MMA Universe

Where does a win over Cole Miller put "The Real Deal" in the UFC's crowded lightweight division?

Controversial upstart mixed martial arts promotion Shine Fights was at it again tonight when it went ahead with it's one-night, eight-man lightweight grand prix tournament from the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma, despite disapproval from the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission.

Drew "Knight Rider" Fickett, Carlo Prater, "Alley Cat" Kyle Baker, Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett, Rich "Cleat" Crunkilton, Shannon Gugerty, James Warfield, and Dennis "The Menace" Bermudez were the eight fighters with balls big enough to not only defy the athletic commission, but also face the possibility of having three fights in one night.

Perhaps the least surprising two names on that list, Fickett and Bennett, led off the telecast with the first of the opening round bouts. "Krazy Horse" pulled off a beautiful sweep from the ground on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in the early going and appeared to be in top form, but Fickett kept working for submissions and eventually locked in a fight ending guillotine choke from a standing position with just under a minute and a half remaining in the first round.

In the second opening round bout, Dennis Bermudez used a lot of clinching and a couple of timely takedowns to secure a unanimous decision over short notice fill-in Shannon Gugerty. There wasn't much action in the fight, but there was one "Oh shit!" moment at the end of the first round when Bermudez scored on a trip takedown that sent both fighters tumbling through the ropes and onto the ringside floor.

Thankfully, both fighters escaped injury after the fall.

Warfield and Baker were next up and they were the first set of fighters to make it to the overtime third round. Warfield jumped out to an early lead with some entertaining striking, but Baker battled hard to win the second round with a takedown and some hard ground and pound.

The third round was more of the same from Baker as he took a top position on the ground and pounded his way to a come from behind decision victory. He used up a ton of energy during the fight, though, and also sustained a pretty nasty cut just above his left eye that would come back into play later on in the night when he was unable to get clearance to come back out for the semifinal fight.

Former WEC number one contender Rich Crunkilton would eventually suffer a similar fate.

"Cleat" squared off against MMA journeyman Carlo Prater in the final opening round fight, and they also battled hard for three very close rounds before Crunkilton was able to pull out the split decision. Crunkilton fell behind early, but scored with several takedowns and punching combinations to steal the second round and the third overtime frame.

However, he appeared to be very tired afterward, and it was later announced that he suffered a rib injury and would also be unable to continue in the tournament. Prater and alternate match winner Charlie "Hollywood" Brown would fill in as their replacements in the semifinals.

Fickett and Bermudez met in the first semifinal battle, and Fickett wasted no time scoring another quick submission victory to secure his spot in the final. Bermudez made the mistake of following Fickett to the mat after a slip, and Fickett immediately took his back and sunk in an impressive rear naked choke finish.

He was fired up afterward and looked to be full of energy with one more fight remaining.

Prater would go on to score a two round unanimous decision victory over Brown in the second semifinal bout after having to retape his hands when he found out he would be getting a second chance to fight. The first round was very close, but Prater dominated the second stanza with two takedowns and a lot of top control.

Brown was solid with his striking in the first frame, but the judges awarded the fight unanimously to Prater without needing to see an overtime round.

In the championship final, a fresh Drew Fickett took advantage of the fact that Prater had fought over 17 more minutes than he did in the previous two rounds. He dominated for the third time on the night en route to the tournament title.

In the past Fickett has been accused of being his own worst enemy, but he looked more focused than ever tonight, fighting for the first time as a lightweight. He warned any and all 155-pound fighters afterward to watch their back, and as long as he stays on the path he's on, I see no reason why he can't continue to be as impressive as he was tonight.

The talent is definitely there.

It is Drew Fickett, though, so we'll have to take a wait and see approach on that. But for now things are looking up for "Knight Rider."

That's a wrap from "The Sooner State" on what proved to be a fun night of fights from Shine.

New Orleans, LA. (September 8, 2010) — On the eve of Bellator Fighting Championships’ event in New Orleans, the fighters competing in tomorrow’s event participated in an official weigh-in earlier this evening -- all making weight.

