The Good Bellator 95 – Bellator ended this season on a high note on Thursday night with four entertaining fights, three of which ended early. The show opened with a grudge match between former title challenger Rick Hawn and UFC vet Karo Parisyan. The first round was relatively uneventful until the closing seconds when Hawn landed a head kick that stunned Parisyan. By the second round it was clear that Hawn was the much better conditioned fighter which was punctuated when he dropped Karo with a right hand followed by a few hammer fists before the referee stopped the contest. The second televised bout ended in even more definitive fashion as Doug Marshall floored Brett Cooper with a right hook that put him down hard on his back. Unfortunately for Cooper the referee did not intervene in time as Marshall landed a final crushing right hand that separated him from consciousness. The win earned “The Rhino” a shot at Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Schlemenko.   The co-main event of the night was the finals of this season’s featherweight tournament between Mike Richman and Frodo Khasbulaev. Both fighters traded strikes standing for the majority of three rounds and while it was competitive, the judges scored the bout for Khasbulaev via unanimous decision after three rounds. With the victory Khasbulaev set himself up to face the winner of the main event of the night. That fight was between Bellator 145 pound champ Pat Curran and challenger Shahbulat Shamhalaev. Many felt that Shamhalaev would be a stern test for Curran given the way destroyed his opposition en route to his title opportunity but that wasn’t the case. After a slow start to the contest, the challenger landed a couple low kicks but neither fighter landed anything significant. Midway through the round Curran shot [...]

The Good Mike Alvarado vs Brandon Rios – Regardless of the medium it is rare where a sequel is better than its predecessor but fortunately for fight fans that was the case for Saturday’s rematch between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado. The first battle, which took place in October of last year was regarded by many as the best fight of 2012 thus expectations were lofty for this encounter. Early on in the fight Alvarado lookedto box as most expected he would but Rios just kept marching forward, landing shots and it looked like “Bam Bam” was on his way to duplicating the results of the first contest, particularly after rocking and almost knocking “Mile High” down with a jab in the second round. Rios came out aggressively in the third looking to chop down Alvarado but the challenger began landing some powerful overhand rights. The fight took a dramatic turn when Alvarado buckled Rios with a big right hook to the jaw with just over 30 seconds left in the third round as he flurried upon the champ in an attempt to finish him off which was unsuccessful as the round came to a close. The next few rounds saw both men trading shots and perhaps rounds depending on how one scored it but either way the fight was close and the action nonstop.   Every time it appeared that Rios was gaining momentum and was perhaps getting the better of Alvarado, Mik would respond most notably in the eighth round where he once again hurt Brandon. As the bout got into the later rounds Alvarado appeared to be pulling ahead by out boxing Rios from a distance while also continuing to land hard shots although each round was close and highly competitive. Entering the championship rounds the belief [...]

The Good Bellator 93 – If you blinked more than once or took a trip to the bathroom or kitchen you may have missed more than a few fights on Thursday nights Bellator 93. Of the 10 fights on the card only two made it out of the first round which included the main event between Dave Jansen and Marcin Held. That bout, which was the finals of this season’s Bellator lightweight tournament saw Jansen emerge the winner via unanimous decision and secure future title shot in the division. As for the rest of the contests, you had an even split between knockouts and submissions while throwing in a no contest between Marcus Davis and Waachim Spiritwolf that ended in the opening round for good measure. If you get a chance to check out a replay of the event do so and if you skip the main event you’ll enjoy a brief, yet fun night of fights.   Anthony Johnson vs Andrei Arlovski – While the World Series Of Fighting 2 main event between Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson may not contend for any fight of the year awards it was a relatively entertaining scrap to cap off a solid event. Both fighters came out swinging for the fences early on but it was the smaller Johnson who landed more often and with more effect. During the closing moments of the first round Johnson scored a flash knockdown on Arlovski who popped back up before being dropped with another right seconds later. Rumble attempted to seize the opportunity and finish The Pitbull but was only able to land a couple more strikes before the referee stepped in as the round ended. Rounds two and three both featured numerous exchanges on the feet but Johnson was clearly fatigued by the third [...]

