On the newest Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, we dive deep into the big news of the week: the sale of the UFC. And who better to help us wade through the murky waters than one of the captains of the story: FloSports.com managing editor Jeremy Botter!
In a fight that ranged from sad to exciting to perversely entertaining, sometimes all at once, former PRIDE & Strikeforce heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko was ruled the winner in the second fight of his comeback, but as far as his career goes, he was anything but that.
In the main event of Friday’s EFN show in Saint Petersburg, Russia, that aired for nearly seven hours on UFC Fight Pass, Emelianenko was awarded a controversial majority decision over former UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado on scores of 29-28 (x2) and 28-28.
A normal referee would have stopped the fight on at least two occasions: once in the first round when Emelianenko was being pounded on and knocked silly on the ground, and second, when he managed to get out of the position and his legs were gone as he was stumbling around. Still, “The Last Emporer” survived a first round where he took a terrible beating that somehow two judges called a 10-9.
In the second round, Emelianenko recovered and came back, although it was clear the 36-year-old’s Maldonado’s strategy was to block his punches and come back. Maldonado came back at the end of the round, landing a lot of solid punches, making it a close round.
Emelianenko did more damage in a third round putting two exhausted fighters on display, but, at best, he should have earned a draw out of it. While Maldonado blocked most of his punches, Maldonado was too tired to take advantage of Emelianenko’s tiredness and wear from the battering he took. Maldonado was also pretty battered by the time it was over.
A 28-28 score was legitimate as would be a 29-27 for Maldonado.
The announcer, hilariously honest, openly thought the fight was over early in the first round and was cheering for Emelianenko. He also said this probably ruins his chances to get into the UFC. Perhaps he could still get a deal because of his name, and that the viewership of this fight was small. But, it was clear that even though Emelianenko has unreal mental toughness, he would get destroyed by any good heavyweight striker unless he got to them quickly.
Maldonado proved a tough style match-up because the one thing he has is the ability to take punches which allowed Emelianenko to unload and tire himself out. Emelianenko never once went for a takedown, prompting the announcer to questioning why not, since Emelianenko would have had a huge edge if he could get the takedown.
Even before the decision was read, the announcer acknowledged Emelianenko had lost the fight, but said that, of course, he would be ruled the winner.
We’re still on the road to UFC 200, but we have to make a stop in sunny Los Angeles, CA, first for a fun-looking UFC 199 event that is full of bad blood.
On this week’s edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, Bleacher Report senior MMA analyst & Washington Post contributor Patrick Wyman drops by the show to go over the event and much more like…
– Why he feels like it would take an alien invasion for Michael Bisping to best Luke Rockhold
– If Urijah Faber has a real path to victory against Dominick Cruz
– What he feels should be next for bantamweight rising star Cody Garbrandt
– A little bit of UFC 199 true/false
– What MMA fans can watch for in order to get more educated on the nuance of the sport
– Patrick’s background and how he came to prominence as a striking analyst
– And so much more.
Click below to listen or right click to save to your computer, techno partners.
Analytics is a hot topic and area of interest in pro sports and culture in general. Not to be left out of the game, MMA has been slower to the party than some due to several factors. But why?
Bellator fighter Jordan Parson’s who had his leg amputated a few days ago after a hit and run has passed away. He was 25 years old. Parson’s was hit by a car early last Sunday, May 1st around 12:30AM while crossing a street in Del Ray, Florida.
Bellator promoter Scott Coker had this to say: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of a dear member of the Bellator family, Jordan Parsons. Jordan was an exceptional athlete and a rising star in the sport. But more importantly, he was an exceptional young man. Jordan was hard-working, dedicated, intelligent, and a pleasure to be around. He represented all the reasons we love this sport. It is a terribly tragic loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and teammates.” We at the Wrestling Observer echo the sentiments of Mr. Coker.
The driver, who has not been found, took off while Parsons was left on the road with a horrible leg wound. A police officer, Derek Chahine, responded and treated Parsons, who was taken to the hospital, in critical condition. Police believe that the headphones Parsons was wearing as he crossed the road may have prevented him from hearing the SUV approaching. Police were unable to determine who had the right of way. Police are searching for the driver, whose car would be missing the drivers’s side mirror and have damage on the driver’s side headlight and surrounding casing. Parsons had an 11-2 record and was scheduled to fight on Bellator’s San Jose show 5/14 against Adam Piccolotti.
