February 7, 2018

    Cyborg vs Kunitskaya for UFC 222 Main Event. Edgar vs Ortega co-main

    Peter Knox 07/02/2018

    UFC 222 has a new main event. Reigning UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will put her belt on the line against Invicta bantamweight contender Yana Kunitskaya. The co-main event has been confirmed as a featherweight scrap between former 155lb champ Frankie Edgar and rising star Brian Ortega. Cyborg will be making a faster than anticipated return to action. Her last fight was a successful title defence against Holly Holm at UFC 219 in December 2017. A former Invicta bantamweight title challenger, Kunitskaya will be making both her UFC and featherweight debut against Cyborg. She was originally scheduled to face Leah Ledson further down the same card. Following the cancellation of his title fight against Max Holloway due to injury, Edgar is risking his number 1 contender status to fight the dangerous submission specialist Ortega. Ortega holds a perfect 13-0 professional record. His last fight was a submission win against top 5 contender Cub Swanson in December 2017. This change in opponent marks the second failed attempt to book a title fight with Holloway since the Rodriguez fight. It is undeniably a risky fight for Edgar to take. He was locked in as the number 1 contender in the division and a loss to Ortega will see him drop beneath him in the featherweight rankings. Edgar hasn’t fought since his destructive win against Yair Rodriguez in May last year. This is the second failed attempt to book a title fight with Holloway in that time. The news of the two additional fights was first reported by MMA Fighting earlier this evening. With these fights confirmed, it puts to bed any speculation that we might see Cody Garbrandt step up to 145lbs to face Edgar. It also means that for now at least, we can pause any discussion of a champion vs champion superfight between Cyborg and women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

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    Whats Next For Paulo Costa?

    Peter Knox 07/02/2018

    Paulo “The Eraser” Costa has been widely tipped as the hottest prospect in the UFC middleweight division and he is still without an opponent but is eager to get back into the octagon and climb the rankings ladder. Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Costa grew up fighting and training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Despite being so young, “The Eraser” already participated in more than 40 championships, winning almost all of them. The secret of his success is that he has trained since his childhood. He competed when he was 13 and has the support of his family. And he has an older brother “who will be known as a great jiu-jitsu fighter”. The Brazilian made his pro début in 2012 and in two years was 4-0, he was given a place on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil and was a part of team Wanderlei Silva but lost a decision in his second fight. Costa then went back to FTF and won the middleweight title before being signed for Jungle Fight. The middleweight won his next four fights making him 8-0, he also became Jungle Fights middleweight champion and defended the belt before he got the call all MMA fighters dream of, the call to the UFC. “The Eraser” came into the UFC with a lot of hype behind him, being the size of a light heavyweight and having Mike Tyson like punching power many people were interested to see how Costa would do in UFC, and was intrigued to see if Costa could decorate the octagon with his new opponents like he had been with his lesser experienced opponents he had faced in the other organisations where he had won seven of his eight fights by K.O/TKO. Garreth McLellan was the 26-year-olds first opponent inside the UFC and inside a minute and a half Costa had TKO’d another opponent proving the hype was real and he earns himself a performance of the night bonus. Just three months later Costa took his second fight inside MMA’s greatest proving ground. This time he was against fellow physical specism Owuwale Bamgbose, both guys famed for their ferocious fists met in the centre of the octagon, the fans were treated to a crazy first round and in the second round Costa had overpowered Bamgbose and earned himself another TKO victory. post fight with Brian Stann, Costa said ” Thank you, everyone, I did my best and I want to thank everyone that came out here. Bamgbose is a tough guy he moves around a lot and I knew he was going to be like that but I knew my right hand would land. I think I’m ready for a top 10 guy”. November 4th, 2017 Costa got the high profile fight he had wanted. He was faced with former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks. Costa looked like he was double the size of Hendricks but was somewhat respectful knowing that “Big Rigg” can end a fight with one shot. But once again in the second round, Costa started battering Hendricks around the octagon and earned another TKO victory in great style proving that even against the top guys he is still effective and won’t shy away from his dominating style. Costa now has an 11-0 record and is showing no signs of slowing down, rumours of a fight with Derek Brunson circled but nothing came of it. Costa is now ranked 14th in the middleweight division so a fight with a top 10 opponent is surely next. Vitor Belfort, Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Weidman are all possibilities but one thing for sure, whoever it is had better be ready as “The Eraser” is coming and he will one day be the UFC middleweight champion.

