeing Tate there meant that she herself was being kicked off as a coach. Not sure why she’d assume that, but it just reaffirms that Rousey’s mind is a dark, scary place built to use everything it encounters as anger-inducing motivation. She’s a terrifying, awesome chick.
The reality sets in — Ronda will coach against Mr. and Mrs. Tate on TUF and will rematch Meisha when it’s all over. Rousey seems cool with it, finally, talking of destiny and broken limbs. This season, of course, will feature both men and women bantamweights vying for a UFC contract.
Thirty-two fighters, sixteen of each gender, have been invited to Vegas and will fight their way into the TUF house. First up, is the obligatory former female model turned fighter Jessamyn Duke out of Kentucky winning by triangle choke. The Invicta vet is 5’11 and somehow makes 135 pounds. Nuts.
Next up, David Grant from Britain faces Dominick Cruz’s teammate Danny Martinez. Martinez is desperate for the take down from the get-go. While defending a takedown against the fence, Grant throws a downward elbow to Martinez’ spine and has a point deducted.
Martinez finally gets a takedown near the end of the round but Grant immediately works a triangle choke. Time runs out and Martinez is saved by the bell. The second round starts and Martinez looks gassed.
Grant knocks Martinez down with a punch, then transitions to his back and, as Martinez gets up, Grant knees him to what he believes is the shoulder but what referee Herb Dean calls as an illegal knee to the head. Another point is deducted.
The first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 begins with Ronda Rousey finding out that she will be coaching against Meisha Tate instead of Cat Zingano. She isn’t very happy. In fact, she loses her shit, storms around the TUF gym after Meisha walks in and surprises her, looking for Dana White so he can explain.
When he does, Rousey looks relieved. For some reason, she thought that seeing Tate there meant that she herself was being kicked off as a coach. Not sure why she’d assume that, but it just reaffirms that Rousey’s mind is a dark, scary place built to use everything it encounters as anger-inducing motivation. She’s a terrifying, awesome chick.
The reality sets in — Ronda will coach against Mr. and Mrs. Tate on TUF and will rematch Meisha when it’s all over. Rousey seems cool with it, finally, talking of destiny and broken limbs. This season, of course, will feature both men and women bantamweights vying for a UFC contract.
Thirty-two fighters, sixteen of each gender, have been invited to Vegas and will fight their way into the TUF house. First up, is the obligatory former female model turned fighter Jessamyn Duke out of Kentucky winning by triangle choke. The Invicta vet is 5’11 and somehow makes 135 pounds. Nuts.
Next up, David Grant from Britain faces Dominick Cruz’s teammate Danny Martinez. Martinez is desperate for the take down from the get-go. While defending a takedown against the fence, Grant throws a downward elbow to Martinez’ spine and has a point deducted.
Martinez finally gets a takedown near the end of the round but Grant immediately works a triangle choke. Time runs out and Martinez is saved by the bell. The second round starts and Martinez looks gassed.
Grant knocks Martinez down with a punch, then transitions to his back and, as Martinez gets up, Grant knees him to what he believes is the shoulder but what referee Herb Dean calls as an illegal knee to the head. Another point is deducted.
Grant is clearly the better fighter but is on the verge of losing because of point deductions. Not so fast, the Brit says, and he transitions to a beautiful rolling arm bar the next time the two are on the ground and finishes Martinez to make it into the house.
Dana White sits in between Ronda and Meisha outside of the Octagon, watching the fights. He tries to make small talk and Meisha seems to engage him but Ronda is focused like a laser, pen in hand, making notes as she watches.
Next up, Revelina Berto, sister of Andre Berto, and Jessica Rakoczy get in a back and forth grappling match before Rakoczy gets the submission with a weird, inverted omoplata.
Michael Wootten and Emil Hartsner are up next and both immediately earn the Dana White Scorn Award (also known as the Jon Fitch Memorial Trophy) for being “boring,” and doing that wrestling stuff that is so stupid. Wootten wins a decision.
