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Category: MMA News

  • Point/Counterpoint: Are there too many Bellator MMA shows?

    Photo: Sherdog.com

    Even with today’s online attack culture environment turning debate into a terrible, overproduced thing, there is still a place for two people to organically disagree on a topic and let the world decide who they think is right: ESPN First Take! (Just kidding.)

    Paul Fontaine and I found we disagreed on the topic of whether there are too many Bellator shows, so I suggested we do a Point/Counterpoint on it. Let us know what you think on Twitter who you agree with. 

    You can catch Paul’s coverage of Bellator Vengeance Friday night, and listen to a preview of the entire weekend with myself and MMA Fighting’s Shaheen Al-Shatti on the latest JNPO.

    Enjoy!

    *****

    Josh’s Take —

    On a recent JNPO with MMA Weekly’s Erik Fontanez, we talked about Bellator 144 and noted that other than Michael “Venom” Page, there wasn’t a ton on the show to get psyched about. Fans seemed to agree as the show drew just 555,000 viewers — the lowest numbers of any show of the Scott Coker era.

    In looking ahead, that number might get worse and the reason for that — wait for it — is too many shows! Granted, I understand that there may be contractual obligations to casinos left over by the Bjorn Rebney era, but the amount of B shows are hurting their ability to put on meaningful and fun five fight shows.

    Here’s what I’m talking about:

    From tonight’s Bellator 145 event through December 4, Bellator has three shows: one major “tentpole” show and two B shows. The St. Louis A show has a good TV lineup other than Justin Lawrence vs. Emmanuel Sanchez which doesn’t need to be on the main card.

    In two weeks, they return with a Oklahoma B show that only has three main card fights announced thus far with Melvin Manhoef vs. Hisaki Kato as a main event, followed by a Bubba Jenkins fight and a Ricky Rainey fight, all of which should be on the undercard of the St. Louis show. However, Manheof/Kato in place of Lawrence/Sanchez tonight would be great.

    Two weeks after that, the promotion returns to San Jose for another B show headlined by Josh Thomson against a guy who doesn’t even have a headshot on the Bellator website. Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Daniel Weichel is the only other main card fight announced and we’re now less than a month away from the show.

    Why do all these shows need to exist? Bellator should be focused on maximum impact anytime they hit the TV screen and instead, they are doing just what the UFC frequently does: fill airtime with a mid-level product that doesn’t leave us wanting more.

    Scott Coker is a smart guy and he’s got to know Bellator has to be better than this. I hope for his sake that Spike TV agrees and believes that with combat sports, less is truly more.

    *****

    Paul’s Take —

    After listening to JNPO (great show by the way, strongly recommended), I emailed Josh about this as I have a different opinion. In this case, I think that Bellator’s problems this year have actually been not enough shows.

    When Bellator started on Spike TV before the Scott Coker era, they would run weekly in “seasons”, using a tournament format. They took periodic breaks where they would run one show a month. During that time, they had a fairly steady fanbase that would generally fluctuate between 600,000 and 800,000 viewers. I feel that the reason for this is that when they were running weekly, there is a segment of the audience that knew that if they wanted to watch MMA, they could tune into Spike TV and Bellator would be on.

    MMA, and especially pro wrestling fans, are creatures of habit. Having a show every week on the same station in the same time slot is generally going to keep a fairly consistent audience. If the shows are good, the audience will trend upward. But when they’re running an erratic schedule, sometimes on Saturdays, sometimes taking a month off, you get what you’ve gotten this year. Over the next little while, and actually dating back to the last Bellator show, they are running bi-weekly from mid-October until early December.

    Friday’s “A” show is fairly stacked by Bellator standards. Yes, the Justin Lawrence-Emmanuel Sanchez fight would be better served on the prelims, but Bellator has an excuse here as Pat Curran was originally scheduled to fight former UFC fighter Lawrence. Sanchez stepped up as a late replacement and this should be a fun fight.

    The next “B” show is now finalized, and looks not so bad. Melvin Manhoef and Houston Alexander are the most familiar names on the show and it also features prospects Bubba Jenkins and Chidi Njokuani. I think that the stronger than usual B show lineup, combined with a more regular schedule, will result in a better viewership number for Bellator. The last show in December will feature Josh Thomson and former WSOF Featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan and Josh Koscheck is rumoured to be making his promotional debut on that show as well, so it should do fairly well.

    Time will tell, but I think that Bellator might feel similar to the way I do as plans for next year are for a more regular schedule with an increase in the number of both A and B shows and also running a wider variety of markets and venues.

  • Kurt Angle broadcasting at tonight’s Bellator MMA show

    Former WWE & TNA Champion Kurt Angle, who was at Bellator’s FanFest Thursday as part of his new arrangement with the promotion, was announced Friday morning as being part of the broadcast crew for tonight’s “tentpole” show on Spike TV.

    Lead announcer Sean Grande tweeted that there would be “a very special guest tonight” in the booth, adding #ItsTrueItsDamnTrue and #MilkOManiaIsRunningWild.

    Editor’s Note: If you’re reading this post-show, Angle did some color commentating with Grande and Jimmy Smith during the Bobby Lashley/James Thompson fight with a quick hit interview before. They asked him a few questions with one of them being if he was going to fight. He definitely didn’t say no, but there was no immediate, “Yes, I’m planning on it.” Post-fight, Lashley came over and hugged Angle at cageside.

