Category: MMA Results

New era of French MMA opens with a kick in the balls

Posted on by Zane Simon in Events, Front Page, MMA Results

The battle for fully regulated, modern French MMA has been a long and grueling one. While the country has hosted mixed martial arts fights in various forms since the 90s, back in 2015 France held it’s first event under the modern ‘unified rules’ of MMA. World Warriors Fighting Championship exploited what they called “a loophole” in the country’s regulatory process that had otherwise kept similar events from going forward. Government reaction, along with lots of apparent pressure from the French Judo Federation, was swift.

France holds historic MMA event

In 2016, the country reinforced and strengthened it’s ban on mixed martial arts, dubbing the sport essentially outright illegal. Notably the French Sports Ministry passed regulations to ban fighting on surfaces using a caged enclosure, and to ban any use of ground striking techniques.

Nonetheless, promotions like 100% Fight (which served as home court to a young Francis Ngannou) managed to carve out a space, operating under the strict rules enforced on them. And in 2019 French Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu announced that the path to fully regulated, legal MMA in 2020 was open—provided that the sport be regulated under one of the existing sporting federations within the country. Eventually the Boxing Federation was awarded a 2-year contract to oversee MMA regulation and modern, full-rules French MMA was finally set to have its day.

France upholds ban on MMA

This past Thursday, October 8th, the country’s first officially regulated MMA event went ahead in Vitry-sur-Seine. Dubbed the Mixed Martial Arts Grand Prix, it featured a main event between former UFC lightweight Mickael Lebout and Portuguese welterweight Joao Bonfim.

But before the card could get to its more prestigious headliner, it opened with a middleweight bout between Ben Zakar and Pierre Rouviere. The true beginning of a new era in mixed martial arts.

The two men squared off, feinting and looking to trade. Then Zakar nailed Rouviere straight in the pills. Somehow all too fitting.

The rest of the card was a wild and often sloppy affair, full of fun momentum swings and the kind of rapid changes in position and control that fans have come to expect from the lower echelons of MMA. While Lebout may have been the most notable MMA veteran on the card. The event also saw the debut of longtime international Judo competitor and former French national champion Laetitia Blot.

Blot secured two quick slamming takedowns and near instantaneous transition to mount on her opponent for a first round TKO victory via ground-and-pound. While it seems unlikely that a long MMA career is waiting out ahead of the 37-year-old, she looked like a physical force in the cage.

The event also played host to the third pro MMA fight for multiple time kickboxing champion, 39-year-old Karim Ghajji. Ghajji (103-16-1 in the squared circle) has regularly featured on Bellator and Glory kickboxing events. He last competed in MMA back in 2018, at an Octogone MMA event in Paris, using France’s previous mixed rule set. This time out Ghajji found himself getting dropped hard by an overhand right early in his bout against Wallace Felipe, but came back to find an RNC win. Ironically both his MMA victories to date have come by submission.

It’s unclear exactly why night’s second contest, between Kevin Fall and Nicolas Di Franco was called off after two rounds, and subsequently scored a draw. It appears, on the live broadcast that there may have been a disagreement over how many rounds the bout had been originally contracted for, and/or potentially that one fighter was unwilling to continue into the third round.

Complete results from French MMA’s first fully sanctioned event:

  • Mickael Lebout (20-10) def. Joao Bonfim (8-6) via Submission (Omoplata) in Round 1
  • Laetitia Blot (1-0) def. Silvia Nascimento (0-3) via TKO (GnP) at 1:29 of Round 1
  • Alioune Nahaye (9-2) def. David Mora (5-3) via KO (strikes) at 3:52 of Round 3
  • Karim Ghajji (2-1) def. Wallace Felipe (0-1) via Submission (RNC) at 3:59 of Round 2
  • Kevin Fall (4-5-2) drew Nicolas Di Franco (5-1-1) at 5:00 of Round 2
  • Pierre Rouviere (1-0) def. Ben Zakar (4-1) via KO (Body kick) at 0:24 of Round 2

Video: Here’s the shocking soccer kick KO that ended Bellator 237: Fedor vs. Rampage

Posted on by Zane Simon in Asian MMA, Bellator, Front Page, MMA Results

When it came to its undercard bouts, Bellator 237: Fedor vs. Rampage was a bit of a mess. Initially, what ended up as a series of postlim fights were advertised as being available to fans around the world streaming live online. However, as the day of the event arrived, it became clear that wasn’t going to be the case. Due to local broadcast restrictions, only Japanese fans watching on TV – or in the arena – got to see the eight fights that followed Fedor Emelianenko’s first round knockout of Rampage Jackson in the main event.

