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UFC FIGHT NIGHT 39 LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round report for "Nelson vs. Nogueira" event from Abu Dhabi

Fri, 11 Apr 2014 14:55:02 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 39
APRIL 11, 2014
LIVE FROM ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

=====Fight Pass Prelims Quick Results=====

-Johnny Bedford vs. Rani Yahya ends in a no contest due to an accidental headbutt at 0:39 seconds

-Jim Alers def. Alan Omer via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

-Thales Leites def. Trevor Smith via TKO at 0:45 of the first round

-Jared Rosholt def. Daniel Omielanczuk via unanimous decision

=====Fight Pass Main Card=====

-After a brief rundown of what’s on tonight’s card, it’s on to the first fight.

FIGHT ONE: RAMSEY NIJEM VS. BENEIL DARIUSH (LIGHTWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Nijem came straight across the cage firing out a couple of kicks. He backed off a bit. Dariush landed a hard straight left that staggered Nijem and slowed him down. Dariush landed a hard body kick and tried to roll as it got caught. Nijem got in a couple of strikes but Dariush popped back to his feet. Nijem landed a hard leg kick and Dariush tripped as he shot in. He got the clinch, though, and landed some big strikes up against the cage. He landed some nice punches and elbows before separating. Dariush went high with a kick which was blocked. Nijem ducked to the left and landed a right hand. Dariush popped in and out with a strike. Nijem dropped Dariush in an exchange and went on a flurry of strikes. Dariush was in big trouble as Nijem unleashed a torrent of offense. He then went for a really tight guillotine choke and it almost looked like Dariush went out for a second, but he let it go and went on the offensive again. Dariush continued trying to cover up and respond and Nijem moved to mount. The offense continued piling up and Dariush was just bloodied and battered. Finally the ref stopped the fight. Wow, huge performance from Nijem.

WINNER: Nijem via TKO at 4:20 of the first round

STAR RATING: (***) Really, really good performance by Nijem. Dariush is a tough guy and took a ton of punishment, but Nijem’s killer instinct was on display as he just unleashed hell until the ref stopped it.

FIGHT TWO: JOHN HOWARD VS. RYAN LAFLARE (WELTERWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: LaFlare landed a couple of opening body kicks. Howard fired back. LaFlare then shot a single leg and scored a takedown. He patiently worked to pass and got into side control. Howard tried to escape but LaFlare held position. LaFlare then tried to set up a D’Arce choke, but Howard stayed patient and got loose. He worked to his feet but ate a knee on his way up. He landed a right and LaFlare tried to roll off a caught kick. They moved to the clinch. LaFlare landed a solid elbow off the cage. LaFlare ducked under and grabbed a body lock, but Howard stayed on his feet at the cage. LaFlare pulled off a nice throw, but Howard rolled with it and got to his feet with his own single leg attempt. LaFlare got free with another elbow. Howard landed a couple of hard strikes as he moved into a clinch. LaFlare landed some hard body strikes. He got in a knee to the head as he threw his leg up. LaFlare landed a nice superman punch. Howard landed a low kick. LaFlare landed a hard body kick but Howard caught it before the horn.

Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 LaFlare. Solid opening round. He had a lot of offense, got the better of the grappling, and just did more overall.

ROUND TWO: Howard opened up with a big combination that dropped LaFlare, but LaFlare recovered and shot in. Howard worked out of it and scored a takedown of his own. They both countered a few positions on the ground in a nice little grappling exchange, then wound up on their feet back in the clinch. LaFlare then tossed in a knee that went straight to the cup and brought a halt to the action. Howard stayed down and was taking much of his five minute recovery time. He finally stood up with a couple of minutes left but he was still clearly in pain. That knee landed directly between the legs, so this certainly wasn’t milking it. That was a bad one. At the last second, Howard got up to continue, but his face was in such pain. He didn’t want the fight to end on that shot though. LaFlare landed a body kick as they restarted. Howard landed a strike but got taken right down. LaFlare had side control, but Howard rolled to his knees and got to his feet. They clinched to the cage. LaFlare landed a couple of knees to the body. He threw a couple of strikes to the body. He tried to pull off a throw but Howard reversed and they clinched again at the cage. Howard got in an uppercut. He landed a good combination. He tossed a high kick that was blocked at the horn.

Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Howard. Interesting round. Howard had the more significant and damaging offense, but LaFlare did quite a bit himself.

ROUND THREE: Howard came forward and scored with a couple of strikes, nearly taking LaFlare’s leg out with a kick. LaFlare then scored a takedown. Howard worked to his feet after a bit, then landed a nice combination. LaFlare tossed back a couple of strikes. LaFlare shot in, Howard reversed, and LaFlare scrambled back to get on top. he passed to side control. Howard nearly reversed but Howard tried to take his back. LaFlare looked to set up an arm triangle but Howard turned out of the spot. Howard rolled for a leg and tried for a kneebar. LaFlare got his leg out though, then rolled back into Howard to take back top position. LaFlare landed some strikes to the head and body. Howard attacked an arm but LaFlare defended and rode out the fight on top. Good stuff.

Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 LaFlare. Hard fought battle, but I think LaFlare gets the edge in the grappling that round. Close, good fight though.

-Howard was still bothered by that groin strike after the fight, and was visibly uncomfortable.

WINNER: LaFlare via unanimous decision (scores not read)

STAR RATING: (***-) Really entertaining fight, pleasantly so. Great scrambles on the ground, toughness from LaFlare to survive some hard strikes from Howard, and both fighting until the end there. Competitive and fun fight.

FIGHT THREE: CLAY GUIDA VS. TATSUYA KAWAJIRI (FEATHERWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: They exchange strikes early. Kawajiri scored a few hard strikes, then got dropped by a right hand. Guida pounced and landed a few strikes before trying to take his back. Kawajiri recovered and turned into Guida. He tried to turn into him and Guida tried to pick him up. Kawajiri locked on a kimura and tried to wrench the arm free. Guida rolled out of the attempt and Kawajir tried to grab an armbar. Guida picked him up and slammed him, but his arm was still in danger. Guida then got out and tried to take Kawajiri’s back. Kawajiri got to his feet with Guida on his back standing. Kawajiri went for the kimura again. This time Guida picked him up and slammed him on his face. Kawajiri popped back to his feet and again went for the kimura. Guida tried to defend and pick Kawajiri up again. Kawajir let it go and they stood up. Guida landed a couple strikes. Kawajiri then grabbed a double leg, picked Guida up, and slammed him. Guida went for the kimura, but Kawajiri shifted to mount. Kawajiri defended the hold. They rolled at the horn.

Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Guida. Guida had the knock down early, but Kawajiri was constantly threatening submissions and forced Guida to defend. Close to a 10-10, can see an argument for Kawajiri. Good round.

ROUND TWO: After a couple of early exchanges, Guida landed a strike and shot in for a single leg and pulled Kawajiri down on the cage. Kawajiri once again grabbed for the kimura. He landed a couple of elbows on the cage. Kawajiri rolled him through with that attempt and they stood. Kawajiri landed a couple of strikes. Guida shot in again at the cage. Kawajiri landed a couple of elbows. He briefly stayed up, then Guida shot in and took him down. Kawajiri got to his feet but Guida took his back standing. Kawajiri again attacked for the kimura and almost got the better position because of it, but he lost his spot and Guida went back on the attack. Guida took his back standing and landed a couple knees to the thigh. Kawajiri again looked to grab the arm, but Guida turned into him. Kawajiri drove Guida’s head down. He tried to lock his head up but Guida got into side control briefly. Kawajiri again got to his feet with Guida on his back, throwing knees to the thigh. He again grabbed at the kimura to no avail.

Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Guida. Less entertaining round. Back to Guida scoring takedowns and smothering but not doing much else, and though Kawajiri’s attacking he doesn’t have the energy to work these submission attempts.

ROUND THREE: Kawajiri pawed out the jab early. Guida fired out a high kick that was blocked with a strike behind it. He landed an inside leg kick. Guida landed the left. Kawajiri looked quite tired. Guida blocked a spinning back fist. Kawajiri shot in and Guida tried to grab a choke but just held the head lock. Kawajiri tried to drive forward and Guida landed some short strikes. Kawajiri tried to drag him down, but Guida continued defending, and landing short strikes. Guida finally got loose and to his feet. Guida landed a couple of strikes. Kawajiri went for the spinning back fist slowly and Guida just side-stepped it. Kawajiri got in a knee to the head. Kawajiri missed an overhand right and Guida took his back standing. Kawajiri again went for the kimura from that position and tried to break Guida’s hands. He tried to pull him down, then went for the head lock. Guida slammed him as he grabbed for a guillotine, and he popped out. Kawajiri rolled for a leg but Guida got out and to the side. He landed some knees to the body to close out the fight.

Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Guida. Kawajiri just didn’t have the energy that round to do much. Guida stayed busy enough and should pick up the win here.

WINNER: Guida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

STAR RATING: (**) The first round was on the better end of action in a Guida fight, the rest was just Guida doing enough with control against an increasingly tired Kawajiri.

-Guida called out Conor McGregor for featherweight, then Josh Thomson at lightweight.

MAIN EVENT: ROY NELSON VS. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA (HEAVYWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Nogueira moved ahead, backing Nelson up early. They traded punches. Nogueira landed a right hand. Nelson landed a big uppercut, then came back with the overhand right that dropped Nogueira. Nogueira worked back to his feet but he was wobbly and in bad shape. Nelson moved forward looking for the finish but missed a big right hand. Nogueira got his legs back under him. Nogueira came forward with some strikes. Nelson’s output slowed. They traded strikes. Nelson landed the step-in overhand right and Nogueira went down. Nelson let him up and Nogueira again tried to regain his bearings. He was on wobbled legs again. Nelson moved forward and landed a huge overhand right that sent Nogueira crumbling unconscious to the canvas. He put his hands up and walked off. That was just a matter of time.

WINNER: Nelson via KO at 3:37 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**) Look, Nelson did what we knew he could do, but it was kind of just sad to see Nogueira in there taking that type of punishment. It could have been stopped on the first knockdown with a TKO, or the second, and instead it took another concussive overhand right that knocked Nogueira out cold. He slammed the back of his head on the mat on that final one, and given the punishment he’s taken in his career, that’s not at all what you want to see.

-That’s the card today! Thanks for joining us, make sure to tune in tonight as Rich Hansen comes back for a night to cover tonight’s Bellator 116 event on Spike TV!

ROUNDTABLE: Predictions for UFC Fight Night 39's Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira main event

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 23:25:51 PST

Who wins the Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira bout at UFC Fight Night 39, and how?

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Nelson wins the bout by overhand right. I do not believe Nogueira can stand on the outside and risk getting hit by that overhand right, and I have doubts Nogueira can close the distance to get Nelson to the ground to submit him.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I am interested in seeing these guys roll with each other, but I'm really not expecting much in terms of that. I think Nelson tries to keep the fight standing and ends up finishing Nogueira. I really like Nogueira, but I think he's got too many miles on those tires. It'd be great to see some vintage Nogueira, but I can't count on that. I think Nelson gets the stoppage win in the second round. I don't know if this will be the fight to make Nogueira want to retire, but I know he can't keep going forever. He's had a hell of a run, and even if he wins he might start thinking of retiring. He's done so much for the sport, and I think he'll be a great coach if that's what he decides to do. As for Nelson, he doesn't have much time left either. I think he'll be a great coach when he decides to retire, too.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I like Nelson to beat Big Nog here. They key that most people have been able to beat Nelson are to be stronger, like Cormier, or faster, like JDS and Stipe Miocic. I don't think Nog has a speed or strength advantage over Nelson, and thus I think Nelson walks away with a victory here.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I have to believe sadly that Roy Nelson stands a good chance to KO Big Nog, but if Nog can put this fight on the ground then it's a whole different story. However I believe the safe bet is Nelson via KO in the first round. It should be a good fight if it's standing or a quick one. Truth be told both of these guys are way past their prime and shouldn't be headlining a card.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

What's not to love about Roy Nelson? Stunning knockout power, granite chin, and a body that would make any man jealous! Ok, I lied about the body, but you can't deny Roy's qualities. His opponent Antonio Nogueira excels when the fight hits the mat, with 21 of his 34 wins coming via submission, though even getting Nelson the mat, may prove mission impossible for Nogueria.

I just can't see how Nogueira wins this fight. Can he knockout Roy Nelson, which has only happened once?! No... Can he out strike Nelson over five rounds?! No... Can he take down and submit Nelson, which no one has done before?! Highly unlikely...

This has the making of a Roy Nelson KO written all over it.

STRONG: Quick look at Saturday's Cage Warriors 67 event in Wales

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 22:00:54 PST

By: Tom Strong, MMATorch UK Contributor

Cage Warriors will return to Wales this weekend, bringing a sold out CW 67 event at the LC in Swansea. The card, which has been plagued by injuries, will go ahead as a seven bout event.

Headlining in the main-event will be hometown Swansea boy Brett "The Pikey" Johns, who will be putting his Bantamweight Title on the line when he faces number one contender James "Job Done" Brum.

Johns holds a perfect professional record at 9-0, and claimed the CWFC bantamweight title at CW 59. He did so in a single night four-man title tournament, where he defeated David Haggstrom and Jordan Desborough via decision to secure the title.

His opponent, James Brum (14-2), is currently riding an eight fight winning streak with seven of the eight victories coming in the way of decision. The fight was scheduled to be held in December 2013 at Cage Warriors 62, though Brum was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury.

The co-main event of the evening will be a lightweight bout which will now see Sean Carter (8-1) vs. Mario Saeed (5-1). Mario steps up as a late replacement for the injured Wesley Murch (13-7). In the lone women's fight of the evening, the undefeated Gemma Hewitt (1-0) - who will be making her Cage Warriors debut - will be facing the more experienced, and also undefeated, Polish fighter Agnieszka Niedzwiedz (5-0) in a bantamweight bout.

Weigh-ins will be held tomorrow (Friday 11 April).

MAIN CARD:

• Brett Johns vs. James Brum - For CWFC Bantamweight Title.
• Sean Carter vs Mario Saeed
• Shaj Haque vs Martin McDonough
• Jamie Pritchard vs. Phil Raeburn
• Gemma Hewitt vs. Agnieszka Niedzwiedz
• Simas Norkus vs. Stuart Tyrie

PRELIMINARY CARD:

• Mark Handley vs. Paul Rodgers

**All fights will be streamed live at www.cagewarriors.tv

HAVERVOLD: A point by point breakdown of UFC Fight Night 39's "Nelson vs. Nogueira" main event

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 21:15:22 PST

By: Kale Havervold, MMATorch Contributor

Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira square off on Friday in the latest UFC Fight Pass main event. How do they match up in 2014? Let's take a look:

Striking

Nelson

Big Country possesses one of the biggest overhand rights in the business. And while he brings some serious power, he tends to fade quickly when he throws wild and crazy punches. On the defensive end of striking, he is capable of taking a SERIOUS number of punches and still push forward. This is evident as he has absorbed nearly two hundred significant strikes in his past two fights.

Nogueira

Big Nog has not historically been seen as a prolific striker, as he only has three career KO victories. He may possess better technical and short punches, but he lacks consistency with his KO power, unlike Nelson, who can drop anyone at any time.

ADVANTAGE – Nelson (1)

Grappling

Nelson

Though Nelson does have a BJJ black belt, he often prefers to keep his fights standing if at all possible. When he does look to fight on the ground, he uses his strength and large frame to be able to keep his opponents in precarious positions while plotting his next move.

Nogueira

Big Nog would love to get this fight to the ground on Friday. He gets in most of his takedowns and grappling exchanges while he is in the clinch. He is normally comfortable fighting off of his back, or being on top because, as most fans know, he is one of the premier submission fighters in the UFC today.

ADVANTAGE – Nogueira(1)

Submissions

Nelson

Though Big Country does has a BJJ blackbelt and is very adept at fighting on the ground, he rarely does so and hasn't had a submission in years. He will do his best to avoid the ground come Friday because that is without a doubt where Nogueira will feel the most comfortable,

Nogueira

What can be said about Minotauro Nogueira in the submission department that hasn't already been said? He will go down as one of the best submission fighters in the history of MMA with over 20 wins by submission. He is capable of pulling off a wide variety of submissions from anywhere on the ground, so fighters need to watch out for him everywhere.

ADVANTAGE – Nogueira (2)

Conditioning

Nelson

If there is one major knock on Roy Nelson, it is his cardio and his tendency to fade in the later rounds. One major example of this was his fight against Junior dos Santos, as he mustered little offense in the later rounds due to fatigue. In fact, in his last six fights, he hasn't won a fight that has gone past the first round.

Nogueira

Big Nog is coming off of a near 10 month layoff, which could spell trouble in terms of the conditioning department. He tends to last a bit longer than Nelson on most outings, but with this long of a layoff and his age, he could be more susceptible to fatigue at a faster rate, so this category is basically a pick-em.

ADVANTAGE – PUSH

EDGE: Nogueira 2-1 (Conditioning is a push)

If we are to break this fight down point by point, it seems as if Big Nog has a real shot to win this, and that might be the case. But the biggest advantage held by either fighter is Nelsons power. With Nogueira coming off of a long layoff as his age, I think Nelson makes quick work of Big Nog as ring rust is never a good thing when you're fighting a man who goes all out in Round 1.

PICK: Roy Nelson wins via TKO in Round 1

[Roy Nelson art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

ROUNDTABLE: Predictions for UFC Fight Night 29's Clay Guida vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri co-main event

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:30:05 PST

Who wins the Clay Guida vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri bout at UFC Fight Night 39, and how?

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Kawajiri is a really aggressive wrestler and grappler who actively seeks submissions. Guida is a decent striker and very good wrestler. Normally, you might think their wrestling would cancel each other out and this would be a striking match. However, if Guida's fighting style changed after getting dropped and wobbled by Henderson, who knows what changes will be made after TKO to Mendes. Guida's constant bouncing and head movement might was an asset when he was utilizing it to evade punches and setup strikes and takedown opportunities. If he's only going to utilize movement to evade fighting then fans are basically going to watch Guida bouncing around while Kawajiri gives chase.

I predict, if Guida loses this fight, he will be the next fighter cut from the roster.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Kawajiri wins, but honestly all I care about is if the fight is watchable. I don't want some boring dreck like we've seen from Guida recently. As long as they're both fighting to win, I'm good. I do think Kawajiri will be able to combat Guida enough to lure him into a situation where Kawajiri is able to get the submission. I'm thinking around late second round or so, maybe into the third.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Guida wins by decision. If he loses, however, I think he will be released, as his recent fights have been less than stellar, and he is a shadow of his former self.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Probably Clay Guida, and there's no hometown partisan on that one because I'm not a big Guida fan. He's got the chin and wrestling to test anyone in the cage, but he lacks the entertainment value that most lower division fighters have with striking and speed. At least it's not Jason Guida, that would just be awful.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

What ever happened to fast, exciting and entertaining Clay Guida? Watching him now hurts my eyes. Having three defeats in his last four fights, Guida will be eager to get back to winning ways. Though I hope it's not done with more lay an pray. Kawajiri, on the other hand will be coming into the fight full of confidence, having won his last eight fights with only one going the distance.

I'm struggling to pick a winner here. It's hard to pick against Guida in what will be an ugly fight to watch.

NORMAN: Why the top potential Women's MMA bouts in 2014 aren't all that interesting

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 11:55:29 PST

By: Cash Norman, MMATorch Contributor

We were asked this week for the roundtable discussion which is the single most interesting women's MMA fight to be made in 2014. Well, my answer is none of the proposed fights. Not a single matchup is intriguing because we already know how each will end. Let's look at the options here:

Ronda Rousey vs Cris Cyborg

This fight is never going to happen. Dana White does not want to take a chance of Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino being "the face of women's MMA" in the UFC. Neither does Ronda have any desire to fight Cyborg. In Strikeforce, Rousey began her career in the featherweight division and was blowing through competition, then suddenly dropped down to bantamweight to challenge Miesha Tate. On Ronda's part, I can understand it's about self preservation and Hollywood aspirations; not necessarily facing the toughest competition.

Rousey vs Holly Holm

Holm is to striking what Ronda is to grappling. It's the classic striker vs grappler match but more often than not the striker gets taken down. While most strikers may be able to get the fight back to the feet, Rousey typically does not allow this to happen.

Rousey vs Gina Carano

Talking about this matchup is so preposterous I'm not going to dedicate any more words to it.

Rousey vs Cat Zingano

Cat Zingano would be returning from one of the most horrific years that anyone could ever endure. Recovering from a torn ACL and then losing one of the closest people to you in the manner in which she did, it's just impossible to imagine what she's gone through. If she had either one of those scenarios occur on their own, her chances were marginal at best, but to have to endure them both makes her chances slim to none.

If Zingano had never gotten hurt and her husband were still alive the fight is still in Ronda's favor. If you've followed any of Zingano's fights, she's typically a slow starter, whereas Rousey is on her opponent straight from the gate. Although Zingano's husband owned a jiu jitsu school and Cat may be proficient on the ground, we know that Rousey can hit an armbar on her opponents from any position. Let me refer you back to the fight Zingano had with Miesha Tate, in which Zingano was out struck and out grappled by an opponent that is a mediocre striker and grappler at best. Now you expect me to suspend belief and believe a fight between Rousey and Zingano would be competitive?

Rousey vs Alexis Davis

While I do believe that Alexis Davis is just as strong as Rousey and may have the grappling acuity to remain somewhat competitive once the fight hits the ground, I struggle with how Davis will win the fight. Davis has looked less than sensational since entry into the UFC; one of the problems Davis struggles with is her fight IQ. Although her Strikeforce fight with Sara Kaufmann was entertaining, she had a distinct advantage over Kaufman on the ground. Instead of immediately taking Kaufmann to the ground, she engaged in a brawl which cost her the fight.

Holm vs Cyborg

If anyone thinks that if these two engaged in a MMA match and Holm stunned Cyborg for even a second, Cyborg would not immediately take Holm to the ground and submit her, they're foolish. I think this would be a very entertaining fight if it were strictly a kickboxing match. However, when the grappling element is factored into the equation, it is less than entertaining.

HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Heavyweight Fighters (April 2014)

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 21:05:14 PST

By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Guest Columnist

Despite my hiatus from this site, both writing and audio, I'm still keeping up with the sport and with the site. On top of that, I'm still in charge of compiling the monthly rankings. And since I'm going through the effort to compile the rankings, I still put together my own rankings in each division as well. So with no further adieu, I'll run down my ballot for each division, continuing today with the heavyweight ranks.

1.) Cain Velasquez: Had an injured Cain Velasquez not felt the pressure to fight in the main event of the first ever UFC on Fox event, the UFC would have an undefeated, unchallenged wrecking ball of a heavyweight champion. As it stands, Velasquez has avenged the early KO loss to Junior dos Santos not once, but twice. And both of those fights were among the most the most brutal slaughters in UFC history. To put this into perspective, no heavyweight in the world stands a chance against Junior dos Santos, and dos Santos' only chance against Velasquez would be to catch him with a lucky punch. Also among the most brutal slaughters in UFC are his two massacres of Antonio Silva, the same Silva who dominated Fedor Emelianenko. Velasquez signed with the UFC with a meager 2-0 record, because there was no one at that level who was willing to fight Velasquez. And honestly, if it weren't for the lure of the glory of the belt, I can't figure out why anyone takes a fight with him yet today.

Significant victories: Cheick Kongo, Ben Rothwell, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Silva (2x), Junior dos Santos (2x)

Notable loss: Junior dos Santos

2.) Junior dos Santos: One of the most dominant fighters in his respective division, but that division is the same division Cain Velasquez calls home. Whoops. If the man were an inch or two shorter, he might be able to cut to light heavyweight, and who knows how he'd fare against Jon Jones and the rest of that division. But as it stands, he's the highest rated gatekeeper in the world. He'll destroy any legit contenders put in front of him, which severely limits the number of fighters Joe Silva can reasonably feed to him.

Significant victories: Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shawn Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Mark Hunt

Notable losses (and these are very notable): Cain Velasquez (2x)

3.) Fabricio Werdum: One of the great “What-Ifs” in MMA is this one - What if Werdum would have taken his fight with Junior dos Santos seriously? What if he would have shown up in shape? What if he wouldn't have thrown a fit due to not getting a title shot? But, he didn't take the fight seriously, he did show up to the fight horribly overweight, and JDS did KO him with one of the great uppercuts in the sport's young history. JDS wound up winning the UFC HW championship. Werdum got cut. That said, getting cut allowed Werdum to wind up in Strikeforce, and there he became the man who beat Fedor Emelianenko. And now he's back in the UFC, getting his title shot if he can just get past Travis Browne.

Significant victories: Gabriel Gonzaga (2x), Alistair Overeem, Alexander Emelianenko, Antonio Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, Roy Nelson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Notable losses: Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Andrei Arlovski, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem

4.) Travis Browne: If you're going to fight in a cage for a living, it's really hard to imagine a better year than Browne's 2013. He only had to fight for six minutes and some odd seconds, and in those six-plus minutes he KO'd three top shelf fighters. Gabriel Gonzaga ate some elbows, Alistair Overeem ate some hubris courtesy of Browne's foot, and Josh Barnett ate some elbows that were left over from the Gonzaga banquet. If Browne force feeds Werdum some limbs of doom, Cain Velasquez would be very wise to drill the hell out of his takedowns.

Significant victories: Stefan Struve, Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett

Notable loss: Antonio Silva

And now we get to the chemistry experiments; Barnett, Silva, Overeem, all in a row. Fun with needles, wheeeeeeeeeee.

5.) Josh Barnett: A couple of my favorite MMA What-Ifs involve Josh Barnett. What if Josh Barnett hadn't pissed hot after the Randy Couture fight? Maybe he would've stayed in the UFC for the next decade and a half. Maybe Couture would have dropped to 205 earlier. Maybe Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz would never have been able to get past Couture. Who knows. The other What-If that I like is, of course, What If Barnett hadn't pissed hot right before his scheduled Affliction 3 fight with Fedor Emelianenko.?While the latter is more widely discussed, I like the former much better. Despite his former (?) affinity for testing positive for banned substances, I can't help but like Barnett. Sue me.

Significant victories: Dan Severn, Semmy Schilt (2x), Randy Couture, Alexander Emelianenko, Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Jeff Monson, Brett Rogers, Sergei Kharitonov, Frank Mir

Notable losses: Pedro Rizzo, Mirko Cro Cop (3x)Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Daniel Cormier, Travis Browne

Fun fact: Josh Barnett tested positive for banned substances for the first time after beating Bobby Hoffman at UFC 34 in November 2001, and was rewarded with a title shot four months later at UFC 36... where he once again tested positive. To the best of my knowledge, Barnett is the only fighter in UFC history to test positive two fights in a row. If you know of another case, please let me know.

6.) Antonio Silva: Yes, he beat Travis Browne, and not too long ago. But the method of victory was a wee-bit hinky, and I'm subjectively dismissing it. Be happy I'm keeping him above Overeem. And don't deny it, you and I both know Silva loses to Overeem seven out of ten times. Silva's very good, but he is what he is; proficient, huge, slow, and dangerous. Nothing wrong with that.

Significant victories: Andrei Arlovski, Fedor Emelianenko, Travis Browne, Alistair Overeem,

Notable losses: Boldenone, Fabricio Werdum, Hypergonadism, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez (2x), Testosterone

7.) Alistair Overeem: From the time Alistair Overeem was beating cans in Japan and winning the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final through a few months after he retired Brock Lesnar, there was no one I enjoyed more than Alistair Overeem. My stoopid cynical self was actually willing to entertain the idea that he was the best heavyweight in the world, and CLEAN, too. What a fool I was. I felt as stoopid as Sally Van Pelt every November First. Overeem's dangerous, of course. But he's slow, predictable, and nearing the end of the line. Another great MMA What-If: What if Alistair wouldn't have been randomly tested by the NSAC that fateful day in 2012? Overeem two years ago had the chops to KO Cain Velasquez. Oh well.

Significant victories: Vitor Belfort, Igor Vovchanchyn (who in his day was much more hithan just the guy whose skull Mirko Crop kicked into orbit), Sergei Kharitonov, Vitor Belfort, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum, Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir

Notable losses: Chuck Lidell, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (2x), Shogun Rua (2x), Fabricio Werdum, Ricardo Arona, Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Silva, Travis Browne

8.) Stipe Miocic: You know why he was given Junior dos Santos for his next fight? Because dos Santos is the gatekeeper to championship contender status, and Miocic is not a champion contender. Doesn't have the talent. He's good enough to be top-five, not good enough to be champ, and that's true in the parallel universe where Cain Velasquez never took up the sport. Dos Santos can't be booked against legit championship contenders, because he isn't getting a title shot from a win, and said win will kill off a legit threat. Joe Silva sees what Stipe Miocic is, though: a hot fighter whose reputation far surpasses his abilities. A very good heavyweight athlete with fast and accurate hands and decent wrestling, Miocic is certainly one of the ten best in the world. That said, he's got nothing for JDS. Don't believe me, look at the big victories and who he lost to…

Significant victories: Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga

Notable loss: Stefan Struve

9.) Frank Mir: Mir's a legend. Done damn near everything in the sport. First guy to submit Nogueira. First guy to submit Nogueira. Hit the only toe-hold submission in UFC history. Won the UFC HW title. And the interim title later in his career. Beat Lesnar. Has only fought for the UFC since November 2011. Returned to fighting, and top form, after suffering a horrific motorcycle accident. And he's more cooked than thanksgiving dinner. After that other-worldly submission over Nogueira at UFC 140 in December 2011, he's lost to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, and Alistair Overeem. They're all great, but Mir managed to look good for exactly twenty seconds total in those four fights. Much respect. Much done.

Significant victories: Tank Abbot (the toe hold is sweet), Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2x), Cheick Kongo, Mirko Cro Cop, Roy Nelson

Notable losses: Brandon Vera (losing to Brandon Vera is pretty damned notable), Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, and Alistair Overeem

10.) Roy Nelson: A really talented guy who knows how to work the system, it's a shame he values his gimmick over his talent. Nothing irritates me more than Joe Rogan raving about his cardio, then telling me how his cardio is good for a big guy, then telling me how he needs to work on his cardio, then watching him gas out in every fight that goes past four minutes. Wasted talent doesn't make me happy. He's another MMA What-If for you (although it's even more hypothetical than most)… What if Roy Nelson actually gave a s***?

Significant victories: Brendan Schaub, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Cheick Kongo (Nelson is clearly the king of the HW division fighters ranked 11 – 20)

Notable losses: Ben Rothwell, Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson, Junior dos Santos, Frank Mir, Fabricio Werdum, Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier)

11.) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Win or lose, I really hope his fight with Nelson is the man's swan song. Nothing left to prove, and I fear nothing left to offer. One of the three or four greatest heavyweights of all time, his time is behind him. Rather than writing more, just look at the names below, with reverence.

Significant victories: Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman, Heath Herring (3x), Bob Sapp (back when that was a thing to be proud of. GO WATCH THAT FIGHT), Semmy Schilt, Dan Henderson, Mirko Cro Cop (GO WATCH THAT FIGHT), Sergei Kharitonov, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia, Randy Couture

Notable losses: Dan Henderson, Fedor Emelianenko (2x, 1 NC), Josh Barnett, Frank Mir (2x), Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum

12.) Brendan Schaub: Schaub gets a bad rap. Sure, he's at about his ceiling, but he's fun to watch. Schaub's an underrated grappler with good athleticism and fast hands. In a thin division, that's enough to be notable.

Significant victories: Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko Cro Cop

Notable losses: Roy Nelson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ben Rothwell – And if you're asking why Nogueira is a notable loss for Schaub but Schaub isn't a significant victory for Nogueira, please take up a new hobby.

13.) Vitaly Minakov: Mina-Who? Bella-whatnow? Yes, Vitaly Minakov is a top-15 fighter in the world. Sorry, a top-15 heavyweight fighter. Big difference. Beating Cheick Kongo in the manner he did shows you where his ceiling is. It's right about... here. Minakov's a decent enough athlete to go along with his impeccable sambo record, but man, Friday night vs. Kongo was seriously Facts of Life Girls ugly. He needed a much more emphatic win over Kongo to help legitimize both himself as well as Bellator's HW division

Significant victories: Um, maybe Alexander Volkov? Oh, and Cheick Kongo, although that one's best forgotten.

Notable losses: Ain't got none. Don't want none.

14.) Gabriel Gonzaga: I told you heavyweight is thin. Gonzaga's proficient at everything that doesn't involve standing up after being punched in the head, but is just missing those intangibles that would tie all those skills together.

Significant victories: Mirko Cro Cop, Ben Rothwell (admit it, you think of Gonzaga, you think this list would be longer. Nope.)

