Bellator MMA had it’s first overseas show Saturday from Torino Italy. The show took place at 3 pm eastern and aired on tape delay on SpikeTV with a late 10 pm start time. In terms of star power, it was one of the weaker shows that Bellator has put on since the MTV 2 days but in many ways, the promotion looked more “big league” than ever before.
The show took place in front of a hot crowd in a bigger building than they usually run. The fighters that they were hoping to showcase did what they were supposed to, particularly Alessio Sakara scoring an impressive TKO win in front of his home country. All of the walkouts aired in their entirety, which was a nice change from UFC.
Perhaps the best thing on the show was the opening video montage that was more of a promo for Spike Sports than Bellator MMA specifically but featured mainly Bellator fighters. The tag line of Fighters First was all over the video. Particularly memorable was a Josh Koscheck quote “I can say what I want and I can wear what I want”. This video is worth going out of your way to see although I’m sure it will air before all MMA, Kickboxing and Boxing events on Spike for the next while.
It wasn’t all good news. In the first three fights, the losers looked they belonged nowhere near a professional MMA cage, let alone on national TV. And the main event was a terrible fight with referee John McCarthy even stopping the fight midway through the second while both fighters were standing, warning them that they had to fight. Not sure what he would’ve done if they hadn’t picked it up a bit but they did….only slightly.
The show kicked off with two local fighters making their Bellator debuts. Daniele Scatizzi scored a first round TKO win over Daniele Miceli in a welterweight fight. Scatizzi looked okay but we’ll probably never see either of these guys in a Bellator cage again unless they come back to Italy.
In the second fight, Anastasia Yankova, who they’ve been promoting pretty heavily and could be the face of the new female flyweight division in Bellator dominated Anjela Pink, who was making her pro debut. It was her third submission win in her three fight career.
AJ McKee had a very impressive performance in dominating Italian fighter Danilo Belluardo on his way to a first round TKO win. It was his fourth straight first round finish with all four of his career fights going a combined 10 minutes. He had a great promo after the fight, basically putting the entire division on notice and saying he’s coming for the belt. McKee is the son of MMA vet Antonio McKee and Bellator has high hopes for his future and he did not disappoint on this night.
In what really should’ve been the main event of the show, especially with the benefit of hindsight, Alessio Sakara came out to the biggest pop of the night by far. He was fighting in his home country for the first time in over a decade and did not disappoint. After a first round which he may have lost, he came out strong in the second and stopped Bellator vet Brian Rogers with punches to score a TKO win. The win probably ensures him a few more Bellator fights and the promotion should really have him headline the next show if they ever return to Italy.
The main event was a terrible fight which Bellator mainstay Patricky “Pitbull” Freire won by unanimous decision over the debuting Kevin Souza, who was recently cut from UFC despite a 3-1 record there. Several times referee John McCarthy warned the fighters to pick up the action while on their feet and midway through the second round, he stopped the fight and warned the fighters they had to keep fighting. The fight was very close, despite Freire scoring 30-27 on all 3 judges scorecards, but neither guy impressed at all. Souza took the fight on short notice and Freire is a lifer in Bellator so they’ll probably both be back but after a long day of MMA after the UFC on FOX show, that was a hard fight to sit through.
Overall, I’d say the show was a minor success and something that Bellator should definitely do again. It came across much differently than the normal Friday night shows they run in casinos and more shows like this would make the promotion seem like a viable alternative to UFC in the world of MMA.
Bellator returns to Spike TV on Friday night with Bellator 153. Benson Henderson makes his promotional debut and challenges Andrey Koreshkov in the show’s main event.
After our panel took a beating at UFC 196, we’ve taken a month and a bit to regroup and we’re back for the UFC’s return to big FOX. This card looks a lot different than it did when it was originally scheduled and really may be the weakest overall card in FOX history in terms of star power. But it’s UFC and with a sporadic schedule the last six weeks, I know that I at least am jonesing for some UFC action.
At least two fights on the card should have title implications in the next year or so with the Tecia Torres-Rose Namajunas fight probably determining the next strawweight contender and the Beneil Dariush and Mike Chiesa fight sending one of them into the top 5. The main event is two men on the downsides of their careers but still top contenders. A title fight for either of Rashad Evans or Glover Teixeira would be a tough sell but an impressive performance from one of them, particularly Evans, could spark some interest in a title program, should they need a challenger on short notice. The remaining two fights we’ll be picking from are between top 15 contenders in both the featherweight and women’s bantamweight divisions.
