BlurayMMA.com

Once again it’s time to take a look at Extreme Sports’ continuing coverage of old World Extreme Cagefighting shows, and this time we’re going back to WEC 40, with Takeya Mizugaki challenging Miguel Angel Torres for the Bantamweight title.

The broadcast began with Raphael Assuncao taking on Jameel Massouh in the featherweight division.

These two debuting fighters were looking to make a big impression with the paymaster in this entertaining three round affair. Sadly, only one of them did as Assuncao took control early on with his superior striking and grappling.

Massouh had a few good moments, particularly when he exchanged leg submission attempts, but he always looked a couple of steps behind his opponent.

To the surprise of no-one all three judges gave everything to Assuncao, and rightfully so.

It was up to lightweight for the next fight as Shane Roller faced Ben Henderson.

This one looked like it was going to end early when Roller knocked Henderson down and went for a guillotine.

Henderson managed to escape though and immediately took control, a big left sending Roller down. Henderson went in for the kill, with the referee stepping in to give Henderson the highly impressive TKO win.

The lightweight action continued in the next fight as Bart Palaszewski took on Anthony Njokuani.

Both guys were looking to get back to winning ways, and when Palaszewski went for an early take down it looked like Njokuani’s lack of ground skills were going to count against him.

But the Nigerian managed to get back to his feet as he began to put on a great striking display.

As the second round began Njokuani went for the finish, a big right sending Palaszewski crashing down to the canvas, and with Njokuani following him down it was all over seconds later as the referee stopped the fight to give Njokuani the TKO win.

The main event saw the debuting Takeya Mizugaki challenging Miguel Angel Torres for the Bantamweight title.

As the fight began announcer Frank Mir intimated that he didn’t think the fight would last that long. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

For five rounds champion and challenger put on an excellent back and forth striking contest. It was great to watch as each man took their shots.

But as the fight progressed it was obvious that Torres was the better fighter as he took control, especially when he began to grind Mizugaki down in the clinch against the cage.

There was a brief foray to the ground but they quickly got back to their feet, both men ending the fight swinging for the fences, looking as fresh as they had nearly thirty minutes before.

So with the fight going the distance it was up to the judges, with all three giving the fight to Torres by various margins.

In conclusion – this may have been the best WEC show I’ve seen so far.

The four fights featured here were full of top notch action, with the main event the best of the bunch, which is why WEC 40 gets the big thumbs up from me.

But don’t worry my fellow Brits if you haven’t seen this one yet, as I’m sure Extreme Sports will show it again soon. As the old saying goes check your local listings for details.

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.

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.

As the Extreme Sports channel continues with their regular rotation of old World Extreme Cagefighting shows we’re now going back to December 2008 as Manny Tapia challenged Miguel Torres for the Bantamweight title at WEC 37.

The broadcast began with bantamweight action as Joseph Benavidez faced Danny Martinez.

An encounter between two debuting fighters proved to be an intriguing if unspectacular three rounder. Both guys put on a good display of striking, although as the fight went on Benavidez took control with his jab/hook tactics.

Benavidez may have been in control in the third but as the fight came to an end Martinez sprang to live with a flurry of blows.

All three judges scored in favour of Benavidez.

The bantamweight action continued as Brian Bowles faced Will Ribeiro.

Bowles put in a great performance here. His striking was crisp and his ground work was good, especially in the third round when he locked in a guillotine choke that Ribeiro barely escaped from.

The Brazilian had his moments, but these didn’t happen that often, and when he went for a take down in the third Bowles countered with a guillotine. Once again Ribeiro tried to fight it, but it wasn’t long before he tapped out to give Bowles the submission win.

Then it was up to featherweight and two more debuting fighters as Wagnney Fabiano took on Akitoshi Tamura.

If you ever want to see a good example of effective ground fighting then give this one a look.

It went to the ground early, and while Fabiano put on a great offensive display Tamura was up to the task with some sound defensive work.

However, the Japanese star just couldn’t get much offence going off his back, with Fabiano escaping from his guillotine attempt by wall walking to relieve the pressure.

The end came towards the end of the third round as Fabiano locked in an arm triangle for the submission win.

The main event saw Manny Tapia challenging Miguel Torres for the Bantamweight title.

Torres came into this fight with a huge reach advantage, and he used it to good effect, keeping Tapia at bay with his stinging jabs.

Tapia got in a few good body shots, but as the fight entered the second round Torres took control.

