Bellator MMA is back on Spike TV at 9 pm eastern with it’s final event of the year, from San Jose University Events Centre. Former Strikeforce Champion Josh Thomson hopes to get closer to a title shot in Bellator with a win over virtual unknown Villaseca. Also on the card is an interesting Featherweight match between former WSOF Champion Georgi Karakhanyan and perennial Bellator contender Daniel Weichel, coming off a loss to then-champion Patricio Friere. And speaking of the Pitbulls, Patricio’s brother Patricky returns to the Bellator cage in a Lightweight fight with another longtime Bellator competitor Derek Anderson. Brian Rogers makes his Light Heavyweight debut against former Strikeforce fighter Virgil Zwicker. Rounding out the card is a Lightweight fight between unbeaten Adam Piccolotti and Mario Soto, with only one loss on his record.
The prelims start at 7 pm eastern and can be viewed at Spike.com. We’ll have results here after they take place and then full play by play and results of the main card once it starts on Spike.
Light Heavyweights Virgil Zwicker (14-4-1) vs Brian Rogers (11-8)
First round: Zwicker missed weight. He doesn’t look in shape at all. They traded punches. They traded again. Another big trade. Neither is getting the better of it. Hard body kick by Rogers. Rogers slammed him down into side control and kept him down the rest of the round. 10-9 Rogers.
Second round: Rogers kicked him in the groin hard and Zwicker went down. This was a super nasty kick. Zwicker is up and going to be able to continue. Zwicker with a low kick. Nice right by Zwicker. Low kicks by Zwicker. Rogers threw a kick and lost his balance but got back up. Takedown by Rogers. He got his back. Rogers moved to full mount and throwing punch after punch. Zwicker is in trouble. He’s working for a head and arm choke from side control, and got it.
Lightweights Adam Piccolotti (6-0) vs Mario Soto (6-1)
First round: These are two local fighters. Piccolotti has his back in the piggy back position. Now he’ got him down and has his back. Now he’s moved to mount. He’s working for a head and arm choke. Who is the agent tongiht? Trying to steal finishes form the opening match. Soto tried an ankle lock but Piccolotti reversed to his back. Soto out of trouble and back up. Left and right by Piccolotti. Piccolotti with some punches. Piccolotti 10-9.
Second round: Piccolotti took him down off a kick and throwing punches on the ground. Now he’s in full mount. Now he’s got his back. Piccolotti just throwing punches. Piccolotti workihg for a choke. Piccolotti gave it up to throw more punches. Sotob leeding from elbows and Piccolotti working for a choke and looks like he has it. Soto tapped. Soto was busted up pretty bad from the elbows.
Lightweights Patricky Freire (14-6) vs Derek Anderson (12-2)
First round: Glad Coker doesn’t hate Ole Anderson, or else he’d be Derek Kennedy. Trading hard shots. Freire smiled. Anderson landed a good right. High kick by Anderson. Right by Anderson. Anderson got inside and landed some more. Both now missing a lot. Pitbull tried for a takedown, Anderson went for a choke but Pitbull escaped and got his back. He’s in the piggy back position now. Both to their feet. Anderson with a nice slam and Pitbull reversed to the top in side control. Now Pitbull on top with an elbow. Andeson reversed to the top. Pitbull up. Good round. 10-9 Anderson.
Second round: Anderson landing. Pitbull starring to land and hurt him. Pitbull low kicks and a nice uppecut and jumping kick. Body kick by Anderson. Pitbull landed a nice series. Anderson with a body kick. Knee by Pitbull. Pitbull took him down into side control. Pitbull has his back. He’s got a body triangle. Pitbull with punches. Pitbull’s round so 19-19.
Third round: Anderson landing punches. Head kick by Anderson. More punches by Anderson. Pitbull with a takedown. Anderson back up. Pitbull got in and Anderson tied him up. A knee, two punches, and a low kick by Anderson. Knee by Pitbull. Both trading. Pitbull with elbows as Anderson shot for a takedown. Pitbull reversed a takedown to the top but Anderson back up. Anderson going for a takedown and Pitbull switched to the top. Anderson tried a guillotine at the bell. Close round. Anderson 29-28 but this could go either way.
Scores: 29-28 Anderson 29-28 Pitbull 29-28 Anderson
Featherweights Georgi Karakhanyan (24-4-1) vs Daniel Weichel (35-9)
First round: Weichel with a body kick. Weichel kicked him low. Weichel landing good low kicks. Weichel with some punches. Kharakhanyan slapped him in the face. Weichel 10-9.
Second round: Weichel with a front kick. Karakhanyan with a front kick. Weichel landing punches. Weichel with more punches. Karakhanyan wih a spin kick to the head. Body kick had by Weichel. Another body kick by Weichel. Another body kick by Weichel. Body kickj by Weichel. Weichel landed a left. Weichel 20-18.
Third round: Weichel with a punch and body kick. Kharakhanyan with a body kick. Nice spin kick to the head by Kharakhanyan. Right landed by Weichel. Front kick by Weichel. Right by Weichel. Weichel continues to land. A nice exchange . Weichel still landing more. Weichel landing much more. Kharakhanyan’s left leg all bruised up. Kharakanyan tried a spin kick and missed. Weichel 30-27.
Scores: All three have it 30-27 for Weichel
Main Event –
Lightweights Josh Thomson (21-8) vs Pablo Villaseca (10-1)
First round: Thomson obviously is the star of the show. Body kick by Thomson. Takedown by Thomson. Thomson working for a triangle. Now he’s got an armbar. Now an uma plata. Villaseca escaped from all the attempts. Knee by Villaseca. Knee by Thomson. Low kick by Villaseca. Villaseca got a takedown. Thomson back up. Villaseca got him down momentarily agan. Villaseca with a knee to the groin. Thomson with a takedown. Thomson 10-9.
Second round: Thomson with a takedown and landed some blows. Thomson trying to get mount. But Villaseca managed to block the attempt. Thomson with lots of punches. Thomson landing a lot of punches. Thomson is landing punch after punch and it’s about to be stopped. And it’s over. 3:59
After the fight they Jimmy Smith asked Thomson about facing Will Brooks for the title. Interestingly, he kind of blew it off, saying he’ll fight Brooks but right now he said the hype was for a fight with Michael Chandler. That was an interesting response.
