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British MMA is on the agenda again as we take a look at the latest offering from Ultimate Challenge MMA, with two titles on the line at Stand Your Ground, shown this past Wednesday on Sky Sports here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the welterweight division with Trevor Sukonater taking on Bola Omoyele.

Lots of feeling out at the beginning of this one, with the first action of note coming two minutes into the fight when Omoyele scored with the take down.

Omoyele took control from there, unleashing with the ground and pound. Sukonater went for an arm bar, but all this did was give Omoyele the chance to take side control, and after a series of unanswered blows Sukonater tapped to give Omoyele the TKO win.

The welterweight action continued with Ross Pointon facing Dean Amasinger.

As soon as Amasinger scored with the early take down it was obvious how this fight was going to pan out. For three rounds Amasinger dominated on the ground with his reversals and transitions. Pointon had a few good moments, but they weren’t enough to take control away from Amasinger.

Things got worse for Pointon when he earned a point deduction for continually grabbing the fence. But by then it didn’t matter as all three judges gave the fight to Amasinger.

After a segment which saw co-host Jason Barrett confronting tabloid darling Alex Reid (more on that later) it was on to the heavyweight division as Ian Hawkins took on Ben Smith.

Smith began his assault with an early take down, and from there the former champion unloaded with the heavy leather, taking periodic rests so he wouldn’t gas out, with the referee stepping in in the last minute of the round to give Smith the TKO win.

Then it was down to the lightweight division as Dominic Plumb faced Michael Pastou.

A controversial fight saw an extensive feeling out period before Pastou went for a take down.

But when Plumb connected with a couple of 12-6 elbows the referee quickly stepped in. Pastou slumped to the ground, and seconds later the fight was called off as the referee disqualified Plumb, giving Pastou the win he didn’t really want.

The first title fight saw Denniston Sutherland challenging the ever youthful Mark Weir for the Middleweight title.

Weir tested the waters with a couple of kicks early on, but it wasn’t long before Sutherland’s combinations sent Weir down to the ground.

An inadvertent poke to Weir’s eye stopped the action for a few seconds, but Sutherland soon picked up where he’d left off with a big right hand that sent the Wizard crashing down again. Weir was out of it was Sutherland took the knockout win and the title.

The main event saw Mark Potter challenging Oli Thompson for the Heavyweight title.

Thompson put in a dominating performance in this one. The former Britain’s Strongest Man champion went for an early take down, and although an inadvertent low blow slowed his progress for a few seconds he soon went back to work with the ground and pound, opening up a small cut above Potter’s left eye and bloodying his nose.

Seconds later it was all over as Thompson synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

In conclusion – another great advertisement for British mixed martial arts here, a nice night of fight action topped off with two explosive title fights, and another example of how a British MMA promotion doesn’t need to fly in overseas fighters to put on a good show.

However, the only downside was the Jason Barrett/Alex Reid segment, which saw a filmed segment involving Barrett confronting Reid outside his gym before they squared off in the cage just came across as a poor professional wrestling-style segment. Was this thing really needed to promote Reid’s possible return to action? This is MMA after all, and not WWE.

But apart from that particular moment the 21st Ultimate Challenge show gets the thumbs up from me. I just hope they stay away from the scripted confrontations in the future.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

It was another night of main event changes as the Ultimate Fighting Championship presented their fourth show on Versus, shown live in the early hours of this past Monday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the heavyweight division as Matt Mitrione faced Christian Morecraft.

Old Meat Head put in another great performance in his blossoming MMA career. From the outset his striking looked top notch as he rocked Morecraft a couple of times with big lefts.

Morecraft had some success in the second with his take downs, but when the referee stood the fighters up because of inactivity Mitrione went to work with the combinations, sending Morecraft crashing with a three punch combo. Mitrione didn’t follow him down, the referee stopping the fight to give him the knockout win.

Then it was down to the welterweight division as John Howard took on Matt Brown.

