Weekend in Fights! July 21st Edition

July 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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This Weekend in Fights! (July 21st, 2012) featured UFC 149 in Calgary, Bellator 72 in Tampa, and Cage Warriors 48 in London.

Bellator 72 kicked off the weekend airing bouts on MTV 2 and Spike.com from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida on Friday.
Bellator 72 was headlined with the Season 6 Welterweight tournament final. Karl Amoussou submitted Bryan Baker with a beautiful inverted heel hook in just under one minute. With the victory Amoussou wins the Bellator Season 6 Welterweight tournament, $100,000, and is granted a shot at current Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren later this year.

Travis Wiuff and Attila Vegh both advanced into the finals of teh Bellator Season 6 Light Heavyweight tournament. In his semifinal match up Wiuff dominated Tim Carpenter for three rounds with his superior wrestling and overall experience with all three rounds 30-27. Attila Vegh surprisingly edged out Emanuel Newton in their semifinal match up. Newton pushed the pace throughout the bout connecting with a lot more strikes, and was clearly the aggressor. Nonetheless the questionable judges ruled in favor of Vegh, who will meet Wiuff in the tournament finals later this year for a shot at Christian M’Pumbu, who Wiuff defeat last fall in a non-title match.

Marius Zaromskis and Waachiim Spiritwolf closed out their trilogy. Their first bout in STRIKEFORCE ended in a no contest due to an eye poke to Spiritwolf. In their second bout in May of this year for Bellator, Zaromskis lucked up by cut Spiritwolf to the point he couldn’t continue into the third round in a bout he was winning. In their bout of Friday,  Zaromskis kept his distance from  Spiritwolf, moving in and out with his attacks in what looked like a unanimous decision, but in another baffling ruling one judge saw the bout in favor of Spiritwolf, while the others for Zaromskis, including one 30-27. Zaromskis picks up the split decision and wraps up the trilogy 2-0-1.

Former UFC and STRIKEFORCE veteran, Paul Daley made his Bellator debut in vintage Daley fashion. In a very lopsided match up, as expected the British slugger made short work of  Rudy Bears. Daley connected with a flurry a knees in the Muay Thai clinch, followed up by his trademark left hook that dropped Bears to the ground in a turtle position, where he was met with a few strikes before the referee intervened. Also with an impressive knockout during the night, Ben “Killa Bee” Saunders used his trademark Muay Thai clinch knees to destroy Brian Warren. Saunders rushed him immediately, pulled him into the clinch where his relentless assault began and ended the bout in 22-seconds. (Full Bellator 72 event results below.)

UFC crowned an Interim Bantamweight champion on Saturday night at UFC 149 from the Scotiabank Sattledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The main event of the evening saw Renan Barao dominated Urijah Faber throughout five rounds to win a unanimous decision with scores of 49-46, 50-45 and 49-46 to become the UFC interim Bantamweight champion.  Landing a significant amount of strikes, Barao’s game plan was semi reminiscent of his teammate Jose Aldo’s bout with Faber in 2010, with leg kicks and takedown defense. Barao stiffled Faber from having any offense whatsoever causing him to lose for the fifth straight time in a title fight in a row. Barao continues his unprecedented undefeated streak to 29 straight victories. With current UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz out of action for an undisclosed period of time Barao is expected to defend the championship before the unification bout takes place.

Tim Boetsch spoiled Hector Lombard’s UFC debut and snapped his 25-fight win streak with a  split decision victory. The former Bellator Middleweight champion’s debut was highly anticipated as the holder of 17 knockouts was though of as the potential next challenger for the Middleweight title. The bout was very back and forth, but fans expected more from Lombard who had difficulty taking Boetsch and closing the distance. Boetsch was the aggressor with leg kicks and hooks walking away with the victory. Boetsch now positions himself in the mix as the next challenger to Anderson Silva, but that remains to be scene.

Matt Riddle and Chris Clements had an exciting back and forth bout that saw Riddle attempt a rear-naked choke for a period of time during the second round. While in Riddle’s body triangle Clements connected with a huge elbow, but enable to finish the bout with his positioning. During the third round while against the cage Riddle slapped on an arm-triangle choke from the standing position, dropped to the ground forcing Clements to tap.

In the three first round knockouts of the night, Ryan Jimmo made his UFC debut by tying the record for fastest knockout set by Duane Ludwig of seven seconds. Jimmo improved his win streak to 17 when he walked up to Anthony Perosh threw one punch sending him to the ground. The record would have been broken if referee Josh Rosenthal would have made it to the fighters quick than he had. Francisco Rivera used his superior boxing to drop submission specialist Roland Delorme with 41-seconds remaining in the  round. Delorme simply walked into Rivera’s punch, sending him crashing to the mat. Antonio Carvalho picked up his first UFC win with his knockout of  Daniel Pineda in 71-seconds. Carvalho connect with a head kick and a few punches dropping Pineda, who got up immediately, yet was wobbly. Moments later Carvalho connect with a big right hand, sending Pineda to the mat unconscious. (Full UFC 149: Faber vs. Barao event results below.)