    *****

    The main events have an interesting twist as police were called earlier this week due to an altercation between featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and lightweight champion Will Brooks at the fighters’ hotel. However, the two are not fighting each other.  Brooks claimed he was sucker-punched while on the phone and attacked by Freire and his brother, Patricky, also an MMA fighter with Bellator. Freire claimed he decked Brooks. Police made no arrests and filed no charges.  The two were moved to separate hotels.

    Brooks first missed weight yesterday by .8 of a pound, for his title fight with Marcin Held. He was able to make weight within two hours.

    Tonight’s main card lineup:

    • Justin Lawrence (146) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (145.6)
    • Bobby Lashley (239.5) vs. James Thompson (264)
    • Michael Chandler (155.75) vs. Dave Rickels (155.75)
    • Will Brooks (154.8) vs. Marcin Held (154.8) for the lightweight title
    • Patricio Pitbull Freire (144.4) vs. Daniel Straus (144.4) for the featherweight title

    More details on the history of Lashley vs. Thompson are available in this week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

  • Bellator starts early as “Pitbull” brothers fight Will Brooks in a hotel

    Friday’s Bellator show started a couple of days early apparently as Bellator fighter and current Lightweight champion Will Brooks, was beaten up in a hotel by fellow Bellator fighters, Patricky and Patricio Freire, also known as the “Pitbull” brothers.  

    According to Will Brooks, “I was looking out this glass window, and out of nowhere, Patricky jumps on my shoulder, and he’s like in my face, mumbling something,” Brooks told MMAjunkie. “So first reaction, I’m trying to create separation. He pushed me, and then his brother jumped on my shoulder and started punching me all while I’m trying to defend myself, and all of their people are holding me back while these guys are punching me. And I’m defenseless by myself with them and all their translators. It’s all on video.”  The video has not come out and it is unclear who filmed it, but Bellator and Missouri athletic commission officials are looking into the incident.  Brooks took a photo of his bloody shirt after the incident and posted it on twitter, which has since been deleted.  

    At this time it is unclear what prompted the scuffle, but according to Brooks, he was on the phone with his mother at the time.  “These guys jumped me like cowards,” Brooks told MMAjunkie shortly after the alleged incident. “These guys are going to get what they deserve. They’re cowards.”  The Freire brothers and Brooks have had an ongoing feud for sometime, but nothing involving a phyiscal confrontation.  Brooks said that he suffered a bloody nose, but otherwise is fine.  “They had a real opportunity to beat my ass, and they still couldn’t do anything,” Brooks said. “But I’m just pissed off. I’ve never jumped anybody or needed anyone to fight my battles. Only cowards pick up weapons or use other people to fight their battles against one person.”

    Brooks is still scheduled to face Marcin Held on Friday November 6th for his Brooks’ Lightweigtht title and Patricio Freire, who is the Bellator featherweight champion is scheduled to fight Daneil Staus in the main event this Friday night night.

    Check out F4WOnline.com’s preview of this Friday’s Bellator Vengeance

  • Bellator Vengeance: Homegrown stars headline final tentpole event of 2015

    Friday night, Bellator returns to Spike TV with its final “tentpole” event of the year. Last year, when Scott Coker took over the promotion, a new strategy was unveiled in which they would build to big quarterly PPV-like special events. Results to this point have been somewhat mixed with the most recent big show, Dynamite, drawing a very disappointing TV rating for a mixed kickboxing /MMA show built around a tournament for a Light Heavyweight title shot and Tito Ortiz challenging for the title.

    This weekend’s event is unique in the sense that most of the stars of the show are “homegrown” but in terms of a show with no outside names, it’s as big as it gets for the #2 promotion in the US. Two title fights headline the show, all featuring long-time Bellator stars who date back to the days of the tournament schedule in Patricio “Pitbull” Friere, Daniel Straus, Will Brooks and Marcin Held.

    Michael Chandler, who has appeared on most of the highest rated shows in company history, including headlining the first show to do 1 million viewers, will fight David “Caveman” Rickells in a title eliminator bout. Bobby Lashley, the former WWE and current Impact Wrestling star will face James Thompson in a rematch of a 2012 fight in India. Rounding out the card are two featherweight contenders in Justin Lawrence and Emmanuel Sanchez squaring off in what will probably be a good fight but seems better suited for the prelims.

    Bellator has used a 3 part TV series, Road to Vengeance, to build up interest in this show and Will Brooks and Patricio Pitbull have been going non-stop at each on Twitter since their respective fights were signed. The first episode on Spike did 272,000 viewers airing at 1130 pm eastern, which is about what the UFC Countdown shows do. What this means for Friday’s rating? We’ll find out early next week.

    We will have extensive coverage of the show on the site, with the weigh-ins on Thursday night and the Spike.com prelims on Friday afternoon/evening, leading into the show. The five match main card kicks off at 9 pm eastern on Spike TV and should go about 3 hours with a ton of video features as well as the likely elaborate walk-outs that have become a staple of the big Bellator shows.  David Rickells in particular will likely have a memorable walk-out with his Caveman gimmick.

    Some talking points going into the show:

    Will a show headlined by mostly really good fights with the top talent that Bellator has do better ratings than a show with a pro-wrestling type build around guys mostly past their primes?

