Cody Donovan

This Weekend in Fights! (December 15th, 2012) featured two nights of UFC action, with UFC on FX 6 in Australia and The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale in Las Vegas. Also featured this weekend was Bellator 84 in Indiana, Legacy FC 16 in Texas, Jewels – 22nd Ring in Japan, and Flawless Fighting Championship 2 in Chicago.

Friday night featured a triple header of major MMA cards, with UFC on FX 6, Bellator 84, and Legacy FC 16. UFC on FX 6 took place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Th event was the culmination of the TUF: Smashes reality show with the winner of both the Lightweight and Welterweight tournaments crowned, as well as the coaches squaring off. Team U.K. coach Ross Pearson knocked out Team Australia coach George Sotiropoulos with a stiff jab in the third round. Pearson controlled the bout for the majority of the bout with his stand up and takedown defense. Sotiropoulos was on wobbly legs early in the first after a punch from Pearson was was able to recover and last until he was dropped in the third.

The lone Australian remaining Robert Whittaker picked Team U.K.’s Brad Scott apart with his superior standup skills to get the unanimous decision victory, and win the “TUF: Smashes” Welterweight-tournament.

Northern Ireland’s Norman Parke used a grappling based attack to out point Colin Fletcher and win “TUF: Smashes” Lightweight-tournament. Parke kept Fletcher on the ground and relentlessly kept him there with strikes and submission attempts. The game plan was perfect, as it stifled Fletcher’s stand up.

After a disappointing UFC debut Hector Lombard return to the win column with a first round TKO victory over  Rousimar Palhares.  With Hacran Diaz pulling out of the bout a week ago, Chad Mendes met Yaotzin Meza in a lopsided Featherweight bout. Mendes disposed of Meza via knockout in the first round with a big overhand right that sent Meza tumbling to the mat. (Full UFC on FX 6: Pearson vs. Sotiropoulos (TUF: Smashes Finale) event results below.)

The crowning of a new Bellator Heavyweight champion took place at Bellator 84 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. It took five rounds to settle it, with Alexander Volkov defeated Richard Hale four rounds to one to pick up the unanimous decision victory, $100,000, and the title.

As she did earlier this year, Felice Herrig defeated Patricia Vidonic by unanimous decision, winning all three rounds 10-9 on each of the judges score cards.

The Lightweight tournament final between Dave Jansen and Marcin Held did not talk place, cause the bout was cancelled due to 20-year-old Held being “too young” to fight according to Indiana State Commission. (Full Bellator 84 event results below.)

Legacy FC 16 took place at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas, live on AXS TV. The main event featured UFC veteran Will Campuzano versus Jimmy Flick for the inaugural Legacy FC Flyweight title. Flick used his wrestling throughout the first round to keep Campuzano on his back. In the second round Campuzano landed a huge knee followed with some punches to end the bout in the first minute.  With the victory Campuzano captured the title, and snapped his four bout losing skid in the UFC and WEC. In one of four first round finishes on the main card, Ryan Benoit handed UFC veteran Joseph Sandoval his fourth consecutive loss with a right hand that ended the Bantamweight clash in 62-seconds. (Full Legacy FC 16 event results below.)

Saturday night held three events including Flawless Fighting Championship, Jewels, but none more important than The Ultimate Fighter Season 16 Finale. The TUF 16 finale took place at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The main event featured coach, and winner of season 10 of the Ultimate Fighter  Roy Nelson versus replacement fighter Matt Mitrione; who replaced coach Shane Carwin, after he was forced to withdraw from the scheduled bout. Mitrione’s reach advantage didn’t stop Nelson from dictating the pace of the fight and pushing him around. Nelson dropped Mitrione in the first round with a “hook uppercut” followed by a few more strikes as he was turtling up.