Bellator 28 will feature 18 competitors in Thursday's event, including season two lightweight finalist Carey Vanier, explosive UFC veteran Rich Clementi, season two middleweight semifinalist Eric Schambari, battle-tested UFC veteran Matt Horwich, season two featherweight semifinalist Georgi Karakhanyan, dangerous WEC veteran Anthony Leone, undefeated newcomer Marcus Andrusia and fast-rising NCAA D-1 wrestling champ, Eric Larkin.

The official results of the weigh-in are as follows:

MAIN CARD:

• Carey Vanier (156 lbs.) vs. Rich Clementi (155.6 lbs.) @ 155 lbs.
  
• Anthony Leone (146 lbs.) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (145.4 lbs.) @ 145 lbs.
  
• Matt Horwich (185.6 lbs.) vs. Eric Schambari (184.2 lbs.) @185 lbs.
  
• Marcus Andrusia (155.4 lbs.) vs. Eric Larkin (155.4 lbs.) @155 lbs.
  

UNDERCARD:

• Tonny Canales (151.8 lbs.) vs. J.C. Pennington (154.8 lbs.) @155 lbs.
  
•  Tony Roberts (229.6 lbs.) vs. Kelvin Doss (232.8 lbs.) @ 265 lbs.
  
• Jonathan Mackles (135.6 lbs.) vs. Brock Kerry (135.8 lbs.) @ 135 lbs.
  
•  Josh Rafferty (169.2 lbs.) vs. Charlie Rader (170.8 lbs.) @ 170 lbs.
  

Bellator 28 will be broadcast live in prime time nationwide on Thursday on FOX Sports Net and during special Bellator highlight shows this Saturday night on NBC, and Sunday night on mun2.

Scott O'Shaughnessy (155.8 lbs.) vs. Gabe Woods (153.8 lbs.) @ 155 lbs.

I voted for the guy who offered to make her meatballs. The wheelchair Casanova was a close second.

Next stop: Asia.

As the UFC continues upon their quest of global domination, at least when it concerns combat sports, it was announced at the UFC 118 post-fight press conference that Asia will be the new home to UFC offices. Named as the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of this new operation was former NBA China Executive Mark Fischer.

Mark Fischer at the UFC 118 post-fight press conference:

"It's great to be here back in my hometown. I'm delighted and honored to work with UFC president Dana White and the Fertitta brothers to build the Ultimate Fighting Championship and our other businesses in Asia. It's a fantastic market. I think we're just scratching the surface. A lot martial arts began their tradition there. We're very respectful of that... I was with the NBA in Asia for 12 years. Five or six of those were building the NBA in China. I think as successful as the NBA was there, what we were able to do with that, I think we can just as much with the UFC and more."

A couple quick notes on this move. One, Mr. Fischer appears to be extremely qualified to take on this role. He served as essentially the lead man for NBA China the last few years and has worked in Asia for the NBA for a dozen years. The NBA has undoubtedly enjoyed the most success in terms of global expansion when it comes to the big four sports in America, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, and their conquest of Asia has been a big part of that.

And two, the sheer size of the Asian market will assuredly lead to an increased fan base. Asia is the world's most populous continent consisting of more than 4 billion people. To compare, North America is home to around 530 million people. 

Big business likely awaits.

So, with offices now in the United Kingdom, Canada, and now Asia to go along with their headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, what part of the globe will the UFC post up at next? Let's hear from our Maniac geography buffs.

Props: Heavy.com (Click the link to check out the complete gallery)

To check out the official UFC 118: "Edgar vs Penn 2" weigh in results click here.

Anyone share the confidence of "Godzilla?"

Is the UFC taking a big risk with this heavy marketing campaign ... especially if "The Natural" gets his head bashed in?

Fight of the year candidate? Watch and weigh in below.

Check out parts two and three after the jump. It keeps getting better (Sound does not match up exactly with action):

 

WEC 50: "Cruz vs. Benavidez" is all set for this Wednesday night (Aug. 18, 2010) from "The Pearl" at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The five-fight main card will air live on the cable channel Versus, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

WEC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz will defend his title for the first time ever in the night's featured main event against Team Alpha Male product Joseph Benavidez, which marks a rematch of a barn-burner of a fight from WEC 42 last summer.

Shane Roller, Anthony Pettis, Scott Jorgensen, Bart Palaszewski, Cub Swanson and several other WEC stars will be in action on the card, too.