They missed Shoma Shibisai’s leg lock submission of Sergey Shemetov, Jon Tuck’s first round KO of Ryuichiro Sumimura, and Kanna Asakura’s 3rd round kimura submission win over Jayme Hinshaw. But, most importantly, fans were robbed of the chance to see RIZIN finishing machine Yusuke Yachi add another amazing highlight to his reel.

In the final bout of the night, Yusuke faced longtime DEEP staple Hiroto Uesako. And after landing a crushing right hook late in round 3, followed it up with a PRIDE style soccer kick right to the jaw. Check the highlights below:

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The win marked the first victory for Yusuke since taking a split decision over Diego Nunes back at RIZIN 10 in May of 2018. In the time since, he’s dropped three straight bouts to Luiz Gustavo, Johnny Case, and Mikuru Asakura—all of whom are fighting on RIZIN’s 2019 NYE card. With the victory, the Krazy Bee fighter brings his record up to 20-9, with eight stoppage wins.

Eddie Alvarez: Timofey Nastyukhin’s punch ‘instantly blinded me and split both eyelids in half’

Posted on by Zane Simon in Asian MMA, Front Page, MMA News, MMA Results

When it comes down to performances in the cage, the last year has not been particularly kind to Eddie Alvarez. The former Bellator and UFC champion ended 2017 with a bang; a highlight reel KO over current top ranked UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje. Months later, in the final fight of his UFC contract, he would lose via TKO in a rematch to Dustin Poirier to settle the score of their controversial first fight.

Alvarez then took his talents to ONE Championship, where the 35-year-old 16-year MMA veteran was expected to be one of the Singapore-based promotion’s top new stars. Alongside Demetrious Johnson, Alvarez stepped into the ONE cage for the first time on March 31st, in the opening round of a lightweight Grand Prix. Four minutes later and he was being picked up off the canvas, having been handed one of the worst losses of his career, against the relatively unheralded Russian, Timofey Nastyukhin.

In a post on Instagram, Alvarez detailed what went wrong. From his trouble pulling the trigger in the opening minutes, to the clubbing punch that busted his eye apart and ended the fight.

Hey guys First and foremost congrats to Timofey in his victory,” Alvarez wrote on the social media platform, “He is very deserving of everything that comes with victory and I wish him the best in the continued tournament. Honestly speaking how I fought my One Championship debut is not a reflection of my training my coaches, my team, it’s not even a reflection of my beliefs. I am sincerely disappointed and confused in my inability to not pull the trigger and my hesitancy on recent fight nights, it’s been quite confusing to figure out the past year or so. Coach Mark always stresses “hesitancy is Death” and it’s not something that is even in my character to do.

In this particular fight I waited too long for an opening and paid the ultimate price. The punch that hit me, instantly blinded me and split both eyelids in half. It felt like my eye exploded from the inside and the pain was instant. From an outsider watching myself I should of have expected the result considering my actions. You have to punch, kick, takedown and pressure to win a fight, I waited. I simply waited too long for the correct timing and opening that never came.

Fighting continues to teach me life lessons thru my victories and even more through tough defeats. Victory and defeat are by products of putting it on the line, they have been inescapable throughout my whole life. I hope to be judged on how I adjust and pivot from defeat and behave in victory rather than the result of a small moment in time. To my Wife /kids family, coaches, teams mates, friends and to all the fans, thank you always for your continued support, doing this is very lonely and isolated, a simple pat on the back goes a long long way. Thank you thank you thank you. I will make adjustments and come back true to form.

Alvarez also shared a couple of photos of his eye post fight. Warning, for those with especially queasy stomachs, they’re a bit graphic.

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For his part, Nastyukhin will now face longtime ONE Championship talent Lowen Tynanes. Tynanes (10-0) started his career with the promotion all the way back in 2013, at ONE FC 7, before a contract dispute with KOTC derailed his promising career. Tynanes made his return to competition, after a three year absence, against Honorio Banario in January of 2019, winning that fight by first round TKO.