Here’s our panel with the 2016 records in parenthesis. We’ve also added a running tally of the records of the favorites going into the fights and the panel consensus picks
John Pollock (20-10; .667) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
Mike Sawyer (18-12; .600) – Tough Talk MMA
Josh Nason (18-12; .600) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
Mike Sempervive (17-13; .567) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
David Bixenspan (17-13; .567) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
Consensus picks (15-13; .536)
Ryan Frederick (16-14; .533) – WrestlingObserver.com UFC reporter, WON Twitter guy
Favorites (16-14; .533)
Dave Meltzer (15-15; .500)– Wrestling Observer founder
Steve Juon (15-15; .500) – MMA Mania/Wrestling Observer writer. Angry Marks founder
Front Row Brian (13-17; .433) – MMA newsbreaker, Beloved internet personality, Podcast host
Paul Fontaine (12-18; .400) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer
Main Event – Light Heavyweights Rashad Evans (19-4-1) vs Glover Teixeira (21-4)
Evans has only been stopped one time in his long career, having been knocked out in a title loss versus Lyoto Machida in 2009. He’s coming off a decision loss against Ryan Bader which snapped a two fight win streak for the former champion and TUF Season 2 winner. Glover Teixeira took this fight on just a couple week’s notice and agreed to a five round stipulation. He’s hoping it won’t go that long as 11 of his last 12 wins have been by stoppage. It seems likely that Evans will ether outpoint his way to a decision win or Glover will hand Rashad the second stoppage loss of his career.
Strawweights Tecia Torres (7-0) vs Rose Namajunas (4-2)
This is a rematch of a 2013 fight in Invicta that Torres won by decision. Despite that and also despite Torres still being unbeaten in her career, Namajunas comes in as the higher ranked fighter. Torres did have two losses in the TUF 20 strawweight tournament but those were not considered official fights and are not counted against her record. It’s interesting to note that all of her career fights have gone the distance. By contrast, “Thug” Rose has submissions in every one of her pro wins. She had a star-making performance last time out against Paige VanZant in the main event of a Fight Pass show in December. This fight was bumped to the co-main position after Lyoto Machida was pulled from his fight with Dan Henderson after a violation of the UFC’s drug policy.
Featherweights Cub Swanson (21-7) vs Hacran Dias (23-3-1)
Since a 2011 loss to Ricardo Lamas, Swanson has only lost twice and both were to top 5 fighters Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. Along the way, he’s beaten the likes of Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver, Ross Pearson and Dustin Poirier, among others. But he did take a beating at the hands of Edgar and how he fares in this fight could show just how much that took out of him. Against lesser competition than Swanson has face, Dias is just 3-2 in UFC but he is on a two fight win streak. He scored a split decision win over Levan Makashvili in his last fight, which followed a dreadfully boring decision win over Darren Elkins.
Lightweights Mike Chiesa (13-2) vs Beneil Dariush (12-1)
This might be the most interesting fight on the card. Both are rising contenders just under the elite in the stacked 155 lb division. Both have recent wins over veteran Jim Miller, a tough out for anyone. Chiesa has a little more UFC experience and is a former TUF winner but Dariush has faced a higher level of competition in his 7 UFC fights. He most recently beat top 5 contender (at the time) Michael Johnson. The winner here should move into the top 5 or at the very least get a top 5 opponent next time out. Dariush is a training partner of the lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos and is on record as saying he won’t fight him.
Women’s Bantamweights Bethe Correia (9-1) vs Raquel Pennington (6-5)
Just looking at the records here, you’d almost think this was a mismatch and it might be…just in the other direction. Correia worked her way through Ronda Rousey’s 4 Horsewomen and talked her way into a title shot but was dismantled by the former champion in vicious fashion. Pennington, meanwhile, took Holly Holm to the limit in a fight many feel she actually won. That loss looks a lot better with hindsight. She followed that up with a submission victory over Jessica Andrade last September to cement her top 10 status in the division. This is an important fight for both as they are just outside the fringe of title contention.
For those F4W Empire members riding the bus, as of now, the plan is for the buses to pick up the group behind the Hyatt Regency hotel, located at Hyatt Regency Dallas – 300 Reunion Boulevard – Dallas, Texas 75207, in the parking lot.
It’s NOT the side parking lot, it’s behind the hotel. Look for someone holding a sign directing you to the bus.
The first bus is scheduled to depart at 2:00 pm central time, the second bus will leave between 2:30 and 3:00, but do NOT be late. Ed will be outside the bus checking people in, and seating is first come first serve. The first bus needs 56 people on it.
After the show, the bus is leaving promptly at 11:00 pm central time. Please do not be late as you may be left behind.
In Indiana, Paige does a photo shoot. Everyone likes it. Paige falls down on the ground because she is so excited about her sandwich. This is the last we will see of her tonight.
In Phoenix, the Bellas and Bryan sit down to lunch at a really, really cute breakfast place. They are going to eat Dutch Babies. The Bellas want to start a charitable bra and panty line. Bryan doesn’t want to talk about Nikki’s vagina. Bryan tells a story of Brie giving him a Dutch oven.
In Orlando, Nattie is training with Mandy. Nattie is excited because she is going to have an opportunity to get closer to Mandy. Nattie is worried about her “loose cannon” father. She doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of Mandy’s family.
The Bella twins are on the Today show. Nikki is excited to have meetings later in the day in New York. Brie wants to talk about babies, but Nikki doesn’t.
On some island in Florida, the Mandy family arrive at the bomb vacation house. They all pick their bedrooms. Her mom and dad don’t want to stand next to each other, because they are separated. Mandy cries. She wants them to be together again. Mandy has plans for them to rekindle their romance. They chase a crab and the Neidharts arrive. Nattie tells Mandy to let her know if her dad acts weird. He just got out of rehab.