You may have missed it (and judging from the ratings, a lot of people did) but last Friday, World Series of Fighting ran a one-night tournament for a shot at Justin Gaethje’s lightweight belt. This piece isn’t about the quality of the fights that, for the most part, were very good. This is about the absurdity of running a one night tournament in 2015 and the absolutely terrible job the promotion did in putting it on. Everything from the presentation to the commentary to the decisions made in regards to the tournament were lacking and made the promotion come off as anything but major league.
For starters, the show was built around eight guys in a tournament who were all fighting their opening round fights at WSOF.com where almost no one watches. For the viewers watching only on television, they had no idea who was fighting: a recipe for ratings disaster. They also ran into an issue where the bigger names in the tournament wouldn’t make it onto the televised show which happened with former UFC TUF prospect Mike Ricci, the most familiar name to casual fans, who won his first round fight but was unable to continue in the tourney.
Bellator MMA just tried a version of a tourney in September with similar results. The show did very poorly in the ratings and they were forced to scramble after King Mo was injured in his opening round win and was unable to continue. In that case, as with this tournament, they had a reserve bout. Francis Carmont, the winner of the reserve bout, took Mo’s place in the tourney. In the WSOF case, Ramil Mustapayev, a Russian prospect on a four-fight win streak, won his fight and looked very impressive. Despite two people being injured in their opening round fights (Islam Mamedov was the other), Mustapayev didn’t advance. This despite the fact that commentator Chael Sonnen spent the whole fight talking about how everyone in the back was worried about having to face this guy later on.
As an aside, in the reserve fight, Sonnen was going over the rules of the fight and said that it would be two rounds and that there were no elbows allowed. He didn’t say anything about foot stomps. When the second round ended, I assumed they would go to the judges but there was a third round, and the refs were warning people all night about foot stomps. Sonnen openly criticized them about that at one point. No explanation was given as to what would happen if the two rounds ended up tied though it never came into play.
So, Mamedov and Ricci didn’t advance despite winning because they were too injured to continue. The rules of the tournament stated that if the winner couldn’t advance, the loser would take his place. Mamedov had beaten Jorge Patino, so Patino was allowed back in the tourney. Ricci’s opponent, Joe Condon, couldn’t continue either as he was knocked out. No explanation was given as to why reserve bout winner Mustapayev wasn’t put into the tourney instead of Foster, who also lost his first round fight. He was submitted by Joao Zeferino and then went on to face him again in the finals of the tourney. Foster submitted Zeferino to win the tourney and earn the future title shot.
For viewers who spent three hours watching the prelims online, their most loyal and hardcore fans, as late as 10 minutes before the start of the broadcast on NBC Sports Network, there were graphics on the screen advertising semifinal matches of Ricci vs. Patino and Zeferino vs Luis Palomino. Seemingly the fighters themselves had been preparing for these fights as well. They even had a reporter talking to Ricci after his fight in the back, and he said he was medically cleared and good to go for the next round. Yet, at some point, this all changed and when the broadcast version of the show started, Patino was in there against Zeferino, rather than Ricci. Later in the broadcast, Ray Sefo, the face of the company, was beaming about this development, saying anything can happen in a tournament.
This brings me to something that may have bothered me more than anything on this show and speaks volumes about the overall professionalism of everyone in this company. After the opening round of the tournament was completed, they ran a couple of non-tournament matches to fill out the time before the main card started and these were also broadcast on NBCSN. The final fight was a bantamweight bout between Joe Barajas (11-1 going into this fight) and Erik Villalobos (4-4). The booking of a fight with two guys with such differing records is questionable and was even more apparent when the fight started and Barajas completely dominated his overmatched opponent.
Except that’s not what the commentators were telling us.
Bear in mind that the walkouts were aired, complete with graphics for each guy. The ring announcer introduced both fighters and identified them correctly. There was a graphic on the screen identifying each fighter by glove color. Both fighters had previously fought in the World Series of Fighting so there seemingly was tape on both of them for the commentators to study prior to the broadcast.
There were four commentators for this fight for some reason; Todd Harris, Mike Corey, Sonnen and WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch. All four fighters commentated at various points of the first round and all identified Villalobos as dominating the fight. They talked about how surprising it was that he was dominating a guy with only one loss. Even between rounds, as the cornermen were talking to the fighters, they were saying that Barajas was going to have to regroup despite his corner (correctly) telling him he was doing great and to keep it up.
About a minute into the second round, Sonnen interrupted either Harris or Corey mid-sentence and said something to the effect of “Guys, I have to stop you here. We’ve got these guys mixed up and Barajas is actually the one who’s winning”. He went on to admit that he’d never seen either guy and didn’t know alot about them, despite earlier in the fight going on and on about both of them (clearly reading notes that someone else had written).
But that’s not all. At the start of the third, after Barajas was dominating to the point that it was obvious the ref could stop the fight at any time, Harris said, “So do you think that Barajas should continue this pace or try to save energy for later on in the tournament”.
There was a long pause. Sonnen then said, “What the hell are you talking about?” and started laughing. He then explained to the viewers (who I’m sure were quite aware) that Branch was mistaken and this was not a tournament match. They were not even in the same weight class as the fighters in the tournament. He went on to call a waitress and ask if he could some of whatever Branch was drinking.
I’m usually not this harsh on MMA broadcasts. As a fan of the sport, I especially like to watch these minor promotions to try and keep an eye out for future stars. As such, I’ve watched several minor promotions with nowhere near the exposure that an organization like WSOF has and certainly not the broadcast platform. Everyone involved with the production of this show should be embarrassed. Everyone, I should say, but the fighters themselves who gave it their all and put on for the most part a very entertaining show, especially the main card. I only wish the executives and commentators put as much effort into their jobs as the fighters did.
This past weekend saw televised shows from the big three MMA organizations in North America with differering results.
UFC —
UFC Fight Night 78 from Mexico featuring Kelvin Gastelum vs. Neil Magny in the main event did a below average 750,000 viewers for Fox Sports One for the main card, but a well above average 732,000 viewers for the four fight prelims show that was also on FS1.
The show wouldn’t have been expected to do a great rating with the main event, especially with Magny replacing the popular Matt Brown who was injured in the lead-in to the event. Additionally, the TUF Latin American 2 final matches were on the main card featuring 4 completely unknown fighters to the US audience since that series only aired on UFC Fight Pass in the US.
The year to date average for UFC Fight Nights on FS 1 now stands at just under 908,000 viewers, so Saturday’s show was 17% below that average. However, that number is still 9.5% higher than the 2014 average of just under 829,000 viewers.