On the other side of the bracket, Ariel Sexton is set to face Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev, following the two men’s opening round victories. A date for the semi-final matchups has not yet been set. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates as the tournaments continue.

UFC Nashville – 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Editorial, MMA News, MMA Podcasts, MMA Results, UFC Editorial, UFC News, UFC Results

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown tonight’s event; the guys are here with hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

On the 23rd. of March, 2019, the UFC put on an event in Nashville, Tennessee, USA – UFC Fight Night 148, UFC on ESPN+ 6. Welterweight Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson faced off with Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis as the headliner. The co-main consisted of Heavyweights Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes who last fought Francis Ngannou in a rematch on 24, November, 2018, where he lost via TKO early in the first round, versus Justin ‘Big Pretty’ Willis who won his last bout via unanimous decision, which was against Mark Hunt December 2, 2018.

Here’s a look at the fight card results for UFC Nashville on ESPN+ 6, from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, on Saturday, March 23rd, via Tapology.com:

MAIN EVENT ESPN+ 6 | 8PM/5PM ET/PT
Anthony Pettis def. Stephen Thompson, KO/TKO-Punches, Rd 2 of 5, 9:55 Total
Curtis Blaydes def. Justin Willis, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
John Makdessi def. Jesus Pinedo, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
Jussier Formiga def. Deiveson Figueiredo, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
Luis Pena def. Steven Peterson, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
Maycee Barber def. JJ Aldrich, KO/TKO-Knee & Punches, 3:01 Rd 2 of 3, 8:01 Total

PRELIMS ESPN+ | 5PM/2PM ET/PT
Bryce Mitchell def. Bobby Moffett, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
Marlon Vera def. Frankie Saenz*, KO/TKO-Punches, 1:25 Rd 1 of 3
Jennifer Maia def. Alexis Davis, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
Randa Markos def. Angela Hill, SUB-Armbar, 4:24 Rd 1 of 3
Chris Gutierrez def. Ryan MacDonald, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total
Jordan Espinosa def. Eric Shelton, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds – 15:00 Total

*Check out our interview with Frankie Saenz here:

As always, if you enjoyed our show, give us a “REC” here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV , iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, blubrry, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

*Intro/Outro music has been provided by OxBow, starring Eugene S. Robinson.

6th Round Post-Fight Show – Blachowicz vs Santos

Posted on by Zane Simon in Events, Front Page, MMA & Boxing Gambling, MMA News, MMA Podcasts, MMA Results

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, February 23rd, UFC on ESPN+3 Prague event, featuring Jan Blachowicz vs Thiago Santos & Stefan Struve vs Marcos Rogério de Lima. The guys are here with hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Here’s a look at the results from the Saturday, February 23rd, UFC Fight Night 145 on ESPN+3 card from the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, via Tapology.com:

MAIN CARD ESPN+ 3 | 2PM/11AM ET/PT
Thiago Santos def. Blachowicz, KO/TKO-Punches, 0:39 Rd 3 of 5, 10:39 Total
Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogério de Lima, SUB-Arm Triangle Choke, 2:21 Rd 2 of 3, 7:21 Total
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gian Villante, KO/TKO-Punch to Body, 1:34 Rd 1 of 3
Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilová, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Petr Yan def. John Dodson, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Magomed Ankalaev def. Klidson Abreu, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total

PRELIMS ESPN 2 | 11AM/8AM ET/PT
Dwight Grant def. Carlo Pedersoli, KO/TKO-Punch, 4:59 Rd 1 of 3
Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur, SUB-Rear Naked Choke, 1:10 Rd 2 of 3, 6:10 Total
Gillian Robertson def. Veronica Macedo, SUB-Rear Naked Choke, 3:27 Rd 2 of 3, 8:27 Total
Damir Hadžović def. Polo Reyes, KO/TKO-Ground & Pound, 2:03 Rd 2 of 3, 7:03 Total
Ismail Naurdiev def. Michel Prazeres, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Diego Ferreira def. Rustam Khabilov, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Damir Ismagulov def. Joel Alvarez, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total

As always, if you enjoyed our show, give us a “REC” here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like” and a share over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, blubrry, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

*Intro/Outro music on the audio podcasts have been provided by OxBow, starring Eugene S. Robinson.

