MMA Recap

Next Fundraiser For The Jeff Dunbar Fund Will Be At MMA @ The Max on March 3

Brent Todd — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:00:11 +0000

There’s already been a fundraiser and an event where proceeds have been donated to the Jeff Dunbar fund. Now there’s another spot where fans can donate and purchase raffle tickets to raise funds for the fund.

MMA @ The Max is happening on Saturday March 3 in McCook, Illinois. The event will feature an all amateur night of mixed martial arts fights with multiple titles on the line.

At the event there will be a booth for fans to purchase raffle tickets or just make a straight up donation to the fund. MMA Recap will be donating several items including t-shirts, hats, and prints from Art By JMC.

The doors open to the event at 6pm and the first fight kicks off at 7pm. For more information on the event and to purchase tickets, visit www.americanpredatorfc.com

Felice Herrig versus Little Patricia Vidonic at XFC 17

Brent Todd — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:26:10 +0000

Felice Herrig - photo by Joey Hill

Team Curran’s Felice Herrig will be returning to action on Friday April 13th against Patricia Vidonic at XFC 17. The women’s bout is scheduled to be apart of the HDNet televised portion of the card that will be headlined by Luciano Dos Santos versus Eric Reynolds.

Vidonic is coming off the second loss of her career against top 115lb women’s fighter Jessica Aguilar. She was able to take Aguilar to the judges’ scorecards but the decision did not go her way.

Prior to the loss Vidonic had compiled a five-fight win streak finishing three of her five opponents by submission.

Herrig made her promotional debut for XFC in December and lost a unanimous decision to Carla Esparza. Prior to the loss she compiled a 5-1 record in her previous six fights. Herrig holds notable wins over Michele Gutierrez, Jessica Rakoczy, and Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc.

Herrig holds a background in Muay Thai with dangerous kicks that stumble her opponents. She will likely use her striking to keep Vidonic on the outside and avoid any takedowns.

XFC 17 takes place on Friday April 13th at the Oman Arena in Jackson, Florida.

RecapRadio Carson Beebe, UFC on Fuel TV 1 Breakdown, and UFC 144 Prediction Recap

Brent Todd — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:58:51 +0000

On the February 21st edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit had a variety of topics to discuss. We kicked off the show talking about the lack of mma that happened over the weekend on a national level. With two weekends in a row without a UFC event it was rather surprising that there wasn’t a national show to take stage.

Carson Beebe then joined the show to talk about his upcoming fight for Legacy Fighting Championship. It is his first fight back at 135 since auditioning for The Ultimate Fighter. He discussed his wrestling, managing his time, and trying to rep Chicago while down in Texas.

After Beebe we moved on to give our thoughts on the UFC on Fuel TV 1 card. Petit was the victor in the predictions for the week so hats off to him.

With time running out and some sidetracking curbed, we settled in to give our thoughts on UFC 144 and our predictions. There were some differences this week in the predictions and both of us made compelling arguments for our respective fighters. Here’s how the fight predictions broke down:

Brent Todd:
Joe Lauzon Sub Round 2
Bart Palaszewski KO Round 1
Yushin Okami UD
Jake Shields Sub Round 2
Cheick Kongo UD
Rampage Jackson TKO Round 2
Frankie Edgar UD

John Petit:
Anthony Pettis UD
Hatsu Hioki UD
Yushin Okami UD
Jake Shields TKO Round 2
Cheick Kongo TKO
Ryan Bader UD
Frankie Edgar UD

Use the player below to listen to the full show.

UFC 144 Yushin Okami versus Tim Boetsch Preview and Prediction

Brent Todd — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:43:37 +0000

There’s always a question of what to do with a fighter after he losses a title shot. Do you give him a fight with another top five opponent to put him back into the mix right away or do you put him against a fighter who is making a splash in the division? The later is what is holding true for Yushin Okami as he faces Tim Boetsch in Japan.

Boetsch is coming into the fight a heavy underdog and rightfully so. He is after all facing a former number one contender and Boetsch is just scratching the surface of the top ten.

After a crushing loss to Phil Davis at UFC 123, Boetsch decided he needed to change things up and dropped down to the middleweight division. His first foray was against Kendall Grove where he earned a unanimous decision. Grove was then subsequently cut from the UFC for the loss.

Boetsch followed up the victory with another unanimous decision over Nick Ring. For a guy who had never went to a decision outside of the UFC, Ring was his third. This isn’t a knock so to speak on Boetsch, rather an observation that against the lower tiered guys he has trouble finishing.

Okami meanwhile is coming off his TKO loss to Anderson Silva. Silva has a habit of making good fighters look like terrible fighters. Okami is what many call a grinder, a fact that has played into why it took so long for him to earn his title shot.

Okami’s game plan will be to take Boetsch down and do enough to get the victory while Boetsch will likely try to stand and trade.

In predicting this fight the first thing that came to mind was that this wasn’t going to be an exciting fight for the American fans, but it will likely be exciting for the Japanese fans in attendance. American fans are prone to want more violence and don’t appreciate the little intricacies that can go into a fight.

The safest prediction for this fight is rather boring, much like the fight will likely be, in that Okami wins by unanimous decision.

Carson Beebe Joins RecapRadio

Brent Todd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:51:08 +0000

Carson Beebe at XFO 42 - photo by Joey Hill

On tonight’s edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit will talk to Chicago fan favorite Carson Beebe. Beebe is scheduled to fight this Friday for Legacy Fighting Championship against Tim Snyder. His fight is scheduled to be apart of the live broadcast on HDNet.

In addition to talking to Beebe, we will be breaking down the action from last week’s UFC on Fuel TV featuring a three-round battle between Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez.

Finally we will close out the show with a run down and prediction on the massive UFC 144 card featuring seven fights for the pay-per-view broadcast.

The show airs live every Tuesday night from 8:00pm-9:30pm CST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmarecap

Fight Summit Announces FIrst Round of Speakers

Brent Todd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:28:41 +0000

Mike Dolce - via mikedolcemma.com

A month after releasing the dates for the 2013 Fight Summit conference, the first speakers have been announced for the third installment of Fight Summit. Mike Dolce, Jeremy Luchau, Gary Ibarra and Ed Soares are all set to speak during the two day seminar.

Both Dolce and Soares are returning to the conference this year. Dolce was a first time speaker last year and was one of the most sought out speakers. He is known as the weight cutting guru helping several “big” fighters easily make weight including Thiago Alves who struggled with his until he began working with Dolce.

Soares will likely be hosting a Q&A for athlete managers. The crowd for his seminar rivaled that of Greg Jackson who the first year set the bar high for speakers.

Fight Summit is the only mixed martial arts conference for the business side of the sport. It doesn’t matter what aspect of the sport of mixed martial arts you are in, be it a fighter, a manager, an athletic apparel, nutrition drink, referee, judge, promoter, media or any of the other jobs associated with combat sports, there is something for you at Fight Summit.

This years conference will take place Saturday November 3 and Sunday November 4 at the RIO in Las Vegas, Nevada. New changes will be implemented this year including more speaking time for the speakers, lower ticket pricing and the ability to bundle the hotel with your ticket purchase.

For more information visit www.fightsummit.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightsummit

UFC 144 Bart Palaszewski versus Hatsu Hioki preview and prediction

Brent Todd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:03:43 +0000

Bart Palaszewski - drawn by Justin McAllister

To the common fan, the featherweight fight between Bart Palaszewski and Hatsu Hioki probably doesn’t stand out. And that is sad. But the reality is, it is because both guys have only had one fight inside the UFC though both fighters took different paths to get there.

Like Pettis and Lauzon, Palaszewski and Hioki both competed at the same card at UFC 137 in October of 2011. And like Pettis and Lauzon, one finished the fight in the first round, while the other squeezed out split decision.

Hioki made a name for himself competing in Shooto and Sengoku against top competition. Prior to his UFC debut, he put together a four-fight win streak. The win streak wasn’t just against nobodies in the featherweight division as it included wins over Takeshi Inoue and Marlon Sandro.

Prior to the Inoue fight, Hioki lost a split decision to Michihiro Omigawa in a fight many thought he won. Prior to the loss he went 8-0-1 finishing six of his eight opponents.

Hioki’s debut for the UFC was against George Roop and it came with a little bit of controversy. Roop was able to keep his distance and picked Hioki apart, but when Hioki was able to get his hands on Roop fireworks exploded. The fight was a back-and-forth battle and Hioki barely got the nod via split decision.

Palaszewski made not only his UFC debut, but his featherweight debut at UFC 137 against former top 10 lightweight and now featherweight fighter Tyson Griffin. He stated prior to the fight that he was going to knock Griffin out and that is what he did.

Less than three minutes into the fight Palaszewski saw his opening and the Team Curran fighter capitalized on it. He unloaded a barrage of punches knocking Griffin out while standing.

Prior to his UFC debut, Palaszewski went 3-1 in his second stint in the WEC. The run includes a victory over Anthony Pettis and finishes over Karen Darabedyan and Zachary Micklewright.

A lot of people will be quick to give Hioki the advantage in the grappling department. The problem with that is that Palaszewski is a black belt in jiu jitsu, he just doesn’t tend to show off those skills. Even if Hioki does have the advantage on the ground, the question is, can he get it there.

Palaszewski lost a split decision to Kamal Shalorus, a fight that made him look hard at his wrestling. His fight against Griffin many gave Griffin a huge advantage for possibly being able to get the fight to the ground. He never got it there and Palaszewski earned a knockout of the night bonus.

Hioki was able to get dropped quite a bit in Shooto, but because there was a standing eight count, he could recover. Unless Hioki can recover in about half a second, he’s going to have a very rough night against Palaszewski. Thus I am predicting another first round knockout for Palaszewski

Recapping with Anthony Birchak – I Am Ready

Brent Todd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:42:24 +0000

Anthony Birchak - photo by KatPhoto

Anthony Birchak is extremely new to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Having his first fight in 2009, he quickly rose to local stardom with four straight victories, finishing all four of his opponents. When Bellator held their 41st event in Arizona, Birchak was asked to compete on the undercard. The victory propelled him to a fight for Rage in the Cage and then a fight in Brazil. Now, BAMMA USA has called on him to fight for their show on March 16 in southern California. MMA Recap caught up with Birchak to discuss his career, traveling, his family and more.

What got you into fighting?
Well I have been wrestling since I was five. I did free-style Greco. I was Greco All American and national champ. I started wrestling at Tema Collage and saw that Tema had a pedigree of wrestlers; Drew Fickett, James Terry, Jamie Varner, Jesse Forbes, Efrain Escudero. I think that like eight of the ten guys on our wrestling team went to the big show and I was like, these guys do what I do and I have been wrestling a lot longer than they have. I jumped on the bandwagon and about 2008 I started training with Fickett for jiu jitsu. I had my first fight in 2009. I told my brother and my mom that I wanted to be able to say I have the experience of doing it one time. Next thing I know I got the bug and I haven’t been able to quit.

Looking over your career you have fought for a number of organizations, which one so far was your favorite to fight for?
Hands down Bellator. They had everything popping and locking. All these other shows there’s always a hiccup. There wasn’t any issue with Bellator. I was really impressed with the way that Rebney handled everything and even the guys under him were professional and had everything going real fast. I was blown away. I knew that was the kind of organization I wanted to be a part of.

You have a win at Bellator 41 over Tyler Bialecki. Was this a fight to earn a multi-fight Bellator contract?
When I took that fight Sherdog had me as a 4-0 pro, and another site had me at 3-0. At the time I was 3-0 and he was 7-3. I was kind of intimidated cause he had a lot more time than I did. To say that, that fight should have earned me a multi fight contract, no I don’t. I think I should have fought one or two more times on the undercard and I would love to do the tournament. When we talked about it, I told them that right now I was working two jobs and I was bar tending and got my son. I have child support and I am just not in the spot mentally to make that type of commitment to be that high of a fighter where I could just quit everything and focus on the tournament. Right now, I am ready and if they asked me to be apart of the tournament I would sign easy.

You recently suffered your first loss at Amazon Forest Combat to George Clay, how’d that fight play out and what you were able to take away from that loss?
The entire experience was kind of a nightmare. Drew approached me with this thing and it is not to talk bad at all about my management or Jason. The whole process of getting to Brazil was a f***ing nightmare. I had to pay $2,000 to get my passport released because of Arizona child support laws. They wouldn’t let me leave the country without first paying my rears. Thank God I have the angel of the aunt that I do who fronted me the money. I went to the state and gave them the money. I begged and pleaded with my baby’s momma to tell the state I was going down for work. I said I would pay her off and then some. It was just a headache.

I didn’t get my passport until the day before I got on the plane to go to Brazil. So not only was I not focused on purely training, I had a great camp don’t get me wrong. But my mind wasn’t strictly in the gym. I am talking to Chambers who is this guy I met through Drew. We formally hadn’t met yet. We had talked on the phone. Drew came to me and was like this is an opportunity. Sign this contract and use this agency that I am with. You are family, we are going to stay in the same family. I took Drew’s word for it. I signed the papers. Like I said, the passport was an absolute nightmare.

We get to Brazil and the entire weigh-in was great. Come fight time I felt focused, like I was supposed to be there. As soon as I walked out and heard those 15,000 people screaming I knew I was supposed to be there. There was no jitters, nothing. Maybe that was the bad part. Usually I go out into the fight and am a little nervous. This time I went out and knew what I wanted to do and how I wanted to execute it. I stepped into the cage and I threw a couple combos. He kicked me. Now when I re-watch the film I know there were some things I should have done. I went for a real stupid short choke submission and I should have defended the takedown. When a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt gets your back in Brazil, count your blessings if you get him off your back once. I let the guy have my back twice. He ended up getting a choke and I had said to myself that if he got it I was going to go to sleep. But it was straight up on the esophagus and I was forced to tap.

After my first amateur loss I went on a six-fight win streak and I changed my game up. I realized that I am decent at what I do as a fighter and could be great. Now with my first loss as a pro, I am changing my game once again. The entire thing is that Ed West, George Roop, Chris Cariaso, all those guys have been my training partners. They are all putting their little spins on my technique. I am teaching them wrestling, they are teaching me how to strike properly. I want to thank Ed West for all his improvements. I feel super confident. I am going into this fight with Chad George and I feel well rounded.

You are fighting on March 16 for BAMMA USA against Chad George. What are your thoughts on him? He has you on the experience edge with nearly three times the number of fights you have had. Does that come into your game planning at all when you fight a guy like that?
The guy has more experience for sure and it is just going to be like another day at the office for him. But this is still something I am really fresh at. I could quit tomorrow and it would be like it was something I just gave up on or I could keep going. I know more about Scott Jorgensen (who George fought) because he was a PAC 10 wrestler. He’s an amazing wrestler. I think what he did to George is what I am going to do. It’s what I plan to do. I am going to come out and strike with him and as soon as he shoots I plan to take his neck and choke him out. We are taught to take the neck, take the back and that’s the gameplan.

Where are you training out of?
I was with Fickett at his Team Scrub which is like his hillbilly training outside his house. He’s got some tires and free weights. He turned his little carport into a wrestling room. But now I am full time since the fight in Brazil at Apex Mixed Martial Arts. We have George Roop, Ed West, Chris Cariso, and a lot of hungry fighters. It’s been a good spot for me.

What are your goals for 2012?
I would like to be in the UFC. That’s the cap on anyone’s career. I want to win another region world championship and move up to the big show. I want to put a real roof over my son’s head and that’s it.

What do you like to do when you aren’t training?
I don’t really not train. My downtime I take my kid to Peter Piper a lot. I spend time with my boy and he gives me a lot of insight on myself. Being a young father has been really awakening. Anytime I spend with him is well cherished.

