While it doesn’t increase the overall number of holdovers from TUF Brazil 2 (Leandro Silva having already been released) at least one more fighter will be getting a fight in the octagon coming off his time on the show.
Portal do Vale Tudo has the story, reporting that Luiz Dutra Jr., also known as “Besouro” (or Beetle), is indeed still under contract to the UFC. Although, no official announcement of his signing or potential date for his debut has been named.
Dutra was the no. 1 pick by Team Nogueira for the most recent TUF season, and defeated Werdum top pick Pedro Irie in the opening round. Unfortunately Dutra would later suffer a torn ligament in his right hand that prevented him from moving on in the tournament.
He’s a long time vet of the sport, at 31, with a career that stretches all the way back to 2004. Despite that he’s only 11-2-1 with both of his losses coming due to injury (the most recent from an ill advised jumping switch kick against Paulo Thiago in 2008). He has two wins over the UFC’s Fabricio Camoes in his career and is currently riding a four fight win streak. With his aggressive power striking and willingness to take risks, he should make a fun addition to the welterweight ranks
Here’s video of his Paulo Thiago fight for a nice encapsulation of his up and down sides:
Sometimes the mantra of ‘self defense’ and ‘real fighting’ is not just a mantra. Such was the case for 34-year-old Ururahy Rodrigues when he stepped out of his gym on Wednesday, June 26th after hearing gunfire erupt from the the business next door. The business was The Mobley Company Jewelers, Inc., and it had just been robbed by a gang of five men who broke into display cases with a sledgehammer in an attempt at a smash and grab.
The men were confronted by store owner Mitch Mobley and in attempting to prevent the crime Mobley was shot and killed, allegedly by 16-year-old Eric Billings. Hearing the gunfire, Rodrigues left his gym (Defkon One Fighting & Fitness) to investigate. He saw the alleged assailant, Billings fleeing the scene and gave chase. WSBTV reported that Rodrigues caught the suspect and held him in a choke hold until police arrived.
Billings is being charged with murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Magistrate Court Judge Alton Johnson stated that Billings will be tried as an adult and could potentially face the death penalty. Another suspect, Raphael Rucker, has been captured since the incident, but three more remain at large.
For Rodrigues, who most recently lost to UFC vet Clay Harvison on the prelims of Bellator 88 in February, he has made it clear that he want’s little acclaim for his actions, telling WSBTV, that he “is not a hero’ and that he is trying to come to terms with the murder of his friend. In the hopes that it may lead to further arrests police have released footage of the shooting:
As testimony continues in the trial of George Zimmerman, a physician’s assistant, who treated him for his injuries after the shooting, revealed that Zimmerman had been training regularly in MMA. CFNews13 had a summary of her court testimony:
Folgate said she had treated Zimmerman for previous injuries before. She first encountered him in August 2011, and Zimmerman indicated that he had “difficulty with falling asleep and exercising with MMA, but that has not helped.”
She said she also treated Zimmerman in September 2011, and at that time he indicated he was involoved in mixed martial arts three days a week.
Accompanying the physician assistant’s testimony were statements from witnesses that corroborated Zimmerman’s initial reports that he had been the victim of an attack. John Good, a former resident who saw the attack, described Martin on top in a ‘ground and pound’ position, raining down blows on Zimmerman as he cried for help.
While the testimony is instrumental in the defense’s case that Zimmerman acted in self defense, it has to be noted how much of a role MMA terminology and reference is playing in his trial. The Atlantic Wire pointed out that a significant amount of time Friday was spent explaining the ‘nuances of ground and pound:’
In perhaps the surest sign that mixed martial arts have finally made it into the popular consciousness, lawyers on both sides of the George Zimmerman murder trial spent a full half-hour on Friday discussing the nuances of the “ground and pound.” For the remaning UFC neophytes out there, or those who didn’t have it explained to them on Nancy Grace’s network this week, that’s a complex “on top” move that a witness claims to have seen Trayvon Martin perform on his killer.
While it can’t be said that his MMA training was directly responsible for any of the actions that took place that day, this is yet another high profile criminal case in which a link to the sport has been made. It was only a month ago that it was brought to light that one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing had been a regular sparring partner at a notable MMA gym. It is a sign that the sport is creeping in to the mainstream, but perhaps not in the way fans and fighters would like it to.
