June 18th Bout Between Gina Carano and Sarah D’ Alelio Postponed

By FCF Staff

Strikeforce has announced that Gina Carano did not receive medical clearance to fight Sarah D’Alelio at the promotion’s upcoming June 18^th event in Dallas, Texas. As a result the bout has been swiped from the card. No details regarding why Carano was not cleared were given.(Pictured: Carano (right) trying to kick "Cyborg" Santos)

The announcement included the following statement from Carano:

“I’m certainly disappointed not to be fighting on June 18th. I’d like to thank Greg Jackson and Team Jackson for such an amazing camp. I hope this is only a brief setback.”

Carano has not competed in MMA since she was stopped by reigning 145lb. women’s champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos in August, 2009. The defeat was Carano’s first and left her pro record at 7-1.

Strikeforce has confirmed that the lightweight bout between KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal has been moved to the main card, which will be broadcast on Showtime.

The June 18^th event will feature two quarterfinal bouts in Strikeforce’s ongoing heavyweight grand-prix as Alistair Overeem will take on Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers will face Josh Barnett.

READ MORE - June 18th Bout Between Gina Carano and Sarah D’ Alelio Postponed

After Latest Win, Patrick Cote Free Agent Once Again

By FCF Staff

Former UFC middleweight contender Patrick Cote is once again a free agent, following his unanimous decision win over Todd Brown at Ringside MMA 11 Saturday night. The 31 year-old-fighter confirmed his contractual status to FCF today.

“I dont know yet; have to talk to my manager,” Cote said when asked about his immediate future and whether or not he’s had any recent contact with the UFC. “I’m a free agent now but we have a lot of option.”

Cote has now won back-to-back fights since he was let go by the UFC following a decision loss to Tom Lawlor last October. This latest win comes less than two months removed from Cote’s UD win over Kalib Starnes, which took place on April 9^th at Ringside MMA 10.

“I’m happy,” said Cote when asked to evaluate his 15^th professional win. “I gave a solid and dominant performance. I wanted to finish it for sure but I showed a lot of new skills in this fight.”

Cote returned to action in 2010 after missing all of 2009 due to a series of knee injuries, one of which came in his loss to current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva in October, 2008. The Quebec fighter has gone 2-2 since his return, with his other loss during that stretch coming against Alan Belcher at UFC 113 last May.

READ MORE - After Latest Win, Patrick Cote Free Agent Once Again

Bellator Headed to Ontario for July 23rd Card; Warren vs. Freire Headlines

By FCF Staff

Bellator Fighting Championships is the latest organization to announce it will be heading to Ontario, Canada to host an event, as it has confirmed that Bellator 47 will take place July 23^rd at the Casino Rama, in Rama.  

“MMA is the hottest sport in Ontario right now and we’re thrilled to be able to partner with this world leader to bring Ontario fans their first taste of Bellator action,” said Jeff Craik, Vice President of Marketing, Casino Rama in the official announcement. “This is going to be one of the hottest tickets of the summer and fans can bet on seeing exactly this caliber of MMA event from Casino Rama several times a year.”

The card will be headlined by a featherweight bout between champion Joe Warren and recent season 4 tourney winner, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (pictured above on the left). The title fight will be a rematch, as Warren scored a split decision win over the Team Nogueira fighter last June.

Bellator 47 will also feature the semi-finals of the promotion’s summer series featherweight tourney. Confirmed competitors for the upcoming tournament include Ronnie Mann, Marlon Sandro, Nazareno Malegarie and Bellator Season 2 Lightweight Tournament Winner Pat Curran.

The July 23^rd event will be broadcast live on MTV 2.

READ MORE - Bellator Headed to Ontario for July 23rd Card; Warren vs. Freire Headlines

Rick Story Says He Had “No Hesitations” Accepting Bout with Nate Marquardt

By Kelsey Mowatt, photo courtesy Brave Legion

26 year-old Rick Story doesn’t have time to waste in his quest for a shot at the UFC welterweight title. Despite scoring an impressive unanimous decision win over perennial contender Thiago Alves at UFC 130 on May 28^th, to entrench his position as one of the division’s fastest rising commodities, Story has elected to throw down with Nate Marquardt on June 26^th. As Story sees it, why wait several months for another big name fight when one gets offered up just a few weeks away?

“I had no hesitations,” Story (13-3) told FCF recently, when asked for his initial reaction upon being asked if he would be willing to step in for the injured Anthony Johnson. “Everyone’s been asking me why I’m fighting so soon but when I first started fighting I was fighting every month. I loved it.”

Coming off what is unquestionably the biggest win in his career to date, Story will soon face yet another notable name in Marquardt, who like Alves has been in the title shot mix for some time. Of course, Marquardt made his name in the UFC competing as a middleweight, and it will be interesting to see how the veteran performs cutting down to 170lbs.

 “I think it’s another pretty good opportunity,” said Story while discussing Marquardt, who has almost three times as many fights as him. “I’m on a pretty good streak right now and it is his first weight cut down to 170. He’s a big guy but he’s going to be the same weight as me. At least for the weigh-ins, so, as far as skill he’s an awesome fighter. It’s going to be good when I win.”

While Marquardt’s weight cut will be one of the central back stories to the upcoming fight, it will be interesting to see what strategy each man employs come June 26^th. Marquardt has demonstrated his ability to finish fights standing or on the ground on numerous occasions, and could be the most well rounded fighter Story has faced to date.