Better news for UFC was the continued trend of the FS 1 prelims doing well above average. The 732,000 viewers for that show were 23% higher than the year-to-date average of 595,000 viewers. That number is also up 9.3% from the 2014 average of 544,000. The prelims bouts had an unofficial “Mexico vs the World” theme with the biggest name on that portion of the show being longtime UFC/WEC fighter Scott Jorgensen, a loser to Alejandro Perez.
This week’s numbers was down significantly from the 903,000 viewers for UFC Fight Night 57 one year ago this weekend. That show had a much bigger main event with Frankie Edgar vs Cub Swanson. The prelims for that show were also slightly higher at 777,000 viewers with veteran Yves Edwards being the biggest name.
Bellator —
Bellator 146 on Spike TV was right at its year to date average for regular Friday night shows with 650,000 viewers. Headlined by Melvin Manhoef vs Hisako Kato, the show was virtually identical to the year to date average of 656,000 viewers. It was also up 19% from the most recent non-“tentpole” show in October which did 555,000 viewers. The year to date average is down 3.5% from last year’s 676,000 viewers. There is no similar show from last year to compare to as Bellator took an extended break after the Bellator 131 show with Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar.
WSOF —
WSOF on NBC Sports Network did a disappointing 148,000 viewers for an event featuring a one night lightweight tournament for a title shot in 2016. The 25th show in company history had its lowest viewership total since 96,000 viewers watched WSOF Canada on Feb 21, 2014. It was their third lowest total in their run on NBC Sports Network.
Although the show was advertised around the lightweight tourney, there was only one fight actually announced ahead of time featuring former Strikeforce fighter Jason High vs Estevan Payan. The 148,000 viewers for the show is 23% lower than the year-to-date average of 192,000. The 2015 average is down 11% from the 2014 average of 216,000 viewers.
Despite the steady numbers for Bellator and the gradually rising UFC numbers, there has been a steady decline for World Series of Fighting that traces back to their high water point when almost a million viewers tuned in to their one and only live card on the main NBC network in July of 2014.
Welcome to our live coverage of Bellator 146 : Manhoef vs Kato. Action gets underway with the Spike.com prelims, which can be viewed here. The prelims feature familiar names such as former UFC fighters Josh Neer and Bubba McDaniel as well as former Strikeforce and Invicta fighter Julia Budd and top Women’s featherweight prospects Gabrielle Holloway and Arlene Blencowe facing off in an important bout. We’ll have results posted as the fights happen.
The main card kicks off on Spike TV at 9 pm eastern and features 5 bouts. Knockouts artists Manhoef and Kato square off in the main event. UFC vet Houston Alexander returns to the Bellator cage. Prospects Bubba Jenkins and Chidi Njokuani hope to make an impression and Brandon Girttz, fresh off the biggest win of his career over Melvin Guillard, returns to face Bellator vet Derek Campos in the co-main. We’ll have ongoing play by play all night.
Prelims results:
Alonzo Menifield (1-0) TKO (punches) over Zach Rosol in 38 seconds
Arlene Blencowe (7-5) SD over Gabrielle Holloway
Luis Santos (38-10) UD over Josh Neer
Julia Budd (8-2) UD over Roberta Paim
Francisco France (13-3-1) submission (rear naked choke) over Ben Reiter at 1:08 of Rd 2
Stephen Banaszak (5-5) submission (guillotine choke) over George Pacurariu at 3:42
We’re live with fights!
Light Heavyweights Houston Alexander (16-12-1) vs Guilherme Viana (6-2)
Big John McCarthy gets the reffing duties for this one. Alexander getting the better of the striking early. Viana staggers Alexander witha hard left 2 minutes in and Alexander can barely stand. He eats a couple more hard shots but still standing. Viana being very patient and it seems like a matter of time. Both guys swinging away at 3:00. Alexander is recovering a bit. Alexander eats a couple hard straight punches and Alexander’s bleeding from the nose. Alexander hits a couple hard punches to the head in a row. Alexander eats a couple more hard head strakes. Alexander’s face is a bloody mess 10-9 Viana
Viana rocks Alexander with a huge left. Alexander with a flash takedown but Viana sweeps and stands up. Viana picking him off again. Alexander is wobbling all over the place. Alexander down and Viana all over him but not punching, just smothering him. at 1:15. Viana outpunched Alexander 29-17 in round 1. Alexander to his feet at 1:30 but Viana still holding him and landing knees to the body. Viana with a takedown at 2:00. Viana takes his back and working for a choke. Viana landing light punches to the head from behind but Alexander is basically getting a chance to recover. Alexander to his feet at 3:30. Alexander swinging for the fences but missing badly. Alexander starting to control the pace in the last minute and Viana is tiring. 10-9 Viana
The doctor stopped the fight due to a cut on Alexander’s eye between rounds.
WINNER – GUILHERME VIANA (7-2) by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
Viana got some interview time but didn’t have much to say and what he did say you couldn’t really understand. Something about American Top Team and drinking beers with his friends. And training with Glover Teixeira
Welterweights Ricky Rainey (11-3) vs Chidi Njokuani (13-4)
This is Njokuani’s Bellator debut but he’s a vet of the AXS TV shows and I’ve seen him many times. Very exciting striker. Big John is the ref again. Chidi is the younger brother of former UFC fighter Anthony. Njokuani initiates a cage clinch 1:00 in, which has been a theme tonight if you watched the prelims. Rainey gets control at 1:45. Both guys trading knees. Rainey gets separation and rocks Njokuani with a punch to the head but he clinches up again. Rainey gets control again at 2:30. Njokuani landing light punches to the body while Rainey with hard knees to the legs and body. Sean Grande channels JBL, getting in a Dick Van Dyke reference when talking about “Chidi“. McCarthy breaks it up at 4:30 but they go right back to a clinch and end the round there. 10-9 Rainey
Rainey knocks down Njokuani 15 seconds in and follows hiim to the ground but Chidi uses a triangle attempt to get to his feet and they’re back in a cage clinch. Rainey outstruck Njokuani 27-16 in Round 1. Rainey wtih a takedown at 1:30 but lets Njokuani right back up. Rainey chases him into the cage and they’re back in a cage clinch at 2:00. Neither guy doing much and McCarthy warns them to work. He breaks it up at 3:30. Rainey with a nice punch combo at 3:45 and Njokuani initiates another cage clinch. Rainey landing knees from the clinch. Separation at 4:15. Njokuani landed a shot in that clinch that cut Rainey over his right eye and it’s in bad shape. 10-9 Rainey
Njokuani goes to the cage clinch again 30 seconds in. Rainey gets control at 1:30. Rainey’s eye is almost closed from the cut. Njokuani landing elbows to the back from teh clinch. Rainey with a takedown at 2:00 but Njokuani quickly up. Still in a clinch. Ref breaks it up at 3:00. Njokuani controlling the cage and landing head strikes from distance. Njokuani with a head kick at 3:45. Njokuani is not fighting with enough urgency as he has to need a finish to win and he’s taking his time with 1:00 left. Rainey wtih a late takedown. 10-9 Njokuani but Rainey takes the fight
WINNER – CHIDI NJOKUANI (14-4) by unanimous decision on scores of 29-28 x 3. That decision was a joke.