When the Invicta FC 6 card was announced it was obvious to anyone following the WMMA that it was stacked. Nestled among the card’s many great fights was a matchup between two of the sport’s hottest prospects, undefeated grappler Claudia Gadelha and striking sensation Joanne Calderwood.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case, injuries have created change. Carla Esparza was set to face Ayaka Hamasaki in defense of her strawweight title. The two had originally been scheduled to fight for the title at Invicta FC 4, before an injury to Hamasaki pulled her from the card. Now the tables have turned and it’s Esparza who has been forced off the card with a knee injury. If this all seems a bit beside the point I promise there’s a tie in.
Stepping in for Esparza will be Claudia Gadelha. Gadelha was originally set to replace Hamasaki against Esparza at Invicta FC 4, before a broken nose suffered in training saw her pulled from the card as well. At 9-0 she is a somewhat unheralded star in the making, and a fighter Invicta has been looking to push for some time.
And thus we find Joanne Calderwood. Initially without an opponent, she was matched up with journeyman strawweight Sarah Schneider, who most recently lost to Carla Esparza at Invicta FC 2. While not blessed with the most impressive of resumes at 6-6, Schneider has fought her entire career against the best women fighters in the sport, including Megumi Fujii, Julie Kedzie and Sarah Kaufmann. She would have been a solid step up in competition for the still green Calderwood.
I say “would have,” because now, she too has withdrawn from the card due to injury and will be replaced by Norma Rueda Center. Rueda Center is undefeated at 2-0, but this will be a huge leap in competition for her. It’s too bad because she looks like a decent prospect and Calderwood should be the fighter getting the step up, but such are the wages of fight sports. Hopefully the fight proves competitive, but it’s hard to see Center not getting steamrolled here.
If we’re lucky the switches are complete. Here’s the current Invicta FC card, set to take place on July 13 and airing live on PPV and streaming at 7pm ET:
MAIN CARD (PPV)
Marloes Coenen vs. Cris Cyborg – (featherweight title fight) Claudia Gadelha vs. Ayaka Hamasaki Sarah D’Alelio vs. Lauren Taylor Jennifer Maia vs. Leslie Smith Jessica Penne vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc Joanne Calderwood vs. Norma Rueda Center Julia Budd vs. Ediane Gomes Bec Hyatt vs. Mizuki Inoue Miriam Nakamoto vs. Duda Yankovich Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres
Prelim. Card (Ustream)
Ashley Cummins vs. Emily Kagan Mollie Estes vs. Veronica Rothenhausler Cassie Robb vs. Livia Von Plettenberg
After their third tournament, the UFC was finding itself a nice rhythm as a company. They had begun to figure out what rules were important to a “no rules” fight and had finally found the right balance between alternates and tournament competitors. The first two events had yielded a few recurring faces that could be brought back for future iterations, and the product itself was proving popular enough to attract all sorts of new talent.
Thus we find UFC 4, which would introduce the MMA world to Dan Severn, Guy Mezger, Joe Charles, as well as the return of Royce Gracie, Kieth Hackney, and Kevin Rosier. For more information on returning fighters, be sure to check out the previous redux iterations, where you’ll also find write ups of all previous UFC competitors.
There’s plenty to see so let’s get to the fighters of UFC 4:
Joe Charles – Known as “The Ghetto Man,” Charles was, in fact, an accomplished high-school wrestler and judoka. A forklift accident suffered in 1982 robbed him of the opportunity to try out for the Los Angeles Olympics. Following the accident, and fearing that he would never be able to walk again, Charles embarked on a heavy regimen of exercise, claiming to have done 1,000 situps a day just to keep himself motivated. By 1986, he was back to competitive martial arts.
He would not enter MMA professionally until 1994, and his career, although relatively long, would be marked more by his toughness than by his ability to win fights. When he finally retired in 2000, his record was 6-13, but in that span, he had competed across the globe against the likes of Dan Severn, Murilo Bustamante, Oleg Taktarov, and Vitor Belfort.
Kevin Rosier – My initial overview on Kevin Rosier was brief. As a fighter, he largely dropped off the map after his MMA career ended in 2000. While some athletes are able to move on into new ventures and directions when their fighting days end, others are not so fortunate.
Rosier earned his black belt in Karate from Sensei William James Gallant at the Boys Club in East Aurora, New York. In the late 80’s he had a reasonable career as a journeyman kickboxer. However, earlier in his life, he also served in the military, and it is perhaps the combination of these distinct martial careers that have brought his story to where it is today. Mostly by word of mouth, reports have surfaced that Rosier is living in near homelessness in Buffalo, New York. Out of concerns his family raised over his medical privacy, I can’t go into detail, other than to say that reports from friends and associates talked of him dealing with the mental and physical strain of a lifetime spent in combat.