How old is he?
He will be four in March. The s**t that comes out of his mouth is amazing. I think one, two, and four are the greatest stages. Cause one they are walking around, two the terrible two’s weren’t really there. He was pretty chill. Then at four, the things that come out of his mouth amaze me. His concept of everything is mind blowing.

What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?
Off brand breakfast cereal called Oh’s. It would scratch the roof of your mouth. But it was the most tasty thing. It was like an O like a Cherrio, but inside it has like three little round balls that are different colors. It’s the one I always go back to. It’s hard to find in Tuscan. I think there’s like one or two off market stores. Anytime my mom finds it she buys like six or seven boxes.

Where can the fans find you at?
Find me on twitter @abirchakmma, Facebook I have a fan page under Anthony Birchak. And also on neverscaredmma. They have some stuff on me.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
Drew Ficket he’s the one that got me into this, my brothers, my mother, Jaco has been a huge help, my girlfriend Mercedes White. She hustles harder than anyone I know. She’s been getting me sponsors here and there and media blasts me. She has her own media company called Luta Elite.

UFC 144 Joe Lauzon versus Anthony Pettis Preview and Prediction

Brent Todd — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:35:58 +0000

Joe Lauzon - photo via BJPenn.com

UFC 144 will mark the first time since UFC 29 that the Ultimate Fighting Championshi will return to Japan to hold an event. While most of the card is stacked with at least one fighter who made his name while fighting for an Asian promotion, a lightweight battle is set to go down after a quick call out. In an interview Anthony Pettis was asked who he wanted to fight next and his answer was Joe Lauzon.

This isn’t the first time Lauzon has been called out and subsequently took a fight. Prior to his last fight, Melvin Guillard had expressed an interest in fighting Lauzon after putting together a five-fight win streak and was waiting to get a title shot. Guillard thought that a fight with Lauzon would be an easy win for him and would rebound him to a title shot. Unfortunately Lauzon had other plans.

Nearly everyone had given Guillard the advantage while standing. And why wouldn’t they when Guillard had finished nearly two-thirds of his fights with strikes while Lauzon had only finished five opponents with his hands. It seemed though that people had forgotten about Lauzon’s UFC debut knocking out Jens Pulver in one of the biggest upsets of 2006.

Everyone that is except Lauzon who did nearly the same thing. He landed a massive left hand that sent Guillard to the canvas. Instead of finishing him with strikes, Lauzon was patient and immediately took the back of Guillard. He got both of his hooks in and almost instantly secured his arm under the chin of Guillard and forced a tapout.

Earlier that same night at UFC 136, Anthony Pettis fought and looked to rebound off his loss to Clay Guida. Pettis fought an extremely hard fight against a very game Jeremy Stephens that went all three rounds.

The back and forth fight was nearly anyone’s guess as to who won. Many had Stephens winning the first round and Pettis winning the second. The third round was extremely close and in the end, two judges scored it for Pettis, while a third scored it for Stephens.

A short time after the fight, Pettis was interviewed and asked whom he wanted to fight next. His answer was Joe Lauzon and the video became a viral hit. Lauzon saw the video and said he was down for the fight. Sometimes Sean Shelby and Joe Silva have a very easy job like in this case when the fighters not only call each other out, but also verbally agree to the fight before being presented with a contract.

This fight is an intriguing one to predict. Lauzon has powerful hands and his striking has improved since his UFC debut. Pettis has also shown impressive abilities with his strikes as seen during his fight with Ben Henderson.

Both fighters have a slick ground game, Pettis is crafty and likes to bait fighters who are inside his guard into falling for a triangle choke. Lauzon has enough experience to avoid the submissions and be able to threaten with his top game.

Both fighters are extremely close skill wise, and because of that, one must look at prior experience and the point of their career. Pettis is arguably one of the most naturally talented fighters inside the octagon but he is still relatively young in his career. Lauzon seems to be coming into his career, mixing up his heavy hands and his aggressive jiu jitsu. For that reason I am predicting Lauzon to win this fight and hand Pettis his first submission loss by the end of the second round.

Bodylock Presents: Winter Brawl

Brent Todd — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:25:50 +0000

Fight Card

Extras

Bodylock Presents WinterBrawl Recap And Results

Kyle S. Conroy — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:04:28 +0000

Bodylock Presents Winter Brawl took place on Saturday February 18 at the Melrose Park Civic Center in Melrose Park Illinois. A total of eight amateur mixed martial arts fights went down in front of a massive crowd that was into all of the action.
1. Vince Nicoline vs Dan Alamario – heavyweight
Nicoline stalked him down against the cage until he landed jabs and upper cuts. Alamario dived for a takedown and easily stuffed by Nicoline and took the back mount. Landed hammer fists and rolled him over. Tried for different submissions, but Alamario fighting back and out of back mount. More hammer fists fallowed from the Nicoline corner. Nicoline had complete control of Alamarios back until round one ended.

Nicoline with an unusual stance with his ands low and bent at the waits. Alamario opens up with jabs and low leg kicks that landed. Nicoline rushed in for a body lock and takedown into half guard. Light punches came from Nicoline and Alamario defended well and retained full guard. Ref called for stand up. Nicoline rushed in for another body lock against the cage making Alamario carry his weight. Alamario exploded off the cage and landed heavy punches to end round two.

Nicoline opened with rush in and uppercuts, but Alamario found a single leg. Nicoline landed more hammer fists with his back to the cage while Alamario switched legs. Nicoline stuffed the single leg takedown and ended up in side control. More punches from the top from Nicoline then fought Alamarios hands to secure the mount. More punches from the top followed until Alamario turned over and gave up the back. Nicoline flatted him out and delivered more punches to the side of the head.
Official Result: Vince Nicoline via unanimous decision
2. Charles Rodriques vs Adam Gleason – lightweight
Strong open from Gleason with a stiff jab and takedown into the back mount. Worked for the choke against the cage early. Rodriques quickly fount out, but was hipped tossed and was mounted then switched to back mount again. Gleason working for the choke again and gets the tap.
Official Result: Adam Gleason via tapout due to a rear naked choke at 1.40 of round one
3. Shane Kamp vs Bobby Kpa – middleweight
Low kicks to start from Kamp. Force against the cage, but Kpa secured the neck for a choke, but didn’t secure the bock to finish. Hammer fist from Kamp and fought the hands at the same time. Kamp freed himself and pushed Kpa against the cage for a double leg takedown slam into half guard. Kamp tried to soften his opponent and advance position. Kamp took the back and delivered knees to the body against the cage. Kamp secured the neck and pulled Kpa back then flattened him out for the tap.
Official Result: Shane Kamp via tapout due to a rear naked choke at 2.38 of round one.
4. Scott Bratner vs Justin Hughes – featherweight
Hughes walked in with an intense face with focus. Hughes opened with a kick and Bratner takes the single leg takedown into mount, but Hughes reversed into guard. Punches from the top from Hughes, but Bratner countered with triangle and arm bar attempts. Hughes backs off to reengage on the feet. Huge right hand landed from Hughes and started to swarm, but Bratner recovered and got back the feet. The crowd fully enjoyed this fight. Bratner dove for a takedown, but stuffed by Hughes. Hughes controlled the head and reached for a choke from the front. Hughes ended the round with punches to the face.

Hughes opened with a great punch combo that connected, but Bratner weathered the short storm and secured the takedown. Fighters scrambled to their feet and Hughes caught Bratner with a strong looping left that dropped him. Hughes jumped on him to finish the fight. Crowd loved the action and let both fighters know it witch thunderous clapping and cheers.
Official Result: Justin Hughes via TKO at .58 of round two

5. Ronnie Stewart vs David Lelis – heavyweight
heavy support for the Lelis corner. Mad scramble to start the fight with swarming punches from both fighters. Stewart secured the takedown, but leaves his neck in the side of Lelis. Lelis secures the choke and gets the tapout.
Official Result: David Lelis via tapout due to a guillotine choke at .45 of round one.
6. Michael Romars vs Dustin Stusse – lightweight
Huge fan support for Stusse corner. Romars opened up with leg kicks and tried for the takedown. Stusse reversed the position and secured the mount. Moved his opponent against the cage but Romars reversed and ended up in guard. A few submission attempts fro the bottom from Stusse. To avoid the submission Romars backs away and the fight moves back against the cage. Stusse secured a takedown and started raining hammer fists to the head. Moved to side control, but Romars secured half guard. Stusse started to land more clean punches from the top position and the ref called the fight.
Official Result: Dustin Stusse via TKO at 2.49 of round one.
7. Pat Yates vs Sam Horowitz – welterweight
very loud support for Horowitz corner. Horowitz opened up with leg kicks, but Yates pushed him against the cage and secured the takedown in half guard. Yates soften him up with punches and secured his neck. Horowitz regroups and wall walks his way up the cage. Then Horowitz takes the neck, clasped his hands together and extends his body for the tapout.
Official Result: Sam Horowitz via tapout due to a guillotine choke 1.15 of round one. “I came here tow in and whoop some ass. He left his neck out there and I confiscated it.”
8. Dennis Sherman vs Damian Norris – lightweight  Sherman kicked then ran Norris against the cage attempted a single leg takedown. Norris showed good balance for a while, but eventually was takendown into his guard. From the bottom, Norris gathered hand control on Sherman and secured the triangle position.
Official Result: Damian Norris via tapout due to a triangle choke at 1.06 of round one.

Cut Throat MMA Returns with Invasion Chicago on March 16th

Brent Todd — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:18:12 +0000

On Friday, March 16, Cut Throat MMA returns to action with Invasion Chicago. The night of mixed martial arts fights will take place at the Congress Theater in downtown Chicago. Doors will open to the public at 6:30pm with the first fighter stepping into the cage at 8pm.

Several notable locals on the card include Patrick Murphy, Matt Giancarlo, Bill Jessie and Jeremiah Pollock. Additionally the start of the bantamweight tournament will kick off with the likes of Camacho, Guerrero, Williams and Gee.

Teams represented on the card include Emerald Smoke MMA, Team No Comment, G2, Carlson Gracie, Counterstrike MMA and more.

For more information visit CutThroatMMA.com or watch the video below.

Recapping with Jake Nauracy – I Didn’t Know Who Cory Was

Brent Todd — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:33:00 +0000

Jake Nauracy will be making his professional debut and his Bellator debut in the same night on Friday March 9th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. As an amateur he remained undefeated finishing all ten of his opponents. Nauracy was on RecapRadio and discussed his upcoming fight with Cory Galloway and more.

How’s things going?
What’s going, how’s it going.

You are making your pro debut at Bellator 60, talk to us a bit about getting the call to fight for such a major promotion for your first pro fight.
You know it’s pretty much like any other fight. It’s something that I have always wanted, I wanted to make it up to the pro level. I am glad to be fighting for them. Bellator its pretty cool. Its something I never imagined to happen.

Your opponent is Team Curran’s Cory Galloway who is also making his pro debut. What can you tell us about him?
No I didn’t know who he was until a week or two ago when they mentioned his name. I couldn’t really find much on him, but I got a couple details on him.

From what we understand it was difficult finding an opponent for you, how many opponents were you presented with before Cory signed to fight you?
Man I was getting calls left and right saying “We got you an opponent and then he’d back out”. It sucks because you are putting in all this hard work and training and it’s was just let down after let down after let down. They found me a good opponent and I am looking forward to it.

Typically when guys are making their pro debut there isn’t a lot of tape on guys, but is that something you look for or do you just say hey I gotta train everywhere?
Pretty much. I train for any obstacle. Be it a wrestler, boxer, jiu jitsu guy, whatever. I train my ass of for every type of fighter.

One thing that I noticed when I saw you last weekend at Babes and Brawls was that you are extremely tall for a bantamweight. Do you think that will play a factor into the fight in both the weight cut and a size advantage?
I get that a lot that I am big. I am used to the cut. Every fight I have had has been at bantamweight except for one. It does play a big factor having a size advantage over everybody. My cardio is still there. It is something I am kind of used to cutting down to the 35.

All of your wins have come via first round finish leading some to question if you have the gas tank should the fight go into the later rounds. Are you expecting this fight with Galloway to go into deeper waters or do you think it will be another quick finish for you?
I always expect the fight to go the distance, but I always look for a quick finish. I am always training and worried about my cardio. I am always thinking what if it goes the distance. I do the shark training which is one new opponent after another and work on it.

Being that you train out of Torres Martial Arts, should we expect to see Miguel in your corner and is there any sort of rivalry between Torres Martial Arts academy and Team Curran that helps hype this fight up more?
Not really there’s no local feud. It is an opposing gym so we will have fighters that clash.

You were undefeated as an amateur, having fought most of your fights for Cut Throat MMA. You are their current bantamweight champion what was it like fighting for Cut Throat?
It is pretty cool fighting for them. I never expected to get up to the champion level. I had my first fight with Cut Throat, then I fought three times for Total Fight Challenge. Cut Throat got a hold of me cause they saw I was finishing fights in the first round. I had one more fight before I got to fight for the title. It’s been an honor to fight for them.

Where can the fans find you at?
Facebook and Twitter. Just look me up at Jake Nauracy on facebook or @jnauracy135 on twitter.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
I want to thank Gene my striking instructor, Andre my jiu jitsu instructor, Miguel cause he’s been like a big brother to me looking after me, everyone at Torres Martial Arts, my brother John, my mom and everyone who has helped me out for this fight.

Fight Card Entertainment: Cross the Line 2012

Joey Hill — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Fight Card

Attendees

Fight Card Entertainment: Cross the Line 2012 Recap and Results

Brent Todd — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:07:04 +0000

Fightcard Entertainment put on their 44th show, Cross the Line 2012 on Thursday February 16. The night of action took place at Joe’s Bar on Weed Street in downtown Chicago. A total of eight amateur mixed martial arts fights and one women’s Muay Thai fight went down inside the steel cage.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Jeff Dunbar fund. MMA Consultants (the sanctioning body) donated all of their time, Kage Concepts donated all of their proceeds, the doctor on staff donated his time as well as several others. In addition to all the staff that volunteered their time, several items were up for raffle raising even more money for the trust fund.

If you blinked you probably missed the first fight between Gerard Mills and Jeremy Rennels. Both fighters came to the center of the cage and threw punches. Rennels then went for a takedown and got the back of Mills. Rennels snuck his arm under the chin of Mills. He adjusted his choke and Mills tapped as he knew it was just a matter of seconds before he would go unconscious.

Middleweights were up next as Ezekeio Sidney took on Hassan Umer. Sidney taunted Umer with his hands down and looked to strike. Umer quickly shot for a takedown and Sidney tried to counter with a guillotine choke. Umer however went to side control to escape the choke and did. From there he worked small punches and then switched to north-south and locked in a choke. He shifted his shoulder deeper into the throat of Sidney and forced a tap out.

Team Top Notch’s Rueben Marquez took on Team 110’s Eric Jachimiec in an exciting bout. Marquez worked leg kicks early, but Jachimiec looked to counter with left hooks. Marquez attempted a flying knee but couldn’t connect. He then opted for a different tactic as he took Jachimiec down and quickly passed to mount. Jachimiec tried to turn and shrimp out of the bad position, but Marquez held his base. He nearly finished the fight with a keylock and when that wasn’t working he transitioned to an armbar. With Jachimiec belly down, the submission was in deep quick and Jachimiec tapped before the snap.

One of the most exciting fights to ever happen inside the FCE cage featured bantamweights Danny Flores and Ceaser Ordorica. Both fighters came out swinging with Ordorica landing the better strikes. He caught a kick by Flores and took him down and rained down punches from within Flores’s guard. Flores escaped and stood up but Ordorica continued his assault. Flores started to find his range and the crowd was extremely excited by the damage that started to appear on Ordorica’s face. With five seconds left Flores landed a flying knee that sent Ordorica down to the canvas. He pounced and landed several punches. The ref halted the fight just before the round ending bell sounded prompting a minor confusion at first.