Peggy Morgan is an adjunct college professor and tall as all get out. She uses her huge size advantage to smash Bethany Marshall and pound her out for a first round TKO win. Meisha Tate calls Morgan the biggest 135-pounder she’s ever seen in her life. Ronda dubs her “Peggy Don’t Give a Fuck.” Now that’s a nickname.
Next up women’s MMA pioneer Roxanne Modafferi takes on Georges St. Pierre Tri Star gym teammate Valerie Letourneau. The TUF producers and fighters continue their “good television” but incredibly disruptive practice of having the families of competitors come visit them the night before their fight and also watch the fights in person. Letourneau has her young daughter watch her lose. Gotta be rough, but we’ve seen worse. Roxy gets the take down, takes the back and sinks in a rear naked choke early.
Tim Gorman finishes Lee Sandmeier quickly, getting a take down, obtaining mount and then the back and finishing with strikes for the TKO win. You don’t know it yet, but Gorman is a real asshole. Stay with us, you’ll see what we mean soon.
Next up, former Gina Carano opponent and party wrestling buddy Tonya Evinger takes on Raquel Pennington. With so many pioneers and veterans on the women’s side, it is interesting to hear Meisha dish on fighters that she knows or well or at least knows of like Roxanne and Tonya. In this case, Tate shares with Dana that Evinger always has “drama” with her girlfriends and that is the reason she has lost the fights she has.
Seems out of left field, but after Raquel submits Tonya in the second round, Evinger herself seems to be referring to such situations saying that she’s got too many distractions in her life right now. Get it together, Tonya. We’ve always liked what you bring to the table, and we’re rooting for ya.
Chris Beal gets the distinction of being the first TUF 18 member (hopefully the last) to wear a mask out to the cage. The kid is a cancer survivor. Not sure if that’s related to the mask or not. In any case, he scores an early nasty knockdown of Sirwan Kakai but the Swede hangs tough, comes back and fights hard before losing a decision to Beal.
Josh Hill wins a unanimous decision over Patrick Holohan on the strength of his wrestling.
Louis Fisett is a spoiled, no good, lazy moocher. Well, at least that’s what his father says about him. He immediately takes down Chris Holdsworth, of Urijah Faber’s suddenly-unbeatable Team Alpha Male, but is in trouble from armbars and triangle chokes right off. He works out but then gets reversed and taps to an arm triangle choke.
Julianna Pena shows impressive ground striking in her bout against Gina Mazany and wins a decision.
Anthony Gutierrez wins a decision over Matt Munsey next.
Former #1 ranked fighter Tara LaRosa fights a fan in Sarah Moras. That admiration doesn’t stop Moras from winning a decision off the strength of take downs and multiple submission attempts.
We’d heard lots about Cody Bollinger recently and the 22-year-old does indeed look tough in stopping Rafael De Freitas in the second round. Cody got a take down in the first but spent most of the first round working out of deep submission attempts from De Freitas. In the second round, however, Cody is the fresher fighter and begins to tee off on the feet with strikes until he drops and finishes De Freitas.
That’s all the fights and now it is time for the coin toss to see which coach will get to begin picking their team first. Ronda wins the coin toss and has the choice of picking first or instead deciding on the first fight. She chooses to pick the first fight and cedes the first fighter pick to Meisha.
Tate chooses Julianna Pena, whom she has trained with in the past. Ronda chooses Baszler. For the full team list, go here.
Oh yeah, here’s when we learn that Tim Gorman is a dork. The Iowa fighter gets chosen last by Tate, which probably kinda stings. Oh well, the other fighters just deal with it. Not Timmy, though.
“I got picked by Meisha Tate,” he tells the confession camera later. “Is that her name? I don’t even know what her name is so I don’t care that she picked me last because I don’t even know who she is.”
Well, the rest of the fight world knows who the soon to be two-time world title challenger is, Tim. She’s fought in the UFC, you haven’t. She’s headlined a pay per view. You haven’t. She’s a professional fighter who does this for a living. You hope to soon be able to do that one day. Any other questions?
Fight pick time is up and Ronda goes in headfirst. She pits both teams’ first picks against one another. Julianna Pena from Team Tate will take on Shayna Baszler from Team Rousey.
