They announced that a match will be taped tonight for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament.
– Apollo Crews b Elias Samson via press slam into a standing moonsault.
– Steve Cutler b Riddick Moss. This was a pair of non tv talent here. Moss worked as heel, Cutler wins via Front Fisherman Buster.
– Dana Brooke and Evil Emma b Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. Dana rolled up Billie for the win.
– Tye Dillinger b Noah Kekoa. Kekoa is a newcober and came out with a Hawaiian shirt and ukelele, which Tye ended up playing during the match. Dillinger wins via his knee to the back of the head maneuver.
– Enzo and Cass b Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton to advance in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament. Crowd was hot, a lot of How You Doin? chants. Cass cleans up after the hot tag, Enzo gets the pin after the splash off the top.
Intermission
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley b Nia Jax via roll up pinning combination. Pre match, Bayley did a promo about being a fighting champion and putting the title on the line against anyone who wants a chance.
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillains b Jason Jordan and Chad Gable via whirling dervish.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor b Solomon Crowe with the Coup De Grace. Crowe worked heel in this match even attacking Balor pre match before the bell. Balor had his ribs taped and sold his Takeover injures throughout.
The lay low period for wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan following the unearthing of the racist remarks he made during his 2006 sextape is over.
Hogan is expected to apologize, appear contrite, and attempt to rehab his name with appearances this Monday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America and Monday night on ABC Nightline.
LOS ANGELES – Aug. 28, 2015 – With the news of his title fight against UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler being cancelled tonight due to a Lawler thumb injury, Carlos Condit gave AXS TV’s INSIDE MMA his reaction to the news in an interview with series hosts Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten. A video clip of the interview is available here: http://bit.ly/IMMACondit
UFC women’s bantamweight contender Holly Holm sat down with correspondent Ron Kruck on AXS TV’s INSIDE MMA tonight for an in-depth interview about her upcoming fight with UFC champion Ronda Rousey. During the interview, Holm discussed how her boxing experience transfers to the octagon, how comfortable she is facing Rousey on the ground, and if she thinks Rousey is beatable: http://bit.ly/IMMAHolmAug28
Also on tonight’s show, UFC featherweight Chad Mendes discussed how he matches up with upcoming opponent Frankie Edgar and how he would adjust his game plan if fought UFC Interim Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor again: http://bit.ly/IMMAMendes
Highlights from tonight’s broadcast of AXS TV FIGHTS: LEGACY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP 44 are available here, presented by AXS TV FIGHTS commentators Pat Miletich and “The Voice†Michael Schiavello: http://bit.ly/Legacy44
Official results from Legacy 44 are as follows:
Main Event – Welterweight Fight – Alex Morono (11-3) defeated Valdir Araujo (14-6) via knockout at 2:18 in round three.
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling takes a walk on the side of lunacy as we welcome WWE Superstar, “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose. Ambrose clawed his way to WWE with a fearless career on the independent scene, absorbing and dishing out punishment in equal measure. He competed in violent environments and unmanageably sacrificed his body with the goal of inflicting as much damage on his opponent as humanly possible.
Now as we wind down 2015 and look ahead, we look back with Dean on his affinity for Rowdy Roddy Piper, his feuds with Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins and what is next for a possible future WWE Champion. We are also joined by Dean Ambrose’s trainer Les Thatcher and hear directly from him the kind of student Ambrose was and what he thinks of the progress Dean has shown thus far in his career. Thatcher is also quite outspoken about the current state of WWE, NXT and the overall 2015 wrestling product.
How does his preparation differ from other stars in the WWE:
I like to take things moment to moment. I don’t try to be anything that I’m not because that would be in-authentic and I was blessed with certain talents and certain abilities and others I wasn’t. I try to do things I do and do them well and I don’t try to pretend to be anything that I’m not. If I’m in a bad mood, your gonna get Dean Ambrose in a bad mood. If I’m in a good mood your gonna get happy, fun Dean Ambrose that day. I would literally take whatever I’m feeling, that’s just what you will see in the ring.