Featherweights Jordan Parsons (12-1) vs Bubba Jenkins (9-2)
Jenkins is one of the young stars Scott Coker has been hoping to build around. He had a setback against former WSOF champion Georgi Karakhanyan earlier this year though. No glove touch from these guys as they had a bit of a dustup at the weigh-ins. Jenkins with an early takedown but Parsons right up. Jenkins with a suplex takedown but Parson up again. Jenkins takes his back standing 45 seconds in. Parson shakes him off. Jenkins with another takedown at 2:00. Parsons to his feet but Jenkins on his back. Parson shakes him off again. Parson with a couple of kicks landing to the body. Nice punch exchange at 3:30. Jenkins with a nice head kick at 3:45. Jenkins controlling the cage. Jenkins stuffs a takedown attempt at 4:00 and trying for a guillotine. Parsons lands some knees to the body, Jenkins answers with a kick to the head. 10-9 Jenkins but close as he gets a takedown right before the buzzer.
Parsons defends an early takedown attempt. Parsons controlling the cage again. Neither guy doing much on the feet, just keeping their distance and circling. Jenkins drops Parson with a punch and follows him to the ground and 2:30. Jenkins almost out but ref Jason Herzog letting him continue. Jenkins just holding him, allowing him to recover. Parson actually working for a Kimura. Jenkins lands hard hammer fits from the top and Parson to his feet at 3:30. Jenkins lands a head kick and then a takedown at 3:45. Parsons working for a Kimura from the bottom again. Jenkins landing punches the the body and head. Jenkins out of the Kimura and still holding him down as the round ends. 10-8 Jenkins
Jimmy Smith has it even and that’s the problem with this scoring system because whether it was 10-8 or 10-9 last round, Jenkins is clearly winning the fight and almost finished Parson in Round 2. Parson with cage control early. Jenkins looks fresh. Jenkins stuffs a takedown attempt at 1:30. Jenkins with a weak guillotine attempt but gives it up. Parsons landing knees to the body and Jenkins is on his knees with his back to the cage but works to his feet. Parsons in control of a cage clinch at 2:30. Jenkins with a takedown at 3:00. Parsons with a guillotine attempt from teh bottom. Jenkins doing nothing on top. Jenkins with some elbows to the head and body at 4:30. Jenkins trying to take his back but Parson landing elbows to the head. Parsons to his feet right as the round ends. Another very close round. 10-9 Parsons
WINNER – BUBBA JENKINS (10-2) by split decision on scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27. Nothing wrong with the 30-27 score since 1 and 3 were very close.
Jenkins got some mic time but had nothing at all to say. He thanked Jesus. Jimmy Smith interviewed Josh Thomson via Skype about his fight in two weeks. He’s been the up and comer and now he’s the vet that everyone’s coming for. He’s even got the champion calling him out. He’s glad the fight is happening in his hometown. They also announced to the public the Josh Koscheck fight that was signed earlier this week for January. Paul Daley is fighting on the undercard of that show so the the hope is they both win and get their grudge match.
Lightweights Brandon Girtz (13-4) vs Derek Campos (15-5)
This is the 2nd fight between the two. Campos won the first one 2 1/2 years ago. Girtz dropped him with a punch and followed him to the ground but Campos was already out.
WINNER – BRANDON GIRTZ (14-4) by KO (punches) at 37 seconds
Girtz had another waste of time interview after the fight. These guys should try to have at least something worthwhile to say when they’ve got a national TV audience.
Main Event:
Middleweights Melvin Manhoef (29-12-1) vs Hisaki Kato (5-1)
Manhoef had some unique entrance music. Classical at the start transitioning into rap. Seemed to work for him. Kato out to a remixed version of the Imperial Death March from Star Wars. Kato with early cage control. Manhoef lands a grazing blow, the first of the fight, 45 seconds in. Kato still advancing but both guys keeping their distance. Both guys throwing bombs at 1:30. Manhoef was staggered a bit but kept throwing punches and eventually Kato backed off. Kato with a punch and follows up with a body kick that staggers Manhoef. Kato with a flurry of punches but Manhoef barely escapes. Manhoef puts everything he has into a left hook and drops Kato with one punch and walks off. Stunning knockout, one of the best you’ll ever see.
WINNER – MELVIN MANHOEF (30-12-1) by KO (punch)
Manhoef said after the fight that he’s there to give his all and either knock someone out or get knocked out. And that was it. Thanks for joining me tonight and Bellator will be back in two weeks with Josh Thomson, Georgi Karakhanyan and Patricky Pitbull all returning to the Bellator cage.
The prelims for UFC 193 on Saturday night averaged 1,394,000 viewers on FS 1 up against College football and the Democratic debate. This was the highest viewership for a PPV prelims show since the UFC 183 prelims on January 31st. That was the show where Miesha Tate fought in the featured prelim fight. The main card was headlined by the Anderson Silva-Nate Diaz fight, which drew an estimated 650,000 PPV buys.
There is usually a correlation between the prelims number and the final PPV buys number, particularly when the prelims number is large. It should also be noted that on PPV shows where Ronda Rousey is fighting on the main card, the prelims number is up almost 50% over shows where she’s not on the main card.
It should also be noted that there was nothing even close to a big name fighting on the prelims, with the four fights all featuring Australian fighters against low-mid card fighters from the rest of the world, the most well-known being Gian Villante. The featured fight was Jake Matthews vs Akhbar Arreola, neither of whom has even fought on a televised main card in the UFC.
PPV prelims shows during the FS 1 era: 26 shows, 882,840 average viewers
PPV prelims shows during the FS 1 era where Rousey is on main card: 6 shows, 1,204,600 average viewers
PPV prelims shows during the FS 1 era where Rousey is not on main card: 20 shows, 802,400 average viewers
The theory behind this would be that Ronda Rousey is such a big name to the casual audience that the fact that she is fighting on the show raises awareness and brings up the prelims number.
