Ricardo Lamas talks about his upcoming fight against Hatsu Hioki and how he thinks Hioki made a mistake by not taking the title shot and wants to fight him instead

UFC on Fuel TV 3 Korean Zombie vs Poirier Poster

UFC on Fuel TV 3 took place on Tuesday, May 15th from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Six fights streamed on facebook and six fights were shown on Versus. Nearly every fight was exciting from start to finish on the main card, and the main event featured a fight of the year candidate.

Chan Sung Jung submits Dustin Poirier
Is it possible for Chan Sung Jung to not be in an exciting fight? The reason he has the nickname the “Korean Zombie” is due to the amount of punishment he can take and the fact that he keeps coming forward. Dustin Poirier was able to dish out his attacks, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

The first round both fighters decided to take the other down, but it was Jung who was able to score several elbows to the forehead of Poirier. The elbows were damaging, in that they cut Poirier up and blood started to trickle down his face.

The second round Jung again worked on top of Poirier after a takedown. Jung landed elbow after elbow and had a great punch as he faked an ankle throw and instead threw a punch. He nearly missed with a spinning backfist, but then transitioned it to a flying knee and uppercuts. The crowd went wild as Jung got the mount, but it was a high mount and he struggled to land damaging blows. Poirier tried to escape, but Jung again countered with submissions. He transitioned from a triangle to armbar back to triangle and then again to armbar. Poirier escaped and was on top but Jung finished the round with a very tight triangle.

The third round Jung started to slow down. Poirier was able to turn the fight into a more technical standup fight for the first half. Jung went for a takedown, got it, and landed several punches before Poirier was able to stand up. Jung landed a big knee, and both fighters looked like they were starting to gas. As the round was ending, Poirier was looking more like a zombie as Jung was landing punches and knees but kept coming forward and throwing with bad intention.

The fourth round was a first for both fighters as neither had been in what is dubbed the championship rounds. Jung landed a flying knee and Poirier shot for a takedown immediately. Jung defended and used his defense to secure a D’Arce choke. Poirier was in a lot of trouble and tapped just before being choked out.

Amir Sadollah edges out Jorge Lopez
In what was a battle of two very evenly matched fighters, Amir Sadollah edged out Jorge Lopez with a split decision. Sadollah started out slow, allowing Lopez to land leg kicks. Lopez decided to not trade with Sadollah and instead wanted to get the fight to the ground. After a failed takedown attempt, Lopez switched for a slightly different single leg and was able to elevate Sadollah. Once on the ground, a big elbow from Lopez landed before Sadollah was able to get up.

Lopez tried to take Sadollah down again in the second, wanting to capitalize on what worked well for him in the first round. Sadollah defended well, forcing Lopez to give up his neck. Sadollah recognized it and nearly finished the fight with a standing guillotine. As he transitioned to sink the choke in deeper, Lopez used a beautiful transition to escape from the submission. After the failed attempt, Sadollah was able to land kicks, and did enough to earn the round.

The third round, Lopez seemed to be the aggressor, landing punches and working for a takedown. But after spending most of his energy to get a takedown, Sadollah was able to land what he wanted to. As the ref stood the two up due to a lack of action, Sadollah was clearly the fresher fighter as Lopez was sluggish to rise to his feet. Sadollah capitalized and landed a flying knee and worked to get Lopez’s back as time expired. It was enough damage for two judges to score the fight Sadollah, the local crowd, not exactly thrilled with it.

Donald Cerrone puts on a clinic over Jeremy Stephens
Jeremy Stephens has tremendous power in his hands, but Donald Cerrone had no problem standing and trading with him. Cerrone who has been notorious in the past for starting slow, did just that against Stephens. But this time it seemed as if it was intentional as Cerrone’s pace seemed to switch from slow to fast from combo to combo.

Utilizing fantastic footwork, Cerrone found his range with devastating combos. Unlike many fighters who are content to land just a 1-2 combo, Cerrone instead switched his attacks up throwing varying punches before landing a leg kick, or leading with a kick and following it up with several punches.

Stephens left eye was hurt by the end of the first round, and by the end of the fight, it was nearly swollen shut. Cerrone decided to switch things up after landing almost at will and took Stephens down to the ground. Stephens landed his most significant strikes with several elbows to the top of Cerrone’s head. The elbows opened up a couple of cuts, but nothing that would warrant a stoppage from the doctor.