Notable losses: Fabricio Werdum (2x), Randy Couture, Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos, Brendan Schaub, Travis Browne, Stipe Miocic

15.) Mark Hunt: It's a damn shame he didn't get to fight Roy Nelson before Junior dos Santos proved that even Mark Hunt's chin is vulnerable to the perfect shot. And who knows what his war with Johnny Testosterone did to his chin, too. You all know the tale of Mark Hunt's career; he won the K-1 World Grand Prix Championship in 2001, and then transferred to MMA in 2004. Shortly after upsetting Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop on successive New Year Eve events for PRIDE he lost five in a row in Japan, dropping his MMA record to a horrid 5-6. He forced Dana White to honor the remaining fights on his PRIDE contract after they bought PRIDE, and he promptly went out and got submitted by Sean McCorkle in barely a minute. Rather than quit fighting, he went on an inspiring four-fight win streak. Great story, but easily the most overrated fighter in UFC history. And do I really think he's the 15th best HW in the world? No. I just like being able to write his tale. Great story, mediocre fighter.

Significant victories: Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop, Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo, Stefan Struve

Notable losses (and to be fair, this list contains a freaking who's who of PRIDE): Josh Barnett, Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Melvin Manhoef, Gegard Mousasi, Junior dos Santos

HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 115; Jake Shields gets released by the UFC

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:40:26 PST

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Bellator hit Spike TV again last Friday night with Bellator 115; here's how I saw things.

Bellator 115

BAD: Mikkel Parlo vs. Johnny Cisneros

This was pretty one-sided, as Parlo was just too much for Cisneros. Parlo basically smothered him, and that was it. He didn't do much with his advantages and just seemed to lay on him for most of the fight. He did just enough to avoid getting stood up, but that was it.

BAD/GOOD: Kelly Anundson submits Volkan Oezdemir

Anundson got a nice neck crank submission, but the fight sucked before that. It was about seven minutes or so of just absolute brain-numbing dullness. Anundson kept taking Oezdemir down and doing nothing with it. That's two fights in a row that were like that. Not a good night so far.

GOOD: Herman Terrado vs. Justin Baesman

These guys were going back and forth in a weird way. Terrado took the first and third rounds while Baesman dominated the second. He almost finished the fight in the second, but he did get 10-8 scores from two of the judges. The fight was ruled a majority draw because of that. It's just really odd that he would dominate the second round like that, but get beaten. He came so close to winning, but had to settle for the majority draw. You could say the same thing about Terrado as well, though.

UGLY: Vitaly Minakov vs. Cheick Kongo

This fight was unbelievably bad. Holy crap. If you ever want to make someone stop watching MMA, show them this fight. Both guys gassed really hard and did a whole lot of nothing. I hope they're both embarrassed by this performance. This would have been pretty bad if it were three rounds, but the fact that it was a five-rounder made it even worse. Minakov successfully defended his Bellator Heavyweight Championship as he took the decision. That's right, this was a fight between a champion and his number one contender. That about sums up the state of the division right there.

*************

Jake Shields has been released by the UFC. This follows his recent loss to Hector Lombard. However, before that loss, Shields had beaten Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley. Those are pretty good wins, but the UFC cut Shields anyway. It's obvious this was done because Shields is a boring fighter. I certainly understand why the UFC would cut a guy that no one will pay to watch, but I do wonder about the integrity of the sport some. The San Antonio Spurs were considered a boring team in a small market that people didn't want to watch, but the NBA didn't ban them from competing in the NBA Finals.

I know it's a bit different with the UFC, and it's hard to find too much fault with what they're doing, but it makes me wonder if this is setting a bad precedent. I guess technically it would be the continuation of a possibly bad precedent since the UFC already cut Yushin Okami and Jon Fitch last year because they were too boring.

To be perfectly honest, though, I think this is a good thing. It encourages guys to go for the win instead of coasting to a lay-and-pray decision. I think you could make a strong argument that lay-and-pray is even more harmful to the sport than basically telling guys to value excitement over anything else in their fighting styles.

The only thing I could see being a bad thing for the UFC is that it now gives the other organizations a relatively big name to put on their shows. I don't think it'll come back to bite them too much, though, but you never truly know. I don't think this will be an issue as long as these stay isolated releases. I would imagine most fighters already assumed that they needed to place a high value on entertaining fans, this just confirms it.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank

ROUNDTABLE: What is the single most interesting women's MMA matchup to be made in 2014?

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:20:18 PST

What is the single most interesting women's MMA matchup in 2014 and why? Is it Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg? Rousey vs. Holly Holm? Rousey vs. Gina Carano? Rousey vs. Cat Zingano or Alexis Davis? Holm vs. Cyborg? Something else?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

Rousey vs. Cyborg is the ultimate match-up but it won't happen in 2014. That's best saved for next year when both are available and the latter can comfortably make weight. Call me a traditionalist, but I'd prefer to see Rousey fight Zingano or Davis this year, especially considering both have done [slightly] more to deserve a title shot. Granted a fight with Carano will definitely sell more tickets, but in the long term it will do more harm than good. I'm not interested in watching novelty fights and that will be, it won't help develop women's MMA one bit.

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I suppose it would make me a bit of an MMA ~~asshole~~ snob to say Rin Nakai vs. Larissa Pacheco, so despite not fearing either of those labels I think I really want to see Holly Holm vs. Cyborg. But only at 135 pounds. Holm is being handled (booked) with kid gloves, getting overmatched bantamweights or talented flyweights who just can't handle her size. Cyborg, we know the book on her. She's the one-person version of Ross and Rachel in MMA; as in will she or won't she. Sorry, I just showed my age. She's the Ted and, well, I never watched that crappy show but she's the Ted and the chick Barney married of MMA.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think it's Rousey vs. Holm. Carano has been out of the game too long to expect her to just step in there with the best, I don't know if Cyborg can make weight, I would like to see to see Zingano or Davis fight Rousey, but I don't think they would be as big a challenge as Holm would be. I think the UFC should take a stronger look at Holm. It would be a mistake to not bring her in, but they do have other challengers so it's not a huge deal if they don't. Still, I think they should.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Honestly, it is Zingano-Rousey to me, as it is the one we have the best chance of seeing. I've been a fan of Cat for a while and was upset when she lost her shot at TUF due to injury.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Rousey and Cyborg would be very interesting given the size difference and Cyborg's incredible power. It's a fight that needs to happen sometime but if Cyborg isn't willing to make the 135 lb. cut then I want Zingano to get her long overdue title fight.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Dana and the UFC can say what they like about what's the biggest fight for Ronda, but you don't have to be a genius to work out that the biggest fight they can make is Rousey vs. Cyborg.

Cyborg is the only real threat out there to challenge Ronda for the belt, though there are so many obstacles in the way to making the fight, so we may never get to see it. The main obstacle is Cyborg making the 135 lb. bantamweight limit!

The fight with Cyborg would not only be one of the biggest fights in the history of MMA, it could also generate one of this highest PPV figures ever for a women's MMA bout.

We always hear from Dana that this superfight will happen, and that superfight will happen, but so far we've not seen one emerge! Ronda is possibly the biggest star under the UFC banner at the moment with the likes of Anderson Silva out injured and GSP taking time out. I'm really not sure they'll want to put their prized asset on the line to such a threat like Cyborg.

ROUNDTABLE: Reactions to the UFC releasing Jake Shields following loss to Hector Lombard

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:40:27 PST

What's your reaction to Jake Shields' release from the UFC? Is it justified off the entertainment value issue? Is it wrong given the wins he'd had prior to the Hector Lombard loss? Make sense of the UFC's move.

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

The UFC can do what they want and they don't have to justify themselves to anyone. At the end of the day they're a business and they make money, Jake Shields simply doesn't represent good value. Like Yushin Okami and Jon Fitch he was past his prime with a substantial contract from which the UFC weren't getting value. I don't like it and it's another nail in the coffin for the sport, but business is business. I guarantee Nate Marquardt will be looking over his shoulder if he doesn't get a win in New Zealand later this year.

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Ambivalence. Look, he deserves a UFC slot, but I don't watch the UFC fights because my Ambien prescription is empty, dig? Old dog new tricks. Sloppy kickboxing forever, blah blah blah. It's really hard to get worked up over something, unjust or not, that you know is coming and can't stop from happening. And before you get too excited about Shields vs. Ben Askren materializing in Singapore, might I remind you of Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields? Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have reminded you of that. Please don't jump.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think it's largely justified. I certainly understand both sides of the argument, cutting Shields makes no sense from the sports side of things. However, it's perfectly understandable from an entertainment perspective. It became a cost/benefit analysis issue, and Shields just isn't worth the trouble. It's not as though Shields was the unquestioned best fighter in his division. Maybe he's top five, but it's still not worth it, and you could even debate whether he is in the top five of his division. It's the same thing that happened with Yushin Okami and Jon Fitch. The UFC wasn't interested in Ben Askren for the same reasons they cut Shields. The number of people who will pay to see these "boring" fighters is very small. Unless you can justify it by being one of the best, the UFC isn't going to be interested in you. Askren isn't one of the best, so they passed on him. Shields, Okami, Fitch...those guys aren't the best so the UFC got rid of them.

The moral of the story is that if you're going to employ a boring lay-and-pray style you better not lose a single match or you're gone. That, or you won't be there in the first place.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Although I'm not a big fan of his, it really is a shame to see him released. If he would have beaten Lombard, there would have been a case that he could be the No. 1 contender. This seems to me like a clear entertainment move by them. They seem to want to put on the most exciting fights, regardless of skill levels. That is why today's UFC seems to be closer to Pro Wrestling than it is to the NFL/NBA.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

My reaction is a mixture of "nananana, hey, hey, hey, goodbye" and "serves you right." If you don't put on entertaining fights they will cut you when you lose. Example: Jon Fitch and Yushin Okami. Shields also failed a drug test during his time in UFC so it's not like he had brownie points saved up with White and the Fertitta's to use. Shields is a great wrestler, sadly that's about where his value ends. He puts on snoozers so I'm not sorry to see him g,o but I'm sure Bellator is ecstatic to have another Ben Askren-ish fighter in their future.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

After initially hearing about Jake Shields' release from the UFC, I thought it's business as usual. Prior to his fight with Lombard, I anticipated that if Shields did not win he would be released.

There is outrage amongst hardcore fans over the release, as he was a top 10 competitor within the welterweight division. However, I would remind you, Jon Fitch was the #2 guy in the division for years and certainly never out of the top five and he was released as well.

Although I can sympathize with the discontent, I also understand the UFC's position from a business perspective. Often you hear Dana White state that the UFC is in the entertainment business, and one of the functions of being in the entertainment business is being able to sell tickets. While Jake Shields has been fighting for awhile and has a following among hardcore fans, the UFC is trying to expand their business and reach the casual and general sports fan. Honestly, the casual or general sports fan does not understand what is happening when the fight hits the ground. There is already a misconception among casual consumers of MMA, the UFC is just a bunch of grown sweaty men rolling around.

However, everyone understands hand to hand combat. The UFC needs fighters who are appealing and can bring their product to as many people as possible. This fact is no different than any other major corporation that produces and designs products to appeal to consumers.

The UFC seems to have adopted a "what have you done for me lately" business model. The scalps Shields collected in the past does not necessarily guarantee future ticket sells, thus does not guarantee his tenure in the organization. These fighters are commodities and the UFC is after whomever is the hottest selling commodity.

Fortunately or unfortunately for the UFC, they have obligated themselves to 50 events this year and are in desperate need of stars to headline those events. Regardless of his rankings within the welterweight division or his wins in the past, Jake Shields is not a draw.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Was I surprised by Jake Shields' release? Not at all. Shields' fighting style really doesn't blend itself to many MMA fans that pay for a ticket or a PPV event. Shields has the same problem the likes of Okami and Fitch had. They will defeat 90% of fighters within their division but often look awful in the process.

Every victory since joining the UFC from Strikeforce, Shields has won via unanimous decision or split decision, and I can't think of one fight I've actually enjoyed watching. Like it or not the UFC are in the business to make money and plenty of it. So letting go of a fighter that 1) doesn't draw much money 2) will cost the UFC a lot of money 3) Will beat or likely beat any young hot prospect and 4) do it whilst putting you to sleep.

Though I've never enjoyed watching Shields fight, I can appreciate what he does inside the Octagon. But at 35 years old now and his style of fighting, it may limited where he goes to next. More than likely WSOF?

This will send a huge message right through the UFC roster: It pays more to be an exciting fighter than to just be a good fighter if you want to keep your job!

Keeping Tabs On The UFC Women's Bantamweight Division 4/7: Rousey, Zingano, and the UFC's top 15 women

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 23:35:40 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

We're back on the rotation in our “Keeping Tabs On…” series, where we break down the UFC's Top 15 ranked fighters in each division. We'll let you know where we've got them ranked, what they've got coming up, how often they've been competing, what we've said about them recently at MMATorch, and more. We finalize this rotation with the women's bantamweight division.

Champ: Ronda Rousey

MMATorch Rank: 1
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Sara McMann (Win), UFC 170
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Current Champ
What We're Saying: "It seems Rousey's going to wind up paying up some money to Fight Tribe following arbitration, and honestly, if they backed her to the point alleged, then it will turn out as the right thing. Of course, not knowing the particulars of their rift to begin with makes it hard to speculate with any certainty on this type of thing. Regardless, she's no longer got obligations to Fight Tribe as a management group, but she will have to deal with the rest of the issues contained in what's moving to the supreme court." - Jamie Penick

1. Cat Zingano

MMATorch Rank: 2
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Miesha Tate (Win), TUF 17 Finale
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 2
Contender Status: Likely to fight for title in return from injury
What We're Saying: "It's a similar situation to what happened with Georges St-Pierre, though apparently less severe. She was likely overcompensating for the knee and working the other one harder than she meant to, which ultimately led to further injury. Hopefully this timeline can work out for her, because if she can fight four to six months from now she'll be able to face the winner of Rousey-Tate." - Jamie Penick

2. Alexis Davis

MMATorch Rank: 3
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Jessica Eye (Win), UFC 170
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 9
Contender Status: Rising, could potentially be next title challenger
What We're Saying: "Cat Zingano... hasn't beaten anyone remotely close to someone as talented as Ronda Rousey. Same applies to Alexis Davis. To her credit though she's 3-0 in the UFC now and her list of victories looks more impressive on paper. Despite all that, again I don't see her causing Rousey any problems at all, even if she is in peak condition and Rousey isn't." - Dan Moore

3. Miesha Tate

MMATorch Rank: 7
Next Fight: Liz Carmouche, UFC on Fox 11, April 19
Previous Fight: Ronda Rousey (Loss), UFC 168
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Falling, unlikely to get another fight with Rousey
What We're Saying: "Some of the drama with Rousey into the December event was really self-induced by Tate, but regardless of all that happened there, it's got to be refreshing to have a change of pace. Tate and Rousey were going strong for a solid six months after filming early last summer, so now she gets a fight with Carmouche without any of that at all. Now, it probably won't have much of an effect one way or the other here, as this fight is simply about whether or not she's better than Carmouche. She needs to go out and prove that, and if she does it will be the first step in getting back to a second UFC Title fight." - Jamie Penick

4. Sara McMann

MMATorch Rank: 4
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Ronda Rousey (Loss), UFC 170
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Falling, controversial stoppage could boost her chances at rematch
What We're Saying: "I think there's a key difference between this stoppage and the UFC 169 main event, also stopped early by Dean, that makes this one less egregious. Dean stepped in after McMann reacted to that gut shot, whereas he stepped in well after Urijah Faber had gotten hurt and at a moment in which he was trying his comeback. McMann hadn't quite gotten to that point, though she could have after a few more moments." - Jamie Penick

5. Sarah Kaufman

MMATorch Rank: 6
Next Fight: Amanda Nunes, “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations” Finale, April 16
Previous Fight: Jessica Eye (Loss), UFC 166
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Stagnant, Getting loss overturned to a draw gives her a new start
What We're Saying: "Kaufman is making her second UFC appearance, with her first fight resulting in a no contest after Jessica Eye's failed drug test for marijuana. Nunes enters with consecutive TKO victories in the UFC in 2013." - Jamie Penick

6. Jessica Eye

MMATorch Rank: 5
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Alexis Davis (Loss), UFC 170
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 7
Contender Status: Falling, loss in conjunction with UFC 166 debacle hurts her standing
What We're Saying: "The most maddening issue here with Eye is the fact that it was completely unnecessary. She comes off as a very nice person, and she's easy to like in conversation, so why she'd have felt the need to lie, and do so continuously regarding something so benign as a marijuana test failure at 16ng/ML is beyond most. It just doesn't make sense. Had she come out and said she smoked marijuana, or that she ingested it in some other fashion a week or two before the fight, as that level could have suggested, no one would have held it against her." - Jamie Penick

7. Liz Carmouche

MMATorch Rank: 8
Next Fight: Miesha Tate, UFC on Fox 11, April 19
Previous Fight: Alexis Davis (Loss), UFC Fight for the Troops 3
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Falling, relegated to gatekeeper status
What We're Saying: "Carmouche fought Rousey in the first ever UFC Women's Title bout, and while she added a win over Jessica Andrade last summer, she lost to Alexis Davis in her third UFC fight in November." - Jamie Penick

8. Amanda Nunes

MMATorch Rank: 10
Next Fight: Sarah Kaufman, “TUF: Nations” Finale, April 16
Previous Fight: Germaine de Randamie (Win), UFC Fight for the Troops 3
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Rising, could contend with a few more wins
What We're Saying: "Nunes was supposed to face UFC newcomer Alexis Dufresne on the April 19 Fox card, but with a slot opened up opposite former Strikeforce Champ Sarah Kaufman, she'll make her return to the cage three days earlier." - Jamie Penick

9. Jessica Andrade

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked (received votes)
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Raquel Pennington (Win), UFC 171
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 12
Contender Status: Rising, continues on her run
What We're Saying: "This was really close. Andrade picked up the split decision here, and the second round was the decisive one. Pennington was countering well, but Andrade was being very aggressive and landing the heavier shots. This was a hard one to judge." - Frank Hyden

10. Julianna Pena

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Jessica Rakoczy, TUF 18 Finale
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 3
Contender Status: Stagnant, serious injury has her out of action
What We're Saying: "Clearly, they were both training aggressively, and in this instance, with Gow seemingly trying to prove he could indeed take her down, did so in a way that just destroyed her knee. She's got a significant amount of rehab ahead of her because of it, and no matter what her part in things may have been, the victim blaming out of the camp has been wrong from the start, and no one in that camp has taken responsibility for what went down." - Jamie Penick

11. Germaine de Randamie

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Amanda Nunes (Loss), UFC Fight for the Troops 3
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 3
Contender Status: Falling, loss to Nunes
What We're Saying: "One-sided fight once it hit the ground. De Randamie couldn't get out of that position once Nunes got into that mount position, and though Nunes wasted a lot of energy on shots that were not getting through, the relentless nature of it had as much to do with the stoppage as anything." - Jamie Penick

12. Bethe Correia

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: Jessamyn Duke, UFC 172, April 26
Previous Fight: Julie Kedzie (Win), UFC Fight Night 33
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 7
Contender Status: Several wins from contention
What We're Saying: "Correia made an impression in her debut, defeating Julie Kedzie on short notice in December at UFC Fight Night 33 by split decision. That moved her to 7-0 overall in her young MMA career." - Jamie Penick

13. Raquel Pennington

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Jessica Andrade (Loss), UFC 171
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 8
Contender Status: Further away from contention despite solid performance in Andrade loss
What We're Saying: "
Overall, I was impressed with the entire card. There were good performances by Jessica Andrade and Raquel Pennington in the women's divsion." - Cash Norman

14. Jessamyn Duke

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: Bethe Correia, UFC 172, April 26
Previous Fight: Peggy Morgan (Win), TUF 18 Finale
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Well out of contention for now, significant win streak could elevate her
What We're Saying: "Duke and Correia hope to build off of wins in their respective UFC debuts last fall. Duke defeated fellow Ultimate Fighter 18 teammate Peggy Morgan at the TUF 18 Finale. She's officially undefeated as her sole loss was overturned to a no contest due to an illegal knee." - Jamie Penick

15. Jessica Rakoczy

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Julianna Pena (Loss), TUF 18 Finale
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 2
Contender Status: Highly unlikely she’d contend for a UFC Title in her career
What We're Saying: "Though Rakoczy got back to her feet from that takedown, it was not to be on the next one, and Pena unleashed a furious assault from the mount. Rakoczy tried to buck out of it, and tried to defend initially, but it was a futile attempt, and she ultimately resorted to cover up. Pena rained down more strikes, and Yamasaki had seen enough." - Jamie Penick

HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Pound For Pound Fighters (April 2014)

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 16:55:10 PST

By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Guest Columnist

Despite my hiatus from this site, both writing and audio, I'm still keeping up with the sport and with the site. On top of that, I'm still in charge of compiling the monthly rankings. And since I'm going through the effort to compile the rankings (not to mention all the nagging. Oh Christ, the nagging), I still put together my own rankings in each division as well. So with no further adieu, I'll run down my ballot for each division, starting today with the pound for pound ranks.

Pound for Pound

1.) Jon Jones: This should be a no-brainer. Jon Jones has been in the UFC since UFC 87 in August 2008, and has never legitimately lost a fight. Hell, he hasn't been tested other than the fight with Alex Gustafsson at UFC 165 in September 2013. Gustafsson fought the fight of his life, one he might not be able to repeat, and Jones still had his hand raised. When the rematch does happen, expect Jones to be prepared for the surprises Gustafsson presented during their first fight, and to win the rematch more easily than their original fight.

Significant victories: Stephan Bonnar (HEY! HE'S A UFC HALL OF FAMER! STOP SNICKERING AND SHOW SOME RESPECT), Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Alexander Gustafsson (The win over Chael Sonnen does not qualify as 'significant,' hence the omission).

2.) Jose Aldo: You want divisional dominance? Jose Aldo has never lost a fight at featherweight. His one career loss was a lightweight bout when he was 21 years old back in November 2005. Aldo is the only Featherweight Champion in UFC history, after closing out the WEC as their Featherweight Champion. While it would be nice to see the maniacal aggression we saw earlier in his career, he is undoubtedly a better fight now than he was in those days. But one can't help but wonder how he'd look if he threw just slightly more strikes per minute than he does right now, as he possesses one of the lowest rates in the UFC.

Significant victories: Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Manvel Gamburyan, Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Chan Sung Jung, Ricardo Lamas

3.) Renan Barao: Jose Aldo's teammate at Nova União, Barao is as dominant as anyone in the sport. After losing his MMA debut fight in April 2005, Barao has rattled off 32 straight wins (with one early No Contest thrown in there). Barao sits behind Aldo on this list solely due to the shorter resume in the WEC and UFC, but I'd have no issue with anyone who said Barao was the better fighter. It also is notable that Chris Cariaso, Brad Pickett, and Scott Jorgensen are now fighting at flyweight while Barao could dominate the featherweight division when Jose Aldo moves to lightweight. Or even with those who said Barao is the best fighter in the world. Barao's finished his last three fights, and hasn't ever looked vulnerable fighting for Zuffa.

Significant victories: Chris Cariaso, Brad Pickett, Scott Jorgensen, Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland, Urijah Faber (2x)

4.) Demetrious Johnson: The three lightest weight classes feature the three least vulnerable champions in the UFC. At this moment, it's nearly impossible to envision anyone in the flyweight division putting Mighty Mouse to the test. I was a major proponent of Joseph Benavidez being that guy. Johnson needed barely two minutes to finish that fight last December to remove all doubt. The knock on Johnson used to be his inability to finish fights, as after he submitted Damacio Page at WEC 52 in November 2010, Johnson's next seven bouts went the distance. But after submitting John Moraga and Joseph Benavidez in his last two fights, it's impossible to deny his dominance over the flyweight division.

Significant victories: Kid Yamamoto, Miguel Torres, Ian McCall, John Moraga, John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez (2x)

Notable losses: Brad Pickett, Dominick Cruz

5.) Chris Weidman: The undefeated 29 year old New Yorker has fought Anderson Silva for 17 minutes and 26 seconds in the last year. He has finished him twice. If you need more evidence than that, then you're predisposed to sell Weidman short, and there's nothing I can write that will get through to you.

Significant victories: Demian Maia, Mark Munoz, Anderson Silva (2x)

6.) Cain Velasquez: Had an injured Cain Velasquez not felt the pressure to fight in the main event of the first ever UFC on Fox event, the UFC would have an undefeated, unchallenged wrecking ball of a heavyweight champion. As it stands, Velasquez has avenged the early KO loss to Junior dos Santos not once, but twice. And both of those fights were among the most the most brutal slaughters in UFC history. To put this into perspective, no heavyweight in the world stands a chance against Junior dos Santos, and dos Santos' only chance against Velasquez would be to catch him with a lucky punch. Also among the most brutal slaughters in UFC are his two massacres of Antonio Silva, the same Silva who dominated Fedor Emelianenko. Velasquez signed with the UFC with a meager 2-0 record, because there was no one at that level who was willing to fight Velasquez. And honestly, if it weren't for the lure of the glory of the belt, I can't figure out why anyone takes a fight with him yet today.

Significant victories: Cheick Kongo, Ben Rothwell, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Silva (2x), Junior dos Santos (2x)

Notable loss: Junior dos Santos

7.) Lyoto Machida: Machida gets a bad rap for being unique, yet many fans of the sport bitch about how so many fighters are interchangeable. Nobody fights like Machida, nobody frustrates like Machida, and nobody sticks to a gameplan like Machida. If an opponent of Machida gets impatient and frustrated, they get knocked out with one punch like Ryan Bader. Thiago Silva, Randy Couture, and Mark Munoz have all been KO'd by one touch of a Lyoto Machida limb, so let's not call him a point-striker, Mkayyyy? Add to his resume the fact that his fight with Rampage Jackson should have been ruled a draw, and that he got robbed by weird judging against Phil Davis, and you have one of the great resume of victories in fight history.

Significant victories: Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua, Randy Couture, Ryan Bader, Dan Henderson, Mark Munoz, Gegard Mousasi

Notable losses: Shogun Rua, Quinton Jackson, Jon Jones, Phil Davis

8.) Anthony Pettis: I always think I'm being a little generous putting Pettis so high, but then I see all of my colleagues putting him higher than I do, and I don't feel so guilty. I think I'm guilty of overrating him because of the Milwaukee connection, his style of fighting, etc., but apparently I'm not too crazy with putting him so high. It would be much easier for me to rank him in the top five if he just had more fights and fewer injuries. Pettis is one of the great talents in the sport, and it's a damn shame he fights as infrequently as he does. Pettis might have the most complete arsenal of finishing skills in the sport. He was the first UFC challenger to submit a sitting champion since 2004, but he's much more widely known for his vicious and flashy striking abilities. As much as I still want to see him vs. Jose Aldo, the prospects of him vs. Gilbert Melendez will have all fight fans drooling (and praying to St. Jude) that the fight actually happens.

Significant victories: Danny Castillo, Jeremy Stephens, Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson (2x)

9.) Johny Hendricks: Yes, I thought he beat Georges St-Pierre too. And had his hand been raised, he might be a few notches higher. But I also thought that both Carlos Condit and Robbie Lawler beat Hendricks, so let's call it a wash, ok? Hendricks is one of the best amateur wrestlers to transition to this sport, and in MMA his punching power is even better than his wrestling ability. There might not be a completeness to his game, but there is excitement to damn near everything he does in the cage.

Significant victories: T.J. Grant, Mike Pierce, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Martin Kampmann, Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler

Notable losses: Rick Story, Georges St-Pierre

10.) Alexander Gustafsson: Even for someone like me who never for a second thought he defeated Jon Jones at UFC 165, Gustafsson was absolutely elevated in my eyes. That's one of the best fights I've ever seen, but that's not all there is to Gustafsson. A silky smooth striker with finishing power in both his hands and his feet, Gustafsson is comfortable everywhere the fight goes. I would like to see a longer list of significant victories though, as you will see below.

Significant victories: James Te-Huna, Thiago Silva, Shogun Rua

Notable losses: Phil Davis, Jon Jones

11.) Chad Mendes: If all you think about Chad Mendes is the last three seconds of his fight with Jose Aldo at UFC 142 in January 2012, you're selling yourself short. Mendes was three seconds away from taking the first round of that fight... before Jose Aldo damn near decapitated him. And yes, I can't be a wagon until I grow wheels. I get that. I'm just saying that Mendes doesn't get the credit he is due because Jose Aldo turned a cage grab into a hellacious knockout. Jamie Penick has gone on the record as saying that he would favor Mendes in a rematch with Aldo.

Significant victories: Stephen Siler, Erik Koch, Cub Swanson, Michihiro Omigawa, Rani Yahya, Darren Elkins, Clay Guida, Nik Lentz

Notable losses: The aforementioned Jose Aldo

12.) Eddie Alvarez: Alvarez is, for now, the best fighter in the world who is not currently under a UFC contract. And if he defeats Michael Chandler this May, he'll most likely be under UFC contract before the end of this year. Alvarez vs. Melendez. Alvarez vs. Cerrone. Alvarez vs. Grant. Alvarez vs., dare I say it, Alvarez vs. Pettis. Yes, please, to all of the above.

Significant victories: Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Roger Huerta, Pat Curran, Shinya Aoki, Patricio Freire, Michael Chandler

Notable losses: Nick "The Goat" Thompson, Shinya Aoki, Michael Chandler

13.) Michael Chandler: The worst thing that ever happened to the future legacy of Michael Chandler was the UFC matching Bellator's contract offer to Gilbert Melendez. With one fell swoop, Bellator went from having more top-five fighters in the lightweight division to being possibly one fight away from the same division being known as Chandler and the Chandlerettes. Had Melendez gone to Bellator, it is conceivable that would have persuaded Alvarez to stay. And Melendez's first six fights could (should) have been trilogies with Alvarez and with Chandler. Chandler is now going to be Tom Hanks, without even Wilson to talk with. Chandler's resume does not earn him a spot on this list. But my eyes have seen him fight Eddie Alvarez for fifty minutes, and there is no separating the two in my eyes on any list.

Significant victories: Eddie Alvarez, Rick Hawn (semi-significant. I mean, it's Bellator, Dude)

Notable losses: Eddie Alvarez

14.) Gilbert Melendez: The one downside of Melendez's continued stay in the UFC is that his next UFC fight won't be until New Year's Eve, which is more than 14 months after his last fight. Just as significantly, it will mean Anthony Pettis will be on the shelf for 16 months. Which sends the message to fight fans that The Ultimate Fighter should be perceived as more important that the UFC Lightweight Championship. Fans will absorb that message by forgetting how great these two fighters are and not order the PPV.

Significant victories: Clay Guida, Tatsuya Kawajiri (2x), Mitsuhiro Ishida, Josh Thomson (2x), Shinya Aoki, Jorge Masvidal, Diego Sanchez

Notable losses: Mitsuhiro Ishida, Josh Thomson, Benson Henderson

15.) Junior dos Santos: One of the most dominant fighters in his respective division, but that division is the same division Cain Velasquez calls home. Whoops. If the man were an inch or two shorter, he might be able to cut to light heavyweight, and who knows how he'd fare against Jon Jones and the rest of that division. But as it stands, he's the highest rated gatekeeper in the world. He'll destroy any legit contenders put in front of him, which severely limits the number of fighters Joe Silva can reasonably feed to him.

Significant victories: Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shawn Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Mark Hunt

Notable losses (and these are very notable): Cain Velasquez (2x)

STRONG: BAMMA 15 Results - Breakdown and review of last weekend's event from London

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 12:15:53 PST

By: Tom Strong, MMATorch UK Contributor

BAMMA returned for their first event of the year on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena, London. For the first time, BAMMA broadcast the card live on Facebook. This could turn out to be a very good decision to attract more fans to the sport and, more importantly, BAMMA.

With an action packed card full of great fights, stoppages, and a couple questionable decisions, it was the lack of attendance that was disappointing. The crowd that did attend certainly made up for it, being very passionate and supportive towards the fighters and creating a very good atmosphere inside the arena.

Headlining BAMMA 15 was a clash of two heavyweights. At just 19-years-old, Albanian Gzim Selmani weighed in at 257lbs, standing 6ft 3in tall, with a 3-1 record entering the fight. Gzim was taking on the vastly more experienced ex-UFC fighter Oli Thompson (12-5). Despite the experience disparity, it was Gzim who wasted little time - eighteen seconds to be precise - to submit Thompson.

Gzim charged out from the buzzer, landed a huge knee to catch Thompson off guard, then took full advantage by locking in a tight guillotine choke and forcing Marc Goddard to call a halt with Thompson looking unconscious. Gzim showed everyone why he's called "The Albanian Psycho."

Gzim now moves on to 4-1, and is now on a three fight winning streak with all of those victories coming inside the first round. Thompson drops to 13-6. He denied being out when Goddard stopped the fight, though replays would show things differently.