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    GLORY 52 Unification Title Bout Announced

    Mick Kane 07/02/2018

    GLORY, the world’s premier stand-up combat league, today announced that it will once again touch down in the City of Angels, with the Pacific Room at the Long Beach Arena playing host to GLORY 52 Los Angeles and GLORY 52 SuperFight Series on Saturday, March 31. An undisputed featherweight king will be crowned as two-time GLORY featherweight champion Robin “Poker Face” van Roosmalen (39-7, 21 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) returns to face interim champion Kevin VanNostrand (17-1, 12 KO, fighting out of the United States) in the GLORY 52 Los Angeles headline bout. Van Roosmalen is one of GLORY’s most decorated athletes, having amassed a 15-3 record within the promotion and having held titles in two divisions – lightweight (twice) and featherweight (twice including his current reign). He last competed at GLORY 45 Amsterdam, where he earned a unanimous decision victory over world No. 3 Serhii Adamchuk. VanNostrand’s success has been a more recent revelation, beginning with his knockout of Mo Abdurahman and upset against tournament favorite Giga Chikadze at GLORY 43 New York last July. VanNostrand once again dazzled under the bright lights of Broadway when he returned at GLORY 48 New York in December, coming back from the brink of defeat to knockout Anvar Boynazarov with a spectacular knee to the body. In the co-headline bout, No. 1-ranked lightweight Marat Grigorian (51-10-2, 32 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) battles Bulgarian Stoyan “The Sniper” Koprivlenski (9-1, 4 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands), ranked No. 3 following his lightweight contender tournament victory at GLORY 49 Rotterdam. The winner of this bout will be next in line to compete for the GLORY lightweight championship. With four knockouts in five wins under the GLORY banner, the 26-year-old Grigorian is known for his aggressive fighting style and power. The Armenian-Belgian stayed true to form, making waves in the kickboxing world this past weekend after scoring a first-round knockout over renowned Thai fighter Superbon Banchamek. Koprivlenski earned his place in the No. 1-contender bout with Grigorian by defeating both Maykol Yurk and Tyjani Beztati in a single evening at GLORY 49 Rotterdam in December. GLORY 52 Los Angeles will also include a one-night contender tournament featuring the four top-ranked middleweights in GLORY. In the first semifinal match-up, former two-time GLORY middleweight champion Simon “The One” Marcus (47-4-2, 26 KO, fighting out of Canada), currently ranked No. 2, will take on 25-year-old Dutch-Tunisian Yousri Belgaroui (23-4, 11 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands), ahead of Marcus in the rankings at No 1. Marcus and Belgaroui each competed for GLORY gold in their last bouts – both falling short against reigning GLORY middleweight champion Alex Pereira – and now attempt to get back into the title picture with a tournament victory. On the other side of the tournament bracket, another former GLORY middleweight champion looks to re-establish dominance, as No. 3-ranked Jason “Psycho” Wilnis (30-8-1, 8 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) tries to halt the momentum of hard-hitting Robert Thomas (9-5, 5 KO, fighting out of Canada). The complete five-fight card for GLORY 52 Los Angeles can be found below: GLORY 52 Los Angeles Featherweight Unification Bout: Robin van Roosmalen (c) vs. Kevin VanNostrand (ic) Middleweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B Lightweight Title Contender Bout: Marat Grigorian vs. Stoyan Koprivlenski  Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Jason Wilnis vs. Robert Thomas Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Simon Marcus vs. Yousri Belgaroui Before GLORY 52 Los Angeles, GLORY interim light heavyweight champion Pavel “The Caiman” Zhuravlev (71-11, 26 KO, fighting out of Ukraine) headlines GLORY 52 SuperFight Series in a non-title bout. An opponent for Zhuravlev, who captured the interim title last July at GLORY 43 New York, will be announced shortly. GLORY 52 SuperFight Series also marks the return of UFC veteran Chris “Kamikaze” Camozzi (1-0, KO, fighting out of the United States), who stopped Kyle Weickhardt in his kickboxing debut in December. Uninterested in a slow progression, Camozzi jumps right back in the ring against top 10-middleweight Mike “The French Rock” Lemaire (19-5, 8 KO, fighting out of the United States). Newly-crowned GLORY super bantamweight champion Anissa Meksen (94-3, 30 KO, fighting out of France) will compete in a 53-kilogram (116.8 pounds) non-title catchweight bout, while No. 7-ranked lightweight dynamo Josh Jauncey (26-9, 15 KO, fighting out of Canada) and No 8-ranked featherweight Zakaria Zouggary (30-4-1, 15 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) will also appear on the GLORY 52 SuperFight Series card. Opponents for Meksen, Janucey and Zouggary will be announced in the coming weeks. The current five-fight card for GLORY 52 SuperFight Series can be found below: GLORY 52 SuperFight Series Light Heavyweight Headline Bout: Pavel Zhuravlev vs. TBA Middleweight Bout: Mike Lemaire vs. Chris Camozzi Catchweight (53 kg) Bout: Anissa Meksen vs. TBA Lightweight Bout: Josh Jauncey vs. TBA Featherweight Bout: Zakaria Zouggary vs. TBA Tickets for GLORY 52 Los Angeles and GLORY 52 SuperFight Series go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. PT on Monday, Feb. 12 and will be available purchase at ticketmaster.com.