A cryptic tweet out of nowhere by Conor McGregor has shaken up the MMA world.
McGregor earlier today wrote:
“I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.”
There was nothing more said, no doubt by design.
With Ronda Rousey out of action, McGregor is the key draw for UFC business going into its planned biggest week in history in July when he was the headline UFC 200 against Nate Diaz.
McGregor has been unavailable to media and UFC has not said anything.
Whether this is a negotiating ploy, a legitimate retirement or just his own practical joke that will be explained that he’s always said he doesn’t want to fight a long time is unknown.
McGregor is a big spender, and he was likely to get his biggest paycheck to date for UFC 200. He had talked in the last year about a number of different business plans for the next few years but all of them involved building his name up bigger and continuing to fight.
There will no doubt be more on this as the day progresses.
Kimbo Slice’s championship aspirations have never been at the top of the list for Bellator MMA, but interesting fights certainly are. Sunday night, the MMA world found out what his next foray into the cage will be.
In a rematch of one of the most watched MMA fights of all time, the 42-year-old Slice (6-2) will rematch James “Colossus” Thompson (20-16-1) on Saturday, July 16th at the O2 Arena in London, England. Bellator president Scott Coker made the announcement during a quick segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter on ESPNews.
Slice will ride into the fight on a two fight win streak, having dispatched Ken Shamrock and Dhafir “DADA 5000” Harris in February, the last fight notable mainly because Harris nearly died during the fight due to a terribly planned weight cut, and that Slice tested positive for banned substances. He was suspended for all of 90 days by the Texas Athletic Commission.
After winning four straight, the 37-year-old Thompson has lost his last two fights by TKO. He and Slice fought back in May 2008 for EliteXC, a fight Slice won by 3rd round TKO when Thompson’s cauliflower ear exploded after Slice punched it. The show aired on CBS and did huge ratings.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Bellator is looking at England native Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck II in the co-main event — a rematch of their infamous May 2010 UFC fight where Daley punched Koscheck after the fight ended, causing his immediate firing by UFC brass. Ever since Bellator signed both guys, the fight has been inevitable.
The fight announcement wasn’t lost on UFC VP of Public Relations Dave Sholler who had a simple tweet after the announcement. Even with a busy July, UFC has no shows planned for that date. They have run the O2 Arena six times, always drawing well there.
Bellator’s Aaron Pico will be going for an Olympic wrestling team berth tonight when he faces Frank Molinaro in the 143 pound weight division final.
Pico, 19, from Whittier CA, is attempting to become the first teenager to make the Olympic team in freestyle wrestling in 40 years.
Pico has two prior wins over Molinaro, but Molinaro has had a killer tournament thus far in beating Logan Steiber, the four-time NCAA champion, as well a Brent Metcalf, one of the best U.S. wrestlers of the modern era, and like Steiber, a former Hodge trophy winner.
Pico and Ed Ruth were both signed by Bellator as amateur stars who will debut in MMA after the Olympics, or sooner if they fail to make the Olympic team.
Pico, was considered perhaps the best teenage prospect in decades as he was named pound-for-pound the best high school wrestlers in the country while only a freshman, where he went 42-0, with no close bouts, in taking the California state title. He was world champion in his age group in 2013, and against older competitors in the junior division, took third in the 2014 and 2015 world championships.
Still, because of how loaded the 143 pound division was, he was considered a long shot to make the team. With Metcalf, Steiber, Molinaro, Jordan Oliver, Zain Retheford, Jayson Ness and Reece Humphrey, it was considered the most loaded division in the tournament.
While growing up, Pico won a number of boxing and Pankration tournaments and Bellator signed him in 2014, shortly after his 18th birthday, to essentially a futures contract and he was introduced on one of the company’s major shows.
The finals at 143 will air on NBC Sports tonight at some point after 7 p.m. Eastern and 4 p.m. Pacific.