The first fight to go past the first round featured lightweights Trevor Adeszko and Rafeal Reyes. THe first round Reyes landed the better punches and caught kicks from Adeszko to take him down. Reyes worked punches while on top of Adeszko, but Adeszko was able to stand up each time. In the second round Adeszko wanted to counter the strikes of Reyes and then scored a big takedown. Reyes was able to stand up but ate a big knee. Reyes wanted a takedown of his own and ate a lot of punches from Adeszko without a successful takedown. The third round Reyes took the fight to the ground right away, but Adeszko escaped and took the back. He nearly finished with a rear naked choke, but when he couldn’t he opted to punch Reyes in the head multiple times. Reyes was able to stand, but Adeszko still had his back as they were standing. Adeszko landed two big knees that collapsed Reyes. Two punches later and the ref was forced to stop the action.

Lightweights were definitely putting on great fights as Otis Brumfield and Darrel Edmonson was a back and forth battle. The first round Edmonson controlled the action with his punches and his ability to catch kicks by Brumfield and throw him to the ground. Edmonson had his back and was throwing big bombs to the body and head of Brumfield but couldn’t finish as Brumfield was able to escape. The second round Brumfield ate a big right hand that sent him stumbling. Edmonson tried to capitalize on the damage but Brumfield escaped and landed a big knee. Brumfield then took the fight to the ground and quickly got the mount. He was working an arm triangle choke from the mount as time expired in the round. With the fight appearing to be tied up, both fighters came out swinging. Edmonson was the fresher fighter and it showed as he was able to get the takedown again. Brumfield escaped and was quickly dumped on his butt after another caught kick. Edmonson got the back again and tried to slide his arm under the chin of Brumfield. When the choke was finally in deep enough, the sound of the bell rang and the fight was over leaving the fight up to the judges. MMA Recap scored it 29-28 for Edmonson and so did all three judges.

Team Top Notch’s Nick Nagle came out strong against Trevor Rose. The two quickly exchange punches, before Nagle went for a takedown. Rose grabbed a guillotine and Nagle looked to be in trouble. Nagle tried to escape, but Rose held onto the choke through a stand up and a massive hip toss takedown. The two stood up and Rose tried to adjust his guillotine for a standing guillotine when Nagle landed an accidental low knee. After the restart Nagle landed a side kick and the two clinched. Nagle with another takedown and worked to get Rose’s back. Once he had the back it took just a matter of time before the rear naked choke was applied and Rose had to tap.

The co-main event featured a women’s Muay Thai bout between Jessica Heuer and Vanessa DeLa Garza. The fight was extremely close through out all three rounds. Both DeLa Garza and Heuer were able to land big punches and kicks through out. In the first round DeLa Garza sent Heuer stumbling with a counter right hand to Heuer’s leg kick. Heuer was able to get up right away, but she had no answer for the counter right through the entire fight. Heuer was the aggressor through out the fight always pressing forward, but DeLa Garza was able to land more strikes. The fight was extremely close with DeLa Garza winning the first round and Heuer likely winning round two. The third round was again close, and the judges were split in their decision awarding the fight to DeLa Garza.

Bryan Ortiz and Azamat Shogenov headlined the night of action in a bantamweight fight. Both fighters entered the cage undefeated and both left the same as the fight was ruled a no contest. Shogenov swarmed Ortiz from the start landing punch after punch followed by kicks. Ortiz stumbled and while he was a downed opponent he ate a kick to the head. Referee Rob Madigral called a timeout for the illegal strike, but the fight was waved off and ruled a no contest as Ortiz was ruled to not be able to continue.

Quick Results
Jeremy Rennels defeated Gerard Mills by rear naked choke at 0:13 of round 1
Hassan Umer defeated Ezekeio Sidney by north south choke at 0:52 of round 1
Rueben Marquez defeated Eric Jachimiec by armbar at 2:33 of round 1
Danny Flores defeated Ceaser Ordorica by TKO at 2:59 of round 1
Trevor Adeszko defeated Rafeal Reyes by TKO at 2:09 of round 3
Darrel Edmonson defeated Otis Brumfield by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Nick Nagle defeated Trevor Rose by rear naked choke at 1:45 of round 1
Vanessa DeLa Garza defeated Jessica Heuer by split decision 29-28, 28-29, 30-27
Bryan Ortiz and Azamat Shogenov ruled a no contest at 0:20 of round 1

UFC on Fuel TV 1 Delivers; 50k Bonuses Awarded

Brent Todd — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:08:09 +0000

For the first event to air on Fuel TV, the fighters held nothing back and left it all on the line. The night of action featured three preliminary fights shown on Facebook and six fights airing live on Fuel TV. Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez headlined the event at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

Ivan Menjivar submits John Albert - via Iron Forges Iron

While several fighters threatened their opponent with submission attempts, only Ivan Menjivar was able to secure one to force his opponent tap. In a very exciting first fight on the broadcast, Menjivar took on John Albert. The fight only lasted 3:45 but it seemed like the action was never ending. Albert hurt Menjivar multiple times in the fight and nearly finished him with submission of his own. Unfortunately when he couldn’t finish a submission, Menjivar used the opportunity to take the back of Albert and quickly worked to get a rear naked choke and the victory.

Three fights ended in either a technical knockout or actual knockout. Jonathan Brookins sent Vagnar Rocha to la-la land with heavy shots while Rocha was looking to secure a heel hook submission. Many fighters will try to roll out of the submission, but Brookins seized the opportunity to just land massive punches and earn the victory.

Many thought that regardless of the winner of Stefan Struve and Dave Herman, the outcome would happen by knockout. Herman found his range in the first round and stumbled Struve on more than one occasion. But Struve got his rhythm at the start of the second and it was all over for Herman. Struve took Herman down and quickly mounted him. Struve postured up and was able to land punch after punch until the ref was forced to halt the fight.

Stipe Miocic KO's Philip De Fries - via Iron Forges Iron

But the knockout of the night came from Stipe Miocic when he sent Philip De Fries to the canvas. De Fries, a submission expert, looked to stand and trade with Miocic and stumbled the striker. But Miocic returned fire and after a big right hand, De Fries was back peddling. Miocic continued his assault and De Fries was sent unconscious.

T.J. Dillashaw put a beating on Walel Watson like no one had predicted. Dillashaw used his wrestling to control his position on top of Watson. Through out the first two rounds Dillashaw nearly finished as he was looking for submissions and when they weren’t there landed heavy punches. Both rounds were so dominant that two judges scored them 10-8 for Dillashaw. The third round Watson was able to mount a little bit of offense, but Dilashaw went back to his wrestling and once the fight was on the ground, he was the fighter on offense.

Jake Ellenberger vs Diego Sanchez - via Iron Forges Iron

The main event was only a three-round fight, a mistake that was made after the UFC announced all main events would be five rounds. It would be interesting to see how this fight would have played out if there were two more rounds as it was by far the most exciting fight of the night. The first two rounds Jake Ellenberger dominated Diego Sanchez with his heavy punches and knees. Sanchez was a bloody mess just a few minutes into the fight. The third round Sanchez was still energized and seemed to have a bit more in his gas tank than Ellenberger and it showed as Sanchez was able to land his strikes. After five minutes Ellenberger was just as bloodied as Sanchez but it wasn’t enough for Sanchez as Ellenberger had won the first two rounds.

Ellenberger, Sanchez, Miocic, and Menjivar all earned an extra $50,000 for their performances.

Quick Results
Jake Ellenberger def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Stefan Struve def. Dave Herman via TKO (punches from mount) – Round 2, 3:52
Ronny Markes def. Aaron Simpson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Stipe Miocic def. Philip De Fries via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:43
T.J. Dillashaw def. Walel Watson via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)
Ivan Menjivar def. John Albert via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:45
Jonathan Brookins def. Vagner Rocha via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:32
Justin Salas def. Anton Kuivanen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Tim Means def. Bernado Magalhaes vis unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

RecapRadio Jake Nauracy, UFC on Fuel TV 1 Predictions, and Nick Diaz Fallout Recap

Brent Todd — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:07:23 +0000

On last night’s edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit talked to Bellator 60 debuting fighter Jake Nauracy, broke down and predicted the UFC on Fuel TV 1 card and talked about the fallout from Nick Diaz’s positive drug test.

At the start of the show we discussed several mma cards that were seen this weekend due to the lack of a UFC card on tv. John watched something like 40+ mma fights between all the different shows, at one point even watching a stream from an iPhone pointed at a tv in Brazil. Brent meanwhile discussed the Babes and Brawls atmosphere and how the venue was actually one of the better local venues for fights to be held in.

Jake Nauracy called in and we discussed with him his thoughts on his opponent Cory Galloway and how it was difficult to actually get an opponent to fight him at the event. Nauracy went on to talk about his size, his weight cut, and his amateur record.

After Nauarcy it was time to break down the UFC on Fuel TV 1 card. Both of us picked T.J. Dillashaw to win a unanimous decision over Walel Watson; mainly due to the fact that there isn’t much tape we can watch on either opponent.

We were split on the Stipe Miocic versus Philip De Fries fight as Brent had De Fries winning by submission and John had Miocic winning by TKO.

Both of us expect Aaron Simpson to lose the first round of his three-round fight against Ronny Markes, but then we see Simpson winning rounds two and three to earn a unanimous decision. We agreed that Simpson has done this in the past and that he is a slower starter than other fighters.

The co-main event was a bit of a debate as Dave Herman came in the betting favorite over Stefan Struve. Brent picked Herman to win by TKO in the first round, while John said Struve would win by submission in the second. The best summation of the fight was that if it ended in the first round, Herman would likely be declared the winner, if it ended in the second or third Struve would, and if it went to a decision, it was going to be one marred in controversy.

The main event provided much less debate as both predicted Ellenberger to win by unanimous decision. It is hard to look past what Ellenberger did to Shields and Sanchez seems like an easier target than Shields did.

After the breakdown of UFC on Fuel the big topic that came about from last week was Nick Diaz’s failed drug test. He tested positive for marijuana and we both agreed on one thing. Regardless of your stance on the drug, it is against the rules to test positive for it and thus he broke the rule. It was argued a bit about how severe of a punishment Diaz will be given, being that this is his second infraction.

To listen to the show, use the player below.

Clay Guida Wrestling Seminar at MMA Stop Fitness

Brent Todd — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:49:11 +0000

Clay Guida is returning to Chicago for a bit to put on a wrestling seminar at his own gym in Crest Hill, MMA Stop Fitness. The seminar takes place on Wednesday February 29th from 5pm-8pm.

After the seminar, Guida will be on hand for an autograph signing. The three-hour seminar costs $100 for non-members of the gym, $75 for members, and VIP members can attend for free.

MMA Stop Fitness is located at 16101 Weber Rd, Crest Hill, Illinois. For more information and to register call 815-838-8700.

Recapping With Matt Lucas – I Love To Test My Skills

Brent Todd — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:36:57 +0000

Matt Lucas - photo by Tracy Lee of Combat Lifestyle

Matt Lucas has been competing in mixed martial arts for over a decade. His dream was to fight for the UFC and in November of 2011, that goal was achieved as he fought Aaron Rosa on the undercard for UFC on Fox 1. The fight did not go his way, and now Lucas is hoping to get another shot, but this time in the middleweight division. MMA Recap caught up with Lucas to discuss his career, his UFC fight, and more.

So what got you into fighting?
I was a wrestler in college and I wanted to stay competitive like a lot of wrestlers do currently. I got into it back in 2000.

Were you competing in mixed martial arts while you were still active as a wrestler in college?
No right when I got done with college I moved to Houston I picked up jiu jitsu and got competitive into the MMA scene.

For those that don’t know, what were your wrestling credentials?
I was a two-time All American while in college.

For your first fight in the UFC it was at UFC on Fox. You mentioned that it was your first time under the big lights and it probably didn’t help that it was the first ever card for Fox. Can you talk a bit about the nerves in that fight?
You know being back to the big show, I did fight on the big EliteXC card on Showtime back in the day that had a lot of people there too. Being that it was a goal of mine to fight at the UFC and that I had been working all this time, twelve years to get there, and there it was. I didn’t have too many nerves until I got in there. Once I got in there, it seemed more like a wrestling match or a grappling match than a fight. Our goal was to put him up against the fence. It made the fight boring, I caught some flack for that. No excuses, but the jitters and the fact that I was in a weight class above where I should have been for that big stage. I know Jason my agent was trying to get me in at 185, but we got a call to fight at 205 I didn’t care, I wanted to fight for the UFC. I was a very small 205er as I weighed in at 201. I think about the fight every day and I wish I could have done better. Hopefully I get another shot at 185 and get to show what I am good at doing.

What did you take away from the fight?
To be more active. I think I could have thrown my hands a bit more. The gameplan I stuck to, but I think we could have flurried more. I would have gotten more takedowns had I done that. I was worried about getting him up against the fence. Then there was the fact that my mouth piece that didn’t come in on time. I had a poo-dunk mouth piece that kept falling out. Joe Rogan was ripping on me about it and I got deducted a point. Coming in more prepared with equipment and more of what I am good at doing.

Prior to your UFC debut you were on a five fight win streak all within Rage in the Cage. What was it like fighting for one of the more known regional promotions?
The Rage in the Cage owner catches a lot of flack. The Rollands have never done me any wrong. They have matched me up with UFC veterans, and Bellator runner up twice. I’ve had some good match ups. There’s some fights that are ridiculous, but I have had good fights. They’ve always been supportive and good. I’m glad to be there champion.

I noticed that you fought Shawn Frye twice and both times won relatively fast with strikes. What was the reasoning behind the second matchup with Frye?
The first fight I caught him in a crucifix and they pulled me off him kinda quick and he was upset. For the rematch, I like him, but he and his corner were talking a lot of smack. Even Rolland even told me they said they were going beat me. Frye wanted the rematch and he wanted to beat me. My previous rematch I had against Richard Hale and I lost, so now I wanted to take that challenge. I was kind of pissed and that’s why I got the quicker KO. I didn’t want to take it to the ground as I wanted to show him my standup was just as good as my ground and I think I did.

Now do you have a fight coming up that you are training for?
Jason with ASA is the best agent in the world. He’s brought me some offers and I have been doing my business work. I’ve been back around and in the gym. I just need to work on my shape a little bit, but I would like to finish out my career. Look for something in the next 60-90 days.

Any particular type of opponent that you want to fight?
I’d rather fight a striker. I wish I could fight Aaron Rosa to 185. I know he already shrunk like 60lbs to fight at 205, so if I could shrink him down to 185 I think we would have a different outcome. Someone like that. I’ve been wrestling forever and so if I fight another wrestler I know I will be wrestling or a grappling match. I don’t mind fighting wrestlers, but I would love to test skills with a kickboxing guy or a jiu jitsu guy.

Are you still training out of Arizona Combat Sports and if so, what’s it like training with some of the guys that have come through there in the past?
Yes. I am doing some lifting at a place called Animal Freak Fitness. I am doing my lifting and strength training there and my MMA at Arizona Combat Sports. The coaches at ACS are great. The workout partners there are second to none. You go over there and you train. All the guys are going to push you. You can go to other gyms and be the dominant guy, but you need guys to push you to help your career.

Looking back at your career, which fight would you say was your favorite?
Probably my favorite fight was the Homer Moore. He was a national champion, fought a lot of former guys like Evan Tanner and Dan Severn. He was kind of the bully at Rage in the Cage. He had also beaten me at free-style wrestling. I got to go in and had Joe Riggs in my corner, and Homer had beaten him in the cage. Joe said it was personal like he was living through me. For me to go out and beat him when he hadn’t been beaten at 205. To win the Rage title I knew I could compete and I never looked back.