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    Is Mario Yamasaki Really to Blame?

    Peter Knox 07/02/2018

    The biggest talking point coming out of UFC Belem wasn’t the performance of any of the fighters. Once again, it was the performance of veteran referee Mario Yamasaki. Officiating the co main event, Yamasaki caught a lot of heat in the media for his failure to stop the destruction of Priscila Cachoeira by Valentina Shevchenko. Cachoeira was making her UFC debut. She held a perfect 8–0 professional record. For her 125lb UFC bow in her home nation, she was matched against Shevchenko. A former 135lb title challenger who’s last fight was a close split decision loss to bantamweight title holder Amanda Nunes last September. Comparing only their records, it wouldn’t seem entirely unreasonable to put the two fighters together for their UFC flyweight debuts. Schevchenko was an impressive 14–3 with a UFC record of 4–2. The fight was an uncomfortable watch. From the outset Shevchenko controlled the fight. What followed was a systematic beat down of Cachoeira which lasted a little over 9 minutes. The stats alone tell the story. 230 strikes from Shevchenko with just 3 coming back in return. Cachoeira fought bravely and showed an inspiring amount of courage in the face of one of the most lop sided fights in recent memory. On social media both during and after the fight, the focus was on why referee Yamasaki hadn’t put an end to things considering the one sided nature of the bout. Analysts and professionals alike jumped in to deride the performance of the veteran referee. After the fight, UFC president Dana White went a step further with a statement posted on his instagram account: “Priscilla Cachoeira, you showed so much heart and toughness in that fight. I’m honored to have you fight in the UFC. Unfortunately the ref is there to protect you and Mario DID NOT do that. This isn’t his first disgusting performance in the octagon. Another unfortunate thing is that i can’t do anything about I️t only the Brazilian commission can and i am hoping after this scary, incompetent showing he hopefully will never set foot in that Octagon again. Strikes landed was 230–3.” This effectively opened the floodgates for criticism of Yamasaki across social media. A few days later, Yamasaki released the following statement to MMA Fighting: “During the second round, I signaled to ‘Pedrita’ that if she didn’t move I’d stop the fight, and every time I’d stop, I told her and she moved to try to escape from the punches. Unfortunately, I also can’t control the number of blows thrown — again, when a fighter is trying to come back she’s game. Fighters go through times of hard effort and dedication to be there. MMA is a contact sport and no fighter likes his fight to be stopped with no chance to revert the result. In my opinion, I allowed Pedrita to be a warrior and keep fighting. I could have stopped the fight in the second crucifix or in the mount, but she moved the whole time. I also recognize that I should have stopped when she tapped the first time to the rear-naked choke. I only stopped a few seconds later. About other people’s opinions, it’s their right to say.” Yamasaki makes valid points. It is a contact sport. Fighters often deride officials for early stoppages. He ackowledged his mistake in missing the first tap and only stopping it when he noticed Cachoeira tapping the second time. There is a question only a few people have asked. Why was a fighter making her UFC debut matched against someone as dangerous as Valentina Shevchenko in the first place? Dana White’s statement was quick to point the finger at Yamasaki. One would be forgiven for thinking that this was a tactical move to divert attention away from the promotion. An attempt to deflect blame for what was clearly a mismatch. Yes, Cachoeira had an unbeaten record. Yes, the women’s flyweight division is a new one for the UFC. Many fighters will be debuting for the promotion in this weight class. That said, surely there could have been a more sensible match up for someone like Shevchenko. A number of fighters have moved up from 115lbs or down from 135lbs. Would a more established fighter have been a better partner for Valentina? A quick glance through the initial flyweight rankings reveals a number of possible opponents for Shevchenko. Since it was announced that she would be moving down to 125lbs, there has been little doubt that Shevchenko would be fighting for the title in the very near future. In her post fight interview she confirmed that she intends her next fight to be against current champion Nicco Montano. Does anyone think that this was a sensible match up to make? Did Cachoeira really stand a chance? Admittedly, Cachoeira suffered a serious knee injury in the first round which certainly will have hampered her performance. With her display of bravery against Shevchenko she has secured herself a future with the UFC. It still doesn’t make it right that she was matched up with Shevchenko in the first place. Yes, Yamasaki shoulders some blame for the punishment Cachoeira received. That blame needs to be fairly apportioned and the UFC must take some of the responsibility for poor matchmaking. Sadly, they are unlikely to make any kind of public comment to that effect. One can only hope that they at least acknowledge this in private and fairly compensate Cachoeira for the damage she received.