In the finals of TUF 16 tournament Colton Smith squared off against NDG’s own Mike Ricci. It would be Smith’s great wrestling ability and submission attempts that won him the bout and the tournament. Ricci was smothered from beginning to end, and had no answer for the bout. Ricci at times looked demoralized and he could do nothing to stop Smiths assault.

Also impressive on the card, Pat Barry knocked out Shane Del Rosario 26-seconds into the second round. Mike Pyle knocked out James Head in the first round in a slugfest. More impressive than anything was the debuting Rustam Khabilov who delivered three German-suplexes to knockout Vinc Pichel. (Full The Ultimate Fighter Season 16 Finale  event results below.)

Jewels – “22nd Ring” took place in a cage not a ring, at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan. Jewels Lightweight Queen champion Ayaka Hamasaki defended her championship against Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino in the main event. Hamasaki won a unanimous decision in a special rules bout. With the victory Hamasaki keeps her perfect 9-0 record in tacked.

Two retirements occurred on the card, as Rina Tomita hung up the gloves after a first round submission loss to Mika Nagano, and Naoko Omuro partook in an exhibition match, where she submitted Hisae Watanabe with an armbar.

STRIKEFORCE veteran Roxanne Modafferi was originally schedule to appear on the card, but pulled out of her bout with Shizuka Sugiyama. (Full JEWELS – 22md Ring event results below.)

Flawless Fighting Championship 2 emanated from Chicago, Illinois. Featured on the card was TUF alumni Chris Tickle versus Bellator, DREAM, and WEC journeyman Chase Beebe. After being cut from the UFC with a loss to Daron Cruickshank at the TUF 15 finale, Tickle went on to pick up a win in August, but he was no match for the veteran of 32 bouts. Beebe would get the judges nod after three rounds improving his win streak to six.

Also on the card STRIKEFORCE veteran Lucas Lopes picked up a kneebar submission victory over Petras Markenvicius, and UFC and Bellator veteran Shamar Bailey defeated UFC and Wreck MMA veteran Gideon Ray by unanimous decision. (Full Flawless Fighting Championship 2 – Hated event results below.)

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Friday Night Fights –

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UFC on FX 6: Pearson vs. Sotiropoulos (TUF: Smashes Finale) results:

Ross Pearson def. George Sotiropoulos TKO (Punches)

Robert Whittaker def. Brad Scott via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – “TUF: Smashes” welterweight-tournament final

Norman Parke def. Colin Fletcher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – – “TUF: Smashes” lightweight-tournament final

Hector Lombard def. Rousimar Palhares via TKO

FUEL TV prelims (6 p.m. ET):

Chad Mendes def. Yaotzin Meza via KO

Joey Beltran def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Mike Pierce def. Seth Bacynski via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Ben Alloway def. Manuel Rodriguez via KO (kick, punches)

Brendan Loughnane def. Mike Wilkinson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Cody Donovan def. Nick Penner via TKO (strikes)

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Bellator 84 results:

Alexander Volkov def. Richard Hale via Unanimous Decision ()– captures Bellator Heavyweight title

Dave Jansen v. Marcin Held –   – lightweight-tournament final- scrapped due commission not allowing Held to fight due to his age

Daniel Vizcaya def. Jack Hermansson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Felice Herrig def. Patricia Vidonic via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Louis Taylor def. Joe Vedepo via KO (punch) – Round 1, 4:12

Prelims:

Christian Uflacker def. Cliff Wright via technical decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jerald Williams def. Joey Diehl via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Anthony Gomez def. Anton Talamantes via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:30

Robert White def. Kenny Booker via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Legacy FC 16 results:

Will Campuzano def. Jimmy Flick via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 2, 0:26 – wins vacant Legacy FC Flyweight title

Matt Hobar def. Steven Peterson via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)

Chas Skelly def. Rey Trujillo via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:53

Ryan Benoit def. Joseph Sandoval via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:02

Derrick Krantz def. Charles Byrd via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:02

Klayton Mai def. Alex Russ via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:31