There have been several efforts in the past year to locate Rosier by concerned fans looking to make donations or help him get back on his feet. He is reportedly staying with family and while down, he is certainly not out.
Marcus Bossett – Marcus Bossett entered the UFC as a 3rd degree black belt in Shorin Ryu Karate. His martial arts career began in military school, where he found himself following the death of his father in a botch robbery attempt by a disgruntled former employee. An English teacher whose class Bossett was failing gave him an option, enroll in his Karate class and get a D or re-take English. It would be the spark of his lifelong love of traditional martial arts.
Prior to entering the UFC he tried, and failed, to create a martial arts magazine-style TV show. He claims the idea, as well as his prep work, was taken out from under him by the studio he was producing it for. With that idea gone he opened his own karate school and entered into a series of kickboxing competitions, and it was this interest in finding new and better expressions of martial arts competition that lead him to the UFC.
Unlike many of the more cookie cutter black belts in early UFC competition, Bossett’s martial arts background was deeply rooted in Japanese tradition and culture. His style in the octagon was powerful, flashy, and high risk. He claims to have received his initial Karate black belt while training in Japan, and like many traditional martial artists of his era (and despite holding a black belt in Shorinji-Ryu Jujitsu), he was largely lost in the ground elements of fighting.
After his short MMA career, he would go on to train under Gokor Chivichyan and gain many of the ground skills he lacked as an active competitor. But the real love of his martial arts life would come in the form of Kyudo, the ancient art of samurai archery. Currently Bossett is a property manager, and holds a 5th dan rank in Kyudo. He also runs his own instructional school, the University of Archery in California.
Bossett talked about entering the UFC 4 tournament and getting the chance to fight Dan Severn, as well as his claims to have given Art Davie the idea for the UFC belt (which premiered at UFC 5).
“That’s the reason I got to fight [Dan] Severn,” Bossett says. “Jennum jacked his hand up. I’d sat there ringside and saw Severn suplex [Anthony Macias] four times in a row. I’m thinking, ‘He’s going to break his neck.’ I’m evaluating everybody. From my years of fighting, I can look at someone and evaluate what they do and determine how to get in on them. I looked at Severn, and if you let him get a hand on you, you’re done. I absolutely, positively did that until I did my signature move — the spinning back kick. In tournaments, Professional Karate League, my spinning back kick was my signature move. I’ve taken people’s heads off with it.”
…
“The reason these brothers are getting belts now, I brought that design to [the UFC’s original owner] Art Davies. So I gave him some belt designs. Nobody at UFC 4 had a belt. You got a check. Then at [UFC] 5 [there] was a belt. At [UFC] 4, when the fight was over, you had to find your own way back to the hotel.” (via Sherdog)
Xavier Eldo Dias – Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and nicknamed “Iron Hand,” he was the first, and arguably only, Capoeira purist to ever enter the UFC. Xavier Eldo Dias was also the UFC’s first Brazilian competitor not named Royce Gracie.
Guy Mezger – Mezger’s introduction to the UFC was largely unheralded. A prelim fighter in UFC 4, he won his first bout, but failed to make his way into the tournament itself. A collegiate wrestler and black belt karateka, he was the 1995 WKC world heavyweight kickboxing champion. He was also a 1993 & ’94 full contact karate champion. His MMA training was based almost entirely with the Lions Den and Ken Shamrock for his career, with his kickboxing training coming under Billy Jackson.
Mezger was one of the prize students of the catch wrestling focused Lions Den gym. He was molded very much in the style of Ken Shamrock and was one of the few Lions Den students to find success all the way through the 90s. Given his striking background and heavy catch wrestling training Mezger was one of the first fighters to demonstrate a high functioning transition game in MMA. He took his final fight in 2003, retiring with a record of 30-14-2. He had been scheduled to take on Tito Ortiz in 2005, but was forced to announce his official retirement after suffering “stroke like symptoms.”
He finished his career with victories over Tito Ortiz, Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Semmy Schilt, and Yuki Kondo. After retiring from MMA, he dabbled in commentary, working with Dream in Japan and more recently started his own nutritional supplement company, Evolv Health. He is also the owner of his own gym, Guy Mezger’s Combat Sports Club.
Jason Fairn – UFC 4 would not be Fairn’s first MMA fight, and it wouldn’t be his last, but it would be his only showing at the highest level of the sport. He competed as recently as 2010, and was one of the fighters on the second Maximum Fighting Championship card in 2001. He was a black belt in Aiki Jitsu under his father, David Fairn, and claimed black belts in Karate and Tae Kwon Do as well. In his hometown of Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, Fairn had a reputation as an underground club fighter, reportedly having won 33 bare knuckle matches.