Further evidence that the show did a very strong number of PPV buys is the following:
There have been 8 FS 1 PPV prelims shows that did at least 1 million viewers since the station started airing them in August 2013. Here are the PPV buys for those shows:
UFC 185 was the exception here and that was a show headlined by a main event of Anthony Pettis v Rafael Dos Anjos. The only show during this time period that did a strong PPV buys numbers coinciding with a relatively weak prelims number was UFC 189, which did about 825,000 PPV buys and 847,000 prelims TV viewers.
No estimates are available at this time for how UFC 193 did on PPV although Dana White today on Joe Rogan’s podcast said that the show was trending at well over a million buys. These numbers would suggest that to be a distinct possibility.
We are getting close to the biggest UFC event ever to take place. We are less than 2 days away from Ronda Rousey defending her Women’s Bantamweight championship against Holly Holm. The UFC is now a massive company. It generates millions of dollars, and is popular almost everywhere. It has expanded across the globe, and has visited many countries and continents. Yet, the sport of MMA is still using an archaic scoring system taken from boxing. Unfortunately, this has resulted in bad decisions with the wrong fighters winning or losing. A change is over due with the scoring, and it needs to be initiated by Dana White and the UFC or it will never happen.
Thank you to everyone who has been following my experiment. I have received quite a bit of feedback via email and twitter (@hendosfoodblog), and most of it was actually useful.
In this ten part series, I tried to find out if there is a better way to score a fight. My theory was simple. Using more of the allotted 10 points will lead to fairer decisions.
I started out with multiple options, but eventually settled on the “True Ten” scoring system, which scores using the exact same criteria, except more of the points may be used. Here are the possibilities:
10-10 = an even round, where a judge could go either way. Stop! Use this score. We needs judges unafraid to be indecisive. Make a fighter earn the round.
10-9 = the round where not much damage was done, but one fighter eked it out. Some called this the 10-9.5 round using a half point system. Needlessly complicated.
10-8 = the current 10-9, where a fighter obviously won a round. If it’s less than obvious, do not use this score, go back to a 10-9.
10-7 = A fighter obviously won, and did some decent damage. We need to see a lot more of these scores.
10-6 = the current 10-8 where a fighter dominates the round
10-5 = A dominant round and the fight possibly could have been stopped.
It’s pretty logical. Use more 10-10s and we will have fewer bad decisions and more draws, which is fine in my book. Use more 10-8’s (or 7’s or 6’s) and we will have a more realistic scoring differential.
Pros:
More draws which is a positive because we will have automatic rematches with stories to go with them, and fewer split decisions which no one enjoys (and many do not understand).
A more realistic point differential; with so many fights ending 30-27 or 29-28, it’s difficult to understand how the fight went with only a few scoring results possible.
Penalty points mean less; which is good because refs would not have to fear that they just snatched the fight from a fighter because he grabbed the cage. As it stands, one penalty point can cost a fighter a match.
It takes some of the pressure off the judges, as they can feel free to give a 10-10 round rather than agonizing over who won the round if it’s incredibly close.
It’s no longer a two out of three competition. Since hardly any judges use 10-8s as it stands, it’s basically a best of three rounds fight. It still would be, but less so, because a fighter has a real chance of coming back in round three to win if he kept it close in the first two.
Cons:
The percentage of outcomes that changed was statistically insignificant.
More math; while simple, still could be too complicated for some judges.
It’s still pointlessly predicated on the number ten. I think the “must” part of the current scoring system and my system is faulty. Why not just give the round winner points? The easiest way to do this would be to have a five point round potential. Then a judge just scores a round 5-0, 4-0, 3-0, etc., which simplifies it. Heck you could even do it with just three or two points, but I like five.
Those are the stats I collected, but the only statistics that really matter are the next…
Number of differing outcomes using True Ten scoring: 2**
Percentage of differing outcomes using True Ten: 5.5%
** Both of those two differing outcomes resulted in the match being ruled a draw.
Note on scoring…
One thing that I noticed as I scored all these fights, was how the earlier rounds influenced my judging later. Often I’d found that because the first round was close but I went with Fighter A, I then tended to find a reason to pick Fighter B in the second round. That way, I could let the third decide it. Another common decision I was making was that if Fighter A took the first and second pretty obviously, then if the third was close at all, I’d give it to Fighter B, because of, I don’t know, pity. So what I’m suggesting is a rotation of judges. No one judge can judge more than one round of a fight. I’m sure this would be a logistical nightmare, and if studied, probably would not reveal any significant results, but I know that the earlier rounds effected my later round judging, as much as I tried to prevent it, and this is the only way I can think to make judging completely objective.
Also, why are we limiting ourselves to three judges? Make it five. Or let the referee have a vote. I don’t know why we are limiting the polling size so greatly. Let the Internet be a vote. That could get whacky!
The results of this study were less than satisfying, because I had predicted that we would see a statistically significant amount of change. Unfortunately, nearly every outcome using True Ten was the same as the Ten Point Must, so it would seem that this is an unnecessary scoring change for this moment. However, beyond merely deciding the outcome of a match, the score represents the drama. It represents a fight. It needs to be the blind justice in the fighting world, not left up to the whims of the ghost of boxing’s past. MMA judging needs to tell the story of the fight, and take the viewer on an adventure. Such as a comeback in other sports is only thrilling because of the large point differential, fighting should be the same. It should have both highs and lows. However, most of all, it should be correct. Do I ask too much of numbers? Some would say yes. Others would say that I’ve just gone mad, but damn them all, numbers are accurate! Trust the numbers. They do not lie. They have no emotion. They don’t care. They don’t breathe… The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy, but these are new. They look human… sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot. I had to wait till he moved on you before I could zero him…
If you’ve enjoyed these columns and found any value in my urgency to change the system, I’d ask you to continue the conversation. If you work for a commission or know someone who does, push the issue. Talk about it with your peers, or with your family at the dinner table during Thanksgiving. It’s that important. We need to keep this issue alive because the scoring needs to change. No more relics of boxing. This is a different sport and needs a different scoring system.
No Fate, but what we make. #TrueTen
******
Stats (individually by show):
Total Official Decisions: 36 (by show 4,3,3,3,4,4,4,2,6,3)
Unanimous: 28 (by show 4,2,2,3,2,3,3,2,4,3)
Split: 4 (by show 1,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0) Other: 4 (by show 0,0,0,0,2,0,0,2,0,0,)
Different Outcomes Using True Ten: 4 (0,0,0,0,0,0,2,2,0,0)
This past weekend saw televised MMA shows from both of the big 2 companies in North America.