    Every fighter on the card, with the possible exception of James Thompson, is top 100 in their division. With UFC having most of the world’s top fighters under contract, that’s as good as it gets in Bellator. Most of these fighters are UFC caliber with Chandler, Friere and Brooks possible title contenders if they were ever to fight there.

    What’s next for Michael Chandler?

    The former title holder has already beaten David Rickells once, knocking him out in the first minute of a 2013 fight. Most expect him to win the rematch. He’s already lost twice to current champion Will Brooks. He also lost to Eddie Alvarez, who’s been struggling in UFC. If Brooks were to lose to Marcin Held, they could certainly book a Chander/Held rematch (they fought in 2011, with Chandler winning by first round submission) but if Brooks wins, Chandler’s in limbo. He seems too big to cut to 145 but too small for Welterweight.

    Is Bobby Lashley a title contender?

    Lashley is on a six fight win streak, which would be the longest in the division for anyone in Bellator or UFC (UFC Champion Fabricio Werdum also has 6 wins in a row, against much tougher competition). But Lashley’s opponents have all been relative unknowns. He’s gotten the job done, finishing off all but Tony Melton but at 39 years old, it’s now or never for Lashley. Vitaly Minakov is the current Bellator Heavyweight champion but he has not fought for the promotion in two years and is at a contract impasse. Should Bellator not be able to come to terms with him, it might make sense to book a tournament for the title and Lashley would certainly be a prominent part of that tournament.

    Friday night, we’ll either get some answers to these questions or at least have a clearer idea of the road ahead for Bellator as they complete their first calendar year under Scott Coker’s direction. Next year, the current plan is for more big events (up to 6 from 4) and more “regular” events. With Spike having cancelled Glory kickboxing, there would seem to be more need for Bellator shows in 2016. When they were running weekly on Friday nights, the audience base was steady but growing and a return to that format could help them out in the future.

    Here’s the full card as currently scheduled:

    Main Card:

    • Bellator Featherweight World Title Bout: Patricio Freire (24-2) vs. Daniel Straus (23-6)
    • Bellator Lightweight World Title Bout: Will Brooks (16-1) vs. Marcin Held (21-3)
    • Bellator Featherweight Feature Bout: Emmanuel Sanchez (11-2) vs. Justin Lawrence (7-2)
    • Bellator Lightweight Feature Bout: Michael Chandler (13-3) vs. Dave Rickels (16-3)
    • Bellator Heavyweight Feature Bout: Bobby Lashley (13-2) vs. James Thompson (20-14)

    Preliminary Card:

    • Bellator Heavyweight Feature Bout: Alex Huddleston (6-1) vs. Augusto Sakai (8-0)
    • Bellator Welterweight Feature Bout: Adam Cella (6-4) vs. Chel Erwin-Davis (2-1)
    • Bellator Welterweight Feature Bout: Garrett Gross (6-4) vs. Luke Nelson (2-1)
    • Bellator Lightweight Feature Bout: Steve Mann (11-2) vs. Hugh Pulley (5-2)
    • Bellator Featherweight Feature Bout: Chris Heatherly (9-3) vs. Vince Eazelle (9-2)
    • Bellator Welterweight Feature Bout: Kevin Engel (4-0) vs. Kyle Kurtz (4-1)
    • Bellator Heavyweight Feature Bout: Kain Royer (1-2) vs. Clay Mitchell (1-0)
    • Bellator Middleweight Feature Bout: Adam Meredith (3-1) vs. Jordan Dowdy (2-0)
    • Bellator Bantamweight Feature Bout: Garrett Mueller (2-0) vs. Scott Ettling (3-0
    • Bellator Lightweight Feature Bout: Brandon Lowe (debut) vs. Rashard Lovelace (1-0)

  • Bellator MMA 144 Live coverage and results: Middleweight Title Brandon Halsey vs Rafael Carvalho

    Bellator MMA returns to Spike TV tonight at 9 pm eastern/6 pacific with Bellator 144: Halsey vs Carvalho. In addition to the main event fight for the Middleweight Championship which Halsey was stripped off earlier this year for missing weight, the show will also feature the return of MVP, Michael Venom Page. He puts his unbeaten record on the line as he works his way toward a title shot. A brash exciting fighter who could be on a collision course with Page, Brennan Ward, takes on Dennis Olson and in the other main card fight, it’s Japan vs Brazil as the debuting Isao Kobayashi goes up against Goiti Yamauchi in a Featherweight bout.

    We’ll have live coverage of the main card here starting right after the opening bell. The prelims are available for free at SpikeTV.com and we’ll also have results of those fights after they happen.

    Welterweights Michael Page (8-0) vs Charlie Ontiveros (6-3)

    Dan Miragliotta draws the reffing assignment for the opener. Page has 3 first round KO’s in 4 Bellator fights. Ontiveros had lost all 3 of his Bellator fights. This should be quick. The fighters are wearing pink wraps above their gloves. MVP dancing around to start as he always does and the fans are booing less than a minute in. Page with a takedown off of a clinch at 2:15. Page quickly into full mount and then takes his back. Ontiveros works him back to front and Page dropping elbows from side control and Ontiveros is out.

    WINNER – MICHAEL PAGE (9-0) by TKO (elbows) at 3:20

    The announcers speculate that it may have been a verbal submission as one of the elbows broke Ontiveros’ jaw. Official decision was a TKO. Sakuraba got some screen time in the pre-match video package for the next fight as Kobayashi grew up idolizing him. Jimmy Smith promises something exciting is happening in the first minute of the fight. I hope so, I have the under.