I like to just be myself and I just go out there and kind of just do whatever I want to my own devices and it’s kind of just not just the fans but WWE slowly realized another Dean Ambrose isn’t going to walk through the door anytime soon. So I kind of occupy my own space and kind of carve out my own little spot. Fans don’t want to tune in and see you do the same things every week and when they hear your music for me they like to think that any wild thing may happen when I come through the curtain because sometimes I don’t know. I make as much up as I possibly can as I go along.
Memories of Rowdy Roddy Piper:
Everybody loves Roddy Piper. There’s so many of these shocking out of nowhere passings and it’s so weird because these are the guys that my generation grew up watching, it sucks. Everybody loves The Hot Rod and my favorite Roddy Piper memory is a very specific one because I recently not too long ago watched it. Starrcade 96 when he fought Hogan for the Championship when he came back to WCW, it was a terrible, sloppy match with two old guys but awesome and was such a spectacle.
The cool part of it was his entrance. One of the best entrances you will ever see if you really watch it and you are into the story and you really watch what he is doing, it’s like this death march to the ring. You have this on-going decade long blood-feud with Hogan and he knows that he is going to get beat up by the nWo and ganged up on 20-1 and it’s a one man war against the nWo and he’s just coming down the aisle as simple as can be, no flashy entrance or pyrotechnics. In WWE everyone has the special entrance.
In NXT they have a dance move that they do and they get in the ring the same way every time and its like their schtick. It was so refreshing to go back and watch that because he comes out and just stares at the ring and burns a hole with his eyes and walks down the aisle as simple as humanly possible. His eyes are just cold and it just tells so much, you know he is willing to go in there in the middle of that ring. He is going to fight to the end. If he walks away with the championship, cool but he’s prepared for this to be the end. It’s very intense and most people who watch it wouldn’t put that much thought into it but get on WWE Network, watch Starrcade 96 and just watch Piper’s entrance it’s such a cool thing.
Comparison to Superstars like Piper, Terry Funk and Brian Pillman:
I really can’t answer that because I try not to put any thought into what I am doing. I go by what I feel, whatever happens, happens. I think a lot of those guys probably thought the same way.
Why does he work so well with Seth Rollins:
Our styles just meshed well. First time we ever wrestled was in FCW. We never crossed paths before. It was maybe one of the first times that people started to pay attention to what was going on in Developmental just from a wrestling standpoint. I had a certain following and he had kind of ran with a different crowd on the indy scene like Ring of Honor and it kind of was a clash of indy worlds happening in Developmental. It just clicked immediately. I felt that stuff that he did was complimenting the stuff that I did.
The stretching and they physical stuff in the holds, it was such a phsyical style I was doing at the time and just kind of meshed with his and it was like peanut butter and jelly, like mixed perfectly together the stuff that we were doing. He is such a smart guy and visualizes and comes up with cool things and then you have just the way that I would like go off-the-cuff a lot of times, we could go out and wrestle thirty minutes and literally not talk at all before hand, it just meshes well and then you know WWE styles still mesh and it’s hard to explain. There’s just that certain chemistry with people. He’s so good, its like anyone can have a good match with Seth Rollins and we kind of bring out the best in each other from a healthy competitive standpoint and all the great opponents always had that together like Ric Flair/Ricky Steamboat and Nick Bockwinkel/ Verne Gagne.
Is their any one specific WWE Superstar looking to bring down the house:
I think all of the core group of guys right now, myself, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Cesaro, The Wyatts I think we all have that competitive chemistry with each other because we are kind of pushing each other and we are the guys kind of carrying the load right now as far as 300 nights a year. We are the guys who are counted on to tear the house down and wrestle 15-20 minutes on Raw each week and I think that’s a real healthy thing across the board.
Lana and Summer Rae were both at ringside. Rusev dominated with his power stuff and Ziggler got hope spots here and there. Very little, if any, stuff that would involve being DQ’ed. Lana and Summer Rae had their catfight in the ring, Rusev tried using Summer Rae as a shield but Lana KO kicked her, and Ziggler won clean with the Zig-Zag at the 13-minute mark.
Jimmy Uso def. The Miz
Mostly a comedy match, with Miz showing off his dance skils via the river-dance. Is that still a thing? Good back and forth, with Jimmy getting the clean pinfall off a top rope splash at the 10-minute mark. I was a bit surprised by Uso going over since he’s a non-factor on TV.
Team PCB def. Team B.A.D.