That’s it for this week, kids. Can’t wait to see how these guys and dolls coexist in the house together and who will come out on top in what looks to be a great first fight.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Jessica Eye has been a Bellator fighter for the past couple years. The flyweight/bantamweight had been signed to the organization since 2011 but, like other women on the roster, she had trouble getting fights with regularity.
“I’m a smart woman so I knew something was up,” she chuckles.
“It was getting to the point where, if they didn’t get me my last fight in June, they would have soon been in breach of contract.”
Eye nonetheless managed to take on and beat marquee names such as Zoila Frausta Gurgel and Carina Damm (who botched a drug test moments before their fight), compiling a 10-1 record and seven-fight win streak since her pro debut in June 2010. At worst, Eye’s release from Bellator was bittersweet.
The MMA world was not at all surprised when the UFC quickly signed her to their bantamweight division and booked her against Sarah Kaufman, October 19th at UFC 166. The Cleveland fighter, however, never took the signing for granted.
“I’m 27 years old and that’s old enough to have learned that you shouldn’t assume anything,” Eye explains. “But I did have confidence that I had done enough in MMA that people had learned about me and that I would get picked up by the UFC.”
In case you hadn’t noticed, Jessica Eye has been a Bellator fighter for the past couple years. The flyweight/bantamweight had been signed to the organization since 2011 but, like other women on the roster, she had trouble getting fights with regularity.
“I’m a smart woman so I knew something was up,” she chuckles.
“It was getting to the point where, if they didn’t get me my last fight in June, they would have soon been in breach of contract.”
Eye nonetheless managed to take on and beat marquee names such as Zoila Frausta Gurgel and Carina Damm (who botched a drug test moments before their fight), compiling a 10-1 record and seven-fight win streak since her pro debut in June 2010. At worst, Eye’s release from Bellator was bittersweet.
The MMA world was not at all surprised when the UFC quickly signed her to their bantamweight division and booked her against Sarah Kaufman, October 19th at UFC 166. The Cleveland fighter, however, never took the signing for granted.
“I’m 27 years old and that’s old enough to have learned that you shouldn’t assume anything,” Eye explains. “But I did have confidence that I had done enough in MMA that people had learned about me and that I would get picked up by the UFC.”
When she did, the Strong Style Fight Team member recognized what a monumental accomplishment joining the UFC was, especially considering that women have only been in the organization for six months. “It feels great,” she says.
“That’s why I signed my contract in the [Cleveland] Browns stadium. I wanted to look up at all those seats and think about how far MMA has come and how far it could still go. I’m ready for this.”
“This,” of course, includes all the attention women fighters are finally getting because of their inclusion in the UFC, but Eye understands that she didn’t sign up for a parade at UFC 166 – she’ll have to fight another highly trained lethal weapon. “I would be an idiot if I didn’t think that Sarah Kaufman is a very hard fight,” Eye says.
“She’s a former champion, a veteran and has fought a lot of great other fighters.”
Eye is, of course, confident that she will be able to best Kaufman and earn her first UFC win. That supreme confidence extends to fighting bigger women in general.
Because the UFC currently only has one women’s weight division, fighters like Eye — who has competed several times at flyweight in the past — have to necessarily choose the higher division and larger opponents in order to compete in the organization. “Evil Eye” is undaunted.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that there were about five fights where I fought at 131 pounds or 132 pounds, and it was getting harder to make that weight or 125 as I get older. With 135, I can put on more muscle and feel strong and not have to worry about cutting weight,” she insists.
Practical considerations aside, however, one factor reigns supreme in Eye’s mind. “I’m not scared of anything,” she says. “I’m not scared of anyone. I don’t care. I’ll fight anybody.”
For years, UFC president Dana White was firmly against bringing women into the Octagon to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
In 2011, just two years ago, White told TMZ that women would “never” fight for his promotion. And yet now, in 2013, there are 15 women signed to a Zuffa contract and the UFC women’s bantamweight division is quickly becoming one of the promotion’s most crowd-pleasing weight classes.