That reputation brought him to California, where he worked as a celebrity bodyguard and occasional stunt man. Much like Alberto Cerro Leon before him, this led him to the Gracie Jiujitsu school which was notorious in California for its Gracie challenges. It was through this avenue that Fairn found himself an alternate for UFC 4.
He lost his single UFC fight to Guy Mezger. Today he is rumored to still be involved in body guard work both in Vancouver and in California.
Royce Gracie – In 2007, following a victory over Kazushi Sakuraba at Dynamite!! USA, Royce Gracie tested positive for steroids. The levels of nandrolone found in his system were 25 times higher than the normal limits. Along with the standard denials of abuse, there is some evidence that prolonged cardio exertion, coupled with heavy protein intake could result in a false spike in nandrolone, as could eating large amounts of tainted meat.
However, the MMA community at large, and more importantly the athletic commission were unimpressed by Gracie’s attempts to pass off his test as a clinical error. The California State Athletic Commission levied a $2,500 fine (the maximum available to them at the time) and would have stripped him of the win, were such a process available to them. In fact, it was Royce’s failed test that led to the state changing its athletic commission regulations to allow them to change fights to no contests when one of the participants failed a post-fight drug test.
One of the chief criticisms levied at the time was that Royce appeared physically much larger than in his Matt Hughes fight a year previous. He was reported to be around 13 pounds heavier than in his UFC return. Royce took to video to refute these allegations.
Ron van Clief – Ron van Clief was perhaps the most style-over-substance fighter in UFC history. A martial arts B-movie star in the 70s, he was a former Marine with a background in Goju-Ryu Karate. He trained under Peter Urban, Frank Ruiz, Moses Powell and Wing Tsun master Leung Ting. At the time of his UFC debut, he claimed a 10th dan in Goju-Ryu as well as black belts in Karate, Ju-Jitsu, Aiki-Jitsu, Kung-Fu, Arnis de Mano and Zen Jutsu.
In reality, van Clief continued the trend of giving Royce Gracie an opening round feature fight. UFC 1 was Art Jimmerson, UFC 2 was Minoki Ichihara, UFC 3 was Kimo Leopoldo (although it’s hard to say what Kimo featured at the time, other than his cross). While van Clief earns the distinction of being the oldest fighter to ever enter the octagon, his performance was perhaps the least competitive of the four fighters. Clief would later blame the poor performance on a broken ankle suffered only a week before the fight.
While his MMA career may not have been kind to him, it would appear that Hollywood, and martial arts in general, largely were. He currently lives in the Virgin Islands where he teaches martial arts, and as of 2009, was attempting to start his own MMA promotion.
Keith Hackney – Nicknamed “The Giant Killer” for his victory over Emmanuel Yarborough, the real high point of Hackney’s fighting career came at UFC 4, against Joe Son. After the introduction of Kimo and his false Tae Kwon Do credentials, Joe Son and his Josondo was one of the more remarkable UFC oddities. Son rushed Hackney early, took him down and tried to rain down blows. Hackney was able to escape to his feet and after getting pushed against the cage hit a trip into side control. From there a series of powerful groin shots quickly changed the complexion of the fight. Joe Son would submit to a c-clamp choke at 2:44 of the first round.
Here’s what Hackney had to say about his career defining moment:
Yeah that was actually Joe Son, but I mean those were the rules. The only rules that you couldn’t do were, you couldn’t bite and you couldn’t eye gouge. But you could do that. I mean you could still do that in the fight, but you’d get fined $1000 if you eye gouged somebody or you bit somebody. Those were the two rules they didn’t want you to do, but you were still able to do it. That’s why they called it no holds barred. You could do anything you wanted, that’s why the fighting changed from no holds barred to mixed martial arts. Which was a mixture of all the fighting arts that worked in that situation with all the rules. With no holds barred there were no rules. Some people liked it, some people didn’t like it, as far as the way the rules went. The fight was done according to the rules. Actually Joe Son went to prison for 90 years or something.
What did he end up going to jail for? Kidnapping, rape, all kinds of stuff from what I understand. They actually traced him through his DNA for something, and they had a news special on Fox, in the area, saying he got what he deserved. Then they showed me punching him in the groin. … He was actually with Kimo, Kimo was a good guy and he was supposedly Kimo’s trainer. He was always packing the bible stuff, but I suppose that came back to haunt him. (via In the Zone Sports Show)
Joe Son – Joseph Hyungmin Son was born in Korea in 1970 and raised in California. By his early 20s, he was part of an extremist Christian group, working in the Huntington Beach area. He had little, if any, martial arts background, but through a mixture of lies and what must have been a hell of a sales pitch, he and Kimo Leopoldo were able to convince Art Davies to let them fight in the UFC. They advertised Leopoldo with a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Joe Son would not get such a generous title, billed instead as a Josondo expert.