According to the UFC website you were born in Indianapolis. Does that mean you are a Colts fan or an Arizona Cardinals fan?
Actually I am Denver fan. I went to school in Colorado. I like both the Colts and Cardinals but my team is the Broncos.

What do you like to do when you aren’t training?
I work. I hang out with my two little boys. One is twelve and one that is four. That’s the best part of my time. I hang out with my brothers and family.

Where did the nickname Luke Duke come from?
It came from college all my friends called me Luke Duke. Then when I started fighting ten years ago they asked what do people call you, I said off the cuff they call me Luke Duke. Then the next thing you know, it stuck.

What is your favorite breakfast cereal?
Honey Bunches of Oats is what I like. It’s kinda healthy.

Where can the fans find you at?
They can find me on Facebook. I need to get more on my twitter @lukedukeufc. Facebook is where you will find me the most.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
My agent Jason Chambers and the people at ASA. Arizona Combat, Animal Freak Fitness. Also the Homies No Mas and Audi is a good masseuse, and Bad Blood MMA.

UFC on Fuel TV 1: Jake Ellenberger vs Diego Sanchez Preview and Prediction

Michael Finch — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:22:04 +0000

UFC on Fuel TV 1 Poster

UFC on FUEL TV is set with an explosive main event as welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez are set to collide. A wrestler who has recently been showing off his hands, Ellenberger is a man on a mission, working for a UFC title shot. He is up against a tough, gritty veteran in Diego Sanchez, who is back to a healthy, party-less lifestyle leading up to the bout.

With a stunning first-round knockout of former top-contender Jake Shields, Ellenberger opened a spot for himself an the top of the welterweight division. It was his fifth straight win in the UFC, and the highest profile fight to date. At 26 years old, the sky is the limit for “The Juggernaut”. Known as a wrestler, Ellenberger has actually ended 22 of his 26 victories by way of knockout or submission. He is in for a tough fight against a durable Sanchez. If Ellenberger can impressively defeat Sanchez, he is sure to be on the cusp of a title shot.

Sanchez is a true UFC veteran. He bust onto the scene after The Ultimate Fighter Season 1, fighting in multiple divisions and racking up 12 UFC wins. Sanchez recently topped Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann by way of decision. He has admitted to being too involved with a party-first lifestyle, and for the past couple years has been fighting sub-par to his full potential. He believes that with a combination of dedicated months of training and an aggressive opponent, this will be his finest showing.

It seems that Sanchez will look to stand and turn this into a striking match. Sanchez’s grappling is at a high level, but he usually presses forward with a boxing approach. I could see Ellenberger standing and seeing what he can accomplish on the feet as well. Ellenberger is the better wrestler, and I believe that if he wants to grind out a decision with take-downs and submission defense, he can. Based on Sanchez’s last few showings, I can see him hanging tough with Ellenberger, but I’m not convinced that he will find a TKO victory. While I expect Sanchez to strike, his best chance to win this fight may be by submission.

With Ellenberger holding the choice of deciding where this fight takes place, I will predict the fight in his favor. I believe that Ellenberger will win via Unanimous Decision.

UFC on Fuel TV 1: Dave Herman versus Stefan Struve preview

Brent Todd — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:03:59 +0000

Dave Herman - photo by MMA Junkie

Heavyweights will collide in the co-main event for UFC on Fuel TV 1 as Dave Herman takes on Stefan Struve. The night of action takes place on Wednesday, February 15th at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska and will be headlined in a welterweight fight between Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger.

Struve is the tallest UFC fighter on the roster standing at 6’11” and he has used his reach advantage in several of his fights. At just 23 years old, Struve is still very new to the sport, but has shown maturity and growth in his nine UFC fights.

Struve has had an up and down career inside the octagon starting his UFC career with a knockout loss to Junior Dos Santos. He rebounded with three straight victories; submitting Denis Stojnic and Chase Gormley while earning a unanimous decision against Paul Buentello.

He then suffered a first round knockout loss to Roy Nelson, before rebounding again with back-to-back victories over Christian Morecraft and Sean McCorkle. He finished both fighters, splitting the difference with a knockout over Morecraft and submitting McCorkle.

In his last two fights, Struve lost to Travis Browne by TKO in the first round, while submitting Pat Barry in the second round. If there’s one thing that his record shows, Struve is susceptible to heavy handed fighters.

Herman meanwhile is only fighting his second UFC fight of his career, though he has nearly as many fights as Struve. Herman has fought in several big promotions prior to his UFC debut with fights in Sengoku and Bellator.

In his UFC debut Herman had a back-and-forth battle with John Olav-Einemo that was one of the most fun fights to watch at UFC 131. The fight started out with a frantic pace, almost one of a lightweight, but both fighters quickly slowed. When the gas tanks were spent, it was all either fighter could do to compile more than one punch.

Herman kept at it however and in the second round he was able to best Olav-Einemo earning him the TKO victory and the fight of the night bonus.

The fight has some intriguing details to consider when predicting a winner. Herman has won over 70% of his fights by TKO, while Struve has won the majority of his fights by submission. But this stat is a little misleading as Struve has long limbs that excel at wrapping up an opponent into submission after he has been hurt by a punch and his opponent gets sloppy.

The big issue however is Struve’s chin. Of his five losses, four have come by (technical) knockout. Herman has shown his knockout power in not only his UFC fight, but fights outside the organization.

For Struve, he needs to be able to weather the storm that Herman will likely bring as Herman has shown his gas tank can empty quickly. A likely scenario is that if the fight ends in the first half of the fight Herman’s hand is being raised, and if it ends later than that, Struve will likely be the victor.

Being that this is the first fight for Fuel TV and fighters are always wanting to make statements for new shows, I am expecting fireworks in this heavyweight clash. For that reason, I am predicting Herman to win by TKO late in the first round.

Bellator 60’s Jake Nauracy on RecapRadio

Brent Todd — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:41:17 +0000

Jake Nauracy - photo by Brent Todd

On the Valentine’s Day edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit will talk to Bellator 60’s Jake Nauracy. Nauracy will be making his professional debut on Friday March 9th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond Indiana. Nauracy will talk about his undefeated amateur career and his thoughts on his upcoming opponent Cory Galloway.

Additionally we will talk about UFC on Fuel TV 1 fight card as we break down the fights, the weigh-ins and the odds on the event.

The show airs live every Tuesday night from 8:00pm-9:30pm CST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmarecap Join us live in the chat room where you can ask us or Jake Nauracy questions and we will do our best to answer them.

Can’t listen live? A recap of the show will be posted the next day with a direct download link of an mp3 file of the show.

Cory Galloway and Jake Nauracy to Make Professional Debut Against Each Other at Bellator 60

Brent Todd — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:13:08 +0000

Cory Galloway at XFO 42 - photo by Joey Hill

Two local fan favorites will be making their professional debuts on Friday March 9th at Bellator 60. Team Curran’s Cory Galloway will be taking on Torres Martial Arts’s Jake Nauracy. Bellator 60 takes place at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Sources close to the fight broke the news to MMA Recap.

Galloway is the current XFO featherweight champion after defeating Pedro Velasco at XFO 42. Galloway, a Team Curran standout spent his entire amateur career fighting for Xtreme Fighting Organization. He compiled a record of 7-1 while fighting under the XFO banner fighting in both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.

Nauracy meanwhile fought for several amateur organizations around the Chicagoland area including Total Fight Challenge and Cut Throat MMA. He is the current bantamweight champion for Cut Throat, and will be relinquishing his title for his pro debut.

Bellator 60 will be headlined by two time Bellator tournament winner Pat Curran as he tries to defeat Joe Warren to claim the Bellator featherweight title. The event will also showcase the opening round of the season six featherweight tournament as well as several other Chicago area fighters.

Hoosier Fight Club 10: Main Event Christian Uflacker vs LC Davis Recap and Interview

Kyle S. Conroy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:19:18 +0000

Christian Uflacker at HFC 10 - Photo by Joey Hill

The main event for HFC 10 was a professional featherweight bout between undefeated Strikeforce vet Christian Uflacker and WEC vet LC Davis. After an already exciting night of fights, the crowd was eagerly awaiting both fighters to step into the Hoosier steel. The crowd seem to be split 50/50 between the two fighters. Every punch, kick, takedown and escape was noticed and appreciated in front of the midwest fan base.

Here is how the fight transpired…

Main Event: Featherweight: Christian Uflacker vs LC Davis

Round one: Uflacker in for the takedown early because he pushed Davis against the cage, but Davis stuffed the attempt to put the fight back to the feet with no damage for either fighter. Davis pushed the pace by throwing more strikes than Uflacker. Another takedown attempt by Uflacker, and again it was stuffed; damge given. Uflacker would not give up and finally secured a takedown that was against the cage. Uflacker quickly put Davis’ legs into a figure-four lock to enable Davis’ movements. However, Uflacker was unable to advance his position or cause damage. Uflacker eventually lost control of Davis’ legs, but secured another takedown as Davis tried to stand up. Davis got half way up the cage, but kept getting taken back down. Davis started attacking the body landing shots to the ribs that could have been heard from the entire audience. Uflacker still had Davis’ legs secured. Davis found a small opening and tried to escape, but a hard slam to end the round for Uflacker.

Round two: A stiff jab from Davis to open the round. Uflacker tried to rush in on him to secure a takedown, but Davis circled away to avoid. Awesome body shot from Uflacker that unfazed Davis. Davis mixed up his attacks with a takedown of his own, but Uflacker got back to his feet with no damage. Another takedown from Uflacker and again secured the legs to prevent Davis from wall walking and escaping. Uflacker started to punch Davis’ thighs while he’s down there. Uflacker was unable to move forward on the takedown and secure a dominate position. Ref stood them up. Davis tried to kick, but countered to give up his leg for a takedown from Uflacker. Davis stood up repeatedly, but is taken right back down again. Davis started to land body shots to Uflacker from the bottom, again attacking the ribs.

Round three: Davis opened with a great right hand to the jaw. Uflacker countered with inside leg kick. Combinations from from Davis landed a few of them, but Uflacker defended well for the most part. Uflacker dove in for a single leg and holds Davis against the cage again. Uflacker held Davis’ legs with his own and starts landing punches to the ribs. However you can tell that they did not have much power behind them due to the fact that they are on the ground. Davis answered with punches of his own to the head and body. Davis’ corner begged for a stand up. The ref eventually complies and sent the fighters back the center and on the feet. Uflacker flops to the ground to try and draw him in to his guard, but it is a no go. Davis threw everything he had at Uflacker as a fighter to try and secure the knockout. An inside leg kick drops Davis for a moment. One last takedown attempt stuffed by Davis and throws a punch for good measure.

Result: Christian U. split decision (29-28, 30-27 (Davis), 29-28)

There was heavy controversy over the out come because some people thought that Davis did more damage and tried to end the fight more often than Uflacker. The other half thought that Uflacker controlled most of the fight with takedowns and holding Davis down against the cage.

I caught up with Christian Uflacker after the fight to get his opinion on the result.

Give me your take on your performance and getting a spilt decision win.

“It was a great fight. LC is a very tough guy, he has over 20 professional fights, fought all over the world. Two years ago LC was ranked number eight int he world has a featherweight. I knew it was a tough fight. I have been fighting for almost two years, but because I have been working a lot in my gym, helping my fighters, helping grow my gym and being very active in the gym; that helped me to avoid ‘ring rust.’ It was my first time fighting at 145 pounds and I felt pretty strong. I felt I won the first two rounds, the third round was close he might got the better in an exchange, but I knew I won the fight, but I know it was a really tough fight. I’m glad I fought someone at that level. It’s good to know what kind of level I am at right now.”

One judge scored the fight 30-27 in favor of LC Davis, how can you rationalize that?

“I have no idea. I defiantly won the first round; I dominated and put him on his back, pound him. He tried to get up and I picked him up and slammed him down again. Second round I pretty much controlled the whole time too; put him on his back. Third round we exchanged and he got a little better in the exchage. I put him on this back. We got into a scramble, I put him on his back. He was afraid of my guard because I do BJJ for twenty years and I am a former BJJ champion. So I knew he would have been intimidated to go to the ground with me. He tried to get up and bang on the feet. I hang with myself there and bang with him back. I thought it was kinda strange. Every fight a judge will have different opinions. We both are really tough fighters and we are going to fight until the end to not quit. I defiantly felt I won the first two rounds.

I noticed that you used the figure four leg lock to secure his legs while he was against the cage. Do you feel that was your main weapon to secure your victory?

“Yes, defiantly. Stand and bang, take him down, put him on his back and figure four lock him. We used to do that a lot in training my fighters, to not let them get up. I knew he would try and get up. He’s a good wrestler and would try to separate and get up. I was taking advantage of the figure four to try an roll him on his back and punish him from there. It looked like, in my opinion, he was trying more to complain to the ref rather than get up. I felt that was a little weird. If you stick to tradition, if you talk to the ref too much, you can get disqualified. Don’t complain, try and get up. That is your job as a fighter to try and get out of the position not to try and ask someone else to help you out.

What is next for you Christian; how soon would you like to compete again?

“I just moved to a bigger gym, I worked a lot on my business, teaching a lot of classes. I took a month off to train for this fight. I don’t know right away. I’m just looking forward to relaxing a little bit. Go back to work on my business helping my gym grow. I’ll let my manager find the next fight and we’ll see what we can do to grow.”

“I want to thank all of my training partners. All of my family; my wife for putting up with me. I have been very crabby from cutting weight. My coach Mike, Recardo and everyone else who really helped me out.”

Hoosier Fight Club 10 Recap and Results

Kyle S. Conroy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:20:23 +0000

HFC 10 went down on Saturday night, live from the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso, IN. If you were in attendance you were a witness to a great card and exciting fights from both amateur and professional mixed martial artists. Much credit has to go towards the fighters themselves, the HFC matchmaker Paul Vale and the promoter Danielle Vale for delivering a highly entertaining night of competition. The night however was over shadowed with controversy between the fans and judges with regards to who actually won the main event of Strikeforce vet Christian Uflacker versus WEC vet LC Davis.

My pick for fight of the night was the bantamweight bout between Miguel Garza and Mike Manns. Here is what went down and up…

Round One: This fight started off very fast when Manns secured the clinch and delivered good knees to his opponent’s body. Then he pushed Garza against the cage and delivered more knees to the thighs. A strong and tight battle for under hooks and dominate position was displayed against the cage. Manns got the takedown, but was quickly reversed by Garza. Manns sprang back up to his feet and took his opponent against the cage. Another takedown secured from Manns, but Garza quickly put up his legs for a triangle choke. Two huge, full length body slams delivered from Manns to try and free himself. Garza seemed to be unfazed and switched for an arm bar. He was able to sink it in for more than thirty seconds until the round ends. The crowd was breathless with anticipation of the outcome. The ref was right on top of the action and his face looked like he was expecting Manns arm to break before the horn sounded.

Round Two: Quick exchange of punches to open the round, but Manns closed the distance and put Garza against the cage again. Manns clearly looked for the takedown but Garza defended well. More strong knees delivered to the thighs from Mike to Garza. A heavy struggle against the cage for a takedown from Manns and ended up in Garza’s half guard. Heavy punches from the top rained down from Manns. Garza defended his face well and avoided damage. Ref stopped the action and stood the fighters up for lack of action after a short period of time. Manns put the fight back against the cage. Another takedown secured from Manns and landed in side control, then he took the back mount. Working for a choke towards the end of the round, but the horn sounded.