Greg Jackson told Cerrone in between rounds to just have fun and that is what it looked like. Cerrone was able to land combo after combo and then evade nearly everything Stephens threw at him.

For Cerrone it was a welcome back to what he does best, and he looked like the Cowboy that had put together a six fight win streak and nothing like he did against Diaz.

Yves Jabouin nearly finished Jeff Hougland
Every now and then a fight is marred by the ref and fans will end up all up in arms about it. The bantamweight battle between Yves Jabouin and Jeff Hougland will likely be one of those fights. After dropping Hougland with a spinning back kick in the first round, Hougland was visibly hurt and was in the fetal position. The ref looked to be stepping in to stop the fight, and inadvertently blocked the way for Jabouin to finish the fight right away.

Hougland needs to be recognized for his ability to recover quickly as every time Jabouin looked to finish the fight after dropping Hougland, somehow Hougland would recover. The combination of Hougland threatening with submissions, and Jabouin happy to stay within the guard of Hougland to try and finish gave Hougland the time to recover.

Hougland’s strategy was to stay outside and use his reach advantage, but it proved to be a flawed one. Jabouin utilized his speed advantage to get just inside the range and Hougland, while resilient wasn’t able to do much damage.

Jabouin’s constant pressure and ability to drop Hougland with body shots was extremely impressive and easily won him the unanimous decision.

Igor Pokrajac and Fabio Maldonado delight fans for fifteen minutes
The opening round between Igor Pokrajac and Fabio Maldonado was arguably one of the hardest to score in 2012. Pokrajac took Maldonado down in the opening seconds and worked damaging ground and pound at times looking close to finishing the fight. But Maldonado was able to escape, and once standing, started to find his range on Pokrajac. A series of short punches hurt Pokrajac and Maldonado was teeing off with peppering punches. Pokrajac weathered the storm and even returned fire with big knees that Maldonado just seemed to brush off.

Rounds two and three were even more exciting. Maldonado connected with punch after punch and body shot after body shot, buckling Pokrajac. But Pokrajac was able to stay standing, and as noted by Jon Anik, still has yet to be knocked down inside the octagon.

Pokrajac in the third started to land and seemed the faster of the two light heavyweights. Maldonado kept pushing forward, but seemed to eat more and more leather. With less than thirty seconds left, the two went blow for blow and the crowd loved every minute of it.

Tom Lawlor makes quick work of Jason MacDonald
Tom Lawlor was celebrating his 29th birthday as he entered the cage for his fight against Jason MacDonald. While sporting both a height and reach disadvantage to MacDonald, the gameplan was to press forward and work inside.

Early in the fight it was MacDonald who decided to try and test Lawlor’s wrestling with a takedown attempt but he failed. The two fighters split, and then started to find their range.

Lawlor backed MacDonald up against the cage and he missed with a right jab, dodged a jab from MacDonald, then connected with a straight left. The punch buckled MacDonald’s knees and Lawlor smartly backed up, planted his feet and then threw a finishing right hand that knocked MacDonald out cold. MacDonald fell face first into the canvas, and Lawlor was able to celebrate not only his birthday, but a victory as well.

Quick Results
Chan Sung Jung def. Dustin Poirier via technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 4, 1:07
Amir Sadollah def. Jorge Lopez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Donald Cerrone def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Yves Jabouin def. Jeff Hougland via unanimous decision via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
Igor Pokrajac def. Fabio Maldonado via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Tom Lawlor def. Jason MacDonald via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:50
Brad Tavares def. Dongi Yang via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cody McKenzie def. Marcus LeVesseur via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:05
T.J. Grant def. Carlo Prater via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rafael Dos Anjos def. Kamal Shalorus via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:40
Johnny Eduardo def. Jeff Curran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Francisco Rivera def. Alex Soto via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

UCL MMA Brawl @ Bourbon Street Poster

In this day and age, it seems like there is a new amateur mixed martial arts promotion popping up nearly every week. And most of these promotions, just tend to do a couple of shows and then fade away. But one new promotion is already turning heads with the announcement of the location of their first show.

United Combat League will be making their promotional debut at the famed home Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois with Brawl @ Bourbon Street on Wednesday, May 23.  And if the name sounds familiar, because the man behind it is Mike Davis.