While such a curious circus sideshow type background would be enough to make Joe Son a memorable figure, that would not be the end of his public life. After MMA, he would have a limited pro wrestling career and would be fortuitously cast in the role of “Random Task” in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. All of this is rather beside the point, however.
In 1990, he, and another associate (Santiago Gaitan) kidnapped, held at gunpoint, beat, and raped a woman on Christmas eve. It was a crime that would go unsolved for nearly two decades, until a 2008 felony vandalism charge saw Joe Son placed on probation. As a condition of his probationary status he was required to give a DNA sample. It would be this evidence that connected him to his past crimes. He is now serving a life sentence at Wasco State Prison, where he has compounded his crimes with the murder of his cellmate in October of 2011.
Steve Jennum – Jennum would never replicate his success of winning UFC 3. While he did defeat the hard punching pro-boxer Melton Bowen at UFC 4, a hand injury suffered from punching Bowen in the head kept him from moving on in the tournament.
He would make one more octagon appearance, losing to Tank Abbott at the Ultimate Ultimate 1995, before leaving the UFC. He fought Marco Ruas at the first World Vale Tudo Championships in 1996 and Jason Godsey in 1997 before finally retiring from active MMA competition.
Melton Bowen – Much in the mold of Art Jimmerson before him, Melton Bowen was a reasonably talented journeyman boxer who made a one time foray into MMA. A Jamaican born fighter, he lived and trained in Miami, reportedly working with Robert Daniels and Jose Ribalta. He started his pro career in 1987 and was 32-6 by the time he set foot in the UFC opposite Steve Jennum. Bowen was known as something of an early Mike Tyson clone, a hard-punching KO artist, which would lead him to a chance at the 1993 WBF heavyweight title. In MMA history, however, Bowen has a very different distinction.
He was the first fighter ever to wear MMA gloves in the UFC. It would be another 10 events and three years before the gloves became standard MMA apparel, but their first appearance was here and now on the hands of Melton Bowen.
After his fighting career, which only included a single MMA appearance, Bowen would have one last strange moment in the media spotlight. Following the infamous “Miami Cannibal” case in 2012, Bowen stepped forward to reveal that he knew the man in question and had actually knocked him out when the man attacked him after a dispute over music. Bowen was quoted as saying “He wasn’t violent. If you got to know him, he was pretty cool. He was all right.”
Dan Severn – UFC 4 is our first introduction to Dan Severn as mixed martial arts fans. The multiple time D1 All American and NCAA tournament finalist was the UFC’s first truly world class wrestler (to coin a Mike Riordan term). At his peak he was among the best freestyle wrestlers in the world (winning a 1986 World Cup gold medal) , but a 1988 ACL injury effectively ended his Olympic aspirations. While he wasn’t the first All American in the UFC (that distinction goes to Emmanuel Yarborough), he was the first fighter to dominate his competition with a wrestling heavy attack.
Apart from his competitive wrestling career Severn was a coach at Arizona State University and Michigan State University. He entered the UFC on only 4 days of mixed martial arts training, but would advance all the way to the tournament finals. His bout against Anthony Macias was, and still is, one of the finest displays of pure wrestling in open combat, transitioning between single and double leg takedowns and hitting a beautiful sequence of suplexes.
As an MMA fighter, Severn has been, in many ways without parallel. A multi-time UFC tournament champion and UFC superfight champion Severn had an amazingly short run at the top of the sport. Despite only 3 losses in his early career he was largely removed from the highest levels of MMA competition by 1997. Severn was thought to have a boring style by UFC brass at the time. He had been brought in to give the promotion an air of legitimacy, due to his wrestling accolades, but they had little interest in billing him long term.
Many early stars failed to keep up with the changing pace of the sport, but for Severn, this shift appears to be more self-inflicted and maintained rather than any real changing of the guard. He had been set to return to the UFC at Ultimate Japan, but took a fight with Pride instead, effectively blacklisting him from the American promotion. Over the next 15 years, Severn would go 81-16-5, often competing five to 10 times a year (12 times in 2004). Among his post UFC victories are Forrest Griffin, Ebenezer Fontes Braga, Wes Sims, and Justin Eilers.