Round Three: A quick one-two combination from Garza that found a home on Manns face. Garza followed that up with an explosive takedown slam in to Manns closed guard. Manns worked from the bottom with punches to soften his opponent and got back to his feet. Manns charges forward and put Miguel against the cage. Manns secured a takedown from a leg trip and ended up in half guard. Punches flew from the top position. Mann’s delivered more slams from his knees. Another triangle attempt from Garza from the bottom and then switched again to an arm bar. Manns is hung on to his arm for dear life. Manns changes positions and secured his arm back and took the back mount on Garza. More punches followed for Manns. A last quick burst of energy from Garza that cause a scramble, but the horn blew putting an end to an exciting fight. The judges award the fight to Miguel Garza via unanimous decision. This was a great back and forth battle that took place all over the canvas and frankly, what I hope to see from every MMA fight.

My Crimson Award goes to Neil Magny for opening up Dan Sandmann. Not only did Magny open up a cut on his opponent, but he made him sit in a pool of it for several seconds. Sandmann was checked by the doctors twice with in the fight to see if he could continue. Sandmann should be congratulated for continuing a loosing battle and showing a lot of heart. The HFC ring side staff should also be recognized for doing a great job of cleaning Sandmanns’ DNA off of the mat.

My Best Display of Strikes Award goes to Kevin Nowaczyk for his dominate performance over Joe Alexander. Nowaczyk put on the best striking clinic at the HFC event. He mixed everything very well; punches, knees, inside leg kicks, outside leg kicks, head kicks, head movement, foot movement and changing levels. This guy did it all and didn’t look tired for one second. If you don’t believe that leg kicks can end fights or do much damage, see Pat Barry and Kevin Nowaczyk fight.

Quick Results for the Amateur Card:
Featherweight: Jonathan Ciavirelli defeated Ralph Nurse via tapout due to a guillotine choke at 1:51 in the second round.
Welterweight: Nate Wacnik defeated Christopher Malamatos via tapout to a guillotine choke at 1:21 in the second round.
Bantamweight: Miguel Garza defeated Mike Manns by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Lightweight: James Frasure II defeated Eli Cantu via doctor stoppage at 2:39 in the second round.
Featherweight: Jacob Moales defeated Justin Halloran via tapout due to a rear naked choke at 1:52 in the third round.

Quick Results for the Professional Card:
Dennis Dombrow defeated Terry House, Jr. via tapout due to a triangle choke 4:20 in the third round.
Billy Johnson defeated Rob Morrow via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Kevin Nowaczyk defeated Joe Alexander via referee stoppage due to strikes 2:43 in the third round.
Kenny Booker defeated Ryan Storey via unanimous decision.
Neil Magny defeated Daniel Sandmann via unanimous decision.
Jake Rosenbaum defeated Dexter Wright via technical submission at 2:43 in the second round.
Larry Digiulio defeated Nick Wayne via tapout to a guillotine choke at 3:59 in the first round.
Christian Uflacker defeated LC Davis via split decision (29-28, 30-27 (Davis), 29-28).

Hoosier Fight Club 10

Joey Hill — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:47:32 +0000

Cut Throat MMA: Babes & Brawls

Brent Todd — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:20:25 +0000

Cut Throat MMA present’s Babes and Brawls X Recap and Results

Brent Todd — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:28:12 +0000

Cut Throat MMA returned to Atlantis Gentlemen’s Club in Ford Heights, Illinois for Babes and Brawls X. The event featured seven amateur mixed martial arts fights highlighted by the beautiful girls of the club.

Kicking off the night of fights was a lightweight contest between Mike Manning and Adam Meneou. The fight looked like it was going to be all over quickly as Manning quickly took the fight to the ground and got the mount. He bloodied up his opponent and worked for a guillotine choke. Meneou was able to escape but took a big beating during the round. The second round was a close round with Manning working for a guillotine most of the round but Meneou was on top and in side control. Once Meneou was able to get his head free he worked punches to the body and head. Manning tried to escape and was able to reverse the position and rained down punches in bunches. The third round Meneou opened the round with good kicks and was able to get the mount himself. Manning was nearly finished but he found his escape and then worked to finish Meneou. As time was running out in the round Meneou nearly had a triangle choke, but Manning punched his way out.

Justin Hughes came out swinging for the fences against Sean Cooley and never let up. He landed a big combo that hurt Cooley, but Cooley was able to recover quickly. Hughes just picked Cooley up and threw him to the ground and as Cooley stood up he ate several more punches. Hughes got the back of Cooley and threw him to the ground again. Just like the previous time he let Cooley stand up and made him pay with several punches. Hughes continued his assault but was briefly stalled as he left his neck partially open and Cooley tried to capitalize on it with a guillotine. Once free Hughes landed a big right that dropped Cooley. Hughes followed it up with one more punch before the ref called the fight.

Josh Bulak entered the cage to talk about the fund that is now set up for Jeff Dunbar. He gave a small update on Dunbar’s status in that Dunbar has some minor use of his hands.

Returning to action Mike Perry took on Nikola Colovic. The two touched gloves and then immediately went after each other. Perry landed a straight right and Colovic returned the favor with a right of his own. Colovic started to land the better of the two, but Perry was throwing hoping to land. Unfortunately for him, Colovic landed a punch that sent Perry to the canvas and the fight was ended there.

Heavyweights were up next as Cody Murray battled Robert Little in an exciting back and forth battle. The two came out and looked to clinch and work a dirty boxing game. Little seemed to be landing more of his punches and then opted to shoot for a takedown. He couldn’t get it and Murray decided to work some knees. Murray tried for a takedown, but Little countered with a guillotine attempt. As Murray escaped, Little shot for a takedown and was successful. Unfortunately he got reversed and Murray worked punches from the top. Murray started to transition to a different position and Little yelled out in pain and the ref stopped the fight.

From the start it looked like Alfonso Bray would be too much for Shane Camp. Camp wanted to land little leg kicks, but Bray countered with a right hand forcing Camp to shoot for a takedown. Bray sprawled and looked to keep his top position with punches to the body of Camp. Camp stayed busy from the bottom trying to escape and throwing multiple hammerfists to Bray’s ears. He did escape and when both fighters stood, Camp landed an accidental knee to the groin of Bray. After the restart the two fighters clinched and exchanged knees. Camp jumped and grabbed a guillotine. Bray tried to summersault out, but Camp held on, adjusted and squeezed. Bray had not choice but to tap to the submission.

In the co-main event Anthony Corder took on Gregg Tigner. If you blinked you might have missed what happened. Tigner landed a punch and Corder immediately went for a takedown. The two were battling for position on the ground when Corder was able to get on top. Unfortunately Tigner used it to his advantage as he secured an armbar. Corder tried to roll out, but Tigner held on tight and forced the tap.

Andrew West and Mike Reid headlined the great night of fights with an exciting Muay Thai fight. West came out with a big front kick, but Reid countered with a right hand. Reid continued with a leg kick and the two fighters clinched. Both fighters exchanged knees before separating. Reid then connected with a spinning backfist that dropped West. West was able to get up within the eight count and was ready to continue on. Reid immediately pressed the action and landed another spinning backfist that knocked West out.

Quick Results
Mike Manning defeated Adam Meneou by unanimous decision
Justin Hughes defeated Sean Cooley by TKO at 1:49 of round 1
Nikola Colovic defeated Mike Perry by TKO at 0:49 of round 1
Cody Murray defeated Robert Little by verbal tapout at 2:41 of round 1
Shane Camp defeated Alfonso Bray by guillotine at 1:49 of round 1
Gregg Tigner defeated Anthony Corder by armbar at 0:33 of round 1
Mike Reid defeated Andrew West by knockout in round 1

Recapping with Vince Ramos – No Excuses

Brent Todd — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:43:00 +0000

Vince Ramos Training At Team Curran - photo by Brent Todd

Vince Ramos made his professional debut in mixed martial arts in March of 2009. Entering that fight there was a lot of buzz about him due to his undefeated amateur career. He started off his pro career with a bang winning his first three fights. Then in his last three fights he has gone just 1-2.

Now Ramos is back in the gym training harder than ever for his next fight. After learning some things in his last fight against Guillermo Serment, Ramos vows to not let any aspect of his game be left unsharpened before stepping into the cage. MMA Recap caught up with Ramos to talk about his career, his last fight and more.

How’s it going Vince?
I’m doing alright how are things going with you Brent?

It’s going well here I can’t complain. Now I’ve had the honor to watch all of your pro fights, I am curious as to which one was your favorite?
My favorite one was at Ruckus 2

That was against Danny Black in your pro debut right?
Yeah or I would say Ruckus at Navy Pier. That was exciting.

That was a fun one too.
I was so tired and gassed out with my arms that by the end of the fight to get that choke was a relieving feeling.

Your last fight was against Guillermo Serment at XFO 42 and unfortunately it looked like you gassed out pretty quickly in that fight. GIve us your thoughts on that fight.
Honestly I think I prepared right. There’s things I would have changed though. I lacked strength and conditioning training through out that fight and it showed. I think I controlled the first round and it showed. Actually I think I dominated the first, but the second and third round I would give it to him. He fought a hell of a fight and no excuses he was the better fighter that night. It made me re-evaluate what I was doing and I am hoping to comeback a lot stronger next time.

In the past weight cutting has kind of plagued you a little bit, what was different this time around?
Honestly I ordered the Dolce Diet. I am not trying promo it, but truth is, it worked. I felt energized and I was eating to loose weight. He has contacted me a few times personally and the guy is unbelievable when it comes to nutrition. Little tricks he teaches you and it helps you along the way.

I’ve read the book and I couldn’t believe how much food you actually eat and how simple it was.
It’s crazy. I remember reading through the book and thinking, this is a lot of food. I was looking at the stuff and there’s a lot that you take in but the crazy thing is I was taking it in and my weight was going down. I was energized and able to push myself through workouts and practices where I would normally say I was miserable. The week of I was feeling great, I was doing everything right. Unfortunately the lack of strength and conditioning bit me in the but.

When are you looking to come back to the cage?
We are working on some things in April, but nothing is set just yet. As soon as I know, you will know.

Where can the fans find you at?
Follow me on twitter @ramossp145 or on Facebook under Vince Ramos. I try to do a good job updating people with what’s going on.

Anyone you want to thank?
Shout outs to my friends, family, everyone here at Team Curran, Jeff, Doug and everyone who is taking me to the next level.

UFC on Fuel TV 1: Aaron Simpson versus Ronny Markes preview

Brent Todd — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:49:07 +0000

An intriguing middleweight fight is set for the debut offering of UFC on Fuel TV. Aaron Simpson will take on Ronny Markes at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 15th.

Markes made his UFC debut at UFC on Versus 5 against Karlos Vemola when he stepped in for an injured Stephan Bonnar. Markes applied constant pressure to Vemola through out the fight, seemingly taking him down at will.

The only downside was that Markes didn’t have much of answer for what to do next. Vemola tried to escape and did at times, forcing Markes to clinch and take the fight to the ground time after time. The fight was a unanimous decision for for Markes, but not an impressive one.

After the fight, Markes stated that he would be dropping down to the middleweight division for the duration of his UFC career.

Simpson is riding a three-fight win streak into the fight with victories over Eric Schafer, Brad Tavares, and Mario Miranda. Prior to the win streak, Simpson suffered back-to-back losses to Mark Munoz and Chris Leben.

Simpson entered the UFC in early 2009 and showed that his wrestling ability is extremely dangerous and to look out for it. He used it to earn a come-from-behind victory over Tom Lawlor to earn the Fight of the Night bonus.

What makes this fight so intriguing is that Markes has shown he likes to take people down and hold them there, but Simpson posses the wrestling knowledge and skills to avoid the takedowns. The adage of wrestlers dictate where the fight ends up, likely will apply here, but will most likely mean that the two stand and throw leather instead of take the other down. Much like Tyson Griffin versus Sean Sherk, this could become an exciting slug-fest for that reason.

While I don’t think all the action will take place standing, I am expecting one fighter to be successful with his takedowns. I am looking for Simpson to generate enough damage on the feet to be able to take Markes down and grind out a decision.

UFC on Fuel TV 1: T.J. Dillashaw versus Walel Watson preview

Brent Todd — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:54:56 +0000

Bantamweight fighters T.J. Dillashaw and Walel Watson are likely fighting for their UFC career at UFC on Fuel TV 1. The event takes place on Wednesday February 15th at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

Dillashaw was a member of the season 14 Ultimate Fighter. He surprised many by defeating Matt Jaggers to earn his entry into the house. From there he was selected as part of Team Bisping. Dillashaw defeated Roland Delorme and Dustin Pague to earn his way to the finals.

At the finale he made his UFC debut against John Dodson. Dodson stunned everyone with his technical knockout victory over Dillashaw spoiling Dillashaw’s plans to be the next Ultimate Fighter.

Watson meanwhile is one-and-one in his UFC career. Making his debut at UFC on Versus 6, Watson made a splash on the bantamweight division with his quick finish over Joseph Sandoval. He needed just under ninety seconds to earn the TKO victory.

In his second UFC fight, he took on Yves Jabouin at UFC 140. The fight was extremely close with either the first or second round being able to be scored in Watson’s favor. The final round of the fight was clearly Watson’s and it was left to the judges. Only one judge scored the fight for Watson, with the other two giving Jabouin the split decision victory.

Bantamweights are a hard breed to predict. Due to their size, speed, and stamina it is more rare for a finish with strikes from them. Their punches have to be that much more precise and their ground game that much more complete. In what could be the difference maker between the two fighters could be their conditioning. I am going to predict that Dillashaw wins the unanimous decision and it is the fight of the night.

UFC on Fuel TV 1: Philip De Fries versus Stipe Miocic preview

Brent Todd — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:27:15 +0000

Philip De Fries - photo by Josh Hedges/UFC/Zuffa

Two heavyweights who are looking to earn their second UFC victory will do battle at UFC on Fuel TV 1. Philip De Fries and Stipe Miocic is set to be part of the televised portion of the event that takes place on Wednesday, February 15 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

Miocic has been dubbed a “Little Cro Cop” due to the style of fight shorts he wears. It also helps that of his seven victories, five have come by way of knockout and his one submission was due to leg kicks he delivered.

In his UFC debut Miocic took on Joey Beltran at UFC 136 in a back-and-forth striking battle. The three-round fight was close to call round by round, but Miocic was able to do enough to earn the victory.

De Fries made his debut at UFC 138 against Rob Broughton. Like Miocic, De Fries earned a unanimous decision in his debut. However unlike Miocic, the rest of his victories have come by way of submission.

De Fries trains out of Alliance with the likes of Dominick Cruz, Phil Davis, and Brandon Vera.

Both fighters are undefeated heading into the fight, and one will likely walk away with a loss on their hands. The question that needs to be answered is can De Fries take Miocic down before Miocic lands a heavy strike?

I think that he can and will. In what I am expecting to be a surprise, I am expecting De Fries to almost bullrush Miocic and score a quick takedown. When Miocic is trying to escape, I think he will leave an opening and De Fries will earn the submission victory in the first round.

RecapRadio Chris Clements and UFC 143 breakdown Recap

Brent Todd — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:45:06 +0000

Chris Clements - photo by Melanie Lemieux

On last night’s edition of RecapRadio, hosts Brent Todd and John Petit spent most of the time talking about UFC 143 but also featured UFC newcomer Chris Clements on the show.

At the top of the show we discussed how good Stephen Thompson was against Dan Stittgen. Thompson had a lot of positive buzz going into his UFC 143 fight and delivered on it. When asked who Thompson should fight next, Petit suggested a fight with Matt Brown or another guy on that level.

After discussing the Thompson-Stittgen fight, Chris Clements called into the show to talk about a variety of topics. He mentioned that the news of him fighting for the UFC didn’t sink in until he went home and told his wife and that his management told him in a very nonchalant way.

He discussed his thoughts on his UFC 145 opponent Keith Wisniewski and stated that he feels he is his best coach when it comes to fighting inside the cage. He likes to write down aspects he wants to work prior to the fight and he has his corner there to help assist with that. Of course he also relies on his cornermen to spot openings and help him escape bad positions.