The Bellas are at a really nice restaurant, elegant but casual. They are drinking wine and Nikki is talking business. Nikki set up a meeting with some famous business dude. Brie doesn’t want a meeting. She wants to make the bras and panties herself.
Back on the island, everyone is eating breakfast. Mandy and her fedora-ed brother spy on their dad through a tiny window. Nattie draws a lipstick heart on TJ’s face. Jim Neidhart is wearing a hilarious shirt that makes him look like he is wearing a sexy bikini.
In NY, Brie and Nikki go to take a sewing lesson. Nikki is super negative about learning. Nikki knows Brie is going to fail. Brie tries to make a pair of panties. Nikki thinks Brie is a total failure because she didn’t make a perfect pair on her first try. I think she has potential.
Mandy’s family and the Neidharts have a dragon boat race. Mandy’s family is so good at working as a team, and, as expected, the Neidharts are a mess. I bet that Nattie is going to have to learn to love her family, warts and all. She seems to always have to learn that. Nattie is embarrassed that her family lost. Jim Neidhart is pissed because some guy is massaging his wife’s ass. He is having a conniption. Nattie doesn’t want him to cause a scene. Mandy’s family gets in a van and they try to reminisce about old times. Mandy is stoked that her parents are sitting next to each other. The Neidharts join them at a dock and each family gets on a fishing boat. Jim Neidhart makes some very excited noises and then a noise of disappointment. Nattie’s mom reveals that she put a curse on him and he won’t catch any fish, he will only feel the excitement of it. Nattie’s mom catches her third fish. Nattie is pissed that her dad is acting wacky and having fun. She’s glad Mandy isn’t on the boat to see him. Meanwhile, Mandy tries to talk about her dad with her mom. Her mom doesn’t really want to talk about it.
Nikki and Brie are still bickering. Brie wants to be on Etsy, and Nikki wants this to be an empire. Nikki believes she is so much better at business than her sister. It’s funny because outside they are identical twins, but inside they are worlds apart. They have a meeting with a fashion designer. The fashion designer has a big show tomorrow, but she is more than happy to take time out of her busy day to talk to them. Brie explains her Etsy vision. This lady doesn’t think that’s feasible. I hope Brie doesn’t give up on herself.
Back on the island, Mandy takes a walk with her brothers. She remarks to them how much everything has changed. One of her brothers tells her that if she thinks that mom and dad are going to get back together then she’s crazy. Another brother thinks there’s a chance. They yell at each other.
Nikki and Bella are hanging out in their swank hotel room in amazing evening gowns. Brie tells Nikki that she is not as good at business as Nikki. Brie acts really humble. Nikki rubs it in her face, but she’s happy that she gets to be in charge. They each thinks the other gives gross hugs.
Mandy takes her family outside for a drink. Her dad acts all Italian tough guy. Mandy tries to talk to them about getting back together. Mandy cries. Her dad tells them that they are going to stay separated and everyone needs to deal with it. Mandy and her brothers cry. Everyone accepts that things have changed, and they decide to be happy. All the families gather together for a giant meal. They all reflect and laugh over the weekend’s adventures. Mandy gives a toast. Nattie loves Mandy, and she realizes the whole weekend was fun and she didn’t need to stress so much. Haven’t heard that one before, Nattie.
Nikki and Brie go into the Empire State Building for a meeting with the famous business dude. They tell him about their charitable lingerie line. He likes that the lingerie line is charitable. He brings in a designer and she draws some panties. He says a lot of noncommittal positive language and tells them he’ll be in touch. The Bellas are really happy.
Back on the island, Nattie’s tiny nephew gives some precious words of wisdom and they all take a picture of themselves. It may be a mess of a family, but it’s their mess, and I’m sure they wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Back in NY, the Bellas are at a really great, really expensive looking restaurant. The Bellas smile at each other, and they make a toast. Brie looks like she’s getting close to Brie Mode.
There was a show on another network tonight where a bunch of nut-jobs were excited about installing can lights in their bedroom. That coupled with tonight’s Total Divas, and this is officially the worst night ever in television history. Congratulations, America.
The final Raw before WrestleMania did 3.77 million viewers, an 11 percent increase from near historical lows for non-football season posted for the show on 3/21 from Philadelphia.
A show that advertised every major character from WrestleMania appearing, including Vince McMahon, Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Shane McMahon, from the Barclays Center, was down 10 percent from the WrestleMania go-home show last year which did a 3.03 rating and 4.19 million viewers. The 2014 go-home show did a 3.18 rating and 4.38 million viewers.
The ratings pattern was in line with the daylight savings time season, where the peak was in the second hour. There was a third hour drop, but it wasn’t as pronounced as many weeks, even though the only thing pushed for the end of the show was a segment involving HHH and Roman Reigns, who had already done two segments earlier in the show.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.82 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.85 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.64 million viewers
Next week’s show is likely to be the highest rated Raw of the year, as that is the usual pattern for the day after WrestleMania. It is usually about two weeks after WrestleMania where the ratings settle into what ends up being the usual spring levels.