Cage Warriors held their 10-year anniversary show at HMV Forum in London, England streaming the bouts of Facebook and MMAJunkie.com.  Cage Warriors 48 was headlined with a Cage Warrior’s Middleweight tournament semifinal match between John Phillips and Chris Fields. With Fields missing a high kick, Phillips landed a few big shots, but was taken down and mounted.  Phillips defended Fields ground and pound assault for a period of time, and managed to get back to his feet, but was taken down once against before the round ended. This would continue into the second round, as Fields once again took Phillips with easy. All of a sudden Fields is stuck in a guillotine and taps out. With this victory Phillips advances in into the Cage Warrior’s Middleweight tournament finals for the vacant championship to face Pavel Kusch on Sept. 1 in Amman, Jordan, in a rematch from an April bout in which Kusch made short work of  Phillips by submitting him with a heel hook in 25 seconds. (Full Cage Warriors 48 event results below.)

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Friday Night Fights -

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Bellator 72 results:

Karl Amoussou def. Bryan Baker via submission (inverted heel hook) – Round 1, 0:56 – welterweight-tournament final

Paul Daley def. Rudy Bears via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:45

Attila Vegh def. Emanuel Newton via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28) – light-heavyweight tourney semifinal

Travis Wiuff def. Tim Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – light-heavyweight tourney semifinal

Marius Zaromskis def. Waachiim Spiritwolf via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Prelims:

Paul Barrow def. Jason Carapelluci via submission (rear-naked) choke – Round 3, 0:46

Ben Saunders def. Brian Warren via TKO (knees) – Round 1, 0:22

Raul Amaya def. Kenny Moss via verbal submission (injury) – Round 2, 0:30

Matt McCook def. Shannon Slack via split decision

Julien Williams def. Ryan DeRocher via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:32

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Saturday Night Fights –

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UFC 149: Faber vs. Barao results:

Renan Barao def. Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 49-46) - to become interim bantamweight champion

Tim Boetsch def. Hector Lombard via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Cheick Kongo def. Shawn Jordan via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-27)

James Head def. Brian Ebersole via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Matt Riddle def. Chris Clements via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:02

FX prelims:

Nick Ring def. Court McGee via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Francisco Rivera def. Roland Delorme via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:19

Ryan Jimmo def. Anthony Perosh via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:07

Bryan Caraway def. Mitch Gagnon via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:39

Facebook prelims:

Antonio Carvalho def. Daniel Pineda via KO (punches) – Round 1, 1:11

Anton Kuivanen def. Mitch Clarke via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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Cage Warriors 48 results:

John Phillips def. Chris Fields via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:04

Aaron Wilkinson def. Leigh Cohoon via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:07

Denniston Sutherland def. Brett Sizeland via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:12

Danny Roberts def. Jack Mason via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 2:46

Dale Hardiman def. Ido Pariente via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:44

Kris Edwards def. Brian Hyslop via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:44

Prelims:

Dayman Lake def. Jay Mortimore via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:56

Piotr Ptasinski def. Jacek Toczydlowski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Leon Del Gaudio def. Mehmet Faulds via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:03

Charlie Watts def. Victor Peixoto via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:53

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Filed Under: Bellator, MMA, Strike Force, UFC, Ultimate Fighter, WEC Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weekend in Fights! May 26th Edition

May 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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This Weekend in Fights! (May 26th, 2012) had a heavy focus on Heavyweight championships, both in the UFC and Bellator champions in action. Also taking place this week was Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 in Bahrain, Titan Fighting Championship 22 in Kansas City, and Victory MMA 6 amateur bouts in Quebec.

Cage Warriors kicked off the weekend on Thursday with Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 emanating from the Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town, Bahrain and airing on MMAjunkie.com and Facebook. The main event featured Welterweight champion Gael Grimaud defending his strap against former Ultimate Fighter alumni and UFC fighter Jesse Taylor. Taylor took control early with his wrestling prowess pinning Grimaud down. Taylor spent the majority of the second round with a rear-naked choke attempt to finish the fight early. Being down two rounds to none, Grimaud used Taylor’s wrestling against him submitting him with a arm bar early in the third round while on his back in his first title defense. (Full Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 event results below.)