Good crowd reaction for Paige and Charlotte, but the rest of the bunch not so much. Crowd seemed very apathetic towards Tamina. Naomi worked most of the match for the heels and Paige played the face-in-peril. Charlotte didn’t see much ring time, except for the hot tag. Becky Lynch got the tap-out on Sasha for the victory at the 10-minute mark.
Tyler Breeze def. Baron Corbin
The crowd must’ve not expected an intermission, because they left in droves for the concessions and bathrooms. Breeze’s entrance is cool, and Corbin tried getting cheap heat by running down the crowd, but nobody cared. Fairly short with Breeze getting a fluke pinfall. Corbin laid him out post-match with his finisher.
Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens
Both guys got solid responses, but Ambrose was the clear favorite. They worked hard early and had a very strong finish with lots of near falls off of stuff like the top rope elbow and the fisher-man buster. Owens went for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Ambrose leap frogged him and hit Dirty Deeds for the clean pinfall at the 14-minute mark.
Intermission.
Jack Swagger def. Adam Rose
Rose cut a pre-match promo about not alllowing us to have fun because we wouldn’t have fun with him, and threatened to poop all over our party. Swagger made him tap to the Patriot Lock in less than a minute. A lot of people weren’t back from concessions yet.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day def. The Primetime Players
Tag Title Match. Kofi and Big E. worked the match while Woods was trolling at ringside. The New Day’s energy is just too contagious, with all their dancing and goofing around. Surprisingly solid responses for the PTP. Young played face-in-peril for a few minutes. Titus cleaned house, but chaos erupted and somewhere in the carnage Kofi stole a pin on Young to retain at the 12-minute mark.
John Cena def. WWE Champion & US Champion Seth Rollins by DQ
This was advertised as a title match and a No DQ Match, but neither was introduced. Almost a solid 100% babyface response to Cena. Shortly into the match, Rollins decided he would show Cena up and make this for both belts. Good, TV Main Event style match, with both men hitting all their signature spots. Rollins kept escaping the AA, and eventually went with a low blow to draw the DQ at the 20-minute mark. Cena gave him the AA to send the crowd home happy.
Notes:
– Good show overall, with only one match being weak, and even that was short. Top babyface reactions were definitely Cena, Ambrose, and I’d say Ziggler and Lana for 3rd. For heel reactions, Rollins, Rusev, and the New Day because the crowd was more into boo’ing them than anyone else on the card.
– I don’t know the exact numbers, but from the looks of things, it was a full crowd, with the exception being the section next to the entrance ramp, which was closed off.
This week, part 3 of this 10 part series, I will continue to examine the current scoring system and also make comparisons to alternative scoring systems. Since this is an attempt to create a more viable and fair system, I am already making some adjustments based on the first two shows, as well as taking into account some helpful feedback from the readers. This is not a hard and fast experiment looking only at data. It is an evolving work in progress, and I want to implement any necessary changes ASAP.
“10-Point Open” Renamed
The previously named “10-Point Open,” in which more of the allotted 10 points are used, will now be called the “True 10-Point” or simply, “True 10.” While this seems like merely nomenclature, it is not. It was brought to my attention that the “open” scoring system is actually already in play in some other fighting organizations, but it means something different than what I was intending.
Apparently, a scoring system can be called “open” when the fighters can see the score in between rounds. I have never seen this before, but I suppose that after the round, the judges’ scores are somehow made public, by either an announcement or scoreboard. If anyone has further insight into how this works, I would love to hear more. Obviously, knowing the score changes the game, and I am curious as to whether or not this leads to more fair outcomes, more exciting fights, or perhaps more boring fights. Clearly, it kills the excitement of the judges’ decision at the end.
Point Allocation Wording in “True 10 Point” System Adjusted
It will now be as follows:
– 10-10: No clear round winner; if the case can be made for either fighter, then this is the appropriate round score
– 10-9: Winner of the round is clear, but the loser did not take much damage
– 10-8: Winner of the round is clear, but the round loser took damage
– 10-7: Winner significantly won the round, and the round loser took a lot of damage
– 10-6: Winner did tremendous damage and it could have been stopped
– 10-5: Winner dominated the entire round and it should have been stopped, possibly repeatedly
Weighted Rounds for Main Events and Championship Rounds
A reader asked me why I weighted the rounds as 1,2, and 3 points. My answer was that I did not like when one fighter wins the first two rounds and the loser basically has to finish in the third because judges rarely give 10-8’s, so a decision really only has one possible outcome. Admittedly, it is a pretty weak argument, but I got sick of seeing guys coast because they knew they had already won a decision. The sport of Mixed Martial Arts, as I see it, is about somewhat safely replicating a fight to the death in the streets, and thus the fighter should always be trying to finish since there is no time limit to a real fight.