Bellator 214: Fedor vs Bader – 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Events, Front Page, MMA Results

Mookie Alexander and Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this weekend’s Bellator 214 event which took place at The Forum in Los Angeles, CA yesterday, Saturday, January 26; with hot takes, possible next fights, and results from the main, which featured Fedor Emelianenko vs Ryan Bader in the final round of their Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament. The main card was viewed on Paramount Network (formerly Spike TV) at 9pm ET/PT. DAZN also live-streamed the prelims and main card.

As always, if you enjoyed our show, give us a “REC” and share here on Bloody Elbow, or a “LIKE” and share over on our SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, or STITCHER channels – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. And while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents. That way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. Be watching SPOTIFY too for our podcasts to start appearing in the next week or so.

*Intro/Outro music has been provided by OxBow, starring Eugene S. Robinson

Here’s a look at the Saturday, January 26th, Bellator 214 card results, via Tapology.com:

BELLATOR 214

MAIN CARD
Ryan Bader def Fedor Emelianenko, KO/TKO, 0:35 R1
Henry Corrales def Aaron Pico, KO/TKO, 1:07 R1
Jake “Swagger” Hager def JW Kiser, Sub, 2:09 R1
Juan Archuleta def Ricky Bandejas, Unanimous Dec
Adel El-Tamini def Brandon McMahan, Sub, 1:16 R1

POSTLIM
Ozzy Diaz def Christopher Reyes, KO/TKO, R1
David Pacheco def Jorge Juarez, KO/TKO

PRELIMS
Thor Skancke def Jesse Merritt, Sub, N/S Choke, 4:26 R1
Jesse Roberts def AJ Agazarm, Split Dec
Weber Almeida def Odan Ruiz, KO/TKO, 3:04 R1
Art Rivas def Sean Johnson, KO/TKO, 4:30 R1
Jay Jay Wilson def Tyler Beneke, Sub, 1:31 R1
Ryan Lilley def James Barnes, KO/TKO, 1:03 R1
Craig Plaskett def Ian Butler, Unanimous Dec
Desmond Torres def Steve Ramirez, Sub, 4:21 R1

Video: 54-year old Shinobu Kandori crashes the ring following Gabi Garcia’s RIZIN 14 win

Posted on by Zane Simon in Asian MMA, Front Page, MMA Results, Women's MMA

Gabi Garcia’s MMA career was always going to be a bit of a circus. The 6’2”, 226 lb multiple-time Jiu Jitsu world champion was in a class of her own on the mats. In MMA she’s been nearly impossible to find opponents for.

At RIZIN 14, Garcia faced a woman many thought would be her toughest challenge to date. 5’10” Brazilian kickboxer Barbara Nepomuceno. Garcia tapped her with a keylock halfway through the first round.

What followed was both all too strange and all too familiar. Former competitive Judoka, women’s MMA pioneer, and longtime pro-wrestler Shinobu Kandori charged the ring looking to take some of Garcia’s spotlight and goad the giant Brazilian into a fight.

It’s the sort of MMA weirdness only made somewhat less remarkable for the fact that Shinobu vs. Garcia is a match that RIZIN has been toying with for several years now. The Japanese MMA promotion first attempted to book the bout in December of 2016, but the fight was scrapped due to a rib injury to Shinobu. They tried to make the fight again in December of 2017, but Garcia missed weight by an absurd 27 lbs.

All the way through, Shinobu has aggressively pursued confrontations with Garcia, whenever possible. This incident at RIZIN 14 is just the latest.

Whether all this heat is actually leading up to a real fight, or if it’s all just staged nonsense to grab both women some attention – or possibly both – it seems that RIZIN has become the home of one of MMA’s most absurd rivalries.

This Week in Knockouts – RIZIN.12, Glory, & LFA

Posted on by Zane Simon in Asian MMA, Front Page, MMA Results

It feels like a rare thing to get a week without a UFC, Bellator, or even a PFL event, but even with most of the world’s largest MMA promotions taking a break, there’s still been plenty of action to go around. LFA 47 brought heat, as did RIZIN.12, and a run of quality kickboxing and Muay Thai events meant no shortage of men getting separated from their senses.