On Friday night Bellator kicked off the Heavyweight championship festivities of the weekend. Airing on MTV2 and Spike.com Bellator 70 took place at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bellator 70 featured a Heavyweight title bout, and Bellator Season 6 tournament bouts, including the Lightweight tournament finale, and a semifinal bout in the Bantamweight tournament. The Bellator Heavyweight champion Cole Konrad squared off against Eric Prindle in his first title defense, and defend it he did. Konrad wanted to nothing to do with Prindle’s stand up and took took Prindle down to the mat in 22-seconds. In half guard Konrad slapped a kimura on Prindle’s left arm wrenched it for s 60-second submission victory to retain his Bellator  Heavyweight title and improve to 9-0.

Two former Welterweight competitors Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman met at Lightweight in the tournament finale. Hawn struggled with the Muay Thai style of Weedman, as Weedman controlled the majority of the first round with a variety of punches and kicks. Hawn utilized his right hand frequently throughout the second, and was able to gain top position for a lengthy period of time in the third, delivering sporadic ground and pound strikes. Hawn has now earned himself a shot at Bellator Lightweight champion Michael Chandler.

Luis Nogueira advances in the Bellator Bantamweight tournament, with a third round knockout of Hiroshi Nakamura in their semifinal bout. The first round was pretty even with both fighters exchanging strikes and lots of clinching. In the second round it was all Nogueira, as he landed some great strikes bloodying up Nakamura with lots of  left hooks, clubbing rights, a flying knee and a huge slam. The pace seem to slow down in the third until Nakamura walked into a right hand from Nogueira,  dropping him. As Nakamura was falling to the canvas he ate a left hand, and a right before the referee stopped that action. Nogueira will now face Marcos Galvao in the finals of tournament.

Hometown hero and MMA journeyman, Rich”No Love” Clementi did not disappoint his fans with a first round guillotine choke submission over Derek Campos to pick up his 42nd career victory.

Former Ultimate Fighter, WWE Tough Enough, and VH1 reality star  Jeremiah Riggs lost another fight. Riggs was extremely aggressive and dominated most of the bout, but his opponent Kelvin Tiller had him a kimura for a lengthy period on time in third round. With a scream from Riggs the referee stopped the  bout, dubbing the finish a verbal submission, a call that was argued by Riggs. (Full Bellator 70 event results below.)

Titan Fighting Championship aired their 22nd event on HDNet from the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Headlined by former UFC Welterweight/Middleweight competitor Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in his first bout since leaving the promotion in January. Notorious for failing the make weight Johnson took on UFC and Bellator veteran David Branch in a Light Heavyweight bout, and failed to make weight. Johnson and Branch went the distance in an unimpressive performance for the two combatants, where Johnson was visibly gassed out during the second round. Johnson picked up the unanimous decision and 1-1 as a Light Heavyweight.

In a much more impressive post Zuffa performance, former WEC Featherweight fighter L.C. Davis  picked his first win since being dropped from the WEC for two straight loses. Davis snapped his three fight losing skid by defeating Bill Kamery with a  second round TKO. (Full Titan Fighting Championship 22 event results below.)

The UFC continued the Heavyweight championship festivities on Saturday with champion Junior Dos Santos taking on challenger Frank Mir at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Unlike the Bellator card on Friday night, the UFC featured an all Heavyweight main card on Pay-Per-View, as well as four bouts airing on FX, and three on Facebook. With the all Heavyweight card a combined 2400lbs entered the octagon in a  night of slugfests.

UFC Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos retained his title with a second round TKO over Frank Mir. Dos Santos was connecting with easy, as he teed off on Mir, who was no challenge in the least. After every big shot that Mir took to the face he pathetically attempted take downs. Dos Santos connected with a huge right hand that stumbled Mir on to his butt. Following up with some ground and pound, Dos Santos pulled away from Mir’s ankle pick attempt. Mir dazed and confused rolled round, clearly out of it, was met with another punch from Dos Santos to end the fight.

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez returned to his winning ways with a one-sided beat down of the debuting Antonio Silva.

Velasquez landed a kick early on bringing to the fight to the mat, where he worked some vicious ground and pound busted up the Elite XC Heavyweight champion from half guard. With blood gushing everywhere, the action was temporarily halted to check Silva’s cut over the bridge of his nose. Once the fight resumed, so did Velasquez’s punch and elbow ground and pound assault. In an attempts to escape Silva rolled to his knees where he was met with more punches force the fight to and end.
Roy Nelson made short was of  Dave Herman by throwing only punch. Nelson landed a  big looping right hand catching Herman for a 51-second knockout.
Undefeated Stipe Miocic escaped near defeat from the debuting Shane Del Rosario, who landed a series of high and low kicks that almost results in a first round victory.  Miocic took the fight to ground in the second round, where he proceeded to lay into Del Rosario with hammer fists,busting up his nose, and a series of elbows that cut him over his right eye that ultimately ended the bout.Stefan Struve played spoiler to Lavar Johnson, who was fighting for the second time in three weeks. With Johnson connect with an uppercut, Struve knew he was unable to keep up in the standup. Struve quickly jumped guard, transitioned to high guard and wrench the arm for a 65-second arm bar victory.

