Tag: mma

Bellator 168 recap: Alessio Sakara vs. Joey Beltran ends quickly and violently

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Bellator MMA ran its second show of the year in Italy in front of a packed crowd live on Spike TV in North America. In one of the most entertaining televised MMA shows you’ll ever see, Alessio Sakara capped the night off by stopping veteran Joey Beltran in the first round to send the Florence, Italy, faithful home happy.

The crowd had been fairly quiet all night, but they exploded during the ring intros for Sakara and even more so when he scored the TKO win over Beltran just a minute into the first round. In a wide-open light heavyweight division, Bellator could do worse than having Phil Davis defend his title against Sakara the next time they’re in Italy. 

The show started off rough for the local fans as Italian fighter Claudio Annicchiarico was TKOd by veteran John Salter in just his second pro fight. Salter had just coming off a stoppage victory over former middleweight champion Brandon Halsey so this was a complete mismatch. The fight was very similar to the Mickey Gall/CM Punk match in that Salter took him down easily and pummeled him to almost no defence before it was mercifully stopped. 

The locals got something to cheer for in the second TV fight as Brazilian Kleber Silva, who lives in and fights out of Florence, went up against veteran Philipe Lins. Lins, hyped as a future contender for Davis, came in with a 10-1 record and looked good in the first round, although Silva held his own and I thought landed the harder blows. I scored it 10-9 Silva.

In the second, Lins was starting to take over, pushing the pace and landing far more on the feet. Halfway through the round, Silva rocked Lins during a crazy punch exchange. He was on rubber legs after that and Silva was all over him. The ref gave Lins a lot of time to recover but eventually had to stop it.

After this fight, the cameras showed Ed Ruth warming up backstage. Announcer Sean Grande, a pro wrestling fan, played it up like he had no idea why Ruth was there, given he’d just fought a month ago. Ruth agreed to the fight a week ago and was up against another Italian fighter, Emanuele Palombi (5-2).

The fight went very similar to the first fight in that Ruth took him down easily and finished him with ground and pound. Palombi put up a bit more of a fight but still was stopped in just 1:33 to give Ruth his second pro win.

Next up was one of the best one round fights you’ll ever see as Goiti Yamauchi, one of the young stars that Bellator is pushing as the future of the company, went up against another local in Valeriu Mircea. Mircea is listed with a pro record of 15-3 but made his pro debut in February 2015. That means this was his 19th fight in just 22 months. Crazy.

Even crazier is that Mircea knocked down Yamauchi early and pummelled him on the ground to where ref Jason Herzog was on the verge of stopping it. Yamauchi stayed in there and then turned the fight around. He eventually was working on an armbar and Mircea tried to slam him out of it. He escaped it but Yamauchi was able to sweep into top position and gain mount.

Yamauchi was dropping hard elbows and when Mircea tried to escape, Yamauchi caught him in another armbar and got the quick tap. 

After the fight, Yamauchi said he wants one of the top lightweights in his next fight. Really, he should get someone like Patricky Pitbull or Saad Awad as he’s got a 21-3 record and should probably be only 1 or 2 wins from a title shot. 

The main event followed between Sakara and Beltran. It was just over a minute with both guys throwing with everything they had until Sakara connected and hurt Beltran badly. He was all over him with ground and pound and the ref stepped in to stop it quickly.

The building was packed, all the fights were finishes and you even had the great comeback win from Yamauchi. There wasn’t much more you could ask for from this show and for casual sports fans channel surfing on a Saturday afternoon, a show like this could make Bellator some new fans.

Next up is their last show of the year from Dublin, Ireland next Friday night as King Mo takes on Satoshi Ishii in the main event. 

UFC TUF finale cracks 1 million viewers; Bellator MMA holds its own despite competition

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Image: Fox Sports

Last Saturday’s UFC TUF 24 finale show on FS1 featuring flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson vs. TUF winner Tim Elliot on FS 1 did 1,012,000 viewers for the four fight main card.

Of their 18 shows on FS1 this year, this marks the sixth time UFC has cracked the 1 million viewership benchmark.

However, the number was down 7% from the July TUF finale, headlined by strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gladelha, but it was up from the December 2015 TUF 22 finale (Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes) that did 883,000 viewers.

The prelims did a very solid 889,000 viewers, up from the July TUF 23 finale’s 642,000 viewers. 

UFC is now averaging 965,000 viewers for the year for their FS1 main cards, up 6.5% from 2015. The prelims are averaging 730,000 this year, up 20% from 2015’s 610,000 viewers. 