The co-main event saw Leon Edwards (7-1) become the new BAMMA Lonsdale Welterweight Champion, defeating the defending champion Wayne "Caveman" Murrie (17-6) inside the first round.
Edwards showed great calmness and composure when he took Murrie's back, taking his time, and remaining patient before finding the opening he needed that forced Murrie to tap out with only 3:13 gone inside the first round. The rear naked choke hands Edwards the Championship.

Fan favourite on the night, Colin "Freakshow" Fletcher, was anxious to put on a show for all the fans, and he certainly delivered on that from his flamboyant entrance into the cage to his eagerness to entertain the paying public. Up against the very hard hitting and granite chinned Tony Hervey, I was surprised with Fletcher's game plan. Fletcher, a fighter who excels in submissions, taking on a fighter whom has six defeats via submission, decided to keep the fight standing, and made no attempt to try to take Hervey down.

In a very entertaining back and forth battle, it was Hervey who was landing with the cleaner harder punches in the second round, stunning Fletcher for a few moments only for the buzzer to come to his aide. With rounds one and three very close, the decision could've gone either way, though it was the "Freakshow" who took it on a split decision. (29-28,28-29,29-28)

In the post fight interview, Fletcher said:

"I'm my own worst enemy sometimes, though I'm decent on the ground I just like having a fight. To be honest, win, lose, or draw, if I'm putting on entertaining fights and people still want to watch them, I'll still have them."

A fight that went under the radar was the BAMMA Featherweight World Title. This saw two highly talented fighters in Tom DuQuesnoy (9-1) taking on (then-undefeated) Teddy Violet (8-1).

In a fast paced fight from the buzzer, it was DuQuesnoy who came out the stronger and quicker fighter. He landed brutal leg kicks and stunning combinations, leaving Violet bewildered. Even when Violet had success getting the fight to the mat where he wanted it, it was DuQuesnoy showing the superior strength, reversing any mounts and going for the submissions. With a dominating first round behind him, DuQuesnoy didn't let up in the second round, landing heavy uppercuts at will. Violet went for another take down only for DuQuesnoy to lock in a triangle choke, Violet tried his best to get out but was left with little choice but to tap out at 1:23 into round two.

It was one of the most impressive wins of the night, and Tom DuQuesnoy who continues his impressive winning streak and looks like a future star in the making!

A late addition to BAMMA 15, Andy De-Vent (10-9) vs. Harry McLeman (7-2) competed for the BAMMA British Middleweight Title. In a hard fought three round battle, both fighters left everything they had inside the cage in a fight that nobody deserved to lose. That said, it was Harry McLeman who took the unanimous decision on all three score cards to take home the belt.

McLeman had to weather the storm in the third round, exhausted from the first two rounds, and it was De-Vent piling on the pressure looking to get the finish. McLeman did just enough to hold on and hear the buzzer, and it allowed him to become the new BAMMA British Middleweight Champion!

Earlier in the night, Ryan Scope defeated Ali Arish via unanimous decision despite breaking his foot in the second round. Rany Saadeh out-pointed Mahmood Besharate to win (30-27) on all three score cards. A very controversial decision saw Jefferson George def. Jack Grant over three rounds earning a split decision victory (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) to a chorus of boos inside the arena.

Full BAMMA 15 Results:

Gzim Selamin def. Oil Thompson - RD1 Sub.
Leon Edwards def. Wayne Murrie - RD1 Sub. British Welterweight Title.
Colin Flether def. Tony Hervey - Decision (Split. 29-28,28-29,29-28)
Tom DuQuesnoy def. Teddy Violet - RD2 Sub. Featherweight World Title.
Harry McLeman def. Andy De-Vent - UD - British Middleweight Title.
Ryan Scope def. Ali Arish - Decision (Unanimous)
Rany Saadeh def. Mahmood Bezaerate - Decision (Unanimous)
Jefferson George def. Jack Grant - Decision (Split. 29-28,28-29,29-28)
Alex Montagnani def. Nathan Jones - RD1 Sub.
Andy Craven def. Richard Edwards RD1 Sub.
Ed Arthur def. Nathaniel Wood - RD3 Sub.
Jacek Toczydlowski def. Benny Carr - RD1 Sub

PENICK: A look back at Brock Lesnar's UFC run ahead of Wrestlemania 30

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 22:45:58 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Brock Lesnar is back on pay-per-view tonight at WWE's Wrestlemania 30, taking on The Undertaker in a match that has essentially been in the works since he lost his UFC Heavyweight Championship to Cain Velasquez. Mark Calaway was in attendance that night, and the two exchanged a moment as Lesnar walked out of the cage in Anaheim.

It would take Lesnar another bout with diverticulitis, 14 months out of the cage, and a second straight loss to Alistair Overeem before Lesnar's MMA run came to an end, with a WWE return coming shortly thereafter.

With him back in the spotlight on tonight's big WWE event, it's as good a time as ever to look back on his run in the UFC.

Lesnar's entrance into the UFC brought a lot of trepidation and some immediate fan backlash, as the former pro wrestler was taken as an "outsider" from the start. Despite his stellar amateur wrestling credentials, Lesnar's brief time in the WWE brought him a spotlight unmatched by all but the top stars in the UFC. Given that he'd had just one MMA fight, a vocal segment of the UFC's fanbase didn't like the immediate push he received.

However, while Lesnar received opportunities few will ever receive at that stage of their careers, it can't be said that he failed to take advantage of them.

It began in 2007, when he approached UFC President Dana White and said he wanted a fight in the UFC. Not only did he want a fight in the UFC, he wanted to fight top competition from the outset. White was skeptical, but Lesnar was insistent, so the UFC gave him former Champion Frank Mir for his debut.

At UFC 81 in February of 2008, Lesnar stepped into the Octagon for the first time, with a very curious audience wondering whether the hype was legit, or if he would prove to be a joke in his second MMA fight.

It wasn't quite either of those things in that first fight.

Lesnar was rough around the edges, and came out of the gate with a massive onslaught of offense. The raw power was there; the athleticism was there; the talent was there; however, it was far from polished, and Lesnar got caught in a knee bar just a minute and a half in to the fight.

Those 90 seconds proved that he wasn't a joke in the cage though. He took a former Champion in Mir, beat him up early, and then got caught. Mir was a savvy veteran, one who had a major experience edge in the submission game, and Lesnar got caught.

Lesnar had taken his shot and lost, and while that could have been the end of it, he was determined to show that this was something he could do. So he wanted another booking, and the UFC was happy to give him one.

The curiosity factor paid off on pay-per-view for the first fight, and so he was paired up with then new UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87 in his home base in Minneapolis, Minn.

Originally, the UFC planned to book him against Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, but with Coleman unable to fight that night, Lesnar got Heath Herring instead. Herring was a longtime veteran of over 40 fights, and had nearly 30 wins through a career that brought him through several organizations, including Pride. He'd been in the cage with some of the biggest and best of the sport's heavyweight division by that point, and came into the Lesnar bout off a win over Cheick Kongo.

His camp also came in disparaging Lesnar from the outset, voicing the opinions of many fans who felt Lesnar didn't belong in the UFC with such a high-profile push.

But in front of perhaps the only positive crowd the UFC would find for him during his run, Lesnar came out of the gate with an overhand right that changed everything.

Herring went somersaulting backwards, and Lesnar spent the next 14 and a half minutes dominating a veteran MMA competitor en route to his first UFC win.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture saw the money to be made in a matchup with Lesnar, and came to an agreement with the UFC after a lengthy legal dispute with them over his contract, requesting a fight with Lesnar that November. It wasn't a fight Lesnar put himself into, and it wasn't the UFC skipping over other contenders. Couture wanted that fight, the UFC gave it to him, and Lesnar once again took advantage of an opportunity.

Lesnar's UFC Title win that November was followed by Frank Mir defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira that December. Mir - holding a win over Lesnar and riding the high of scoring the first TKO win over Nogueira - was the perfect foil for the UFC to place against Lesnar anyway, but add in the buzz of their 100th numbered pay-per-view event, and they had the makings of a blockbuster.

The buildup was, quite simply, perfect for their fight. Lesnar wanted to avenge his only MMA loss, against a smug but clearly talented Interim Champ in Mir, who took any opportunity to shove that first win in Lesnar's face. With fans still charged over Lesnar getting the title fight with Couture in the first place, there was a lot of animosity directed towards him, and everything bubbled over at UFC 100.

This time around, Lesnar played a patient game in the first round. He got Mir to the ground, and in an impressive display of ground offense, trapped the jiu jitsu practitioner in position with a tight half guard, then locked him up in a one armed Nelson, which left Mir's face exposed for a brutal series of strikes that had his face bloodied and battered into the second round.

In the second, Mir scored a little offense early, only to quickly be taken down. This time, Lesnar moved him up against the cage, trapped his left arm behind his back, and unleashed a huge flurry of right hands that put Mir out of commission.

Lesnar had avenged that loss, he'd done it in brutal and decisive fashion, and had positioned himself as the baddest man on the planet in 2009.

It didn't change anything for many fans. In fact, his post-fight antics only brought an increase to the vitriol, who could now only attack the "image" he brought to the table after he'd proven himself in the cage.

Unfortunately, that fight was the real apex of the "Lesnar Era." The UFC wanted to book him against the undefeated Shane Carwin that fall, but he was hospitalized with a serious condition.

Lesnar's first battle with diverticulitis was nearly life-threatening. The intestinal disease is actually something that had been in his system for a very long time, by doctor's estimates, but it finally led to serious pain and a lengthy hospital stay that caused him to lose a significant amount of weight. He was weakened, and determined to be out of action for a considerable amount of time.

In fact, it would be a full year before his next fight, and when he returned, he had Carwin waiting for him again. While he was out, Carwin established himself as the man to beat when he knocked out Mir himself to capture the Interim Heavyweight Championship. He entered UFC 116 as a serious threat, and no one knew what to expect from Lesnar after a year out of the cage.

When the fight kicked off, fans got their answer. Carwin shrugged off an early takedown attempt, then got up from another rather quickly, and it was then that he broke Lesnar's facade for good.

Carwin knocked Lesnar down with a series of strikes and came very close to stopping the fight in the middle of the first round. Referee Josh Rosenthal asked Lesnar several times to show him he was still in the fight, and Lesnar responded on each occasion, ultimately surviving the onslaught, getting back to his feet, and living to fight another round.

Lesnar then took advantage of a gassed Carwin in the second, taking him down, and quickly passing to an arm-triangle choke. It was a serious showcase of the very real improvements in his ground game, and he forced Carwin to submit in one of the more emotional back and forth fights of the year.

That was Lesnar's final high in the Octagon. He rushed a return to his next fight, and after Cain Velasquez got up from his first takedown, he made relative short work of Lesnar afterwards. The problems Lesnar had taking strikes in the Carwin fight were compounded against Velasquez, and he lost his title in a fight in which he just wasn't all that competitive. Now, had he not overshot his first takedown, he may have been able to settle in to top position, but it didn't work out that way for him, and the title was gone.

Lesnar wasn't done just yet, as he entered 2011 intending on fighting another top contender in Junior dos Santos. They filmed a season of The Ultimate Fighter with one another, and were targeted for a fight that June. Then diverticulitis reared its head once again, and Lesnar was on the shelf.

Him returning at all after the second debilitating experience with diverticulitis didn't seem likely, but by the end of the year he was back once more. Unfortunately for him, he had to face a man with brutal power and a penchant for delivering strikes to the body in Alistair Overeem.

Overeem targeted Lesnar's midsection early and often with knees and kicks, and though Lesnar was scoring with several solid strikes in their exchanges, the body shots were too much. A particularly vicious kick to the gut caused a delaying buckling from Lesnar, and after the loss, he opted to retire.

His time in MMA was contentious, polarizing, exciting, and lucrative, bringing a wide range of emotions from the fanbase and establishing Lesnar as hands down the biggest draw the UFC had seen in their history to that point. We'll never know what could have been with him; what if the UFC had been a viable option for Lesnar right out of college, and he'd gone straight to MMA training instead of the WWE? What if he'd never been struck down by diverticulitis? Did that have as massive a mental effect on him as it seemed? Those layoffs and that particular disease changed Lesnar from the man we'd seen at UFC 100 and before, because he was clearly not quite what he had been from that point on.

While many continue to write off his time in the sport, and point to those final two fights as validation for why he didn't belong where he was, the fact of the matter is he was absolutely a legitimate fighter and a legitimate Champion during his time at the top. It was short-lived, sure, but while he got opportunities no one else had ever received, he took advantage of them. Though his time in the UFC is over, there's no question of the impact it had, both on Lesnar and the UFC.

Now, he's been able to return to his entertainment role in the WWE, but on a schedule he was able to deal with better than his first run. That came because of his time in the UFC, and the UFC as a whole experienced a major boost to their overall pay-per-view business, as his presence brought them into their hottest run as a company from 2008 through 2010.

[Brock Lesnar art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

BELLATOR 115 LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round report for "Minakov vs. Kongo" event on Spike

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 22:30:20 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

BELLATOR 115
APRIL 4, 2014
LIVE FROM RENO, NEVADA

In the cage to kick off the night are Johnny Cisneros and Mikkel Parlo. Let's get to it!

FIGHT ONE: JOHNNY CISNEROS VS. MIKKEL PARLO (195 lb. CATCHWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Parlo closed the distance early with a couple of strikes and then immediately clinched. He drove Cisneros to the cage with a couple of body strikes. Cisneros tried to land a few strikes but it gave Parlo an opening to take him down. Parlo tossed out some knees, but Cisneros got to his feet. Parlo landed a hard uppercut. Cisneros fired out some big shots to the body. They went back to the clinch battle, each of them landing some strikes. Parlo went for a thai clinch. He landed a hard elbow, ducked down, and scored the takedown. Cisneros worked up again but ate some strikes. Parlo tossed out a few strikes. Parlo missed a couple, but then shot in and scored a takedown. Cisneros defended on the ground, then kicked Parlo off and got to his feet. Cisneros backed him off with a solid combination. Parlo fired back. Cisneros shot in but Parlo held him off. They ended the round with a clinch striking exchange.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Parlo. Cisneros is hanging in there, but he's taking more shots than he's throwing and got taken down several times.

ROUND TWO: Parlo came out swinging and landed a few strikes. Cisneros fired back. Parlo landed a hard body kick. Cisneros connected on several strikes and closed the distance. He picked Parlo up and threw him down, but let Parlo get to his knees and take him right down. Parlo tried to stay busy in that position, but Cisneros turned and got to a knee. Parlo tried to pull him down. Cisneros gave up his back. Cisneros turned and Parlo got to mount. Cisneros gave up his back again and tried to cover up. Parlo landed a few strikes, the tried to slowly work to a choke. Cisneros got to his knees, but Parlo held position. Parlo went for the choke, but as Cisneros tried to roll out Parlo got to mount. Cisneros tried to cover up and defend, which he did fairly well, though Parlo remained on top. Parlo landed more strikes to ride out the round, though a lot were defended.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Parlo. Close to a 10-8, but not a ton of damage done. Cisneros is exhausted at this point.

ROUND THREE: Parlo landed a hard leg kick early. He got in a jab. He landed an overhand right. Cisneros fired in with an uppercut. He covered up as Parlo swung. Cisneros tried to stuff a takedown, then picked Parlo up to a sprawl, but then just fell back as Parlo got back on top. Cisneros let him pass easily again. He got him back to half guard after briefly giving up his back. The crowd booed the tentative ground action as both were fairly worn down. Parlo landed a couple of strikes to stay busy and hold position after being warned to work by the ref. Cisneros tried to work to his feet but Parlo popped behind him and got his hooks in. Cisneros tried to use the cage to roll out, but he was stuck. Parlo rolled him over but Cisneros got back to half guard. Parlo was just staying busy enough not to get stood up. Parlo moved to mount again and Cisneros tried to hold him. He landed an elbow from the bottom and covered up as Parlo tossed strikes at him. Parlo postured up finally and landed some big strikes. He got in some elbows as Cisneros turned around and the fight ended.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Parlo. Again, not enough damage for a 10-8, as he just didn't do a ton with the positions he had.

WINNER: Parlo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

STAR RATING: (*+) One sided, not all that interesting. Parlo can take a punch, and he can smother guys, but he's proven to not be much of a finisher in his Bellator run at this stage.

FIGHT TWO: VOLKAN OEZDEMIR VS. KELLY ANUNDSON (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Oezdemir came in early and landed a hard leg kick. Anundson got to his feet. There was a lot of rinse and repeat with Anundson scoring takedowns, but Oezdemir getting back to his feet. There's been no offense on the ground from Anundson, just takedowns and trying to hold him down to no avail. Oezdemir couldn't do anything else himself, though, as he kept getting taken down. Oezdemir again got to his feet with Anundson sticking to him.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Anundson. He's not doing a thing with the constant takedowns, but Oezdemir also isn't stopping them at all.

ROUND TWO: Anundson landed a couple of early strikes in combination. Oezdemir missed a strike and got taken right down. Oezdemir closed his guard, then kicked out and crawled to the cage. Anundson kept him on the ground and threw a few half hearted strikes. Oezdemir got up but got taken right back down. More rinse and repeat here. Anundson went for a kimura but Oezdemir got his arm loose after it nearly got caught for good. Oezdemir tried to crawl to the cage again as Anundson stayed on him with a body lock. Anundson then locked wrenched a neck crank and forced Oezdemir to tap. Nice finish after doing very little on those takedowns for most of the fight.

WINNER: Anundson via submission (neck crank) at 3:19 of the second round

STAR RATING: (**-) The first seven and a half minutes were just the worst. Fighters with bad takedown defense against guys who can only take them down does not make for enjoyable MMA. Thankfully, Anundson finally secured a finish off one of those takedowns to put an end to things. Awful performance from the previously undefeated Oezdemir.

FIGHT THREE: HERMAN TERRADO VS. JUSTIN BAESMAN (WELTERWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Terrado closed the distance immediately and tried to get the takedown. Baesman did a really good job avoiding it early. Two minutes in Terrado finally secured a takedown, but had to defend a guillotine attempt which allowed Baesman back up. Baesman grabbed a front headlock and turned Terrado around. They jockeyed for position a bit. Baesman grabbed the front headlock again but had to let it go. Terrado scored a takedown again, then quickly passed to mount. Baesman gave up his back and Terrado got both hooks in. Baesman turned back a couple of times. Terrado tried to lock on a hold, then threw down some big strikes to the side of the head. He flattened him out again and landed a strike. He continued working from back mount as Baesman got to his knees. As they rolled, Baesman got on top and landed a couple elbows before the round ended.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Terrado. Baesman did a solid job defensively, but Terrado's ground work gets him the round.

ROUND TWO: Terrado came in with a couple strikes and a kick. Baesman fired back with a few strikes. Terrado checked a kick. Terrado landed a nice left. He missed a jumping knee. Baesman landed a jumping kick to the face, then closed the distance, but Terrado grabbed a clinch. Baesman grabbed for a front choke, but Terrado turned him around. Terrado popped his head out and slipped behind Baesman briefly. Baesman landed a hard knee and got Terrado down and tried to take his back. Terrado got back to his feet, then rolled for a knee bar. Baesman landed a couple of strikes, but grabbed the cage and got loose, forcing Terrado to stand. Baesman landed a hard body kick. Terrado looked worn out. Baesman landed a few strikes and then went for that front choke but turned it into a takedown. Terrado got to guard. Baesman landed a hard right hand and stayed busy from the top. Baesman postured up and rained down lots of strikes in combination. Terrado tried to work to an armbar as he took a bunch of damage. Baesman continued landing a big series of forearms. Terrado grabbed for an armbar. Baesman continued unleashing those forearm strikes, but Terrado was saved by the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Baesman. Was leaning 10-9 until that final 30 seconds, as Baesman nearly finished the fight with a brutal ground and pound attack there.

ROUND THREE: Terrado almost didn't answer the third round as they said he didn't go to his stool immediately. He took a deep breath and grabbed some water. Baesman landed a strike and Terrado landed a nice right hand. He got in with a short combo. Baesman landed a body kick and Terrado threw a few strikes. Baesman landed a couple of kicks as Terrado moved forward. Terrado landed a right hand. Baesman appears to be the more tired fighter here; he also though the fight was over, may not have heard the bell. Terrado stalked and landed an nice series of strikes at the cage. Baesman threw out a few strikes but they were blocked. Baesman took Terrado down, but Terrado countered and rolled to grab for an armbar. Baesman fought it, then got out and to his feet. That was almost done there. Terrado was breathing very heavily. Baesman missed a spinning strike. Terrado blocked the spinning back fist. He ducked under the next attempt. Terrado landed a combination.He scored a late takedown. He landed some strikes from the top. Terrado stayed busy and finished out the round on top.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Terrado. That's a draw on my scorecard, but given how many refs fail to score 10-8s, Baesman may lose this fight.

WINNER: Majority draw (29-28 Terrado, 28-28, 28-28)

STAR RATING: (**+) Surprised two judges actually got that right. Baesman said "you all know I won that" in an interview with Jimmy Smith in the cage after, but that's just not the case when you lose two rounds. He's lucky he got the 10-8 from two judges.

MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: VITALY MINAKOV VS. CHEICK KONGO (HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

ROUND ONE: Right off the bat and Minakov landed a low blow. Given Kongo's history with that sort of thing, that's just karma. Herb Dean did not take a point, and they restarted. Minakov moved forward to attack. Minakov scored a takedown. Kongo tried to move to his feet but Minakov held him down and landed a big series of strikes. Kongo moved to his feet and Kongo took a knee to the cup. The action was halted and Kongo took his time on this one. Kongo was finally ready and Herb Dean took a point from Minakov. Kongo came in with a few hard strikes. Minakov then dropped Kongo. He landed a strike and then grabbed for a leg lock instead. Kongo defended and then tried to grab his own leg lock. Kongo landed a couple of strikes and they traded shots. Minakov gave up on the leg and moved to half guard. He landed some strikes and ended the round on top.

Penick's Scorecard: 9-9. The point deduction hurts him, but that was a fairly strong round for the Champ otherwise.

ROUND TWO: Kongo moved in and scored a takedown after a tentative opening minute. Minakov got back to his feet and turned Kongo around. Minakov landed a knee. He got in another to the body. Kongo reacted like it was a groin shot but Herb Dean said it wasn't. Minakov could have attacked but didn't understand that Dean wasn't stopping it. Kongo got off lucky there and the clock kept running. Kongo landed a jab. Minakov got in a kick. Minakov went back on the attack. He landed a hard right to the back of the ear and Kongo was wobbled. Minakov didn't attack, though, and let him recover. He landed a hard right that hurt him again. Kongo fired out a right. Minakov shot and took him down. He stepped right into mount. Kongo gave up his back. Minakov tossed out strikes under the arm, but Kongo circled out and got to a sprawl. They stood before the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Minakov. He's landing the better strikes, but now he's tiring out, and not taking advantage of a hurt Kongo.

ROUND THREE: Kongo landed a right hand to start the round. He connected with it again. Minakov backed up and Kongo rushed in. He avoided a few strikes, clinched, and scored a takedown into half guard. Kongo got his back to the cage. Minakov held position, but Kongo was sitting upright and not much was being done by either fighter. The crowd started booing. Herb Dean told them to work. Minakov then set back and started unleashing hard strikes that were doing damage. Kongo got to his knees and Minakov lined him up for a knee. He landed one to the body, but Kongo turned him around to get on top himself. Kongo landed a hard knee to the body. Kongo was grabbing Minakov's shorts and Dean kept telling him to stop. Point should have been taken there. Minakov got to his feet and Kongo shot in. Minakov tried to lock him down and they hit a stalemate. Minakov then reversed and got on top into side control. He landed strikes to the body. Kongo was throwing knees back and a few hit Minakov in the head illegally with no warnings. Minakov continued landing body strikes to the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Minakov. He's got all of the legitimate offense in this fight. And Herb Dean really should have taken a point from Kongo that round.

ROUND FOUR: They met at the center of the cage and Kongo wound up scoring the takedown out of the clinch. Minakov got to his knees and tried to reach for a leg. Minakov got to his feet, but Kongo picked him up and dropped him. Kongo landed some short strikes. Dean commented on the short grabbing again, still no point taken! Minakov got to his feet briefly, only to get dragged back down. Kongo landed elbows to the thigh. The action slowed down considerably. Dean gave him a last warning on the shorts. He got in close as Minakov was complaining about the shorts grabbing. Minakov tried to get up, then got taken down again. Kongo did nothing with the position. Minakov again tried to get up only to get dragged down. They were stood up, then Minakov scored a takedown at the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kongo. He did nothing. Minakov did less.

ROUND FIVE: Minakov came straight in, grabbed a leg, and took Kongo down. Kongo just held on tight and tried to force a stand up. Minakov threw some strikes in the half guard as Kongo tried to hold on tight. Minakov landed some body strikes but didn't look to pass at all. The crowd booed mercilessly. This is such a terrible fight. Minakov landed a right, but there was little going on as he just held half guard. Kongo blocked a few strikes. Minakov went back to the body. Minakov finally passed to mount and landed some strikes. Kongo covered up, though. Minakov tried to set up an arm triangle, but lost it, though he got back to mount. Minakov postured up for a few strikes. Kongo continued covering up. Minakov sat up for a few strikes. He ended the round and fight on top, and both guys just stayed down a few beats in exhaustion. Just objectively awful.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Minakov. Had he actually done much damage I'd go 10-8, and I suppose with Kongo doing next to nothing you could go that route. Minakov wins regardless.

WINNER: Minakov via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)

STAR RATING: (*-) One of the worst fights of the year, between the complete exhaustion, the stalled ground action through much of the fight, the poor reffing job from Herb Dean regarding Kongo. It was just bad any way you look at it, and could actually hurt how people look at Minakov even though he dominated the fight.

That's our event tonight! No major MMA the rest of the weekend, but both the UFC and Bellator hit screens next Friday. The UFC is on Fight Pass with UFC Fight Night 39 from Abu Dhabi, with Bellator 116 from California next week on Spike.

ROUNDTABLE: Thoughts on T.J. Dillashaw's chances against Renan Barao in UFC 173 title bout

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 17:10:34 PST

Assess T.J. Dillashaw's chances against Renan Barao for the UFC Bantamweight Championship next month at UFC 173.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Dillashaw is a good fighter, but Barao is one of the best. It's nothing against Dillashaw, but Barao has beaten all challengers and I think that continues. I think Barao's dominance keeps up as he stops Dillashaw in the second round, and possibly the first. I just don't see anybody beating Barao anytime soon. We're witnessing one of the best winning streaks of all-time.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

He is an über underdog who probably stands no chance, but a win for him could rocket him into stardom. Congrats to T.J. For stepping up to take this fight.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Very slim to none. I think this has the potential to be one of the most lopsided title fights in UFC history. Barao is just better every where that the fight can go. Of course, I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt it, Barao is just something else when that cage doors closes.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Regardless of whether TJ Dillashaw deserves the title shot or not, his chances of beating Renan Barao and becoming the new Bantamweight Champion are next to zero. Given the way Barao has dispatched Urijah Faber (twice), Eddie Wineland, and Michael McDonald, this should be one of Barao's easier title defences. I rate T.J. highly, but this has come too soon for him.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

T.J. Dillashaw is a good fighter, but Renan Barao is a great fighter. This fight is too early in the development of Dillashaw, and I do not believe he will have the answers to defeat Barao. Dillashaw is a good wrestler that has developed his striking skills. Barao has good counter wrestling, adjusts quickly between rounds, and has aggressive submission jiu jitsu; so if Dillashaw makes one mistake he will either be knocked out or submitted. At this point in their careers, Barao has more weapons in his arsenal to finish the fight than Dillashaw. Honestly, I cannot foresee Dillashaw being able to hold Barao down and implement ground and pound.

Friday's Bellator 115 event loses Koreshkov-Oropeza and Cramer-Kimball tourney bouts

Thu, 03 Apr 2014 21:00:21 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Tomorrow's Bellator 115 event has lost two of its top fights, as two tournament fights are off the card just 24 hours from the event.

The organization announced on Thursday night that the welterweight tourney semifinal bout between Andrey Koreshkov and Sam Oropeza is off with Koreskov stricken with the flu, while the scheduled middleweight tournament bout between Dan Cramer and Jeremy Kimball has been scrapped with Kimball missing weight badly.

The card will move forward with eight fights tomorrow on Spike TV, headlined by the Heavyweight Championship fight between Cheick Kongo and Vitaly Minakov.

ROUNDTABLE: Thoughts on Rousimar Palhares as WSOF Champ and July matchup with Jon Fitch

Thu, 03 Apr 2014 16:40:44 PST

What are your thoughts on Rousimar Palhares now WSOF Champ, and how do you see his fight with Jon Fitch going in July?

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Palhares is a good fighter, but a dirty one as well. He won the title so he's certainly deserving. I imagine the heads of WSOF will hold their breath every time he fights, though, hoping he doesn't injure someone on national TV. That's not exactly an ideal situation, but it's the reality. As for his fight with Fitch, I think Fitch grinds him down. I think he'll employ the blanket approach and win a very boring decision. Fitch knows how dangerous Palhares is on the ground so he'll try to avoid placing himself in any bad spots. I expect a boring, but safe, fight from Fitch.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I think Rousimar Palhares is a jerk who shouldn't be allowed to fight in any cage for any promotion ever. His negligence towards opponents is sickening; and my knowledge of how painful these holds are tells me one thing: he is either reckless or he doesn't care. Both may hold true but I still believe his violations in conduct (including the Carl fight - the referee had to break his hands) should keep him far from any cage.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

It goes without saying he is the best leg lock artist in MMA today. He went out and did what he always does. I think if Fitch can prove he can escape from the early leg locks that we all know will come, he might have a shot to survive and win.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Though I'm not a fan of Rousimar Palhares, you can't deny he's a beast at 170 lbs. He will cause anyone real trouble in WSOF. I really like the matchup with Jon Fitch. The talent pool within WSOF's welterweight division isn't stacked, so I could see Palhares holding onto the belt for some time (excuse the pun) if he can defeat Fitch, which won't be an easy task!

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Like I said before, Alan Belcher developed the blueprint on how to defeat Palhares, and I think Fitch should train with Belcher prior to his fight with. Fitch is a better wrestler and grappler than Carl and should give Palhares problems if he's able to nullify the heel hook.

STRONG: BAMMA 15 Preview - Three Title bouts highlight 11-fight card in London this weekend

Thu, 03 Apr 2014 12:45:32 PST

By: Tom Strong, MMATorch UK Contributor

The British Asscociaton of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) returns to London, Saturday 5 April at the Copper Box Arena with their latest installment, BAMMA 15, which will feature three titles on the line.

Headlining the main-event card will be two heavyweight debutantes in the Oli Thompson vs. Gzin "The Albanian Psycho" Selmani bout. Ex-UFC fighter Thompson (12-5) started his career as a "Strongman" competitor, going on to win Britain's strongest man in 2006 and then qualifying for the "Worlds Strongest Man" in 2008. Making his MMA debut in 2009, Thompson went onto win the UCMMA heavyweight title before being signed with the UFC. His career in the UFC didn't take off, as he was subsequently released after losses to Shawn Jordan and Phil De Fries.

His opponent, Gzin Selmani (3-1), is the polar opposite. At just 19 years of age, and with only four pro MMA fights behind him, it will be interesting to see how he handles a veteran like Thompson. Selami hasn't seen the third round in any of his four fights, and with Thompson only going to the decision once in his twelve wins, this surely isn't going the distance.

Colin "Freakshow" Fletcher makes another welcome BAMMA appearance on this card when he faces hard hitting American Tony Hervey. Fletcher (9-4), best known for his time on TUF Smashes series where he could be seen mostly dressed as a clown, went onto reach the lightweight final, only to lose to his fellow teammate Norman Parke.

Fletcher is more than just a "freakshow," he's a very highly talented fighter. Though while he was with the UFC we didn't see the best of him, since signing with BAMMA last year Fletcher is starting to show the fans just how talented he is. Coming off a first round defeat to Mansour Barnaoui, in one of the best first round fights I've ever seen, he still looked very impressive. Fletcher will be eager to get back to his winning ways.

Tony Hervey (16-15) Has been in the cage with fighters such as Takanori Gomi, Pat Curran, and a fighter both men have competed and lost to in Mike Ricci. With eleven of his sixteen wins coming via KO/TKO, Hervey will be anxious to keep the fight standing and away from the mat, where Fletcher excels, and where six of his fifteen defeats have come via submission.

Hervey broke his three fight skid last time out, earning a split decision win over Curtis Demarce back in November 2013. Both fighters have completely different styles of fighting, and this will be a fight not to miss.

There will be three BAMMA titles on the line this Saturday night as well. The first will be for the vacant British Middleweight title when recently signed Andy De-Vent takes on Harry McLeman.

The 35-year-old De-Vent (10-8) is undefeated at middleweight and is currently riding a four fight winning streak. His latest win was a first round TKO victory over Andrew Punshon in April 2014. Harry "Mad Mac" McLeman (6-2) has won both of his fights under the BAMMA banner, with victories over Matt Hallam and Matt Howard at BAMMA 13 and 14, respectively.