In the comebacks of the night Jamie Varner returned to the Zuffa banner with a first round knockout of then undefeated Edson Barboza, and Dan Hardy snapped his four fight losing skid with his first round knockout of Duane Ludwig. (Full UFC 146 event results below.)

On the Quebec amateur MMA circuit, Victory MMA 6 – Battle for the Belts 2 took place at Club Soda in Downtown, Montreal. Four championship bouts took place on the card, including the Lightweight title, an Interim Welterweight title, and the inaugural Light Heavyweight and Kickboxing Featherweight title. The first half of the show had some tough decisions and very questionable calls from the commission, including the second bout between Justin Fisher and Russell Miller which was later overturned.

In the main event Victory MMA Lightweight champion Alex Morgan fought his final amateur MMA bout in a title defense against a very game Joe Elliot. Elliot proved to be a very formidable opponent for Morgan taking his into the fourth round, but a slick arm bar forced Elliot to tap. With the win Morgan retires as a amateur with a 13-1-1 record, and is a triple crown champion with the Victory MMA,  Gladiateur, and the Ring Extreme Lightweight titles. Now Morgan will make his Instinct MMA debut this fall.

Adam Dyczka of Speedy Gym in Granby became the first Victory MMA Light Heavyweight champion with a third round TKO over Mathieu Langlais. Langlais was on his was to picking up the decision with his superior wrestling, as he was able to take Dyczka down at will and control him on the ground. However, with Dyczka laying into Langlais with some strong punches throughout the bout, Langlais couldn’t with stand the punishment no longer and was dropped after a series of combinations. Dyczka will make his first title defense against Langlais’s original opponent Chris Cleveland.

Alex Fecteau made short work of  Matthew Richardson with a first minute arm bar submission to pick up the Interim Victory MMA Welterweight title. Fecteau to Richardson down, and slapped on the arm bar. Because the two were very close to the ropes the referee separated them to bring them to the center of the ring, but Richardson gave up. Fecteau will now face current Victory MMA Welterweight champion O’Denva Phillips to unify the titles.

In the rematch from Victory MMA 5, Merouane Ghalmi avenged the only blemish on his record against Christophe Alfonzo. With the first round being a stalemate, Ghalmi really began to take control in the second round knocking Alfonzo down repeatedly and trash talking. After being dropped several times in the third round the referee stopped the fight declaring Ghalmi the winner by  TKO and first Victory Featherweight Low-Kick champion.

In a surprising turn of events Jean-Francois Lepine defeated Joey Hie via unanimous decision after Hie connected with an accidental headbutt that busted Lepine’s eye with a huge gash. Unable to continue the judges went to the score cards, as opposed to declaring it a no contest. (Full Victory MMA 6: Battle for the Belts 2 event results below.)

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Thursday Night Fights -

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Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 results:

Champ Gael Grimaud def. Jesse Taylor via Submission (Arm Bar) – 1:55 – Round 2 -retains welterweight title

Jim Alers def. Matteus Lahdesmak via TKO (GNP/Elbows) – 3:01 – Round 2

Ivan Buchinger def. Diego Gonzalez via TKO (Punches) – 1:30 – Round 2

Eddy Bengtsson def. Jay Mortimore via Submission (Smother) – 2:46 – Round 1

John Phillips def. Tomas Penz via Submission (Triangle Choke) – 3:21 – Round 2

Alan Carlos def. Mike Ling via Majority Decision

Olivier Pastor def. Dino Gambatesa via KO (Punch) – 0:52 – Round 1

Allan Love def. Ignas Petkus via TKO (Punches) – 3:03 – Round 1

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Friday Night Fights -

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Bellator 70 results:

Champ Cole Konrad def. Eric Prindle via Submission (Kimura) – 1:00 – Round 1 - retains heavyweight title

Rick Hawn def. Brent Weedman via Unanimous Decision - advances to the lightweight-tourney finale

Luis Nogueira def. Hiroshi Nakamura via KO (Punches) – 1:58 – Round 3 – advances to the bantamweight-tourney finals

Rich Clementi def. Derek Campos  via Submission (Guillotine Choke) – 4:18 – Round 1

Spike.com prelims:

A.J. Matthews def. Charlie Rader via KO (Soccer Kick) – 3:34 – Round 2

Jonas Billstein vs. Mike Seal via Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 2:55 – Round 1