Capturing all the action from around the moments from around the combat sports world are, as always, those brave souls who comprise MMA highlight Twitter. This week familiar faces Caposa, Jolassanda, Bestrafer7, and Kyle Johnson provided the bulk of the best in KO gifs and videos. So be sure to give each of them a follow, and you’ll never miss a moment.

Now, let’s get to the senses-separating violence…

RIZIN.12

Japan’s largest MMA promotion had center stage for big MMA events this week, with a kickboxing heavy card in Nagoya.

Lightweight Luiz Gustavo shocked Yusuke Yachi with a right hook in the second round, pushing his record to 9-0 and Yachi’s down to 20-7.

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Taiki Naito made Shootboxing proud with a 2nd round leg kick destruction of Hannya Hashimoto in their kickboxing bout.

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Featherweight Mikuru Asakura is 7-1 after picking up the biggest win of his young career. He starched UFC vet Hatsu Hioki with a beautiful headkick in the first round. Hioki is now 29-12-2 on the loss.

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Shintaro Matsukara devastated Takahiro Okuyama with two knockdowns off right hooks to pick up the KO in the second round of their kickboxing bout.

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LFA 47: Jackson vs. Jennerman

Former UFC featherweight Damon Jackson headlined LFA 47, in a bout for the promotion’s interim title at 145 lbs. While he was joined by UFC vets William Patolino and Sean Spencer, Jackson was the only one of the three to pick up a win.

Featherweight Damon Jackson improved to 16-2 with a huge overhand right to the jaw of Nate Jennerman, dropping his opponent to 12-4 on the loss.

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Shooto Brasil 86

Welterweight Edson Pancio (7-0) followed a huge flying knee with a knee right to the liver to put away Wilker Lemos (5-1) in the second round.

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Featherweight Joaquim Polonia is 7-5 as a pro after hitting Alan Alves Vieira with every right hand in the book, sending Vieira’s record to 2-3 in the process.

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Light heavyweight Joao Paulo (3-0) landed a clipping high kick to the jaw of Vanderson Barbosa (1-1), sending the man sprawling.

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Pancrase 298

Flyweight Taiki Akiba climbed to 9-6-1 with a sneaky right uppercut to right hook combo off the sprawl, putting Yusuke Ogikubo down to 10-8.

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Featherweight Yojiro Uchimura (16-12-3) put a career highlight on Vitor Toffanelli (15-9) with a left leg high kick that couldn’t have landed cleaner.

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Welterweight Hiroyuki Tetsuka made it to 5-3 as a pro behind a left hook-right cross combo and some followup GnP that sent Toshikazu Suzuki to 8-7 on the loss.

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Strawweight Takafumi Ato (8-8) showed big power for a small fighter, sticking Yuta Miyazawa (4-1) on the end of a perfect left hook.

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Other MMA

Heavyweight Alexander Soldatkin clubbed his way to 3-2 at Battle on Volga 5, behind a knee and a right hand that had Ilyas Khanov, now 1-2, trying to figure out what hit him.

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Light Heavyweight Vladimir Seliverstov (5-1) found the wild right hand to KO Evgeniy Yalukov (2-3) early in round 1 at Battle on Volga 5.

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Welterweight Vinicius Cruz hit 9-2-1 at Skull FC 2, even if he didn’t seem all that happy about following the ref’s orders to put away an already verbally submitted Eduardo Rufino with a crushing uppercut, sending Rufino to 7-4.

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Bantamweight Rudney Carvalho (6-0) landed a power jab right to the jaw of Wallace Portela (4-1) for Portela’s first loss at Skull FC 2.

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Lightweight Devonte Smith moved to 8-1 and earned himself a UFC contract at DWTNCS 2018: Week 8, delivering some classic Travis Browne elbows to the temple of Joseph Lowry. Lowry fell to 8-1 on his first career loss.

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Welterweight Justin Smith (2-0) kept finding a home for his left hook, eventually putting Giovanni Pretorius (2-1) away in the first round at EFC 72.

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Bantamweight Achmad Eko Priandono hit 4-1 at ONE PRIDE 21: Battle of Courage after getting far and away the better end of trading left hooks with Saepul Anwar, who fell to 3-1.

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Welterweight Joel Champion (5-1) landed a winging right hand to the temple of Matthew Frincu (13-4) to send him toppling to the floor at RUF MMA 27.