So what changed?
The answer is simple: Ronda Rousey emerged as a superstar, and it’s Rousey that has singlehandedly brought women’s MMA into the mainstream — although White must be praised for giving her and other female fighters the platform to perform.
Now I really hate admitting this is the case, because I have been a fan of women’s fights ever since the HOOKnSHOOT days and I want to believe it was all of the women in sum putting on great fights that changed White’s mind, but it’s not a coincidence that White’s softened stance on allowing females to compete in the UFC coincided with Rousey’s unbeaten run to the top of the sport.
White, who is one of the smartest promoters in all of combat sports, was quick to realize Rousey could be a draw based on her good looks and vicious fighting style, and therefore make his company a lot of money, and the decision was made to bring her along with some other notable 135-pound females into the UFC earlier this year as a test drive of sorts.
And so far, the ride has been nothing but smooth.
UFC 157, which took place in February, featured not only the first women’s fight in UFC history but it was also the first UFC event to be headlined by two female fighters (Rousey and Liz Carmouche), and yet it did 450,000 PPV buys and a $1.35-million U.S. gate despite having a poor undercard. To the UFC, those numbers were a huge success and a slew of ladies were quickly signed by White and Co., who realized the fans loved Rousey vs. Carmouche and that they’d probably enjoy watching even more women fight.
(Is the women’s bantamweight division still reliant on the star power of its champion? / Photo via Getty)
For years, UFC president Dana White was firmly against bringing women into the Octagon to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
In 2011, just two years ago, White told TMZ that women would “never” fight for his promotion. And yet now, in 2013, there are 15 women signed to a Zuffa contract and the UFC women’s bantamweight division is quickly becoming one of the promotion’s most crowd-pleasing weight classes.
So what changed?
The answer is simple: Ronda Rousey emerged as a superstar, and it’s Rousey that has singlehandedly brought women’s MMA into the mainstream — although White must be praised for giving her and other female fighters the platform to perform.
Now I really hate admitting this is the case, because I have been a fan of women’s fights ever since the HOOKnSHOOT days and I want to believe it was all of the women in sum putting on great fights that changed White’s mind, but it’s not a coincidence that White’s softened stance on allowing females to compete in the UFC coincided with Rousey’s unbeaten run to the top of the sport.
White, who is one of the smartest promoters in all of combat sports, was quick to realize Rousey could be a draw based on her good looks and vicious fighting style, and therefore make his company a lot of money, and the decision was made to bring her along with some other notable 135-pound females into the UFC earlier this year as a test drive of sorts.
And so far, the ride has been nothing but smooth.
UFC 157, which took place in February, featured not only the first women’s fight in UFC history but it was also the first UFC event to be headlined by two female fighters (Rousey and Liz Carmouche), and yet it did 450,000 PPV buys and a $1.35-million U.S. gate despite having a poor undercard. To the UFC, those numbers were a huge success and a slew of ladies were quickly signed by White and Co., who realized the fans loved Rousey vs. Carmouche and that they’d probably enjoy watching even more women fight.
In fact, the only bad women’s fight so far in the UFC was Julie Kedzie vs. Germaine de Randamie, meaning that of the seven female fights promoted so far by the UFC, the fans went home happy six times. That’s a good ratio – very good, actually – and it’s why the fans can expect the UFC to sign more females to its 135-pound roster in the near future (former Bellator standout Jessica Eye is the latest to be inked), and possibly even introduce additional female weight classes as soon as next year.
It’s clear that with TUF 18 featuring women in addition to men, the UFC wants to push its women’s division even harder through the end of the year. The new season, which stars arch-rivals Rousey and Tate as the coaches, is almost guaranteed to be a ratings hit when it premieres this Wednesday, bringing in even more new fans who are drawn in by women being in the spotlight.
That’s why I expect the UFC at some point to make a push to absorb Invicta Fighting Championships, the all-female promotion run by Shannon Knapp that has quickly become known for its extremely exciting fights between the best women fighters in the world at 105, 115, 125, 135, and 145 pounds.