To all good stories must come an end. To all good journeys, must come…well, you’ll see. But before we get to that part of the latest DKP offering, Alan, Eamo and Justin are back in the saddle/van/ICE Train (with official German authenticity this week) again and run down the FULL card for WrestleMania Star! Yes the FULL CARD. We missed nothing. If you think we missed a match, you’re wrong. That match is not happening. You’re wrong. How dare you suggest such a thing!
Ahem…so anyway yes, Jericho vs. AJ in the Ultimate Dad Battle, the League Of Nations version of lad culture, Ladders with Broskis, Revolutionary Divas, main events with unfortunate builds and just who will Dean Ambrose run into next??? The lads discuss it all on the final pit stop of the most magical trip of the year – THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA!!! CHECK IT!!!
Michael Hutter aka Ethan Carter III did a Facebook post earlier today regarding his missing scheduled shows on April 2 for Southside Wrestling and April 3 for Preston City Wrestling in England.
“Unfortunately, due to a previously unforeseen opportunity to continue building a rapport between TNA Wrestling and one our of television network partners, I was forced to cancel my appearances with both Southside and Preston City Wrestling April 2-3. Canceling is not something I take lightly.”
Hutter confirmed what Preston City promoter Steven Fludder had informed us of, that despite how TNA framed the story, Hutter never asked Fludderfor a deposit. He did say that the plane tickets hadn’t been purchased and that he felt he was out more than anyone financially, because he had printed up U.K.-specific T-shirts and EC3 foam fingers to sell at the shows.
Hutter said that neither TNA nor the promotions are to blame for this, and if there was any heat, he would take it. “A set of circumstances arose and I had to make a decision, so blame me.”
He said he promised to make it up to the promotions.
Tonight’s Road to Show is a themed show! That’s great as these shows are usually a bunch of tag matches with or two singles. We are still getting a bunch of tags (well, three) but we’re also getting a best of five series tonight between New Japan and Bullet Club.
Toru Yano, Rocky Romero, Beretta and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kushida, Jushin Thunder Liger, David Finlay and Tiger Mask
It was your standard NJPW eight man tag opener. Good, solid action that set the tone for the night. It was cool in that you saw some people interact with each other where it couldn’t happen under normal circumstances. For example, Liger and Ishii worked together and it was actually pretty interesting. Kushida worked with him briefly as well. That would be a very interesting match if it were ever to happen. Yano was only in there briefly, doing his usual deal with the Finlay made his comeback but RPG Vice countered. Romero took out Kushida with a dive, then they followed with the dropkick/dudebuster combo for the win.
Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Captain New Japan, Juice Robinson and Katsuyori Shibata
Why did Shibata agree to tag with Captain New Japan? Eh, I always bring this up but someone should go to management and mention CNJ’s never, like, won a match. If this were real he’d be canned a long time ago, old or not. The Old Lion Squad beat up Shibata and isolated him early. Kojima managed to thwart Taguchi’s hip attacks. It was Nagata who worked with CNJ towards the end. All of Shibata’s team mates tried to help take down Nagata but it was no use as he got the backdrop driver on CNJ and pinned him. It wasn’t that good or even interesting. Wrong team dynamics here.
Tenzan and Shibata got into a big brawl after the match, with Tenzan pelting Shibata with chairs as his team mates tried to stop him. They’re competing for the NEVER title at Invasion Attack.
Cody Hall vs. Michael Elgin
This is Hall’s first singles match in New Japan if I recall correctly. If not it’s been a very long time. He’s still green in spots but has tons of potential, has good facials and has improved dramatically in the last year. They had a short, but pretty solid back and forth match with Elgin getting the win, pinning Hall with a powerbomb pinning combination.
Jay White vs. Kenny Omega
This was pretty good. White is really good technically at this point. Crowd was kind of quiet early, but got into it towards the end, especially when White was making his comeback and was getting all the close submissions/near falls. Omega cut him off with a snap German suplex then a knee strike, pinning White to even things up.
Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Yujiro seems to not even have Mao or his cool theme song anymore at this point. He just came out to the usual Bullet Club theme. Tanahashi came out but Yujiro jumped him immediately. This was fine – short, but was probably the right amount of length. Yujiro low blowed him at one point and got a near fall with a cradle. Yujiro bumped into the referee towards the end of the match, and Tanahashi returned the favor. He gave him the sling blade, high fly flow, boom, there’s your winner.
Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale
I liked this match in the sense it told a nice story. People were into Honma’s comebacks and were totally behind him. Honma fought hard early but Fale took him to town and dominated, as he’s the big giant of the promotion. Fale beat him up forever and ever until he escaped the Bad Luck Fall and scored a roll up for a nearfall. Fale gave him a GIGANTIC lariat in retaliation, then pinned him with the Bad Luck Fall.
Tama Tonga vs. Togi Makabe
This is the deciding match in the best of five series as they’re tied with two wins each. This wasn’t really anything interesting. Not terrible, but I couldn’t get into it. Just a lot of back and forth brawling with no real significant heat. Tonga did do a ref spot and a gun stun at one point. Makabe fought him off, hit the spider German suplex and was going for the King Kong knee drop when Tonga Roa came in and shoved him off the top rope, then continued beating him for the DQ. So technically, the New Japan guys win the best of five battle.
