May 3, 2017

    UFC Glasgow fighter Charlie Ward

    Conor McGregor teammate to fight at UFC Glasgow

    Peter Knox 03/05/2017

    Charlie Ward, teammate of Conor McGregor who announced he’d be fighting at UFC Glasgow has unveiled his opponent.  The Straight Blast Gym Welterweight has announced he will be fighting Englishman Galore Bofando in his second UFC showing at the Hydro in Glasgow. Bofando will be making his UFC debut against Ward who suffered a first round loss at UFC Belfast in November. Bofando has a mixed professional record of 4-2 (reported by Sherdog) with his two losses coming from illegal knees. This situates him as a tough challenger to Ward, who has a record of 3-2. This news wasn’t widely welcomed by other fighters who are looking to appear on the Glasgow card with Robert Whiteford, who recently signed back to the promotion, showing his opinion on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/FlyinJudoka/photos/a.349829151768025.80984.297124960371778/1307904045960526/?type=3&permPage=1 The news was originally reported by the Irish Daily Mirror.    

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    Carl ‘The Bomber’ Booth speaks to MMA UK

    Mick Kane 03/05/2017

    Fresh from his second Brave C.F win Carl ‘The Bomber’ Booth speaks to MMA UK about Brave and his hopes for the future. The Nottingham based welterweight is on a 7 fight win streak and has a record of 8-1. MMAUK: You recently fought and won at Brave C.F. 5 in India,  What was it like to fight in India? CB: Fighting in India was an awesome experience, it was nice to be main event on a big show like BRAVE it made me feel like I was doing what I love, was also great to go see a different culture and lifestyles, plus to see that the sport of MMA was growing there was also nice. MMA UK: You have fought for a number of promotions, Cage Warriors, Budo, Brave amongst others, are there huge differences for fighters when moving between different promotions? CB: The main difference for me would be when I fight repeatedly on the same show you get to know the staff at the show so you feel a lot more comfortable. That said fighting on different promotions big small home and away has been a good experience all round. Fighting different style opponents in various venues and in front of new fans has been awesome. MMA UK: Would Brave C.F. be the biggest promotion you have fought for? CB: BRAVE C.F is growing at a scary fast rate I think the shows already got the attention of the MMA world. Production is great and the fights are well matched it won’t be long before it’s filling stadiums across the world. MMA UK: Are you looking for a title shot? CB: Yes I’m definitely looking at that tile shot. The shiny gold BRAVE belt would look lovely wrapped around my waist. MMA UK: You fight out of Nottingham MMA are there any up and coming fighters we should keep an eye out for? CB: My gym is full of killers, the lads there work hard and are developing into good all-rounders. The wins the gym gets speaks for itself. I don’t wanna mention any names because they’ll just get big heads! MMA UK: Paul Daley and Dan Hardy are 2 of the most famous fighters to have emerged from Nottingham, have you ever had a chance to train with them? Do you feel you can emulate their success? CB: Yeah I used to spar with Dan and Paul back when The Roughhouse was in its element. There was a lot of talent in the gym around that time. It was good to see all that they both achieved in MMA and yeah I feel like I’m more than capable of following that path of success and more! By smashing my way through the welterweight division. MMA UK: What are your aims within the sport? CB: My goals after I win the BRAVE welterweight title are to sign to the UFC, I wanna start taking out named opponents and blast my way to UFC gold.  

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    Hot Streak – featuring Legacy Fighting Alliance fighter James Nakashima

    Myles Painter 03/05/2017

    The Southwestern United States has quietly become an MMA hot bed rich with talent. In today’s episode of Across The Pond, you will meet a rugged, durable fighter looking to bring the heat at LFA 11 on May 5. A professional since January 2015 and representing The MMA Lab, James Nakashima owns a 6-0 record with all six of his victories coming via decision. In his MMA debut at RFA 22,James defeated Victor McCullough via unanimous decision. He also defeated Kris Hocum via unanimous decision at RFA 26. Then, James defeated Chris Collins. At RFA 30 he defeated Chance Rencountre via unanimous decision followed by a decision victory over Brad Darrington at RFA 35. At RFA 46, James defeated Desmond Hill via unanimous decision. In the co-main event of LFA 11 on May 5 he will face LaRue Burley in a battle between two rising prospects. Good luck James!  

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    With Welterweight title implications on the line, can Maia make it seven wins in a row?

    Peter Knox 03/05/2017

    Demian Maia will be looking to make it seven straight wins when he takes on Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211. If Maia can pull of the win surely a title shot cannot be denied any longer? Since making his Welterweight debut in July 2012, Maia has won nine and lost two. His two losses were to well decorated opponents and former 170lb title challengers, Jake Shields and Rory MacDonald. However, along the way Maia has knocked off some stiff competition. He boasts wins over the likes of Dong Hyun Kim, Jon Fitch, Gunnar Nelson and Matt Brown. Maia’s last outing was his most impressive to date.He was able to dispatch former title holder and highly ranked Welterweight, Carlos Condit, in just one round. He also became the first man to submit Condit inside the octagon and has finished three of his last four fights by rear-naked choke. Maia has a professional MMA record of 24 wins and six losses with all of his losses coming to household names in the MMA world. Chris Weidman, Nate Marquardt, Anderson Silva, Mark Munoz, and the aforementioned Jakes Shields and Rory MacDonald are the only men to beat Maia to date. Can Masvidal get the biggest (and most important) win of his career to date? Maia’s opponent, Jorge Masvidal, is starting to find his own in the talent-stacked Welterweight division. Masvidal is coming off two straight TKO victories over Jake Ellenberger and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone respectively. The latter in fascinating fashion by way of second round TKO win, with many believing the fight should have been stopped at the end of round one. Masvidal has a mixed professional MMA record of 35 wins and 11 losses but is an incredibly difficult opponent to finish. Jorge has never been stopped inside the UFC or Strikeforce so Maia definitely will have his hands full on the night. Maia’s route to victory is quite clear. He has to take Masvidal to the ground and use his world class BJJ skills to try and pull of another slick submission. Masvidal on the other hand will be looking to do the opposite and keep the fight standing at all costs. Masvidal has shown some improvements in his takedown defence and if he can keep Maia off him, the Brazilian will be in for one tough night. With title ramifications at stake, I fully expect an exciting and highly technical chess type match, with both men looking to avoid the others strong suit. UFC 211 is shaping up to be one of the cards of 2017 and goes down May 13th live from the American Airline Center in Houston, Texas.

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