Although the UFC has an informal talent-sharing agreement with Invicta at the moment which has thus far worked out nicely for both parties, the UFC will likely eventually see them as a competitor and buy them out like they did with PRIDE, the WEC, Strikeforce, and so many others. There’s no doubt in my mind the UFC is going to introduce more women’s divisions soon and they’re going to need a roster of non-bantamweight female fighters, which Invicta clearly has.
If I had to guess, the next female division that will be added is the 125-pound weight class, as many of the UFC’s female bantamweights (Eye, Sexton, and Gaff before she was cut) were actually flyweights who moved up for the opportunity to fight in the big show, just like male featherweights used to move up to lightweight to fight in the UFC before that weight class was added in 2010.
If I had my choice, though, the UFC would introduce the women’s 145-pound weight class, as the #1-ranked fighter in that division, Cris Cyborg, is one of the most dominant pound-for-pound fighters in the world regardless of gender, and she deserves the chance to show off her wares to a bigger audience than Invicta is giving her. Even though Cyborg tested positive for PEDs in 2011, it seems as though the fans have forgotten about it pretty quickly, and that’s probably because they want to see a super-fight between her and Rousey — a fight that is sure to be a pay-per-view blockbuster if and when it goes down.
Personally I want to see Rousey fight the other top contenders at 135 before she moves back up to 145 and fights Cyborg, but I know a Rousey vs. Cyborg fight is big and it could make the UFC a lot of money if they’re ever able to put it together.
For now, though, I think the UFC is happy with Rousey fighting at 135 and that’s why she has been booked in the co-main event slot at UFC 168 against Tate, which is the UFC’s year-end pay-per-view show, and which features the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman in the main event. If Rousey can help the PPV exceed 1,000,000 buys — Silva vs. Weidman at UFC 162 did only a tad more than half a million, and their rematch is expected to draw somewhere north of that — that will prove Rousey’s drawing power and importance to the growth of women’s MMA better than any other statistic.
It took women a long time to find their way into the Octagon, but if the first six months of competition has shown anything, it’s that there is definitely an appetite from the fans for female fights, and that’s why I expect the women to not only stick around for the present, but to be one of the driving forces behind the UFC’s expansion in the years to come, in everything from television broadcasts to international markets. Ronda Rousey is very much responsible for much of that, even if there are many critics out there who don’t always give her the credit she deserves.
(Go gentle into that good night, hot secretary. /Photo via Sherdog)
The writing’s been on the wall for a some time now — Bellator didn’t put on any women’s fights during their brief 2013 Summer Series, only featured three women’s bouts during all of Season 8, and hasn’t hosted a women’s tournament since 2010. Last night, Bjorn Rebney released a statement confirming that their last three contracted female fighters have been released, and that Bellator will no longer be promoting women’s MMA:
“Jessica Eye, Jessica Aguilar and Felice Herrig represent all that is good in women’s MMA. Both Eye and Aguilar are ranked No. 1 in the world in their respective divisions and carry themselves with class and distinction, elevating the women’s game. I’ve said many times that fighters need to fight, and fight often. Given our current focus, we are not in a position to provide these very deserving women regular and recurring fights on a large platform, and I felt it was best to let them go and secure options that did. I genuinely wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors and will be rooting for each of them wherever they fight.”
Since the arrival of Invicta FC last year, followed by the debut of female bantamweights in the UFC, the marketplace for women’s MMA has become much more competitive. Bellator’s early efforts to promote women’s fighting were admirable, but at some point they began to lose interest. Notably, Bellator virtually forgot about Zoila Frausto after she won the promotion’s inaugural strawweight tournament, and there’s been nothing resembling a long-term strategy for women in Bellator since then. Essentially, there are other promotions doing women’s MMA much better these days, and with bigger stars. (See: Rousey, Cyborg.) Seems like a good time to walk away.