The higher profile show was UFC Fight Night 77 from Sao Paulo Brazil on FS 1 Saturday night, which averaged 757,000 for the six-fight main card and 609,000 viewers for the four-fight prelims show, which also aired on FS 1. The show was up against huge sports competition in the form of college football on CBS, ABC, FOX, and ESPN which did numbers varying from 1.5 million all the way up to 11 million — all airing directly against the UFC show. An episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Donald Trump, did that show’s highest ratings in three years and aired against the second half of this show.
The show was down about 17.5% from the year to date average of 917,625 viewers on FS 1. The prelims show was actually up 4.4% from the year to date average of 583,083 viewers for previous Fight Night prelim shows on FS 1.
The five most recent FS 1 Fight Nights prior to Saturday had averaged 821,000 viewers and the most recent prelims shows had averaged 525,800 viewers. This would seem to indicate that the hardcore fan base that will watch any fights is actually increasing but that casual fans weren’t terribly interested in this card.
This was the lowest number for an FS 1 show since the 508,000 viewers on July 18th but that show aired in the afternoon from Scotland. The last time a prime time show did this low was the TUF 21 Finale on July 12th that did 691,000 viewers for a show headlined by Stephen Thompson vs Jake Ellenberger and the final matches of the TUF 21 show (which for the first time ever was not a tournament).
An FS 1 show one year ago this weekend, Fight Night 56, headlined by Ovince St. Preux vs Shogun Rua, did 699,000 viewers with the prelims show (airing on FS 2) doing 176,000 viewers. Again, that seems to line up with the general trend of UFC viewership being up in 2015.
Saturday’s show was headlined by Dan Henderson vs Vitor Belfort, who had fought once before on an FS 1 show also from Brazil and also on the same weekend (Nov 9, 2013). That show did 722,000 viewers, so this was up from that time with a similar level of undercard.
*****
The other show this past weekend was Bellator 145: With a Vengeance, which aired Friday night on Spike TV. This was the final tentpole event of the year for Bellator and did an audience of 814,000 viewers, headlined by featherweight champion Pitbull Friere vs Daniel Straus. Lightweight titleholder Will Brooks vs. Marcin Held and featured fights featuring Bobby Lashley and former lightweight champion Michael Chandler were also on the show.
This number was slightly up from the most recent big special for Bellator, headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary, a four-man light heavyweight tournament, and two Glory kickboxing fights. That September 19th event did 800,000 viewers. The average for the five Bellator tentpole events is now 1,061,400 viewers, so this show was about 23% below that average.
Bellator has averaged 759,286 viewers per show in 2015, so this number was up 7% from that average. This is the first time that Bellator has built one of these shows around main event fighters who were essentially homegrown so in that sense it was more like a regular show. It was also in the traditional Friday night time slot while the three higher rated events took place on a Saturday.
The Bellator per show average is up 8.1% from 2014, which averaged 702,227 viewers.
Bellator’s first tentpole show featured Ortiz vs Stephan Bonnar in a heavily promoted grudge match. That show set a Bellator record of 1,241,000 viewers on Nov 15, 2014, which has since been broken by Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock earlier this year.
In a night filled with trips back in time, Inside MMA reported tonight that Fedor Emelianenko’s opponent for the Rizin New Year’s Eve show would be Tsuyoshi Kosaka, a 45-year-old retired pro wrestler from Japan.
After the report aired, Jerry Millen, who works with Emelianenko, denied that Kosaka was the opponent. Observer sources in Japan say that Emelianenko’s opponent has not been decided and there were several different people under consdieration, Kosaka being one of them.
Kosaka who has a strong judo background, was one of the major stars with the RINGS promotion in the 90, where he had some classic pro wrestling matches, and also headlined a Tokyo Dome show for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
He also competed as a regular in Pride, and went to the semifinals of an eight man UFC heavyweight title tournament after Randy Couture vacated the title, before losing a classic fight with Bas Rutten.
Kosaka won a controversial match over Emelianenko on December 22, 2000, in RINGS, the first loss of Emelianenko’s career. It was in a tournament, and ended in 17 seconds when Emelianenko was too badly cut to continue from an illegal elbow. The match would have been ruled a no contest normally, but being part of a tournament, they declared Kosaka the winner since Emelianenko wouldn’t be allowed to continue in the tournament. Kosaka then lost in the next round via decision to Randy Couture.
It was one of the great “What if’s” in history, since, had Emelianenko not been cut and advanced, he and Couture would have faced in 2001. Fedor would eventually avenge the loss to Kosaka in a fight on April 3, 2005, in Pride, saw Emelianenko win via doctor’s stoppage at the end of the first round. Kosaka had been announced as coming out of retirement for the show last week.
On tonight’s Bellator 145 : With a Vengeance broadcast, Bellator CEO Scott Coker brought out Kurt Angle to announce a February 19 2016 bout in Houston between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. This will be their third MMA match and first since a draw at UFC 5 in April 1995.
Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie first faced off at the inaugaral UFC event on November 12th, 1993. Royce defeated Shamrock in 57 seconds with a rear naked choke in the tournament semi-finals. Royce would go on to win that tournament to become the first UFC tournament champion. The two would face-off again less that 2 years later at UFC 5. The two fought to a 36 minute draw for the first Superfight Championship.
Feb. 19 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas at “Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie.” will be their 3rd and hopefully last match.
Also announced for the first tentpole event of 2016 is the return of Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000.
Kurt Angle, during his announcement, teased a match between he and Shamrock and that could be the direction they’d head, should Shamrock win.
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of Bellator 145: Vengeance from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is highlighted by two title fights as Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire defends in a trilogy bout against former champion Daniel Straus, and Bellator Lightweight Champion Will Brooks defends his championship against lightweight tournament winner Marcin Held. The card airs on Spike TV at 9 PM eastern time. Preliminary card bouts will air for free on Spike.com with action kicking off at 7 PM eastern time.
Prelim results:
Chel Erwin-Davis (3-1) over Adam Cella (3rd round TKO/punches)
Garrett Gross (7-4) over Jeff Crotty (unan. dec.)
Kyle Kurtz (5-1) over Steven Mann (1st round sub/triangle)
Adam Mereditch (5-1) over Jordan Dowdy (1st round sub/rear naked choke)
Augusto Sakai (9-0) over Alex Huddleston (unan. dec.)