    Featerweights Isao Kobayashi (18-2-4) vs Goiti Yamauchi (18-2)

    Kobayashi is identified as a former King of Pancrase. I guess you can see his fights on UFC Fight Pass but the announcers don’t bring that up for some reason. They go the ground right away. Yamauchi may have pulled  guard. He goes for a heel hook from the bottom but Kobayashi gets to his feet. Yamauchi definitely pulled guard at 1:15. Yamauchi going for all kinds of whacky submissions and ends up taking his back against the cage. He gets a body triangle and then starts working for a rear naked choke. He locks it in at 3:45 with a Gable grip. Kobayashi fights out of it. Yamauchi landing heel strikes to the body and Kobayashi gets out of it with 15 seconds left and to his feet. Yamauchi stays on his back as the round ends. 10-9 Yamauchi

    Bellator champions Liam McGeary and Marcos Galvao are in attendance. Kobayashi with a trip takedown 1:15 in. Ground strikes in the first were 16-8 for Yamauchi. Yamauchi locks in a body triangle from the bottom but Kobayashi landing head strikes from the top. Yamauchi working for an armbar and gets the Kimura at 2:30. Kobayashi rolls out of it but gives up top position. Yamauchi opens up a cut on Kobayashi’s forehead with elbows from the top. Yamauchi into side control at 4:30 and then quickly into mount. Yamauchi takes his back and gets a neck crank with 10 seconds left but the bell saves Kobayashi. 10-9 Yamauchi

    Jimmy Smith thinks Round 1 was a 10-8. I’d be very surprised as Kobayashi came back at the end and was never in that much danger of being finished. Yamauchi drops Kobayashi with a left hook 1:00 in and goes to the ground. He goes right to the Kimura again and transitions to the back. Yamauchi with the body triangle and working for a rear naked choke at 2:00. Kobayashi works out of it but still in all kinds of trouble. Yamauchi with the rear naked choke again at 3:45 and gets the tap.

    WINNER – GOITI YAMAUCHI (19-2) by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:50 of the third round

    Kimbo Slice in da hizzouse. Yamauchi calls out Patricio Pitbull after the fight. They did a segment called “Quick Hits” with Michael Chandler. It was fun. A female interviewer asked him quick easy questions while he sparred. Apparently Chandler is a big fan of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball. They showed clips from the weigh-ins and Ward and Olson got into it. A fan yelled out “you’re a good actor, Ward” and it made air.

    Welterweights Brennan Ward (11-3) vs Dennis Olson (14-9)

    They showed the walkouts since they’re running well ahead of schedule. Olson was heavily booed coming out and gave the fans the double-finger salute. They’re barely even hiding the fact that this is basically a squash match. All but one of Ward’s wins have come by finish. Big John gets the dukes for this one. Olson goes for a takedown right off the bat and Ward grabs a guillotine. Olson ends up having to pull guard to get out of it and Ward’s on top on the ground. Ward postures up to improve position and then goes into side control rather easily at 1:30. Ward to his feet at 1:45 and Olson is forced to follow. Ward drops Olson with a punch at 2:15 and goes  to the ground with him. Ward into mount at 2:45 and dropping punches and elbows to the head. Olson works him back to guard. Ward with elbows to  the head and body, just swarming Olson. Ward stands up again at 4:30 and Olson has to follow. Ward drops im again and follows up with ground and pound and McCarthy stops it.

    WINNER – BRENNAN WARD (12-3) by TKO (punches)

    After the fight, Ward put over Olson as a tough opponent and also put over the crowd. Ward falls short of calling out the champion Andrey Koreshkov, even though Jimmy was egging him on to. He just said that if he did get the chance, it would be a great fight.

    A prelim bout between Matt Bessette and Kevin Roddy aired next. If you peeked below, you know that Bessette won by submission. What you didn’t know is that he won with an inverted heel hook and Sakuraba got another mention. Bessette has been kicking around the indies for a while now and looked really good here.

    Main Event for the Bellator Middleweight Championship Brandon Halsey (9-0) vs Rafael Carvalho (11-1)

    Brandon Halsey out to Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider, one of my personal favorite songs of all  time. Dan Miragliotta gets the reffing duties for the main event. Carvalho’s “notable wins” are 1-4 Joe Schilling and everyone’s favorite punching bag Brett Rogers. This may not be much of a contest. Halsey gets a taekdown 10 seconds in. Halsey into mount and an arm triangle choke at 1:15. Carvalho escapes and goes for an inverted triangle but Halsey escapes. Carvalho to his feet and tries to take Halsey down but Halsey ends up on top. Crowd booing 2:30 in. Carvalho to his feet but gets brought right back down at 3:15 and Halsey right into mount. Halsey landing light punches to the head but basically just holding Carvalho down. 10-8 Halsey

    Jimmy Smith just mentioned that they’d talked about relaxed 10-8 rules but he “doesn’t know if they’re in effect tonight”. What? Either way, That was a pretty dominant round for Halsey. Cage clinch early in the round and Halsey holds him for over a minute, trying to force a takedown. Halsey backs off at 1:30. Carvalho drops him with a liver kick and follows up with ground and pound but the ref stops  it quickly.