Roa and Tonga beat up on Makabe (Honma was destroyed in the previous match) as young lions try to intervene, but Roa throws them around easily. They laid out Makabe one more time with a modified double team version of Tonga’s finish (waistlock DDT). Tonga cut a promo saying they are GOD – Guerillas of Destruction. Cool name. Don’t know if this team will work, but we’ll see. It’s something new at the very least.
Ingobernables were mean early with Bushi choking out Yoshi-Hashi and Naito beating up Gedo all the way back to the backstage area. What’s funny here is that now Crowd were into Goto as opposed to booing him, I guess because he finally joined Chaos. He and Evil worked pretty good together. Okada and Naito had some good back and forth before he tagged in Yoshi-Hashi. He made a good comeback and battled out of the Destino and walloped Naito with a lariat. There was another ref spot. That’s like three matches tonight where there’s been some sort of ref bump, pretty excessive and unnecessary. This allowed the heels to lay everyone out and pin Yoshi-Hashi for the win.
New York, NY. A boy gives the Bella’s some flowers. He shows them a Cena lunch box with a Nikki Bella action figure inside that he takes with him everywhere.
Now they are in Denver. Paige and Fox meet a fan at a coffee shop. It’s not a nice restaurant; it’s a little place to get to-go coffee. No one hangs out there. They go to a park with a fan. He lives in Portland, OR. He wants Paige to help him come out as a gay man to his family. He is afraid that they won’t accept him. He tells Paige that he gets his strength from her. Fox and Paige agree to go to his house when he comes out to his family.
Now in Phoenix, going from town to town, we have to move fast. We have a lot of story to get in to just one tiny hour. Nattie is looking at at an app and she tells Mandy about her new cat. Nattie is going on a big family jet-skiing vacation. Mandy complains that she never had a family vacation. Nattie invites Mandy’s family on her vacation. Then she freaks out because she realizes how dumb that was.
Brie is stoked because she is wrestling in her home town. Everyone loves her and she wins. She hugs her brother JJ backstage. Nikki is bummed because she can’t go to Sedona. In Sedona, Brie, Bryan, and their friends and family, are also going on a different sort of vacation, a cleansing vacation. JJ is upset because he doesn’t want to do everything that Bryan wants to do. The Bellas talk about their breasts.
Eva and Mandy hug an Uso. Carrano wants to get some creative stuff going for them, get them on Mania to fight for the Diva’s title, and share some wacky ideas for Eva. They want her to dye her hair blonde. We saw what happened last time they asked her to go blonde. She went AWOL.
Ontario, California. Paige is backstage, talking to some Divas about the promise she made to go to that fan’s house to help him come out to his parents. Renee Young tells her it’s a little weird that she agreed to that. Everyone tells her she is going too far. They tell her it’s a bad idea, even Nattie.
Back in Phoenix, Bryan tells everyone on the way to the vacation that they are going to visit a reincarnated Buddha, a teepee temple, and then a stupa, “which is like a sacred place.” Brie wants lunch. He tells them there will be no alcohol. This isn’t going to end well.
In Colorado Springs, Nattie walks up to Fox and tells her about the vacation with Mandy. She just learned Mandy is coming with fifteen people. R-Truth hugs Mandy and Eva. They tell him about their tag team. R-Truth wants them to be his dancers.
Meanwhile, in Sedona. Bryan and friends pull up to a sweet house with a meditation room, as Dean Ambrose and Renee Young show up. Ambrose has a hand drum. Bryan makes a healthy lunch. Everyone is pissed. They don’t want to eat healthy. Bryan tells Brie that she never cries. Bryan cries all the time.
Back in Colorado Springs, Paige and Fox are in a park. The entire WWE Total Divas universe has been turned on its head. Everyone is going on weird vacations, going to strange family houses, and sitting in small parks and no one is eating at any nice restaurants! Paige tells Fox that everyone said it was weird that they were going to that fan’s house. Fox wants to go. Paige decides to call him and tell him no. She chickens out when they hear his mom had a heart attack. Fox is happy because what’s the worst that can happen? I don’t know, Fox, how about two incompetent strangers showing up with a camera crew to a random and combustible family’s home, during one of the most sensitive conversations they’ve ever had?
In Tampa, Nattie smells her cat. She tells TJ about Mandy. Nattie tries to quote Maya Angelou. She googles Maya Angelou. TJ is saying funny things. Too bad you are reading this instead of watching, because there is no way possible to convey via the written word how he just interacted with his wife. He’s pretty chill about all of it in the end.
Brie and friends show up to this place and they go into a teepee with this really excited man in a cowboy hat. They do meditation. Everyone hates it except Brie and Bryan. Ambrose is pissed. The guy blows a giant horn in Bryan’s face. Everyone laughs. Everything I would have never thought would happen on this show is happening tonight.