This was a pretty even three round affair. Both fighters put in some good work at times, with Howard’s leg kicks and his take downs in the first round looking particularly effective.

Brown was more than able to keep up with him, with some good take down defence and ground work of his own.

All three judges scored in favour of Brown.

The welterweight action continued with Ricky Story taking on Charlie Brenneman.

The fight that was meant to be the main event (you should know the story by now) saw Brenneman putting on a good display of ground fighting in the first two rounds, continually frustrating Story with his superior work rate.

Story’s best moments came in the third, where he finally managed to take control on the ground with a leg triangle. But Brenneman regained control towards the end of the fight.

It was too little too late for Story though, with all three judges giving the fight to Brenneman.

The new main event saw Cheick Kongo taking on Pat Barry in the heavyweight division.

This battle of the kick boxers proved to be an explosive affair. Both fighters tested the waters early on with a series of kicks. But when Barry connected with a big right it looked all over.

Barry went in for the kill, and at one point it looked like the referee was going to stop the fight, but when he saw that Kongo was trying for a take down he let the action continue.

Seconds later it was over. Kongo got to his feet and connected with a right uppercut that sent Barry crashing. A brief moment of ground and pound followed before the referee stopped the fight to give Kongo the incredible knockout win.

In conclusion – despite all of the changes this proved to be a top notch show with four good fights, from the excellent ground fighting display of Charlie Brenneman and Rick Story to the explosive striking of Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo.

So in all this show gets the thumbs up, a perfect appetiser for this weekend’s big event.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

It was the event that introduced Brazilian Vale Tudo to the world as Marco Ruas made his bow in the 7th Ultimate Fighting Championship, The Brawl in Buffalo.

The show began with the tournament quarter-finals, beginning with karate fighter Gerry Harris facing trap fighter Paul Varelans.

This battle of the big men saw Varelans scored with the quick take down. From there he overwhelmed Harris, whose lack of ground fighting experience showed as Varelans took his back. Harris tapped after a series of elbows to the top of his head.

The next fight saw multi-black belt holder Mark Hall taking on the mullet man himself, Harold Howard.

These two were like statues at the beginning before Howard took the fight to the ground while he was trying a one handed choke.

But as Howard fell to his back Hall took control and bloodied Howard’s nose, and as Hall continued his assault Howard gave up, making a cross sign with his hands before tapping.

The third quarter saw jiu-jitsu fighter Remco Pardoel taking on karate man Ryan Parker.

These two gi-wearing fighters put on an interesting contest. Parker had no ground fighting experience and looked lost when Pardoel took the fight down.

Pardoel locked in a head lock, delivering a few punches before taking the mount and getting the tap out with a lapel choke.

The final quarter final saw the aforementioned Marco Ruas taking on kickboxer Larry Cureton.

This was the one I really wanted to see, mainly because I’d seen Ruas in action before when I reviewed his instructional DVD a few years ago.

This was by far the best fight of the round. Cureton went for a guillotine straight away, with Ruas countering with a big slam.

Then, surprisingly, Cureton reversed positions so he could take the guard. From there he went to work with the ground and pound, dominating for a couple of minutes.

Ruas then regained control, locking up Cureton’s leg and getting the submission win with a knee bar.

Then it was on to the semi-finals, beginning with Paul Varelans against Mark Hall.

Varelans had a massive size advantage in this one, using it to good effect as he took Hall down with a headlock before taking the mount and synching in a key lock for the submission win in just 61 seconds.

The second semi saw Remco Pardoel against Marco Ruas.

This was a war of attrition. Pardoel went for a guillotine attempt early on, keeping the hold applied for several minutes. The only problem was that he also had Rua’s right arm trapped as well, which negated the effect of the choke.

Ruas eventually took the fight to the ground, and the Brazilian soon took control, using Pardoel’s own gi against him as he went for a heel hook.