(Go gentle into that good night, hot secretary. /Photo via Sherdog)
The writing’s been on the wall for a some time now — Bellator didn’t put on any women’s fights during their brief 2013 Summer Series, only featured three women’s bouts during all of Season 8, and hasn’t hosted a women’s tournament since 2010. Last night, Bjorn Rebney released a statement confirming that their last three contracted female fighters have been released, and that Bellator will no longer be promoting women’s MMA:
“Jessica Eye, Jessica Aguilar and Felice Herrig represent all that is good in women’s MMA. Both Eye and Aguilar are ranked No. 1 in the world in their respective divisions and carry themselves with class and distinction, elevating the women’s game. I’ve said many times that fighters need to fight, and fight often. Given our current focus, we are not in a position to provide these very deserving women regular and recurring fights on a large platform, and I felt it was best to let them go and secure options that did. I genuinely wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors and will be rooting for each of them wherever they fight.”
Since the arrival of Invicta FC last year, followed by the debut of female bantamweights in the UFC, the marketplace for women’s MMA has become much more competitive. Bellator’s early efforts to promote women’s fighting were admirable, but at some point they began to lose interest. Notably, Bellator virtually forgot about Zoila Frausto after she won the promotion’s inaugural strawweight tournament, and there’s been nothing resembling a long-term strategy for women in Bellator since then. Essentially, there are other promotions doing women’s MMA much better these days, and with bigger stars. (See: Rousey, Cyborg.) Seems like a good time to walk away.
Though Eye, Aguilar, and Herrig are all too small to find homes in the UFC’s bantamweight division, strawweight Felice Herrig has already signed a multi-fight contract with Invicta FC, and will make her debut later this year:
“I couldn’t be happier than I am now, after signing with Invicta FC,” said Herrig. “I have seen them do so much for women and really give them a chance to shine. I don’t think anyone realized how big Invicta FC would become, and I am truly proud to say I have found a home with them.”
Herrig, who went 3-0 under the Bellator banner — and quickly became the best reason to watch their weigh-ins — has won her last four fights by decision. Invicta features a stacked roster at 115 pounds, led by champion Carla Esparza, and featuring a pack of exciting contenders and prospects like Rose Namajunas, Bec Hyatt, Tecia Torres, Claudia Gadelha, and Joanne Calderwood. It’s the best place in the world for a female strawweight looking for bigger opportunities, and Herrig will make a great addition. Best of luck, Lil’ Bulldog.
So there’s this featherweight from Santa Catarina named Julio Cesar Neves, and he’s an absolute monster. In less than two years of professional competition, Neves has racked up a record of 26-0 (!), with 24 of those wins by stoppage. On Saturday, he picked up his 13th win of the year (!!), and we have a feeling this one will get him noticed by the big leagues.
The fight you see above went down at Watch Out Combat Show 28, where Neves faced Dener Dos Santos. Less than two minutes into the first round, Neves fires a capoeira-style cartwheel kick that immediately sends Dos Santos into falling-tree mode. Your move, Lelo.
And now, in the women’s division, we have a knockout that’s less flashy, more smashy…
So there’s this featherweight from Santa Catarina named Julio Cesar Neves, and he’s an absolute monster. In less than two years of professional competition, Neves has racked up a record of 26-0 (!), with 24 of those wins by stoppage. On Saturday, he picked up his 13th win of the year (!!), and we have a feeling this one will get him noticed by the big leagues.
The fight you see above went down at Watch Out Combat Show 28, where Neves faced Dener Dos Santos. Less than two minutes into the first round, Neves fires a capoeira-style cartwheel kick that immediately sends Dos Santos into falling-tree mode. Your move, Lelo.
And now, in the women’s division, we have a knockout that’s less flashy, more smashy…
On July 27th, atomweight prospect Jinh Yu Frey produced a strong front-runner for WMMA Knockout of the Year at Sugar Creek Showdown 18 in Hinton, Oklahoma, when she put Darla Harris to sleep in the first round. Frey stunned Harris with a hard head kick, then knocked her clean out with a brutal straight-left. As Harris began to topple over in the familiar falling-tree style, Frey fired off another straight left, helping to speed up her opponent’s descent to the mat. The win bumped Frey’s pro record to 2-0. An injury and grad school might postpone her return to the cage, but we hope to see Frey on a bigger stage in the future.
