Guida Announces January 1st Bout with Gomi

By FCF Staff UFC lightweight Clay Guida has confirmed that he will face former Pride champion Takanori Gomi, at UFC 125, January 1^st in Las Vegas, Nevada. The veteran fighter made the announcement on ESPN Chicago's “MMA Tonight” program this weekend. 

Guida (27-11) will head into the bout having won two straight fights; most recently the energetic combatant stopped Rafael dos Anjos in the second round at UFC 117 in August. Guida is 3-2 in his last five fights; during that stretch he’s also earned wins over Shannon Gugerty and Nate Diaz, with losses coming against Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian.

Gomi (32-6) is coming off a first round, knockout of Tyson Griffin in August, after being submitted in his Octagon debut by Florian this past March. Gomi is also 3-2 in his last five bouts, with additional wins coming against Tony Hervey and Takashi Nakakura, and his other loss to Satoru Kitaoka.

The UFC has not officially confirmed the bout. A lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard is expected to headline the UFC 125 card. 

READ MORE - Guida Announces January 1st Bout with Gomi

Line-Up Announced for Wreck MMA: Afghanistan

By FCF Staff Photo courtesy Wreck MMA

Canadian based promotion Wreck MMA has announced the line-up for the promotion’s upcoming October 13th event, in Kandahar, Afghanistan; the card is being held for the Canadian Forces that are currently based in the region.

Here is the line-up for the five fight, WrecK MMA: Afghanistan card:

Main Event

Jesse Gross (Adrenaline MMA, London) vs. Rory McDonnel (Pura BJJ and Evolution Martial Arts and Fitness, Hamilton)

Bojan Kladnjakovic (Bravado BJJ, Woodbridge) vs. Stephane Bernadel (OAMA, Ottawa) 

Alex Gasson (Adrenaline MMA, London) vs. Stefan Kessler (Bravado BJJ, Woodbridge)

Paul Ebejer (Team Tugboat, Toronto) vs. Sami Mann (OAMA, Ottawa) 

Justin Taveirne (Team MFC, Windsor) vs. Christopher St-Jean (Sudbury MMA, Sudbury)

READ MORE - Line-Up Announced for Wreck MMA: Afghanistan

Diaz Exacts Revenge, Coenen Wins 135 Pound Title

By Dustin Lee DePue

San Jose, CA—Nick Diaz got his revenge over K.J. Noons Saturday night, erasing the bitterness of a first round doctor stoppage loss suffered to Noons in 2007 and defending his 170 pound belt in front of a supportive crowd at the HP Pavilion.  In the nights other title fight, former 145 pound contender Marloes Coenen dropped down to 135 pound and defeated Sarah Kaufman to take the belt.(Pictured above: Noons (l) kicking Diaz)

In the main event, Nick Diaz beat K.J. Noons at his own game, out-punching the pro boxer turned mixed martial artist and earning a five-round unanimous decision victory.   Diaz scored early with a slick counter right cross that dropped Noons.  Diaz followed him to the ground, securing side control but was unable to set up any offense before Noons popped back to his feet.  Noons stole the momentum in the second round, opening a cut on Diaz’s right eye with a left hook early in the round.  Diaz seemed to lose his rhythm after the punch and spend the rest of the round on the losing end of the punching exchanges.

Unable to take Noons down, Diaz was forced to stand and trade with him for the rest of the fight.  Fortunately for Diaz, he was able to find his rhythm again in the third round, scoring repeatedly with the jab and cross and setting up several hooks to the body.  Diaz continued to beat Noons to the punch in the fourth round.  He scored with a clean one-two followed by a hook to the body and later with a knee to the head.  Noons answered with left hook and a right uppercut but Diaz was unfazed by either punch.  In the final round, Noons showed less urgency than one would have expected, seeming content to trade jabs with Diaz for the early part of the round.  He landed a left and right hook later in the round but it wasn’t enough to make an appreciable dent in the scorecards as Diaz won a unanimous decision by scores of 48-47, 49-47, 49-46.

A Victorious Diaz

 Marloes Coenen won the women’s 135 pound title by submitting the previously undefeated Sarah Kaufman with an armbar midway through their five round fight.  Coenen worked her Thai boxing in the first round, landing low kicks from the outside and using her reach to snipe with sharp punches.  Kaufman smothered most of Coenen’s offense in the second round, clinching and keeping Coenen pressed against the cage for much of the round.  In the third round, Coenen scored a takedown early but was quickly reversed.  Inside of Coenen’s guard, Kaufman opened up with a flurry of punches and hammerfists, some of which landed.  Her aggression proved her undoing as Coenen was able to snatch up an arm and sink a tight armbar that forced the tapout at 1:59 of the third round.

Coenen Tapping out Kaufman

Josh Thomson moved a step closer to a rubber match with Gilbert Melendez by defeating Gesias Cavalcante by unanimous decision.  Thomson was in trouble early in the fight after eating a right hook that buckled him and getting caught in an arm-in guillotine.  Cavalcante grimaced as he squeezed the choke for an extended period of time but Thomson was able to slip out and quickly turn the tide, finishing the first round with a tight arm-triangle choke latched onto Cavalcante.  Thomson scored a trip takedown in the second round and spent much of the round controlling Cavalcante from the top position.  In the final round, Cavalcante landed a knee to the head and scored a takedown into the mount position.  Thomson remained calm, working to halfguard and then rubber guard before escaping to his feet.  Cavalcante scored another takedown and landed some punches but it wasn’t enough as Thomson earned a unanimous decision by scores of 29-28, 29-28, 30-27.