    WINNER – RAFAEL CARVALHO (12-1) by KO (liver kick) at 1:42 of the 2nd round

    Ward was still down 3 minutes later but got up for the winner’s announcement and seemed okay. 

    Prelims results:

    Sam Watford dec TJ Hepburn

    Marius Enache sub Pete Rogers

    Matt Secor sub Jeremie Holloway

    Kevin Haley dec Mike Zichelle

    Matt Bessette sub Kevin Roddy

    Billy Giovanella sub Brandon Polcare

  • Former UFC heavyweight Lavar Johnson charged with domestic assault

    Lavar Johnson, a heavyweight fighter who had fought for both the UFC and Bellator, is currently in jail in Fresno on a number of charges including domestic assault regarding an alleged attack on his girlfriend in August.

    Johnson has been held since that time, but the story went unreported until today when TMZ first broke it.

    Johnson, 38, was arrested on 8/25 for an alleged incident on 8/11 where he is accused of slamming his girlfriend against a wall and on the ground, and repeatedly kneeing her in the face and head. He is also accused of punching her 11 times in the face.

    The list of charges include corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and dissuading a witness by force.

    The police report stated that Johnson then fled the scene.  Police arrived and saw the woman with a swollen forehead and nose, bleeding. She said that when Johnson saw the blood, he backed off.  She needed staples to close one of the cuts.

    He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held on $175,000 bond.  He is facing a maximum 128 months in prison on the charges.

    Johnson had a similar arrest in 2007.

    Johnson, was a Strikeforce regular from 2009 to 2011, and then moved to UFC after the heavyweight division was switched over and fought four times in the organization, going 2-2.  He was cut after testing positive for testosterone after a loss to Brendan Schaub on February 23, 2013. Since then he was signed to Bellator, where he had a 1-3 record.

  • True Ten Scoring System – Part 8

    PeachMachine (@hendosfoodblog)

    WSOF 24:  Fitch vs. Okami

    The MLB actual World Series is slated to contain either the Royals or the Blue Jays, and that’s going to suck, but THIS “World Series” with a main of event of Jon Fitch vs. Yushin Okami?  This should be called the Little League World Series of Fighting.  Actually, that’s an insult to 11 year olds that play each summer in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  They at least hit. 

    Changes to today’s event…

    No real changes other than the name on the top of the column.  This is the first time I’ll be using my True Ten system to examine a WSOF show.  This show did not come on until 9pm Eastern in my area so I only saw the reading of the results of the flyweight title match, which all three judges scored 50-45 for Bibulatov. 

    Next up was a match that must have been made via Royal Rumble style tumbler random drawing with Vinny Magalhaes submitting Matt Hamill with a knee bar in round one.  Who could have possibly thought that was a good idea? 

    On with the show…

    Lightweight:  Tom Marcellino vs. Nick Newell

    Well that was a weird fight.  Nick Newell is the one armed fighter, and in this fight, he was the guy working all the submission attempts and controlling the grappling.

    At the end of the second round, Miragliotta thought they rang the bell but it was just the 10 second “sound” and it did indeed sound like a bell clang, but it was right as Marcellino had dropped Newel with a punch.  He didn’t argue but Marecellino could have finished.  His corner should have been irate.  Round two only lasted 4:50.  After the break it was explained that the official timekeeper hit the bell instead of the blocks with ten seconds remaining.  Maybe they had the same timekeeper as the guy in the Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker match at Summer Slam. 

    Official Results:  Unanimous decision for Nick Newell (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

    My Classic Ten:  Rd1) 10-9 Newell, Rd2) 10-9 Newell, Rd 3) 10-9 Marcellino

    29-28 Newell

    True Ten:  Rd1) 10-9 Newell, Rd2) 10-10, Rd3) 10-9 Marcellino

    Result:  29-29 Draw

    Analysis:  Seriously, Marcellino could have finished at the end of the second.  I think this fight was a draw.  Newell controlled more but did almost zero damage and in my world where draws are allowed, this is definitely a draw.  The one benefit of it not being is draw is that we don’t have to see a rematch, because had this not been a fight with a one armed man, it would have been incredibly boring.   The SEC battle of the field goals between Georgia and Mizzou is more exciting. 

    Heavyweights:  Blagoi Ivanov vs. Derrick Mehmen

    I’m not going to even prep for this next fight on this card.  No way it’s lasting all five rounds…  Good news.  The Eunuch from Game of Thrones, Varys, is refereeing this one.  The quality of the Alien Ware logo in the center of the ring is similar to something my snowboarding buddies and I would paint on my basement wall in high school… Ivanov by KO in round 2.

    Jon Fitch vs. Yushin Okami

    A wise man (@findevan) once told me, “Don’t bet on a boring fight.”  This, my friends, has all the makings of such.   A lot is being made of Okami cutting to 170.  He looks fine.  On the other hand, Jon Fitch looks drawn and totally dehydrated.  Sunken eyes and no charisma.  I mean, even less charisma…  Can Chael go a whole round without putting himself over?  The winner of this match faces Jake Shields.  My god.  Are we being punished?  I feel like a sportscaster assigned to cover the WNBA.