To help get you better prepared for the festivities I've given some analysis and predictions for the main card below. Check it out:

Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez(135-pound division limit)

The primary reason Cruz won the first match up between these two is because he surprised Benavidez with two things: His speed and his takedowns.

Benavidez was used to coming into fights being the quicker and more athletic guy, but when Cruz was beating him to the punch on nearly every exchange, he didn't know how to deal with it.

Then on top of that, he was supposed to be the better wrestler, but Cruz kept taking him down. It was an eye-opening fight for the Team Alpha Male trainee for sure, but since then he's done nothing but improve and look more impressive than ever with dominating wins over Rani Yahya and former division kingpin Miguel Torres.

His counter punching attack has improved by leaps and bounds, and he's displayed some devastating power his last two times out. Plus, now that the element of surprise is taken out of the equation, he can come into the rematch with a much more winnable gameplan.

It's a five round fight, so there will be plenty of time to set things up, but Benavidez is not going to let Cruz dot him up from the outside and then shoot in two or three times a round and put him on his back like he did last time.

In fact, you can bet Benavidez is going to want to be the one on top if the fight goes to the ground this time around. He's the better wrestler and he knows how important the takedowns were in the first fight.

I expect Benavidez to fight a much smarter fight, with a much better answer for Cruz's aggression. Benavidez is not completely out-gunned on his feet, but Cruz is still bigger, faster, a lot harder to hit, and probably the more attractive stand up fighter in the eyes of the judges.

Cruz has to respect Benavidez's power, but he still has an edge on his feet with his speed and reach advantages. Still, I think Benavidez is hungrier and much more motivated for this fight. And like I said before, I expect a much smarter gameplan.

Takedowns will be the difference again, but this time for the challenger. Plus, he has a much better chance a scoring a knockout or submission than the champ because of his power and strength. I like Benavidez.

Final prediction: Joseph Benavidez via unanimous decision

Anthony Pettis vs. Shane Roller(155-pound limit)

I got Shane Roller in this fight. Pettis is an exciting fighter with a lot of promise, but this is a bad match up for him.

The two opponents (Sherron Leggett and Bart Palaszewski) he's faced so far in his career that have given him the most trouble were both solid wrestlers. And neither one of those guys is as good as Shane Roller in that department.

Roller is a monster for the lightweight division and he's even stronger than his physically imposing frame suggests. He's going to put pressure on Pettis and negate his striking abilities with clinching and takedowns. When they lock up, Roller is going to be too strong.

I don't think Pettis is going to be able to defend the takedowns, and from there Roller should get this thing done by some type of choke in either the first or second round.

Final prediction: Shane Roller via submission

Zach Micklewright vs. Bart Palaszewski (155-pound limit)

The most important thing to know here is that "Bartimus" has 40 more fights worth of experience than the young Micklewright.

Micklewright has the advantage in the stand up, but he hasn't had to face anyone with the experience or ground skills of Palaszewski ... yet. There's no reason to believe that Palaszewski won't take this kid to school with takedowns and ground control en route to some type of submission.

"Bartimus" is experienced enough to know that it would be stupid for him to take his chances on his feet in this type of fight. Instead, he'll take the youngster out of his comfort zone and win this one on the ground like he's done a bunch of times before.

Final prediction: Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski via submission

Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett (155-pound limit)

I like Jorgensen in this fight.

Pickett has an impressive record and a nice winning streak, but he hasn't really faced all that tough of competition. Even in the WEC, both of his fights have been against relative newcomers.

Jorgensen, on the other hand, has been in the WEC cage against guys like Damacio Page, Antonio Baneulos, Kenji Osawa and Takaya Mizugaki, among others.

And he's done very well ... especially lately.

He's quick on his feet. He can take you down. He has good ground and pound. His submissions are tight. And he has a ton of confidence built up after beating the division's former number one contender (Mizugaki) and avenging a previous loss to Banuelos with a one-sided decision.

I think Pickett is going to get taken down and eventually submitted in this fight by an aggressive Scott Jorgensen.

Final prediction: Scott Jorgensen via submission

Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson (145-pound limit)

Swanson had some early bad luck in his two WEC losses against Jens Pulver and Jose Aldo, but other than that he's been stellar during his time with the promotion with three submission wins and two others by unanimous decision.