Then, as the fight neared the 13 minute mark, Ruas took the mount, and just as it looked as if Ruas was about to unload with the ground and pound Pardoel strangely tapped out, even though he still looked in good condition, with the announcers speculating that the Dutchman knew he was in for a beating.

The big title fight followed as UFC 6 tournament winner Oleg Taktarov challenged Ken Shamrock for the Superfight title.

Now this really was a war of attrition. Most of the bout was contested on the ground, with Shamrock in the guard position, controlling Taktarov with blows and head butts.

And that was how the action played out for the majority of the fight. Referee John McCarthy stood them up twice, but they soon returned to the ground, and by the time they were brought back up with three minutes left Taktarov had two cuts by his left eye and a swelling by his right.

Then they engaged in a striking battle, with Taktarov bloodying Shamrock’s nose. But there was still no finish as the 30 minute time limit expired.

So it was on to the three minute (down from the original five) overtime period, where we saw more striking before they went back down to the ground as the fight ended.

After all that the fight was declared a draw, with Shamrock retaining his title. It was a dominating performance from Shamrock, and it was also the fight that prompted the UFC to appoint judges from the next show.

Last up was the tournament final between Paul Varelans and Marco Ruas.

Varelans, as is his custom, came out of the traps immediately, only for Ruas to meet him with a series of right kicks that softened up his left leg.

Ruas then got his man up against the cage, surviving a brief guillotine attempt before taking the big man’s back. Varelans would surely have been taken down had he not held on to the fence.

When the referee broke them up because of inactivity Ruas went back to work with the leg kicks as Varelans began to limp quite badly. Eventually Ruas was able to cut him down, and after the Brazilian followed him down for some ground and pound the referee quickly stepped in to give Ruas the TKO win and the tournament victory.

In conclusion – my trip into the history of MMA was certainly interesting before, but this time I was in for a slight revelation.

Up until this point those entering the tournaments had been either strikers or grapplers, with those returning to the Octagon beginning to learn a little more about other fighting disciplines.

But Marco Ruas seemed to change all that, showing that he was gifted in both departments. He really was an all round fighter, perhaps even more so than Ken Shamrock at the time, and it certainly would have been interesting to see Ruas challenging Shamrock for the Superfight title. Sadly, the first Ultimate Ultimate tournament got in the way.

So in all UFC 7 gets the thumbs up as another great piece of MMA history, and the performance of the King of the Streets.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

With old World Extreme Cagefighting shows getting more repeats on British television than Top Gear I thought it would be an idea to continue my little series, taking a look WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia.

The broadcast began in the lightweight division as Rob McCullough faced Marcus Hicks.

This three round affair featured a lot of feeling out, and I mean a lot.

The only action of note came in the second round. Hicks dropped McCullough with a left, going in for the kill with a guillotine. McCullough managed to escape though, putting on a great striking display as he upped his game.

That was it really. The referee threatened to rule the bout a no contest at one point in the third, but they managed to make it to the end, with McCullough taking the majority decision, with one judge scoring it as a draw.

Then it was down to featherweight as Jose Aldo took on Chris Mickle.

Now this was more like it. Once again Aldo put in an excellent display of lightning fast striking. Mickle looked slightly messy as he tried to keep up, but a high right kick to the head and a barrage of blows was enough to give Aldo the quick TKO win.

Bantamweight action followed as Marcos Galvao faced Damacio Page.

The quickie of the night saw Page connecting with a big right straight away. It wasn’t long before Galvao had slumped to the ground. A brief period of ground and pound followed, with the referee quickly stepping in to give Page the 18 second knockout win.

It was back up to lightweight for the next fight as Bart Palaszewski went up against Ricardo Lamas.

Unlike that earlier fight this was a highly entertaining three rounder. The debuting Lamas did an excellent job of controlling Palaszewski, especially on the deck with his well placed ground and pound.

Palaszewski managed a couple of submission attempts, but it wasn’t enough as Lamas quickly re-established control.