Concurrent to his MMA career, Dan Severn has also had a long career in pro-wrestling in Japan and America. After “winning” the NWA heavyweight title in 1995, he became the first fighter ever to hold a pro wrestling title and an MMA title at the same time. He retired in 2013 with a record of 101-19-7.
Anthony Macias – Macias was a Muay Thai fighter out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Although he never managed to make a splash at the highest levels of MMA, he is somewhat notable for his losses. He has fought and lost to Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov (in what many suspect to be the UFC’s first and perhaps only fixed fight), Vladimir Matyushenko, Kazushi Sakuraba, Eiji Mitsuoka, Joe Doerkson, Josh Neer, and Daniel Roberts.
Currently Macias is the head trainer and owner of Maddog Macias MMA in Oklahoma City.
That wraps up the fighters of UFC 4. It’s been a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but I’m looking forward to UFC 5: Superfights!, where I’ll talk about Oleg Taktarov, Dave Beneteau, and the first superfight.
An MMA promotion is always a tricky proposition. The money needed to pay for fighters, staff, equipment, and advertising create a decent amount of overhead for a business where fan interest is often fickle and unreliable. In some ways WAR MMA appears to have a lot of advantages over it’s competition, but some of those same advantages (as well as a fighter/fan first ethos) may turn to disadvantages going forward.
The biggest advantage that the promotion has is Nick Diaz’s name value. The promotion can piggyback off his fans, garnering interest even when it’s fighters don’t. But if Nick really is done with his fighting career, I wonder how much of a draw he could continue to be. It may be that the first WAR show will have been the peak of his drawing power for fans with a casual interest. I know the coverage that we ran for the event was a lot more than we’d give to most regional promotions, and a lot of that had to do with Nick Diaz. If the caliber of fighters remains the same, and the platform remains the same, WAR MMA may have seen it’s peak viewing audience for some time.
One of the other big advantages that WAR 1 showed was a surprisingly polished, fan friendly viewing experience. Their feed was sharp and crisp, their announcer was decent, and their commentary cast was refreshingly new and on point. Javier Vasquez is a bit of a Gracie product, and some of his commentary skewed heavily towards one fighter or another, but he had a good breadth of technical knowledge and presented it in a fairly relate-able way. TJ De Santis worked as a good counterpoint and while he and Vasquez had a few early growing pains, they seemed to find a nice rhythm as the fights went on.
All of this begs the question, however, talent costs money and if WAR is dedicated to giving away their product can they afford high quality production? If they lost money on this first event (I’m not saying they did, but I wouldn’t be surprised), how long can they afford to keep their production quality high. As I said above, I’m not sure that WAR MMA will see a larger audience than it got for it’s first show anytime in the immediate future; if profit doesn’t increase, costs may need to be cut.
It could be that they are angling for a quick TV deal, to enter on to the WSOF level, but that doesn’t really appear to be their track, and I’m still not entirely convinced that the push to draw ratings and turn a decent profit won’t ultimately be the death of Ray Sefo’s baby. I’m also unsure as to whether they could gain anything from a PPV stream format. Invicta has been incredibly successful in that market (and Metamoris appears to be doing well), but they both have a very original product to offer. WAR MMA wasn’t bad, but it didn’t show anything that any other regional promotion can’t duplicate.
At the end of the show, I wasn’t dissatisfied with WAR MMA, and before it ever went on the air I had my suspicions that Nick Diaz could actually build a pretty decent product. I don’t think that’s wrong, but I do feel that if they’re not happy with exactly the product they have they’re going to find themselves hard pressed to improve quickly. If they can find a way to continue streaming free shows with local prospects and a couple of recognizable names they could carve out a nice little niche in the MMA world. If their short term goals are loftier they could easily find themselves among the company of Royce Gracie’s Fightfest and other short lived MMA projects.
As an aside, one quick and easy thing they could do to improve their product is never let Josh Rosenthal near the commentary crew again. Even without his recent felony drug conviction, he was death in the booth.
WAR MMA 1 took place earlier tonight and it was a mixed bag of action featuring a massive 12 fight live streaming card. The card carried former UFC, Bellator, and Strikeforce fighers, as well as a number of Stockton’s own prospects. While many of the fights were reasonably exciting the hope that removing elbows and adding a ring would provide for a more high-action, fast-paced experience was largely a non-starter, with seven fights going to decision.
The night did see a few interesting (and one frightening) moments, including an unusual submission, a post fight medical scare, and a TKO largely due to an unwillingness to engage. Check out all the action in .gif form thanks to Zombie Prophet.