He trains with the Greg Jackson camp in New Mexico, which means he's always going to come into his fights in great shape and with a great gameplan.

Mendes is undefeated in seven fights, including two under the WEC banner. He's a hard-nosed wrestler with excellent strength and solid ground and pound. I expect him to look for takedowns and a lot of top control in this fight.

Swanson has a good guillotine, though, so that could come into play. He is also the better striker, meaning he'll probably try to keep the fight upright. If he gets put on his back, he may be in for a long night.

This one will probably come down to whoever executes their gameplan better. In that case, I'll go with the Greg Jackson guy, although I think Mendes has a great chance.

Final prediction: Cub Swanson via unanimous decision

That's a wrap. Sound off with your predictions in the comments section below.

And Remember that MMAmania.com will provide live blow-by-blow commentary of the main card beginning with the Versus telecast at 9 p.m. ET on fight night. Check in early and often.

Former number one UFC heavyweight contender, Shane Carwin, was named -- along with six athletes -- as a customer who purchased steroids from a Mobile, Ala., pharmacist who was sentenced Friday to a four-year prison term for participating in a nationwide conspiracy to sell the anabolic agent, according to AlabamaLive.com.

The "other" athletes include (Links via CageWriter.com):

Kurt Angle, a former Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler and professional wrestler.

Bob Howard, a pro wrestler from Mobile who performed under the name "Hardcore" Bob Holly.

Toney Freeman, a professional bodybuilder nicknamed "The X-Man."

Quincy Taylor, a professional bodybuilder.

Dennis Newman, a professional bodybuilder.

Troy Zuccolotto, a professional bodybuilder.

More on this breaking news very shortly.

Strikeforce Challengers X has come to a close from the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona and there is a new number one contender in the 135-pound female division.

Her name is Miesha Tate.

But first things first. In the headliner, Joe Riggs and knockout artist Louis Taylor locked up in a 182 pound catchweight bout, and the veteran Riggs surprisingly had a hard time settling in against the up-and-coming prospect.

Both men were tentative to exchange early on, but Taylor was successful in other areas, using timely takedowns to clearly win the second round and possibly even the first. However, Riggs turned up the pressure in the third frame and stunned "Handgunz" with a perfectly placed counter left hook.

That was the beginning of the end for Taylor as he never fully recovered from the punch. "Diesel" took him right to the mat where he was able to secure a crucifix position and pound him into submission.

It was a slow start for the UFC veteran, but Riggs did what he needed to do to get the victory. Afterward he was asked about who he'd like to face next, and he wasted no time calling out champion Nick Diaz, saying, "I already beat his ass once and I'll do it again."

Now, on to Tate and how she made her way through the four-women, single elimination, number one contender eliminator tournament for the women's welterweight division.

She kicked off the Showtime telecast by grinding out a two-round unanimous decision win over Finnish striker Maiju Kujala in the first semifinal bout. She used her trademark takedowns to secure the victory over "Maki," who proved to be a very game opponent.

Miesha appeared to expend a lot of energy in the fight because Kujala's takedown defense was pretty solid and they spent a lot of time in the clinch. It certainly wasn't a pretty win, but she earned her spot in the final nonetheless.

Her opponent in that final was decided when Japanese judo specialist and grappling wizard Hitomi Akano overcame a slow start and an aggressive Carina Damm to score a submission win midway through the second round of the other semifinal fight.

The "Girlfight Monster" proved once again that she can absorb punishment and still remain competitive in a fight. Akano wasn't mistaking Damm for "Cyborg" Santos or anything, but the Brazilian was definitely in control of the fight early on after landing several punches and kicks, including at least one brutal spinning backfist.

Akano's ground skills were super impressive, though, and in the end she handed Damm, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, the third submission loss of her career.

In the final, neither fighter looked to really having any sort of hangover effects from their first fights. Both women actually fought with good energy for the entire three rounds.

Tate basically just did more of what she does best to bring home this decision, too, which means takedowns and ground control. She spent the majority of the second and third rounds latched onto Akano's back on the ground. She was unable to secure the choke, but nobody has ever submitted Akano in an MMA fight, so there's no shame there.