More importantly, it took the onus off the judge to do anything other than pick a round winner; the points would take care of themselves. That said I did not consider the point differential for 5 round fights, so I decided it would be scored with rounds at 1,1,2,2, and 3 points respectively. Initially, when creating this method, I thought that since it is a fight, it gets harder the longer it lasts so the third round should be weighted heavier, but the more I think about it, the less that makes sense from a fighter’s perspective.
As a fan, I want excitement all the way to the end, but maybe more needs to be considered. However, I’m not giving up just yet. The one good thing about this scoring is that it makes the judges just pick a round winner, and not have to pick a score as well. So I’m giving this system one more week of fights, as I’m not sure it is valid. If I do not find it worthy after this card, I may drop the weighted points and simplify it to “Select a Round Winner”
Having addressed the updates, it is now time to introduce a new segment:
Questioning the Decision: Michael Johnson vs. Beneil Dariush
OFFICIAL RESULT: 29-28 Dariush, 29-28 Johnson, and 29-28 Dariush RESULT: Dariush by Split Decision
“In My Book…”
Traditional Scoring:
Rd 1) 10-9 Johnson Rd 2) 10-9 Johnson Rd 3) 10-9 Dariush RESULT: 29-28 Johnson
True 10:
Rd 1) 10-9 Johnson Rd 2) 10-10 Rd 3) 10-10 RESULT: 30-29 Johnson
Weighted:
I screwed up in my original scoring article because I was writing from cage side and my battery was dying so I rushed it and scored it 4-2 Johnson, but it should have been a 3-3 Draw because I actually had round one being 1 point for Johnson, round two should have been 2 points for Johnson, and round three was 3 points for Dariush.
RESULT: 3-3 Draw
Pride:
RESULT: Johnson
Analysis:
This fight was the perfect example of a match that should have been a draw. Johnson connected more times statistically, and stuffed takedowns, but did he WIN A FIGHT? Not “in my book,” (see what I did there) but then again, neither did Dariush. These guys were equally matched and there would have been no harm in declaring the fight a draw. Instead, we get a borderline robbery as the guy who should have at best received a draw, wins. This highlights the primary problem with the current system. The loser should never be able to win, no matter how one cherry picks the data.
There is more to scoring than just connecting punches. MMA is far more complex than boxing. If we want to just score on stats, then we will quickly turn the sport into a terrible kickboxing league. There has to be something that takes into account the feeling that 94% of the fans felt when watching that fight, and the majority of people felt Dariush DID NOT WIN.
Two problems arise from these types of decisions. The first is that now Johnson has to start over. He will not get that high profile fight next he wanted. One could argue that he does not deserve it since he did not do enough. Valid point. However, Dariush MAY get that fight, and he does not deserver it either. Why not just rematch the two?
The second and bigger problem is for the viewer. We feel ripped off. We watched 15 minutes of a pretty good fight, and then did not get the payoff. In fact, we got the screw job. Just like in pro wrestling, too many screw job finishes sour the viewer on the product. This turns fans off because they think the sport is fundamentally broken, or ironically, fixed. Can you imagine if you were watching the Yankees outscore the Orioles 5-4 and then the Umpires just told the fans after 9 innings that the Orioles won? This scenario is what the “10-Point Must” system allows to happen. It must be changed.
UFC Fight Night Saskatoon —
Maryna Moroz vs. Valerie Letourneau
Official Result: Letourneau by Unanimous Decision, 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27
When a guy has your back, he is always a half second from a finish with the rear naked. When a guy has your back for all five minutes of a round, you should have lost in that round, which is why I scored round 1 a 10-7 advantage for A-M. He did not allow Sims a second of offense. A lot of people argue that being on top should not necessarily score because you are not necessarily doing anything, but given that the guy on the bottom does not want to be there, I think you have to score top position even if not much damage is being done.