A big right rocked Tapia and sent him to the ground. Another big right sent Tapia down for the second time, with Torres following him down for some ground and pound. It wasn’t long before the referee had seen enough as he stopped the fight to give Torres the  title retaining TKO win.

In conclusion – another good show from the UFC’s little brother. Although it wasn’t packed with spectacular action the majority of the fighting was sound, with the performance of Miguel Torres the highlight of the night for me.

So in all a good show, and once again I’ll say that if you live in Britain and haven’t seen this show yet don’t worry. Just keep an eye on the Extreme Sports channel. I’m sure it will be on again.

Keeping a careful eye on the Sky TV guide, I’ve spotted Fight Club – K1 World GP Final from Japan, on Eurosport 2 for kickboxing fanatics this evening (February 1). Eurosport have also announced via their website to be the new home for Strikeforce in the UK.

Extreme Sports (Sky 419) list WEC cards: 44 – Brown vs Aldo on Wednesday night and 45 – Cerrone vs Ratcliff for this coming Thursday.

Premier UK mixed martial arts promoters BAMMA reportedly have a deal with Sy Fy channel. Hopefully we’ll confirmed details soon.

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Starting with the main fight card on disc 1 of this 2 DVD set is a battle of the welterweight contenders between Rory McDonald and former WEC champ Carlos Condit. The all actions scrap is full of suspense. Home-town favourite McDonald puts in a brilliant performance, but veteran Condit comes back to bag the win by TKO in stunning fashion in the third stanza.

Dutch former PRIDE FC & Affliction bad-boy striker Gilbert Yvel makes an appearance versus former IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell, but doesn’t entertain in this one sided encounter against powerful wrestler Rothwell.

Next up another showdown from the welters: Paulo Thiago facing Martin Kampmann, in a Denmark vs Brazil match-up. Evenly matched, both competitors are dangerous in their own right, at least on paper.

Not one of the most enthralling fights, the Canadian fans were like a library throughtout. Kampmann dominates but unable to finish Thiago.

Super-strikers Crop Cop and Pat Berry cross swords next as the heavyweights collide in the octagon. A must-see bout, featuring stacks of hard hitting stand-up action, from 2 of the greatest current kick-boxers in the MMA game.

Best of all is the huge surprise tap-out win for Mirko in the final 30 seconds of the allotted 15 minutes. You gotta see it to believe it! Just a shame Cro Cop’s Duran Duran entrance theme is absent, great ending though.

Finally the highly anticipated main event featuring 2 legendary names of the octagon – Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell and Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin. This match-up is a dream fight, Liddell the former Light Heavyweight champ and Franklin a former Middleweight title holder.

Liddell – one to leave it all behind in the cage loses to tactition Franklin, via a nasty KO blow. Awesome performance from Ace. Hold onto this DVD, could be the last appearance in the UFC for the Iceman. Amazing knock-out, a short but thrilling encounter.

You’ll find all the preliminary bouts on disc 2, including Pat Militech protege Jesse Lennox engaging in combat with Extreme Couture alumini Mike Pyle (John Hathaway opponent – UFC 120). Pyle comes out on top, impressing with a submission win in the final seconds.

TUF 9 welterweight winner James ‘Lightning’ Wilks battles German Peter Sobotta. The Brit BJJ specialist grinds out out the win, returning to winning ways.

A touch of controversy is found in the form of Mac Danzig versus Matt Wiman. The bout starts off well but sees Danzig robbed. Wiman’s with Danzig in a choke-hold,  informs the ref his opponent is out. Fight is over, Danzig jumps to his feet, clearly OK, wanting to continue. Unfortunately the fight couldn’t be restarted. Here’s hoping the UFC will give the fans a rematch, who’ll want to see it as will both fighters I’m sure.

The must-see countdown show on disc 2 features some added glamour thanks to Liddell’s girlfriend Heidi Northcut, an inspiration to him, a fitness fanatic herself. As ever the feature aids to get you hyped up for the marquee match-ups.

Behind the scenes boasts extra unseen footage of Pat Berry, Cro Cop, Liddell and Franklin leading towards their cage clashes and their thoughts post fight. You are also treated to 15 minutes of Chuck’s greatest rivalries with fighters Jeremy Horn, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.

Another neat package from FightDVD, go grab one!

UFC 115 – Liddell vs. Franklin is out now on DVD, available direct from www.fightdvd.co.uk and all good retailers.

Keep visiting BluRayMMA.com for more reviews of brand new UFC, related combat sport and martial arts DVD releases.