In the next title bout, Wayne Murrie (17-5-1) will be putting his British welterweight title on the line when he faces Leon Edwards (5-1). Murrie made his debut at BAMMA 15 in December, defeating Michael Johnson inside the first round via submission to capture the welterweight title. His opponent, Leon Edwards, holds an impressive record, with his only blemish a disqualification against Delroy McDowell due to an illegal knee. Since then, he's gone onto a three fight winning streak defeating Jonathan Bilton, Adam Boussif, and Wendle Lewis, finishing all three opponents inside the distance.

This is the fight I'm most looking forward to on this card. Tom "Fire Kid" DuQuesnay vs Teddy Violet for the world featherweight title. Two Frenchman will go head to head to win the vacant title. DuQuesnay (8-1) is a very exciting young prospect. At just 20 years of age and fighting at 145 lbs. he has frightening speed and possesses devastating knockout power, finishing his last two opponents via TKO, including a thirty-four second knockout over Scott Hunt to end his undefeated record.

His opponent and fellow Frenchman Teddy Violet (8-0) is undefeated in his eight pro MMA fights, with five of his eight victories coming in the way of submission.

*MMATorch will covering BAMMA 15 live from the Copper Box Areana on Saturday. Follow me @strong_tea and @mmatorchdan for all the action as the event unfolds.

BAMMA 15 CARD:

• Oli Thompson vs. Gzin Selmani (HW)
• Colin Fletcher vs. Tony Hervey (LW)
• Tom DuQuesnay vs. Teddy Violet - World Featherweight Title.
• Wayne Murrie vs. Leon Edwards - British Welterweight Title.
• Andy De-Vent vs. Harry McLeman - British Middleweight Title
• Ali Arish vs. Ryan Scope (WW)
• Jack Grant vs. Jefferson George (LW)
• Andy Craven vs. Richard Edwards (FW)
• Alex Montagnani vs. Nathan Jones (WW)
• Benny Carr vs. Jacek Toczydlowski (WW)
• Nathaniel Wood vs. Ed Arthur (BW)

• BAMMA 15 WILL BE AIRED LIVE ON 5* WITHIN THE UK, AND AXS-TV IN THE US. For more information on this event go to www.bamma.com

ROUNDTABLE: Most anticipated UFC and Bellator fights in the month of April

Wed, 02 Apr 2014 21:45:43 PST

The UFC has four events this month and Bellator several as well; which fights are you most anticipating in April and why?

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The top three I want to see are Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche from UFC on Fox 11, Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixiera and Joseph Benavidez vs. Tim Elliot from UFC 172 on the UFC side. I think those three fights are going to be really good, and they have title implications for most of them. On the Bellator side, I want to see Rick Hawn vs. Douglas Lima from Bellator 117. There's other Bellator fights I'll watch, but I mainly just hope for good fights in general on those cards. I can't expect them.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Jones vs Teixeira is #1 on my ballot for a calculatedly high amount of reasons. One of them being that I predicted this about three years ago (yeaaahhhhhhhh buddy). I think Glover poses a significantly different threat to Jones than anyone else has - insane one punch killing power. Glover is my pick to win the underdog matchup, and I am stoked for this fight to take place.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The fight I am anticipating the most is the fight between Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum. This is very intriguing as it sets up the next UFC Heavyweight Title fight and I am excited to see how Browne looks as he has been on a tear as of late!

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

With all the events coming up over April I'll have to invest in a new box of matchsticks to keep my eyes open! Though, being English, there is only one fight that I'm really looking forward to, and that's the return of the Michael "The Count" Bisping. I was devastated when his fight with Mark Munoz was cancelled in Manchester due to his eye last year.

It's been a long road back for Michael and to just seen him back inside the Octagon again is a massive plus for the middleweight division. Though I'm not overly keen on the matchup with Tim Kennedy, this could be a good warm up fight for Bisping to get back to winning ways, and put his name back into the title contender mix.

Another fights that has also caught my eye is Roy Nelson vs. Minotauro Nogueira; any fight that involves "Big Country" will always be entertaining. Also, Dustin Proirier vs. Akira Corassani could a real barn burner!

That's not forgetting Bellator 116 when Lavar Johnson takes on the undefeated Bulgarian Blagoi Ivanov!

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I'm looking forward to Werdum vs Browne on Fox, April 19. Werdum has not competed in nearly a year so I want to see how he will look and how much more his muay thai has developed. Travis Browne is always exciting to watch and has now become known for seperating people from consciousness. It will be interesting to see how the fight plays out and what will happen when the two clinch up. I think this will be an entertaining fight.

The other fight I am looking forward to is Jones vs Texeira at UFC 172, April 26. I would like to see how Jones fights after his epic battle with Gustafsson. I am predicting this fight to remain standing because I think Glover is to nasty on the ground with his BJJ. Also what developments Jones has made with his boxing, his lack of head movement resulted in him getting tagged by Gustafsson. Texeira is a more technical boxer with power, albeit slower than Gustafsson. This may be one of the reasons Texeira believes he can knockout Jones. I expect Texeira to push forward and pressure Jones and then try to land a power punch to stun him and follow up with combinations to attempt to take him out.

HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 114 and World Series of Fighting 9

Wed, 02 Apr 2014 11:50:35 PST

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

The UFC was off last weekend, but two events hit the MMA space with Bellator 114 and the World Series of Fighting 9. Let's get straight to it.

Bellator 114

GOOD: Brett Cooper stops Kendall Grove

Cooper almost got stopped by Grove, and he was lucky the fight didn't get stopped. Grove was on top towards the end of the first round and just unloaded a heavy barrage. I honestly thought the ref was going to stop it there, but it was allowed to continue. Grove gassed hard after that, and Cooper took advantage in the second round. Cooper put Grove out with some powerful strikes on the ground.

BAD: Desmond Green vs. Will Martinez and Daniel Weichel vs. Matt Bessette

These fights sucked, plain and simple. They just didn't have the effort you'd expect to see from guys fighting on a card like this and trying to get to a tournament final. It makes you wonder if they even wanted to be there, as they sure didn't act like it. Green and Wiechel won by decisions.

GOOD: Alexander Shlemenko submits Brennan Ward

The first round was sloppy, as Shlemenko was getting wild with his movements, but in the second round he slapped on the submission out of nowhere. It was crazy because it seemed to come out of thin air. A really nice win for Shlemenko, another good finish as he defends his title again. The card definitely needed this, to provide a jolt of excitement after the last two fights.

World Series of Fighting 9

BAD: Ozzy Dugulubgov vs. Johnny Nunez

Nunez won by split decision, but I really couldn't care less. It didn't seem like either guy was going all-out. It's not the worst fight ever, but it wasn't very good. It was just kind of there.

GOOD: Josh Burkman stops Tyler Stinson

Burkman got back to his winning ways with this brutal knockout. He just took Stinson out with a powerful left hook. That ended it right there. It was a good win for Burkman, as it only took him a few minutes to dispatch of Stinson.

GOOD/BAD: Yushin Okami submits Svetlozar Savov

Okami did what he had to against an overmatched opponent. He should have finished him in the first round, but I suppose he didn't want to risk a fluke defeat. The BAD comes from the fact that Okami was even fighting Savov in the first place. The matchup didn't make any sense.

GOOD/BAD: Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Rettinghouse

No question that Moraes dominated this fight. He destroyed the legs of Rettinghouse. Honestly, the fight should have been stopped in the fourth or fifth rounds. Either the corner of Rettinghouse or the ref should have stopped it. He wasn't coming back, there's no way. I do ding Moraes for coasting in the final two rounds. That's just behavior unbecoming of a champion.

I understand not wanting to risk a fluke defeat, but Rettinghouse posed no threat out there. There was no way he was going to win. The only chance Rettinghouse had was if Moraes slipped on a banana peel. Other than that, it was a no-go.

GOOD: Rousimar Palhares submits Steve Carl

Palhares got Carl quick. One second they were rolling then Palhares slapped on that inverted heel hook and Carl had to tap. Steve Carl is a pretty good fighter, and Palhares subbed him with relative ease. It obviously wasn't easy, Palhares just made it look that way. He's a really good fighter. It's just too bad that he has so many issues...

GOOD: Outrage and hypersensitivity about Palhares

Palhares held the submission a few beats too long against Carl. It wasn't anything egregious, but this is Rousimar Palhares. He's under the microscope, and rightly so. He's judged on a different scale than other fighters. This is absolutely justified given his past actions.

We're judged by our past behavior. Other fighters that hold onto submissions too long won't be judged as much as Palhares will. Is that fair? Absolutely, it is. If he hadn't done the things he had in the past, he wouldn't be judged so harshly now. I don't know if Palhares intentionally held onto the submission longer than he should have, and that's the issue. With Palhares we don't know for sure. He's lost the benefit of the doubt. It'll be quite a while before he ever gets it back, if he ever does get it back at all.

*************

Frankie Edgar made some comments recently about how, as a fighter, he doesn't want the ref to step in early to stop the fight if he's really taking a pounding. He said he wants to go limp before the ref stops it. Of course, that brings up the issue of the times where a guy gets knocked out, but takes more punishment which wakes him up.

There's also the problem of long-term health of fighters. They may feel fine now, but what about 10 years from now? I think people should be able to make decisions for themselves, so if a guy wants to get his head beaten in, so be it. I'm sure the UFC feels very different, though, because they don't want that on their hands.

My biggest problem with statements like this, though, is that I don't think they're truly indicative of how most fighters think. I think that most fighters are smart enough to realize the long-term effects of head trauma. However, they can't speak up for fear of being labeled soft or weak.

I think a lot of fighters want to have a life after fighting. They don't want to slur their words or have trouble remembering things or have to deal with persistent headaches. This is why I think an early stoppage is better than a late one. It's not about being tough, it's about being smart.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank

STRONG: Cage Warriors Fight Night 10 Results Breakdown and Review

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 15:15:00 PST

By: Tom Strong, MMATorch UK Contributor

Cage Warriors made a welcome return to our screens this past Friday night with Fight Night 10. It came only six days after holding their last event in Copenhagen, Denmark for CWFC 66 from the King Hussein Youth City Boxing Areana in Amman, Jordan. Though only an eight fight card, it didn't fail to deliver; with seven stoppages and only one fight going to a decision victory, the fans were treated to a great night of fights.

Abu Azaitar Def. Jack Marshman (TKO RD1):

Abu Azaitar (9-2) was making his Cage Warriors debut and headlining in the main event against Jack Marshman (14-5) who stole the show.

Both fighters were eager to make an early impression and came out swinging for the fences, though it was Azaitar who landed first with a left hand that dropped Marshman. It only took Azaitar thirty-four seconds into the first round to make Marc Goddard call a halt to the fight, as he landed a barrage of unanswered blows to the Welshman Marshman, forcing a TKO stoppage.

Marat Pekov Def. John Cullen (SUB RD1):

The co-main event bout pitted bantamweights Marat Pekov and John Cullen against one another. Having lost his last two fights for Cage Warriors, the Russian Pekov (11-5) wasted little time trying to get John Cullen (17-8-2) to the mat. After a few failed attempts, Pekov finally forced the takedown. In position Pekov secured an armbar, though Cullen did a great job defending it, only for Pekov to gain better control and lock in the armbar for the second time. This time, though, Pekov was able to extend the arm forcing Cullen with little option but to tap out.

Pekov picks up his first win under the Cage Warrior banner, and leaves John Cullen with back to back losses.

Malik Merad Def. Mohamed Ali (TKO RD3):

In a very entertaining light-heavyweight battle, Malik Merad (10-6) and Mohamed Ali (18-11) put on two rounds of non-stop action. Mohamed imposed his strength from top position and Merad showed his submission skills, finally edging the fight in the second round with full mount position landing some ground and pound. The fight would end in bizarre fashion at the start of the third round, though. With only nine seconds on the clock in the third, Ali verbally submitted without a punch landing. Though unsure the reason for the verbal tap, it may have been as a result of an eye injury.

Frenchman Malik Merad now extends his winning streak to five fights.

Norman Paraisy Def. Allan Love (UD):

This was the only fight of the night that went the distance. It was Frenchman Norman Paraisy (14-3-2) who took the honours over Allan Love (11-5), taking the decision victory (30-27 x 3) on all three judges score cards.

Paraisy took full advantage of his superior boxing skills, using his jab along with devastating leg kicks, and he took the fight away from Allan Love from the first round on. Paraisy didn't have things all his own way, as Allan would have his moment late into the third round with some submissions attempts, only for the buzzer to sound and Paraisy to take the victory ending Allan Love's five fight streak.

Marcin Lasota Def. Paul Marin (SUB RD1):

Possibly my favourite fight of the night. Though it only lasted three minutes into the first round, it had just about everything. Marcin Lasota (8-0) took control early with a couple takedowns, only for Marin to reverse the positions and then land some heavy blows down onto Lasota.

Lasota stayed calm on his back and managed to secure a triangle choke; Marin, sensing trouble, slammed Lasota to try to break the hold, only to leave an arm out. Lasota went for the armbar/triangle choke, forcing Paul Marin to tap.

Marin denied tapping to the armbar, though replays showed he did actually tap.

Carl Booth Def. Jarrah Ali-Silawi (KO RD1)

Carl Booth (1-0) took only thirty-one seconds to knock out the man from Jordan, Jarrah Ali-Silawi (1-1). Booth, making his pro MMA debut, silenced the noisy crowd when he landed a stunning right hook that landed perfectly to knock Jarrah out.

*Results from the preliminary card saw featherweight Dave Hill submit Miguel Maro via guillotine choke in the second round, and Yazan Janeb defeating Hicham Laghzali via third round TKO.

Main Card Results:

Abu Azaitar def. Jack Marshman (TKO) RD1. 0.34
Marat Pekov def. John Cullen (SUB) RD1. 3.45
Mailk Merad def. Mohamed Ali (SUB) RD3. 0.09
Norman Paraisy def. Allan Love (UD) 30-27 x 3
Marcin Lasota def. Paul Marin (SUB) RD1 3.02
Carl Booth def. Jarrah Al-Silawi (KO) RD1. 0.31

Prelimary Card Results:

Dave Hill def. Miguel Haro (SUB) RD2. 2.11
Yazan Janeb def. Hicham Laghzali (TKO) RD3. 2.57

MMATorch Staff Rankings - April 2014

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:25:00 PST

The following are the MMATorch staff rankings as of April 1, 2014

Pound For Pound

1 Jon Jones
2 Jose Aldo
3 Renan Barao
4 Demetrious Johnson
5 Chris Weidman
6 Anthony Pettis
7 Cain Velasquez
8 Lyoto Machida
9 Johny Hendricks
10 Ben Henderson
11 Alexander Gustafsson
12 Anderson Silva
13 Frankie Edgar
14 Gilbert Melendez
15 Chad Mendes

Others receiving votes: Vitor Belfort, Eddie Alvarez, Daniel Cormier, Michael Chandler, Junior dos Santos, Urijah Faber

Heavyweight

1 Cain Velasquez
2 Junior dos Santos
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Travis Browne
5 Josh Barnett
6 Antonio Silva
7 Alistair Overeem
8 Mark Hunt
9 Stipe Miocic
10 Frank Mir
11 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
12 Roy Nelson
13 Stefan Struve
14 Brendan Schaub
15 Cheick Kongo

Others receiving votes: Gabriel Gonzaga, Vitaly Minakov

Light Heavyweight

1 Jon Jones
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Rashad Evans
4 Phil Davis
5 Glover Teixeira
6 Daniel Cormier
7 Dan Henderson
8 Ryan Bader
9 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
10 Chael Sonnen
11 Quinton Jackson
12 Anthony Johnson
13 Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
14 Emanuel Newton
15 Ovince St. Preux

Others receiving votes: Jimi Manuwa, Wanderlei Silva, Thiago Silva, James Te Huna

Middleweight

1 Chris Weidman
2 Anderson Silva
3 Vitor Belfort
4 Lyoto Machida
5 Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
6 Luke Rockhold
7 Michael Bisping
8 Yushin Okami
9 Gegard Mousasi
10 Mark Munoz
11 Tim Kennedy
12 Alexander Shlemenko
13 Francis Carmont
14 Tim Boetsch
15 Alan Belcher

Others receiving votes: Costa Philippou, Cung Le, CB Dollaway, Mamed Khalidov

Welterweight

1 Johny Hendricks
2 Robbie Lawler
3 Tyron Woodley
4 Carlos Condit
5 Rory MacDonald
6 Hector Lombard
7 Ben Askren
8 Jake Ellenberger
9 Jake Shields
10 Demian Maia
11 Matt Brown
12 Dong Hyun Kim
13 Tarec Saffiedine
14 Rousimar Palhares
15 Douglas Lima

Others receiving votes: Brandon Thatch, Kelvin Gastelum

Lightweight

1 Anthony Pettis
2 Benson Henderson
3 Gilbert Melendez
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Michael Chandler
6 TJ Grant
7 Josh Thomson
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov
9 Nate Diaz
10 Rafael dos Anjos
11 Jim Miller
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Bobby Green
14 Rustam Khabilov
15 Michael Johnson

Others receiving votes: Pat Healy, Myles Jury, Erik Koch

Featherweight

1 Jose Aldo
2 Chad Mendes
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Cub Swanson
5 Ricardo Lamas
6 Pat Curran
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Patricio Friere
9 Daniel Straus
10 Dustin Poirier
11 Dennis Siver
12 Nik Lentz
13 Jeremy Stephens
14 Tatsuya Kawajiri
15 Darren Elkins

Others receiving votes: Hacran Dias, Dennis Bermudez, Shinya Aoki, Clay Guida

Bantamweight

1 Renan Barao
2 Urijah Faber
3 Michael McDonald
4 Raphael Assunção
5 Bibiano Fernandes
6 Eddie Wineland
7 Eduardo Dantas
8 Marlon Moraes
9 Takeya Mizugaki
10 T.J. Dillashaw
11 Iuri Alcantara
12 Marcos Galvao
13 Joe Warren
14 Francisco Rivera
15 Alex Caceres

Others receiving votes: Mike Easton, Bryan Caraway, Jimmie Rivera

Flyweight

1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 John Dodson
4 Ian McCall
5 Zach Makovsky
6 Ali Bagautinov
7 John Moraga
8 John Lineker
9 Jussier Formiga
10 Josh Sampo
11 Louis Smolka
12 Brad Pickett
13 Tim Elliott
14 Chris Cariaso
15 Alptekin Ozkilic

Others receiving votes: Darren Uyenoyama, Louis Gaudinot

Women's Bantamweight

1 Ronda Rousey
2 Cat Zingano
3 Alexis Davis
4 Sara McMann
5 Jessica Eye
6 Sarah Kaufman
7 Miesha Tate
8 Liz Carmouche
9 Lauren Murphy
10 Amanda Nunes

Others receiving votes: Jessica Andrade, Rin Nakai

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Keeping Tabs On The UFC Flyweight Division 3/31: Mighty Mouse, Dodson, and the UFC's top 15 flyweights

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:45:49 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

We’re back on the rotation in our “Keeping Tabs On…” series, where we break down the UFC’s Top 15 ranked fighters in each division. We'll let you know where we've got them ranked, what they've got coming up, how often they've been competing, what we've said about them recently at MMATorch, and more. We get back on track today with the flyweight division.

Champ: Demetrious Johnson

MMATorch Rank: 1
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Joseph Benavidez (Win), UFC on Fox 9
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Current Champ
What We're Saying: "Johnson just keeps getting better every time out. Given Johnson's grappling game and his revamped striking game, he'll be heavily favored into this one." - Jamie Penick

1. John Dodson

MMATorch Rank: 3
Next Fight: John Moraga, UFC Fight Night, June 7
Previous Fight: Darrell Montague (Win), UFC 166
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Right back in the mix, could be a fight or two from another title bout
What We're Saying: "Dodson returns for the first time since an October knockout over Darrell Montague. He had been scheduled to face Scotty Jorgensen at UFC on Fox 9 in December, but a knee injury pushed him off the card. Now he's ready to return, and he'll take on the man who fell to Demetrious Johnson after him in Moraga." - Jamie Penick

2. Joseph Benavidez

MMATorch Rank: 2
Next Fight: Tim Elliott, UFC 172, April 26
Previous Fight: Demetrious Johnson (Loss), UFC on Fox 9
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Falling, decisive second loss to the Champ makes his path harder
What We're Saying: "Benavidez gets back on the horse after his second loss to Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson last December. The brutal knockout was the first time he'd ever been stopped, and was his third loss in title fights dating back to his time in the WEC." - Jamie Penick

3. Ian McCall

MMATorch Rank: 4
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Iliarde Santos (Win), UFC 163
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Stagnant, bounced back after a three-fight winless stretch, needs more wins to be a contender
What We're Saying: "That's an unfortunate loss to this card. That would have been a great flyweight matchup, and a serious test for Pickett in his 125 lb. debut." - Jamie Penick

4. John Moraga

MMATorch Rank: 7
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Dustin Ortiz (Win), UFC Fight Night 35
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 7
Contender Status: Stagnant, needs more wins to get back up to title level
What We're Saying: "The 30-year-old Moraga got a UFC Title fight last July after only two wins in the organization, but he was soundly defeated and ultimately submitted in the fifth round by Johnson. Moraga returned in January of this year, defeating Dustin Ortiz in a controversial split decision." - Jamie Penick

5. Ali Bagautinov

MMATorch Rank: 6
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: John Lineker (Win), UFC 169
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 9
Contender Status: Rising, nearing title contention
What We're Saying: "Bagautinov has worked himself into contention on the strength of three straight wins in the UFC, which moved his overall winning streak to eleven fights. The 28-year-old moved to 13-2 overall with those wins over Marcos Vinicius, Tim Elliott, and most recently, John Lineker." - Jamie Penick

6. Jussier Formiga

MMATorch Rank: 10
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Scott Jorgensen (Win), UFC Fight Night 38
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Rising, but well away from contention
What We're Saying: "Formiga's memory of the knockdown is flat out wrong given we saw the video evidence of the headbutt on Sunday's broadcast. It's certainly unfortunate for Jorgensen to have had that be what sent him down in the first place, but Formiga did what he needed to do in order to capitalize from there." - Jamie Penick

7. John Lineker

MMATorch Rank: 8
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Ali Bagautinov (Loss), UFC 169
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Falling, loss and weight cutting issues hurt his status
What We're Saying: "John Lineker has all the talent in the world but he is not, repeat he is NOT, a contender. He's never made 125 lbs. on the dot, he's missed weight three times. He almost missed weight [for UFC 169]. He just lost to the number six guy in the division, he's not a contender." - Rich Hansen

8. Tim Elliott

MMATorch Rank: 11
Next Fight: Joseph Benavidez, UFC 172, April 26
Previous Fight: Ali Bagautinov (Loss), UFC 167
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Falling, back into the pack after the loss to Bagautinov
What We're Saying: "Elliott... hopes to bounce back from his loss in November to Ali Bagautinov. Elliott had won his previous two fights into UFC 167, but was out-classed en route to a decision loss." - Jamie Penick

9. Chris Cariaso

MMATorch Rank: 13
Next Fight: Louis Smolka, UFC Fight Night 40
Previous Fight: Danny Martinez (Win), UFC 169
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Stagnant, but unlikely to fight for a title
What We're Saying: "Cariaso's been a part of the roster in the UFC's lower weight classes for some time now, going 3-1 in their bantamweight division before dropping down to flyweight, where he's won three of five fights. He's lost in the division to top ten fighters John Moraga and Jussier Formiga, but he's won two straight fights into this event over Iliarde Santos and, most recently, Danny Martinez." - Jamie Penick

10. Zach Makovsky

MMATorch Rank: 5
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Josh Sampo (Win), UFC 170
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Rising, very close to contention
What We're Saying: "Zach Makovsky took the clear decision over Josh Sampo, who fought well and made it close, but there's no doubt that Makovsky won. Makovsky moves closer to a title shot, but it's going to be hard to unseat UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson." - Frank Hyden

11. Brad Pickett

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Neil Seery (Win), UFC Fight Night 37
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Made successful debut, needs consistency to make a run
What We're Saying: "The UFC wanted to book [Pickett vs. McCall] before, and it still makes sense now after the London event. Putting it in Germany or Ireland certainly works if they want to keep Pickett as a part of their EMEA tour, and really it's just a sensible fight at this stage." - Jamie Penick

12. Louis Gaudinot

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked (received votes)
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Phil Harris, UFC Fight Night 37
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 3
Contender Status: Stagnant, bounced back from a loss
What We're Saying: "
There were three first round finishes as Louis Gaudinot submitted Phil Harris, Luke Barnatt stopped Mats Nilsson, and Ilir Latifi submitted Cyrille Diabete. I always love a finish." - Frank Hyden

13. Scott Jorgensen

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked (received votes)
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Jussier Formiga (Win), UFC Fight Night 38
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Falling, close to release
What We're Saying: "Jorgensen definitely has a leg to stand on with this appeal. The California State Athletic Commission overturned Robbie Peralta's win over Mackens Semerzier on the basis of an uncalled headbutt, and it's clear given the replay that the driving force of the headbutt did the most damage to Jorgensen here." - Jamie Penick

14. Dustin Ortiz

MMATorch Rank: Not ranked
Next Fight: Alptekin Ozkilic, UFC Fight Night 39
Previous Fight: John Moraga (Loss), UFC Fight Night 35
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Stagnant, had a good showing in a close fight with Moraga
What We're Saying: "Flyweights Alptekin Ozkilic and Dustin Ortiz will try to get back on track after decision losses in their last outings. Ozkilic fell to impressive newcomer Louis Smolka, while Ortiz had a seeming win taken away by controversial scorecards against John Moraga." - Jamie Penick

15. Darrell Montague

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked (received votes)
Next Fight: Kyoji Horiguchi, UFC Fight Night 40
Previous Fight: John Dodson (Loss), UFC 166
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Stagnant, lost to a top competitor, still well regarded
What We're Saying: "Montague is returning to action for the first time since his short notice debut last fall, where he was knocked out by top contender John Dodson. He was supposed to fight in March against Will Campuzano, but an injury pushed his second appearance back." - Jamie Penick

MMATorch Interview: Plymouth's Harry McLeman gunning for Middleweight Title at BAMMA 15 this weekend

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:10:05 PST

By: Dan Moore, MMATorch Columnist

I'm from Plymouth, Devon, a relatively isolated city in the South-West of England, two-hundred plus miles from London. Readers in the United States will think nothing of two-hundred miles, but it's all relative to the size of our respective countries. With it being so isolated, historically, it hasn't been a proven breeding ground for nationally or internationally recognised sporting superstars.

Sharron Davies (Swimming), Trevor Francis (Football), and most recently Tom Daley (Diving) have all had great success at home and abroad. In a few years time, Plymouth native Harry McLeman might very well be another name added to that illustrious list. The highly touted middleweight prospect fights for the British Lonsdale Middleweight Championship this weekend on an excellent looking BAMMA 15 card taking place in London, England.

I caught up with Harry last week and this is what he had to say:

Dan Moore: Taking things back to the start, you used to be in the Armed Forces (RAF Regiment), how long did you serve for?

Harry McLeman: I did about four and a half years from 2004 until 2008. I was based at RAF Honington in Suffolk. I made some good friends and had some good experiences but I'm glad I'm away from it now if I'm honest. I'm quite happy with how my life is at the moment.

Like many others is that how you got into MMA?

No, I did a little bit of Boxing when I was in the Military but to be honest when I left in 2008, heading into 2009 I wasn't doing an awful lot. Obviously I was working but I needed something else. I slipped off the rails a little bit because when I left it was exactly when the recession kicked in and it was a rough time. Then I found MMA and it sort of worked itself out after that and it has been good for me.

You only made your professional debut in October 2011. Did you think it would take longer to get to where you are now?

Yeah I'm surprised at just how quickly I've progressed, but, I train hard and I work hard, so if you take care of yourself the more you put in, the more you get out.

Going into your BAMMA debut against Scott Askham (as a replacement), you only had three professional fights (all first round submission wins) under you belt. In hindsight was that fight too much, too soon?

Yeah I suppose so. Look, Scott is a fantastic fighter, but going in I had nothing to lose by fighting him. The way I saw it, it was a way of getting my foot through the door because it's not easy to get on a show like BAMMA. I originally wasn't supposed to be fighting Scott because he was fighting some other guy whose name I forget. I was supposed to fight Bola Omoyele (he of TUF Smashes fame) but he got injured so they asked me if I would fight Scott. I just wanted the opportunity to fight on BAMMA, and, if I had to choose again I would [do the same]. The way I see it, it has got me to where I am now. It's been a pretty good move for me. I learned a lot fighting a World Champion and I went the best part of three-rounds with him.

You're 6-2 and on a two-fight win streak, so whatever you're doing in training is paying dividends, but do you think you'll have to leave Plymouth in order to progress your career?

Danny Mcmillan is a really really great coach who's much underrated. He's a [Jiu Jitsu] black belt under Royce Gracie and for me he just doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Royce comes over [to help out] and it's great. I will look at traveling and spending time at other gyms, but I don't feel the need to move; not right now. There's just no point in going all the way to [somewhere like] London. If I was going to move I would just go to the States.

Is moving to the States something you've seriously considered?

Yeah I've thought about it, but it's got to be for all the right reasons, not just for the sake of going out there. It's a massive decision and it's got to be right for me.

I was in Birmingham for BAMMA 14 and you were very good against Matt Howard, earning a decision win. Matt's a striker and you had a clear game plan to neutralise his stand-up. When you watched the fight back, how did you assess your performance?

Yes but I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't get the finish. Fair play to Matt, his ground game was a lot better than I expected. I didn't necessarily go into the fight with a game plan, but straight away I realised he hit hard. Like I said, I don't go into a fight with a game plan, but, I knew early I could win the fight using my grappling skills. In hindsight I should've caught him in the first-round, but he was a really tough opponent and he fought really well. I'm glad it was a tough fight because I learned an awful lot and I feel like I've improved an awful lot because of it.

Do you ever study opponents or just concentrate on yourself?

I've hardly watched my last two opponents. Before I fought Matt I probably watched about a minute [of him fighting]. At this level people change so fast and I also feel I've changed a lot since my last fight. People who watched my fight(s) against Scott [Askham], or Matt [Howard] will see I'm a completely different fighter. That's MMA as a whole, and even the top level guys are constantly changing things, learning new techniques. That's the beauty of it so I just concentrate on myself.

Andy De-Vent (BAMMA 15 opponent) isn't too dissimilar to Matt Howard in the fact he's a known striker. However, he's also got more of a recognized ground game and is very experienced. Do you see this fight playing out the same way as your last?

I expect to win the fight. I know he's pretty good in most areas but I know I'm that bit better. He's been around a while and is very experienced which goes a long way. I expect a tough fight but I fully expect to come out on top. I won't be making the same mistakes I did in the last fight. If I mount him, I won't give up mount so easily and I intend to finish the fight from there.

Being patient and establishing position rather than go straight for the finish?

Yeah exactly, it was only my third fight on BAMMA and it's such a big occasion that the nerves kick in and you do get over excited. Even though he's got the [fight] experience, I've fought for BAMMA three times and I know what it's like in that sort of environment. It's a big change and completely different to fighting on a local show.

With a win in this fight and the British title in the bank, I think it would set you up nicely for a rematch with Scott Askham for the BAMMA World Championship. Does that appeal to you?

It does, and Scott is a really great fighter. To be honest though, I think he's probably one fight away from the UFC. I would like a rematch with him which obviously would be a really tough fight. If I win the belt I'd like to defend it too. Jack Marshman defended it and I'd like to defend it three or four times and leave my legacy on the belt.

On Saturday you're going to be fighting at a London 2012 Olympic venue (Copper Box Arena). You must be really looking forward to that?

I honestly can't wait. If you'd have said to me before I took the fight with Scott [Askham] that this time next year, you'll be fighting in an Olympic venue and for the British title, I'd have laughed in your face. I wouldn't have believed you and it just goes to show how great BAMMA are. For me they are the best show (promoters) in the country.

Where do you see yourself three-years from now?

It's got to be the UFC. No one gets involved in Mixed Martial Arts and solely wants to fight on any other show except the UFC. If I keep on winning, keep training hard and keep improving, that's a realistic goal for me because the UFC are really targeting Europe. As long as I get to showcase my skills on a show like BAMMA, with all the exposure I get, it's really great.

Good luck with everything and thanks for speaking to MMATorch. Is there anyone you'd like to thank?

Firstly I'd like to thank BAMMA for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank Danny Mcmillian, Royce Gracie and everyone else at the academy. My sponsors have been absolutely fantastic like Discount MMA, British Fighter and Jeff from JY Nutrition. I'd also like to thank my girlfriend Nese who has really been there for me; she's the backbone of the operation. Finally to Adam Domyslawski who's my conditioning coach and one of the very best in the business, because what he's done for me, has been nothing short of tremendous.