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Bellator ran shows on both Friday and Saturday night from Thackerville, OK, and the results were better than expected considering the lack of star power in headlining positions.

Friday’s Bellator 166 (bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren) did 613,000 viewers, up from the 597,000 that a much bigger show headlined by Michael Chandler vs Benson Henderson did two weeks earlier.

The 613,000 was their biggest number since September’s Bellator 161 (Cheick Kongo vs Tony Johnson Jr.). Interestingly, Warren and Kongo have always been two of Bellator’s biggest ratings movers.

Saturday’s Bellator 167 (Darrion Caldwell vs Joe Taimanglo rematch) that went head-to-head with the aforementioned UFC show did 545,000 viewers which has to be considered a minor success. It was the third lowest number of the year, but considering the lineup and competition, it’s impressive that it was only down 50,000 viewers from the bigger show just two weekends ago.

The two companies return to the airwaves and Internet streaming this weekend with Friday’s UFC Fight Night 102 on UFC Fight Pass, and Bellator’s Saturday afternoon show on Spike TV from Italy. Also on Saturday, UFC returns to PPV with the injury-riddled UFC 206 from Toronto, CA, headlined by Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway. Prelims will be on FS1 per usual. 

Josh Nason’s Punch-Out: MMAJunkie.com’s Ben Fowlkes

Posted on by Josh Nason

After a month away tending to his first child, website writer, editor, and podcaster Josh Nason is back on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out with special guest Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie.com and the Co-Main Event Podcast.

Josh and Ben talked for 30 minutes about three topics of the week with slight divergences as is the norm on JNPO. 

– We discussed the series of articles he and Steven Marrocco did for MMA Junkie on a UFC investor’s deck they recieved

– Ben talks about his key takeaways from the deck and what he found most interesting

– Ronda Rousey’s appearance on Ellen this week was discussed and what that means for UFC when she leaves

– We talked about the stakes for her December return against Amanda Nunes, and the role her training camp will play

– We go over the main event of Saturday’s UFC event in Mexico City and the dynamite main event of Tony Ferguson vs. Rafael dos Anjos

All that and more is available with one click of the mouse:


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JNPO: Court Bauer on MLW Radio, Combate Americas & WWE cruisers

Posted on by Josh Nason

On the 51st edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, Josh is joined by friend of the site and budding combat sports media mogul Court Bauer!

***Note this is a free show. Listen and share often!***

Court & Josh talked for a packed 30 minutes on a variety of topics that included:

– The story behind the creation of MLW Radio and how talents like Ric Flair, Jim Cornette and more have come aboard

– The challenges in running a paid content audio site in today’s increasingly free media environment

– How Court got hooked up with Combate Americas and his surprise at what former UFC higher-up was a neighbor

– The wrestling and MMA connection that has developed with the promotion

– Court’s thoughts on the entire CM Punk/UFC package

– Thoughts on how WWE has done with Nakamura thus far

– The launch of the cruiserweights on WWE Raw

– Josh talks the top three fights for Saturday’s UFC Fox Sports One show and the weight issues surrounding Cyborg Justino

Get all that and more by clicking the button below:

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JNPO: MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti on UFC 202 leftovers, UFC Vancouver, more

Posted on by Josh Nason

Could Jose Aldo beat Nate Diaz? Could Diaz retire after a third fight with Conor McGregor? What should we care about Saturday in Vancouver? 

All that and more is on the latest edition of the Josh Nason’s Punch-Out podcast featuring special guest Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com!

On the docket:

– What big takeaways do we have from UFC 202?

– Who do we want McGregor to fight next and when?

– If Jose Aldo was in McGregor’s place, could he beat Diaz?

– Is there any such thing as a #1 contender in UFC?

– AJ vs. DC vs. JJ: what’s the fight to make at 205 pounds?

– Could Diaz retire after the 3rd McGregor fight?

– The first two parts of the CM Punk documentary

– The divergent free agency tales of Rory MacDonald and Donald Cerrone

– 10 good minutes talking UFC Vancouver…and much more!

Listen below by clicking the big red button or right click to save the file. 

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Bellator 158 live results: Paul Daley vs Douglas Lima; Matt Mitrione & Michael Venom Page

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Bellator MMA has it’s second European show of the year and the company’s debut in London at the O2 Arena on Spike TV. Headlining the tentpole card is a matchup of welterweights Paul Daley and former champion Douglas Lima. Newly signed Matt Mitrione takes on local favorite Oli Thompson in a heavyweight matchup and one of the top prospects in Bellator, Michael Venom Page, squares off with Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in another welterweight clash. 