Derek Arcement def. Blake Dufour via Unanimous Decision

Kelvin Tiller def. Jeremiah Riggs via Technical Submission (Kimura) – 3:38 – Round 3

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Titan Fighting Championship 22 results:

Anthony Johnson def. David Branch via Unanimous Decision

L.C. Davis def. Bill Kamery via TKO (Punches) – 2:59 – Round 2

Andrew Whitney def. Jose Vega via KO (Punch) – 2:55 – Round 1

Fabio Mello def. Angelo Duarte via Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) – 4:34 – Round 2

Rudy Bears def. Nick Nolte via Submission (Punches) – 3:57 – Round 1

Mirsad Bektic def. Willie Mack via TKO (Pucnhes) – 0:27 – Round 1

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Saturday Night Fights -

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UFC 146 results:

Junior Dos Santos def. Frank Mir via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:04 – to retain UFC heavyweight title

Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Silva via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:36

Roy Nelson def. Dave Herman via knockout (punch) – 0:51 – Round 1

Stipe Miocic def. Shane Del Rosario via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 3:14

Stefan Struve def. Lavar Johnson via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:05

FX prelims:

Darren Elkins def. Diego Brandao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:23

C.B. Dollaway def. Jason “Mayhem” Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 29-28)

Dan Hardy def. Duane “Bang” Ludwig via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 3:51

Facebook prelims:

Paul Sass def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (triangle choke/armbar) – Round 1, 1:54

Glover Teixeira def. Kyle Kingsbury via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:53

Mike Brown def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Victory MMA 6 – Battle for the Belts 2 results:

Champ Alex Morgan def. Joe Elliott via Submission (Arm Bar) 2:11- Round 4 - retains Victory MMA Lightweight title, claims Gladiator Lightweight title

Adam Dyczka def. Mathieu Langlais via TKO – 2:36 – Round 3 - claims Victory MMA Light Heavyweight title                                                         

Alex Fecteau def. Matthew Richardson via Submission (Arm Bar) -1:08 – Round 1

Merouane Ghalmi def. Christophe Alfonzo via TKO -0:59 – Round 3 - claims Victory Featherweight Low-Kick title

Stephen Oppong def. Benjamin Dionne-Houle via Unanimous Decision

Jean-Francois Lepine def. Joey Hie via Unanimous Decision 1:13 – 2nd Round (Accidental Head Butt cause Lepine unable to continue so went to score cards)

Matayo Cummins def. Kevin Walker via Unanimous Decision

Josh Williamson def. Jonathan Gauthier via Unanimous Decision

Didier Brassard def. Darnell Jones via Split Decision

Justin Fisher def. Russell Miller via Unanimous Decision (Decision originally for Miller, but reversed after appeal)

Dan Franco def. Serge Guevorkian via Unanimous Decision

 

Filed Under: Bellator, MMA, UFC, WEC Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weekend in Fights! April 14th Edition

April 15, 2012 By 1 Comment
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This Weekend in Fights! (April 14th, 2012) saw the return of the UFC for the first time in 43 days, with UFC on FUEL TV 2 in Stockholm, Sweden, a new Bellator Bantamweight champion was crowned in Atlantic City, as well as action from Cage Warriors in Jordan, EFC Africa in South Africa,  XFC in Tennessee, and Aggression Fighting Championship and AM Ford Fight Night 2012 in British Columbia.

Cage Warriors kicked off this weekend in fights on Thursday with Cage Warriors Fight Night 5: Brents vs. Linderman.  CWFN 5 took place at the New Boxing Arena in Amman, Jordan and was broadcast on MMAJunkie.com. In the main event of the card, D.J. Linderman, who lost two weeks ago at Instinct MMA 3, edged out Bobby Brents with a unanimous decision on two weeks notice. Even though he was giving up almost 25 pounds, Linderman bloodied the much larger Brents’ nose in the first round, but the action slowed down in the second. In the final frame, Linderman picked apart Brents with striking combinations to get the nod.

The Cage Warriors Middleweight tournament semifinals took place, with Pavel Kusch and Victor Cheng advancing to the finals for the vacant Cage Warriors Middleweight title. Kusch made short work of John Phillips with a 25 second heel hook submission, the submission specialist has 13 wins with 13 submissions. On the other side Victor Cheng went the distance against Faycal Hucin to  pick up the unanimous decision.  (Full Cage Warriors Fight Night 5: Linderman vs. Brents event results below.)