Follow Harry on Twitter @harrymadmac, and follow me @MMATorchDan

Roufusport kickboxer Dennis Munson passes away following Friday night bout in Milwaukee

Sun, 30 Mar 2014 10:05:05 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Terribly sad news out of Milwaukee, Wis., this weekend, as Roufusport kickboxer Dennis Munson passed away early Saturday morning following a bout Friday night with Mike Vang for kickboxing promotion Knockout Kings.

The promotion was at a loss for words and explanation after the event, but they made a statement on Saturday and set up a memorial fund for Munson's family at KOKings.tv. Here's their statement:

"Our community, our family, has suffered a devastating loss.

For reasons still unknown to the medical staff that treated him and tried so valiantly to save him, Dennis Munson passed away in the early hours of Saturday, March 28 at Mt. Sinai Hospital. His family was at his side, as were many members of his Roufusport family.

Words can not describe the utter sadness and emptiness felt at this time. Our deepest condolences and most heartfelt sympathy go out to his family and everyone who knew and loved Dennis.

All we can do is wish Dennis God speed and honor his memory by always giving 100% in whatever it is you choose to do in life.

A special fund has been established by Roufusport to help the Munson family pay for burial costs. Please give what you can and share this link.

Dennis Munson, we will all miss you very much."

According to an eyewitness in the crowd Friday night, in a statement made to BloodyElbow.com, something was very off in Munson's body language going into the final round of the fight, and it was a short time thereafter that he passed away at the hospital.

"He shouldn't have been allowed out there for the third round," The anonymous eyewitness stated. "It's hard to describe, but at the end of the second [round] he seemed to have gassed very very hard. And when he came out for the third he had his hands down virtually the whole time. When his opponent was trying to strike him he fell into the ropes every time. [He] didn't throw a single punch and barely covered up. But his mannerisms were of someone who was delirious. Like, he had no idea what was going on, where he was, and just on his last breath of life. Seriously. I've never seen someone like that before. I've seen guys get KO'd standing and still walk around, but not like this.

"I turned to my friend as soon as the bell rang of the third round and said, 'We just watched a guy die.' And I'm really sad that it was true."

Penick's Analysis: Without knowing the exact circumstances that went into Munson's collapse, and without a medical report to go off of, it's irresponsible to speculate on just what exactly happened here and what caused this tragedy. All we can do at this moment is extend our sincere condolences to his family and the Roufusport community.

WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING 9 LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round report for "Carl vs. Palhares" event

Sat, 29 Mar 2014 22:35:25 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING 9
MARCH 29, 2014
LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

-Todd Harris opens up the broadcast and runs down the fights that are coming up on tonight's card before throwing right to the first fight of the night.

FIGHT ONE: OZZY DUGULUBGOV VS. JOHNNY NUNEZ (LIGHTWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Nunez came out swinging. Dugulubgov threw a hard kick to the body, but Nunez caught it and shot in. After a brief delay, he completed the takedown. He passed to half guard. Dugulubgov worked to his feet but Nunez pressured back to the cage. Dugulubgov tried a trip but Nunez popped back up off a counter. Dugulubgov had double underhooks and landed a hard knee at the cage. Nunez fired off a couple of his own. Nunez tried to power out but was kept on the cage. Dugulubgov tried and failed to complete a trip, but he dropped for a double leg and finished it at the cage. Nunez tried to set up for a guillotine, but was in a bad position for it. Dugulubgov tried to pull him off the cage, then dropped for a leg lock. Nunez easily got out and got to his feet, but Dugulubgov was right back on him with double underhooks in the clinch. Dugulubgov scored a second takedown just before the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-10. Very little actually happened that round. Nunez started well with his early takedown and a bit of damage on the ground, then Dugulubgov controlled the clinch and scored two more takedowns to even things up.

ROUND TWO: Nunez shot in early, and as Dugulubgov tried to sprawl, Nunez latched on a D'Arce choke. Dugulubgov defended well and Nunez lost the hold after a bit. Dugulubgov drove forward and took Nunez down at the cage. Nunez looked to his corner, then tried to lock on a guillotine, but Dugulubgov easily got free and transitioned to his back. He got both hooks in and flattened Nunez out. He went for a choke but didn't get it. Nunez managed to escape as Dugulubgov got high on his back. He came forward with a short combination but it was right back into the clinch. They traded knees to the body. Dugulubgov dropped down and eventually completed a takedown before the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Dugulubgov. Another close round, as Nunez had the close D'Arce choke attempt, but then spent much of the round with Dugulubgov on his back. Could be another 10-10 because of that; neither has pulled away, but Nunez being in disadvantageous positions won't help him.

ROUND THREE: Dugulubgov landed an uppercut and then a high kick, but Nunez blocked it. Nunez then shot in, picked Dugulubgov up and slammed him down. He worked in some ground and pound from half guard. Nunez tried to work in some eblows, but nothing he was throwing had much behind it. Nunez tried to pass out of the half guard, but Dugulubgov had his leg caught. Dugulubgov tried to get up but Nunez powered him right back to the mat. Nunez got in an elbow as he continued trying to stay busy from the top. He landed a few more. Dugulubgov tried to grab for a leg lock but Nunez stepped out. Dugulubgov got to his knees and shot in. Nunez grabbed for a head lock but Dugulubgov stayed on the takedown attempt. He eventually dragged Nunez to the ground with less than a minute left. He took Nunez's back, but he couldn't do much from there. Nunez threw some strikes behind him. He tried to turn and roll Dugulubgov over and they slammed to the ground. Dugulubgov held position to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Nunez. Evened things up for me. I have this a draw, though 29-28 either way is feasible depending on how the first round was scored.

WINNER: Nunez via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (*+) Not a good fight, though a little surprised by the scores there. 30-27 means Nunez got that second round, which I suppose I can see on the closeness of the D'Arce attempt, but he was also on the defensive for most of that round. It was just a bad fight regardless.

FIGHT TWO: JOSH BURKMAN VS. TYLER STINSON (WELTERWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Stinson took the center to start. Burkman jumped in with a big right and Stinson returned fire. Burkman tossed out a side kick but Stinson side-stepped it. Todd Harris continued saying Burkman was a former Champion hoping to get his title back. Obviously missed where his fight with Carl was for the Inaugural Welterweight Title in the WSOF. Burkman landed a body strike and Stinson countered. Stinson landed a couple of strikes as Burkman tried to move on. He used his reach well again for another combo. Burkman landed a right. Stinson tossed out a couple of kicks. Burkman landed a brutal left hook and Stinson went down. He landed another punch on the ground but Stinson was out and the ref stepped in. Nice finish from Burkman to get back in the win column.

WINNER: Burkman via KO at 2:15 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**+) Really nice knockout from Burkman, but man, Todd Harris' commentary is so bad it's distracting. Had he called Burkman a former Champion once, or if he had corrected himself after the mistake it'd be one thing, but continuously driving home the idea that Burkman lost a title to Carl when that was the Inaugural title fight at 170 lbs. for WSOF is ridiculous. That he actually called that fight makes the mistake inexcusable, especially repeated. It's also far from his first errors in this position, and it should be getting embarrassing to listen to at this stage for NBCSN and the WSOF.

FIGHT THREE: YUSHIN OKAMI VS. SVETLOZAR SAVOV (MIDDLEWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Okami is a hulking beast compared to Savov. Looks like a middleweight against a welterweight at best here. Savov lunged in with a right hand. They wound up clinching in the center, and Okami scored an early takedown into side control. Savov grabbed a leg to get it to half guard, but Okami quickly passed to mount. Okami went to set up an arm triangle choke but Savov escaped the hold and the mount back to half guard. Okami passed back to full mount. Okami sat up to land strikes. Savov desperately tried to get into a better position. Okami got some space to drop a few strikes. Okami got high in the guard and landed a series of big strikes. Savov briefly got it to half guard again in a scramble, but Okami moved back and landed strikes to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Okami. I don't know if there was enough offense to warrant a 10-8, but it was close.

ROUND TWO: Savov threw a kick that didn't hit a target. Okami sidestepped a strike and essentially body checked Savov to the cage. He stalked, closed the distance, grabbed a clinch, scored another trip takedown, and quickly passed around to north-south. It shifted to side control and right back to mount for Okami. This is such a ridiculous matchup. Savov tried to buck Okami off but failed. He shifted between holding on for dear life and trying to buck out, while Okami continued to work from the top. Okami landed a big right, then a few strikes in combination. He tried to sit up to land more strikes. Savov continued trying to buck him off to no avail. Okami landed a hard right hand. He shoved his face down and landed a few strikes. He got in with several elbows as well. Okami tried to grab a side choke, but Savov got loose. Okami got too high with the mount and Savov escaped, but Okami immediately dropped back down to mount. Okami went to the arm triangle choke again. This time he locked it on and secured it, forcing the tap.

WINNER: Okami via submission (arm triangle choke) at 4:46 of the second round

STAR RATING: (n/a) Is there anything to take away from a fight like that? Okami is still a top ten middleweight in the world, and he did as expected against a name few had heard prior to tonight. It's sad that this is the level of fighter he'll be facing at this stage, but all that performance did was solidify that Okami's just infinitely better than the random opponent he was booked against.

FIGHT FOUR: MARLON MORAES VS. JOSH RETTINGHOUSE (BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

ROUND ONE: Moraes opened up with a brutal leg kick. Then he knocked Rettinghouse down with a left hook. Rettinghouse covered up well. Moraes attacked with a few more strikes, but Rettinghouse regained his composure in a sprawl. He grabbed for a single leg and got to his feet. Moraes missed a right but hurt Rettinghouse with a left. Rettinghouse covered up again as Moraes threw out some more strikes. Back to a bit of a sprawl from Moraes as Rettinghouse grabbed his leg. Moraes tried to set up a rear naked choke in a very awkward position but couldn't. Rettinghouse got him turned around and scored a takedown of his own. Rettinghouse landed a couple of strikes. He landed a hard forearm. Moraes went for a leg lock but Rettinghouse broke free and got to his feet. Moraes landed a hard uppercut. Rettinghouse shot in under a strike but got stuffed. Rettinghouse landed a leg kick and Moraes grazed him with a counter right. Moraes checked a leg kick. Moraes threw a spinning kick to the body. Rettinghouse slipped on a kick but popped up. They traded blows at the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Moraes. Strong opening round. Rettinghouse is tough, though. He took some big shots and regained his composure well.

ROUND TWO: Rettinghouse briefly caught a kick to the body. Rettinghouse landed a hard body kick. Moraes kicked out his back leg with a hard strike. Rettinghouse popped back up, though. The action slowed down as things took a tentative turn. Moraes got in with a leg kick. Rettinghouse got in a knee to the body. They traded a few kicks, but things were slowed significantly down from the first round. Moraes landed hard kick to the lead leg. Rettinghouse threw out a push kick. Rettinghouse popped in with a couple of strikes. Rettinghouse threw a side kick to the body. Rettinghouse shot in with a single, but Moraes got in a kick and helf off the attempt. Moraes landed another leg kick. Moraes landed a hard left hook. Rettinghouse threw up his arms like it did nothing, but his initial reaction betrayed that idea. The round came to a close.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Moraes. Did the more significant damage, but not much at all happened that round.

ROUND THREE: They traded jabs. Moraes landed a hard leg kick. He tossed out another kick to the body. Rettinghouse shot in but got stuffed. Rettinghouse landed a right. Moraes connected to the nose and Rettinghouse was bleeding out of his nose. Moraes started going back to the lead leg with kicks and Rettinghouse was hurting. He landed another to that lead leg. Brutal accumulation of strikes to that leg. Yet another and Rettinghouse grimaced and grabbed at the leg. Moraes continued the assault as Rettinghouse changed stances to protect that leg. Moraes landed a combo and hurt Moraes with a left. He had to switch back and took another kick to that left leg. Moraes landed a jab. Moraes scored with a hard right hook to the body. He's just picking Rettinghouse apart this round. He landed another nasty leg kick. Moraes stalked and landed another. He missed a spinning wheel kick. He landed a hard leg kick and caught him with a brutal knee to the face as Rettinghouse shot in. Rettinghouse covered up and Moraes landed some brutal knees to thebody. Moraes grabbed for a choke late but Rettinghouse survived to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Moraes. Just a dissection, and I'm shocked Rettinghouse is still walking right now.

ROUND FOUR: Moraes damaged the leg again and Rettinghouse dropped to his back. He scooted forward and tried to goad Moraes in. He finally got to his feet and came forward with a head kick. Extremely gutsy from Rettinghouse, who refuses to go away. He shot in, but Moraes worked out. Moraes dropped him with a straight left counter. He dropped to his back and butt scooted, but Moraes backed up. Rettinghouse finally stood again. He landed a right. Rettinghouse threw a right kick and his left knee buckled. Moraes landed a hard kick as Rettinghouse scooted again. He hopped back up. He's going to have serious leg damage after this. Moraes landed a short combo, countering a left thrown. Moraes landed a jab. Moraes landed a kick and stuffed a shot. Moraes wasn't doing a ton at this stage, just picking spots to attack and not leaving any openings. Moraes countered a couple of strikes and landed a few hard rights and lefts of his own. He landed a kick to the right leg as Rettinghouse switched stances again. Moraes landed a hard right hand. Rettinghouse slipped on a spinning kick at the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Moraes. This is just dragging out now. Moraes is in clear control and isn't doing any more than he needs to. Most fighters would be done by now, but give Rettinghouse credit for his guts here. This is brutal damage to his legs.

ROUND FIVE: Moraes stuffed a shot and landed a hard strikes. Rettinghouse missed a high kick. Moraes landed a kick to the right leg again. Rettinghouse threw out a couple punches and kicks. Moraes nearly buckled him again with another kick. Moraes landed a punch to the body. Moraes popped in with a couple of strikes. Moraes landed another leg kick. Rettinghouse shot in and was forcefully shoved back. Back to that left leg with a couple more kicks and Rettinghouse dropped, but again got to his feet. Rettinghouse tossed out a kick to the body. He threw a high kick but it looked like his leg went out on him. Still, he got back up to his feet with a minute left. Moraes landed a hard body punch. He landed another body punch. He threw a really nice jumping spin kick to the head, but Rettinghouse blocked it. Moraes finally shot in and scored a takedown and landed some strikes on the ground to end the fight.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Moraes. He played it safe, which is fine, even if it wasn't that enjoyable down the stretch. That third round was a thing of violent beauty, but he just held back a bit from then on. As for Rettinghouse, he really should have just let things be after that third round. Proving your toughness is fine to a point, but he risked serious damage that could keep him out a significant amount of time by continuing.

WINNER: Moraes via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)

STAR RATING: (**) Moraes really did look like he was trying not to permanently injure Rettinghouse down the stretch, because he probably could have. He knew he was well ahead, and didn't get overly aggressive, while still firing out enough strikes to take each round. Still, the last ten minutes ranged from kind of dull to uncomfortable, and Rettinghouse's corner, the ref, the doctors, etc., should have probably just saved him from himself.

MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: STEVE CARL VS. ROUSIMAR PALHARES (WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

ROUND ONE: Carl walked out and threw an overhand right, but Palhares just shot in and scored a takedown. Carl grabbed the arms and tried to hold him in tight in his guard. Carl went for the triangle, but Palhares got out and grabbed for the leg lock. They rolled a couple of times, but he locked on the heel hook and Carl tapped quickly. Thankfully Palhares let it go as the ref got in. He held on maybe an extra second, but nothing like the Pierce fight last year. Still, it's touchy enough he should almost face sanctions again. It's just ridiculous because it happens far too often.

WINNER: Palhares via submission (inverted heel hook) at 1:09 of the first round

STAR RATING: (*) It is what it is. Palhares once again didn't release a hold on a vehement tap, and it took a somewhat aggressive stop by the ref for him to release. On replay it looked worse than it did live, and though it's not near as egregious as the Pierce hold last October, the fact that it continues happening is just unacceptable. He's lost any benefit of the doubt on these holds, and that another fighter came up limping and possibly injured as Carl appeared is condemnation enough.

ROUNDTABLE: Predictions for WSOF 9's Steve Carl vs. Rousimar Palhares title bout

Sat, 29 Mar 2014 16:05:08 PST

How do you think the WSOF title fight between Steve Carl and Rousimar Palhares plays out?

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The best blueprint to beating Palhares was exhibited by Alan Belcher; know how to calmly get out of a heel hook or leg lock then knock Toquinho out. Or Carl could work up a good sweat (or allegedly grease) like Nate Marquardt and quickly slip out of the heel hook then TKO Palhares as he looks away and complains to the referee. Or yet still, Carl also has the option of forcing him against the fence and teeing off on him like Hector Lombard.

However, the most likely scenario for Steve Carl is to use his length and reach advantage to maintain distance. Then cautiously push a pace to tire Palhares while striking on the feet. Since Rousimar Palhares is a specialist, if Carl can successfully prevent Toquinho from jumping guard and thus frustrate him, then Carl could find a window to string together shots for the knockout.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Palhares has a plethora of advantages against Carl, but that doesn't mean Carl won't win. Carl has defied odds before but in the end I just believe solidly we see Rousimar "Break Your Ankle" Palhares win a belt here and it's sickening. Carl has a chance, but he has to keep it standing, otherwise the proverbial poop hits the fan.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I still think it was a mistake for the UFC to get rid of Palhares, but I see why they did that. I'm going to be original and say that Palhares wins via submission.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Carl takes it. Unfortunately, I think all eyes will be on Palhares to see how he handles himself. It's sad that this guy is getting another opportunity so soon after acting like a complete thug. We'll see what happens, but I think Carl will be able to get the decision win. I think they go back and forth for a while, being really tentative, but Carl does enough to get the decision. He should be hesitant to engage on the ground so he'll likely keep the fight standing. I hope nothing bad happens, but you never know. Palhares should be on his best behavior, though, and I think that slow him down enough that Carl edges him.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

As an MMA fan I'm really looking forward to Steve Carl vs. Rousimar Palhares. WSOF are heading in the right direction with the talent they have on their roster, and the shows they're putting on. Both fighters have a combined twenty-six submissions victories between them. Carl (21-3) who became the first ever WSOF welterweight champion by defeating Josh Burkman in October 2013, will have his hands full when he faces the recently released UFC fighter Rousimar Palhares (15-5).

Palhares isn't a fighter I hold in high regard. Mike Pierce tapped eight times to Palhares before he decided it was time to let go off the heel hook. This forced the UFC to take again and release him from his contract. Thus this not being the first time it happened! Prior to this he failed a drug test for elevated testosterone levels after his loss to Hector Lombard back in 2012. There just isn't a place for this in MMA, I hope for one, this is a wake up call he needs to turn himself around.

Like many bouts when two athletes are so equal in one department we see a completely different fight. In this case I see this being no different. A stand up fight could take place here, and if that's the case it's a coin toss.

Prediction: Steve Carl by decision

ASK MMATORCH: Reader questions regarding heavyweight pound for pound discrimination, Ronda Rousey's pay in the UFC

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 23:25:24 PST

Welcome to another edition of "Ask MMATorch," where Torch Editor Jamie Penick and Torch Columnist Rich Hansen answer reader questions on the world of MMA. If you have a question you'd like addressed by either of them, make sure to send it in to askmmatorch@gmail.com. The more questions we receive, the more frequently we can run this feature!

Ryan F. Writes: Do you think that heavier fighters are discriminated against on the pound for pound list? I'm a big JDS fan and it took me a while to give Cain Velasquez the respect he deserves, but I feel he still hasn't earned it on that list. He's technical, finishes fights, dominates every opponent, and there are close to no challengers left for him. The list is just for fun but do you feel he's deserving of a higher spot?

MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen Answers: Just to get this out of the way, the question is impossible to answer. Both literally and literally figuratively impossible to answer. for as many people there are who have pound for pound lists, there are that many definitions of what pound for pound means. But to narrow it down to the most convenient terms possible, three are two basic camps; who would win in a fight if two fighters weighed the same, and who has the better resume (i.e., history of dominance) in their own weight class. Most people who put together pound for pound lists would use both of those constraints, on a sliding scale. When I do my list, I go big time on the latter. To me, P4P is a subjective listing of the fighters who are most dominant in their own weight class, but I do believe that one of my subliminal tiebreakers is to side with the smaller fighter. The reason being, if Cain Velasquez fought Demetrious Johnson ten times, who would win more fights? the answer, of course, is Cain Velasquez, who would win the series 1 to 0 (as Johnson would be dead after the first fight in the series, he would not be alive to compete nine more times).

MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick Answers: I think there's certainly some discrimination inherent in the pound for pound list. Those in lower weight classes, especially those who seem to have an ability to fight in numerous weight classes, will get more recognition on the pound for pound list strictly because they have more room they can explore in the MMA space. The problem guys like Cain Velasquez face is that the heavyweight division itself is extremely thin, so the completely subjective nature of a pound for pound argument means that it's easy to question whether or not they'd be successful without the weight and strength that come with being a 240+ behemoth. It shifts to a question of whose skills do you think translate the best in any division if the weight/strength issue is all equal. It's about the technical abilities of those fighters, I think, and in general the heavyweight division is - fairly or not - seen as less of a technical division with a lot more reliance on size, strength, and power. Take some of that away, and people simply see higher skill-level in fighters in the classes below.

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Tanar D. Writes: Okay, I'll play the chauvinistic male here: For female fighters, does the UFC do a pre-fight pregnancy test along with any drug screening they do? If a fighter was found to be pregnant, would they be allowed to compete? Maybe not the most enlightened question, but my curiosity is overwhelming my tact.

MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen Answers: There's nothing wrong with the question, but your understanding on the UFC's role is off a little bit here. Female fighters undergo a full medical exam, just as male fighters do, and a pregnancy could certainly be revealed as part of the physical exam. However, the UFC doesn't do these tests. It's all done as part of the licensing process from each state's athletic commission. No commission on earth would allow a pregnant woman to compete, and no woman on earth would consider competing while pregnant.

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Steve M. Writes: I saw the payroll figures for February's UFC 170 and it left me a bit bemused to see that Ronda Rousey's payroll was $110,000, and yet Rory Macdonald was only $10,000 less at $100,000 and Daniel Cormier's was a whopping $160,000, $50,000 more than Rousey.

I understand that across the board in general in sports, men tend to be paid more than women do, but I don't get these payroll amounts at all. Rousey was in the main event, headlining, and I honestly believe her fight and Rousey herself will have brought in more buys than Cormier. It was a title fight to begin with, so right there is more interest, and the way that Rousey has been negatively portrayed of late, plus the way she loves to play the heel, heaps of people that hate her will have been tuning in in the hope of seeing her lose and get to be made to shut up. Others, like myself, would have tuned in to see how she has evolved and improved from her last fight. So why did Cormier get such a larger payout? It's not like he's Silva or GSP, he was fighting a nobody, no real excitement about the fight to make people want to see it. Rousey was the star, it just seems incredibly old fashioned the way the payroll figures went.

MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen Answers: First off, you have to throw out all top-level male fighters who are in the UFC on Strikeforce contracts. Period. Their contracts were so out of whack with the UFC pay scale at the time they were signed that they throw off the curve drastically.

Now, with that said, Ronda Rousey ain't exactly hurting for scratch. She doesn't need the CEO of Ashley Home Furniture to buy her a new couch like he did for Liz Carmouche, capisce? Rousey's contract might seem low right now, but wait to see what her next UFC contracts her. Once she says, "You know, I've been offered the lead in Saw 13, and they're going to offer me $7,000,000 for six weeks of work, her contract will be elevated ever so slightly. And Zuffa, being as smart as they are, will structure the contract in such a manner that her "official" salary will be far far far far far far far far far far far far far far less than her actual pay. Why? Because if word leaks on how much she actually gets paid, then that will set a new precedent and a new starting point for every other fighter's contract negotiations.

Look at it this way: How can there be as many millionaire fighters as Zuffa claims there are if almost none of them make more than $200,000 (before taxes, camp fees, etc) per fight? the state commissions release the disclosed salaries, because Zuffa pays the commission, the commission pays the fighters, and that's all public record. There's a lot of money flowing from Zuffa to the top fighters that the commission has nothing to do with. This keeps the top fighters satisfied, and it keeps Zuffa satisfied in as much as they can show the mid-level fighters who are in near-poverty that, "Hey. Even our best fighters are making barely more than you are, so suck it up, Bitch." (editor's note: not a direct quote).

In short, when it comes to the star fighters, don't believe for a moment that the salary that the commission discloses is the total amount of money the fighter is being paid.

MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick Answers: This is the issue with the "disclosed" payroll that is released via the athletic commissions. It's certainly the minimum amount of money contracted to any fighter, and when it comes to the low end of the payscale, oftentimes it can be the end all be all of what they're getting paid. Occasionally on that end there are locker room bonuses that the UFC will send out based on performance, but it's certainly arbitrary and not necessarily common for all fighters at that level.

So on the low end, you can look at those figures and get a good idea of what those fighters are making. Head to the top end, though, and it's a different ballgame entirely. Not only are there pay-per-view points in play for the top headliners, but those undisclosed "locker room" bonuses can be more lucrative and more frequent than those given to fighters on the undercard.

As far as Rousey herself, Dana White is on record saying she's making millions a fight, and that in just three fights in the UFC she's already amongst their top 10 highest paid fighters ever. Suffice it to say, whatever those disclosed earnings show, it's not the end of what Rousey's making in the UFC.

BELLATOR 114 LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round report for "Shlemenko vs. Ward" event on Spike TV

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 22:05:11 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

BELLATOR 114
MARCH 28, 2014
LIVE FROM WEST VALLEY CITY, UTAH

-Quick to the first matchup of the night, with Brett Cooper taking on Kendall Grove.

FIGHT ONE: BRETT COOPER VS. KENDALL GROVE (MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNEY SEMIFINAL)

ROUND ONE: Cooper closed distance early as Grove threw leg kicks. Grove threw a couple of strikes. Cooper landed a solid left hook. He landed a hard leg kick that buckled Grove's leg, but Grove recovered, grabbed a body lock, and took Cooper down. Grove tried to take Cooper's back as Cooper tried to get up. Grove pulled him back though and go both hooks in. Grove was in an awkward position up against the cage, though, and didn't have a ton of space. Cooper tried to turn over to get top position but Grove regained back mount. He landed some hard punches and sat back again. Grove lost a hook, but continued working in the position. Cooper continued defending, throwing punches behind him attempting to disrupt Grove's work. Grove grabbed a body triangle to improve his hold. Grove tried to grab the neck crank to set up the choke but Cooper did a good job defending. Grove continued holding position but couldn't score the submission. He landed some big strikes with the body triangle locked on and moved to mount. Cooper managed to survive to the bell, but that could have been stopped easy there at the end.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Grove. Very close to a 10-8 with the final 30 seconds of that round, as Grove came close to stopping it. Now we have to see if he has anything left in the tank.

ROUND TWO: Cooper landed a few big strikes early and drove Grove back to the cage. Grove pressed him off. He ducked under a big strike. Grove landed a leg kick. Cooper missed a strike and Grove shot in. Cooper held off the attempt and separated. Grove got through with a nice straight right. Cooper connected on a right hook in an exchange. Grove moved in and landed a vicious knee in the Thai clinch. Grove landed a hard right hand. Cooper landed an uppercut as he got in close and Grove grabbed a clinch. Cooper backed away. Grove threw out a straight kick that didn't find a home. Grove landed a couple of strikes. Cooper fired back but Grove covered up. Grove landed a couple of nice knees and Cooper fired back a left hook. Cooper then knocked Grove down with a right hand. He started wailing with strikes on the ground in a ridiculous flurry. Grove tried to cover up and did so for the first five seconds, but a few started getting through to the button and as the flurry continued Grove went out. Brutal finish.

WINNER: Cooper via KO at 3:33 of the second round

STAR RATING: (***-) Exciting fight. Cooper got saved by the bell and arguably could have been stopped in the first round; instead, he came back strong, and delivered a brutal flurry on the ground after scoring that knockdown and he put Grove out. He's lucky he was allowed to continue there.

FIGHT TWO: DESMOND GREEN VS. WILL MARTINEZ (FEATHERWEIGHT TOURNEY SEMIFINAL)

ROUND ONE: Green worked from the outside early, mixing in kicks and punches. He scored a takedown a minute and a half in, but Martinez got back to his feet. Green landed a strike on the release. Martinez got in with a hard right hand. Greent fired back and scored a takedown, but Martinez again got up. They traded strikes. Martinez took a strike to the eye and noticeably grabbed at it, but he kept moving. They traded strikes again, Green slightly getting the edge. Martinez moved forward and landed a couple of strikes. Green shot in again and scored a takedown into Martinez's guard. Green postured up for a strike and Martinez tried to kick Green off. Martinez landed a strike from his back. He didn't give Green much space, but Green landed a right. He stood up, but ate an upkick from Martinez. Green dropped back into guard, riding out the round to the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Green. Close in the striking, but Green's grappling gets him the edge.

ROUND TWO: They traded strikes early in the round. Green landed a solid strike, but he got knocked off balance by a couple of strikes from Martinez. Green shot in, but Martinez did a nice job defending. Green got his back standing and landed some knees to the thigh as he worked to drag him down. Martinez defended well, though, and kept on his feet. More knees from Green to the thigh as he held the position. Green picked Martinez up and slammed him down, but Martinez quickly turned back to get the butterfly guard. Martinez rolled for an armbar, but Green quickly got free. He continued to work in the guard, though not much was done overall. Still, Green managed to hold position again until the bell. This isn't the most exciting fight by any stretch.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Green. This isn't really that fun to watch, but Green's doing enough to get the rounds.

ROUND THREE: Green landed a hard strike early in the round and Martinez went to a knee briefly. Could have slipped on that one. Martinez oddly backed to the fence and they just stood off. Green landed a left but didn't want to fully engage. He backed out and made Martinez come back out. Green landed a hard left. Green landed a hard right hand and Martinez was hurt, but he backed off. Martinez recovered and walked forward. More tentative action. Green got in a couple strikes. Martinez landed a leg kick. They traded strikes, though neither landed flush. Martinez connected on a short left hook. The crowd booed as nothing much was happening. Martinez then landed a left hook. Green shot in and got stuffed. Martinez sprawled and grabbed a headlock, but eventually let Green up. Martinez threw a left to the body. Green shot in and scored a takedown with some strikes to end the round.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Green. Just not a good fight there. Martinez had no urgency that round whatsoever.

WINNER: Green via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

STAR RATING: (*) Just not an enjoyable fight. So much inaction overall, and Green just hasn't proven himself to be an entertaining fighter. He's good enough to grind out wins, but it doesn't make for an enjoyable viewing experience.

FIGHT THREE: DANIEL WEICHEL VS. MATT BESSETTE (FEATHERWEIGHT TOURNEY SEMIFINAL)

ROUND ONE: Weichel took the center and looked to engage early, though neither threw anything for the first half minute. they traded kicks and a brief clinch then went back to a standoff. Weichel caught a kick but couldn't land the counter. He caught another and sent Bessette down, landing a couple of strikes as he dropped into his guard. Bessette landed a couple of strikes from his back as he tried to employ a high guard. Weichel stood and landed a few strikes before dropping back into Bessette's guard. Weichel got in a couple of hammerfists, avoiding an upkick attempt and holding position. Weichel stood again, but dropped back in quickly. Weichel passed to half guard, but Bessette got the butterfly back and got to guard. Weichel landed some more strikes from the top. Bessette continued defending off his back. Weichel eventually passed and went for an arm, but lost position, allowing Bessette to stand. Bessette tossed out some strikes but had most of the blocked. Weichel landed a hard knee and grabbed a front headlock. Bessette got his head out and landed a few knees in the clinch before the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Weichel. He did more than enough to take that round, but there wasn't a ton to it overall.

ROUND TWO: Weichel landed an early jab. Bessette tossed out a kick to the body. They traded some strikes, though the action was tentative. Weichel caught a kick and shoved Bessette to the ground, but he allowed him to get back up. Bessette landed a nice counter-uppercut, but ate a return strike. They both missed a few strikes. Bessette connected on a couple of strikes. Weichel landed a right. They clinched and traded knees in the center. Bessette landed a kick to the body. He got in another. Bessette landed a nice right hook. Bessette continued getting his strikes off first. Weichel caught a kick and missed a big right hook. Bessette landed another body kick. Weichel lande a left. They traded punches. Bessette landed a right. Weichel landed a knee. Weichel tripped him up briefly but Bessette immediately got up. He came in and landed a few knees in a brief clinch. Bessette connected on a right. Bessette got inside with a leg kick. Bessette tossed out a few strikes which were blocked.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Bessette. I think he evened things up that round. Had the better of the striking exchanges.

