Other MMA Shows

[GlennCullen]

Fantastic show. I missed the prelims but luckily the newborn woke me up just in time for the main card. The fight I was most looking forward to going in was Ghita/Rico, and while the result didn't go the way I wanted I still enjoyed the fight. As Wand said far more eloquently the Schilling/Marcos fight was unbelievable. I've long appreciated the ferocious stand up brawls you get in Kickboxing but the presentation hasn't always been at the right level. Glory however, looks top class as you would expect being on Spike, and it really brings it all together. Next show is in London and while I probably won't be able to go I thoroughly recommend it to those who can. One last point, they really seem to make an effort to accommodate MMA fighters at these shows, which hopefully will lead to some more well known fighters stepping into the ring down the line.

[Egg Shen]

World Series of Fighting 10 ended up being a good little show, outside of the women's fight it was all entertaining stuff.

 

* Got a good feeling about Dave Branch as Middleweight champion, massive dude for the weight, very powerful and has some legit jiu-jitsu chops to back up his wrestling. People always remember him as the dude that got KO'd by Gerald Harris but i think he's legit.

 

* There's been talk about Georgi Karakhanyan possibly being the best 145lber outside of the UFC, he's even been making remarks about Conor McGregor's hype but he got absolutely wrecked by Rick Glenn. First round was competitive with Glenn escaping two very deep submission attempts, the second round was just an assault, i wanna see some fight stats on how many power shots Glenn threw during the round, it was a crazy pace and Karakhanyan deserves a lot of credit for just surviving it before retiring due to injury between rounds. I love it when a fighter pops up on a show like this and just completely grabs your attention, Glenn did just that and any time he's fighting in future im tuning in, animal.

 

* Tyson Griffin/Luis Firmino was FOTN. Griffin loses again and on paper people may think his downfall continues, but he simply walked into a brick-wall of a lightweight in Firmino, seriously, some of the shots Griffin landed would have dropped middleweights, Firmino didn't even feel them, crazy chin. Excellent fight.

 

The WSOF 155lb division is the best in the promotion, there's a great mix of guys competing there.

 

* As for the women's 115lb title fights. It's yet another reason why im kind of becoming disillusioned with Women's MMA. Basically 5 rounds of Aguilar punching Em Fujino without possessing any kind of power to actually hurt the Japanese fighter, it just ends up being a slow and brutal five round process where it feels like one fighters takes a lot more punishment than she probably should. Lots of women's fights are falling into this pattern at the moment and i don't really like it.

[wandshogun09]

I didn't see WSOF and I caught spoilers. I totally forgot it was happening in all my excitement for the night of GLORY.

 

I'll probably track down Griffin vs Firmino. I fancied Firmino to win that anyway to be honest. I remember him being pretty decent as far back as the Pride days. He's been around a while. Griffin fights hard every time. I wish he could find a way to get back to his 2007 form and just go on a streak and get back in the UFC. He was one of my favourite fighters to watch full-stop for a couple of years back then.

 

I haven't seen the Jessica Aguilar fight and this isn't aimed at you Ebb, but on womens MMA as a whole;

 

The women suffer from the Flyweight thing of not having a lot of power. But I think people are a bit harsh. The womens game isn't on the level of the mens at the minute but it's judged the same. It needs time. The lack of KOs and damage is probably down to the fact there aren't that many strikers in the womens game at the moment. Look at the UFC, the vast majority of the division are from grappling backgrounds so they're not going to be KOing people. Anyone who's seen Holly Holm and Joanne Calderwood, you see the difference when you get a girl in there who can actually strike. It's just very grappler heavy at the moment. It'll evolve and get better over time.

 

Take the Letourneau-Phillips fight from UFC 174 - It seems like it's the in thing now to whinge about lack of technique after a fight. But I thought that was a really fun fight. Wasn't pretty but I wasn't expecting Mayweather shoulder rolls and shit. I enjoyed it a lot because they both went after it. I went online the next day and saw people going 'oh god the womens fight was terrible, no technique whatsoever' etc etc. 'No technique' has become a stock phrase fans like to throw out now as if that makes them sound like a 'better fan', whatever that is. Phillips got very sloppy yeah, but Letourneau showed good striking and technique. She was setting stuff up, she'd clearly noticed that Phillips kept ducking her head so was trying to time the uppercut. It was a fight of technique vs brawling. Nothing wrong with it. I find it funny that the technique snobs half the time don't even seem to know what they're looking at. They take all the fun out of it for themselves and whoever is unfortunate enough to be around them.

 

The people who go 'man, the women always steal the show' are talking bollocks, but the ones who act like every womens fight is shit and beneath them are just as bad. I don't know why people have to have this extreme opinion one way or the other. It's all MMA. It won't all be good.