Clements talked a little bit about his late coach Shawn Thompkins and what it was like for both him and the team. While he made it clear that Thompkins had mentored other guys from the start of their career, he still had a bond with The Coach and went to him for guidance.

Clements also gave his thoughts on the Nick Diaz versus Carlos Condit fight before he had to go.

After Clements, it was back to UFC 143 and a breakdown of the main pay-per-view card. We both found humor in Ed Herman calling out Anderson Silva, but then I made a case that it would get him a fight against a top ten opponent. I suggested a fight with Brian Stann, but Petit didn’t think that was the right way to go.

With Renan Barao winning as predicted over Scott Jorgensen the discussion moved onto what was next for Barao. An intriguing fight could be in his future against Miguel Torress, should Torress be victorious at UFC 145.

Neither of us were too impressed with Josh Koscheck and Mike Pierce’s fight but it lead to a discussion on rule enforcement. If a fighter is explained the rules multiple times before the start of the fight, why are there any warnings and not just straight point deductions. The answer came down to the gray area between accidental and purposeful fouls.

We were both impressed with Fabricio Werdum and Roy Nelson, though not 100% sold on Werdum’s striking ability just yet. Intriguing fights await Werdum and we should expect to see him fight in Brazil later this year.

When it came time to the main event, both of us scored it for Diaz. It wasn’t a total robbery, but we were a bit baffled to say the least. From the moment the scorecards were read, fans were clamoring for a rematch and we discussed what could potentially hold back the rematch.

To listen to the full podcast use the player below.

UFC 143 Main-Event Recap: Condit Claimed Belt, Diaz Claimed Retirement

Michael Finch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:07:54 +0000

Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit - photo Josh Hedges/UFC/Zuffa

With Nick Diaz pressing, the Vegas crowd roaring, and the UFC spotlight shining, Carlos Condit displayed a disciplined title-fight performance in the main event of UFC 143. He stuck to his game-plan throughout all five rounds against a taunting, relentless Diaz who has seemed to drag every one of his previous opponents into a dog fight. Condit edged Diaz out for the interim UFC welterweight title and a future date with Georges St Pierre.

For Condit, the plan was to kick, move, and not get in a firefight with Diaz. He rarely was backed into corners, and landed scores of kicks on Diaz, inculding some knees, elbows, and combinations of punches. Condit retreated a great deal; maybe more than he was expecting too. Diaz was hot on his case, and at times in the first and second rounds, it seemed that Condit was running. With Diaz marching into him, it seemed that he was a bit tentative to pull the trigger; unsure of how to deal with the aggressive boxing that was coming his way.

Things changed for “The Natural Born Killer” in the third and fourth rounds, where he settled into the fight a bit more and found his groove. He was letting his kicks fly, and it seemed to slow Diaz down. Instead of striking on the move, Condit was able to get his kicks off and then circle away from danger. Many agreed that Diaz won rounds one and two, and that Condit won rounds three and four. It seemed that the fight would be decided on the victor of the fifth and final frame.

Condit came out and continued his retreating attack, accumulating some damage on Diaz. It appeared that Condit was edgeing Diaz out on the feet for the majority of the fifth round. In response, Diaz capitalized on an opportunity to take Condit’s back, and Diaz tripped him to the ground, securing a body triangle and immediately threatening with choke attempts. Diaz thought about an arm-bar, and just before the round came to a close, Diaz jumped for it. Condit defended, the pair scrambled, and the fight was over.

The final frame, like the fight, was a close call. It seemed to me that Diaz’s back control and attempts to finish the fight could have earned him the fifth round, meaning that he should win a 47-46 decision. The judges thought otherwise.

Judge Cecil Peoples scored the fight: 10-9, 10-9, 9-10, 10-9, 10-9 for Condit.

Judge Patricia Morse Jarman scored the fight: 10-9, 10-9, 9-10, 10-9, 10-9 for Condit.

Judge Junichiro Kamijo scored the fight: 10-9, 9-10, 10-9, 10-9, 9-10 for Condit.

The judges seem to have three very different opinions of how the fight went. The only judge who I can even be sure watched the fight was Judge Junichiro Kamijo. Collectively, the trio awarded Condit a Unanimous Decision. The ruling angered Diaz, who decided to retire in the cage in his post-fight interview.

“I’m not going to accept the fact that this was a loss. That ain’t right,” said Diaz.

“I pushed him back the whole fight, I walked him down, I got the take-down. I won on top… I think I’m done with this MMA. It’s been great out here, I’ve had a good career. You guys pay me way too much, but I don’t think I’m going to keep going in this. It’s been a good time. Good job Carlos, you’re the man bro.”

When Joe Rogan asked Diaz if his retirement was certain, Diaz refused to back down.

“I don’t need this shit. I pushed this guy backwards the whole time, he ran from me the whole fight. I landed the harder shots, he ran the whole time. He kicked me in my leg with little baby leg kicks the whole fight. If that’s the way they understand how to win around here, I don’t want to play this game no more,” he concluded.

UFC Newcomer Chris Clements Joins RecapRadio

Brent Todd — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:51:38 +0000

UFC welterweight Chris Clements - photo by Dave Mandel

On tonight’s edition of RecapRadio, UFC newcomer Chris Clements joins hosts Brent Todd and John Petit. Clements will be discussing his upcoming fight at UFC 145, his thoughts on the move of the card, training under the late Shawn Tompkins and more.

Additionally we will be discussing UFC 143 and the fallout from the main event. Will hosts Brent Todd and John Petit agree with the judges’ scorecards for Carlos Condit versus Nick Diaz, or will they side with Diaz?

RecapRadio airs live every Tuesday night from 8-9:30pm CST discussing not only the major news of the previous week, but also discussing any Chicago based mixed martial arts news. To listen to the show live and participate in the live chat, visit www.blogtalkradio.com/mmarecap

A full show recap and direct download of the mp3 file will be available Wednesday.

UFC 143: Werdum vs. Nelson Recap

Kyle S. Conroy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:10:53 +0000

Two things stood out to me during the course of the co-main event at UFC 143 between Fabricio Werdum and Roy “Big Country” Nelson in the heavyweight division. First was that Werdum’s striking has improved greatly over the last three years away from the sports’ main stage. Secondly, that Nelson will probably never be KO’ed or TKO’ed in a fight. This marks the third time that Nelson has taken fifteen minutes of punishment to the face and kept moving forward in the fight. Junior do Santos didn’t stop him; Frank Mir didn’t stop him and now Werdum. Not only can Nelson take punishment and last for all three rounds against the sports’ best, but he also retains his focus. During his fights with the three previously mentioned fighters, Nelson was always looking for a way to end the fight with a big overhand right or by submission.

During the first round of action, Werdum was able to get Nelson into the Muay Tia plum clinch and deliver several knees to Nelson’s face. One in particular was able to open a medium size, semi-vertical cut on Nelson, just over his right eye. It started to release blood almost immediately. So much blood in fact that the referee paused the action for the Octagon side doctor to clean off his face and check the location of the gash. The blood did not rush into Nelson’s eyes so the doctor and referee cleared him to continue the fight. Soon after the fight resumed Werdum landed another knee to Nelson’s face from the clinch that made an awful sound, which the camera picked up and broadcasted to everyone watching. It sounds like a baseball bat hitting a head of ice burg lettuce. I thought for sure the fight would be soon over or that Nelson had a broken orbital bone. Neither outcome came true.

Nelson. Is. Tough.

The knee that opened Nelson’s face up was the most significant strike landed by either fighter for the rest of the fight. In the second round Nelson was able to get a standing headlock on his opponent after a takedown attempt by Werdum. It was in tight too; you could clearly see that Nelson’s right forearm was underneath Werdum chin. Nelson realized this and quickly tried to secure his hands together and turn Werdums’ back against the cage. A standing guillotine chock was now menu and chef Nelson was looking to fully deliver. Because of Werdums’ black belt knowledge of submissions, he recognized the attempt, fought the hands of Nelson and clear himself out of danger. That attempted turned out to be the closest Nelson would come to finishing the fight. The rest of bout consisted of back and forth punches to the head and one takedown from Nelson, but didn’t play the jiu-jitsu game with Verdum.

Stats…
According to FightMetric.com, the official stat web site of the UFC, Werdum out-struck Nelson by a total of 91 to 26 in the entire fight.

Official Result…
Fabricio Werdum was victorious via a unanimous decision.

Next Opponent…
Werdum has made a large impact with his return to the UFC. His next opponent should reflect the progress he has made and receive a mid or high tier fighter in the heavyweight division. A fight between Werdum and Frank Mir would make sense or Werdum could also take on the winner of Mark Hunt and Check Kongo.

Nelson’s next opponent could be someone from the lower tier of the division to get his win streak back up to par. A fight with Christian Morecraft would defiantly give him motivation to win and win impressively.

Next Training Session…
Werdum became a little gassed towards the end of the second round. I think that if he had a bigger gas tank he may have been able to finish Nelson with a submission. Werdum needs to work on his killer instinct and go in for the finish when he knows his opponent is hurt.

Nelson was the slimmest he has ever been for a UFC fight; he weighed-in at 246 on the eve of battle. I think Nelson needs to come in with a game plan. It seems to me that he just shows up to fight and hopes to hit him more times than his opponent hits him. Because he is shorter than most of the heavies in the division, he needs to fight smart and not just hard. If he combined his mental ability to out smart his opponent and his durability, he could be a top heavyweight by the middle of 2013.

UFC 143 Decision Heavy, But Impressive Fights

Brent Todd — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:46:03 +0000

UFC 143 took place on Saturday February 4th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit battled it out for the interim welterweight title in the night’s main event.

Dan Stittgen vs Stephen Thompson - via Iron Forges Iron

While several fights went to the distance, there were some great knockouts and submissions on the card. The very first fight of the evening saw Stephen Thompson land and well timed head kick after a one-two combo that sent Dan Stittgen to the canvas unconscious. Thompson a highly touted striker entered his UFC debut with an impressive 60+ fight win streak including his Muay Thai fights.

Matt Brown has always been a fighter that brings a fight, but has struggled to put together solid wins lately. Chris Cope tried to hand Brown his second loss in two fights, but came up short when Brown caught Cope with a hook that sent Cope to the canvas and Cope was the fighter with the back-to-back losses on his record.

While Brown’s knockout was good, Thompson’s was just a bit better as it came at the end of a combo and earned Thompson the Knockout of the Night.

Dustin Poirier vs Max Holloway - via Iron Forges Iron

Like knockouts, there were two submissions during the night’s fights. Max Holloway made his UFC debut against Dustin Poirier, and Poirier welcomed him by attacking his limbs and neck. Poirier looked to have finished the fight with an armbar, but Holloway didn’t tap, so Poirier transitioned it to a triangle choke with the armbar. When that failed to win him the fight, he moved to have a mounted triangle choke and again attacked the arm. The third time was the charm and Holloway was sent home with his first loss of his career.

Kicking off the pay-per-view were middleweights Ed Herman and Clifford Starks. In the second round Herman scored a beautiful trip takedown and quickly passed to mount. From there it was just a matter of time as Starks gave up his back and Herman relentlessly worked to get a rear naked choke until he found it and a tap.

Poirier earned the night’s submission of the night bonuses with his mounted triangle armbar submission.

Nick Diaz versus Carlos Condit - via Iron Forges Iron

The rest of the fights all went to the judges’ scorecards. The main event was an exciting battle that had Nick Diaz running down Carlos Condit, only to be out-struck by Condit. The fight was difficult to score as many question do you score damage or aggression and how do you decide on damage. Condit ultimately won the unanimous decision, a decision Diaz was not too happy about. He said it was bullshit that he ran down a guy for twentyfive minutes and that the other guy won so he was done with the sport.

Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum - via Iron Forges Iron

But the fight of the night featured a very improved striking game from Fabricio Werdum who landed several Muay Thai knees to the face and body of Roy Nelson. Nelson is one of the most durable fighters as he continued to come forward no matter what Werdum threw at him. Nelson at times came close to hurting Werdum, but could never capitalize on it. Regardless, the fight was one that will be talked about for weeks to come.

Where To Watch UFC 143 In McHenry, Illinois

Brent Todd — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:50:51 +0000

If you live close to McHenry, Illinois, you are probably wondering if there is a cheaper way to watch UFC 143 than to order in your own home and get some grub. Thankfully you can go out to a bar to enjoy the festivities of UFC 143 and we have the listing for you.

Windy City Wings
815.344.4242
1266 North Green St.
McHenry, IL

Halftime Bar & Grill
815.344.0345
2405 W. Johnsburg. Rd
Johnsburg, IL

Snuggery @ McHenry
815.578.9600
801 North River Road
McHenry, IL

Firewood Restaurant & Sports Lounge
815.578.9400
2314 Illinois 120
McHenry, IL

If you don’t live in McHenry but want to find a bar that is showing the fight near you, check out the UFC Bar Finder. Please tip your waitress and bartender.

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Prediction

Kyle S. Conroy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:48:09 +0000

On Saturday night the Ultimate Fighting Championship will crown a new welterweight champion for the first time in over three years…kind of. With the current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, arguably the second best fighter in the world, injured and would presumably not be able to defend his crown for more than a year, the UFC had to fill that void with an interim title bout between the division’s top two fighters. Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit will try and stop the four-year and 11 fight win streak of Stockton’s own Nick Diaz during the main event in Las Vegas at UFC 143.

This is a very exciting match-up between the UFC’s 170-pound division elite. Condit is the owner of a four-fight win streak and the winner of 12 out of his last 13 MMA bouts. His only lost during that time was a split decision loss to Martian Kampmann back in April of 2009. Any ‘split decision’ can be debated for hours on why someone won or lost. I almost consider split decisions the same as a draw in MMA, almost. These match-ups in the UFC are so equal sometimes that it becomes very hard to score. Condit is also on a roll regarding the nightly bonuses given out by the top UFC brass. He has picked up two Knockout Of The Night in his last two fights against Dong Hyun Kim and Dan Hardy. Before that he won a Fight Of The Night bonus for his victory over Roy McDonald in June of 2010. Condit is a very well rounded fighter. He has racked up 27 wins in his MMA career and 13 are by T/KO and another 13 by submission with one decision victory. His striking technics are thrown with a singular focus, which is to end the fight. Do not forget that he will have Greg Jackson in his corner who just had Donald Cerrone fight Nick’s brother Nate last month. Jackson has been thinking about the Diaz brothers for several months straight now, and they know how to game plan. However, Cerrone did lose to Nate in that lightweight bout.

Nick Diaz is a very unique person in general and stands out even more when placed in the Octagon for his brash attitude and high-level MMA skills. Winner of his last 11 MMA bouts including his destruction of two-time titleholder BJ Penn in late October of 2011. However, that is his only victory in his second stint in the UFC in his last 11 bouts. Before then he spent several years fighting in Dream, EliteXC and Strikeforce. Most people will tell you that the best fighters are in the UFC and other MMA organizations only house second or even third-tier fighters. While I am one of those people, I think that traveling to Japan, bouncing around the continental United States and winning ten straight MMA bouts is equal to beating BJ Penn under the bright lights of the Octagon. He and his brothers’ boxing has been top notch in resent bouts with victories over other top boxers such as Penn and Paul Daley. If the fight goes to the ground he will have the experience of a BJJ black belt from Cesar Gracie to fight with against Condit. I believe that most of the bout will take place on the feet as both men like to showcase their striking skills for the world to see.

Interesting note: Both men have won the World Extreme Cagefighting Welterweight Championship. Diaz in March of 2003 and Condit in March 2007.