Akano stayed tough and tried to pick her spots for reversals and submission attempts, but Miesha's wrestling and ground control was too good. With the win Tate earned a well deserved spot in a future title fight against the winner between Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen.

In non-tournament action, Ryan Couture, son of UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, made his professional mixed martial arts debut a successful one when he strapped a slick triangle choke on fellow up and comer Lucas Stark just over a minute into the first round.

Ryan has a long way to go to live up to his father's household name, but he's certainly off to a good start. Don't be surprised to see Strikeforce place him on more Challenger cards in the very near future.

That's a wrap from the Dodge Theater in Phoenix. If you missed any of the live action you can get up to speed with out blow-by-blow coverage here.

Next up for Strikeforce is a trip to the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on August 21 for another Showtime televised event. Two of the promotion's world titles will be on the line as light heavyweight champion King Mo Lawal defends his gold against top Brazilian contender Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in the featured main event while Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza square off for the vacant middleweight strap in the co-headliner.

A lightweight battle between KJ Noons and Jorge Gurgel is also slated for the main card, as well as a heavyweight affair between Bobby Lashley and Chad Griggs.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on Strikeforce: "Houston."

The official weigh in event for Bellator 24, which signals the start of season three for the upstart promotion, today (Aug. 11, 2010) took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

All 14 fighters set to compete on the card, including Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard and perhaps the top pound-for-pound female fighter on the planet, Megumi Fuji, have all been given the green light to throwdown tomorrow night in the "Sunshine State."

Check out the complete (and official) Bellator 24 weigh-in results after the jump:

MAIN CARD:

185 pounds: Hector Lombard (185.5 lbs.) vs. Herbert "Whisper" Goodman (183.5 lbs.)
265 pounds: Eddie Sanchez (244.5 lbs.) vs. Neil Grove (265 lbs.)
115 pounds: Megumi Fujii (115.5 lbs.) vs. Carla Esparza (115.25 lbs.)
115 pounds: Jessica Aguilar (113.5 lbs.) vs. Lynn Alvarez (114.5 lbs.)

UNDERCARD:

155 pounds: Yves Edwards (154.5 lbs.) vs. Luis Palomino (154.5 lbs.)
145 pounds: Eric Luke (154.5 lbs.) vs. Farkhard Sharipov (144 lbs.)
135 pounds: Brian Eckstein (182 lbs.) vs. Tulio Quintanilla (135.5 lbs.)

Bellator 24 will be broadcast live in prime time nationwide on Thursday on FOX Sports Net and during special Bellator highlight shows this Saturday night on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

"Feijao knows he wants the knock out. He doesn’t want the submission. He trains in the ground game, but I’m training with guys in Jiu-Jitsu that are comparable. So I’m not worried at the ground at all because I’ve got good submission defense.... I don’t know. If you ask me if I could beat anybody I’m going to say I can beat anybody. I’d win against anybody with a good game plan. It doesn’t matter who it is. Except my momma. It doesn’t matter who it is, I’ll beat them with a good game plan.... I’ve only been fighting for two years. There’s no pressure on me whatsoever. If there’s pressure on anybody it’s Feijao. He has the name. He’s been fighting longer and he’s been training longer. I remember watching Feijao just mashing people in the IFL. I think people look at me as having the bigger name but I don’t care. I think he’s the favorite. I’m the underdog even though I’m the champ.... I may be implementing a new style like from Bernard Hopkins, one of my favorite boxers. I’m going to implement his style. And maybe if that doesn’t work than a little of Paul Williams. So you’ll all be seeing some new stuff from me."

-- Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion "King" Mo Lawal talks about his mindset heading into his first title defense against Rafael "Feijao’’ Cavalcante at Strikeforce: "Houston," which is scheduled for the Toyota Center in Texas on Saturday, Aug. 21. Lawal is undefeated, and he most recently bested highly-touted Gegard Mousasi in his last outing. Nonetheless, Lawal feels that he is the underdog when he and the talented Brazilian square off in the main event of the Showtime telecast less than two weeks from today. Is Lawal trying to convince himself that he is indeed just a young, hungry and inexperienced fighter who has far exceeded expectations to date or is he really heading into the toughest test of his promising career? Or is it both?