Finally some semblance of order, as Mandy and Eva walk into a very nice restaurant called Boca. It’s got nice lighting, and a surprising feature… a tree growing in the middle of the restaurant! A fan tells Eva how inspiring she is. No one knows who Mandy is. Mandy wants Eva to go blonde. Mandy, if you keep talking about Eva going blonde then you are already dead.
Bryan is pissed that everyone made an unhealthy dinner. Bryan said that everyone agreed to do as he said because he paid for everything. Bryan is pissed that everyone is drinking. He gives them the business. Ambrose, shirt reading “I’m just here for the beer,” tells everyone he thinks they should drink. They drink. Bryan chooses not to participate in their toast and tells them such.
In Portland, Paige and Fox pull up to an amazing bed and breakfast. Fox says something stupid and they laugh. Paige asks the proprietor if he is gay. He is. He tells them that coming out to his dad was the hardest thing he’s ever done.
Back in Sedona, Bryan makes a joke then says he’s going to a Buddhist monument to meditate. Everyone says they aren’t going. Bryan says whatever. Brie doesn’t want to go, and Bryan is pissed.
Meanwhile at some dump of a bar in Portland, Paige and Fox are with the fan, and they realize they really aren’t qualified to actually help him.
In Orlando, Mandy and Eva talk to Sara and Sarah about their tag team. Eva and Mandy don’t really know anything about tag teams, especially Mandy. Sara tells Eva privately that she is way ahead of Mandy and Eva doesn’t need to change a thing.
Back in Sedona, everyone is in the hot tub. Dean Ambrose jumps in the pool. Bryan is sulking in bed. Brie tries to get Bryan to come to the tub. Bryan wants Brie to go to bed. Bryan surprises everyone and comes out in a cool bathing suit and judges a jumping contest. He has a really good time.
In Jacksonville, Eva and Mandy are at Tribute to the Troops. Eva and Nattie go to the mess hall. This looks nothing like the restaurants at which they usually dine. Eva tells Nattie about Mandy. Nattie tells her not to sweat Mandy.
Back in Portland, Paige, Fox and the fan pull up to his house. Everyone is un-phased by the cameras. Some tense piano music plays and he tells them he’s gay. Everyone is super chill with it, and there was really no issue at all. Everyone hugs.
In Orlando, Eva is fighting Bayley for the NXT Women’s Championship. 2016 WWE Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Hayes, in a hat no human should wear, stares at Eva and tells her she’s great. She wrestles and loses. Everyone in the crowd hates her and she loves it. She thinks that she’s entertaining. Mandy hugs Eva. Eva tells Mandy to get lost. Mandy acts cool and walks away.
Guess we must wait to find out what happens on Nattie’s vacation.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 85: Hunt vs. Mir from the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia. The event is headlined by a five-round bout in the heavyweight division as former title challenger Mark Hunt takes on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. In the co-main event, it is a battle of welterweights looking to get closer to a title shot as Neil Magny takes on Hector Lombard. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 7 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- ALAN PATRICK (12-1, 2-1 UFC) VS. DAMIEN BROWN (15-8, 0-0 UFC)
First round: Brown is a late replacement from Brisbane. It’s 9 a.m. in Brisbane as this show starts. Patrick took him down right away. Patrick has a guillotine but gave it up. Patrick with some elbows from the top. Brown reversed to the top and landed punches. This picked the crowd up. Patrick escaped and up. Brown took him down into side control and is riding him Patrick backup. Brown with a left hook but Patrick took him down and has his back. Brown working for a Kimura. Crowd liked the round. 10-9 Patrick but close..
Second round: Patrick took him down. Brown with elbows from the bottom. Not much happening this round. Patrick landing some punches Brown again tried or a Kimura from the bottom. Patrick’s round so 20-18 after two.
Third round: Patrick took him down immediately off a kick. Patrick trying for a choke but isn’t close. Now he’s trying an arm triangle but Brown out of trouble. Patrick moved to side control. Patrick now has his back. Patrick with some punches, but he’s more controlling him on the ground. Fans are booing. Brown got up. Patrick took him down again. Patrick 30-27 but could be 29-28, but Patrick has to win.
Scores: 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 for Patrick.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- ROSS PEARSON (18-10 1 NC, 10-7 1 NC UFC) VS. CHAD LAPRISE (10-1, 3-1 UFC)
First round: Low kick by Pearson. Low kick by Pearson. Low kick by Pearson. Laprise missed a high kick. Slow round. Left by Pearson. Low kick by Pearson and Laprise back with a low kick. Laprise’s left thigh looks bad. Laprise landed a left and right. Body kick by Pearson. Body shot by Laprise. Action picked up late in the round. Pearson 10-9.
Second round: Another low kick by Pearson. Low kick by Laprise. Body kick by Laprise. Low kick by Pearson. Pearson with another low kick. Head kick by Laprise. Left by Pearson. Low kick by Pearson, Laprise with a left. Pearson with a right. Laprise with high kick. Low kick by Pearson. Laprise with a left. Laprise with some punches. Left by Pearson. Low kick by Pearson. Spin kick by Laprise. Left by Pearson. Pearson’s left leg is giving him trouble. Laprise with two kicks. Another close round, very good round. Laprise barely so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Low kick by Pearson. Right by Pearson. Pearson is the guy moving forward. Low kick by Pearson. Laprise landed a series including a body kick. Laprise with a left. Head kick by Laprise. Another high kick by Laprise. Low kick by Pearson. Laprise with an elbow. Pearson went for a takedown but didn’t get it. Left by Pearson. Both throwing like crazy late. Laprise’s round close. 29-28 Laprise. First two rounds were close enough to where this could go either way.