Prediction…
I see this fight going into the championship rounds with excellent striking given and taken by both fighters. Both men will probably take a quick trip to the hospital after the fight, but only one will carry that 12 pounds of gold, diamonds and leather with them.

Diaz by unanimous decision (48-47) to be come the UFC’s Interim Welterweight Champion.

RecapRadio on January 31 Recap

Brent Todd — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:55:23 +0000

On the January 31st edition of RecapRadio, hosts Brent Todd and John Petit discussed a variety of topics. The discussion started off with a UFC on Fox 2 breakdown followed by UFC 143 previews.

The undercard for UFC on Fox 2 was first discussed as the Chris Camozzi versus Dustin Jacoby fight was not aired at all contrary to reports. This was rather unfortunate as not only was it an exciting back and forth battle, but Camozzi finished the fight with a 10-finger guillotine choke.

The conversation moved onto the rest of the undercard with a good debate on the knockout of the night. While both of us agreed that Lavar Johnson’s knockout over Joey Beltran deserved the bonus, Cub Swanson’s mouthguard knockout over George Roop was just cool.

Additionally the topic of the calf crusher submission by Charles Olivieria was discussed as we both found it weird that Joe Rogan didn’t even know what the submission was at the time of the call.

The main card of UFC on Fox 2 was broken down and we agreed on several things, but disagreed on the scoring of the Bisping-Sonnen fight. We both felt that if the original fights were in place and the fighters that showed up were the same in those fights, that Munoz would have beaten Sonnen, and Bisping would have destroyed Maia.

Instead we were presented with a rather lackluster performance by Maia who had no excuse for why he gassed. His opponent, Chris Weidman, at least could fall back on the fact that he cut 30 pounds in 10 days and he still beat Maia.

The main event was as predicted, and it just confirmed what we already knew about Davis. While he is talented and a good fighter, Evans is just on a different level.

When it came time to breakdown UFC 143 we first discussed a facebook stream fight of Dan Stittgen versus Stephen Thompson. Stittgen is a local fan favorite, but Thompson is undefeated in not only his mixed martial arts career, but also his Muay Thai career. We both said it should be an interesting fight, as styles make fights.

Breaking down the main portion of the card, we both agreed on nearly every fight. We predicted Ed Herman and Roy Nelson would earn unanimous decisions over Clifford Starks and Fabricio Werdum respectively. We expect a great fight in the bantamweight bout between Renan Barao and Scott Jorgensen, predicting Barao finishing Jorgensen. We expect Koscheck and Pierce to be a lackluster fight and could see it going either way.

As for the main event, we both felt that Carlos Condit is one of the best welterweights in the division. We even said that against anyone else, he probably wins. However we both think that Diaz is more than capable of avoiding a big shot, or if he is hit, can recover fast enough. Diaz has shown he is on a different level when it comes to fighting and we both predicted he would finish Condit off in the 2nd round.

You can listen to the podcast below.

Controversy Prior To UFC Over Rob Madrigal Unwarranted

Brent Todd — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:26:06 +0000

UFC on Fox: Beltran vs Johnson photo by Joey Hill

When the officials were announced for UFC on Fox 2 here in Chicago, some eyebrows were raised after only a single ref from Illinois would be inside the cage during the event. Helping out John McCarthy and Herb Dean, was Rob Madrigal got the assignment from the Illinois State Athletic Commission.

While Madrigal had only been inside the cage for 15 pro fights prior to his UFC on Fox assignment, since January of 2011 he has overseen 138 amateur fights.

Marc Ratner, the UFC vice president of regulatory affairs stated, “I do not go in anywhere and tell the commission what to do. He’ll get some exposure and I look forward to meeting him.”

While many are quick to point out the short comings of the Illinois State Athletic Commission, it should be noted that the UFC had the faith in them to select the correct candidate(s) for the job.

Madrigal oversaw two preliminary fights on the UFC on Fox card, Chris Camozzi versus Dustin Jacoby and Lavar Johnson versus Joey Beltran. The first fight between Camozzi and Jacoby featured three kicks to the groin all of which Madrigal was not only in the correct position to see, but did exactly what a ref is supposed to do.

At the conclusion of the fight, Camozzi locked in a 10-finger guillotine, a rare modification of the choke hold. Madrigal was at first on one side of the fighters, but quickly moved to where he knew he could see a tap by Jacoby if there was going be one. Sure enough there was and Madrigal was quick to stop the fight.

The other fight Madrigal oversaw featured two heavyweight fighters who in the past have shown they have massive power and knockout ability. It is the referee’s job to know when a fighter is injured or knocked out, but to not interfere with the fight.

At the start of the fight Lavar Johnson hurt Joey Beltran with a big left hook to Beltran’s body. It sent Beltran to the canvas, but Beltran was quick to get up. Madrigal showed poise and precession in his duties as he moved himself into a position to see what would follow.

Through out the fight there were several directional changes and Madrigal again stayed calm and was present through out all the action. If one fighter shifted while against the cage to almost prevent the ref from seeing what was going on, Madrigal would run to the other side to see what was happening.

Even when Johnson was chasing Beltran at one point to follow up on his damaging blows, Madrigal was quick to get out of the way, yet still be in a position to see what was going on.

When it came to the conclusion of the fight, Johnson landed several uppercuts on Beltran knocking him out on his feet. Madrigal was right there and called off the fight the moment that Beltran went unconscious.

All the talk about how Madrigal didn’t have enough experience and that he should “be eased into it” was for naught.

Those that did have a problem with the assignment should not have voiced their opinion prior to the fight, rather they should have waited to see what kind of job Madrigal did. Only if he had made a mistake should there have been an issue.

From the article that was originally written it made it sound as if Madrigal would have let a fighter beat another fighter to death and that he was incompetent at his job. That was clearly not the case, and Madrigal made those who complained about the assignment seem foolish.

UFC 143: Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum Preview and Prediction

Michael Finch — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:11:27 +0000

Fabricio Werdum - Photo by Brent Todd

Heavyweights will slug it out in the co-main event of UFC 143 as Roy Nelson takes on Fabricio Werdum. UFC 143 is headlined by Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit and will be taking place in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay events center. Befor the welterweights battle it out for the interim title, Jiu-Jitsu fighters with some notable hands will try and take a step up in an ever-growing UFC heavyweight division.

A well-rounded fighter and specimen, Roy Nelson has hammers in his hands and a ground game that is commonly unchallenged. Since winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 10, Nelson has gone 3-2 in the UFC, dropping back-to-back fights to Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir. Debuting a smaller mid-section, he most recently TKO’d Cro Cop, giving him some job security. He will need to beat Werdum to get back into the top mix again.

Werdum, a Jiu-Jitsu ace, is making his second run in the UFC. He couldn’t make a ground battle in his recent bout with Alistair Overeem, and lost a decision despite finding some success in banging it out with the striker. This follows a shocking win over Fedor Emilienanko which skyrocketed Werdum in rankings. Werdum will have to avoid the power punches of Nelson, and despite not being a wrestler, take advantage of an exposed lack of take-down defense in Nelson’s game.

It is clear that Nelson is more dangerous on the feet, and that Werdum is more dangerous on the ground. It is not like either of them should fear the others strength though; Wedum very well may be able to competitively kick-box with Nelson, and it is also very possible that Nelson could survive with Werdum on the ground. The fight will come down to who implements their style of fighting the most, and whether Werdum can avoid a right-hand bomb from landing on his chin.

If Nelson can make this a brawl of tagging one another, I could see him earning a TKO. If Werdum can use an effective jab, accumulate his own damage on Nelson, take him down in a clinch and out-work him, I could see a decision going his way. It’s an odd fight, and a fairly tough call to make. I will have to side with the man who will more likely finish.

I will go with Nelson and predict that he finishes the fight by TKO in the second round.

UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs Davis Recap

Michael Finch — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:17:56 +0000

Rashad Evans - photo by Joey Hill

Rashad Evans was a man on a mission, and he wasn’t going to let rising star Phil Davis get in the way of his title shot at UFC on FOX 2. He safely executed his mix of striking and wrestling, only on rare occasion trying to finish Davis. Thus, Evans got what he ultimately wanted, his fight with Jon Jones. The fans, however, were less fortunate.

Evans defeated Davis via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC on FOX 2 in Chicago, IL on January 28th. The bout headlined a three-fight main card that also featured young wrestler Chris Weidman defeating jiu jitsu ace Damien Maia in a gassed-out kickboxing match, and the self-proclaimed middleweight champion Chael Sonnen defeating tough Brit Michael Bisping in an unsuspected three-round scrap. While Sonnen and Bisping delivered some excitement for the crowd, the other two fights did not get people out of their seats like the UFC brass had hoped for.

Before Evans and Davis fought, there was lots of speculation comparing their wrestling. Who was better, who could take who down, who had better technique. The questions were answered as Evans caught Davis’ kicks and took him down with relative ease. Davis stayed clear of submissions, and was able to stand on most occasions, but proved to not be enough of a danger on the feet to Evans. It was an auto-pilot cruise to a decision, leaving all five rounds to the way of Evans.

I sat near Jon Jones’ broadcasting position at the event and watched as Jones analyzed Rashads performance. He didn’t show much more than a few smiles and some brief claps throughout. Jones didn’t feel any more excitement than anyone in attendance as highlights were hard to come by.

Regardless of the safe showing, Evans will now fight Jones for his title, likely in Atlanta, Georgia in April. He did what he needed to do to beat Davis, and that’s exactly what would get him a shot at his former crown. The issue was, he didn’t sell that title shot. A finish could have been the extra ingredient that the Jones vs Evans title showdown needed to be a blockbuster.

Even after the fight, the UFC chose not to have Jones step into the cage and market their meeting. Many felt that Jones was awkward on the broadcast and that he should have been down by the cage in the first place. The missed marketing opportunities and performace highlights add up to make Jones and Evans title fight that much less meaningful, and UFC on FOX 2 that much less exciting.

Dan Stittgen Video Interview

MMA Recap — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:01:48 +0000

MMA Recap’s Mike Finch visited the Midwest Training Center and talked to Dan Stittgen about his upcoming fight and more.

Fundraiser for Jeff Dunbar Trust Fund

MMA Recap — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:11:22 +0000

Jeff Dunbar Fund

The first event to raise funds for the Jeff Dunbar Rehabilitation Trust Fund is set for Friday, February 3rd. The night of festivities will take place at the Normandy Banquet Room in Elmhurst, Illinois starting at 7:30pm.

There is a $20 recommended donation at the door, though the event is free. In addition to the donations, there will be a 50/50 split the pot raffle with 50% going to the fund.

The night of festivities will include DJ Von B and a live band of Soul Patch Monkey.

Recapping with Dan Stittgen – Destruction

Brent Todd — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:53:32 +0000

Dan Stittgen at XFO 39 - photo by Joey Hill

Dan Stittgen got the call he has been training for his entire career; to fight for the UFC. But it wasn’t just any fight that they wanted him to step up on short notice, it was for a fight on Superbowl Weekend’s UFC 143 card. His fight against Stephen Thompson will be streamed live on Facebook and MMA Recap’s Mike Finch caught up with him to discuss his training, his audition for The Ultimate Fighter, and his thoughts on his up coming fight.

How you doing today?
Alright. Doing well sir.

You recently just auditioned for The Ultimate Fighter, can you tell us how that experience was?
Everything went good. I was well received. I made it all the way to the final interview. Seems everything went well you know.

The only man to beat you got injured and now you are stepping in to take his place
It got rotated around a few times. They needed somebody to step up and I did.

How did they contact you?
They just gave me a call and offered me a fight and a contract. They said they would have given me time to get ready and given me a later fight, but it is such a good venue in Mandalay Bay and a big card I had to do it. I jumped right on.

Have you taken fights before on such short notice and how will this effect your training?
I’ve taken fights on short notice before. As far as training, we just turned up the intensity and crammed as much in as we could with the amount of time that we have. We’ve upped the sleep hours and kept an extra eye on my nutrition, things like that.

You are fighting Stephen Thompson and he is primarily a kick boxer and you are a more of a submission guy. Is it just clear that the game plan will be to take him down and submit him or are you looking to test it out on the feet?
Realistically I don’t go into the fight with any game plan. I am trained to look for openings and capitalize on mistakes and opportunities. If any mistake presents itself I will be there to capitalize. I don’t fight to win any one particular way, I just train to win.

Why’d you chose the Midwest Training Center for your training?
Prior to me training at MTC I was training in the basement of a church. It’s all been conceived here. Coach Alex has taken me and has done a wonderful job. I don’t feel that I need to go anywhere else. I have all the wrestling, submission, kick boxing here. We do it all.

What can we expect at the coming UFC here?
Destruction.

UFC on FOX 2: Sonnen vs. Bisping Recap

Kyle S. Conroy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:19:17 +0000

Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2 post fight press conference - Photo by Joey Hill

On Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago, IL, the Ultimate Fighting Championship held a triple-header fight card for free on FOX. All three fights had title implications; some more significant than others; like the co-main event featuring Chael Sonnen vs. Michael “The Count” Bisping. The winner of this fight would be guaranteed a title shot at the current middleweight champion (185 lbs.) and pound-for-pound king, Anderson Silva in Brazil later this year.

With the injury to Mark Munoz, who was originally scheduled to face Sonnen, Bisping felt prepared enough to challenge Sonnen on only ten days notice. Many fans expressed their opinion that this was a much better match-up and the true number-one contender would emerge from this fight. Sonnen opened from the odds makers as a four-to-one favorite over The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner and in some cases a five-to-one. I felt that this was a gross mistake to count out Bisping’s ground game.

photo from Iron Forges Iron

The two most important questions were answered with-in fourteen seconds of the fight. “Can Sonnen take Bisping down?” and “Can Bisping escape from the bottom?” The answer to both questions was ‘yes.’ This was a very tough fight to score because of this. Most of the first two rounds were spent in the clinch position with takedown attempts and dirty boxing.

According to FightMetric.com, the official stats website of the UFC, Sonnen attempted seven takedowns in the fight and scored on four of them with in the fifteen minutes allotted for the fight. Bisping only scored with one takedown out of three attempts. In the striking department, Sonnen out landed his opponent by 33 in total strikes. In round one, Sonnen out struck his opponent by 20 total strikes and gained advantages ground position on Bisping by scoring two takedowns out of four attempts. Round one clearly went to Sonnen.

Undeniably, the second round went to “The Count.” He controlled the action by pinning Sonnen against the cage for most of the round. He also out struck Sonnen in the amount of significant strikes landed and strikes to the head.

The third and final round went to Sonnen with his dominant top game after securing a takedown with in 12 seconds. From there he controlled the round for over four minutes of the five minutes allowed per round. Sonnen was able to take the back of Bisping early on in the round, but was unable to score a submission due to the defense of Bisping. From there Sonnen switched position into the mount, but again was unable to do significant damage or secure a submission. Small chants of “USA” broke out towards the end of the fight. I’m not sure if they were routing for Sonnen or just showing their distain for Bisping.

Official Result…
Chael Sonnen wins by Unanimous Decision. (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). I’m not sure how one judge gave the second round to Sonnen. Maybe they don’t like Bisping or they went on a hotdog run during that round. Either way, they need a talking to.

Next training session…
Sonnen has controlled most of his opponents in the Octagon when he takes the fight into his world. Somehow Bisping was better at getting back to his feet than anyone else, including the Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Sonnen needs to identify how Bisping repeatedly escaped and close that gap in his game.

Bisping needs to control the distance more when on the feet to avoid getting close to wrestlers. During the open workouts on the Wednesday prior to the fight, he was displaying spinning heel kicks, push kicks and high kicks that would keep any sensible fighter at bay.

Next Possible Opponents…
Sonnen will challenge Anderson Silva in Brazil over the summer for the Middleweight Championship of the UFC.