ROUND THREE: Bessette pressed in early and threw out several strikes. Weichel got stuffed on a takedown attempt, but landed a hard knee in close. They traded strikes in the center. Weichel landed a good right. Bessette connected on a right in an exchange. Bessette got tripped up and Weichel took top position. Weichel passed to half guard. Bessette regained guard. Weichel continued to work from the top and passed to half guard briefly. The battle continued and Bessette regained guard. He tried for an arm, but Weichel defended well and kept position. Weichel got to half guard again and landed some strikes before losing position. Bessette tried to get to his feet late and Weichel landed a few strikes.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Bessette. The ground work is going to give him the round here.

WINNER: Weichel via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

STAR RATING: (**-) Slightly better than the last fight, but not by that much. Weichel vs. Green is really not that appealing as a Bellator featherweight final given the other guys in the title mix right now.

MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: ALEXANDER SHLEMENKO VS. BRENNAN WARD (MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

ROUND ONE: Ward circled around the outside. The each missed a couple of strikes. Ward got in with a right hand and a knee in a clinch. Ward shot in and got stuffed. He landed a right hand. Ward landed a spinning kick to the body. Shlemenko unleashed a vicious kick to the body. He landed a two punch combo. Ward grabbed a leg and briefly got Shlemenko to the ground, but the Champ popped up and landed a two punch combo. Ward landed a knee to the groin and Shlemenko was given recovery time. They restarted and Shlemenko landed a big left counter. He landed a knee as Ward came in, but Ward snuck around to Shlemenko's back and tried to grab a neck crank. Shlemenko got loose at the midway point and they sat there. John McCarthy told them both to work and then stood them up. Shlemenko landed a hard body kick, but ate a left hand to the jaw. He's leaving himself open for counters. He landed a big left, but Ward shot in. He again snuck in behind and took Shlemenko's back, this time getting a body lock. Shlemenko defended well, but Ward continued trying to work. Shlemenko didn't give Ward much room in that position, but the round wound down with Ward in the advantageous hold.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Ward. Shlemenko's getting way too wild, and though he's doing damage when he lands flush, he's left himself open for counters and given up positions on the ground.

ROUND TWO: Shlemenko came out aggressive with strikes. He got in some body strikes, but Ward fired back. More body strikes from Shlemenko. Ward got in a couple of strikes. They clinched and Shlemenko almost tripped Ward. He landed a left. Another hard kick to the body from the Champ. Shlemenko landed another hard kick. Ward shot in, but Shlemenko latched on a front choke and Ward tapped! That came out of freaking nowhere!

WINNER: Shlemenko via submission (ten finger guillotine choke) at 1:22 of the second round

STAR RATING: (***) Really nice title fight. Ward gave Shlemenko a fight, even winning that opening round, and then Shlemenko found that choke out of thin air in the second round. Fantastic finish for Shlemenko, and yet another stoppage win. Really nice fight after two really subpar bouts leading into it.

-Thanks for joining us tonight, we'll be back tomorrow night with live round by round coverage of World Series of Fighting 9 on NBC Sports Network!

ROUNDTABLE: What should be next for Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua after UFC Fight Night 38?

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:45:16 PST

What would you like to see next from Dan Henderson and "Shogun" Rua after their brutal fight on Sunday? If they keep fighting, who should each fight next, and why?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

Coming toward the end of a fantastic career, Sunday night was probably the highest peak Dan Henderson will ever attain since turning 40, especially now that he's going to be competitively off TRT. If the UFC believes he can still compete at an elite level, a fight with Daniel Cormier isn't inconceivable, neither is the winner of Phil Davis vs. Anthony Johnson. If they believe he's now past his prime, a fight against the winner of Sonnen vs. Silva might be something they could do.

As for Shogun, he's still got a place in the UFC, but it's probably going to be as a resident gatekeeper. My personal preference would be to see him up against Jimi Manuwa next. Sadly Shogun costs too much to fight in Europe on Fight Pass, so Manuwa would have to fight in Brazil, considering his previous indiscretions with the law make it almost impossible for him to fight in America.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I honestly would like for them both to retire, as both have nothing left to prove in pro MMA. But if they stick around, I like to see them against some up and coming competition, such as Ovince St. Preux or similar fighters.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

If they want to keep fighting, I'm for it. As long as they're both realistic about things at this stage. Neither guy is going to be fighting for the title again, so the UFC should use them as attractions as well as possible gatekeepers. In terms of who they fight next, I'd be good with whomever gets chosen. I think their pay-per-view days are over, at least in terms of being draws. However, the UFC can use them as a way to try to draw more eyeballs to their TV cards.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Honestly, I would like to see both Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua retire as they are both shadows of themselves. I no longer wish to see Henderson slowly circle around with his right hand cocked at the ready to unload the H-Bomb. Although Henderson has stated he wants to go on a championship run, can anyone picture him actually giving Chris Weidman or Jon Jones problems? And we have already witnessed the horrid nature of a match between he and Lyoto Machida. Other than fighting another dentured old man in a bingo parlor, I have no desire to see Dan Henderson fight anyone.

If Shogun decides to continue his career, I would like to see him move down to middleweight. Possibly a matchup between Shogun and Mark Munoz, as I don't anticipate Munoz will beat Mousasi. Or depending on how TUF Brazil 3 ends, a matchup between Shogun and Wanderlei Silva.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

-Dan Henderson proved on Saturday night there's life in the old dog yet! He showed true grit and heart when looking down the barrel of defeat.

We hadn't seen the right hand land for a few years now. Just as some were beginning to question Hendo's punching power, he silenced each and every one by landing the 'H' bomb to stop Shogun in the third round.

A fight that would interest me is Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson. With both fighters five and six respectively in the UFC light heavyweight rankings, the fight makes perfect sense.

-Shogun Rua looked fantastic for two-rounds, before being caught by Henderson. Everything he was doing was on point, and if it was against any other fighter than Dan Henderson, we'd be talking about how fantastic Shogun looked in his victory. But as we all know, this wasn't the case.

Shogun's record since his first defeat to Henderson isn't great, and I was surprised he was such a heavy favourite on Saturday. It will be hard for Shogun to pick himself up after this defeat though at only 32, he still has a little more to give and will be a handful for most fighter.

Next up for Shogun? None other than England's very own Jimi Manuwa. Just the thought of this has my mouth watering!

[Dan Henderson art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

ROUNDTABLE: Thoughts on what the UFC will put into the main event at UFC 173

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:00:12 PST

What would you like to see the UFC put into the main event at UFC 173? What fight do you think will headline that card?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

I'm actually in Las Vegas over the weekend of UFC 173. I had made provisions to purchase tickets for the event when they went on sale this week. Luckily I found out Weidman vs. Machida was postponed just before I parted with my hard earned cash. Whether I actually buy a ticket all depends on the quality of the replacement fight. It's a card currently built around one single title fight that is no longer there, and of what's left, only dos Santos vs. Miocic can be considered pay-per-view quality.

Jamie Penick covered every eventuality in an excellent reaction article he wrote straight after the injury news broke. If it's Aldo vs. Mendes, Rousey vs. Davis, or Barao vs. Assuncao then I'll buy a ticket to see a championship fight. If they go with something like MacDonald vs. Woodley then forget it, I'll watch it in a bar. This is one of the biggest three or four pay-per-view cards of the calendar year so only a championship fight would be considered a worthy replacement.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I like the JDS vs. Stipe Miocic fight, could thrust one of them right into the discussion for a championship fight.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think they go with a Ronda Rousey fight. I don't really see many other choices. They have to go with a title fight, and most everything else is booked. I think a Rousey fight is a good way to make up for having to delay the Weidman-Machida fight. I think the UFC will find a good opponent for Rousey and also try to get a good matchup to go underneath that fight.

CAMERON LYMAN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I don't expect the UFC to pit Dan Henderson against Machida, as I don't see Machida willing to give up his "guaranteed" title shot. What I would absolutely love to see would be a number one contender match between Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson. While they might both be next in line for a title shot, there is also Phil Davis vs Anthony Johnson in April which could be a number one contender match for both depending on whether they can make a statement with their performance. I see Jones needing another long layoff when he feels Glover's power and I don't want to see the division back logged with title shot guarantees. As for who will actually headline the card, I'm guessing Dos Santos vs Miocic will become the main event.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think a middleweight contender's bout between Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza should take place; rather than the current nonsensical bout Rockhold has against Tim Boetsch in April. Then on July 5 as Weidman and Machida face off, the fans will already know who is the next contender in line for the middleweight championship. The UFC could also market the fight as a rematch of a previous championship fight which occurred in Strikeforce.

As for the main event, the UFC should move in the heavyweight bout between Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic.

The card can then be promoted as a heavyweight bout which attracts casual fans and then the co main event is a bout of importance.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

This won't be easy for the UFC to find a big fight that will warrant the "main event" slot at UFC 173. At short notice like his, champions won't be willing to put their titles on the line, and I don't blame them.

I'm sure Sonnen will be in contact with the UFC trying to get himself another title shot at any weight division possible. Though we may have to settle for a second tier main event.

Hector Lombard vs Tyron Woodley, who are both coming off huge wins in the welterweight division and edging nearer to that number-one contender slot, would make a very credible UFC 173 main event.

HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly from Bellator 113 and UFC Fight Night 38

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 12:25:20 PST

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Bellator 113 and UFC Fight Night 38 were this past week. Let's get right to it.

Bellator 113

BAD: Tim Welch vs. Derek Campos

Campos dominated the entire fight. It was a total mismatch. I go BAD here because Campos should have put Welch away. That he didn't, even though he so clearly dominated the fight, puts it in BAD territory.

GOOD: Marcin Held submits Rodrigo Cavalheiro

Held with a tremendous leg lock submission. The fight was pretty short, but that was a slick submission. That's high-level stuff there.

GOOD: Derek Anderson stops Brandon Girtz

Anderson landed an awesome knee to finish things. This was a replay of an earlier fight, but it definitely deserves mention here. Very cool finish.

GOOD: Patricky Freire stops David Rickels

This was a very close fight until the finish, a huge knockout by Freire. These guys were battling back and forth in the first round and then Pitbull ended it with some monster strikes. Damn impressive win for Freire.

UGLY: Attila Vegh vs. Emmanuel Newton

This fight sucked. It was horrible. Having to sit through five rounds of this crap probably made the crowd want to walk out. I wish they had. The fact that this was a championship fight is unbelievable. Newton "won" by decision, though he should be stripped of the title immediately. That's just embarrassing.

UGLY: Chuck Wolfe during Gallemore-Brown

The fact that Vegh vs. Newton wasn't the worst thing of the evening tells you a lot about how bad this next one is, because that fight was horrible. On the prelims there was a fight between Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown. Gallemore staggered Brown against the cage and dropped him. He continued striking unimpeded. Brown flopped onto his back, and still the damn ref wouldn't step in. Finally, after over a dozen unneeded strikes the ref stepped in. That ref's name is Chuck Wolfe, and he's horrible at his job. In his line of work that means people can get seriously hurt.

I don't know if this is the worst stoppage ever or not, but I know it ranks up there for sure. The announcers didn't like it, and I'm glad they said as much. Whether it was the worst stoppage or not, it was indefensible. How is this guy allowed to ref? You could seriously throw a ref shirt into the crowd and find someone better qualified to ref fights than Chuck Wolfe based on that performance. I've got plenty of off-color jokes here, but I doubt they'd make print so I better not say them. This was just about as UGLY as it gets.

UFC Fight Night 38

GOOD: Fantastic Finishes

There were several really good finishes on this card. On the prelims, Kenny Robertson submitted Thiago Perpetuo with a nice rear-naked choke, Jussier Formiga submitted Scott Jorgensen with a rear-naked choke of his own, Thiago Santos stopped Ronny Markes with a beautiful body kick leading to the stoppage, and Godofredo Pepey stopped Noad Lahat with a perfect flying knee for the new front runner for "Knockout of the Year." Seriously, that knee was sick and right on the button.

Then, on the main card you had Rony Jason getting a questionable stoppage win over Steven Siler, but Jason still had some nice striking he was showing off. And finally, you had C.B. Dollaway stopping Cezar Ferreira early with some hard shots. That's six finishes right there, not even counting the main event. That makes for a good night of fights.

BAD: Michel Prazeres vs. Mairbek Taisumov

Taisumov got deducted a few points over the course of the fight, but never seemed to care. Prazeres showed he was the much better fighter, as he took the decision

GOOD: Fabio Maldonaldo vs. Gian Villante

Villante took the first round, but gassed badly. In the second and third rounds, Maldonaldo lit up Villante with a bunch of power shots. I don't know how Villante didn't get knocked out. He's got a granite chin. Maldonaldo won by decision.

UGLY: Francimar Barroso vs. Hans Stringer and Leonardo Santos vs. Norman Parke

Barraso vs. Stringer was on the prelims while Santos vs. Parke was on the main card. Both fights were horrible, and both fights didn't belong on a UFC card. Just awful fights.

GOOD: Dan Henderson stops Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Henderson was almost stopped in the first, but ref Herb Dean didn't step in. You could make an argument that he should have, as we've seen fights stopped earlier than that. I think it would have been an OK stoppage if it did end there, but whatever. Henderson almost got stopped again in the second round, this time not nearly as close, though. It all came back to haunt Shogun in the third, though, as Hendo mushed his face in with a powerful right. It was a crazy fight. It was a great capper to a very good night of fights.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank

UFC Fight Night 38 Roundtable: Penick, Walker, Hyden, and Strong Rate and Review "Shogun vs. Henderson II" event

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:45:14 PST

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: (7.5)

For a card that didn't look like much on paper, we got a hell of a lot of action. The decision rate for the year got reduced by a bit with a ton of stoppages, six of them in the first round. That most of them came with underdogs winning those fights was just the cherry on top.

It was fascinating to see so many fighters favored to do well go down in such spectacular fashion, rendering most predictions false and adding a different feel to the night overall. It certainly elevated the event on the whole. Add to that my favorite finish in years with Godofredo Pepey's flying knee, and there was a lot to like here.

As for the main event, as exciting as it was, you can't help but be worried for both fighters out of the event. The damage they've taken over their careers turns a fight like that from a thrilling back and forth to a cautionary tale of two fighters likely to suffer from severe aftereffects from this sport in their later years. That's not positive to think about, and puts a bit of a damper on what was a viscerally brutal finish to the night's card.

BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST: (7.5)

This event was mostly fun from start to finish with some truly unexpected moments. I never doubted the fact that Mutante would crush Dolloway and damn do I look silly. Shogun and Hendo put on a great back and forth fight that was a fun slug fest, and almost every fight delivered in a big way. Fabio Maldonado made himself a spot in my favorite fighters to watch in good fashion with a come from behind beat down of insane proportions. I do feel bad for Scott Jorgenson for how his loss came about, but man does Formiga have a sick ground game. A great card with a KO of the year candidate as well with Godofredo Popey landing an insanely clean flying knee to absolutely destroy anyone's hopes of achieving a superior knockout.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR: (9.0)

I'm happy to say I was very surprised by this card. I didn't know what to expect from most of the fights, so seeing so many finishes was great. Most of the undercard fights were really good, though some were really bad. That's all right, though. I was surprised by the bad referees, as well. They seemed to be off their game. It almost sees to be a MMA-wide issue these days. None of them were as bad as Chuck Wolfe on the Bellator 113 undercard, but there were some questionable calls.

The one I think most will remember is Shogun not getting the finish in the first round when he had Henderson beat. We've all seen fights stopped earlier than that. It nearly happened again in the second round. Then you get Henderson with a great shot that mushed Shogun's face up to finish it in the third. There's no doubt that Shogun was done there in the third, but you can easily make the case that Hendo was done in the first. Anyhow, this was a really good fight that capped a really good card.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR: (8.0)

What an interesting fight night! From the saga of Will Chope, the cancellation of his fight against Diego Brandao, a night of underdogs winning and the come back for nowhere in the Shogun Rua vs. Dan Henderson II fight!

You would've had to been a fortune teller to predict the outcome of the fights last night. Almost everyone fight went to the underdog. If you were on some of these bets, you'd be sitting pretty right now. Thankfully me, Dan Moore, and a few others managed to take advantage of the ridiculous odds that were on offer.

So many good performances Sunday night; Godofredo "Pepey" Castro with one of the best flying knee KO's I've seen. Jussier Formiga and Rony Jason. Thats not forgetting C.B. Dolloway's TKO victory over Cezar Ferriera.

Though mention of the night has to go to none other than Dan Henderson. Having been brutally beaten up for two rounds, he found that trusted right hand to land on Shogun and take the finish in the third! Showing you are always in danger as long as he's standing.

On a more sour note, the cancellation of Will Chope vs. Diego Brandao came as a real shock. Only hours before the fight, the UFC decided to pulled the plug following reports Chope had been discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 2009 after repeated verbally and physically assaulting of his now ex wife.

Out of 10, this fight night 38 get a solid 8 from me.

PENICK: Assessing the UFC's options for UFC 173 and UFC 174 main events following Chris Weidman injury

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 22:35:32 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC is in a rough spot right now for their pay-per-view schedule. Injuries have already delayed UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez, new UFC Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks, and UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis to the fall/winter, and now UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman has suffered an injury, moving him from May to July.

It's another significant blow, taking out a marquee main event from one of their pay-per-view events and leaving them with precious few options to replace it with.

Given the hierarchy of UFC events, not to mention the sheer number of fight cards, they need to have title fights headlining their pay-per-view events. Non-title fights are simply not acceptable as pay-per-view headliners when the UFC has similar level fights on free cards consistently. So what does that leave them with for not only UFC 173 on May 24, but UFC 174 just three weeks later in Vancouver?

Division by division, here's where they're standing in the title picture:

Heavyweight: Velasquez is hurt, rehabbing his shoulder after surgery, while top contenders Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum square off at UFC on Fox 11 next month.

Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones is fighting Glover Teixeira next month at UFC 172.

Middleweight: As mentioned, Chris Weidman's injury pushes his fight with Lyoto Machida to UFC 175 on July 5.

Welterweight: Johny Hendricks' newly won title won't be defended until October or November after he suffered a leg fracture and a torn bicep.

Lightweight: Anthony Pettis was initially targeting the July 5 event for his return, but Gilbert Melendez's re-signing and an announced coaching stint on TUF push that Title fight to December.

Featherweight: Jose Aldo is likely to fight Chad Mendes for a second time in his next outing, and is an option for one of these cards.

Bantamweight: Renan Barao expects to fight Raphael Assuncao next, though he's said he's targeting a late June to July return.

Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson is awaiting his next booking, having last defended his title in November. No clear contender is set, but if the UFC chooses a name he could be an option.

Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey just defended her title twice in the quickest span ever for a UFC Champion, and she's currently filming a role in the upcoming "Entourage" film. That said, if Alexis Davis or Cat Zingano is ready to go for either of these two dates, this is an option.

That leaves the four lower weight classes as somewhat realistic options for these two cards if they can keep a title fight on them both. Aldo-Mendes seems like a lock for one or the other. It's an easier sell to a Vancouver crowd wanting a big event after a few years away than it likely is to Las Vegas patrons on Memorial Day weekend, but it could still be among the most likely options here.

If Barao can move up his timeline a couple of weeks to fight at UFC 174 in Vancouver, the fight with Assuncao is a worthy headliner, even if it's not going to be a massive draw. Demetrious Johnson could be another option after three successful title defenses on Fox last year, and they could even combine the two on that card. That said, the June pay-per-view shows are historically low draws given they're sandwiched in between two "event" shows in Las Vegas on Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends.

For UFC 173, the UFC is going to try to place the bigger fight of these two shows, so if Ronda Rousey is ready, willing, and able to step up, a fight with either Alexis Davis or Cat Zingano in a pinch could be big for the UFC. That's the outside shot right now, and if it doesn't happen, I'd expect to see Aldo-Mendes in that slot should both be healthy and ready to go.

If Aldo-hits UFC 173, it leaves UFC 174 with Barao-Assuncao and Johnson against whichever flyweight contender the UFC wants to book as the top, and only, title options for UFC 174.

These are the most likely options, but there are of course a few wild cards the UFC could put forth into the mix. An out there idea could be the UFC throwing money at Georges St-Pierre, perhaps in a rematch with Nick Diaz (thanks Rich Hansen), or perhaps the UFC will run with a different non-title fight. Could they get Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson to fight after all? It'd be a somewhat passable option for Vancouver, but not among the best the UFC can run for pay-per-view.

Obviously, this is a far from ideal situation for the UFC, and the options aren't necessarily attractive to replace Weidman-Machida. But these are some realistic possibilities for the UFC to run with.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 38 LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round report for "Shogun vs. Henderson II" event

Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:00:09 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 38
MARCH 23, 2014
LIVE FROM NATAL, BRAZIL

-Godofredo Pepey def. Noad Lahat via KO (flying knee) at 2:39 of the first round

=====Fox Sports 1 Prelims=====

-Jon Anik and Brian Stann have the call tonight in Brazil. They set the stage for tonight's main event before turning the attention to what's coming up on these prelims.

PRELIM FIGHT ONE: FRANCIMAR BARROSO VS. HANS STRINGER (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Barroso threw an opening side kick to the body, but Stringer walked through it and landed a left. Barroso caught a kick and tossed Stringer down. He stood over him and threw kicks to the legs. Yamasaki allowed Stringer to stand. Stringer threw a strike that sent Barroso off balance and he got into his guard. He landed a few hard strikes and a nice elbow. He tried to stay busy as Barroso tried to work from his back. Stringer landed some more big strikes. Stringer continued to stay busy with strikes from the top, landing forearms and elbows. Stringer postured up and landed three big strikes before Barroso pulled him into closed guard. Stringer continued on with elbows. Barroso finally kicked him off and got to his feet. He landed a hard body kick as Stringer clinched. Barroso tried to set up a throw, but Stringer took him down. He got to his feet quickly and Stringer landed a knee to separate from a clinch. Stringer landed a big right hand. They clinched again. Stringer landed an elbow. Stringer worked busy enough to stay in the clinch to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Stringer. Solid round for Stringer. He's got the edge in most spots right now.

ROUND TWO: Barroso opened things up with a couple of leg kicks. He landed a body kick and Stringer clinched. They traded strikes in close and jockeyed for position. Barroso landed some good knees to the thighs. They separated. Barroso scored a trip takedown. Stringer tried to back up to the cage. He kicked Barroso off briefly and nearly got a triangle. He worked to his feet. He got separation and came forward. Barroso landed a hard body kick and stuffed a takedown attempt. They clinched but Stringer only stalled and they were separated. Barroso landed a strike. Stringer got in a left hand. Both missed a couple strikes. They were both tired here. Barroso landed a left. He landed a hard uppercut but Stringer took it. Stringer landed a left. He got in another left before the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Barroso. Strong comeback round, but both are exhausted into the third.

ROUND THREE: Stringer came in and landed a kick. They traded punches. Barroso landed a left. Barroso landed a left and circled away. Stringer landed a two punch combo. Barroso landed a hard body kick that Stringer briefly caught. Stringer landed a right and clinched. Neither did a ton early in the clinch. Barroso got in some knees, and they were finally separated. Barroso scored with some leg kicks. Stringer fired a couple back. He clinched again and they traded a few shots before Barroso got free. Stringer shot in and got stuffed. Barroso landed a left hook. Stringer landed a leg kick. Barroso returned the favor. Barroso just missed a spinning elbow. Barroso scored a takedown with 30 seconds left. Barroso stayed busy and finished the round on top.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Stringer. I guess. Could be 10-10, could be 10-9 Barroso. Both were so gassed neither was all that effective that round.

WINNER: Stringer via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (*) Just an ugly fight. Both fighters gassed out midway through the fight; neither looked like they should be on a UFC card. Not good.

PRELIM FIGHT TWO: THIAGO PERPETUO VS. KENNY ROBERTSON (WELTERWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: They quickly got into the clinch. Robertson almost got back mount in a scramble, and as they continued, Robertson moved into mount. He was bloody early with a cut on the back of his head. Perpetuo gave up his back and Robertson locked on a rear naked choke. Perpetuo tried to defend for a bit, but Robertson locked it in tight and forced the tap. The crowd went silent, then booed the Brazilian loss.

WINNER: Robertson via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:45 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**+) Really impressive work from Robertson. Perpetuo only had one other submission loss on his record and it came five years ago, so the ease with which Robertson worked into that position for the choke was excellent.

PRELIM FIGHT THREE: SCOTT JORGENSEN VS. JUSSIER FORMIGA (FLYWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Jorgensen landed a right hook early to start. He got in a left hand. He covered up as Formiga came forward. Formiga shot in for a takedown but Jorgensen turned the momentum on him and got to his feet. Jorgensen popped in with a right hand. They clinched and Formiga tried to pull off a toe trip. Jorgensen held it off and separated. Jorgensen landed a hard right hand. He landed an uppercut. Formiga connected on a left. Jorgensen landed a nice straight right but ate a counter. Formiga missed a left hook. Formiga landed a two punch combo. He landed a nice knee in a brief clinch. Formiga knocked Jorgensen down with a headbutt and quickly took his back. Unfortunate for Jorgensen. Jorgensen tried to turn out as Formiga went for the choke. Formiga trapped Jorgensen's arm in the choke and turned it into a neck crank as well. Jorgensen tried to fight it but was forced to tap.

WINNER: Formiga via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:07 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**+) It really sucks for Jorgensen that he got sent to the ground off a nasty inadvertent headbutt, but all credit to Formiga for taking advantage of the situation. He worked excellently on the ground and secured a nasty neck crank/RNC combo there to force Jorgensen to tap. No easy task regardless of the situation. Still a terrible ending for Jorgensen given how it hit the ground to begin with.

PRELIM FIGHT FOUR: RONNY MARKES VS. THIAGO SANTOS (MIDDLEWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Tentative start to the fight. Santos landed a hard body kick and Markes slowly dropped to his back. Santos dropped down and started dropping down hammer fists and big strikes. Markes could only cover up and Mario Yamasaki stepped in quickly.

WINNER: Santos via TKO at :53 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**) Not much to that one. Santos landed a brutal kick to the gut, followed up with a vicious assault on the ground, and it was over 20 seconds after the opening salvo.

-We're going to have a 25-minute break before the main card, meaning they're likely to go back to the studio for a while. Although, they may air the Pepey-Lahat fight from the Fight Pass prelims.

-They do indeed re-air the Pepey-Lahat fight. On that note, Pepey's flying knee over Lahat was the cleanest and most vicious flying knee you'll ever see. Easy front runner for "KO of the Year," and if you missed it, you have to find it. It's going to be damn hard to beat in that race this year.

=====Fox Sports 1 Main Card=====

Pacing on the prelims tonight was tough, because the fights all ended quickly. That's a good problem to have after a decision-filled year in the UFC, though, and it's been a night of underdogs thus far. All of the betting favorites have gone down, with Thiago Santos pulling off the biggest upset of the night. We've got six more fights coming up tonight on Fox Sports 1, topped by the only real anticipated fight on this card with the Shogun-Henderson rematch.

MAIN CARD FIGHT ONE: RONY JASON VS. STEVEN SILER (FEATHERWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Siler came out aggressive with a series of kicks to the leg and body of Jason in the opening half minute. Siler landed a left and Jason connected on a right hand counter. Siler landed a body kick. Siler threw a front kick to the body. Jason landed a hard right hand that hurt him badly. He was loopy, and then got sent down with a left hook and the ref stepped in right away. Jason protested immediately as he had regained his bearings as he hit the ground, but he was hurt badly. On the replay, though, Siler threw up a kick as Jason was coming to engage. Ehhh, don't like that stoppage after seeing that replay.

WINNER: Jason via TKO at 1:17 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**) Great work from Jason, and I don't want to take away from the two big strikes that had Siler hurt bad, but Siler was fighting back from the ground there. He threw an upkick immediately as Siler came forward. The ref stepped in far too quickly there. There's a fine line to walk on how much damage to let a fighter take, but Siler had more left in him there.

MAIN CARD FIGHT TWO: MICHEL PRAZERES VS. MAIRBEK TAISUMOV (LIGHTWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Both fighters started off tentatively. Taisumov tossed out a hard leg kick. Prazeres threw one of his own out. Prazeres landed a solid combination. He landed a right. Taisumov landed a hard strike. Prazeres grabbed a body lock and powered Taisumov to the ground. He quickly passed to mount. Taisumov escaped that position but Prazeres got to side control and then nearly north-south. Taisumov nicely got loose and to his feet. He threw a straight kick and Prazeres came in for the clinch. Taisumov tried to throw him and failed, then Prazeres took him down. Prazeres again got to mount after threatening a kimura. He landed a big left. He looked for a position and tried to set up an armbar. He landed a few strikes, but Taisumov worked back to guard, escaping that spot. Prazeres stayed busy from the top. Prazeres escaped and got to his feet. He threw a few strikes and he landed an illegal kick and Mario Yamasaki immediately took a point away. They restarted but the horn quickly sounded.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Prazeres. Close to a 10-8 on its own, which could bring it to a 10-7 with the point deduction.

ROUND TWO: Looks like the point deduction was for grabbing the cage multiple times. Makes it more acceptable, but has to be done with consistency. They restart and Prazeres counters a strike with a big one of his own, but he wound up on his back after trying to rush in. Prazeres was active off his back as Taisumov looked for openings to land strikes. Yamasaki let Prazeres stand. Ok, now Stann says the point was taken for the head kick, with no warning. Ugh. Taisumov landed a left. Prazeres shot in and Taisumov grabbed the cage again. Yamasaki halted the action as he knew it right away and he took a point away for grabbing the fence this time. They restarted, and Taisumov landed a strike. Prazeres got in a grazing head kick. He landed an overhand right. Prazeres landed a right hook. Prazeres landed a nice combination at the cage. Taisumov landed a short left hook, but he needs something huge or he's done. Taisumov landed a hook. Prazeres landed a hard leg kick. He threw a high kick before the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Prazeres. Taisumov's pretty screwed here after another point deduction. Needs to finish somehow or he's done.

ROUND THREE: Taisumov was tossing the jab out early but Prazeres got through with a right. Prazeres landed a big combination and shot in. Taisumov stuffed it and broke free. He landed a front kick. Prazeres shot in again and Taisumov stuffed it. Taisumov again grabbed the cage. No point taken this time, but he was given one more warning or Yamasaki would disqualify him. Taisumov landed a hard right hand. Prazeres landed a left hook and kept Taisumov on the cage. Taisumov landed an uppercut. Prazeres landed a hard leg kick. Taisumov grazed him with an uppercut. Prazeres landed a hard strike. Taisumov landed a hard strike and stuffed a takedown. He landed a short combo. Prazeres shot in again and this time got him to the ground. Prazeres got to half guard and quickly passed to mount. Taisumov got back to guard and pushed back to his feet. Taisumov landed a left. Prazeres landed a two punch combo. He shot in but got stuffed. Taisumov took his back standing. Roger Huerta yelled at Taisumov in disappointment as he held position. He broke out and they each landed a strike before the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Prazeres. A whole lot working against Taisumov in that fight, and the lack of urgency in the final round was unfortunate to see. His only chance to win was a finish and he didn't leave everything there.

WINNER: Prazeres via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)

STAR RATING: (*+) Such an odd fight. The inconsistent officiating from Yamasaki to take two points away then give a warning in the third, Taisumov's inability to engage further down the stretch; it was all just odd.

MAIN CARD FIGHT THREE: FABIO MALDONADO VS. GIAN VILLANTE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Villante opened up with a right hand. Maldonado missed a strike. Villante grabbed a body lock and scored a quick takedown into side control. Villante tried to get into the mounted crucifix but Maldonado got a leg out. Maldonado tried to scramble and Villante took his back. Maldonado got to a knee and tried to get to his feet. Villante landed some big knees to the thigh as he kept pressure on Maldonado. Maldonado tried to work free, but Villante kept position even standing and took Maldonado back down into side control. The crowd booed the Brazilian being stuck on his back. Villante tried to pass to mount but got held up in half guard. Villante kept pressure on top. Villante continued staying busy from the top as he got pulled back to half guard. Maldonado avoided some damage from his back. Villante continued to stay just busy enough to ride out the round on top.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Villante. Maldonado doesn't have much to offer up from his back here.

ROUND TWO: Villante landed a big left hook to kick off the round. Maldonado connected no a left of his own. Maldonado landed a hard jab. He connected on a couple more as he backed Villante up. Villante fired back with a jab. Maldonado connected on another jab. He got in a punch to the body. Villante shot in and dragged Maldonado to the ground in a scramble. Maldonado got to a knee on the cage but Villante landed a knee to the body and tried to sit back. Maldonado tried to scramble out, but Villante held strong. Villante landed a few big knees that opened Maldonado up badly. They traded jabs. Maldonado got in some damage and got in some body punches in a clinch. He landed a two punch combo. He landed another jab. Villante taking a ton of damage this round as he was slowing down. He looked up at the clock with two minutes left. Maldonado landed a hard right. Maldonado landed a hard jab. Maldonado landed another combo to the head and body. Maldonado with another big combination. Villante continued slowing down badly. He breathed heavily after getting stuffed on a takedown. Maldonado landed a series of body strikes. Maldonado landed another combination. Maldonado landed another body strike. They clinched briefly and Villante moved out. Maldonado landed another big combo on Villante. Villante put his hands on his hips and ate a couple more before the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Maldonado. Villante's run out of gas, and he's getting absolutely lit up on the feet because of it.