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Kickboxing & Muay Thai

Ryot Waller picked up the highlight of the night at Glory 56, knocking out Zack Wells with a right hand that sent his head spinning.

Welterweight Minoru Kimura won himself a belt by absolutely bulldozing Hitoshi Tsukakoshi for three knockdowns in under two minutes at Krush 91.

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Kenta Hayashi couldn’t help but find a home for his right hand at Krush 91 against Hiroshi Mizumachi on the way to a first round KO.

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Heavyweight Ryo Aitaka landed a tight little right hook to the side of the head of Toshio for the 2nd round KO at Krush 91.

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Heavyweight Jhonata Diniz sat Mikhail Tuterev down with a perfect right hand in their ACB Kickboxing 17 bout.

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Jonatan Oliveira caught Vitaly Gurkov brawling at ACB KB 17 and put him away with a winging right hook.

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Soe Lin Oo took on Muay Thai’s Iquezang in a Lethwei bout and won an unbelievable war behind clinch uppercuts and knees to the body late in the third round.

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San Thu Oo landed a snap front kick right to the nose of Kyal Sin Phyo to stop their bout and pick up a Lethwei title.

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That’s all there is for now. But This Week in Knockouts will be back again next Sunday for another trip through the world of combat sports highlights. So stay tuned!

51-year-old Renzo Gracie gets submission win in first fight since 2010 Matt Hughes loss

Posted on by Zane Simon in Asian MMA, BE Grappling, BJJ Competitions, Front Page, Grappling, MMA Results

It’s been a minute since Renzo Gracie last took a fight in MMA. In fact, it’s been over 4 million minutes, to be a little more precise. The legendary head of the Renzo Gracie BJJ Academy and Renzo Gracie Combat Team was last seen wearing a pair of 4oz gloves back in 2010, when he took a lopsided beating at the hands of Matt Hughes.

In the years since, he’s done some competitive submission grappling, most notably taking on Mario Sperry at the 2011 ADCCs and Kazushi Sakuraba at Metamoris V in 2014. And all during that time, he’s teased the possibility of returning to mixed martial arts competition. Still, it was something of a surprise to see what felt like a pipe-dream become reality, with the announcement that Gracie would face fellow MMA legend – and former Pancrase star & UFC title contender – Yuki Kondo.

Kondo, a veteran of over 100 fights – whose unbroken career stretches all the way back to the ‘No Holds Barred’ era of MMA – faced Gracie this past Friday, July 27th at ONE FC: Reign Of Kings. And after an uneventful first round, Renzo shot in for a single leg early in round 2. From there he transitioned to a bodylock back take and dragged Kondo to the mat. The rest was history.

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Even before the fight, Gracie announced that this would not be a ‘farewell’ bout, but rather a re-ignition of his competitive cage-fighting career. What that may mean for a next bout remains to be seen, but fans of the old-school BJJ legend can likely look forward to seeing him fight again in the not too distant future.

This Week in Knockouts: ONE Championship’s fight of the year & a strong night for Contender Series

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Front Page, MMA News, MMA Results, Technique

The UFC may have been off this week, but their Tuesday Night Contender Series is still delivering a whole heap of MMA violence for fans looking to get a fix. And of course, that’s buoyed by the rest of the combat sports world that never stops ticking. Bellator 201 went down last Friday with Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defending her flyweight title, and ONE Championship returned with a middleweight title fight for the ages Aung La Nsang defending his belt.

As always, keeping the rest of the us abreast of all this violence are the stalwarts of combat sports highlight Twitter. Day in and day out, they watch every bit of face punching that crosses that flows through a TV set or computer screen and pick out the best moments. This week Caposa, Kyle Johnson, and Jolassanda are providing the bulk of the definitive moments. So, give them a follow and you’ll stay up to date on the best that fighting has to offer.

BELLATOR 201: MACFARLANE vs. LARA

It may not have provided the most singular moments of the week, but Bellator was still the biggest name event in MMA. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defended her title and a twelve fight card saw eight bouts end inside the distance, with four coming by KO.

Featherweight Juan Archuleta hit an impressive 19-1, posterizing UFC vet Robbie Peralta with an overhand right and followup hammerfists. Peralta fell to 19-9 on the loss.