Neil Magny vs. Erick Silva
Official Result: Magny by Split Decision, on scorecards of 29-28 Magny, 29-28 Silva, and 30-27 Magny
I cannot see how anyone would score a round, much less the fight for Silva. I’ll give you that maybe round 3 were even, but Silva did not win that fight. However, that is a bad judging call, and not a problem with the system. In this case, the system worked. The right man won the fight because the majority of the judges (2) got it right, which corrected for the one idiot judge.
Overall Analysis:
It is still super hard for me to score without reverting back to the traditional mindset. This show had a few close rounds but nothing that I would vehemently argue, and the decisions all came in correct, which is the important part. However, I do think there needs to be a massive judging symposium where the criteria for scoring is discussed, and then each judge has to grapple for five minutes and just get grappled to death so they can better understand why ground control should be scored more. Everyone knows that punches and kicks hurt, but it is tough to explain the punishment of grappling without it being experienced.
1940 – Kansas City, Kansas at Memorial Hall; Orville Brown beat Don McIntyre, Ralph Garibaldi beat Steve Brody in 2 of 3 falls and Earl Wampler defeated Jim Reeder
1943 – Waterloo, Iowa; Ed (Strangler) Lewis beat John Grandovich, Johnny Seals beat Leo McGuirk (Leroy McGuirk) and Jack Kennedy beat Big Boy Mully
1961 – Minneapolis, Minnesota; AWA US Champion Gene Kiniski no contest Hard Boiled Haggerty, Wilbur Snyder beat Stan Kowalski, Mr. M beat Roy McClarty, Karl Krauser (Karl Gotch) beat Tiny Mills and Dale Lewis drew Bob Geigel. Attendance was 5,051
1963 – Amarillo, Texas; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Dory Funk Jr in 2 out of 3 falls, Joe Blanchard & Dory Funk Sr & Ricky Romero beat Sputnik Monroe & Art Nelson & Tokyo Tom in 2 out of 3 falls and Masked Rasputin beat Jose Lothario by countout; In Kansas City, Kansas; Bob Geigel beat Rock Hunter 2 falls to 1, Handicap Match, Mongolian Stomper beat John Fogarty and Jose Ramirez and Larry Hamilton (Missouri Mauler) beat Jim Grabmire dq
1970 – St Paul, Minnesota; Dq Rule Waived; Blackjack Lanza beat Dr X and unmasked him to reveal Dick Beyer, No dq match, Larry Hennig & Lars Anderson beat The Crusher & Bad Boy Bullinski on a 3rd fall countout, Pepper Gomez beat Butcher Vachon, Edouard Carpentier beat Dave Cox, Paul Diamond beat Jack Daniels and Bill Howard beat Frank Hickey. Attendance was 8, 758
1974 – Kansas City; Bad News Beach & The Viking defeated Bob Orton & Don Fargo, Boxing match; Dr. Ken Ramey defeated Bill Kersten, Texas Death Match; Killer Karl Krupp defeated Mike George, Bob Brown defeated Lord Alfred Hayes and Pat O’Connor & Bob Geigel defeated The Interns
1982 – St. Paul, Minnesota; Otto Wanz defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight. Also, Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum & Jesse Ventura no contest Baron Von Raschke & Curt Hennig & Brad Rheingans, AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rick Martel & Tito Santana, Steve Olsonoski beat Jacques Goulet, Bobby Heenan beat Ray Stevens by dq and Buck Zumhofe beat Kenny Jay
1982 – Super Destroyer (Scott Irwin) won a one night tournament to capture the Georgia National Heavyweight Title over Paul Orndorff in the finals in Atlanta, Georgia. Also on the card, the Samoans (Afa and Sika) defeated the Freebirds to win the National Tag Team Titles.
1988 – The Ultimate Warrior defeated The Honky Tonk Man to win the Intercontinental Title win in the fastest time ever at SummerSlam in Madison Square Garden.
1992 – Davey Boy Smith defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam in Wembley, England.
1994 – Razor Ramon defeated Diesel to win the WWF Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam in Chicago, Illinois and WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Owen Hart in a steel cage match.