No surprise with the decision, all three judges giving the fight to Lamas.

The main event saw Leonard Garcia challenging Mike Brown for the Featherweight title.

Within 20 seconds of the start Brown connected with a big right that sent Garcia crashing to the mat.

Garcia had no chance after that. Brown followed Garcia down to the mat as he took control, first with the ground and pound and then with grappling, taking Garcia’s back and going for a rear naked choke before getting the submission win with an arm triangle choke.

In conclusion – apart from the McCullough/Hicks opener this was a pretty decent show. There was a ton of solid work from the licks of Ricardo Lamas, Damacio Page, and particular Mike Brown, showing that his win against Urijah Faber was certainly no fluke.

So in all WEC 39 gets the thumbs up, and once again British fans don’t worry if you haven’t seen this show yet, because it will probably be repeated again next week!

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

It was another show with main event changes as Shane Carwin faced Junior Dos Santos in the main event of UFC 131, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began with the preliminaries, and once again ESPN began with technical problems, although we did get to see all of the first fight as Jesse Bongfeldt faced Chris Weidman in the middleweight division.

We saw a brief feeling out period at the beginning of this one before Bongfeldt scored with a big kick that stunned his man.

Weidman countered with a take down, controlling the action on the ground until Bongfeldt managed to get back to his feet.

But just as it looked as if the fight was going into the second round Weidman connected with a knee to the body. Bongfeldt tried to counter with a take down but got caught in Weidman’s standing guillotine, tapping out with just six seconds of the round left.

Then it was on to lightweight action as Sam Stout faced Yves Edwards.

Both fighters began by testing the waters with a few combinations before Edwards worked hard for the take down. However, Stout’s butterfly guar meant that he couldn’t do much on the ground.

When they got back to their feet Edwards connected with a big right, only for Stout to counter with ac left hook that sent Edwards crashing to the canvas. There was no need for Stout to inflict any further damage as he took the impressive knockout win.

So with that early finish it was on to filler material from the heavyweight division as Joey Beltran took on Aaron Rosa.

There was some wild brawling in this one. The first two rounds saw them engage in a clinching and striking battle, and the striking was so wild in the second that both men scored with inadvertent low knees.

The end came in the third round. When the fight finally went to the ground Beltran unleashed with the ground and pound, with the referee stopping to give him the TKO win.

The main show began in the lightweight division as Donald Cerrone went up against Vagner Rocha.

The Cowboy put in a dominating performance here, easily defending against Rocha’s take down attempts and centring his attack on Rocha’s lead leg.

Cerrone leg kicks were so brutal that Rocha was limping badly by the end of the third round. Rocha just didn’t seem to have any answer to this attack, and it looked like Cerrone could finished him off at any time.

No surprise with the decision as all three judges scored in favour of Cerrone.

It was up to the heavyweight division for the next fight as John-Olav Einemo faced Dave Herman.

Two new guys looking to impress their paymaster put on a very interesting striking battle. There were times when Herman just seemed to be inviting Einemo to hit him, and hit him the big Norwegian did, rocking him a number of times.

But Herman came back strongly, and after Einemo looked like he was about to win Herman came back immediately, a left hook sending Einemo down, with Herman taking the TKO win after some nice ground and pound.

Middleweight action followed as Demian Maia faced Mark Munoz.

I really enjoyed this one. The first round saw Maia put on a great striking display, showing how much he’s improved recently.

Munoz came back strongly from the second round onwards, putting on a great striking display of his own, allying that to some excellent ground work.

It was a great back and forth battle, and with the fight going the distance the judges came into play, with Munoz taking the unanimous decision.

The co-main event saw Kenny Florian dropping down to featherweight to take on Diego Nunes.

The big question going into this one was whether Florian could cut it at 145. The answer was yes.

Although Nunes had a good first round, knocking Florian down with a left/right combination K-Flo came back strongly from the second round onwards, putting in some good work on the ground.