The Good Wanderlei Silva – Japan may be called the land of the rising sun but the only thing going down in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 8 between Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann was violence. After seven years away Silva returned to the place that he dominated for so many years and his fight with Stann was vintage Wanderlei. As expected the first round started out fast and furious with both men swinging for the fences and there were few lapses in the opening five minutes as both men fearlessly traded strikes as well as both visiting the canvas. Stann would take Wanderlei down towards the end of the opening round but was bleeding profusely from what appeared to be a broken nose. The action continued in the second round leading to an exchange were Silva landed a crushing right hand followed by a left that dropped the All-American. In trademark fashion the Ax Murderer jumped on his wounded prey and hit him with a couple more right hands knocking him out while sending the crowd into a frenzy. Silva couldn’t have envisioned a better result and expressed as much along with his appreciation of the Japanese fans, a feeling that was mutual to those in attendance.   Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve – Despite having an intriguing lineup on paper, four fights in UFC on FUEL TV 8 much like UFC on FUEL 7 was well below fans expectations. That changed when Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve stepped into the octagon for a pivotal showdown in the UFC heavyweight division. Everyone expected this fight to go one of two ways, either Hunt would knockout his much taller foe or Struve would submit the one-dimensional striker and former K-1 tournament champion. The majority of the opening [...]

The Good UFC 157 PPV – Billed as history in the making with with women competing in the octagon for the first time let alone the main event, UFC 157 on pay-per-view not only lived up to the hype but exceeded it. The broadcast started with Robbie Lawler’s return to the UFC as he got a first round referee stoppage against longtime welterweight contender Josh Koscheck. The second fight of the night turned out to be a solid scrap between former Ultimate Fighter winner Court McGee and Josh Neer. McGee won by landing a record-breaking amount of strikes for a fight in the UFC’s welterweight division against Neer who hung tough despite absorbing so much. Former WEC featherweight champion Uriah Faber put on a spectacular performance in his rematch against Ivan Menjivar. Faber was effective early on with elbows inside Menjivars guard. Menjivar managed to scramble to his feet but as he did Urijah hopped on his back and transitioned into a standing rear naked choke eventually submitting his opponent.   The one downside to the pay-per-view was the co-main event between Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson. Honestly, based on the stylistic matchup a boring decision win for Machida comes as no real surprise and unfortunately that’s exactly what fans got. The crowd quickly got back into things as Ronda Rousey made her way to the cage. The recently crowned champion immediately rushed her challenger in an attempt to get her to the ground and while the fight hit the mat shortly after it was Carmouche who ended up in an advantageous position on Rousey’s back. Ronda got to her feet while Carmouche worked to sink in a standing rear naked choke attempt and although she came ever so close to getting it Rousey was able to shake her off. [...]

  Ronda Rousey vs Liz Carmouche – This Saturday night history will be made at UFC 157 as females will compete in the octagon for the first time when women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defends her title against challenger Liz Carmouche. While Gina Carano may have ignited the spark that began women’s MMA’s push towards the mainstream it is the achievements and ascension of Rousey that has led to the UFC opening its gates to the ladies. Rousey, a former bronze medalist in the Olympics in judo is undefeated in her relatively brief MMA career going 6 and 0 with all wins coming by way of arm bar. The newly crowned champions dominance thus far is even more evident in the fact that none of her fights have gone past the first round and only one has lasted longer than a minute. Rousey’s star has risen in recent months including television spots, magazine shoots, and other non-traditional MMA media appearances. Opponent Liz Carmouche has accumulated a respectable 8 and 2 record to date but has been a bit of an afterthought in the build up to this fight other than her future on UFC Primetime. Carmouche will be looking to pull the upset and halt the Rousey hype train in its tracks. This fight will not only be the main event but likely an introduction of women’s MMA too many fans thus the hope is regardless of who emerges victorious the ladies put on a show to remember.   916Chris’ pick – I have yet to see anyone pick Carmouche in this fight and I won’t be the first. That’s not to say she is incapable of winning. Anyone that steps inside the octagon is capable of doing so, that said outside of landing a punch and rocking Rousey it’s [...]