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    First Bouts Announced For ONE: Visions of Victory

    Frankie 07/02/2018

    The largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced its return to Malaysia’s bustling capital city of Kuala Lumpur. ONE: VISIONS OF VICTORY is set to ignite the Axiata Stadium with an evening of authentic martial arts action. While a main event is yet to be announced, ONE Championship has revealed a handful of compelling bouts featuring the absolute best in local and international martial arts talent.   Agilan “Alligator” Thani of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a 22-year-old martial artist and one of the top welterweights in ONE Championship. Thani’s quick rise through the ranks has seen him amass a stellar 8-1 professional record, including a title shot against former ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren in May of 2017. Although Thani fell short of victory against the American, he gained a great amount of experience as a result and has emerged as a more seasoned combatant. All but one of Thani’s victories have come by exciting finish. The young Malaysian has shown steady improvement in each outing and he will now face Amitesh Chaubey in his next assignment.   Amitesh Chaubey is a martial artist from India and a welterweight newcomer in ONE Championship. He owns a professional record of 8-5 and is a former SFL Welterweight Champion known for his knockout power. Primarily a boxing stylist who stifles opponents with his quick hands and fluid combinations, Chaubey joins a deep ONE Championship welterweight division looking for a new champion. He takes on former welterweight title challenger Agilan Thani in his promotional début.   19-year-old Christian “The Warrior” Lee, younger brother of reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, began his professional career on an absolute tear, railing off five straight victories by thrilling finish. He has impressed fans with his ability to seek stoppage wins over top-caliber opponents. A former Pankration World Champion, Lee toppled Japanese veteran and former ONE Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu Boku in his most recent bout, winning by first-round technical knockout to improve his record to 8-1. Known as a creative and fluid striker with unorthodox grappling technique, Lee is now set to face another Japanese veteran in Kazunori Yokota.   39-year-old Kazunori Yokota of Chiba, Japan is a martial arts fixture with over 12 years of professional experience under his belt. A champion of Japanese promotion, DEEP, Yokota is one of the toughest competitors at featherweight as he has constantly punished his opponents and grinded out impressive victories. Yokota made his ONE Championship début in May of 2016, challenging former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov for the title. Yokota sports a stellar record of 26-7-3 and in his most recent bout, submitted his opponent in another promotion. Now, Yokota is set to take on the surging Christian Lee.   Malaysia’s Gianni Subba is a 25-year old flyweight talent from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. He spends time carefully honing his craft with talented teammates, including brother Keanu, at Bali MMA in Indonesia. A winner of six of his last seven bouts, Subba is a seasoned athlete with a stellar 9-2 clip in his young career. Five of his nine wins have come either by submission or by crowd-pleasing knockout. In his next assignment, the crafty wushu specialist Danny Kingad poses a stern challenge.   Top flyweight talent from the famed Team Lakay of Baguio City, Danny “The King” Kingad is a regional wushu champion with a wushu record of 29-1 and martial artist with a professional record of 8-1. A true warrior from the mountains of the Philippines and one of the top prospects to come out of the country, Kingad is a tremendous striker who possesses well-rounded grappling skills. In his most recent bout, Kingad suffered the first defeat of his career after being submitted by reigning ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes in the first round. Kingad will now return to action against Gianni Subba.   Former amateur standout Muhammad Aiman of Malaysia is one of the country’s fastest rising young martial arts talents. Featuring a well-rounded skill set, Aiman has impressed in his time inside the ONE Championship cage thus far, defeating Hisyam Samsudin by unanimous decision in his first match in the promotion before stopping Brazilian grappler Eduardo Novaes in his second outing. In his most recent contest, Aiman thoroughly dominated Chinese prospect Yang Fei to win a unanimous decision. The 23-year-old is now set to take on his next challenge in Burn Soriano.   Burn “The Hitman” Soriano of Ilocos Sur, Philippines, is coming off a tough contest against China’s Chen Lei last November. The Filipino featherweight features an aggressive style, with solid power and seasoned grappling technique leading to all of his wins to date coming by way of stoppage. His 15-second spinning back fist knockout of Indonesia’s Mario Sitya Wirawan in 2016 was one of the fastest finishes in ONE history. A national kickboxing champion with a kickboxing record of 14-3, Soriano has shown steady improvement over his last few contests and now looks for victory next against Muhammad Aiman.   18-year-old Jihin Radzuan of Johor Bahru, Malaysia is a highly-touted young martial arts prospect making her ONE Championship début. A well-rounded competitor, Radzuan is a Muay Thai and boxing practitioner with a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A former Southeast Asian Open Gold and Silver Medalist in Muay Thai, Radzuan is known for her varied striking skills and terrific knockout power. Radzuan will step into the ONE Championship cage in Kuala Lumpur to face Puja Tomar.   Flyweight competitor Puja Tomar is a martial artist from India with a professional record of three wins and two losses. With a knack for showcasing her solid striking skills, Tomar has recorded all three of her victories by knockout. Competing largely in her home country of India, the former India wushu champion Tomar now makes her second appearance on the biggest stage in Asian martial arts as she is set to face Jihin Radzuan in the ONE