The main event will feature Kenny Jordan taking on Danny Somers for the featherweight title. Tickets start at just $20 for general admission and can be purchased by calling 773-491-5052 or at the event.

UCL has put together a video hyping up the main event for the night below.

Weigh ins for UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier took place today at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The event will be the UFC’s third card on the FUEL network and it is set to be headlined by Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier in a featherweight fight. All fighters made weight, and will go on as scheduled. Below are the full weigh in results for the card.

Featherweight
Chan Sung Jung 145 lbs.
Dustin Poirier 145 lbs.

Welterweight
Amir Sadollah 171 lbs.
Jorge Lopez 171 lbs.

Lightweight
Donald Cerrone 155 lbs.
Jeremy Stephens 155 lbs.

Bantamweight
Yves Jabouin 135 lbs.
Jeff Hougland 135 lbs.

Light Heavyweight
Igor Pokrajac 205 lbs.
Fabio Maldonado 205 lbs.

Middleweight
Jason MacDonald 185 lbs.
Tom Lawlor 186 lbs.

Lightweight
Cody McKenzie 155 lbs.
Marcus LeVesseur 155 lbs.

Middleweight
Brad Tavares 185 lbs.
Dongi Yang 186 lbs.

Lightweight
TJ Grant 155 lbs.
Carlo Prater 155 lbs.

Lightweight
Rafael dos Anjos 156 lbs.
Kamal Shalorus 155 lbs.

Bantamweight
Jeff Curran 135 lbs.
Johnny Eduardo 135 lbs.

Bantamweight
Alex Soto 135 lbs.
Francisco Rivera 134 lbs.

Fallon Fox - photo by Brent Todd

Fallon Fox will be making her pro debut on Thursday, May 17th at King of the Cage against Elisha Helsper. She trains out of the Midwest Training Center and is one of the most promising up and coming women’s fighters in the midwest. MMARecap caught up with Fox to talk about her career, moving to pro and more.

How are things going tonight?
Going pretty good.

You are making your pro debut against Elisha Helsper at King of the Cage in Idaho. What do you know about her?
I know that she has some pretty decent standup. Mostly from Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai. I am not so sure about her ground work. That’s all I know from what I have heard and seen.

She seems to take a fight every couple of years. Her last fight was against Zoila Gurgel. Do you think there will be an issue of ring rust for her?
Probably, but from what I have seen she has been doing some competitive combative work. I guess we will find out.

You are turning pro, what led to the decision to turn pro?
All of my three amateur fights I have had ended fairly quickly. Under a minute fifteen seconds for each one I do believe. I am not getting too much competition and I want to up the level.

You fought at 145, won a title, you fought at 140 and won a title, now this fight is at 135. Talk to us about the decision to drop down to this weight class.
There’s a lot more competition in 135 than 145. The numbers seem to be dwindling for 145. And 135 is also in Strikeforce.

I know you are extremely decorated in jiu jitsu and have been training it for years. Where did you train at before you switched to MTC?
I started out at Champion Jiu Jitsu. I trained there for about 2-2.5 years, training every day. I didn’t have to work too much at that point. I trained and competed, trained and competed.

What lead to you transitioning from doing just jiu jitsu to becoming an mma fighter?
That was my ultimate goal; to become an mma fighter. Ever since I saw Megumi Fuji like four years ago and I was really inspired. She’s an idol of mine. Never met her, but I like her ground work. I knew I wanted to have a strong ground background.

I have to commend you in that you took your time learning the aspects of the sport to make yourself a better fighter.
Thanks.

You won Naga, so what was that like?
That was awesome. I got my win for the belt, mostly through takedowns. But I felt really good and haven’t competed in jiu jitsu since then as I have been focusing on the mma aspect of the sport.

You are MTC which has a great base of fighters such as Will Brooks, Dan Stittgen, what’s it like training with these guys who have come up through the gym?
All of them are awesome. There’s a couple of women there as well, Mary Skoniecna is the female I train with for standup. The rest of the guys are really good on the ground. Dennis works with me a lot on my ground game. Alex Trujilo is my main coach and hearing his voice while I am in the cage and training helps out a lot. I always get lots of help from the guys?

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
Bodylock, they have some great designs. Alex Trujilo, Joe Smith, Mary Skoniecna, everyone I train with, my girlfriend Kathryn Sanborn, my daughter for putting up with my mood swings and you guys at MMARecap.