Scores: 30-28 Laprise, 30-27 Pearson 29-28 Pearson. The 30-27 score for Pearson was bad as Laprise won the third.
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)
WELTERWEIGHTS- RICHARD WALSH (9-3, 2-2 UFC) VS. VISCARDI ANDRADE (18-6, 2-1 UFC)
First round: Andrade knocked Walsh down, although some of that was as much a slip. Andrade landing more punches. Walsh landed. Andrade trying for a takedown but Walsh defending well. Andrade got him down. Andrade landing some punches. The ref warning Andrade about not being busy enough from the top. The ref stood them up. Right by Andrade. Andrade 10-9.
Second round: Big right by Walsh knocked him down. Walsh landing punches on the ground. Walslh brought him up against the cage. Walsh landing elbows. Andrade back to his feet. Knee and punches by Walsh. Left by Walsh. Andrade with a right. Andrade with a takedown but Walsh right back up. Walsh landing punches. Elbow by Walsh. Knee by Andrade. Andrade looks tired. Andrade took him down. Andrade working for a choke. Walsh survived the round. The choke made it close but Walsh’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Walsh landing punches early. Andrade took him down. Walsh took him down. Andrade got another takedown. Andrade throwing punches from the top. Andrade 29-28.
Scores: All three had it 29-28 for Andrade.
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHTS- LESLIE SMITH (7-6-1, 1-2 UFC) VS. RIN NAKAI (16-1-1, 0-1 UFC)
First round: Smith landing punches. Smith landing more. Nakai couldn’t get the takedown when she tried a hip throw. Crowd is pretty dead at this point. Smith landing more punches. Nakai got the takedown right as the round ended. 10-9 Smith.
Second round: Smith landing some punches. Nakai got the takedown. Nakai keeping her down but doing no damage. Nakai is in side control. Smith working for a triangle but Nakai got out. Nakai working for a head and arm choke. She doesn’t have it. Smith escaped with 1:16 left. Smith landing a hard uppercut. Smith kicked her in the face and Nakai got another takedown. Nakai landing punches from the top. Close round. Smith 20-18.
Third round: Smith landing punches. Nakai has the clinch. Knee and uppercuts by Nakai. Smith landing several punches. Sloppy but the crowd is enjoying this. Right to the body by Smith. Left uppercut by Smith. Nakai working for a takedown but didn’t get it. Nakai got the hip toss into side control. Nakai is trying to get her back. Smith 30-27 but I could see round two and perhaps three going to Nakai because of the ground control. .
Scores: 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Smith.
FEATHERWEIGHTS- DAN HOOKER (12-6, 2-2 UFC) VS. MARK EDDIVA (6-2, 1-2 UFC)
First round: Hooker is fighting at 145. He has fought as a heavyewight before which is crazy. Hooker going for a guillotine. He’s squeezing. Eddiva tapped. Finally a finish.
WELTERWEIGHTS- BRENDAN O’REILLY (6-1 1 NC, 1-1 UFC) VS. ALAN JOUBAN (12-4, 3-2 UFC)
First round: O’Reilly with a foot sweep and got his back. Jouban right back up. Jouban with knees and and elbows. Now Jouban landing all kinds of punches and kicks. O’Reilly also throwing. This was tremendous. Knees and elbows by Jouban. A couple of elbows put him down and it was stopped after punches on the ground. Short explosive great action fight.
MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHTS- BEC RAWLINGS (6-4, 1-1 UFC) VS. SEOHEE HAM (16-6, 1-1 UFC)
First round: Han is undersized for this weight class but a good fighter. Han landed a couple of punches. Both landing punches. Crowd is into this one. Han landing more. Big size difference. Rawlings with a nice right and hurt her with another right. Both trading punches. Rawlings landing harder punches. Han landing more again. Good right by Rawlings. Nice left by Rawlings Han 10-9
Second round: Both landing punches. Both landing a lot of punches. Rawlings stating to land but Han right back and landed a good body kick. Rawlings took her down off a punch. Han tried a triangle but Rawlings got her back and is working for a choke. Rawlings with an armbar. Han landing nice punches and a body kick. Rawlings so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Rawlings took her down and Han trying for a triangle. Rawlings throwing knees to the back. Rawlings escaped and on top. Rawlings landed a good punch but Han back up and landed a punch. Han landing a lot of punches. Knee by Rawlings. Knee and punches by Han. Rawlings with a knee to the body. Nice right by Rawlings. Han 29-28. Good fight.