Darrion Caldwell def. Quaint Kempf via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:00

Prelims:

Eli Tamez def. Nathan Torres via TKO (injury) – Round 2

Russell Brewer def. Aaron Culpepper via unanimous decision

Evan Thompson def. Bobby Moore via TKO (punches) – Round 1

Sidney Cawdrey def. Joseph Salas via unanimous decision

Alfredo Leija def. Alex Madrid via TKO (punches) – Round 2

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Saturday Night Fights –

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The Ultimate Fighter Season 16 Finale results:

Roy Nelson def. Matt Mitrione via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:58

Colton Smith def. Mike Ricci via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) – to become “TUF 16” champ

Pat Barry def. Shane Del Rosario via KO (punches) – Round 2, 0:26

Dustin Poirier def. Jonathan Brookins via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 4:15

FUEL TV prelims:

Mike Pyle def. James Head via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 1:55

Johnny Bedford def. Marcos Vinicius via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:00

Rustam Khabilov def. Vinc Pichel via knockout (suplex and punches) – Round 1, 2:15

T.J. Waldburger def. Nick Catone via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:04

Facebook prelims:

Hugo Viana def. Reuben Duran via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:05

Mike Rio def. John Cofer via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 4:11

Tim Elliott def. Jared Papazian via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)

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Jewels 22nd Ring results:

Ayaka Hamasaki def. Emi Fujino via unanimous decision (3-0) – retains JEWELS Lightweight Queen title – (Special Rules 3x5min Rounds)

Mizuki Inoue def. Hyo Kyung Song via submission (armbar) – 2:14 – Round 2 – (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Mika Nagano def. Rina Tomita via Submission (armbar) – 2:12 Round 1 – (Special Rules 2x5mon Rounds)

Jade Marie Anderson def. Megumi Yabushita via unanimous decision (3-0) – (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Ikuko Tamada def. Satomi Takano via unanimous decision (3-0) (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Naoko Omuro def. Hisae Watanabe via Technical Submission (Armbar) – retirement  exhibition match

Emi Tomimatsu def. Naoko Otsuka via unanimous decision (10-9, 9-10, 10-9) – (Shoot Boxing rules 3x2min Rounds)

Kikuyo Ishikawa def. Tomo Maesawa via unanimous decision (2-0) – (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Mayumi Aoki def. Satoko Ozawa via unanimous decision (30-29, 30-28, 30-27) – (Kick Boxing Rules 3x3min Rounds)

Reina Matsui def. Harumi via TKO (2 knock downs) – 0:52 Round 1 – (Kick Boxing Rules 3x3min Rounds)

Keiko Tomita def. Yasuko Mogi via TKO (referee stoppage) – 0:20 – Round 2 (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Celine Haga def. Miyoko Kusaka via unanimous decision (3-0) (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Mina Kurobe def. Naomi Taniyama via ubmission (rear-naked choke) – 1:55 Round 2 (Official Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Yurika Tanaka def. Rie Fukui via submission (guillotine choke) – 1:22 Round 2 (Special Rules 2x5min Rounds)

Rikako Yuasa def. Yuko “Amiba” Oya via Submission (armbar) – 2:19 Round 1 (Grappling Rules 2x4min Rounds)

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Flawless Fighting Championship 2 – Hated results:

Cully Butterfield def. Egidijus Valavicius via unanimous decision

Chase Beebe def. Chris Tickle via unanimous decision

Lucas Lopes def. Petras Markenvicius via submission (kneebar) – 0:54 Round 1

Shamar Bailey def. Gideon Ray via unanimous decision

Arnas Sakocius def. Garrett Gross via submission (armbar) – 0:42 Round 1

Tom Shoaff def. Brandon Priest via TKO (Punches)

Adam Ward def. Guillermo Serment via unanimous decision

Daniel Wanderley def. Oliver Petrovski via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1

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***Times, rounds,  methods, scores, unavailable for certain bouts***

 

 

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