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    Bisping Open To The Machida Challenge

    Peter Knox 07/02/2018

    Michael Bisping heard the friendly call out from Lyoto Machida and has said that he might just take Machida up on the challenge. Machida following his split decision victory over Eryk Anders after thanking all his friends, family and fans “The Dragon” said to Paul Felder ” Michael Bisping, I’m here for you man” and with Bisping looking for his retirement fight it’s absolutely a possibility. “The Dragon,” said he felt a matchup with Bisping was long overdue and should have already happened but a variety of circumstances have prevented it, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion believes the time is now and is perfect for both him and “The Count”. Speaking on his “Believe You Me” podcast, Bisping admitted he’s very interested in the fight, but before officially agreeing to anything, said he needs to speak with the UFC. “He’s had a great career, and it ticks all the boxes (for my retirement fight) from that standpoint,” Bisping said. “That’s about it. As of right now, I’ve got to speak to the UFC and find out what’s going on for myself. I’m not considering opponents or who they are. I’ve got to speak to (UFC President) Dana (White) and the UFC guys and figure out what’s going on next and in life.” Bisping has stated he appreciates the respect of the call out from Machida and he has a lot of respect for “The Dragon”. “He just said we were supposed to fight a couple of times over the years and that it hadn’t happened and that basically, he had a lot of respect for me,” Bisping said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Machida, I really do. He’s one of the true martial arts specialists and one of the true martial artists that compete in the octagon, so I have respect for him. Of course, there was the steroid issue, … there’s always going to be an asterisk over him.” “I’ve (got) no problem with the decision, but what I do have a problem with is what Machida said afterwards,” Bisping continued. “I’m only joking, I don’t really have a problem with it; he called me out once again.” Bisping was expected to fight at UFC London in March but it did not work out. Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort were the names being thrown around but nothing materialised from it with bad timing and Bisping’s pure hatred for Belfort as a person and as an athlete. When this fight would take place and where is a mystery, but “The Count” wants his last fight to be in England so maybe later this year or next year the UK may be treated to another event on English soil.

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