UFC DVD review by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

–The CBS Strikeforce event did a 2.3 rating on the fast nationals from 9-11 p.m. It finished last among the four networks in the time slot and third among the four MMA events held on CBS. The Fedor fight started after 11 p.m., so isn’t included, so the rating should end up higher including the main event. CBS averages a 4.1 rating in that time slot. They did win the time slot in Males 18-49.

–Right after the show ended last night, in Google trends, Fedor vs. Brett Rogers was No. 3, Fedor himself was No. 19, Jason Miller was No. 21 and Jake Shields was No. 24. However, this morning, all were out of the top 40.

–Emelianenko suffered an injury to his left hand punching Rogers as well as a broken nose on the first punch of the fight.

–On the ESPN crawl this morning, they mentioned last night’s show, but only mentioned Jake Shields beat Mayhem Miller and never mentioned Fedor’s win. Amazing.

–The Chicago Sun Times had last night’s fights with the top banner with a photo and a big article today. (thanks to Matthew Schreiner)

–Newsday on page A73 (not on the web site) did a story noting between last night’s show, UFC 105 and the WEC show on Nov. 18 there are three big events that won’t cost you a penny. They said with those three shows and UFC 106 on PPV, they called it The November to Remember. That has a clever ring to it.

–Sportsnet in Canada will be airing UFC 105 live on Saturday night at 3 p.m. Eastern time as well as on tape delay at 8 p.m. Spike will only air it as a prime time special at 8 p.m. The Countdown show will be tomorrow night at 11 p.m.

–Actor Ed O’Neill (Al Bundy) is on the cover of today’s USA Weekend, the Sunday newspaper supplement in his BJJ garb and talks about his experiences with BJJ

–Action movie “Bad Guys” with Quinton Jackson in a main role comes out next week on DVD (thanks to Anthony Sullivan)

MMA NOTES-
Arena Rumble II, the first-ever World Class Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to come to Yakima Washington, will be held November 28th at 7 PM at the Yakima Sundome. The main event of Arena Rumble II will feature a lightweight bout between Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm (13-0) and Alonzo “Zo Diddy” Martinez (24-13-1).

Bellator Fighting Championships will shift from its original home on Spanish-language ESPN Deportes to FOX Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo for the next two seasons, the U.S.-based mixed-martial- arts promotion today announced.Live events will air Thursday nights on FOX Sports Net affiliates, and highlights packages will run Saturday nights on both NBC and the Spanish-language Telemundo.

Kazushi Sakuraba (25-12-1) has replaced Melvin Manhoef and takes on Zelg Galesic (9-4) at next week’s DREAM.12 event. Galesic, a Croatian striker sometimes billed as “Little Cro Cop,” looks to rebound from his Sept. 23 submission loss to Ronaldo Souza when he meets Sakuraba, who returned from a 10-month layoff and defeated boxer Rubin Williams earlier this month at DREAM.11.

Tachi Palace Fights, the reincarnation of the once-popular Palace Fighting Championships, returns for its second show on Dec. 3, and the organization has secured recent UFC fighter Xavier Foupa-Pokam (20-11), for the night’s main event. The French kickboxer takes on Mike Moreno (5-2) in a middleweight bout.

Three days before picking up a unanimous-decision win over PRIDE veteran Yuki Sasaki at Fight Festival 26 in Finland this past weekend, Sean Salmon went before the Ohio Athletic Commission and was issued a one-year administrative suspension and $2,500 fine. The suspension and fine resulted from a Sept. 2 column for a MMA Website in which Salmon, who is author of the site’s “Full-Time Fighter” blog, said he allowed opponent Allan Weickert to tap him out a June 6 NAAFS event in Ohio. The column sparked debate, and some criticized the former Ohio State wrestler for “throwing” a fight.

Referee “Big” John McCarthy was not assigned by the California State Athletic Commission to work the UFC 104 event. McCarthy, a California native, has been re-licensed in the state since November 2008, after returning from a yearlong retirement to pursue broadcasting opportunities. McCarthy has refereed and judged at multiple events in California this year.

Tokimitsu Ishizawa (1-4-1) takes on Katsuyori Shibata (3-6-1) at DREAM.12 set for Oct. 25 at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. Ishizawa, better known as the Japanese professional wrestler Kendo Kashin, takes his first MMA fight in nearly three years. The K-1 HERO’S veteran does have a 2000 PRIDE victory over Ryan Gracie. He meets fellow wrestler Shibata, who’s fought throughout Japan and recently snapped a 0-6-1 snap with a unanimous-decision win over Ikuhisa Minowa at DREAM.8.