Kain Royer (2-2) over Clay Mitchell (1st round sub/kneebar
Fazlo Mulabitinovic (3-1) over Scott Ettling (1st round sub/armbar)
Rashard Lovelace (2-0) over Brandon Lowe (1st round TKO/ground and pound)
Sean Grande channelling his inner Tony Schiavone 2 minutes into this show, claiming that it could be “the most important night in Bellator MMA history”. Despite this being an “A” show, from the opening it looks and feels like a normal show. In that vein, we get no walk-outs for the opening match and they’re in the cage waiting to fight after a commercial.
FEATHERWEIGHTS- EMMANUEL SANCHEZ (11-2, 3-1 BMMA) VS. JUSTIN LAWRENCE (8-2, 1-0 BMMA)
Big John is the ref for the opener. Sanchez pushing forward in the early-going but Lawrence landing a lot of shots while backing up. Lawrence barely taking any punishment through 3:45 and Sanchez’ face already starting to show damage. Cage clinch with a minute to go initiated by Sanchez. Lawrence breaks free wiht punches with 10 seconds left. 10-9 Lawrence
More of the same in Round 2 although Sanchez goes for the clinch earlier, at about 1:30. Sanchez cut over his left eye, from a Lawrence punch according to John McCarthy. Sanchez does connect with some knees from the clinch. McCarthy broke it up at 4:00 and Lawrence started connecting with punches and kicks right away. Sanchez rocked Lawrence with a head kick with about 15 seconds left but probably not enough. 10-9 Lawrence
Sanchez right to the clinch after eating a couple Lawrence punches. Sanchez has landed 18 kicks to 0 for Lawrence. Not sure about those stats as it sure looked like Lawrence has landed several. Sanchez gets a takedown at 1:45 but loses position when he tries to take the back and Lawrence ends up on top. Sanchez more active from teh bottom but not really doing any damage and Lawrence just holding him down from the top, not advancing position. Sanchez trying for a kneebar and then a Kimura but loses both. Both to their feet at 4:30 and Sanchez is the agressor. Sanchez with a takedown attempt stuffed right before the closing bell. 10-9 Sanchez, but Lawrence should take it. Round 2 was close tho.
WINNER – EMMANUEL SANCHEZ (12-2) by split decision (28-29, 29-28 x 2)
Sanchez put over Lawrence in his post-fight promo but didn’t really have much else to say. In a pretaped sitdown interview with Jimmy Smith, Lashley promised to take the judges out of the equation tonight. Thompson said that he’s been Lashley’s toughest test and his six fight win streak has been against jobbers. Sean Grande promises a special guest after the break….IT’S TRUE….IT’S DAMNED TRUE
HEAVYWEIGHTS- BOBBY LASHLEY (13-2, 3-0 BMMA) VS. JAMES THOMPSON (20-14 1 NC, 1-0 BMMA)
They showed clips from the Bellator fanfest and Angle put it over as a lot of fun. Angle said that he would’ve gone into MMA in 1998 if it were as big as it is now. He has no regrets. Sean Grande asked him flat-out if he would fight in the Bellator cage. He said that it is a possibility. We do get the big walkouts for this fight. Thompson is like the male Eva….All Red Everything. Very very red. Except for his gloves, ironically enough. Lashley’s entrance is nothing special although the American flag does feature prominently in the display. Thompson’s notable wins include Don Frye and Dan Severn, in addition to Lashley.
Mike England is the ref and makes sure to pass on God’s blessings to both guys, as per usual. Lashley with a takedown right away. Lashley takes his back and landing punches from behind. Thompson’s done.
WINNER – BOBBY LASHLEY (14-2) by TKO at 54 seconds (ground and pound)
On the replay it looks like Thompson may have torn his hamstring during the takedown. Lashley says he heard Thompson’s knee pop during the takedown. He didn’t have much to say in terms of future plans. He did come up and hug Angle after the fight.
Josh Thomson was interviewed at cageside about his fight on December 4th. He is completely overlooking his next fight, saying that once he beats him, it’s all title shots from there on out. Sean Grande said “the fall of Bellator continues”. Yes, he said that. Another pretaped sitdown interview with both Rickells and Chandler previewed the next fight. Rickells says he was “an ape” that didn’t understand the fight game in their last fight (he was knocked out in the first round). Chandler says if he were Rickells’ manager he wouldn’t have allowed him anywhere near this fight.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- MICHAEL CHANDLER (13-3, 10-3 BMMA) VS. DAVID RICKELS (16-3 1 NC, 10-3 1 NC BMMA)
David Rickels’ entrance was spectacular as usual. He wore a wolf’s head and carried a caveman club. Chandler is a local so over huge with the live crowd. He came out to “Comin’ Home” by P. Diddy, the song that the Rock used at the Miami Wrestlemania but it quickly transitioned into something else. Mike England is the ref and passed on God’s blessing to both gentleman. They both hope for the same blessing that Lashley got and not James Thompson.
Chandler all over Rickels early and Rickels gets a quick takedown but Chandler sweeps and ends up on top. Neither guy doing much on the ground although Chandler does land a few elbows to the head. Chandler to his feet at 3:00 and Rickels has to follow. Chandler with a takedown at 4:00 after dominating the standup. Chandler working for an armbar from the top but gives it up quickly. 10-9 Chandler
Chandler outstruck Rickels 40-16 in Round 1. Chandler with a takedown 45 seconds in. Rickels up fairly quickly. Rickels coming on with punches but Chandler drops him with a punch and applies a guillotine on the way down. Rickels out but he’s bleeding from the nose and mouth. Chandler all over him with ground and pound. Rickels tries to get to his feet and Chandler with another guillotine. Rickels face is a bloody mess and Chandler all over him. Ref finally stops it, maybe a little late.
WINNER – MICHAEL CHANDLER (14-3) by TKO (ground and pound)
Chandler gave all the credit to his coaches after the fight. He pleaded with Scott Coker to keep booking St. Louis. He wants the winner of the Brooks/Held fight and thinks that he’s the best lightweight in the world. Ken Shamrock, Kurt Angle and Scott Coker were shown talking at cageside and they promised a “major Bellator announcement” after the break.
They announced two fights for Rizin on New Year’s Eve. Gaby Garcia and Le’D Tapa and King Mo in a Light Heavyweight Grand Prix. And it will air on New Year’s Day at 10 am eastern, not New Year’s Eve, as previously announced.