Justin Baesman def. Daniel Roberts via Split Decision
The night’s main event saw rising journeyman Justin Baesman derail Daniel Robert’s hopes for a quick jump back to the UFC. Roberts started incredibly strong, catching a kick and attempting to ground and pound his way to a quick finish. When that failed he tried for several submission attempts. The fast paced action left him largely drained the rest of the way, and a competative but inactive performance resulted in the split decision loss. For Baesman it was his 4th straight win, it was Roberts’ first loss since leaving the UFC.
Evan Esguerra def. Caleb Mitchell via Unanimous Decision
In the nights most frightening result, Caleb Mitchell gutted his way through a tough unanimous decision loss to Evan Esguerra. Mitchell was incredibly game, and often gave as good as he got, but while he made it to the end of the third, he immediately collapsed onto his stool where he remained until the decision was read. Upon attempting to leave the ring he appeared to be having trouble moving and was immediately rushed to an awaiting ambulance. No word yet as to what may have caused his post fight collapse or what his current condition may be.
Clayton McKinney def. Mike Persons via Unanimous Decision
Undefeated prospect Mike Persons suffered the first loss of his professional career to Clayton McKinney tonight. Persons fought hard, but was largely outclassed by the more powerful and polished McKinney to a decision loss.
D.J. Linderman def. Mike Hayes via Unanimous Decision
in a fight that was reported, then reported cancelled, and suddenly back on D.J. Linderman took on Mike Hayes in a rematch of their CWFC title fight. Like the first time Linderman walked away the winner and also much like the first time it was entirely unmemorable.
Cody Gibson def. Darin Cooley via TKO (Punches and Knee Flop) at 3:46 of Round 3
While Gibson gets the officially recorded TKO for his victory over Cooley, the reality is that an eye injury (potentially resulting from a punch) suffered late in the fight took the wind out of Cooley’s sails. The ref didn’t call time for an eye poke, and I’m not entirely sure there was one, but the damage resulted in Cooley falling to his back everytime the two fighters exchanged. After a point deduction for timidity, the referee watched several more falls before calling the fight altogether.
Roy Boughton def. Mike Martinez via Submission (toe hold)
Former Bellator fighter and Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu prospect Roy Boughton returned to the win column with a slick omoplata sweep to toe hold submission. Then he hit a few nice cartwheels and the better part of a back flip. If you’ve seen the .gif you’ve seen the fight.
Dominic Clark def. Chris Quitiquit via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 0:37 of Round 2
For the second time tonight an entertaining back and forth fight was stopped controversially on doctors orders. Quitiquit surprised early with some powerful counter striking, but Clark was beginning to pour it on with his sharper technique when the fight was stopped due to cut on Quitiquit’s left cheek.
Marcel Fortuna def. C.J. Marsh via Submission (baseball choke) at 2:40 of Round 2
What’s a baseball choke, I have no idea, but Fortuna looked good slapping it on in a dominant win over C.J. Marsh. As far as I can tell the submission involves trapping the opponents neck between your two forearms and squeezing them together. Looks painful.
Anthony Tatum def. Joey Cabezas via Split Decision
Sometimes enthusiasm can be a bad thing. That may have been the case when Cabezas dropped Tatum right at the end of round 1. He was plenty fired up, but that energy would largely go to wast as he was controlled in the later rounds.
Adrian Arona def. Beau Hamilton via TKO (doctors stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
This was the first questionable doctors decision of the night. In a fight that Hamilton was losing but looked to be gaining momentum, the doctor went to examine a cut on his left eyelid at the end of the second round. The cut didn’t appear to be bleeding, but the doctor pulled it open to check it’s severity, and decided to call the fight. I realize that eye cuts can be very dangerous, but I can’t see any good reason to open a cut to check it.
Here you can see some of Hamilton’s surprisingly slick counter-striking and defense.
Mike Ortega def. Jordan Powell via Split Decision
Derek Brown def. Aziz Rashid via Unanimous Decision
Derek Brown got all he could handle in the striking department from Aziz Rashid, but took a closer-than-it-looked-on-paper unanimous decision. Rashid came close to finishing the fight on a couple of occasions, but couldn’t sustain his power striking offense.
WAR MMA launches it’s first ever event today with a solid night of fights featuring UFC vet Daniel Roberts facing off against Justin Baesman, young Cesar Gracie prospect Roy Boughton, and the remarkably well traveled Caleb Mitchell. While perhaps surprising in its source, the promotion has a refreshingly grassroots approach, pushing local fighters and offering a variety of deals to fans who might be looking to score tickets on the cheap. They’re already promoting WAR MMA 2, so if you’re hoping to attend this probably won’t be your only opportunity.