2000 – Al Snow defeated Perry Saturn for the WWF European Heavyweight Title in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
On Friday, UFC President Dana White announced on ESPN SportsCenter that women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm will now headline UFC 193 on November 15 — the UFC’s debut in Melbourne, Australia.
The main reason for the change was that welterweight champion Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit had to be postponed due to a non-serious injury to the champion. No makeup date has been announced yet.
The other reason: the event is at Etihad Stadium, a 50,000 seat venue that they wanted to come close to filling up.
Rousey vs. Holm was originally set for UFC 195 on January 2nd in Las Vegas. Rousey (12-0) will be looking for the eighth straight defense of her UFC/Strikeforce belt, while Holm (9-0) will be looking for her third UFC victory and first major MMA title.
Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will remain on the January 2nd show, which still needs a main event. Double J is expected to face Valerie Letourneau as Claudia Gadelha won’t be ready in time to compete due to injury. White had wanted to move Double J up to November as well, but that is too soon for Letourneau.
Today’s show is another look at the Destruction PPV event from last year, which took place on September 21, 2014 from Kobe Hall.
First match up tonight is Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi of CHAOS taking on Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows of Bullet Club. The tag team division in New Japan consists of the Bullet Club and whoever wants to team up against them that month, so that’s where we get this match. It’s not very exciting, or interesting, but New Japan’s focus isn’t really on heavyweight tags so we get this. Yoshi-Hashi is an interesting case because I think by now he’d be good to go on his own as a singles, but is almost always in tags during the year. He’s better than people think he is. Anderson and Gallows are acceptable as a team, I guess, but them being the mainstays in the division isn’t helping it feel all that hot – they’re fine, but nothing beyond that. The match was pretty good. Yoshi-Hashi’s great in when making a comeback as people are totally into him. Yujiro runs in and attacks YH, leaving him open to a Gallows Poll by Gallows and the Magic Killer to retain the tag team titles.
Okada and Gedo cut a promo after the match, saying that their and Yoshi-Hashi’s goal of winning the titles wasn’t deterred and they’ll be back. Gedo scoffed at their win, saying the Rainmaker will come back and destroy them. Come to think of it, they never have. Most challengers never do. I wonder if anyone actually wants to win the heavyweight tag titles in New Japan at this point.
Nakamura was interviewed about the match beforehand. He was frustrated with his G1 performance and wanted Fale to bring it on. With Fale, Nakamura seems to feel that he garners strength from the audience to gain an advantage, which interests him.
The main event aired. People I talk to are divided about Bad Luck Fale and his monster push. It’s easy to see that he’s very much protected in New Japan booking – hardly anyone kicks out of the Bad Luck Fall and it’s not like he’s pinned all that often. He’s the big gajin heel that they want, and for the role he’s…acceptable. As a worker, he’s sluggish. But New Japan’s booking of him is strong enough that he can have pretty good matches despite this. When I first watched this match, I thought it was really good, and a testament to just how great Shinsuke Nakamura was last year as a main event guy. Looking at this match again, I think there were still periods where it was just kind of dull. Action picked up towards the end that made it a fun, but not great main event. Fale has to be with the right guy to be in main events, and Nakamura is definitely one of those guys. He wins the title for the fourth time by countering Fale and hitting him flush in the face with a boma ye.
After the match Nakamura says he can’t express this win in words, and sure enough gives out a YEAOH. Backstage, he says the championship expresses the winner’s will, and he will do whatever he likes with the title.
Reflecting back, Nakamura says he was one of the more heaviest guys he’s faces. His power can be a destructive force, and felt that during the match. He knew eventually he was running out of gas and a win was not too far away. As far as future title defenses are concerned he doesn’t seem to care; he sees it as a toy. He likes how many people come to challenge for the belt and that’s where he has fun with it the most.
Not a terrific episode by any means, but it was solid with a decent main event. For the first time in what seems like weeks, it probably wasn’t the best television show of the week. Then again, you can’t win them all!
Live coverage of Bellator 141 kicks off at 9 pm eastern/8 Central with 4 fights. Melvin Guillard makes his promotional debut. Two lightweight mainstays in Bellator square off as Patricky Pitbull goes against Saad Awad and two fights featuring journeymen Heavyweights kick off the festivities. Join us her for bell to bell coverage of all 4 fights (and maybe some prelims if there’s time).