    Official Result:  Unanimous Decision for Jon Fitch (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

    My Classic Ten:  Rd1) 10-9 Okami, Rd2) 10-9 Fitch, Rd3) 10-9 Fitch

    Result:  29-28 Fitch

    True Ten:  Rd1) 10-10, Rd2) 10-10, Rd3) 10-10

    Result:  Draw

    Analysis:  I don’t know why this was not scheduled for five, but I’m very glad it only went three.   I can forgive Chael for the heavy comedy in this match, because nothing was happening.  At least they are doing a one-night tourney on Nov 25 to create a contender to the Lightweight title because the Welterweight title is dead. 

    Overall Analysis:  One, has anyone actually bought a body systems punching bag by Bas Rutten?  If so, just mail me the rest of your money.  Two, has anyone cut a less convincing promo than Jon Fitch? “Uh, nothing means more to me, than uh, winning that uh, World Series of uh, Fighting, uh belt.  Ya.”  Three, watching the “highlight package” that consists of still photos set to music because the WSOF doesn’t own the rights to any footage, sucks, and makes WSOF look super Indy.  How is this promotion still alive?  It’s the TNA of MMA.  So Shields, the super-boring guy who LOST to Palhares, will face Who ever books for WSOF should be fired. 

  • WSOF 24 10/17 Results and recap : Jon Fitch vs Yushin Okami

    WSOF 24 took place Saturday night on NBC Sports Network. The 11 fight card was headlined by a welterweight title eliminator bout between Jon Fitch and Yushin Okami and featured two WSOF title fights on the undercard. The first 6 bouts aired on wsof.com.

    Chael Sonnen provided commentary for the whole show and while entertaining at times was reminiscent of Matt Stryker in his commentating style. So you’re either going to like it or really hate it and it ventured toward the latter for me.

    In the main event, Jon Fitch (26-7-1) won a boring decision over Yushin Okami. He clearly won the last two rounds and the first was close. I had it for Okami, as did one of the judges. But Fitch clearly won the fight and will face Jake Shields for the vacant Welterweight title early next year.

    In a Heavyweight title fight, Champion Blagoi Ivanov (13-1) KO’d Derrick Mehmen in the 2nd round in what was probably the best fight of the night. These two looked like an indy wrestling version of Rusev and Jack Swagger. Ivanov dominated the fight, finishing him with a brutal punch to an already cut eye that may have broken an orbital bone as Mehmen went down like he’d been shot.

    Nick Newell (13-1) won a unanimous decision over Tommy Marcellino on 29-28 scores across the board. There wasn’t really any other score possible, although Marcellino was acting like he’d won after the fight and berated Newell, saying “you know you f’n lost”. Newell responded by telling him to be a better sport. In a post-fight interview that couldn’t be heard due  to technical difficulties on the part of NBC Sports Network, Newell retired from fighting. Interestingly enough, the last fighter that Marcellino fought in WSOF, Frankie Perez, retired in-ring earlier this year on a UFC show.

    Two fighters making their WSOF debut had a sloppy fight in the second match on the show, with Vinny Magalhaes (13-7) submitted Matt Hamill in the latter’s first fight in several years. At 39 years old, that was probably it for him with the first round loss. Magalhaes was informed after the fight that he’ll fight Thiago Silva in a #1 contender’s fight for a shot at Dave Branch’s tile. Branch did commentary for most of the undercard and the top 2 main card fights but wasn’t here for this announcement.

    The show kicked off with a Flyweight title fight, the first in the promotion’s existence. In fact it may have been the first 125 lb fight on a main card for the promotion. Debuting Magomed Bibulatov (10-0) won a unanimous decision on scores of 50-45 across the board, the same score I had, over Donavon Frelow. Bibulatov took him down at will through the whole fight but his striking games needs a lot of work. In terms of quality, this was a low-level UFC flyweight fight, the kind that you’d see on Fight Pass.

    The prelims were full of mostly boring decisions, although the top 2  fights were had entertaining finishes. Rick Glenn (16-3) had a 2nd round KO win over Adam Ward. He knocked him out with two hammer fists on the ground and stopped punching before the ref even had a chance to stop it because he knew Ward was out. Alexandre de Almeida (17-5) got a first round sub with a rear naked choke of Saul Almeida. It was announced that he’d be the next challenge for Rick Palmer’s 145 lb title.

    In the other bouts:

    Colton Smith (6-4) won by unanimous decision on scores of 30-26 across the board. There was a penalty point deducted in the 2nd round and despite that, both Chael Sonnen and Renzo Gracie scored the fight 30-27 for Smith. I had it 30-25 with a 10-8 2nd before the penalty point.

    Pat Walsh (7-2) had a unanimous decision win over Tyler King on 30-27 scores across the board. Really boring fight, typical for Pat Walsh.

    Rex Harris (8-2) had a split decision win over Justin Torrey on scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. I scored it 29-28 for Torrey as did the fan poll and all the MMA media members on MMADecisions.com. Torrey is a training partner of friend of the site and sometime radio guest Antonio “the Promise” Thomas.

    Bruce Boyington (11-8) won a split decision over Rodrigo Almeida in the opener. This fight wasn’t terrible but entirely forgettable. Scores were 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. I scored it for Almeida but the 2nd round was very close and could’ve gone either way. Chael Sonnen actually scored it 30-27 for Almeida, Gracie had the same score as I did and the fan voting was 29-28 Boyington.

    The show is not at all worth going out of your way to see but for a weekend with no UFC or Bellator, it was the best we had.