But as the fight reached it’s final stages Nunes got a second wind and rocked Florian with a right that sent him down onto one knee.

But it was enough, as all three judges gave the fight to Florian.

The main event saw Junior Dos Santos taking on Shane Carwin, with a shot at the Heavyweight title on the line.

With the records these two have hardly anyone expected this fight to make it out of the first round, and at one point it looked like it wouldn’t.

Dos Santos put on an excellent striking display, and when he knocked Carwin down and went to work with the ground and pound it looked all over. But despite a broken nose and the crimson mask Carwin survived the onslaught.

Although Carwin had his moments later on Dos Santos dominated the remainder of the bout. It was an excellent display of fighting, and he even threw in a couple of take downs for good measure in the final round.

There was no great surprise with the decision as all three judges scored in favour of Dos Santos.

The show rounded out with a second showing of the Sam Stout/Yves Edwards fight.

In conclusion – even though I’m in danger of sounding like a stuck record I’ll say it anyway.3

This was another great show from Dana White and his crew. Every fight delivered and then some, and that’s good enough for me. The highlight of the night had to be the performance of Junior Dos Santos as he booked a mouth watering match with Heavyweight king Cain Velasquez.

So in all UFC 131 gets the big thumbs up for a night of top notch fight action.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

WHOA! TV deliver the goods once again:

Ahead of Jason “Shotgun” Young’s octagon debut at UFC 131 WHOA! TV take an exclusive behind the scenes look at one of the UK’s most talented prospects.

So once again it’s reached it’s conclusion, and once again I didn’t watch any of the reality show stuff beforehand as the UFC presented the 13th Ultimate Fighter finale, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the welterweight division as Chuck O’Neil faced Chris Cope.

The Team Lesnar buddies put in a highly entertaining opener, but from the early moments it was obvious how this was going to turn out.

Cope put on an excellent striking display, getting better as the fight went on. By the time the third round started he was using O’Neil for target practice.

No surprise with the judges decision, with all three giving everything to Cope.

Then it was up to the light heavyweight division as Kyle Kingsbury faced Fabio Maldonado.

This fight gave us a second example of great striking, but this time it came from both fighters.

Kingsbury began strongly, and his knees from numerous muay thai clinches looked great. But most of the time Maldonado countered with some hard shots to the body.

Add in some trips to the ground and a couple of guillotine attempts and you’ve got an entertaining three rounder.

The judges were called into action again, with all three giving the fight to Kingsbury.

After an interview with Shane Carwin it was on to middleweight action as Ed Herman took on Tim Credeur.

This one lasted less than a minute. Herman had already connected with a couple of good lefts when an uppercut sent Credeur down. Herman joined him on the ground before the referee stepped in to give Herman the TKO win.

Following an interview with Junior Dos Santos it was on to the lightweight encounter between Anthony Pettis and Clay Guida.

Pettis came into this fight with a great deal of fanfare, and most of it was justified.

Whenever the fight went to the ground Pettis always seemed to be looking for ways to attack, and he had some success in that respect, especially when he took Guida’s back towards the end of the third.

The only problem was that Guida was able to impose his will on the fight, turning it into an ugly but effective affair, taking Pettis’ back as the fight came to an end.

Once again the judges were called into action, with all three giving the fight to Guida.

The main event featured welterweight action as Ramsey Nijem faced Tony Ferguson in the final of The Ultimate Fighter.

This one began with Nijem coming forward early with combinations, Ferguson countering with a take down.

From there we saw some nice exchanges with a few brief trips to the ground before Ferguson connected with a left hook that sent Nijem crashing. Ferguson went down to finish the fight, with the referee stepping in to give Ferguson the TKO win and the big money contract.

The show rounded out with filler material, beginning with the bantamweight clash between Scott Jorgensen and Ken Stone.

This featured some nice striking from both men, with Jorgensen getting the upper hand before Stone came back with some good work of his own.