 

It's like people are expecting a female Anderson Silva or Anthony Pettis right away, but look how long it took those types of fighters to surface in the mens game. Womens MMA has only been a thing really since about 2007. The next TUF has a bunch of really good fighters as well. You've got rookies like Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres coming through who are already solid in all areas after just a couple of fights each. Muay Thai champion Calderwood, boxing champion Holm, BJJ black-belt Gadelha. It's improving fast but it's still a transition period. This is only their Mark Coleman era or something.

[Egg Shen]

i hear you, but when you see two female grapplers decide to have a kickboxing match the results aren't very pretty.

 

...i've just lost some interest in it, don't get me wrong there's some great female fights and i tend to find them a lot more exciting when they actually grapple, but so many of the fights right now are just settling into that rhythm where the first minute of the fight resembles the last minute of the fight and nothing really significant happens in between. Aguilar/Fujino was another one like that.

 

With regards to Tyson Griffin, he's only 1-2 since he left the UFC, i was under the impression that he'd fought more times than that. You can't say the guy hasn't fought good guys though, i'd expect if he'd hit the regional circuit and picked up a few easy wins the UFC would have had him back but he's 3 solid guys since leaving...but as i said there's lots of good fights to be had in the WSOF.

[wandshogun09]

Ha yeah, there is a bit of Jorge Gurgel syndrome with some of the women. That's my fear with Rousey vs Davis next week. That it'll just turn into a sloppy striking match because the Judo and BJJ will nullify each other. Hope I'm wrong because I think it could actually be a fun and surprisingly competitive fight if it's largely grappling.

 

I thought Griffin had fought more than that post-UFC as well. Got to hand it to him for taking tough fights but I wish he'd just get some W's and get back on the big show. He's clearly not going to be UFC title level now but there's plenty of fun fights to be made for him. Manhoef's the same. I wish he'd just take 5 favourable fights, wreck them and go to the UFC. But the fucker fights everyone and he doesn't seem to rest. He said recently that he'd love to fight in the UFC once before he finishes up. I'd love to see it. Every time it seems close he has a setback though. And with his age the clock is ticking. It'll most likely never happen now. And my Manhoef vs Wanderlei dream fight is dead now anyway because Wand's basically committed career suicide

[jimufctna24]

Bellator have had a major cut of talent, some 21 fighters cut

 

http://themmareport.com/2014/06/bellator-c...of-21-fighters/

 

Only name I recognize is Eric Prindle, who always seemed a bit of a journeyman Heavyweight to me. Would it be fair to say they are just cutting the fat, or have they cut anyone a bit harshly.

[Egg Shen]

nah Prindle was done, lost 5 of his last 6 and took some pretty hefty beatings in all those fights. Some Bellator mainstays gone though.

 

I guess Coker and company are looking at a core group they'll hang on too and free up space around the edges to bring in guys they want.

[Egg Shen]

World Series of Fighting on Saturday night. It's a bit unfortunate that they are putting their biggest ever show on the same night as UFC 175 and the night before the TUF Finale, this thing is surely gonna get lost in the mix. They've smartly decided to air their show before UFC 175 starts though so they may pick up a lot of MMA diehards looking at having a bumper night of fights...first show on the proper NBC network too so it's a pretty big deal. Card is pretty stellar for my money as well:

 

 

Justin Gaethje vs. Nick Newell (for lightweight title)

Jon Fitch vs. Dennis Hallman

Gesias Cavalcante vs. Melvin Guillard

Pablo Alfonso vs. Cody Bollinger

 

preliminary CARD

MMAjunkie, 2 p.m. ET

Muhammed DeReese vs. Rashaun Spencer

Jake Heun vs. Kendrick Miree

Neiman Gracie vs. Dustin Holyko

Jose Caceres vs. Walber Brito de Barros

 

It's a bit unfortunate that they lost the Palhares/Fitch title fight, but i like Fitch/Hallman, proper veterans battle. Guillard/Calvancante should be fireworks and is another belter in the promotions best division, id expect the winner to get the next crack at the winner of the main event.

 

...if Nick Newell wins the world title, it'll be a staggering achievement. At first he was abit of an attraction but as his standard of opponent has risen Newell's just kept whiping the floor with them and he needs to be seen as a legit 155lb'er. Justin Gaethje is arguably the most exciting fighter outside of the UFC in the sport, ultra-aggression, takes risks and finishes everyone, can't wait for this one.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Ebb

[David]

Looking forward to seeing JZ take out Guillard.

[David]

Anyone watch WSOF at the weekend? That title fight was a fucking barnburner. Superb stuff.

 

And my main man Jon Fitch looked amazing. I think he'd be in serious contention for the UFC strap if he hadn't been unfairly cut.

[wandshogun09]

Just saw this Phil Baroni outburst on Karo Parisyan. Forgot they were even fighting.

 

Phil Baroni is not Miesha Tate!