The fights start at 5PM Pacific, 8PM Eastern and stream live from the Stockton Arena on June 22.
Here’s the complete card:
Daniel Roberts vs. Justin Baesman Caleb Mitchell vs. Evan Esguerra Darin Cooley vs. Cody Gibson Roy Boughton vs. Mike Martinez D.J. Linderman vs. Mike Hayes Mike Persons vs. Clayton McKinney Chris Quitiquit vs. Dominic Clark Beau Hamilton vs. Adrian Adona Marcel Fortuna vs. CJ Marsh Jordan Powell vs. Michael Ortega Derek Brown vs. Aziz Rashid
As soon as an event is over, it’s inevitable that a few fighters will have fought for the last time with the promotion. Sometimes exactly which fighter ends up being on the outside is a bit of a surprise (unless you’re the omnipotent Tim Burke), sometimes the predictions feel easy. Whatever the means or the method, it would appear that another six fighters have made their exit from the world’s largest MMA promotion: Eddie Mendez, Roger Hollett, Anthony Smith, Nah-Shon Burrell, Karlos Vemola, and Leandro Silva.
It’s not the most surprising list in the world, all are fairly low profile fighters coming off a loss, but there are a couple of releases that seem a trifle abrupt. Over the course of his Zuffa career, Nah-Shon Burrell is 4-2, and while his wins may be short on name power, his UFC debut was an entertaining victory over Yuri Villefort. He did miss weight, badly, in that fight and struggled to make it in his most recent loss to Stephen Thompson, but at only 23 it seems like early days to cut a fighter loose altogether. No doubt a few strong performances on the regional circuit will see him back in the UFC, but it’s a harsh lesson nonetheless.
While I realize that TUF alumni usually only get one chance to prove their mettle in the octagon, it appeared that Leandro Silva was not getting the TUF treatment. Stepping in on short notice to fight Ildemar Alcantara, at a weight class above his preference, is usually the kind of act that will grant a fighter a stay of execution for a less than stellar performance. However, following an especially listless debut at UFC on Fuel 10, it would appear that “Buscape” has been shown the door as well. He’s definitely better suited to lightweight, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pop up again as a short notice replacement for a future Brazilian UFC card.
For the other fighters involved it’s hard not to feel sympathetic for anyone suddenly out of a job, but in the world of athletics, where performance is everything, it’s also difficult to see what these fighters had to offer the promotion going forward. Perhaps seeing the outside of the UFC will help them revitalize their careers and return better, more well rounded fighters. If nothing else I hope they find a lucrative market for their skills.
No official announcements have been made, but we will be sure to keep you updated if and when confirmation is made available.
*Note: UFC.com appears to have some caching issues, so some of these changes may not be immediately apparent.
UPDATE: Since the writing of this article Nah-Shon Burrell has confirmed his release from the promotion stating that Joe Silva contacted him personally and that his relationship with the UFC was entirely respectful and positive. He also stated that he hopes to make a quick return to the promotion.
Before Papy Abedi entered the UFC he was one of the top middleweight prospects in the world. A drop to welterweight has seen the Judoka have a largely unsuccessful octagon career, but after narrowly avoiding the axe with a split decision win over Besam Yousef at UFC on Fuel TV 9 he’s decided to return to the division that saw his early career success. He’ll make his Middleweight debut against hard-hitting TUF vet Dylan Andrews at UFC on Fox Sports 1: Condit vs. Kampmann 2.
Andrews is fresh off a TKO win over Jimmy Quinlan at the TUF 17 Finale. He’s not young at 33 years of age, so the time is nigh if he’s going to make an impact at middleweight. Abedi is certainly the right caliber of opponent and his clinch game and power striking should give Andrews a reasonable test and decent, but not dramatic step up in competition.
For Abedi, this has to be considered a do or die fight for him. His UFC career so far has been miserable, with losses to Thiago Alves and James Head, and only a single unimpressive win to his credit. The UFC can’t be satisfied with his performance as a fighter that they obviously thought quite highly of when they signed him. He’s made the weight change to get a fresh start, but if he can’t find a win here this may be the end of his time with the promotion.
It’s a good sink or swim fight for both men in a division that can provide opportunities quickly to fighters who perform well. I would expect Andrews to be the early favorite, but eventually I think the winner will be a bit of a coin flip. Fox Sports 1: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 takes place on August 28 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stay tuned for more fight announcements and card updates.
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