Tyron Woodley improved to 9-0 with a TKO stoppage of Andre Galvao early in the first round.  Woodley hurt Galvao with a sharp right cross seconds into the fight, prompting Galvao to shoot in for the takedown.  Woodley easily kept the fight standing and tagged Galvao with a second sharp right cross that put his opponent on wobbly legs.  In survival mode, Galvao shot in for a takedown and ate a right hook coming in, prompting a referee stoppage at 1:48 of the first round. 

Thomson Trying to Punish Cavalcante

Strikeforce Televised Results

Nick Diaz def K.J. Noons by Unanimous Decision(48-47, 49-47, 49-46)
Josh Thomson def J.Z. Cavalcante by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Marloes Coenen def Sarah Kaufman by Armbar 1:59 Rd 3
Tyron Woodley def Andre Galvao by TKO (strikes) 1:48 Rd 1

READ MORE - Diaz Exacts Revenge, Coenen Wins 135 Pound Title

New FCF Radio with Mike Brown

On this episode of Full Contact Fighter Radio, host Jeff Meszaros and co-host James Kellaris review the World Extreme Cagefighting event, where Jose Aldo brutally KO'd Manny Gamburyan to solidify his spot as the scariest person to ever walk the earth at 145 pounds.  Is there anyone left for him?  Or will the WEC have to recruit new people to feed to the champion? Then it's time to talk about the rematch between Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone and Jamie Varner?  Is Cerrone really a cowboy?  Could Varner's style of fighting be called "elusive"?  Or is he just "running away"?   Tune in and hear what we think, then stick around as we touch on the rest of the card.   

Once we're sick of that, we move on to talk about the upcoming card for Strikeforce: Noons vs. Diaz II.  Will Nick Diaz get his eyebrows punched off again?  Or was that first, absolutely brutal, beating a complete fluke?  You can guess where we're going with this.  What about Sarah Kaufman vs. Marloes Coenen?  Will Kaufman put a beating on the Dutchwoman as bad as the one she got from 145-pound champion Cris "Cyborg" Santos?  How about "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Josh "The Punk" Thomson?  Andre Galvao vs. Tyron Woodley?  To summarize?  We just don't know, but we'll explain why we don't know.  Then, for a touch of expertise, we bring in former WEC champ Mike Brown to discuss his recent win in the WEC and share his thoughts on the rest of the WEC card and the upcoming Strikeforce card as well.  Don't miss the fun as he looks for any holes in the interview-game to look for a verbal submission.  Boy howdy, it's a good time!        

To listen click here. 

Photo of Mike Brown courtesy American Top Team.

READ MORE - New FCF Radio with Mike Brown

Video Diaz and Noons Weigh-In / Results

Here are the official weigh-in results for tonight's Strikeforce event in San Jose:

Strikeforce Welterweight World Championship   

Nick Diaz -- 169 1/2lbs. vs KJ Noons -- 169

                       

Josh Thomson -- 155 ¼ vs. “JZ” Cavalcante -- 155 3/4

Sarah Kaufman -- 134 1/4 vs. Marloes Coenen -- 134

Tyron Woodley -- 170 ½  vs. Andre Galvao -- 170

James Terry -- 170 vs. David Marshall -- 169 1/2

Ron Keslar -- 180 vs. Josh McDonald -- 179

Jess Bouscal -- 154 1/4 vs. Luis Mendoza -- 155

Steve Dickey -- 239 vs. Justin Willis -- 265 1/2

Justin Bronson -- 219 1/2 vs. Robert Johnson -- 226

Jonathan Chaplin -- 183 3/4 vs. Ben Ernest -- 183

Jared Hess -- 169 ½ vs. Eric Faria -- 168 1/4

Alan Francis Perez -- 152 vs. Johnathan Del Rosario -- 155

David Blanco -- 144 3/4 vs. Christian Buron -- 142 3/4

                       

READ MORE - Video Diaz and Noons Weigh-In / Results

Thomas vs. Wallhead Added to Bellator 32

By FCF Staff    Bellator Fighting Championships has announced that welterweight Ryan Thomas will fight Jim Wallhead at the promotion’s upcoming October 14^th event in Kansas City. The card will take place at the Kansas City Power & Light District and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net. (Pictured above- Thomas (l) and Wallhead)

Thomas (11-5) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Ben Askren in May, after stopping Jacob McClintock in the first round at Bellator 15 in April. The UFC vet is 2-3 in his last five fights.

“After my last loss to Askren, it really left a bad taste in my mouth and made me change my game and really commit to the sport,” Thomas was quoted saying in the official announcement. “I would love to take out Jim in this fight, get a chance to compete in the Season 4 Welterweight Tournament, and get another shot at Ben.”

Wallhead (19-5) will head into the Oct.14^th bout having won seven straight fights. The British fighter had been scheduled to compete in Bellator’s welterweight tourney this past spring; however, the volcanic eruptions in Iceland prevented him from travelling to the U.S.

“In my only other fight in America, I lost a tough one, so I’m really excited to put on a good show in front of the fans,” said Wallhead. “I’ve grown a lot since that last fight, and hopefully fans see that.”

READ MORE - Thomas vs. Wallhead Added to Bellator 32

Video: KJ Noons and Nick Diaz Speak At The Press Conference

READ MORE - Video: KJ Noons and Nick Diaz Speak At The Press Conference

Video: KJ Noons Discusses The Fighting Style Of Nick Diaz

READ MORE - Video: KJ Noons Discusses The Fighting Style Of Nick Diaz