Shane Del Rosario

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.

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