 

"I'm not going to talk trash about him, but I heard a couple of his interviews. He told me no trash talking. We're friendly, so I was like alright, cool. But I saw a couple of his videos."

 

"And after thinking about it, he kind of disrespected me. Like, I'm just a puncher or a half-ass wrestler? I'm not a high school wrestler. I'm not Miesha Tate and you're not Ronda Rousey, dude. You know what I mean? I'm a two-time All-American, I [competed] at Division I powerhouses, Central Michigan and Hofstra University. I'm a real deal. I'm a real deal wrestler. When I want to wrestle, I can wrestle. I was taken down all the time? Yeah, I was fighting Olympians, Matt Lindland and stuff. He's not Ronda Rousey and I'm not Miesha Tate, like a high-school girl wrestler. I'm a real deal wrestler, so if it's going to come down to takedowns and who's getting thrown, it's not going to be me."

 

"I'm telling you right now, I'm kind of taking offense with it. Maybe I'm getting a little bit short-tempered and a little bit looking into stuff too much, but like, I'm not an unskilled fighter. I'm just a heavy puncher? I'm a good boxer. When I moved to Las Vegas, I was training at Top Rank when Floyd was

[Egg Shen]

Anyone watch WSOF at the weekend? That title fight was a fucking barnburner. Superb stuff.

 

And my main man Jon Fitch looked amazing. I think he'd be in serious contention for the UFC strap if he hadn't been unfairly cut.

very slow catching up and amazingly i've avoided spoilers.

 

It was vintage Jon Fitch, i remember Dana giving that speech about Fitch being a guy that one the way down, that's not the impression i got during this fight. Hallman's the kind of guy who's happy to lay on his back and work his tricky ground game but Fitch was one step ahead of him and just put a beating on Hallman all night. Fitch/Palahares then...

 

 

Gaethje/Newell was a bit of a war but it got painful to watch as Newell started to run out of steam. Gaethje is one of the nastiest guys in the sport, he throws everything with power and hits a fighter anywhere...im fairly sure he threw two illegal knees in rounds 1 though. I know it's meant to be seen as an even playing field but once Newell started to fade it was hard not to feel sorry for him as the disability became more and more of a factor, Gathje attacked the body on the side where he's missing the arm and it was just brutal.

 

 

oh just read that Newell's asking for a rematch due to the illegal blows.

 

Gaethje will fight Guillard next which could just be insane. Guillard looked so much better than he did against Michael Johnson in his last UFC fight, he came out aggressive and got into a bit of a war. It's all to do with mindset with Guillard and when he's on he's still dangerous as fuck...did think the stoppage was slight premature though, JZ looked like he was still ready to throw back when the ref stepped in.

 

oh, and quick props to Bollinger/Alfonso who had a 2 minute epic at 135lb.

 

Excellent little show.

[Egg Shen]

Bellator 122 goes down this friday, its basically the rounding off the two of the remaining 3 tournaments that Bellator are rightfully honouring before the first real Coker looking show goes down at Bellator 123.

 

The fact that guys are all clabouring for a position within Coker's new vision of the company means we may some pretty wild performances.

 

oh, and PHIL FUCKING BARONI is on the card!

 

 

 

Main Card (on Spike TV)
Adam McDonough (11-0) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (16-1)
Brandon Halsey (6-0) vs. Brett Cooper (20-9)
Phil Baroni (15-17) vs. Karo Parisyan (23-10)
Liam McGeary (7-0) vs. Egidijus Valavicius (27-10)

 

Preliminary Card (on Spike.com)
Kelly Anundson (8-2) vs. Philipe Lins (9-0)
Poppies Martinez (26-9) vs. Bubba Jenkins (6-1)
Fernando Gonzalez (20-12) vs. Karl Amoussou (17-6-2)
Joe Duarte (10-3) vs. Saad Awad (15-6)
Dmitriy Sosnovskiy (8-0) vs. Manny Lara (4-4)
Stephen Martinez (10-2) vs. Sergio Rios (6-0)
Linton Vassell (13-3) vs. Virgil Zwicker (12-3)
Augusto Sakai (6-0) vs. Matt Frembling (9-2)

 

Main card looks great, Brett Cooper is always worth watching, Baroni/Parisyan is pure nostalgia (and Parisyan is coming off a great win), Liam McGeary is probably the least talked about UK fighter in MMA that's looking like an absolute killer.

 

it's pretty stacked, lots of prelims i have interest in too. Vassell/Zwicker, Duarte/Amoussou, Martinez/Jenkies, all good looking fights on the undercard.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Ebb

[Noah Southworth]

I didn’t expect much out of Baroni but I didn’t expect to see Karo finish him with strikes. Baroni moved well but once he got tagged the first time, it was like he had no idea what to do.

[lightningxlock]

Is Bellator not on VIVA anymore?