BELLATOR LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- (C) WILL BROOKS (16-1, 8-1 BMMA) VS. MARCIN HELD (21-3, 10-2 BMMA)
Marcin Held’s entrance started with clips of Jimmy Smith talking about how dangerous he is. Kind of cool. Brooks had a sampling of the Beastie Boys at the start of his entrance, winning my favor. He’s looked great in Bellator so far but this nonsense with the Pitbulls can’t be helping things. Big John gets the dukes here.
Held with a takedown 30 seconds in an complete it 15 seconds later. Brooks sitting on the canvas with his back against the cage and landing punches. Held not doing much but is always seconds away from a sub when they’re on teh ground. Brooks to his feet at 3:00 but Held still in control of a clinch. Brooks with a takedown at 3:15 but Held with an armbar attempt from the bottom. Gives that up but working for a kneebar. Held has the kneebar and it looks pretty tight. Brooks escapes but still in trouble at 4:30. 10-9 Held
Brooks with a takedown 15 seconds in. Quickly into side control. Held works him back to guard. Held working for a triangle but Brooks powers out. Held with an Oma Plata attempt but Brooks powers out of that. Held with a toe hold/knee bar combo but gives it up. Brooks manages to maintain top control the whole time. Brooks into mount at 2:30. Brooks landing punches to the body and head and gets a head triangle. Held works him back to half-guard but still in trouble. Brooks back into mount at 3:30 but gives up the choke. Brooks with a body triangle at 4:00 and landing elbows to the head. Held gives up his back with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Brooks
Held shoots for a takedown at the start and just stays on the ground when he misses and Brooks follows into top position. Brooks up 35-5 in ground and pound strikes through 2 rounds. Not a lot happening on the ground through 2:30 and the crowd losing patience. Brooks landing elbows to the head and punches to the body while Held continuing to look for submissions from the bottom. Held with a kneebar attempt but Brooks powers out with punches to the head. Held with a heel hook attempt at 4:30. 10-9 Brooks
Held to the ground right away and locks in an inverted heel hook. Brooks works out of it and ends up in top position by 1:30. Brooks continuing to do damage from the top and opens up a cut to the side of Held’s eye. Sean Grande promises a MAJOR announcement still to come. Brooks continuing to do damage from the top and Held has almost nothing left from the bottom. Held with a kneebar attempt and transitions to a toehold at 4:15. Brooks powers out but that was actually pretty close. Brooks with a head and arm choke with 15 seconds left and Held gets out. 10-9 Brooks
Ground and pound strikes are 86-9 for Brooks through 4 and Brooks with a takedown 45 seconds in. McCarthy stands them up at 3:00 after nothing much happened. Brooks lands a few shots standing and goes right to a clinch. Held with a takedown attempt but Brooks ends up on top at 3:30. Brooks just holding him down, landing occasional shots and Held doing nothing from the bottom. 10-9 Brooks, almost a 10-8 really.
Rumours are that the big announcement is Shamrock-Gracie 3 in February in Houston.
WINNER – WILL BROOKS (17-1) by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46 x 2)
Brooks popped his knee in the first round, which is why he kept going to the ground. That’s pretty amazing that he went 4 more rounds against a guy with the submission skills of Held. MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT……after the break.
As rumoured, Shamrock-Gracie 3 will take place February 19th in Houston. Both were there for the announcement, which was made by Kurt Angle. Scott Coker also announced the return of Kimbo Slice on that show, to face Dada 5000.
BELLATOR FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- (C) PATRICIO FREIRE (24-2, 12-2 BMMA) VS. DANIEL STRAUS (24-6, 10-3 BMMA)
Big John’s the ref for this one. Tentative standup early and Pitbull initiated a cage clinch at 1:15. Quick separation. Pitbull back to the clinch but Strauss punches out of it. Straus with a takedown attempt but stuffed. Brooks gets a takedown at 3:45 but Friere right up. Brooks connects with a jumping knee that stuns him but he shakes it off. Close round, 10-9 Straus for the takedown and the knee.
Pitbull with a cage clinch and lands some knees at 1:00. Separation at 1:45. Straus knocked Pitbull down with a punch and follows him to the ground. Friere grabs an armbar and almost gets a sub but Straus powers out and laying in elbows and punches from the top. Pitbull weathers it and working for a Kimura but his eyes are glazed. Straus working for a guillotine but gives it up quickly. Straus with light punches to the body and going for the guillotine again. Friere just covering up at 4:00 and trying to last out the round. Pitbull back to his feet and landing elbows and punches. Straus firing back. Incredible action for a few seconds there. Straus stalking him as the round closes. 10-8 Straus
Pitbull’s corner between rounds – “You’re aware you got knocked out, right?”. Straus stalking him to start again and stuns him with a hard left. Pitbull still standing. He’s eating hard shots and not even close to defending them. Straus went for a takedown but stuffed and ate a couple hard punches at 1:15. Straus continually landing hard straight lefts. Pitbull with a nice right hook that lands hard at 3:00. Straus with a takedown attempt but stuffed at 3:45. Pitbull drives him into the cage but backs off. Pitbull poked in the eye at 4:15. He only takes about 30 seconds of his allotted 5 minutes. Pitbull starting to dodge some of the punches now. Nice punch exchange to close the round. 10-9 Straus
Straus with a takedown attempt 30 seconds in but stuffed by Pitbull. Straus seems to be slowing down a bit. Accidental headbutt causes a break but McCarthy didn’t see it at first and Straus almost got a free shot in when Pitbull backed off. Nice punch combo by Straus at 2:15. Pitbull backs up Straus with a punch combo at 3:30. Straus with a takedown attempt and Pitbull stuffs it. Straus may have hurt his left hand as he’s not throwing it anymore. Pitbull backs up Straus with a punch combo at 4:15. Straus with a nice punch/kick combo at 4:30. Pitbull with a punch combo at 4:45, backing Straus up to the cage. 10-9 Friere
Nice punch exchange at 45 seconds. Pitbull with a takedown attempt at 1:00 but stuffed by Straus. Pitbull with a takedown at 2:15 and takes his back. Pitbull with a body triangle and Straus turtling up a bit. Pitbull landing punches from behind. Pitbull loses the body triangle at 3:15. Straus to his feet at 3:30 but Pitbull with a neck crank. Gives it up quickly. Both guys firing at each other at 3:45. Pitbull with a nice combo at 4:15. Pitbull just peppering him with punches with 30 seconds left. Straus almost down at the end. 10-9 Pitbull. Straus should take it but it all depends on how Round 1 was scored.
WINNER AND NEW FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION – DANIEL STRAUS (25-6) by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47 x 2)