“He poses a threat everywhere,” Story acknowledged. “He has really good striking. He’s very crafty and he knows how to win rounds; he’s very good at submissions...I think he’s hungry and he’s going to try to make a statement in this fight. I feel like I’m also pretty well rounded though and I think I pose a threat for anyone. It’s going to be a good fight.”

While Story will face a stern test when he faces Marquardt later this month in Pittsburgh, it’s hard not to speculate as to what would come next, if he indeed is able to defeat the accomplished vet. A title shot may not come to pass as a result of a win, but it would certainly position Story within striking distance.

“Well I’m knocking on the door right now for that contention spot,” said Story, who has now won six straight in the Octagon after dropping his UFC debut to John Hathaway in June, 2009. “I think beating a guy like Marquardt coming down from 185, who fought for the title at 85, and I beat Thiago Alves who fought for the title at 170, I think knocking off these guys means I’m knocking on the door.”

Story was clearly offered the Marquardt fight as a result of his win over Alves, who he concedes proved to be an extremely tough challenge.  

“For the first two rounds it went well,” said Story, who controlled much of the action throughout the first two rounds. “The game plan was to go in and get him tired and then start using a lot more stand-up in the third . He came to fight; he was in shape. He hit me a few times that made me want to close the distance, so I didn’t follow the game-plan as much as I would have liked in the third round.”

READ MORE - Rick Story Says He Had “No Hesitations” Accepting Bout with Nate Marquardt

Ringside MMA 11 Results: Patrick Cote Scores UD Win

By FCF Staff

In case you missed it, former UFC middleweight contender Patrick Cote scored a unanimous decision win over Todd Brown this past Saturday at Ringside MMA 11 in Quebec City. With the win, Cote has now gone 2-0 since exiting from the UFC last year, following a UD loss to Tom Lawlor in October.

In another of the card's feature attractions, former National Hockey League player Donald Brashear stopped heavyweight Mathieu Bergeron in the first round.

Here are the complete results for Ringside MMA 11.

190 – Patrick Cote def. Toddy Brown by Decision Unanimous Decision (30-27,30-27,30-27)

135 - Stephane Pelletier def. Dimitri Waardenburg by TKO (Retirement) 5:00 R2,

HW - Donald Brashear def. Mathieu Bergeron by TKO 0:21 R1,

155 – Keven Morin def. David Lafond by Unanimous Decision (29-28,29-28,29-28)

205 – Marcus Hicks def. Yan Pellerin by TKO (Strikes) 3:40 R2,

155 – Dany Laflamme def. Justin Doyon by Unanimous Decision  (30-27,30-27,29-28)

145 – Keven Tremblay def. Maxime Léger by Submission (Rear Naked Choke),3:32 R2,

150 – Jerome Martin def. Tommy Cote by Split Decision (29-28,29-28,28-29)

READ MORE - Ringside MMA 11 Results: Patrick Cote Scores UD Win

Yasubey Enomoto Scores Decision Win over Rafal Moks

By FCF Staff

Sengoku veteran Yasubey Enomoto scored his first win with M-1 Global this past weekend, as the Swiss fighter (pictured) worked his way to a majority decision victory over former middleweight champ Rafal Moks, at the promotion’s “Ukrainian European Battle” card Saturday.

The victory comes just weeks removed from Enomoto’s failed attempt to unseat M-1 Global Welterweight Champion Shamil Zavurov, who defeated him by unanimous decision on April 28^th.

Saturday’s card also saw the promotion’s former lightweight champion Artiom Damkovsky in action, who lost by UD to veteran Yuri Ivlev.

Here are the complete results from M-1 Global’s “Ukrainian European Battle”, which was hosted by Kiev’s National Circus of Ukraine.

Full Results

Farkhad Fatalla def. Ilya Tiunov Submission (Guillotine Choke)  Rd1 ,1:48

Alexander Kozyr def. Semen Tyrlya Submission (Armbar) Rd1, 1:57

Vadim Khaitulov def. Viktor Talashov TKO (Punch)  Rd1, 1:42

Andrei Dryapko def. Ruslan Khaskhanov TKO (Shoulder Injury)  Rd1,  1:57

Saparbek Safarov def. Igor Litoshik TKO (Punches)  Rd1,  3:00

Igor Zadernovsky def. Stepan Kostyuchenko Submission (Armbar)  Rd1, 2:01

Sergey Adamchuk def.  Sergey Sinkevich KO (Punch)  Rd2,  2:47

Vladimir Opanasenko def. Syanan Yusibov Submission (Armbar)  Rd1, 0:41

Vasily Novikov def. Alexander Nimerenko Submission (Armbar)  Rd2, 3:10

Alexander Dolotenko def. Filip Anasovich Submission (Armbar)  Rd1, 1:15

Antun Racic def. Vugar Bahshiev Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Rd3, 3:54

Husein Haliev def Alexander Agafonov Decision (Unanimous)  Rd3, 5:00

Yuri Ivlev def. Artiom Damkovsky Decision (Unanimous)  Rd3, 5:00

Yasubey Enomoto def. Rafal Moks Decision (Majority)  Rd3, 5:00

READ MORE - Yasubey Enomoto Scores Decision Win over Rafal Moks