Late change – Marloes Coenen vs Arlene Blencowe replaces one of the Heavyweight fights on the main card. Good move as Coenen is probably the second most recognizable name on the entire card, having twice fought Chris Cyborg and being a former holder of the title that Ronda Rousey currently holds.
The substitution was made due to an injury to Lorenzo Hood, so his fight with Raphael Butler is off
Women’s Featherweights Marloes Coenen (22-6) vs Arlene Blencowe (6-4)
Coenen gets a takedown 30 seconds in and right into side control. Coenen transitions to the back and working for a choke. Coenen landing hard punches to the head from behind. Coenen lies on her back, while still in control of Blencowe’s at 3:15. Blencowe tries to escape but Coenen still in control. Coenen has to give up the body triangle though. Coenen just holds Blencowe down for the rest of the round for an easy 10-9. Almost a 10-8 really cause Blencowe did almost nothing.
Both ladies punching to start Round 2. Blencowe maybe getting the better of it. Coenen takes her back standing and brings her down at 1:00. Blencowe escapes and too her feet at 1:30 and forces Coenen to stand as well. Coenen tries for a trip takedown but Blencowe ends up on top. Blencowe to her feet at 2:15 and Coenen has to follow again. Blencowe landing a lot of punches on the feet but Coenen takes her down at 2:45 and right into side control. Coenen with an armbar at 3:15. Blencowe turns to escape and on top but Coenen gets the arm again and the quick tap.
WINNER: MARLOES COENEN (23-6) by submission (armbar)
A nice preview piece of Justin Wren, who fought on TUF 10, including a KO of Wes Sims. He took 5 years off to do humanitarian work in the Congo. He looks like a gigantic version of Daniel Bryan and sounds a bit like him as well.
Heavyweights Justin Wren (10-3) vs Josh Burns (8-8)
You may remember Burns as one of Lashley’s sacrificial Bellator lambs. He’s 0-5 in Bellator, being finished every time so this is clearly a showcase fight for Wren. Jason Herzog gets the reffing duties for this Heavyweight BATTLE.
They’re both just throwing bombs to start. Wren clinches up and lands a couple knees to the body. Wren landing punches as well as he’s got Burns backed up to the cage. Ref breaks up the clinch at 2:00. Burns bleeding a bit from under his right eye. Hard punch exchange at 3:00 and then Wren backs Burns up to the cage again, landing knees to the body and head. Wren also landing punches to the body. Burns pushes him away from the cage but Wren lands a nice punch/knee combo. Wren rocks Burns with a punch at 4:30. 10-9 Wren
Wren backs up Burns to the cage early but Burns takes control. Wren tries for a takedown but Burns fights him off and they’re in the centre again. Strikes were 21-20 in the first round for Wren. Hard punch exchange at 2:00 and Wren bleeding from the nose. Burns starting to control the pace. Wren rocks Burns with a couple of knees and backs him up into the cage. Wren landing a ton of knees to the body and the head and following up with punches. Burns punches out of it. Burns is all bloodied up on his face. Wren with a nice punch combo at 4:00 and backs him up to the cage again. More hard knees from Wren. Separation with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Wren
Doctor took a long look at the damage on Burns’ face but let him continue. Kicks landed were 16-1 for Wren in Round 2. Burns pushing the pace to start the round though. Clinch on the cage at 1:30 with Burns in control. Nothing happening. Ref separates them quickly. Wren with a nice punch/kick combo at 2:15. Wren clinches up again at 2:15 and lands some knees to the head. Burns gets control and lands a series of punches to the head. Wren with some elbows from the clinch and Burns gets separation. Wren with a series of punches and kicks standing. Wren just teeing off at 4:15 but Burns staying on his feet. Wren just picking him off. Burns with a nice punch combo just before the right ends. They embrace at the end. 10-9 Wren
WINNER: JUSTIN WREN (11-3) by unanimous decision (30-27; 30-26 x 2)
Wren cut a great promo to his friends in the Congo, in another language. Great story, really likeable guy. And it’s promo time for the Dynamite show on September 19th. Jimmy Smith and Scott Coker do their very best Dana and Rogan impressions, announcing the brackets for the 205 lb tourney. King Mo vs Linton Vassell and Emanuel Newton vs Phil Davis (fight guaranteed to put me to sleep) with the winners facing off the same night for a title shot.