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DANA WHITE’S TUESDAY NIGHT CONTENDER SERIES

In terms of pure violence per-fight, DWTNCS continues to impress. The potential to earn a UFC contract and immediately become a promotional favorite in the world’s largest MMA organization has brought non-stop violence to the UFC’s Tuesday night fights.

Flyweight Antonina Shevchenko (6-0) made the Octagon family friendly, joining her sister with a UFC contract, having polished off Jaymee Nievara (7-4) with a brutal series of knees.

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Lightweight Te Edwards bumped up to 6-1 and earned his own UFC contract, after sending Austin Tweedy down to 10-2 with a walk-off right hand.

Heavyweight Josh Parisian (7-2) picked up a spot on a future TUF roster with a spinning backfist upside the head of Greg Rebello (24-9).

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Featherweight Julian Erosa got to 22-5, but failed to earn his UFC return, despite a slick headkick KO of Jamall Emmers, who dropped to 13-4 on the loss.

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ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SPIRIT OF A WARRIOR

One of Asia’s largest MMA promotions returned to action this week with a middleweight title fight. Aung La Nsang defended his title and five of the night’s seven bouts ended inside the distance.

Middleweight Aung La Nsang (23-10) put the stamp on a potential Fight of the Year contender against longtime DEEP vet Ken Hasegawa (16-3) with a short right uppercut late in round five.

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SHOOTO BRASIL 85

Shooto Brasil was the other promotion to bring a glut of entertaining violence last week, with eight stoppages in twelve bouts.

Bantamweight Kaique Modesto took his record to 4-1 behind one the prettiest short right elbows you’ll ever see, dropping Vinicius Salvardor to 9-2 in the process.

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Featherweight Andrey Augusto (4-1) caught Diego Borges (3-1) leaping in with a quick flurry of straight punches and some followup GnP in the frist round for a quality win.

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Bantamweight Lucas Sousa also fought his way to 4-1 with a right leg to the top of the head of Jaciel Lima, who’s record dropped to 4-4 on the loss.

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OTHER MMA

Featherweight Landon Quinones (2-0) took out Reinaldo Inocencio (1-1) at Titan FC 50: Manfio vs. Outlaw, with a bevy of right hands and two big knees behind them.

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Flyweight Yuya Wakamatsu beat longtime regional vet Mamoru Yamaguchi with an extended flurry of punches at Pancrase 297, to take his record to 9-2. Yamaguchi fell to 31-12-5 with the loss.

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Bantamweight Kenta Takizawa (9-4) landed a combination right body kick to right hook to get the KO over Toshinori Tsunemura (13-8-4) at Pancrase 297.

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Heavyweight Ryo Sakai climbed back up to 7-8 at DEEP 84 Impact, after walking a dazed Yusuke Kawaguchi onto a short left hand. Yusuke is now at 19-13 after the loss.

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Bantamweight Masato Kobayashi (9-7) got Takuya Hasegawa (1-2) stanky legged behind a left hook and a right hand, even if the stoppage was a touch early at DEEP 84 Impact.

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KICKBOXING & MUAY THAI

Konstantin Gluhov landed a perfect spinning wheel kick to the head of Maxim Bolotov, earning a fourth round knockout for his troubles at Tatneft Cup.

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Vladimir Kuzmin picked up the 4th round KO over Diogo Neves with a shocking spinning backfist at Tatneft Cup.

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Super Lightweight Hasumi Hikari landed a bombing right hand and a left uppercut to follow, putting away Nobu Makoto in round 1 at Krush Kickboxing 89.

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Sankom Sangmanee Gym landed a perfect step knee to the body to stop his opponent at MX Muay Xtreme.

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Chamnansuek Nor. Narissorn with a pair of left hooks to get the KO win at MX Muay Xtreme.

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Kaneko Daiki flattened his opponent at the latest Lethwei in Japan event, with a clubbing overhand right.

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BOXING

Super featherweight Robson Conceicao (8-0) has been following up on his amateur success, including an Olympic gold medal, with a slick body-head knockout combo on Gavino Guaman (5-3).

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Heavyweight Trey Morrison (15-0) picked up a KO over journeyman Byron Polley (30-22-1) with a leaping left hook in round 3.

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That’s all for now. But, This Week in Knockouts will return in mid-August to pick up the slack once again, when the UFC is kind enough to give us another break in their seemingly non-stop schedule. Until then!