When the fight went to the ground Stone looked for the submission, but a big right from the guard by Jorgensen knocked Stone out, which is something I’ve never seen before. The referee wisely stepped in to confirm Jorgensen’s stunning win.

The final fight saw Josh Grispi taking on George Roop in the featherweight division.

Grispi started the fighting by going for a take down, and it was from there that Roop began his great work, countering Grispi with a series of elbows.

It was from the second round onwards that Roop really upped his game, controlling the fight on the deck with his ground and pound, Grispi offering little in return.

Grispi began the third round well enough on the ground, but it wasn’t long before Roop took control again, and after Grispi complained of a low blow that looked borderline at best Roop took the win with a hard body shot, the referee stopping the action as soon as Grispi went down.

In conclusion – once again this show has proven my point, that you don’t need to watch The Ultimate Fighter to enjoy the finale.

This was a great night of fight action. There wasn’t a bad fight here, although I can’t decide if I enjoyed the Guida/Pettis or the Roop/Grispi fight the most. So in all The Ultimate Finale 13 gets the thumbs up.

And who knows, now that Michael Bisping has been confirmed as one of the coaches for the next series I might actually watch it again!

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

As the Extreme Sports channel continues to wind it’s repetitive way through a dozen WEC shows we’re going to take a loot at their 38th instalment, where Donald Cerrone challenged Jamie Varner for the Lightweight title.

The broadcast began in the featherweight division as Jose Aldo faced Rolando Perez.

Both of these guys were lightning fast with their strikes and kicks, with Aldo just edging it in the speed stakes.

So when it looked like it could go either way Perez went for a left, only for Aldo co connect with a knee to the chin that sent Perez down.

Aldo went down for a few more strikes before the referee stepped in to give Aldo the TKO win.

Then it was up to welterweight as Danillo Villefort took on Mike Campbell.

This was a great back and forth battle. After a brief feeling out period Campbell scored with the take down. Villefort countered with the rubber guard so Campbell picked him and slammed him down.

Villefort came back with some nice ground work, going for a couple of leg locks. The fight then went up and down before finally returning to the ground, where Villefort took control, took Campbell’s back and secured the ground and pound TKO win.

Bantamweight action followed as Scott Jorgensen went up against Frank Gomez.

Gomez began his night with a couple of kicks, which Jorgensen countered with a take down. He immediately went for a guillotine, switching it to a power guillotine before Gomez succumbed to the inevitable.

Then it was on to the big rematch in the featherweight division as Urijah Faber faced Jens Pulver.

This was another step on Pulver’s downward spiral. Little Evil began with a take down but Faber quickly got back to his feet.

Seconds later Faber connected with a left to the body that rocked Pulver. Faber went in for the kill, eventually taking the fight down and synching in a guillotine for the submission win, handing Pulver his third successive defeat.

The main event saw Donald Cerrone challenge Jamie Varner for the Lightweight title.

This was one of the best spirited fights I’ve ever seen. These two showed each other a tremendous amount of respect, but that didn’t stop them from having a great battle.

For just over four rounds we saw an exciting back and forth battle. Each man had their moments. Varner put on a great display of ground and pound and striking, while Cerrone’s ground work and kicks looked lethal.

But in the early stages of the fifth Cerrone caught Varner with a knee to the head while the champion was still grounded.

With the blow ruled an unintentional foul, and with Varner unable to continued it went to the scorecards, with Varner taking the win by technical split decision. An unfortunate ending to what was a great fight.

In conclusion – out of the three WEC shows I’ve seen this has been the best of the bunch.

There was plenty of great action on offer here, with Faber’s destruction of Pulver the highlight of the night for me, although the Varner/Cerrone encounter would have edged it had it not been for the early ending.

So in all WEC 38 gets the thumbs up from me. But don’t worry if you live in Britain and you haven’t seen this one yet, because it will definitely be repeated soon.