They made mention of the fan fest that was promoted on the site today. Smith is fine but Coker is terrible in these things. They also announced another “tentpole event”, using that phrase. Pitbull-Strauss 3, Will Brooks defending the lightweight title against…..(Coker forgot his name, but Smith helped him out by saying) Marcin Held. Also Michael Chandler and Bobby Lashley in featured fights. Lightweights Patricky Pitbull (13-6) vs Saad Awad (18-6)
Ox Baker/Mike Beltran is your referee. They do the main event ref instructions for this one for some reason. Very tentative to start even though the pre-fight video package showed a lot of hatred between the two of them. Grande mentions that the lightweight division is getting deep with the additions of Melvin Guillard, Josh Thomson and JOSH KOSCHECK. He said it. Pitbull with the slight advantage on the feet but almost nothing happening through 2:45. Pitbull with a flash takedown at 3:30 but Awad right back up. They trade leg kicks at 4:30 and then Pitbull hit a flying knee in the most action of the fight so far. 10-9 Pitbull
A little more action to start Round 2. Pitbull the aggressor. Nice punch exchange at 1:30. Pitbull with a takedown at 1:45. Not much happening on the ground. Pitbull with some light punches to the body and then stands up at 3:00. Awad follows. Awad bleeding around his right eye. Nice punch combo from Awad at 4:00. Pitbull answers back with a punch combo of his own. Pitbull continuing to advance. Very close round. 10-9 Pitbull
Round 3 started off really slow again with neither guy taking control or landing much. Pitbull with the first bit of offence around 1:45 in, but Awad works him back to the center of the cage. Nice punch exchange at 2:15. Pitbull seems to be doing more damage. Awad bleeding from the nose at 3:15. Pitbull starting to press the action at 4:00. Ptibull with a nice punch combo with 15 seconds left and Awad gets a late takedown. Another close round. 10-9 Pitbull
WINNER – PATRICKY PITBULL (14-6) by unanimous decision on scores of 30-27 x 3
Main Event – Melvin Guillard (33-14-2) vs Brandon Girtz (12-4)
Big John is out for the first time as ref after judging a couple of the undercard fights. Girtz rocks Guillard with a punch combo and then takes his back standing early. Girtz with a power takedown 45 seconds in. Girtz into side control and landing knees to the body. Guillard cut and bleeding around his left eye. Hard knees to the body by Girtz at 3:00. Girtz doing just enough to avoid a standup. 10-8 Girtz. Not like he was close to finishing but Guillard did absolutely nothing
Guillard landed just 2 strikes in that round to 37 for Girtz. Guillard controlling the cage to start round 2 though. Girtz with a nice punch combo early. Guillard answers back with some punches of his own, his biggest offence of the fight so far. Girtz with a power takedown at 1:30 but Guillard right up. Girtz takes him down again and trying for an armbar. Guillard escapes and to his feet, landing a nice punch combo on the way up. Guillard continuing to advance but eating punches from Girtz anyway. Nice punch combo from Guillard at 3:15. Guillard rocks Girtz with a hard right at 4:15 but Girtz gets a takedown right after. Guillard quickly to his feet. This round is still close. Guillard with a nice punch/kick combo. Nice punch exchange right before the bell. 10-9 Guillard but could’ve gone either way.
Girtz with an early takedown. Ground strikes are 33-2 for Girtz through 2 rounds. Girtz working for a head and arm choke. Gives that up and looking for a Kimura but Guillard fights that off with a couple of elbows from the bottom. Guillard landing a lot of hard elbows to the head from the bottom. Ref stands them up at 3:30. Guillard advancing on the standup and stalking him. Guillard lands a flying knee and follows up with hard knees and punches to the head. Girtz is in big trouble. Guillard with another knee/punch combo at 4:15. Girtz with a takedown at 4:30. This is going to be interesting. Guillard landing elbows from the bottom and Girtz just trying to hold him. 10-9 Guillard and I’ve got it as a 28-28 draw.
WINNER – BRANDON GIRTZ (13-4) by split decision on scores of 29-27, 28-29 and 29-27