  • New Japanese MMA promotion with Fedor: Rizin Fighting Federation

    Two-time Observer Awards promoter of the year winner Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced today in Tokyo the formation of his new promotion, the Rizin Fighting Federation, a new attempt to rekindle the heyday of Japanese MMA, complete with a New Year’s Eve show that will air in the U.S. in prime time on Spike TV.

    What was announced is two shows, both at the Saitama Super Arena, one on 12/29 and the other on 12/31.

    The biggest news is that Fuji TV, one of the major networks in Japan, will broadcast the event. Fuji TV was the network that broadcasted Pride until it was dropped in the wake of media stories about Yakuza influence in the promotion, which led to the group’s demise.  It was not made clear if the show would air live in Japan, with the indication that Fuji TV would air it as a special built around the fights of Fedor Emelianenko and New Japan’s Kazushi Sakuraba, who was the biggest name Japanese star announced as competing.

    Among the plans for the promotion include an eight person heavyweight tournament with $500,000 going to the winner, which would be taking place at some point in the future.

    The rules will be similar to that of Pride, with men’s fights being 20 minutes in length with rounds of ten minutes, five minutes and five minutes, and using the old Pride judging criteria.  Moves like soccer kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent will be legal.  The fights will be fought inside a ring, but the ring would have five ropes instead of three or four.  Women’s fights will be three five minute rounds.  There will also be non-MMA rules fights, such as kickboxing fights, on the December shows.

    Sakakibara was looking to link the world’s of amateur wrestling, pro wrestling, MMA, Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing.  Appearing from pro wrestling were Sakuraba and Nobuhiko Takada, who will be a figurehead officer such as in the heyday of Pride.  Tomiaki Fukuta, the chairman of the Japanese amateur wrestling association was also there.

    Rena Kubota, a female star of kickboxing and Shoot boxing promotions in Japan will debut in MMA, as will Gabi Garcia, a ridiculously muscular world super heavyweight Jiu Jitsu champion.

    The main event on 12/29 pits Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Shinya Aoki in a battle of Japan’s original submission king against Japan’s current submission star.  Aoki, who is smaller than Sakuraba, is the current One lightweight champion.

    Also at the press conference were Scott Coker from Bellator and Jon Slusser of Spike TV.  Coker said that Bellator fighters would be on the show and that Sean Grande and Jimmy Smith would be announcing.

    Sakakibara said talent would come from Bellator, BAMMA, KSW, Bushido, Jungle Fight, Desert Force, Deep, Shoot, Pancrase and ZST promotions.

    No opponent was named for Emelianenko.  MMA Fighting had reported Jaideep Singh, a kickboxer who has only fought once in MMA, as the foe.

  • Interview: Tito Ortiz talks his loss, Fedor and Jon Jones

    The following is from Submission Radio

    On getting caught in the reverse triangle and losing to Liam McGeary

    “I made a mistake. I will never make that mistake again. I haven’t been submitted since 1998 and I won’t ever let that happen again. I was so mad at myself. We worked so hard in training. I mean, I put so much in into that fight, I mean so much. Twelve weeks I put into it. So much triangle defences, reverse triangle defences, arm lock defences, like everything. And Liam was just a little longer, a little faster, a little step ahead of me, and in the last two seconds of the fight I made mistake (laughs). And I’m like, ‘damn. Damn to me’. But you know what? If I’m gonna lose to anybody, like I said, I’ll lose to the champ.”

    If retirement crossed Tito’s mind during the post-fight speech at Bellator Dynamite

    “Never. No. I have one more fight. I make really, really, really, really good money and I love it. This is fun, I like to fight, and I don’t know, I fulfil everything that is given to me. I had a contract with four fights on it, I’m gonna have one more fight to finish up four fights and I’ll fulfil it. There was no idea of retiring at all. It would be nice. Maybe it is time, but I think one more good fight. My body’s right, my mind’s right, everything’s just firing on all cylinders and I like the way life is right now, and it’s fun again to do it. Like I said, I lost to the champion. It wasn’t like I lost to a nobody. I look back on it, and should I have picked an easier fight? Should I have fought a Kimbo, or a Ken Shamrock, or a Frank Shamrock? No. I fought the best man and he was better than me that night. But it wasn’t like I got dominated. Wasn’t like he was gonna knock me unconscious. No, I fought him and I made a mistake.”

    On if this loss to Liam was one of Tito’s toughest losses in years

    “It was one of the toughest losses in years, ’cause I put so much into it and everything at home was so perfect, and I felt like I was gonna win. It was hard, it was really hard. It took a couple of weeks, you know, it took all the way until now. I took a couple of weeks to kind of lick my wounds and understand that things happen for a reason. I think I feel better after a loss than I would if I won. It’d be nice to win, but still I gotta be challenged in my life like this to understand that just ’cause everything is perfect, don’t mean that life is going to end up perfect. But I can make it as perfect as possible for my kids and my family, and that’s number one. And so long as I’m happy doing it, that makes most sense. But I took it hard, I took it really hard. But I just…I already got back into the gym, I started doing weights and speed bag work. So I wanna keep my shape, I want to compete again, and I don’t know – does that spring Shamrock fight happen. I mean, do one of those other super-fights happen where someone wants to watch it? ‘Cause I mean, I’m not going to get my title shot anymore. I have one more fight on my contract, so let’s make a spectacle of it and let’s get  somebody that I can kill almost.”