UFC veteran Diego Saraiva (13-8-1) looks for his fifth win in seven fights when he takes on Yagin (13-3-1), a longtime SuperBrawl fighter who’s riding a five-fight win streak at Tachi Palace Fights’ second show on Dec. 3.

The former PRIDE and UFC fighter Akihiro Gono meets SpiritMC veteran Yoon Young Kim (12-4) at the upcoming show for World Victory Road’s Sengoku 11th Battle. Sengoku 11th Battle takes place Nov. 7 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. The event airs in North America on HDNet.

Anthony Pettis was recently forced out of his lightweight bout with Rob McCullough (17-5 MMA, 8-3 WEC). McCullough will face WEC newcomer Karen Darabedyan (8-1 MMA, 0-0 WEC) at next month’s WEC 44 event. The show takes place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and the night’s four-fight main card airs on Versus.
Source: gerweck.net

Credit: A1 Wrestling Newsletter

MMA NOTES-
Mike Nickels (8-2) submitted David Heath (13-6) via Rear Naked Choke at 4:02 of the third round over the weekend. The fight was action packed as both tried to look for the Knockout. At one point, Heath lowered his gloves and Nickels connected on 9 consecutive blows to the chin. Both Light Heavyweights have previously won and lost competing for the UFC.

Former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber (22-3 MMA, 7-2 WEC) has ended all speculation regarding a potential move to a competing organization and has signed a new multi-year, multi-fight deal with the WEC. WEC general manager Reed Harris announced the new deal yesterday.

“The Ultimate Fighter 6″ runner-up Tommy Speer (13-4) picked up his fourth win in five fights with a adominant unanimous-decision win over Travis Perzynski (8-6). The fight took place in Minnesota.

Middleweight and light-heavyweight fighters are invited to attend an open tryout for the upcoming 11th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Monday, Oct. 26. The tryouts for the UFC and Spike TV’s reality series takes place at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel in California. Although not officially announced, “TUF 11″ is expected to debut in April with a live finale in June.
Source: gerweck.net

DOING-
Diego Sanchez is doing an autograph signing on Saturday at Cal State Long Beach’s Pyramid helping to raise funds for a Hyperbaric Chamber for Grapplers Quest CEO Brian Cimins’ 6-year-old nephew with Autism.  Grapplers Quest has the 2009 West Coast Grappling and Jiu Jitsu Championships starting at 10 a.m. Saturday
Sources: wrestlingobserver. com, f4wonline.com

Credit: A1 Wrestling Newsletter

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sommet Center in Nashville, TN

 

 

 

 

With one night remaining to the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 9 in the US we welcome another instalment of UFC action as Ultimate Fight Night 18 airs live on Spike TV tonight. Dana and the team continue to help build up the next batch of UFC fight stars as many young fighters from TUF and the WEC are given another chance to shine in the octagon tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

With one night remaining to the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 9 in the US we welcome another instalment of UFC action as Ultimate Fight Night 18 airs live on Spike TV tonight. Dana and the team continue to help build up the next batch of UFC fight stars as many young fighters from TUF and the WEC are given another chance to shine in the octagon tonight.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing Junie Browning back in action once more, a fighter who deserves to be where he is judging by his last outing of the Zuffa brand. He got himself noticed with his on screen shown on TUF 8 but now his MMA skills are showing through.

The full card:

 

 

 

 

 

 

TV bouts

Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann

Ryan Bader vs. Carmelo Marrero

Tyson Griffin vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Cole Miller vs. Junie Browning

 

Preliminary card

Gleison Tibau vs. Jeremy Stephens

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich

Tim Credeur vs. Nick Catone

Brock Larson vs. Jesse Sanders

Jorge Rivera vs. Nissen Osterneck

Rob Kimmons vs. Joe Vedepo

Tim McKenzie vs. Aaron Simpson

Steve Steinbeiss vs. Ryan Jensen

 

 

 

Hold tight for some more hard-hitting scraps from MMA!

 

Alongside UFN and TUF from the UFC there is a whole lot more coming your way throughout the month of April in the world of MMA, see the full list below:

 

Apr. 1 UFC Fight Night 18

Apr. 2 The Ultimate Fighter 9 debut

Apr. 4 Bellator FC debut

Apr. 5 WEC 40

Apr. 5 DREAM.8

Apr. 10 Bellator FC, Week 2

Apr. 11 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz

Apr. 17 Bellator FC, Week 3

Apr. 18 UFC 97: Redemption Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Apr. 18 PFC: Hybrid Card