Bisping has been sent back down the rankings and will need at least two victories before he can challenge for a title. Since Demian Maia and Bisping lost on the same night and were originally scheduled to fight each other, they can fight to see who belongs in the upper tier of their division.

UFC on FOX 2: Fight Night & Post-Fight Presser

Joey Hill — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:21:54 +0000

UFC on FOX 2 - The United Center

Download the high-resolution version as a souvenir to print and hang on your wall!
» DOWNLOAD NOW «

A non-watermarked printed version will be available for purchase soon!

UFC on FOX 2: Fight Night

Post-Fight Press Conference

UFC on Fox 2 Recap and Results

Brent Todd — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:44:22 +0000

UFC on Fox 2 took place on Saturday January 28th at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The preliminary fights aired on Fuel TV with the three-fight main card airing on Fox. MMA Recap was on hand and cageside for the event to capture all of the action.

Chris Camozzi and Dustin Jacoby opend up the night of fights. The first round was a great back and forth battle between the two fighters. Early in the round Camozzi had Jacoby guessing as he landing some massive shots. But Jacoby stayed the course and started to find his range, frustrating Camozzi. With ten seconds left in the round, Camozzi landed a big right that buckled Jacoby to earn him the round. Round two featured more striking by both fighters. Camozzi looked to try and counter Jacoby, but was a little off in his timing as Jacoby was landing more. Round three both fighters came out swinging with Camozzi taking the center of the octagon to start. Jacoby landed a beautiful combo led off with a body shot. Camozzi landed a leg kick that swept Jacoby’s feet out from under him. Camozzi rushed in and grabbed a standing guillotine.

Joey Beltran declined to touch gloves with Lavar Johnson which means one thing; he’s going to lose the fight. Johnson nearly finished the fight in the first fifteen seconds with a body shot that hurt Beltran but Beltran recovered from within the clinch. The two fighters jabbed at each other to set up a powerful shot and both connected with more than one. But Johnson landed a big right and then followed it up with several uppercuts and a left hook that sent Beltran to the canvas.

Shane Roller’s gameplan from the start was to take Michael Johnson down. Unfortunately he was unable to get Johnson down and ate a lot of punches through out the first two rounds. Even with all the punches he was eating, Roller continued to press forward. In the third round, Roller was able to take the back of Johnson and wanted to finish the fight with a rear naked choke. Unable to get the choke while holding a body triangle, Roller switched to punching Johnson. Some of his punches were to the back of the head and Herb Dean stopped the fight to warn Roller. After the restart, Johnson was able to escape the bad position and saved himself from losing the round by 10-8. Once on the feet, the two traded punches till bell’s end.

Charles Oliveira scored the first calf slicer submission on Eric Wisely. After a kick thrown by Wisely, Oliveira caught it to put Wisely on his back. Oliveira worked standing punches to Wisely till he was able to pass to side control. He quickly worked for a heel hook and Wisely tried to roll out of it. Oliveira continued attacking the leg, and put Wisely in a the submission forcing Wisely to tap. The crowd didn’t know what they saw, but they loved the crazy submission.

George Roop had a serious size advantage over Cub Swanson and he looked to use it early. Roop threw a variety of kicks to keep Swanson at bay, but Swanson stayed the course to try and get inside and land his punches. Roop stumbled Swanson but he quickly recovered and swarmed Roop rocking him in return. Roop attempted a takedown, but Swanson reversed and scored a big takedown. Swanson started to find his way under Roop’s punches and edged Roop out for the round. The second looked to be much of the same but Swanson landed a right hook over top of Roop’s jab that sent Roop to the floor. Swanson followed up with big bombs forcing Big John to step in and stop the action.

Heavyweights Mike Russow and John-Olav Einemo were up next. The crowd was heavily behind Russow the Chicago police officer. Russow took Einemo down immediately to start the fight, but couldn’t do much with it. The two fighters exchanged punches with Russow using his strikes to try and set up another takedown. The takedown came and he worked most of the round from within Einemo’s guard. With less than ten seconds left, Einemo swept Russow and was in the mount, but time expired and he couldn’t do much with it. The second round was much the same with Russow taking Einemo down and trying to pass his guard but unable too. Einemo threatened a little with setting up some submissions, but Russow defended well. Einemo started to land some heavy shots including two big knees that forced Russow to shoot for a takedown. Einemo worked for a triangle but Russow escaped and wound up on top. Russow worked elbows and was trying to pass guard when the fight got stood back up. Einemo landed another massive knee before Russow took the fight to the ground and finished the fight in that position.

The last of the preliminary fights to air on FuelTV featured lightweights Nik Lentz and Evan Dunham. The two fighters quickly stepped to the center to throw massive shots. Lentz nearly had a D’Arce but he couldn’t get the position right and Dunham escaped. Lentz shot for a takedown, and Dunham worked a guillotine to counter it. Lentz escaped, and battled for position over Dunham. The fighters stood and worked a short game inside the clinch before separating. Dunham worked for a takedown of his own and got it, but Lentz controlled well from the bottom. Dunham worked punches and elbows to end the round. Dunham came out on a mission to start the second round and immediately got a takedown. Dunham tried to pass to side control, but Lentz wouldn’t give up. The two fighters stood and Lentz scored with some uppercuts before separating. Dunham working for a guillotine and can’t get it, and the two fighters start throwing punch after punch that were landing to the crowd’s delight. Dunham with another takedown and he worked several punches before working a modified choke. The choke wasn’t working so he opted for elbows instead. Lentz started to sit up and Dunham with a straight right. Lentz is badly bloodied up, but still coming forard as the round ends. Reply showed his eye is badly swollen and the doctor is called in to look at it. The doctor waved off the fight as Lentz’s eye was shut.

Kicking off the main card on Fox, Chris Weidman stepped in on eleven day’s notice to fight Demian Maia. Maia looked to use his improved boxing against Weidman, and Weidman was happy to oblige. Weidman landed more strikes through out and at the end of the round secured it with a takedown. The second round was a close round to call as Maia started to find his range and did more damage in the first half. Near the end of the round Weidman scored a takedown and if there was enough time he probably would have finished his guillotine he had locked in. By the third round both fighters were visibly gassed. Weidman continued to land punches and when Maia did attempt a takedown, Weidman easily defended. Maia ate a couple of knees but the action was not enough to satisfy the Chicago crowd as they booed at the conclusion of the fight. What looked to be a clear cut unanimous decision for Weidman either 30-27 or 29-28 was not as one judge scored it for Maia giving Weidman the split decision victory.

It was more difficult to tell if the crowd was pro Chael Sonnen or anti Michael Bisping based on their entrances, but once inside the cage fighting, it became very clear they were for Sonnen. The first round Sonnen immediately took the fight to the ground but Bisping was quick to get back up. The two traded punches with Bisping throwing crisper strikes, but Sonnen landing the more damaging ones. The second round Sonnen seemed to have slowed down a bit as he couldn’t find a home for his punches. Bisping used the opportunity to land his punches and attempted some fancy spinning kicks. Most of the round however was spent against the cage and surprisingly the Chicago crowd didn’t object to it. The third round Sonnen took Bisping down and the crowd went crazy. As he was able to get Bisping’s back the noise level erupted even more. The loudest ovation however came when Sonnen mounted Bisping as it was next to impossible to hear anything. Bisping was able to escape, but it wasn’t enough as the round ended. The judges were all in agreement with who won giving the fight to Sonnen.

In the pre-fight build up for Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, Evans stated that it would be Davis that would shoot first for the takedown. And while that was true, it was Evans who actually scored the first takedown. The five round battle was not much to the crowd’s delight as it consisted mostly of Evans throwing combos and avoiding Davis’s takedown attempts. When Evans would take the fight to the ground, he was impressive in securing a crucifix not once, but three times through out the fight. All three times he nearly finished with punches and elbows, but Davis was somehow able to escape. Both fighters were extremely exhausted at the end of the twenty-five minute battle and Evans solidified his status as the number one contender for the light heavyweight title to challenge Jon Jones.

Quick Results
Chris Camozzi defeated Dustin Jacoby by guillotine at 1:08 of round 3
Lavar Johnson defeated Joey Beltran by TKO at 4:24 of round 1
Michael Johnson defeated Shane Roller by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Charles Oliveira defeated Eric Wisely by calf slicer at 1:43 of round 1
Cub Swanson defeated George Roop by TKO at 2:22 of round 2
Mike Russow defeated John-Olav Einemo by unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Evan Dunham defeated Nik Lentz by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2
Chris Weidman defeated Demian Maia by split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28
Chael Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping by unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Rashad Evans defeated Phil Davis by unanimous decision 50-45, 50-45, 50-45

CutThroat MMA Invasion Recap and Results

Brent Todd — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:10:32 +0000

photo by Shane Carpenter

CutThroat MMA Invasion took place on Friday January 27th at La Sierra Banquet Hall in Aurora, Illinois just outside of downtown Chicago. The night of amateur fights action saw two Muay Thai fights and eight mixed martial arts bouts. Headlining the night of action were two title fights as David Hammons taking on Eddie Castillo for the heavyweight title and Sam Ferguson going to battle with Ryan Kirwan for the vacant middleweight title.

Kicking off the night of action were two Muay Thai bouts. Axel Mendez needed just over a minute to dispose of Mike Girton. Mendez came out with a big leg kick, but Girton countered with some good jabs and a hook. Mendez returned the favor landing a big combo that forced the fighters to clinch. Good knee work by both fighters before separating at which point Mendez unloaded a barrage of attacks. Girton went down but was able to get up within the ten count. Mendez again swarmed starting with a big body kick, followed by body punches and a head kick that sent Girton down again. He was unable to stand by the ten count and Mendez was announced the winner.

Women were up next with an exciting Muay Thai bout. Dorothy Schultz brought a massive fight to Katie Fry. Schultz came out with kicks that forced Fry to work a clinch game. Unfortunately she didn’t get the better of it, as Schultz landed multiple knees. As the round was ending, Schultz nearly landed a head kick to the crowd’s delight. Schultz opened the second round with two big front kicks and Fry again went to clinch. Schultz landed knee after knee to the body of Fry. She let go of her clinch and landed an uppercut as Fry was waving off the fight.

After the two Muay Thai fights it was time for some MMA action. Tim Kallas took on Anthony Corder in the lightweight division. Corder came out with a high kick that just missed. He landed a leg kick and Kallas came forward with massive punches. Corder shot forward and looked to grab a heel hook. Kallas spun free and landed punch after punch while taking Corder’s back. Corder turned into Kallas and wound up in a triangle choke. Corder tried to punch his way out, but Kallas adjusted the choke and squeezed. Two more punches by Corder and he knew he was going out so he tapped.

Brandon Conner and Travis Simpson came out swinging with bad intentions. Neither fighter was throwing crisp punches, but the wild hooks were landing for both. Conner shot for a takedown, but Simpson grabbed his neck and worked for a guillotine choke. He couldn’t get it as Conner was trying to roll out of it. As he adjusted to prevent Conner from escaping, he did just that and rained down hammer fists onto Simpson’s face. Conner looked to stand back up, but realized that Simpson left his neck open and grabbed a guillotine choke. He fell back and torqued the choke forcing Simpson to tap.

Andrew West came out with a big front kick to the belly of Mike Zahn that sent Zahn stumbling back. West pressed forward and hip tossed Zahn to the ground landing in side control. West tried to lock in an arm triangle choke before moving to mount. He kept the choke on and squeezed while on top of Zahn. Zahn tried to punch his way out, but West continued to squeeze and forced a tap.

Fight of the night went to Michael Manning and Shane Camp. The first round Camp likely won as he was able to land some massive punches on Manning. Manning threatened with a guillotine and an armbar submission, but Camp was able to escape by punching Manning in the head. At the end of the first round Manning was developing a mouse under his eye. The second round Manning turned up the pressure as he put Camp in submission after submission and nearly always had the better position. Manning was a little hesitant to punch Camp as he seemed to be setting up his submissions, but regardless he won the round. All tied up at the start of the third and Camp shot in for a takedown. Manning again worked a guillotine choke, but Camp was able to escape. Manning with his long legs kept pressure on Camp and switched to his back. Camp turned into Manning and was on top, but Manning wanted to secure an armbar. Camp escaped and got Manning’s back and locked in a rear naked choke with just twenty seconds left of the fight.

After the exciting battle between Manning and Camp, it would have been difficult to have another exhilarating fight. But that’s just what Jon James and Kyle Kurt did. The first round James looked for a takedown but got reversed. It wasn’t long however until he rolled and took the mount. James unloaded punch after punch after punch and Kurt was in danger. Kurt managed to grab a leg and escaped the bad position, but was nearly finished by a kimura as time ran out. At the start of the second round it was apparent that Kurt had more in his gas tank than James did. White spent most of the round on top of James raining down punches from James’s back. James finished the round with a takedown, but it wasn’t enough to win the round. The third round started and the crowd went wild. Both fighters looked to finish with a big single punch, but it was Kurt who scored first with a big knee that hurt James. Kurt rode James’s back again landing punch after punch. He nearly finished the round that way, but again James was able to escape and score a takedown as time expired. It was clear that Kurt had won rounds two and three, and the judges were all in agreement that that was the case awarding him the fight.

Best takedown of the night went to Anthony Nichols who just powered his way through Tom Shoaff and drove him not only into the cage, but also into the canvas. But Shoaff was extremely comfortable working off his back. Nichols did little to try and advance his position as Shoaff threatened with multiple submissions. Shoaff nearly finished the fight with an arm triangle from the bottom, but Nichols was able to escape. In the second round Nichols again scored a big takedown and again Shoaff threatened with a triangle. Nichols slammed his way out, but Shoaff used the opportunity to go for a takedown of his own. Shoaff quickly took the mount and from there went after Nichols’s arm. Three different versions of an armbar were attempted, but the third was the one that secured the win.

The heavyweight title was on the line as David Hammons challenged Eddie Castillo for his belt. Hammons immediately shot in for a takedown, but Castillo defended well. Castillo landed a knee and an uppercut that seemed to rock Hammons. Hammons shot for another takedown, this time eating three more knees. Hammons went down and it looked like the ref was stepping in to call it but Hammons said he was fine. Castillo came in again and landed several knees that sent Hammons to the canvas. Castillo continued his attack with several punches and the ref was forced to stop the action.

The main event feature Sam Ferguson and Ryan Kirwan battling for the vacant middleweight title. Ferguson came out looking for a takedown, but Kirwan was swinging for the fences. Ferguson worked a Thai clinch and landed a couple of knees. Ferguson then scored a takedown but was nearly rolled. As he was punching Kirwan, he did get rolled. Kirwan on top throwing punches, but Ferguson threatened with an armbar. Kirwan postured out of the submission and then just started throwing massive left hands. Ferguson visibly hurt by the left hands, but they still kept coming. Kirwan continued the assault until the ref mercifully stepped in and stopped the fight crowning Kirwan the new middleweight champion.

Muay Thai Quick Results
Axel Mendez defeated Mike Girton at 1:29 of round 1
Dorothy Schultz defeated Katie Fry at 0:47 of round 2

Mixed Martial Arts Results
Tim Kallas defeated Anthony Corder by triangle choke at 1:07 of round 1
Brandon Conner defeated Travis Simpson by guillotine choke at 1:00 of round 1
Andrew West defeated Mike Zahn by arm triangle choke at 0:45 of round 1
Shane Camp defeated Michael Manning by rear naked choke at 2:39 of round 3
Kyle Kurt defeated Jon Jones by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Tom Shoaff defeated Anthony Nichols by armbar 1:49 of round 2
Eddie Castillo defeated David Hammons by TKO at 0:46 of round 1
Ryan Kirwan defeated Sam Ferguson by TKO at 2:16 of round 1

photo gallery to follow in the coming days