Many of the top wrestlers in the recent NCAA tournament are competing for slots on the team. Nick Gwiazdowski, who placed second at heavyweight, is in the super heavyweight division with the finals tonight.
Kyle Snyder, 20, the NCAA heavyweight champion and defending world champion, will compete at 215 pounds, will be in a tournament tomorrow.
The lead story examines the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker trial and what is next regarding the two sides and appeals. The article examines why Gawker believed they would lose in the trial but prevail in appeal, how the jury came to the $140 million verdict, evidence Gawker is looking at introducing in the appeal, the role of Bubba the Love Sponge, the stupid things Gawker said in the trial, a realistic look at loss of income for Hogan, and why playing the tape had nothing to do with it.
Also in this issue, a complete rundown of WrestleMania weekend including lineups with many matches not yet announced for not only WrestleMania itself but for all of the different events next week in Dallas. There is also an update on the WrestleMania attendance, ticket sales for other events, plus mythical records, and people scheduled to appear that haven’t been announced.
Big shows with are coming up for Evolve, NXT, Wrestlecon and more.
UFC has huge plans for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rematch, potentially at UFC 200.
MMA promoters are thrilled about the passing of the bill in the New York state assembly to legalize professional MMA. There are plans by both UFC and Bellator for live events in New York as soon as possible.
There have been lawsuits filed against WWE and by WWE that have been thrown out either completely or partially earlier this week.
Sting and Daniel Bryan are both in the news.
Check out the scene in Mexico with AAA losing talent, the Lucha Underground/AAA connection, how Lucha Underground stopped the main event on Elite’s first television taping, what Bellator star headlines that show, who has quit TNA, how the philosophy has changed, and the economics of all this.
Eric Young and Bobby Roode departed from TNA. Read about the background of both men leaving, their status and history in TNA, their value to WWE, their future as well as comments made by both regarding leaving.
This issue features the results of UFC’s Fight Night from Brisbane, Australia over the weekend, with thoughts on the Neil Magny vs. Hector Lombard officiating, ratings notes, plus match-by-match coverage.
CMLL’s Dos Leyendas show, its first big show of the year, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, plus the revealing of family with the country’s top heel, all in this issue.
DDT’s has its biggest show of the year, with the return of Kota Ibushi, held at Sumo Hall.
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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
Also in this issue:
CMLL’s unique tournament going on right now and its history of creating some of the biggest stars in the company of the past 20 year
Perro Aguayo for the first time talks the death of his son
Notes on Dragon Gate’s Memorial Gate show
NOAH’s big show this past week with multiple title matches
Former WWE wrestler returns to New Japan at Invasion Attack
Tanahashi talks working with the Young Bucks
Two big weekend shows and four title matches in New Japan
Major woman’s star for three decades is retiring
Former three-time world champion moving to Canada to come out of retirement to go for the freestyle world title
NCAA Division I heavyweight title match and its background
Update on the status of Speedball Mike Bailey
Kurt Angle talks fighting MMA and returning to WWE
UR Fight show with Angle vs. Mysterio
The first modern wrestler to use entrance music wasn’t The Freebirds
What will air in early 2017 on Lucha Underground and future directions of the company
The next month of TNA Impact that was taped this past week
Business notes regarding UFC 196
Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice failing drug tests
What drugs they failed for and why they both failed the IQ test
Potential WWE lawsuit that is being talked about behind the scenes
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
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For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
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After hours of debating, the bill to legalize mixed martial arts and put it under the auspices of the New York State Athletic Commission passed the state assembly by a 113-25 vote.
The bill had already passed the state senate, which means it goes to Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is expected to sign, and UFC is expected to run its first event in Madison Square Garden toward the latter part of this year.
New York had been the lone holdout in UFC’s attempt to get the sport legalized nationwide. The bill had passed the state senate for seven straight years, but it had been blocked from even being voted on in the assembly.
UFC officials believed they had far more than enough votes last year, but time ran out in the session and once again, they could never get the legislation voted on.
There were long impassioned pleas on both sides, with the few dissenters talking about everything from homophobia, domestic violence, violence in society to the condition of Muhammad Ali, to the idea Madison Square Garden should be for team sports.