    On what his Motivation would be for his next fight, considering he won’t be getting another title shot

    “I guess draw the fight out and make it 15 minutes of just pure punishment and entertain the fans that go watch it. Let them all go out and see a beating unfold in front of them.”

    On who Tito will pick for his last fight

    “I don’t know, I guess I have to sit down with Scott Coker and, I mean, possibly just make the fans pick the fighter. Let the fans choose. Somebody that they want to see a spectacle, somebody that will just ‘wow’ the fans. I think that’s what it comes down to. I don’t know, maybe they can do a vote and let the fans pick who I fight next.”

    On if Tito will fight Fedor in Japan on NYE

    “Not on New Year’s Eve, no. I would love to. I just gotta go in and get some little, light surgical work done, I guess you could say. I gotta go get a bone shaved down. So I’ll be healed by next year. But I’m going to enjoy Christmas, I’m going to enjoy Thanksgiving, I’m going to enjoy New Year’s, I’m going to enjoy my birthday for the first time in a long, long, long time. I miss missing those times, and right now my kids are six years old and I want to enjoy the holidays with my children. I think that’s the number one thing for me right now, is to be a Dad and to be happy. New Years Eve, I’ll be having a cold beer in my hand, saying “happy new year’s” to my family, instead of going out and trying to kill somebody. It sound a lot funner to me (laugh). I’ve been putting a lot of work in over a last few years, so I think it’s time to take a little break.”

    On how Tito sees the fight between him and Fedor going and what advantages he holds over him

    “Wrestling of course. On our feet, he’s a little older. He’s not the young guy who throws super fast now. I think in the wrestling area. Him going for submissions, and they’re not crisp for submissions. So just try and punish him. But of course if we fought each other, it’d be at light heavyweight. I mean I’ve always fought at Light Heavyweight. There’s no reason to go . I think my weight class, when I’m in the best shape possible is 205, and that’s what I’ll to fight at. But you know, I think my wrestling will keep it at par. I know the fight on New Year’s, I’ve heard of a few opponents, so it will be a question of if he can handle the competitors he competes against.”

    Tito on if Fedor is one of the best of all time

    “Well, one of the best of all time? Of course. You know, there’s ‘one of’. I mean ‘one of’ is how many? Ten? I mean, you put the number on that and that’s the number. But the best of all time? No way. Pound for pound, the best of all time? No. He fought a lot of guys that were great at their time and his time, but you gotta go for all time, for everybody he’s competed against. You know, in Japan they did give him a lot of ‘gimme fights’. Of course it’s Japan and they want to do spectacle fights, where it’s a completely one sided match. But he did beat a lot of good guys. You can’t take that away from him. And he’s one of probably the biggest names in MMA. Fedor has dominated so much and so many other competitors, but the greatest of all time? No. One of? Yes. He’s one of the greatest of all time. Yes. You gotta give him that. He’s a great, great fighter.”

    On who is the greatest pound for pound fighter

    “Well if Jon Jones can get his shit together, I think it’d be Jon Jones for sure. As a fighter, that guy is amazing. I mean he has to be an adult and stop being a kid”

    On the disappointing TV ratings that Bellator 142: Dynamite drew

    “I think you can’t go head up (against) Stanford and USC. I think that was a bad one, there was a big upset here in the states for football. I mean there was over eight million viewers on that television. So eight million people watching that sport, you know, a lot of people watch football. I mean, that’s plain and simple. A lot of people watch football. And I think Bellator or Spike and whoever was doing the PR for it could’ve promoted it a little bit better. I did all my own PR. I did pretty much more than fifty percent of it. And for a fighter to do fifty percent of the PR for an event, somebody needs to step their game up. But hey, Bellator’s still learning, they’re getting better. But to compete against the football, that just makes a big difference.”

    Tito shares his thoughts on the NSAC’s suspension of Nick Diaz

    “You know, as (far as) Nick Diaz having his third offence – I guess when you say ‘three times, shame on you’, and this is a complete shame on him on this one for his third time. But for five years? I think that’s getting a little drastic. I mean, the guy has a license to smoke marijuana.”

    “In my eyes, I don’t see it as a stimulant to make you a better fighter. I’m not saying this is ok to do, or anything like that, but five years is a little drastic. And I see Jon Jones just get a slap on the wrist from getting a felony and wrecking into a car, or wrecking into a girl who was pregnant and (has) 72 public appearances at a ‘Boys and Girls’ club and 18 months probation. I just scratch my head about that, going ‘this is crazy’. And there’s so many other instances that happen. I mean, as far as Anderson Silva. He only gets popped for a year for doing steroids, which is an enhancement drug for mixed martials. It just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it. I’m glad it’s never been a problem that I’ve had. So I just gotta sit back and let the athletic commission do their job. I don’t agree with it, but I sure don’t agree with any athlete using any type of drugs, whether it does help you or doesn’t, during training, during fights.”

    On if Cybrog can get down to 135 lbs to fight Ronda Rousey

    “Well if Ronda ever wants to fight. Cris told Ronda she’d cut down to 135 to fight and Ronda won’t do it. So she said she wants to get more fights under her belt. So they keep feeding 135-pounders to Ronda and Cris is just (gonna) keep dominating at 140-145, until Ronda finally says ‘ok, we’ll fight’. So we’re just waiting for Ronda to step up.”

    If Tito gives Holly Holm a shot against Ronda

    “Submission in two minutes.”

    LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW