Clay Guida Decisions Anthony Pettis, Tony Ferguson KOs Ramsey Nijem

Saturday, June 4, 2011

By FCF Staff

Clay Guida once again relied on his renowned wrestling and tenacity to score a unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada, to move past the final WEC lightweight champ on the title shot road. Although Pettis fought aggressively from his back and constantly pressured Guida (pictured) with submission attempts, all three judges ruled the bout in his veteran opponent’s favour.

Tony Ferguson knocked out welterweight Ramsey Nijem in the first round to win the 13th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and collect a new six figure contract with the UFC. Early on, Ferguson kept Nijem on the defensive by taking the former collegiate wrestler down to the mat. Nijem was able to work his way back to his feet and resume his pursuit of Ferguson, but was soon sent crashing to the mat by a hard left hook.

Here are the results from tonight’s TUF 13 Finale card:

Tony Ferguson def. Ramsey Nijem via KO (punches) - R1, 3:54
Clay Guida def. Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision
Ed Herman def. Tim Credeur via TKO (punches) - R1, 0:48
Kyle Kingsbury def. Fabio Maldonado via unanimous decision
Chris Cope def. Chuck O'Neil via unanimous decision
Jeremy Stephens def. Danny Downes via unanimous decision
George Roop def. Josh Grispi TKO (body punch) - R3, 3:14
Shamar Bailey def. Ryan McGillivray via unanimous decision
Clay Harvison def. Justin Edwards via split decision
Scott Jorgensen def. Ken Stone via KO (punches) - R1, 4:01
Reuben Duran def. Francisco Rivera via submission (rear-naked choke) - R3, 1:57
READ MORE - Clay Guida Decisions Anthony Pettis, Tony Ferguson KOs Ramsey Nijem

TUF 13 Finale Weigh-In Results


By FCF Staff

Here are the official weigh-in results for tonight’s “Ultimate Fighter”, Season 13 Finale, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The card, which will feature Tony Ferguson versus fellow welterweight Ramsey Nijem in the main event, will be broadcast live on Spike.

Main Event – TUF 13 Final
Tony Ferguson (169) VS Ramsey Nijem (170)

Televised fights
Anthony Pettis (155) VS Clay Guida (155)
Tim Credeur (185) VS Ed Herman (186)
Fabio Maldonado (203) VS Kyle Kingsbury (206)
Chris Cope (170) VS Chuck O’Neil (170)

Facebook fights
Jeremy Stephens (156) VS Danny Downes (155)
George Roop (146) VS Josh Grispi (145)
Shamar Bailey (171) VS Ryan McGillivray (169)
Justin Edwards (170) VS Clay Harvison (171)
Ken Stone (136) VS Scott Jorgensen (135)
Francisco Rivera (136) VS Reuben Duran (136)
READ MORE - TUF 13 Finale Weigh-In Results

NCAA Wrestling Champion Bubba Jenkins Signs with ATT

Friday, June 3, 2011

By FCF Staff

Yet another decorated wrestler is headed to MMA, as today American Top Team has announced that NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion Bubba Jenkins as signed with the renowned gym.

The 23 year-old Jenkins, who competed for Penn State University before transferring to Arizona State, is coming off a 2010-2011 championship season wrestling at 157 pounds.

The official ATT announcement added:

Bubba is now fully committed with his MMA career and will move down to American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he will join a host of other MMA stars to work with such as: Mike Brown, Cole Miller, Jorge Masvidal, Thiago "Pitbull" Alves, Hector Lombard, and Gleison Tibau among others.

This is the first wave in American Top Team's bid to bring high level wrestlers into the mix. We are very pleased Bubba has decided to call ATT and South Florida home.

We think his overall mat experience, mental toughness, and athleticism will be key assets going forward in his MMA career.

Welcome to the ATT family Bubba!

OSU!!
READ MORE - NCAA Wrestling Champion Bubba Jenkins Signs with ATT

Bellator Holding Open Try-Outs June 18th in Hollywood, Florida

By FCF Staff

In preparation for Bellator’s next season of action, the promotion has announced that it is holding open try-outs, June 18th, at the at The Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Registration begins at 1:00 PM local time and the try-outs will get underway at 2:00PM. Fighters from Florida will be competing for a spot on the upcoming, September 17th Bellator 50 card, which will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Fighters from other states are welcome to try-out, with successful applicants earning a spot on other upcoming Bellator events.

“The Seminole Hard Rock has been like a second home to Bellator,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney in the annnouncement. “We’ve had tremendous success with our open tryouts in the past, actually leading to a fighter securing a spot in a nationally televised Bellator Tournament. I expect another group of great fighters will be at the tryout June 18th in Hollywood.”

Fighters who have attended open try-outs for Bellator and have proceeded to compete for the company include including Kenny Foster, Tyler Stinson, Anthony Lapsley, Anthony Leone, Jose Vega, John Orr, and Jared Downing.

The official announcement added that only professional fighters, who are not contractually obligated to any other promotion, can try-out.

READ MORE - Bellator Holding Open Try-Outs June 18th in Hollywood, Florida

Rick Story Steps in for Injured Anthony Johnson on June 26th

 By FCF Staff, photo courtesy Brave Legion

Rick Story will get an opportunity to add another notable win to his resume sooner than later, following his decision victory over Thiago Alves last weekend, as the UFC has announced that he will fight Nate Marquardt, June 26th, at the UFC on Versus 4 card.

Marquardt’s original opponent, welterweight Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, has been forced to withdraw due to injury.

The Story (pictured), Marquardt bout will headline the upcoming event, which will be hosted by the Consol Engergy Center in Pittsburgh. The card will be broadcast on the Versus Network.

Story (13-3) has now won six straight after losing his Octagon debut to John Hathaway by unanimous decision in June, 2009. In addition to Alves, the 26 year-old-fighter has scored victories over Johny Hendricks, Dustin Hazelett, Nick Osipczak, Jesse Lennox, and Brian Foster.

Although Marquardt (31-10-2) returned to the winner’s column with a UD win over Dan Miller in March, after losing to number one middleweight contender Yushin Okami in November, the accomplished veteran decided to drop to welterweight.  The 32 year-old Marquardt is 3-2 in his last five bouts, with additional wins coming over Rousimar Palhares and Demian Maia.

Some of the other bouts scheduled for the June 26th event include heavyweight Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry, welterweight Martin Kampmann vs. John Howard, featherweight Tyson Griffin vs. Manny Gamburyan and heavyweight Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft.

READ MORE - Rick Story Steps in for Injured Anthony Johnson on June 26th

Kyle Noke vs. Tom Lawlor Added to UFC Live 5

Thursday, June 2, 2011

By FCF Staff

The UFC has added a bout between two former TUF competitors to its upcoming August 14th event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the promotion has announced that middleweights Kyle Noke and Tom Lawlor have agreed to fight on the card.

Lawlor (7-3) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Patrick Cote at UFC 121 in October, after dropping back-to-back bouts to Aaron Simpson and Joe Doerksen.

Noke (19-4-1) will head into the UFC Live 5 card having won five straight. Most recently at UFC 127 in February the Australian fighter submitted Chris Camozzi in the first round.

The upcoming August 14th event, which will be hosted by Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, will be broadcast live on the Versus Network.

The card will also feature a welterweight bout between veterans Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle as well as a lightweight tilt between contenders Ben Henderson and Jim Miller.

Other bouts that have been confirmed for the event include a light-heavyweight bout between Stephan Bonnar and Karlos Vemola, welterweight Duane Ludwig vs. Amir Sadollah and featherweight Leonard Garcia vs. Alex Caceres.


READ MORE - Kyle Noke vs. Tom Lawlor Added to UFC Live 5

Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem TUF 13 Finalists

By FCF Staff

The final episode of “The Ultimate Fighter’s” thirteenth season was broadcast on the Spike Network last night and revealed that welterweights Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem have advanced to the finals of the competition. The two will battle this Saturday at the TUF 13 Finale, which will be hosted by The Pearl in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nijem stopped cast-mate Chris Cope to earn a spot in the finale while Ferguson scored a third round, TKO win over Chuck O’Neil in the other semi-final.

The TUF 13 Finale, which will be broadcast live on Spike, will also feature a notable lightweight tilt between the veteran Clay Guida and rising star Anthony Pettis.

Some of the other bouts that have been confirmed for the event include middleweight Ed Herman vs. Tim Credeur, light-heavyweight Kyle Kingsbury vs. Fabio Maldonado, the aforementioned O’Neil vs. Cope, featherweight Josh Grispi vs. George Roop, and lightweight Jeremy Stephens vs. Dan Downes.


READ MORE - Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem TUF 13 Finalists

Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz Official for UFC 137

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

By FCF Staff

Despite UFC President Dana White’s repeated warnings that significant hurdles would have to be overcome in order to sign a bout between its welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (pictured) and his Strikeforce counterpart Nick Diaz, the promotion has announced today that the two will indeed fight on October 29th.

The historic bout will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Today’s announcement did not include any information as to whether the match-up would be a title unification bout.

St. Pierre (22-2) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Diaz training partner and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields in April. The Canadian fighter and pound-for-pound contender has won nine straight fights since his defeat to Matt Serra in April, 2007.

Diaz (25-7), who reportedly was entertaining taking a boxing bout provided a fight with GSP didn’t materialize, stopped Paul Daley in his last outing on April 9th. The American has won ten straight fights since his TKO loss to KJ Noons in November, 2007.

The upcoming fight will be the first to pit a reigning Strikeforce champion versus a current UFC title holder since Strikeforce was purchased by Zuffa.  

No other bouts have been announced for the UFC 137 card.
READ MORE - Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz Official for UFC 137

Video: Justin Buchholz KOs Steve Lopez with Front-Kick





Video courtesy Superior Cage Combat
READ MORE - Video: Justin Buchholz KOs Steve Lopez with Front-Kick

Antun Racic vs. Vugar Bahshiev Added to M-1 Ukraine European Battle


By FCF Staff

M-1 Global continues to fill out the line-up for the promotion’s upcoming June 4th event in Kiev, Ukraine, as it has confirmed that a lightweight bout between Vugar Bahshiev (5-3) and Antun ‘Killer’ Racic (8-2) has been added to the card.

The M-1 Ukraine European Battle event will be hosted by Kiev’s National Circus Arena and will be streamed live on the promotion’s official website.

Racic is 4-1 in his last five fights and is coming off a two win night on April 23rd, while competing at an event in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian fighter has competed for M-1 once before and was stopped by Alexey Nevzorov on April 1st.

Bashiev heads into the June 4th card having won four straight. The Azerbaijan, combat sambo specialist is coming off a first round, submission win over Jack Magee at a M-1 Selection event in April.

M-1 Ukraine European Battle will also feature a welterweight bout between Sengoku vet Yasubey Enomoto and former M-1 middleweight champ, Rafal Moks.


READ MORE - Antun Racic vs. Vugar Bahshiev Added to M-1 Ukraine European Battle

Ryan Ford Talks Win Over Karo Parisyan, Facing Nick Hinchliffe Next


By Kelsey Mowatt, photo courtesy TKO Photography

On paper, Ryan Ford’s recent May 19th stoppage win over former UFC contender Karo Parisyan was likely his biggest to date, but the rising welterweight is the first to concede that his performance that night was far from his best. Utilizing his renowned judo skills, Parisyan threw Ford to the mat on several occasions and controlled more of the action to win the first two rounds. Undaunted, Ford came out aggressively in the third and blasted Parisyan in the head with a well timed knee, opening a massive cut on the American’s forehead that ended the fight.

“I would probably grade my performance a C compared to the knee at the end which I would give an A,” Ford recently told FCF. “For the first two rounds I didn’t really follow the game plan I had going in. The second round I pretty much didn’t do nothing except sit there and let him do what he wanted to do.”

“My game plan was to go in there and strike,” Ford added. “That’s not his forte; his forte is more to be in the clinch so he can get off his judo. Every time I threw a punch we would clinch and I would stay there, I wouldn’t break off, I tried to out grapple him.”

Although the first round was fairly competitive, Parisyan dominated the action in the second, and there was little doubt in Ford’s mind that he needed to stop his opponent if he was to pull out a win.

“When I fight I don’t look for it to go to the decision, I look for the finish,” said Ford, who took on Parisyan at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario. “After the second round I asked my corner man Jesse Clarke if I was winning the fight and he said no. He said “you need to finish this fight” so my plan for the third round was to leave it all in the cage.”

The fight ending strike brought the bout to an end at 1:26 of the third round, handing Ford his third consecutive win.

“When I hit him with that knee I knew I had rocked him good because he took a few steps back,” said Ford, who now holds a pro record of 15-3. “I saw in his eyes that he was hurt.”

Parisyan’s personal struggles over the last couple of years have been well documented, and although ultimately he failed to get back on the winning track against Ford, his performance that night was certainly impressive.

“A lot of people always counted Karo out and I know he trained for that fight,” said Ford. “He looked better in this fight than his last few fights. It’s unfortunate that not too many people were able to see it but I know they’re going to be putting up the video so that people can see how Karo performed.”

Up next, Ford will take on fellow Canadian Nick Hinchliffe at Aggression MMA’s upcoming June 10th event in Edmonton, Alberta.

“I think he’s a good fighter,” Ford said about Hinchliffe (18-7), who has fought several notable Canadian competitors including Kalib Starnes, Travis Galbraith and Rory MacDonald. “I think he’s good in everything but he’s not the best at anything. He’s a guy that likes to stand there and bang, brawl, he’s a tough guy. He’s always game and loves to throw bombs, so he’s a dangerous guy for anyone to fight.”

With a win over Parisyan now added to his resume, it will be interesting to see what may come Ford’s way, provided he can defeat Hinchliffe on June 10th.

“Obviously the goal for any fighter is to get in the UFC,” said Ford, who informed FCF he plans on training at the renowned Kings MMA facility in Huntington Beach, California in the nearby future. “Right now I’m just doing what I got to do to take care of my family. I love fighting, I love the challenge of getting in there and fighting guys...God has a path for me and wherever it leads me I’m going to follow.”
READ MORE - Ryan Ford Talks Win Over Karo Parisyan, Facing Nick Hinchliffe Next

Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi, Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazayuki Miyata Confirmed for Dream 17

Tuesday, May 31, 2011


By FCF Staff

Dream has confirmed two title fights for the promotion’s upcoming July 16th event in Tokyo, Japan, as light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi (pictured) will take on Hiroshi Izumi and featherweight champ Hiroyuki Takaya will fight Kazayuki Miyata.

Mousasi (30-3-2) fought to a draw with Keith Jardine while competing for Strikeforce on April 9th, after winning back-to-back bouts against Jake O’Brien and Tatsuya Mizuno under the Dream banner.

Izumi (4-1) is coming off a third round, stoppage of Ikuhisa Minowa at K-1’s Dynamite card on New Year’s Eve. The decorated judo practitioner has won four straight since being defeated by Antz Nanzen in his MMA debut.

Takaya (15-9-1) lost by split decision to Robert Peralta in his last outing at Strikeforce’s “Diaz vs. Daley” card in April. The loss ended the Japanese veteran’s three fight winning streak which included defeating former champion Bibiano Fernandes by unanimous decision.

Miyata (11-7) will look to continue his impressive run as of late, as the featherweight has won seven straight. Most recently, at the aforementioned Dynamite card, Miyata scored a UD win over Caol Uno.

Other bouts that are scheduled for Dream 17 include the bantamweight grand-prix final between Masakazu Imanari and Hideo Tokoro, as well as the runner up fight between Atsushi Yamamoto and Kenji Osawa.

READ MORE - Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi, Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazayuki Miyata Confirmed for Dream 17

Brad Tavares Replaces “Mayhem” Miller vs. Aaron Simpson

By FCF Staff

With Jason “Mayhem” Miller now assigned to coach the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, alongside future opponent Michael Bisping, the UFC has announced that Brad Tavares has verbally agreed to fight Aaron Simpson on July 2nd.

Miller was originally scheduled to fight Simpson at the UFC 132 event, which will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Tavares (7-0) is coming off a first round, KO win over Phil Baroni at UFC 125 in January. Prior to that the 23 year-old-middleweight and former TUF competitor scored a unanimous decision win over Seth Baczynski.

Simpson (9-2) is coming of a UD win over Mario Miranda at UFC Fight Night 24 in March, after dropping back-to-back bouts to Mark Munoz and Chris Leben. The 36 year-old-fighter and decorated wrestler has gone 4-2 in the Octagon to date.

UFC 132 will be headlined by a bantamweight bout between champion Dominick Cruz and former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Other bouts that are scheduled for the card include Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben, Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki, and Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim.
READ MORE - Brad Tavares Replaces “Mayhem” Miller vs. Aaron Simpson