Scores: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 Rawlings. Please.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- JAMES TE HUNA (16-8, 5-4 UFC) VS. STEVE BOSSE (10-2, 0-1 UFC)
First round: Te Huna from Australia, Bosse was a cult favorite in Montreal as a former hockey enforcer years back. In other words, if they were on skates, Bosse would have a great advantage. Bosse knoked him out in seconds. He threw some solid shots and Te Huna went down hard. He stopped fighting immediately before Marc Goddard stopped it. Bosse should be getting a bonus. It was a short right that did the job. :52
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- DAN KELLY (10-1, 3-1 UFC) VS. ANTONIO CARLOS JUNIOR (5-1 1 NC, 2-1 1 NC UFC)
First round: Carlos with a takedown and has his back. Now he’s got the body triangle. He tried a neck crank. Carlos warned for hitting to the back of the head. Carlos throwing punches from that position. Carlos landing more punches from back position. Carlos working for an armbar as time ran out. 10-8 Carlos.
Second round: Carlos with low kicks. Carlos tried a takedown but Kelly stopped it. Kelly with an uppercut. Kelly bleeding from the nose. Jumping knee by Carlos. Kelly with lefts. Carlos shot and Kelly caught him and landed a knee. Right by Carlos. Left by Kelly. Carlos landed a few shots back. Carlos shot in and Kelly sprawled. Kelly got his back. Kelly landing punches from that position and a knee to the butt. Kelly landing a lot of punches. Carlos got up. Takedown by Carlos. Carlos has his back now. Carlos dropped down but he ref ordered him to stand up. Carlos landing punches. Kelly’s round so 19-18 Carlos.
Third round: Knee and punch by Carlos. Carlos with a low blow and Kelly went down hard. A time out was called. Kelly almost threw him and landed a knee. Kelly took him down, got his back and is pounding on him. Kelly is hurting him now. Kelly throwing tons of of punches and it’s over. Great come from behind win by Kelly.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- JAKE MATTHEWS (9-1, 3-1 UFC) VS. JOHNNY CASE (22-4, 4-0 UFC)
First round: Matthews in with punches. Case with a body kick. Case landed a nice punch. Matthews caught a kick but couldn’t get the takedown. Low kick by Case. Both landing big shots. Matthews tried for a takedown but Case ended up on top. Case with a knee. Matthews landed a right. Big left by Matthews. Matthews with a kick to the butt. Left by Case hurt him. Matthews 10-9.
Second round: Body kick by Matthews. Case went for a takedown. Case on top but Matthews working for a triangle. Case out and on top and landed some punches. Case landing punches . Knee to the body by Case. Matthews hurt him with a body shot but Case took him down into side control. Case’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Body kick by Case. Body kick by Matthews. Knee by Matthews. Body kick by Matthews. Matthews with a hard left. Trading knees form the clinch. Case going for a takedown but blocked. Left by Case. Body kick by Matthews. Now they are in a clinch against the fence. Knee by Matthews. Matthews has his back. Matthews throwing punches from back position and working for a choke. Case escaped. Matthews is in mount. Matthews has his back again. Matthews got the choke and Case tapped. Good third round.
WELTERWEIGHTS- (#13) HECTOR LOMBARD (34-4-1 2 NC, 3-2 1 NC UFC) VS. (#9) NEIL MAGNY (17-4, 10-3 UFC)
First round: Still the same body. Lombard landed hard punches up close. Lombard pounding him on the ground. Lombard with hard punches and elbows. Lombad throwing hard punches from back position. Magny back up and thrown down and Lombard is landing more punches. Lombard in side control. Lombard with an elbow. Hard elbow by Lombard. Magny back up. Magny with a jumping knee and punches but Lombard landed a hard shot. Lombard looks tired. Magny tried a takedown, which was a bad idea as Lombard landed on top. Magny up and started to land. Left by Magny. 10-8 Lombard.
Second round: Magny starting to land. Low kick by Magny. Low kick by Lombard. Knee by Magny. Good right by Magny. Magny landing jabs. Lombard working for a takedown but Magny blocked. Lombard dropped him with a left. Lombard on top. Lombard went for a leglock which wasn’t smart. That allowed Magny to get on top and could cost him the round. Magny moved to mount and is working for a triangle. Magny holding the triangle and punching from the bottom. Magny also working for an armbar. Lombard escaped. Magny now in mount and pounding him. Lombard gave up his back and Magny is throwing a lot of punches. Now Lombard is in real trouble. Lombard is taking a lot of punches. Ref Steve Percival is letting this go way too long. Magny landing a ton of punches, and now elbows. This was ridiculous that it wasn’t stopped. The fans were booing like crazy in the closing seconds because it wasn’t stopped . 10-8 Magny.’
Third round: Lombard is bad shape. Magny landing punches and Lombard is exhausted. Knees and elbow by Magny. Magny with an elbow took him down into the mount. Lombard is bleeding. Magny with more punches and it was stopped. :46
HEAVYWEIGHTS- (#9) MARK HUNT (11-10-1, 6-4-1 UFC) VS. (#10) FRANK MIR (18-10, 16-10 UFC)
First round: Mir looks heavy. He weighed in at 260. Hunt is soft like usual but smaller than usual. Hunt landed punches and blocked a takedown. Big right by Hunt. Antoher right by Hunt. Hunt dropped him and walked away and it was over.