ROUND THREE: Maldonado came out firing. He landed a left hook and avoided a shot from Villante. Villante tossed up a high kick. Maldonado backed him up and threw some strikes. Maldonado with a hard jab. Maldonado with a nice combination shortly thereafter. Villante got backed up but moved out of the corner. He shot in and Maldonado stepped away easily. Maldonado landed another hard body combination. Maldonado landed a hard right hand. Villante shot in and again got stuffed. Maldonado landed a hard jab and avoided the counter. Maldonado connected on more strikes in combination. Maldonado mixed up a combo to the head and body. More body punches. Another jab. Another combo. Villante landed a hard right hand but Maldonado came back with more in combination. Maldonado landed a hard hook. He landed another big strike and stepped away from a shot. Villante continued getting lit up, but then grabbed a clinch. Maldonado stayed on his feet and went for a front choke. Maldonado landed a big combination with a couple of uppercuts. Maldonado kept the pressure on as an exhausted Villante continued taking damage. Maldonado landed a hard overhand right. Villante shot in again. Maldonado back on the attack. Villante just continued absorbing strikes. Maldonado landed a big left hook. Villante was taking tons of damage and finally grabbed for a leg. He held on to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Maldonado. Just an extended beating, and Villante somehow stayed conscious through it all. Big comeback after a bad opening round for Maldonado.

WINNER: Maldonado via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (**+) Fun comeback from Maldonado. Villante has one hell of a chin, as he took an obscene amount of damage through the last half of that fight.

MAIN CARD FIGHT FOUR: LEONARDO SANTOS VS. NORMAN PARKE (LIGHTWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Santos landed a quick inside leg kick. Parke tossed out a couple of kicks to the lead leg. Parke tried to press in, and he landed a hard body kick and an inside leg kick. Santos fired back to the body and leg. They traded punches. Santos tried to get a Thai clinch but Parke got free. Parke got poked in the eye. He took a bit to restart but then kept going. Santos threw a few wild strikes. Santos landed a hard body kick. Parke peppered him with a few short strikes. Santos landed a really nice uppercut and Parke clinched. He separated. Parke's left eye was swelling up bad. Parke landed a kick. Santos fired back. Parke got in a couple of strikes and clinched. They were separated as action didn't progress. Parke landed a hard left and Santos returned fire. Santos landed a hard left. He ducked in for a shot but got stuffed. They clinched and Santos tried to take Parke down, to no avail. They traded strikes in the clinch. Parke landed a knee to the body. The crowd got a little restless and the action was restarted. Parke got in a kick high but it was blocked. Santos landed a nice counter right. They clinched in the center and traded strikes. Parke went for a late takedown but couldn't complete it.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Santos. Had more offense overall, though Parke is definitely scoring.

ROUND TWO: They traded kicks early. Santos got in a nice uppercut and a right hand. He landed the left hook. They traded strikes in the center and then clinched. Santos had the better of that exchange. They clinched at the cage but not much happened and they were separated. Parke landed a couple of strikes. Santos shot in and got stuffed. Parke drove him to the cage and landed some knees. Parke went for a takedown. The ref stopped the fight and took a point for grabbing the shorts with no warning. Wow, that was... not good. Parke landed a couple of strikes as they restarted. They traded strikes in the center. Santos went high with a kick that was partially blocked. Santos stuffed another takedown attempt and it was back to the cage clinch and the crowd started booing quickly. Parke landed a nice left and Santos fired back a right. They traded strikes in a short exchange. Parke came right back into the clinch. Parke landed a nice elbow. Parke ducked down for a takedown but Santos held him off. Parke landed a couple of uppercuts. Parke continued throwing out strikes. Santos stuffed another takedown attempt to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 9-9. That was Parke's round and he unfortunately had a point taken without a warning.

ROUND THREE: Parke came out swinging, but then it was quickly to the clinch on the cage. He tried to stay busy, but he wasn't doing a ton offensively. Santos couldn't break free of the clinch as Parke continued staying busy enough to avoid the separation. They were separated again. Park came right back to the clinch and pressed Santos to the cage to boos. Parke wasn't having much success here, and Santos held off another takedown attempt. They were separated again. Parke came right back in again. They started trading strikes. This time it was Santos shooting in and Parke turned him around. More of the same here. This round is awful. Parke turned around and took Santos' back standing. Parke briefly got Santos down but Santos popped up at the horn. Bad fight.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Parke. Santos did nothing whatsoever that round, which is ridiculous because he essentially just gave it away.

WINNER: Majority draw (29-27 Santos, 28-28, 28-28)

STAR RATING: (*-) Terrible fight. Santos gave away a win by letting Parke just control things in the clinch in that third round. Speaking of that round, the wall and stall going on was the worst in a very long time. Really bad fight.

MAIN CARD FIGHT FIVE: CEZAR "MUTANTE" FERREIRA VS. C.B. DOLLAWAY (MIDDLEWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Dollaway landed a couple of hard strikes early but Ferreira continued moving in. Dollaway landed a big strike. Ferreira then came in. Dollaway stayed back at the cage then delivered a huge knockdown blow in a counter. Ferreira went down but the ref gave him time, so Dollaway got on top and landed a bunch of strikes and the ref had to step in. Wow.

WINNER: Dollaway via TKO at :39 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**-) Not much to a 40 second fight, but absolutely fantastic counter combination from Dollaway to send Ferreira down. He then attacked smartly as the ref let Ferreira continue and scored the quick stoppage.

MAIN EVENT FIGHT SIX: MAURICIO "SHOGUN" RUA VS. DAN HENDERSON (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Shogun took the center and had Henderson backing up early. Chogun threw a leg kick and Henderson tossed out the overhand right. Shogun blocked it. They both slowed it down. They were feeling each other out for a bit. Shogun blocked another right hand from Henderson. He landed a hard outside leg kick. He landed one to the inside. Henderson rushed in with a couple of strikes that were blocked. Henderson landed a hard outside leg kick. They both swung wildly and missed, but Henderson scored with an uppercut in the center to break out of the short exchange. Henderson nearly scored a takedown but Shogun scrambled back up. They both swung wildly, but again, neither landed. Shogun got in with a nice jab. Shogun landed a nice kick and blocked the punch thrown by Henderson. They traded jabs. Shogun got in a knee to the body in the clinch as Henderson rushed in, but they quickly separated. Shogun landed another big kick. Henderson rocked him with a left. Shogun covered up and Henderson fired shots. Shogun then knocked him down! He landed some big strikes and Henderson was hurt bad. Henderson was allowed to continue but Shogun stayed on top. The horn sounded with Shogun in the mount but there seemed to be some confusion and they cut to commercial.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Shogun. Want to lean 10-8 given how close he came to finishing, but Henderson had him rocked first.

ROUND TWO: The fight continues. The crowd couldn't hear the horn at the end of last round, thus the confusion. Henderson missed a big right early. Shogun landed a big kick. Shogun landed a hard right, but Henderson fired back as Shogun went for a takedown. Henderson held it off on the cage and landed some short strikes in the clinch. Henderson got loose after a short clinch battle. Shogun landed a couple of jabs. They traded big strikes in a nice exchange. Henderson went for a takedown and got sent off balance head first to the cage. He tried to grab a head lock but Shogun shrugged it off. Shogun knocked Henderson down with an uppercut. Shogun got into Henderson's guard, but Henderson covered up. Henderson tried to defend off his back as Shogun looked to pass. Henderson landed an elbow from the bottom. Henderson continued trying to tie up to get a stand up. That finally happened with 40 seconds left. Shogun landed a hard jab. We're going to a third round.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Shogun. He's doing much more damage in this fight thus far. Really good start for him.

ROUND THREE: Shogun landed a couple of early jabs, avoiding Henderson's counter-right. Henderson rushed in but Shogun defended and countered himself. Shogun landed a jab. Henderson missed the overhand right again as they each swung wildly. Shogun landed a jab. Henderson ducked in for a shot. Shogun stuffed it, but then Henderson knocked him down! Shogun was out, but then grabbed for his leg in desperation. Henderson landed a bunch of strikes on the ground, a few of which were to the back of the head, but Herb Dean stepped in. Shogun sat up after the stoppage and immediately fell back. Good stoppage from Dean there, Shogun was done.

WINNER: Henderson via TKO at 1:31 of the third round

STAR RATING: (***+) Not the classic five round brawl of their first fight, but still incredible drama. Henderson got saved by the bell in the first round, he nearly got stopped in the second round, and then he lands a ridiculous right hand in transition that just destroyed Shogun's face in the third. Absolute craziness.

-That's our event tonight. Thanks for joining us here; we'll have live reports for two events next week with Bellator 114 on Friday night and WSOF 9 on Saturday to close out the month of March, so make sure to follow us throughout the week and join us next weekend!

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 38 PREVIEW: Penick's main card quick thoughts and fight picks

Sat, 22 Mar 2014 21:00:11 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC's March schedule closes out on Sunday with UFC Fight Night 38 in Brazil, bringing the rematch between Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the main event. There's not a ton in the way of significance on the card, but there are a couple of solid undercard fights promising exciting action. Here are some quick thoughts on the night's main card along with my picks for the event:

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Dan Henderson (Light Heavyweight):

Had this rematch happened at this time last year, I'd have picked Henderson in a heartbeat. But a lot has happened in the last year.

Henderson's showing his age at 43. It's only natural, and it was bound to happen, but his run from Strikeforce back into the UFC from 2009-2011 seems a distant memory compared to his 2013 performances. Yes, he had tough, not necessarily action-packed fights with Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, and he got blitzed by a surging Vitor Belfort; it's not a condemnation of his skillset, but there's no question he's lost a step, and isn't quite as good as he was when he and Shogun fought two and a half years ago.

As for Shogun, he hit both ends of the spectrum in 2013, shockingly losing by submission to Chael Sonnen, then rebounding with a knockout of James Te Huna in his best performance in years.

Coming into the rematch here, Shogun's running a little momentum behind the knockout win, and of the two fighters has more time in the sport left in him to rebound in the division. Henderson can win this fight, but even in their first bout he faded badly after failing to put Shogun away. That will be to his detriment further this time around, and I think Shogun wins by TKO in the third round.

Cezar "Mutante" Ferreira vs. C.B. Dollaway (Middleweight):

The Ultimate Fighter Brazil winner meets The Ultimate Fighter 7 runner-up in this bout. It's hard to know just where Mutante is in the division right now. He's won two fights by decision in the UFC with one quick first round submission sandwiched in between, and while he's got some good grappling skills, it will take an inferior opponent for him to score the impressive finish.

Dollaway, while not a world beater, is certainly not an inferior opponent in this fight. He's got experience and a fairly well-rounded game. He does a lot of things well, but nothing stands out as spectacular for him. He's had a couple of lengthier layoffs over the last couple years, going 2-1 in three close fights against Jason Miller, Daniel Sarafian, and Tim Boetsch since 2012. I'd imagine we're going to see a similarly close, probably uneventful fight here, and under those circumstances, I'll take Dollaway by decision.

Leonardo Santos vs. Norman Parke (Lightweight):

Another pair of Ultimate Fighter vets hits this fight, this time with two international season winners. Santos won "TUF: Brazil 2" while Parke won "TUF: The Smashes", and both hope to keep winning streaks alive here.

Santos hasn't fought since winning his season last June with a submission over William Macario, but he brings a more than solid 12-3 record, which includes six straight wins.

Parke has picked up three straight decision wins in the UFC, defeating Colin Fletcher, Kazuki Takudome, and Jon Tuck to extend his streak to nine. Both fighters are quite adept on the ground, but Santos is certainly the more dangerous of the two. If Parke can avoid really bad positions, he can pick up a decision here. I think that could happen, so I'll take Parke by decision.

Fabio Maldonado vs. Gian Villante (Light Heavyweight):

After a rough three fight losing streak, Maldonado has bounced back with consecutive decision wins. He's got a granite chin and is willing to engage in brawls. Often that works for him, but he's taken a ton of damage because of it as well.

Villante hits pretty hard himself, and he's the quicker of the two fighters here so he might be able to score more from an output perspective. That said, he doesn't have the same chin, and in what is likely to be a sloppy brawl, I don't know that I like him to do enough to take two rounds. Maldonado by decision.

Michel Prazeres vs. Mairbek Taisumov (Lightweight):

Prazeres has had a couple of fairly dull fights to decision in the UFC thus far, and though he's got eight submission wins to his credit, he's gone to decision as many times as well.

Taisumov picked up a win in his debut in Singapore in January in a solid, but unspectacular performance. Still, he has a high upside, and is really well rounded with ten wins by (T)KO and nine by submission.

This is bound to be a competitive fight between two lightweights trying to show the UFC they belong. At this stage, I think Taisumov will come out better than in his debut for the win in what will probably be a close fight. Taisumov by decision.

Rony Jason vs. Steven Siler (Featherweight):

Rony Jason got knocked out cold by Jeremy Stephens last October and proceeded to put himself on the shelf longer by elbowing through a plexiglass window backstage and cutting himself open. Another "TUF: Brazil" winner, Jason can be highly exciting at his best, and he's got a lot of tools at his disposal to stop a fight.

Siler's got a lot of weapons himself, but he's failed to take the next step in the division when he faces top end competition. Dennis Bermudez is proving to be just that, Darren Elkins is a top 15 guy, Cole Escovedo's an outlier, and Chad Mendes is the likely next contender. Those are Siler's losses dating back to 2009, and he's won nine fights in that stretch.

Of the two, Jason's more likely to score a stoppage, but this is a fight Siler can win with control and staying out of danger. I don't know that Jason can control Siler the same way Bermudez or Elkins did, and if Siler dictates the pace I think he'll win here. Siler by decision.

[Dan Henderson art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

ROUNDTABLE: Predictions for UFC Fight Night 38's Shogun Rua vs. Dan Henderson main event

Sat, 22 Mar 2014 17:40:28 PST

Who wins the rematch between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua at UFC Fight Night 38? How does that fight play out?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

I really didn't want to see this rematch because it doesn't serve a purpose and will only tarnish the first fight if it ends up even 1% less exciting. That first fight at UFC 139 was one of the best fights I've ever witnessed and I'm sure 99.9% of MMA fans will agree. It was a master class and almost everything that's right with the sport. Sadly it was nearly three-years ago, and like everyone else, Shogun and Hendo are three-years older, something their recent performances have highlighted.

Henderson is extremely fortunate to be allowed to continue with his TRT usage for this fight so he'd better make the most of it. Until they match-up again it's hard to tell which one has deteriorated the most since UFC 139. Neither of them has looked impressive against quality opposition of late and a fight against each other was the best option for two legends way past their prime. I see this one also going the distance, but this time with Shogun winning, even if the overall quality of the fight doesn't live up to the last one.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Shogun wins this one, slightly easier than last time. I think age has started to catch up to Hendo. I see it being a UD victory for Shogun.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Henderson circles Rua all night with his hand cocked and we get a subdued main event. I hope I'm wrong, and that things are more exciting. I think this is a good fight for each man because they're both guys on the tail end of their career, so it makes more sense to match them against each other.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Shogun Rua wins the rematch. If you review Shogun's previous rematch fights, he and his team make great adjustments to ensure the victory. In his rematch with Lyoto Machida (following a fight he should have won barring the ignorance of Cecil Peoples), he was able to counter strike and KO Machida. Also in his rematch with Forrest Griffin he was able to secure another KO victory. If the past tells us anything, it would seem to say Henderson will be on the receiving end of a knockout.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

I'll be amazed if this rematch is half as good as the first. Both fighters are starting to show their age now, Henderson on a three fight losing streak and Shogun 2-2 in the UFC since their last fight. I think the UFC have made a mistake leaving it so long to have the rematch. With the first being one of the best fights in UFC history, they could've sold the fight much easier than they are now.

I'm surprised Henderson is such an underdog in this fight. Yes he's lost his last three fights since defeating Mauricio Rua, though two of them were very close split decisions losses to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans that could have arguably gone his way.

Mauricio Rua is 2-2 inside the Octagon since his loss to Dan Henderson. In that stretch he lost to Alexander Gustafsson and Chael Sonnen, with his two wins coming against Brandon Vera and James Te Huna.

Henderson is a class above both these fighter's even at the age of 41. Make some money here and back the underdog! Henderson to win via TKO.

[Mauricio "Shogun" Rua art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

BELLATOR 113 LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round report for "Vegh vs. Newton" event on Spike TV

Fri, 21 Mar 2014 22:25:15 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

BELLATOR 113
MARCH 21, 2014
LIVE FROM MULVANE, KANSAS

-Tonight's main card kicks off at 9PM. Before we get to that, however, I have to comment on referee Chuck Wolfe, who put forth the single worst officiating effort I've ever seen in a fight from a major MMA organization ever. During the prelim bout between Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown - who took the fight on 12 hours notice today - Wolfe allowed more damage to be done after a fighter was knocked out than I've ever seen. Brown took a few big strikes against the cage and face planted, and Wolfe didn't step in. Then Brown rolled to his back, where he proceeded to take 15-20 more strikes that were entirely undefended before Wolfe finally stepped in to stop the fight. Commentator Jimmy Smith was so incensed he couldn't hold it in, and he rightfully ripped into Wolfe's conduct at the end of that fight. Wolfe should never referee an MMA fight again.

With that out of the way, let's get on to tonight's main card!

FIGHT ONE: TIM WELCH VS. DEREK CAMPOS (LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNEY QUARTERFINAL)

ROUND ONE: Welch circled on the outside as Campos pushed ahead. Welch missed an overhand right. Campos connected on an overhand right. They clinched briefly and separated. Welch landed a left. Welch landed a right hand and awkwardly circled around. Campos landed a left. He connected on the right hand as well. Welch landed a left and slipped. Campos landed a couple of jabs. Campos got in a knee to the body in a brief clinch. Campos landed a couple of solid strikes in close and pressed Welch to the cage. He landed a hard left as he separated. Both fighters missed a couple of strikes. Campos landed a couple of jabs. Campos threw a hard overhand right that was partially blocked. He landed a hard jab. Welch landed a short left. Campos grabbed a brief clinch and landed a few strikes. He avoided a couple of jabs from Welch. He landed another short combo. Welch slipped again late.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Campos. Pressing the action, more effective offense. Clear round for Campos.

ROUND TWO: Campos started where he left off, pressing in and landing strikes while avoiding many of the counters. Welch missed a right and ate a left hook. Campos hurt Welch with a right hand and had him loopy on the feet. Welch went down from a follow up strike, but regained his wits as Campos didn't go for broke there. Campos scored a takedown into half guard and tried to set up an arm triangle. He passed to mount and then to side control with the hold. He had to let it go as he was up against the cage, and Welch survived. Welch tried to get his back to the cage. He worked to his feet off a guillotine attempt. Campos missed an uppercut. Campos got in a nice knee to the body and a right hand. Welch threw a front kick. Campos got in a kick to the body. They traded punches in the center. Welch landed a solid right hand. Campos connected on a big left hand to end a sequence. Campos scored another takedown. Welch grabbed an arm and held to the horn.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Campos. He may have worn himself out going for that arm triangle. He's dominating on the feet, may have screwed himself out of a finish by going for the takedown.

ROUND THREE: Campos threw Welch to the ground early and went to work in top position. Welch tried to get off his back, but Campos held position in half guard. Welch avoided a lot of the offense and got to his feet. He got knocked off balance almost immediately and Campos stood over him. He tried to attack with upkicks, but Campos dropped down with a strike and powered him down again. After a short time in half guard with little offense, Welch regained guard. Campos was relatively inactive from the top, leading to boos from the crowd. He finally postured up and landed a couple of big left hand strikes. He landed some more each time he postured up. He finally stod and landed a couple of kicks to the outside of Welch's legs. Welch threw a couple of leg kicks. Welch wound up getting Campos to his back late and ended the round in top position. Too little, too late.

WINNER: Campos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

STAR RATING: (*+) Could have been even bigger in Campos' favor with close to a 10-8 in the second round. Campos' fight all the way, not that great nor that competitive.

FIGHT TWO: MARCIN HELD VS. RODRIGO CAVALHEIRO (LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNEY QUARTERFINAL)

ROUND ONE: Held rushed early with a wild flurry that didn't connect much. He came forward again. He suckered Cavalheiro into a wild exchange and scored a takedown. Cavalheiro controlled Held's arms and nearly got to his feet, but Held got loose and attacked for a heel hook. Held turned it into an ankle lock/toe hold and forced the tap. Slick work.

WINNER: Held via submission (toe hold/ankle lock) at 1:56 of the first round

STAR RATING: (**+) When Marcin Held is in against guys who can't match him on the ground, you're going to get something really fun, and that's what happened here tonight. Great work. No one other than Rousimar Palhares works those leg locks as well as Held.

-A replay of the Derek Anderson vs. Brandon Girtz lightweight quarterfinal hits the Spike broadcast, with Anderson scoring a sick second round KO with a standing knee to the jaw.

FIGHT THREE: DAVID RICKELS VS. PATRICKY "PITBULL" FREIRE (LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNEY QUARTERFINAL)

ROUND ONE: Both fighters ran to the center, but then settled into testing the distance. Rickels sent out a straight kick. He landed a hard left in a short exchange. Pitbull missed a right and ate a knee to the body. Rickels got in a punch and a knee to the face. A right hand got through for Rickels. Pitbull landed a hard leg kick. They traded punches. Rickels went outside with a kick. Pitbull landed a really hard left in a short exchange. They traded strikes again. Pitbull landed a nice jab. Pitbull got the better of another exchange. Pitbull landed the overhand right again. Rickels tossed out a push kick. Rickels landed a few strikes swinging wildly, but Pitbull caught him with a couple of punches. Pitbull landed a knee and Rickels clinched up. Rickels got in some knees to the body. Pitbull landed some body strikes. Rickels backed off with a couple of strikes. He landed a couple more and kept the pressure on at the cage. Rickels backed off with a combo that was mostly blocked. Pitbull scored a late trip takedown. Rickels threw some elbows and open palm strikes from his back before the round ended.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-10. Really close, really competitive opening round. Pitbull was getting the better of the early exchanges, then Rickels began taking control. Pitbull's late takedown is probably going to swing it for him for the judges, but this could go either way here easily.

ROUND TWO: Rickels tossed out a few kicks to start the second. Pitbull jumped in with a kick that was blocked. Pitbull rocked Rickels with a two punch combo, and Rickels was wobbly. Pitbull stayed on him at the cage and rocked him again. Pitbull then landed a big strike and Rickels went down. Ref Jason Herzog allowed one more strike on the ground despite Rickels being completely out. At least it wasn't anything close to what Chuck Wolfe allowed earlier. Still shouldn't have been necessary though, Pitbull wanted to hold up knowing it was over. That's one of Patricky's best performances in Bellator.

WINNER: Freire via KO at :54 of the second round

STAR RATING: (**+) Really good performance from Freire, honestly his best in the Bellator cage. He looked very good, and scored a vicious and decisive finish. Nice win.

MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: ATTILA VEGH VS. EMANUEL NEWTON (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

ROUND ONE: Newton was the more active in the opening minute, landing a few strikes as Vegh stood in front of him. Newton continued throwing short kicks and punches whenever Vegh was in range. Newton landed a hard right hand. Vegh landed a hard kick up high and tried to press in, but Newton got out of trouble quickly. Newton switched stance a number of times and landed some kicks. Vegh got in another hard body strike and closed distance, then landed a nice strike on the way out of a brief clinch. Vegh got Newton to the cage and landed a hard right hand. Newton landed a body punch. Newton missed a winging overhand right. He tagged Vegh with some outside leg kicks. Newton landed a hard right hand. Vegh went high with a kick that was blocked. Newton pressed in late and clinched. He landed a couple of knees but Vegh held him off to the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Newton. Close round, and I can see 10-9 Vegh here as well. Newton was a bit more active, scored a bit more offense overall, but Vegh had the more powerful strikes in that opening frame.

ROUND TWO: Vegh landed a hard left in an early exchange, with Newton trying to fire back, but Vegh had the better of it. Newton landed a leg kick. He missed a few kicks. They traded strikes, but Vegh got the better of it again. Newton landed another hard kick. Newton closed distance and grabbed a body lock, but he landed a knee low and the action was halted. He was quick to continue. Newton came straight in to grapple. He couldn't throw Vegh down but kept him to the cage and landed some knees. Vegh then broke free. Vegh landed a right hand. Vegh landed a right as Newton missed. Newton landed a hard right after they collided in the center. Vegh connected on a hard right in the next exchange. Newton landed that outside leg kick again. Newton just missed a big overhand right. He landed a hard body kick and clinched. Vegh separated and they traded strikes. Stand off to the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Newton. More convincing round for Newton, even though Vegh's corner tells him he's up 2-0. Vegh just doesn't have a ton of output right now.

ROUND THREE: Slow start to the round. Newton scores the first significant strikes with a punch and a body kick. Newton scored a hard jab. Vegh landed a right hand. Newton scored an outside leg kick and a couple of grazing strikes. Newton spun for a kick that was blocked. He scored with a right hand and a body kick in combination. They traded shots in the center. Vegh landed an uppercut. He pressed in and scored a knee. He landed a hard jab. Newton fired back with a right. He landed the uppercut to the forehead again. Vegh slowed down again. Newton connected on a couple of strikes. They traded right hands. The crowd booed some of the tentative striking action. Newton pressed in and tried for a takedown but got stuffed. Vegh broke free qyickly. Newton was bleeding around the nose. Newton missed a strike before the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Vegh. He did more damage that round, while Newton missed a lot of his strikes. Vegh's corner tells him he's up 3-0 right now, though, which is ridiculous because he could easily be down 2-1, possibly even 3-0. Really irresponsible corner work.

ROUND FOUR: Newton clinched early and landed a few short strikes as he drove Vegh to the cage. Vegh separated and circled. They traded a few jabs in the center. Vegh avoided a few strikes. Newton grabbed a leg and clinched. Vegh stuffed the takedown at the cage. Newton ate a knee and landed a right in separating. Newton landed a right hand. Vegh got in a jab. Newton landed the outside leg kick, then went inside, and they traded punches. Newton landed a right and a body kick behind it. Newton landed a hard jab. Newton landed a body kick lightly. Vegh connected on the jab. Newton landed a hard right hand. Newton landed a hard leg kick. Newton threw a few more strikes, landing a couple. Vegh shot in late but got stuffed and threw a knee. Newton pressed late and missed a high kick before the bell.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Newton. Really not a lot happened that round. Vegh just isn't doing much offensively, and Newton is missing a majority of what he's throwing out there. This isn't a good fight right now.

ROUND FIVE:They hugged to start the round and the crowd booed. Newton then came in aggressively and they both threw wild strikes, neither connecting on much with any significance. Newton closed the distance and tried for a takedown at the cage. Vegh held off the attempt, but Newton stayed on the single leg. They traded knees as Vegh shook him off. He separated and Newton came forward with a short combo. Vegh landed a hard right hand. Newton closed the distance again after a few strikes and landed a couple of knees. Vegh broke free again. Newton landed a hard straight right and avoided the power on the counter. Newton stayed the aggressor. Vegh shot in but got stuffed. Newton tried to fire away but Vegh landed a right. Newton again closed the distance and clinched at the cage. Newton stepped back and landed a couple of strikes. Vegh fired a couple in. Newton landed a hard jumping knee and kept the aggression up. Vegh landed a hard step in knee. Newton tried for the takedown but got stuffed again. Newton landed a knee. Vegh separated as the crowd booed. They traded strikes. Newton shot in but Vegh sprawled. Vegh missed a few strikes, as did Newton, before the bell, with the crowd booing.

Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Newton. Vegh just did nearly zero offensively through most of that fight.

WINNER: Newton via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46)

STAR RATING: (*) Really not a good title fight at all. Very little in the way of redeeming quality there. Vegh's corner did him a disservice telling him he was up through the first three rounds. That just wasn't the case, and he fought like he was ahead down the stretch and just needed to coast to a decision. Bad fight.

-Thanks for joining us here tonight. We're back with live fight coverage Sunday night as the UFC hits Brazil with UFC Fight Night 38!

HAVERVOLD: A point by point breakdown of UFC Fight Night 38's "Shogun vs. Henderson II" main event

Fri, 21 Mar 2014 16:15:06 PST

By: Kale Havervold, MMATorch Contributor

Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua battled for five rounds in a great fight back in November of 2011, and two and a half years later they're set to meet again. This time the fight comes to Brazil on Fox Sports 1, headlining Sunday's UFC Fight Night 38 event. A lot has changed for both fighters since that first meeting, so let's break down where they're at coming into this rematch.

Striking

Rua

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has been one of the most dangerous strikers in MMA for almost a decade. And despite his age, he is still very dangerous. In fact, his last seven victories have all come by way of TKO/KO. Like Henderson, Shogun prefers using his punches as his prime weapon, but also likes to use kicks and knees (especially in the clinch) in order to set up combinations as well. He is a very well rounded striker and is capable of knocking anybody out.

Henderson

If you polled MMA fans around the world about Dan Henderson, the first thing that would likely come to their minds would be the "H-Bomb," the nickname given to Henderson's overhand right. It's simply among the most devastating strikes in the history of MMA. Now, Henderson is 43 years old, which makes him one of the oldest competitors in MMA today. It will be interesting to see how the recent TRT ban will affect his performance in the striking department and whether it will affect his power at all, but that will be a concern for his next fight as he's the final fighter to be granted an exemption for TRT by Brazil.

ADVANTAGE – Rua (1)

Wrestling/Takedowns

Rua

Though Rua did get more takedowns in their first fight than Henderson did, that was mainly due to the fatigue of Hendo and not a lack of technique. Rua in the past has preferred to stand up when he fights, but has shown the ability to take fighters down when need be. In his last three fights, though, he has been taken down eight times, which leaves you wondering if Hendo will abandon the wild striking gameplan in favour of a more takedown oriented attack.

Henderson

While Dan Henderson has some of the most powerful strikes in the UFC, he was once a very talented Greco-Roman wrestler with a Gold, Silver, and Bronze at the Pan Am games. This background is evidence that Henderson can wrestle with the best of them in the UFC's light heavyweight division. If he can maintain his composure and not gas too early in the fight, He will assert his dominance in the wrestling department.

ADVANTAGE – Henderson (1)

Submissions/Grappling

Rua

Both of these fighters are not particularly noted for their submission abilities, as Rua only has one submission victory in his MMA career and Henderson only has two. In terms of the grappling aspect of this fight, Shogun will sometimes dive and take risks in order to try secure leg locks, but often doesn't try finish the fight from that position. Instead, he will try to use that as a way to advance to a more dominant position.

Henderson

As Mentioned earlier, neither of these fighters have won many fights via submission, but they also have not lost via submission many times, and when they have, it has been to top level talent. While Henderson may perhaps be the stronger man, don't look for him to try anything too fancy on the ground, he will likely just try to secure top position if he decides to take Shogun to the ground.

ADVANTAGE – PUSH

Conditioning

Rua

In their first fight, both fighters went after it in the first few rounds, which led them both to gas in the later rounds, perhaps Henderson more than Rua. Shogun has never been noted as having a great gas tank, but even when he is exhausted, he can still find ways to score points.

Henderson

Normally, former high level wrestlers have some of the best conditioning in MMA, but when you throw the kind of heavy leather that Hendo does, you tend to fade a little bit quicker. This was evident in the last time these two men fought as Henderson was barely able to stay on his feet the last two rounds. If he goes out with a similar gameplan as last time, I'm afraid it may happen again.

ADVANTAGE – Rua (2)

EDGE: Shogun Rua 2-1

I believe that this fight will be quite different than the last fight, and not for the better. I think both fighters will be mindful of their fatigue levels and will likely put out less of an output than their last fight. I think Henderson could win if he imposes a wrestling based gamelan, but he seems to be content standing with fighters these days, as he attempted a total of 0 takedowns in his fights against Vitor Belfort and Rashad Evans. I like Shogun to win here by decision or maybe even a late round TKO if Hendo gasses.

PICK: Shogun Rua wins via Unanimous Decision

[Mauricio "Shogun" Rua art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

MOORE: UFC Fight Night 38 "Shogun vs. Henderson II" Betting Guide - Personal Bets and Tips

Fri, 21 Mar 2014 15:10:31 PST

By: Dan Moore, MMATorch UK Columnist

I'm 16-6 on my picks for the last two events combined (UFC Fight Night 37 and UFC 171, however, most of my bets have crashed and burned. I keep hedging my bets toward a bigger and quicker payoff rather than biding my time taking advantage of the hectic UFC schedule. So, this weekend I'm playing it relatively safe with one big four-fold bet featuring two fighters I have the utmost confidence in, and two who offer very good value.