UFC on Fuel TV 3 Poster

On May 15th, two explosive UFC featherweights will headline UFCs’ card on Fuel Tv in the main event. Dustin Poirier will take on the “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. The result of how this bout came about was revealed by UFC officials in early Febuary after the fighters verbally began jabbing one another on twitter. Poirier called out Jung following his victory at UFC 143 over Max Holloway which became Poiriers’ fifth straight victory bringing his record in mma to 12-1 (4-0 UFC). Poirers’ opponent Chan Sung Jung 12-3 (2-0 UFC) returns in this main event coming off his stunning seven second knockout win over past title contender Mark Hominick back in December at UFC 140. This bout has the potential to become one of this years most exciting fights with a win from from either Poirier or Jung can result in putting one of them in title contention taking on the winner of Jose Aldo or Erik Koch for the UFC featherweight championsship.

Dustin Poirier doesn’t just rely on one specialty. He feels that his skills as a mixed martial artist are enough to beat anyone. “I’m a different fighter every night.” Poirier said last week in an interview. ” I’m dangerous anywhere the fight goes.” He strongly stated. Poirier is very confident that where ever the fight goes he will be dominant. Poiriers’ strengths coming into this fight is that of being well rounded with good ground game along with a good stand up game as well.

Chan Sung Jung has very good game in his stand up ability along with submissions as well. He is a very dangerous fighter, and Poirier is aware of this. Jung showed his dangerous submission game defeating Leanard Garcia in an incredible twister submission, and his heavy hand power when he knocked out Mark Hominick. Jungs’ big strength is that he isn’t afraid to go where the fight goes, and is also very dangerous on his back as well.

In order for either of these fighters to walk out of the main event with a victory, they must stick to their game plans. According to most of the mma community, there is alot riding on this fight that can very well determine the future of the featherweight division. Dustin Poriers’ keys to victory is that of pressing the fight to Jung, but must be cautious and watch for Jungs’ heavy hands when standing up if they should get into exchanges. Poirier must utilize his wrestling, but if he ends up in Jungs’ guard, he has to stay busy and at same time watch out for Jungs’ multiple attempts’ to fight off his back.

Chan Sung Jungs’ keys to winning this fight is to work his stand up, and have strong takedown defense especially with an opponent like Poirier. Another big key if Jung wants to be successful is not to be afraid to be in an all out war along with hitting Poirier with clean shots. If Jung should end up using his guard, he will have to try and stay busy using striking and multiple submission attenpts considering his talented skill of being able to fight off his back with a simular style to Anthony Pettis.

Cowboy Cerrone - via Wikipedia

On a rare Tuesday night, we will have more free MMA action from the sports’ largest promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Part of the six fight main card will be an opportunity for one fighter to bounce back into elite status in the deepest division with in the organization. That bout will put Donald “The Cowboy” Cerrone against Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens at lightweight.

Cerrone (17-4-1; 77%) was riding as high as anyone else at the end of 2011 with an impressive six fight win streak within the WEC and UFC, with his last loss coming at the hands of the current UFC champion, Benson Henderson. However, that all changed when he stepped into the cage with Nate Diaz on December 30 when Cerrone played Diaz’s game and dropped a decision. All of his momentum and swagger went out the window. Now he looks forward to trail a new path a title shot, which starts with Stephens on Tuesday night. Cerrone will need to put together another three or four fight win streak in order to be considered for a title shot. With his long reach, aggressive style, good kickboxing and BJJ, don’t be surprised to see him rise above the rest of the division, again.

Stephens (20-7; 74%) who is also coming into this bout from a loss via split decision in October of 2011 against the last WEC Champion, Anthony Pettis. Stephens looked impressive at points through out the fight, but did not do enough to convince the third judge. Stephens is a deep veteran with in the sport of MMA and the UFC over Cerrone. Which is one of the most interesting aspects of Stephens background. Starting amateur bouts at the age of 18 and has been with in the UFC since 2007 at UFC 71. Stephens always has a level of confidence because of his historic career.

Prediction: With Cerrone’s proven track record to string long winning streaks together and that he has never lost two-in-a-row, I think he’ll have the edge and take this fight. Again, his long reach, more advanced kickboxing and BJJ skills will prove to be the difference.