The action continued on Friday night with Bellator 65 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Emenating from Boardwalk Hall and broadcasting on MTV 2 and Spike.com, Bellator crowned a new Bantamweight champion in the main event. The main event featured the first title defense of Bellator Bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky, as he took on the winner of Bellator Season 5 Bantamweight tournament, Eduardo Dantas. Both fighters came out full throttle, in a bout that didn’t make it past the second round. Dantas completely dominated Makovsky, with an extremely impressive performance both off his back and in mount. Dantas was able to counter Makovsky’s take down attempt, and gain top position. From the mount, Dantas rained down on Makovsky, with a series of blows, followed up with an arm triangle choke. Despite his best efforts to grip his own leg and avoid the submission, Dantas was able to apply enough pressure to force Makovsky unconscious, and claim the title.

In the Featherweight tournament semifinal match up, Daniel Straus handed Mike Corey his first ever loss in Bellator. In the three round affair, Straus displayed his improved stand up, putting the beat down and bloodied up Corey in the first. However, Corey was able to regain his composure in the second, as he scored a take down and controlled most of the round. Straus continued to tee-off on Corey in the third, with punch and knee combinations. Both fighters ended the bout, swinging violently at each other, perhaps in desperation, or an attempt to woo the judges; ultimately, Straus was awarded the bout.

Bellator kicked off the Season 6 Bantamweight tournament with Luis Nogueira and Marcos Galvao both picking up unanimous decision victories to advance to the semifinals. Nogueira counter struck his opponent, Alexis Vila, staying away from his powerful right hand in order to pick the win. Glavao impose his will as he secured take downs, attempted submissions and connected with devastating power punches to pick up the win of Ed West. (Full Bellator 65 event results below.)

XFC 17: Apocalypse took place at the Oman Arena in Jackson, Tennessee and was broadcast on HDNet on Friday. In his second appearance for the promotion, American Top Team’s Eric Reynolds continued winning streak and snapped Luciano Dos Santos three fight win streak, in a three round stand up war, that saw Reynolds come out the victor in the main event.

Marlon Moraes had an early night when he came out swinging with devastating left hands, knocking out Jarrod Card in just 48 seconds.The one armed man, Nick Newell continued his miraculous undefeated streak, with a majority decision over Chris Coggins. The congenital amputee with just one fully-formed arm, Newell now improves to 7-0. Felice Herrig bounced back from her December 2, XFC 15 unanimous decision loss to Carla Esparza, with a unanimous decision victory of her own over Patricia Vidonic.  (Full XFC 17: Apocalypse event results below.)

Also on Friday, African based promotion Extreme Fighting Championship held their thirteenth even at the GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World, in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. IN a 12 bout card, seven bouts ended with slick submissions, three by TKO and two decisions. One of the three TKO’s on the night came in the main event, which saw Jadyson Costa (8-12-1)captured the EFC Africa Welterweight title by defeating then champion Dallas Jakobi (6-3) with a fourth round TKO. (Full EFC Africa 13 event results below.)

The UFC kicked off Saturday’s fights in the afternoon, with UFC on FUEL TV 2, at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Hometown hero, Alexander Gustafsson headlined the event against heavy handed Brazilian striker Thiago Silva. Due to the Swedish Athletic Commission rules, the bout was on three rounds, as opposed to the new UFC standard five round main events. After dropping Silva in the first round with an uppercut, Gustafsson landed some ground and pound, but was unable to finish Silva. However, the knockdown set the pace for the remainder of the bout, as Gustafsson was able to control Silva. Silva managed to land some heavy strikes, but none effective enough to give him control. Gustafsson’s conditioning proved to be better than Silva, as he continued to connect with punches and kicks. Silva attempted to finish the bout in the third round, chasing Gustafsson with some power punches to no avail. Gustafsson picked up the unanimous decision victory.

In the co-main event of the evening Brian Stann made short work of Alessio Sakara with a combination of knees punches to the head,  dropping Sakara to the mat. Stann began his ground and pound assault, only to be pulled into Sakara’s guard. Breaking free, Stann connected with three solid elbows rendering Sakara unconscious.

Dennis Siver made a successful debut at Featherweight with a unanimous decision victory over Deigo Nunes. In a very stand up heavy match up, both fighters connected with  numerous flurries of punches and knees threw the bout in the clinch. Even with his good take down defense, cutting Siver open, and dropping him to a knee, Nunes failed to win the bout in the eyes of the judges in a very close bout.

In a huge upset of the night Afghani born, product of Golden Glory, Siyar Bahadurzada knocked out Paulo Thiago in his UFC debut in just 42 seconds. Winning the “Knockout of the Night” honors, Bahadurzada landed a  big right hand that cause Thiago to hit mat face first.

The “Fight of the Night” went to Bantamweights, Brad Pickett and Damacio Page in an instant classic. Both fighters went at each other from the opening bell with Pickett ultimately getting the submission victory in the second round. The first round was highly contested back and fourth action with both connecting with heavy strikes. The fast pace action continued into the second round. With Page dazed from all on shots, Pickett took advantage,  sinking his hooks in and applying the rear-naked choke, forcing page to tap.