Never underestimate the advantage of a home crowd and the potential for judges to favour local talent. Proceed with caution when selecting any international fighter this Sunday because none of them can be classed as certainties even if some are the betting favourites. We've got three distinctly average cards coming over the next few weeks before we reach UFC 172 in Baltimore. Although there will inevitably be some decent betting value, most of the talent on show are underwhelming.

The bets I write about are my own based on only my knowledge and some research. I'm simply sharing my trials and tribulations as a degenerate gambler. If you follow my advice and lose, don't come crying to me because I'll be busy crying myself. If you can afford to throw good money away and what you read tempts you, by all means give it a go, but, be prepared to see a big fat zero in your betting account after (much like mine!).

To get you started here are the betting lines (for reference) courtesy of 5Dimes:

(-) represents the favourite and (+) represents the underdog. My overall picks are highlighted in bold:

Mauricio Rua: -250
Dan Henderson: +210

Cezar Ferreira: -195
C.B. Dollaway: +155

Norman Parke: -195
Leonardo Santos: +155

Gian Villante: -140
Fabio Maldonado: +100

Mairbek Taisumov: -270
Michel Prazeres: +190

Rony Jason: -165
Steven Siler: +125

Diego Brandao: -270
Will Chope: +190

Ronny Markes: -705
Thiago Santos: +435

Scott Jorgensen: -265
Jussier Formiga: +185

Kenny Robertson: -120
Thiago Perpetuo: -120

Noad Lahat: -215
Godofredo Pepey: +165

Francimar Barraso: -140
Hans Stringer: +100

MY FOUR-FOLD OF THE NIGHT

Kenny Robertson looked awesome against Brock Jardine and executed a perfect modified kneebar to earn a first-round victory. He then went on to convincingly lose to Sean Pierson at UFC 161, and hasn't fought since, so he's probably the weak link in this bet. However, Thiago Perpetuo hasn't shown any of the knock-out power that earned him a UFC contract. Robertson is durable and very capable of getting a win in this one providing fighting in Brazil doesn't get to him like many before.

Will Chope will look like a giant in his fight with Diego Brandao, but the idiom, “The bigger they are the harder they fall”, most likely rings true on Sunday night. Brandao comfortably saw off a much taller Pablo Garza in Sweden last year and there is no reason to think he won't be able to do the same here. Chope had a decent record coming into the UFC and looked good in the first round against Max Holloway before it all went wrong. Look for Brandao to get the quick finish, especially if he struggles to make weight again.

Not much to say about the Ronny Markes vs. Thiago Santos fight. Markes is capable of grinding out victories and will be looking to bounce back from his first UFC loss to Yoel Romero last November. It's highly unlikely that Santos shows the same kind of finishing power Romero did, and more likely Markes will get the opportunity to show he can actually finish a fight in the UFC having gone to a decision in all three of his UFC wins thus far.

Scott Jorgensen has lost four of his last five fights. Is it because he's past his best or because he fought and lost to Makovsky, Faber, Wineland and Barao. I'm going say it's a bit of both, but whatever the reason, Jorgensen needs to win desperately. Formiga is coming off a loss to perennial contender, Joseph Benavidez, who exposed his obvious weaknesses much like John Dodson did. This could go either way, but with the home crowd advantage against someone without knock-out power, I expect Formiga to win this via decision.

Four-Fold accumulator on Ronny Markes, Jussier Formiga, Diego Brandao and Kenny Robertson

Feel free to get in touch and offer your valued opinion, @MMATorchDan

WALKER: Preview and predictions for Friday's XFO 50 event in Illinois

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:20:31 PST

By: Brad Walker MMATorch Columnist

This Friday, March 21, XFO puts on its historic 50th professional card from the UIC pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. As always, owner and matchmaker Dan Lardy has put together a stacked card for our entertainment. Here is a rundown of the card and some of my picks for tomorrow's incredible schedule!

Heavyweight Main event: Scott Hough (5-5) vs Adam Macijewski (10-5-1)

This fight guarantees one thing: great grappling. Macijewski comes out of arguably the best wrestling gym in the area, and Hough is no slouch. It's going to come down to who gets the best of the exchanges.

Walker's Pick: Macijewski via TKO

Bantamweight Co-Main Event: Danny Aguirre (8-3) vs Cory Galloway (4-1)

This is basically a fight for local supremacy. Galloway is a Bellator veteran who is currently under contract to XFC, and Aguirre is a beast who is on an absolute tear. For my money Galloway is the next big thing at 135 lbs., and hopefully soon will be on the UFC radar.

Walker's Pick: Galloway via submission

Middleweight bout: Josh Eckmann (0-0) vs Rafal Skibinski (3-2)

This one's pretty easy for me to call in Skibinski's favor due to his past with Bellator, but Eckmann is in the right place to shock folks. I will give Rafal an edge here based solely on experience.

Walker's Pick: Skibinski via decision

Strawweight Bout: Keo Panyathong (2-2) vs Joey Diehl (4-4)

I have always wanted to see a Strawweight bout in XFO and my dream has come true. One of Illinois' most gifted flyweights, Joey Diehl, drops a division to meet Panyathong in his first bout at 115 lbs.. This is going to come down to conditioning as both men are high output fighters.

Walker's Pick: Diehl via decision

Bantamweight Bout: Heather Bassett (1-0) vs Fallon Fox (3-1)

This is going to be an exciting bout with two women who have tremendous respect for one another. Both will fight for a finish and we will likely see fireworks early.

Walker's Pick: Fox by KO

Here's a round up of the rest of the scheduled bouts:

Welterweight: Vic Hall (7-18) vs Adam Kreptowski (1-1)

Flyweight: Kelly Warren (3-4) vs Pearl Gonzalez (2-1)

Bantamweight: Manny Vazquez (0-0) vs Vince Romandine (0-1)

Featherweight: Oliver Vazquez (1-0) vs Kevin Axline (0-4)

Welterweight: Adam Potapenko (0-0) vs Lawerence Dunning (2-3)

Featherweight: James Martin (1-1) vs Anthony Goodwin (3-1)

Flyweight: Richard Dey (0-0) vs Dexter Wright (2-3)

More bouts are also included that are not yet listed! Get your tickets at LocalMMATickets.com

ROUNDTABLE: Most intriging undercard fights on Sunday's UFC Fight Night 38 card

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 14:30:59 PST

What fights outside of the Dan Henderson-Shogun Rua main event are you intrigued by on the UFC Fight Night 38 card, and why?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

I'm interested to see how Rony Jason and Steven Siler bounce back from defeats to Jeremy Stephens and Dennis Bermudez, respectively. No shame in losing to either guy, it's how you comeback from adversity that counts. Neither Jason nor Siler will ever be contenders, but both are very capable in their own right and both have beaten some decent opponents since joining the UFC.

Norman Parke is a very capable British fighter and currently 3-0 in the UFC, but Leonardo Santos will be his biggest test to date, especially in front of a partisan home crowd vociferously cheering the Brazilian submission specialist. Other than that nothing really appeals to me bar the main event. It won't stop me watching it, though, and I'm certain a fair few of the fights will end up being exciting encounters, as they usually do in Brazil.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I'm actually quite excited to see how Jussier Formiga fares against Scott Jorgenson. Those are two very fast fighters and I am excited to watch that fight.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Well, to be perfectly honest I'm not that interested in Henderson-Rua. I'm not expecting much from this fight, but I hope I'm wrong. The only fight I really care about on this card is Jussier Formiga vs. Scott Jorgensen. I think that fight will be very good. The other stuff is just kind of there. I just have a bad feeling that we're going to watch Henderson circle Rua all night looking for a chance to throw the H-Bomb. It's just as likely to be a bad fight as a good one, in my eyes. Hopefully the crowd makes a difference.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Well, this is a hard question to answer because there really isn't a fight I'm intrigued to see. Ultimate Fighter winners Rony Jason and Diego Brandao are both on the card. I think each are very talented guys that most likely need to sit down with a sports psychologist and work on their mindset. They are both erratic and seem to be their own worst enemy.

I am resigned to the fact that any card held outside of the United States or Canada will specifically be tailored to the country of origin; while I may know some of the fighters on that card, I do not have a vested interest in them.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

To be brutally honest here. There isn't much on this card that really excites me down from the main card. With C.B Dolloway vs. Cezar Ferreira as the co-main event says a lot! Though one fight or fighter should I say, that I always enjoy watching is Diego Brandao, his wild fighting style and aggression he brings to each fight always excites me. Diego only being 5' 7" and his opponent Will Chope standing at a massive 6' 4", with both of their fighting styles we could really be in for an interesting fight.

John Maguire replaces injured brother Tommy against Damir Hadzovic at Cage Warriors 66 this weekend

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 14:15:40 PST

By: Tom Strong, MMATorch UK Contributor

Cage Warrior 66 is only two days away now, and the latest news is that Tommy Maguire (15-5) has sustained an injury, forcing him to pull out of his upcoming fight against Damir Hadzovic (7-2) on Saturday. Cage Warriors were quick to find a replacement this week, though, when none other than older brother John Maguire decided to stand up to take the fight on short notice.

John Maguire (19-7) will be taking the fight only 21 days after he last fought at CWFC 65 in Dublin, Ireland, where he suffered a decision loss vs. Saul Rodgers.

The 30-year-old Maguire stated, "I'm a fighter, and as a fighter, I'm always ready to step in, accept a challenge and compete."

Maguire will be eager to get back to winning ways when he meets Hadzovic, having only secured one victory in his last five MMA fights.

If you want to learn more about the undefeated Nicolas Dalby who will be headlining CWFC 66 main event for the vacant welterweight bout vs. Sergei Churilov. Click on the link provided below for an insightful and fascinating fifteen minute documentary on Dalby lead up to his CWFC title bout.

"The SharpShooter"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OwHxU9vgaU&list=UUg5E4hWlXrJX7Ukx80941FA

You can also watch every televised CWFC event since the start of 2012 on their YouTube channel.

If you want to add me on twitter and talk more about MMA, you will find me @strong_tea.

Video: Bellator Uncut - Behind the scenes at Bellator 112

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:20:06 PST

Bellator is running a new behind the scenes video series during season 10 entitled "Bellator Uncut," and their latest gives you a look at last Friday's Bellator 112 event. Check out the video below:

Note: If the embedded video does not work on your device, check out the video at the following link at our site on your desktop or laptop. http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_20728.shtml

Keeping Tabs On The UFC Bantamweight Division 3/19: Barao, Faber, and the UFC's top 15 bantamweights

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 23:55:18 PST

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

We’re back on the rotation in our “Keeping Tabs On…” series, where we break down the UFC’s Top 15 ranked fighters in each division. We'll let you know where we've got them ranked, what they've got coming up, how often they've been competing, what we've said about them recently at MMATorch, and more. We continue today with the bantamweight division.

Champ: Renan Barao

MMATorch Rank: 1
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Urijah Faber (Win), UFC 169
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Current Champ
What We're Saying: "Barao showed that he's one of the best fighters in the world with this performance. He dropped Faber over and over, and proved his dominance. The stoppage was odd in its timing, but it wasn't wrong. Barao was clearly winning and would have likely ended the fight for sure later." - Frank Hyden

1. Urijah Faber

MMATorch Rank: 2
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Renan Barao (Loss), UFC 169
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Falling, but title hopes aren’t dead
What We're Saying: "It's highly unfortunate that Cruz still doesn't have a timetable for return, but if it can be a little later in the summer, Faber remains a top option for him to fight. It'd be a great rematch if it happened, but at this stage it appears Cruz may be out a little longer still." - Jamie Penick

2. Michael McDonald

MMATorch Rank: 3
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Urijah Faber (Loss), UFC on Fox 9
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Falling, but could still easily bounce back
What We're Saying: "That's the most maddening thing for any type of ailment, to have no clear idea what is actually causing it, and with strength leaving his hand it's got to be throwing him off entirely. Hopefully after this extra month and an MRI, they can figure out what it is and get a more concrete idea of how long he'll be out." - Jamie Penick

3. Raphael Assuncao

MMATorch Rank: 5
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Pedro Munhoz (Win), UFC 170
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Likely next contender
What We're Saying: "If you win six consecutive fights in the UFC, you deserve a title shot. It doesn’t always happen, but he definitely deserves one. It also helps that Renan Barao has virtually beaten everyone else who was worthy of contention." - Dan Moore

4. Eddie Wineland

MMATorch Rank: 6
Next Fight: Johnny Eduardo, UFC Fight Night 40, May 10
Previous Fight: Yves Jabouin (Win), UFC on Fox 10
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 4
Contender Status: Rising, off to good start, needs more wins
What We're Saying: "Wineland is working his way back into title contention after a loss to Renan Barao last September. In his first outing since that loss, Wineland knocked out Yves Jabouin in January." - Jamie Penick

5. T.J. Dillashaw

MMATorch Rank: 11
Next Fight: Takeya Mizugaki, UFC 173, May 24
Previous Fight: Mike Easton (Win), UFC Fight Night 35
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Rising, looked great against Easton
What We're Saying: "Dillashaw, the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter's 14th season, was well on his way to a shot at the UFC Bantamweight Championship when he fell short against Raphael Assuncao by split decision late last year. He bounced back impressively in his first 2014 outing, defeating Mike Easton in a one-sided decision in January." - Jamie Penick

6. Takeya Mizugaki

MMATorch Rank: 10
Next Fight: T.J. Dillashaw, UFC 173, May 24
Previous Fight: Nam Phan (win), UFC Fight Night 33
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Rising, still a few relevant wins away from legitimate contention
What We're Saying: "Takeya Mizugaki… is hoping to continue his ascension into contention following years of inconsistency. From his debut in the WEC in 2009 - which came in a title fight against Miguel Torres - through 2012, Mizugaki alternated wins and losses every time out. But starting with his win over Jeff Hougland on the UFC on Fuel card in Macau, China, Mizugaki has strung together four straight victories, defeating Bryan Caraway, Erik Perez, and Nam Phan in succession." - Jamie Penick

7. Mike Easton

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked (received votes)
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: T.J. Dillashaw (Loss), UFC Fight Night 35
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Falling, not likely to be a title contender
What We're Saying: "Good fight, really good performance from Dillashaw, who just completely picked Easton apart in that fight." - Jamie Penick

9. Dominick Cruz

MMATorch Rank: Not eligible due to inactivity
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Demetrious Johnson (Win), UFC on Versus 6
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 0
Contender Status: Stagnant, could fight for title again this year
What We're Saying: "It's highly unfortunate that Cruz still doesn't have a timetable for return, but if it can be a little later in the summer, Faber remains a top option for him to fight. It'd be a great rematch if it happened, but at this stage it appears Cruz may be out a little longer still." - Jamie Penick

8. Iuri Alcantara

MMATorch Rank: 12
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Wilson Reis (Win), UFC Fight Night 36
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Stagnant, got back in the win column but needs to do more
What We're Saying: "For a Fight Night event this is a really intriguing undercard, probably even better than the disastrous UFC 169 on paper. I never get tired of watching an Alcantara fight." - Dan Moore

10. Francisco Rivera

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: George Roop (Win), UFC Fight For The Troops 3
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Rising, but still several fights from contention
What We're Saying: "The hand injury delays Rivera's return, and halts his attempt at ascension towards a title fight. He had been unbeaten in six straight fights. It would have been a six fight winning streak were it not for a no contest due to a failed drug test." - Jamie Penick

11. Erik Perez

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: Alex Caceres, “TUF: Nations” Finale, April 16
Previous Fight: Edwin Figueroa (Win), UFC 167
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Stagnant, needs to put together a streak to contend
What We're Saying: "I could see him fighting Yves Jabouin in Mexico City this spring. The winner of Alex Caceres vs. Mitch Gagnon makes sense (especially if it's Caceres). Bryan Caraway could be in the cards, depending on what management thinks of Caraway's ceiling." - Rich Hansen

12. Alex Caceres

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked (received votes)
Next Fight: Erik Perez, “TUF: Nations” Finale, April 16
Previous Fight: Sergio Pettis (Win), UFC on Fox 10
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Rising, has been quite impressive in the UFC’s bantamweight field
What We're Saying: "Alex Caceres might not be elite, but he's very good, and Sergio Pettis was still on his way to a win. Pettis survived a flash knockdown in the second and showed a ton of poise for a fighter his age. That makes it all the more impressive that Caceres was able to transition into that rear naked choke in the final minute, and I came away from that fight wanting to see more from both of them. It's a huge, propelling performance for Caceres who really seems to be hitting his stride at bantamweight" - Jamie Penick

13. Brad Pickett

MMATorch Rank: 9 (will not be eligible next month as he’s at flyweight)
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Neil Seery (Win), UFC Fight Night 37
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 6
Contender Status: Now at flyweight
What We're Saying: "The UFC wanted to book [Pickett vs. McCall] before, and it still makes sense now after the London event. Putting it in Germany or Ireland certainly works if they want to keep Pickett as a part of their EMEA tour, and really it's just a sensible fight at this stage." - Jamie Penick

14. Bryan Caraway

MMATorch Rank: 15
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Johnny Bedford (Win), UFC 159
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 3
Contender Status: Stagnant, needs to win several consecutive to contend
What We're Saying: "Caraway's return gets delayed even further, as he hasn't been in the cage since last April. The 29-year-old Caraway beat Johnny Bedford at UFC 159, but spent the summer helping his girlfriend Miesha Tate coach on The Ultimate Fighter." - Jamie Penick

15. Wilson Reis

MMATorch Rank: Not Ranked
Next Fight: TBA
Previous Fight: Iuri Alcantara (Loss), UFC Fight Night 36
Number of Fights Since Jan. 2012: 5
Contender Status: Not close to contention yet
What We're Saying: "[UFC Fight Night 36 had a] really poor night of prelim fights - save Iuri Alcantara vs. Wilson Reis." - Jamie Penick

MMATorch Interview: Fallon Fox discusses return to XFO for their 50th event this week

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:55:49 PST

By: Brad Walker, MMATorch Columnist

This Friday night at the UIC pavilion in Chicago, Ill., XFO runs its historic 50th professional card. XFO has made its name with great fights and great fighters, and has dominated the Midwestern area for almost 10 years. On Friday's show, Fallon Fox will make her XFO return. I spoke with her earlier today about her return fight, and our conversation is below:

Brad Walker: Hey Fallon, nice talking to you again. How does it feel to be back in the local scene with XFO?

Fallon Fox: It feels awesome! It's been a long time, I [had] my debut here and it's good to be back. XFO is a great organization and I love to fight in front of my local fans.

Walker: Is it weird going from a larger live televised organization to a smaller local one?

Fox: CFA was mostly televised for particular fighters on the card, and XFO is also televised. If you ask me XFO is a larger organization that CFA, they've been around longer and have a larger base. A great place to fight.

Walker: You're fighting an opponent with less experience in Heather Bassett, how do you feel about the matchup?

Fox: I think she is coming to compete. It will be a competitive matchup, she's a smaller woman moving up and I'm a bigger woman moving down, so I'm hoping we put on a great fight.

Walker: How has your camp been with teammates like Oliver Vazquez and Rafal Skibinski also training for the same card?

Fox: Great. Oliver has helped a lot, so has Rafal. It's been a super productive camp even with one of our fighters getting injured, but we're all ready.

Walker: Have you had any licensing issues with Illinois as you have had with other states?

Fox: No, not a bad process at all. I should be cleared and am expecting my license on the mail or delivered in person before fight time.

Walker: You've had many past opponents who have talked a lot of crap and tried to get in your head prior to a fight. Bassett has not, how is that a change for you?

Fox: It's been so much easier. She's a respectful opponent and I've been very happy with that. I respect Heather Bassett, and I respect and appreciate that she understands that this is two women fighting and one hand gets raised at the end.

Walker: Is it a proud moment for you to take part on such a massively important card like XFO's 50th professional event?

Fox: It's a huge pride. This card is a landmark for MMA, both local and across the board. The UIC pavilion is a huge venue and I can't wait to take my game to the cage for such a historic night of fights.

Walker: Last but not least, how is your fight going to end?

Fox: Knockout. I'm going for it and I'm going to get it!

Be sure to get your XFO tickets at LocalMMATickets.Com and follow Fallon Fox on twitter at @FallonFox and XFO at @XFOMMA and me at @BradMMATorch

HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 112 and UFC 171

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:50:26 PST

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Bellator 112 and UFC 171 both took place last weekend; let's get to it:

Bellator 112

GOOD: Adam McDonough vs. Jesse Juarez

This fight was just OK. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special either. Both guys did what they could to win, with McDonough taking the decision. It was solid, but nothing noteworthy.

GOOD: Sam Oropeza stops Cristiano Souza

Oropeza caught Souza with a big right hook to finish the fight in the first round. Up until that point they seemed to be battling back and forth well. Oropeza just caught him right on the button and shut the lights out. It was just a beautiful shot.

GOOD: Andrey Koreshkov stops Nah-Shon Burrell

This was even shorter. Koreshkov caught Burrell with a body shot that also clipped his chin, which dropped him. Not much else to add there, after Burrell dropped Koreshkov stormed in and finished it with some heavy shots. It probably took me longer to write this than the fight lasted. Yeah, I'm a slow typer.

GREAT: Pat Curran submits Daniel Straus

This was an excellent fight. These guys battled back and forth. Curran had the advantage, then Straus did. They fought on the feet, they fought on the mat, they taunted each other, this was a total war. Curran got the submission in the final seconds of the fifth round. I think there was like fifteen seconds left. I don't know what would have happened if Curran hadn't gotten the submission, it's always so hard to read judges and how they score things. If you haven't seen this fight you should try to watch it as soon as you can. This won't be Fight of the Year or anything, but it's definitely going to be in the Top Ten.

UFC 171

GOOD/BAD: Sean Spencer vs. Alex Garcia

There were some really good moments in this fight, but also some really bad ones. They went back and forth a lot. Garcia won the decision, as he clearly won two of the rounds.

GOOD: Dennis Bermudez stops Jimy Hettes

Bermudez dominated this fight before getting the third round knockout. A good win for Bermudez.

GOOD: Jessica Andrade vs. Raquel Pennington

This was really close. Andrade picked up the split decision here, and the second round was the decisive one. Pennington was countering well, but Andrade was being very aggressive and landing the heavier shots. This was a hard one to judge.

GOOD: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story

Another entertaining fight. Gastleum dominated the first round, then nearly lost in the second. The third round was just a total toss-up. Gastelum won by split decision, which I think was a pretty good call.

GOOD: Ovince St. Preux submits Nikita Krylov

St. Preux did what he was supposed to, beat the outmatched opponent. He finished things early.

UGLY/GOOD: Hector Lombard vs. Jake Shields

The GOOD comes from the beginning few minutes. Lombard nearly had Shields finished, but he just couldn't put him away. After that, the UGLY kicked in as the fight devolved into a smelly turd. Lombard gassed badly, and Shields had nothing to offer. Like milk left out in the hot sun, this got bad in a hurry.

BAD: Diego Sanchez vs. Myles Jury

There wasn't much to this fight. Jury just laid out, looking for the counter. He got the decision, but the win doesn't do a whole lot for him.

GOOD/BAD: Tyron Woodley beats Carlos Condit by injury stoppage

Condit suffered a knee injury from defending a takedown in the second round. Woodley had won the first round, though Condit was very active from his back. It looked like Condit was starting to turn it on, too, when the injury happened. Woodley says that it was a good win because he was "dominating" Condit. I don't know what he's talking about because he wasn't dominating anything.

Anytime an injury stops a fight it takes the wind out of the sails. It sucks, to be blunt, especially in fights like this. This is like the second fight between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva. I would say that Weidman had done more to win his fight than Woodley had, at the point of the injury stoppage, though. I don't want to take too much away from Woodley, though, he fought very well. It's very possible that Woodley would have won the fight regardless, but we'll never know. I don't think this is enough for Woodley to get the next title shot in the welterweight division, but he's close.

GREAT: Johnny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler

This fight was amazing. I would put it just above the Pat Curran-Daniel Straus rematch from Bellator 112, but it's close. Hendricks won the first two rounds, Lawler won the next two. It came down to the fifth round, and Hendricks was just slightly better. And I mean just slightly. Hendricks got a takedown towards the end of the fight, and that sealed the deal. Now, I could easily see someone giving Lawler one of the first two rounds, and that speaks to how close it was. I wouldn't really agree with that, but it's possible.

I think the lack of contenders, and the closeness of this fight, could lead to an immediate rematch. It's not a robbery if it doesn't work out that way, but I think that's the way it'll probably work out. Nick Diaz has thrown his name into the mix, but I have major doubts that the UFC will put him straight into a title fight. It would be an interesting fight, though.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank

ROUNDTABLE: Will Robbie Lawler be back in another UFC Title fight after UFC 171 performance?

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 14:10:32 PST

Given how close the title fight was, do you expect to see Robbie Lawler back in another title fight in the UFC? Why or why not?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

He doesn't deserve an immediate rematch but there's no reason to suggest he can't work his way back into the title picture with a big win or two. It was a great fight on Saturday night and he acquitted himself admirably. However, if Alexander Gustafsson had to win a warm-up fight to get another crack at Jon Jones, then Robbie Lawler most definitely needs to do likewise at welterweight.

Normally the UFC match-up winners vs. winners and losers vs. losers, but in the case of Lawler he needs to fight someone currently on a win streak. As I mentioned in a previous roundtable, there are plenty of other challengers all desperately needing one big win to catapult them above the rest. A fight against someone like Dong Hyun Kim, Matt Brown, or the winner of Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine makes perfect sense for Lawler.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I doubt it, I think was his last chance. He is still a great fighter, but I don't see him beating anyone else in the UFC's top five in the welterweight division.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I absolutely do. He stifled Johny Hendricks and won at least two rounds. How many other guys can say that besides Georges St-Pierre? I think you can make a strong argument for Carlos Condit, but he's on the shelf for a while after his unfortunate injury. I think Lawler gets the next title shot, or perhaps has to win one more time to get it. Either way I think it's going to happen eventually.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Yes, I think Robbie Lawler is only one fight away from being in the title picture again. Lawler showed he was durable and could take the fight to Hendricks. I think this will be a valuable learning experience for Lawler to utilize more tools in his arsenal, as well as focus more on his conditioning. Lawler was in the fight the entire time, but his conditioning began to fail him in the fifth round when Hendricks picked up the pace and began to rock him.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Robbie Lawler has really impressed me since his return to the UFC and the drop in weight class. He's been going about his business, winning in style without calling out fighters or disrespectful towards his opponents, the way he handled himself after his defeat on Saturday night was pure class.

Though it was close fight, we definitely saw a clear winner. I would love to see the rematch, though I think Lawler will have to beat one or possibly two more fighters to get that shot that title shot again.

With lots of talk of Nick Diaz returning to the Octagon, the ideal match up for me would be Lawler vs Diaz. Nick won't come back to fight just anyone, though the incentive of fighting Lawler would be something I'm sure would interest him, as a win over him would put him very close to the title shot he seems to think he's earned.

ROUNDTABLE: Who should get the next UFC Welterweight Title fight with Johny Hendricks?

Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:20:40 PST

Who should get the next UFC Welterweight Title fight, and why?

DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

It's the million dollar question and one I don't think anyone has the answer to right now. If Johny Hendricks is in fact sidelined until October, it at least affords the UFC more time to figure things out. We all know how much a title picture landscape can change in a long period of time, so whomever we think is most deserving now may very well be back down the pecking order six-months from now.

If I were to choose now, the sensible option would be Tyron Woodley, and the outlandish choice would be Nick Diaz. If Carlos Condit had won on Saturday night he would've gotten the next shot, so the same should apply to Woodley. Forget the injury related finish on Saturday night; he beat one of the very best welterweights in the world and recognition for that should come via a title shot.

I mentioned Nick Diaz before because he has this knack of appearing out of nowhere and getting things he clearly doesn't deserve. Intentional or not, his self-promotional skills are second to none and the guy sells tickets when others in the division don't. I really hope the UFC don't go down this route and let Diaz hold them to ransom, but, it wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they do just that.

If Hendricks is out long term they should make Tyron Woodley vs. Hector Lombard and distinguish it as a clear No. 1 contender fight. Both should be good to go by July or August, thus allowing the winner to fight Hendricks in the last quarter of 2014. Then over the next nine-months they can match-up the likes of Robbie Lawler, Rory MacDonald, Dong Hyun Kim, Matt Brown, winner of Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine, and even Mr Diaz, to establish a future contender heading into 2015.

KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I feel it will be Rory Macdonald in Vancouver in June. I just feel with Condit going down like that, I don't feel anyone else deserves it more than Rory.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Robbie Lawler should get an immediate rematch, in large part because there's not much else to choose from. I don't think you give Tyron Woodley a title shot right now, same goes for Hector Lombard. Maybe if Lombard hadn't spent 12 minutes messing around with Jake Shields he'd be getting the title shot. I also can't imagine the UFC giving Nick Diaz the title shot, so it falls to Lawler. He deserves it, of course, but we've seen other guys not get immediate rematches.

CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I do not know. There is not any particular person who stands out to me in the UFC's unofficial tournament they had Saturday evening. Had Woodley beaten Condit by any other manner besides injury he would be my pick. With that said, I have a penchant for guys that fight smart and Woodley realized Condit was hurt and when the fight was stood up immediately employed a hard leg kick to end the fight.

As electrifying of a fighter as Hector Lombard can be, he infuriates me. While I do like fighters who implement smart game plans, I loathe guys who under utilize their talent in areas in which they are clearly superior. This is the same problem I have with Rory MacDonald; he has a skillset in which he could dominate his opponents, but has consistently underperformed.

The welterweight picture seems to be murky at best, especially when Nick Diaz now seems to be added into the fray. Even though Nick Diaz is "retired" no one can deny he is a draw especially when the UFC is lacking star power. I do not believe Diaz deserves a title shot, coming off two championship losses, however, it would not be unprecedented.

TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

This is a hard one to choose. The obvious choice would've been Carlos Condit had he won on Saturday night, though he's out of the picture for now having lost three of his last four. Tyron Woodley? Does he deserve it on the back of beating Josh Koshcheck and Condit, I don't think so. Maybe set up Hector lombard vs Tyron for the No.1 contender spot.

Looking at the rankings it's not easy to pick an outright contender, with Condit, Ellenberger, Shields, Maia, all coming off losses it really only leaves the door open for one fighter and that's Rory MacDonald.

MOORE: BAMMA returns in April with two title fights and more at BAMMA 15 in London

Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:35:56 PST

By: Dan Moore, MMATorch UK Columnist

BAMMA 14 was one of the most exciting fight cards of 2013, not just in the UK, but anywhere in the World of MMA. If you haven't seen that particular event yet, get over to the BAMMA website or look it up on YouTube and watch as many of the fights as you can, you won't be disappointed. After a longer than anticipated sabbatical, BAMMA have put together another fight card that's shaping up to be just as intriguing as the Birmingham show last December.

It might be lacking the star power of Paul Daley and Jimmy Wallhead, but two British title fights and a couple of former UFC stars, including 'The Freakshow,' will surely get bums on seats at the famed Copper Box Arena in London. Fletcher and Thompson both struggled during their UFC tenure's, but both are exciting to watch, and both face opponents they'll be extremely confident of beating convincingly.

Both Tom Strong (@StrongTea) and I will be covering the card for MMATorch next month. In addition to an extensive BAMMA based roundtable preview, we'll hopefully have some fighter interviews lined up before the event takes place on Sat 3rd Apr 14.

BAMMA 15 FIGHT CARD

Heavyweight:

Oli Thompson vs. Grizm Selmani

Lightweight:

Colin Fletcher vs. Tony Hervey

BAMMA Lonsdale British Middleweight Title:

Andy De-Vent vs. Harry McLeman

BAMMA Lonsdale British Welterweight Title:

Wayne Murrie vs. Leon Edwards

Welterweight:

Ryan Scope vs. Ali Arish

Flyweight:

Rany Saadeh vs. Mahmood Besharate

Featherweight:

Richard Edwards vs. Andy Craven

Lightweight:

Jack Grant vs. Jefferson George

Welterweight:

Alex Montagnani vs. Nathan Jones

Bantamweight:

Nathaniel Wood vs. Ed Arthur

Welterweight:

Benny Carr vs. Jacek Toczydlowski

Flyweight:

Mo Lasladi vs. Josh Bangert

*More fights still to be announced

BAMMA IS BROADCAST ON 5* IN THE UK, AXS-TV IN THE US, KIX IN ASIA, ABU DHABI TV IN THE MIDDLE EAST,THE FIGHT NETWORK IN CANADA, EXTREME SPORTS CHANNEL IN EUROPE, SETANTA IN AFRICA, SONY IN RUSSIA & TRANSYLVANIA MEDIA IN ROMANIA.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW: http://www.kililive.com/artists/Bamma

Follow me on Twitter. @MMATorchDan