In a Welterweight match up, John “The One” Maguire squared off against DaMarques Johnson. Sporting the pink and black, cause Bret Hart is his hero, MaGuire was losing the stand up war, as he ate a lot a clearly painful leg kicks from Johnson. Taking it to the mat, Maguire worked his Jiu-Jitsu game and attempted an omoplata, armbar, guillotine choke and rear-naked choke, all unsuccessfully.  In the second round, Maguire took Johnson down with ease, but was on the receiving end of some elbows. Unable to get off his back, Johnson grabbed Maguire’s arm for a kimura, but Maguire snatched Johnson’s arm and wrenched a beautiful arm bar, forcing Johnson to tap in the “Submission of the Night.”

Tristar Gym’s Francis Carmont averted disaster, after being man handled in the first round by Magnus Cedenblad. With his hooks in, Cedenblad had Carmont’s back worked for the rear-naked choke in the first round. Early in the second round, after landing a take down, Carmont rained down on Cedenblad with relentless ground and pound punches and elbows from mount position forcing Cedenblad giving up his back. Carmont would take advantage and sink in a rear-naked choke to score the victory in under two minutes.(Full UFC on FUEL TV 2 event results below.)

Aggression Fighting Championship held its first collective fight card on Saturday night with AFC 8 in Victoria, British Columbia. The AFC was formed as a merger between three of Canada’s premier fight promotions Aggression MMA, Armageddon Fighting Championships, and AX Combat, to be known as Aggression Fighting Championship. Their inaugural show as a collective was held at Bear Mountain Arena and featured both amateur and professional MMA bouts. Teammates of former STRIKEFORCE Women’s Bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman, Diego Wilson & Ryan Janes were both successful.

Both Zugec Ultimate Martial members were featured on this card Bantamweight, Deigo Wilson in the main event. Wilson bounced back from his first ever pro loss with a TKO victory over Corey Gower.  Middleweight,  Ryan Janes picked up his fourth career victory with a submission rear-naked choke over Marcus Hicks. Janes is now riding a three fight win streak. In Featherweight action, Bruno Capdeville rendered Nick Driedger a bloody mess, with a series of lefts, that busted open Driedger so bad that the action was ended after doctor examination mid way through the first round.  (Full AFC 8 event results below.)

Another British Columbia fight promotion held an event on Saturday as AM Ford Fight Night 2012 went down at the Trail Memorial Centre, Trail, British Columbia. The event featured mixed of pro & amateur MMA, including two championship bouts, and two Muay Thai bouts.

In the main event of AM Ford Fight Night 2012, former Ringside MMA fighter Jesse Ronson won the AM Ford Fight Night Lightweight Title Fight by knocking out  Brad Causey with only six second remaining in the first round. In the other championship bout, Stephan Frictra successfully defeated his AM Ford Fight Night Middleweight title against Jason Gorny , also winning with a first round knockout.  (Full AM Ford Fight Night 2012 event results below.)

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Thursday Night Fights-

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Cage Warriors Fight Night 5: Brents vs. Linderman results:

D.J. Linderman def. Bobby Brents via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Pavel Kusch def. John Phillips via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 0:25 – middleweight-tournament semifinal

Victor Cheng def. Faycal Hucin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) – middleweight-tournament semifinal

Liam James def. Jean N’Doye via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28

Mike Ling def. Eric Cebarec via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 2:11

Piotr Hallmann def. Kevin Donnelly via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:10

James Brun def. Thomas Back via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)

Facebook prelims:

Kris Edwards def. Janne Elonen-Kulmala by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Mohamed Ali def. Doo Hwan Kim by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

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Friday Night Fights -

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Bellator 65 results:

Eduardo Dantas def. Zach Makovsky via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:26 – to become new bantamweight champion

Daniel Straus def. Mike Corey via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – featherweight-tourney semifinal

Luis Nogueira def. Alexis Vila via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – bantamweight-tourney opening round

Marcos Galvao def. Ed West via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight-tourney opening round

Spike.com prelims:

Duane Bastress def. Plinio Cruz via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:52

Will Martinez def. Terrell Hobbs via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:13

Scott Heckman def. Lester Caslow via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:40

Kris McCray def. Ailton Barbosa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Lyman Good def. LeVon Maynard via KO (punch) – Round 1, 0:13 – welterweight-tourney qualifier

E.J. Brooks def. Mikhail Malyutin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

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XFC 17: Apocalypse results:

Eric Reynolds def. Luciano Dos Santos via unanimous decision

Marlon Moraes def. Jarrod Card via KO (punch) – Round 1, 0:48

Nick Newell def. Chris Coggins via majority decision

Felice Herrig def. Patricia Vidonic via unanimous decision

Charles Blanchard def. Johnny Davies via unanimous decision

Jason Wood def. Ronnie Rogers via submission (guillotine choke) Round 2, 2:13

Joel Cooper def. Amaechi Oselukwue via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Prelims:

Teddy Holder def. Bobby Carter via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:27

Bradley Stafford def. Tommy Roberts via majority decision

Steven Durr def. Michael Manley via unanimous decision

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EFC Africa 13 results:

Jadyson Costa def. Dallas Jakobi via TKO (Punches) -0:39 – Round – New EFC Africa Welterweight champion

Bernardo Mikixi def. Calven Robinson via TKO (Punches) -4:09-Round 1

Leon Mynhardt def. Don Madge via TKO (Punches) -3:23-Round 3

Michiel Opperman def. Martin van Staden Submission (Guillotine) -4:18 – Round 1

Norman Wessels def. Dain Neveling via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 2:31-Round 1

Dino Bagattin def. Francois Kabulu via Split Decision

Wade Henderson def.  James Le Roux via Submission (Arm Bar) 1:19-Round 1

Mahmoud Hassn (0-0) vs. Ricky Misholas via Submission (Punches) 1:18-Round 1

Arnabd de De Bruyn def. Abri Valentine via Submission (Arm Bar) – 4:50-Round 1

Abdul Hassan def. Leo Gloss via Split Decision

Morne Marais def. Michael Vermeulen via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) -3:16 – Round 1

Jason Culverwell def. Mahmoud Salama via Submission (Keylock)

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Saturday Night Fights -

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UFC on FUEL TV 2: Gustafsson vs. Silva results:

Alexander Gustafsson def. Thiago Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Brian Stann def. Alessio Sakara via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:26

Siyar Bahadurzada def. Paulo Thiago via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:42

Dennis Siver def. Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

John Maguire def. DaMarques Johnson via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:40

Brad Pickett def. Damacio Page via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:05

James Head def. Papy Abedi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:33

Cyrille Diabate def. Tom DeBlass via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Francis Carmont def. Magnus Cedenblad via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:42

Reza Madadi def. Yoislandy Izquierdo via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:28

Simeon Thoresen def. Besam Yousef via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:36

Jason Young def. Eric Wisely via unanimous decision (30-28, 29-28, 29-28 )

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AFC 8 results:

Pro Bouts:

Diego Wilson def. Corey Gower via TKO – 1:27 – Round 2

Adam Smith def. Karel Bergen via Split Decision

Bruno Capdeville def. Nick Driedger by TKO (Doctor Stoppage/Cut) – 2:24- Round 1

Advin Omic def. Marcus Vinicios via Submission  (Arm Bar)- 4:42 – Round 2

Ryan Janes def. Marcus Hicks via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 2:04 – Round 2

Nathan Swayze def. Derek Mrak by Split Decision

Dajan Kajic def. Ash Mashreghi by Split Decision

Amateur Bouts:

Alexi Argyriou def. Guy Gauthier via TKO (GNP from Mount) – 1:07- Round 1

Bronson Peterson def. Chris Anderson via TKO (Punch) 1:17 -Round 1

Dustin Joynson def. Dylan Moore via TKO (Punches) – 1:51 – Round 3

Dillon Brown def. Brandon Shorter via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 1:30 – Round 3

Dee Obaro def. Josh Williams via TKO (Pumches) – 2:01 – Round 3

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AM Ford Fight Night 2012 results:

Pro MMA bouts:
Jesse Ronson def. Brad Causey via  KO – 4:54 – Round 1 – Claims AM Ford Fight Night Lightweight Title

Stephan Frictra def. Jason Gorny via KO – 1:42 – Round 1 -defends his AM Ford Fight Night Middleweight Title Fight

Jordan Knippelberg def. Brandon MacArthur via TKO – 2:31 – Round 3

Josh Kitchen def. Shawn Smith via TKO (Ref Stoppage) Round 2

Darwin Douglas def. Sheldon Doll via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 2:54 -Round 1

Mark Dolbie def. Jason Warshawsky via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 3:49 – Round 1

Amateur MMA bouts:

River Jones def. Jade DeHaas via TKO – 1:13 – Round 4

Andrew Kloot def. Johnny Forry via Submission (Arm bar) – 1:01 – Round 1

Wyatt Lake def. David Felton via Submission (Guillotine) – 1:55 – Round 1

Muay Thai bouts:
Landon Giguere def. Justin Boardman via Unanimous Decision

Kamryn Winter def. James Sullivan via KO 0:08 Round 1

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