James Gallagher (3-0) vs Mike Cutting (6-5) 
Featherweights

Gallagher is a 19 year old training partner of Conor McGregor who has won all 3 of his pro bouts via first round submission. It appears Cutting missed weight as he’s announced at 148.5 lbs. Both guys are making their Bellator debuts.

Gallagher gets a decent reaction from the crowd but a crowd shot shows a ton of empty seats. Gallagher with early cage control. Callagher catches a kick 45 seconds in and gets a takedown. Gallagher using elbows to set up a choke. Gallagher takes the back at 1:15. Gallagher with a full body lock and working for a rear naked choke. Gallagher continuing to land punches to the head, while trying to secure the choke. Cutting doing almost nothing. Cutting finally fights him off at 4:00 and ends up in top position briefly. Gallagher tries to take the back again but Cutting sweeps to top position. Gallagher working for an armbar but defended well by Cutting. Cutting landing punches from the top as the round ends. 10-9 Gallagher

Gallagher again with cage control early as they trade leg kicks for the first minute. Crowd booing 1:45 in as neither guy engaging at all. Gallagher stumbles Cutting with a counter shot after a kick at 2:15. McCarthy warns Cutting “Don’t just run, Mike”. McCarthy stopped the action at 2:45 and warned Cutting he’d dock him a point if he didn’t start to engage. Nice punch combo at 3:00 from Gallagher. Cutting connecting with single leg kicks while continuing to retreat. Gallagher with a takedown at 4:00 and right into side control. Gallagher working for a Kimura and uses it to take the back at 4:45. Gallagher with a rear naked choke but gives it up quickly. 10-9 Gallagher, 20-18

Round 3 starts the same with Gallagher advancing and Cutting basically running away. Cutting throwing the occasional kick, Gallagher barely even throwing a strike through 2:30. Crowd is deathly silent. McCarthy warns Cutting again at 2:45. Gallagher catches a kick at 3:00 and takes Cutting down. Gallagher on top in a north/south position, not landing any strikes. Cutting throwing light punches from the bottom. Ref warns them to work at 4:30. Gallagher into side control at 4:45. Crowd singing the Ole song. Gallagher finally throwing punches as the round ends. 10-9 Gallagher, 30-27. Terrible fight

WINNER – JAMES GALLAGHER (4-0) by unanimous decision (scores 30-27 x 3)

Gallagher got a post-fight promo but didn’t have much to say. Promised to give a better fight next time out. 

Spencer Hewitt (12-10) vs Pietro Menga (12-0)
Flyweights

This was not on the main card lineup, so it must be from the prelims and was probably good. 

Menga with early cage control. Menga drops Hewitt with one punch and does a walk-off pose afterward.

WINNER – PIETRO MENGA (13-0) by KO (punch) at 41 seconds

Jack Mason (29-15-1) vs Jason Radcliffe (8-2)
Middleweights

This is another fight that was not listed on the main card lineup. It should be noted that this card was taped earlier today but has been promoted as “live” in the definition that only applies to Bellator and Impact wrestling. Radcliffe drops Mason with a knee to the head in the first exchange of the fight and it’s over.

WINNER – JASON RADCLIFFE (9-2) by KO (knee) at 16 seconds

Lightweight champion Michael Chandler was interviewed cageside by Sean Grande and Jimmy Smith. Talked about how great it felt to win the title in front of his hometown fans in St. Louis. They announced a #1 contender’s fight between Patricio Pitbull, moving up from 145, against Benson Henderson, moving down from 170. That’s a good matchup in the sense that Chandler has heat with Pitbull and Henderson is still one of the biggest names in the company. 

Michael “Venom” Page (10-0) vs Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (21-17) 
Welterweights

They aired the walkouts. During Cyborg’s, Sean Grande said he could be an honorary member of the Legion of Doom. Not sure I’d make that comparison. MVP gets a huge ovation coming out and loud MVP chants. Page has first round stoppages in 9 of his 10 career fights.

Page with early cage control. More MVP chants. Page lands a right and Santos falls but Page gets right up, not wanting to go to the ground with him. Flying knee from Page lands but Santos ties him up along the cage and takes him down at 1:45. Page up quickly but Santos takes him down again. Page with a leglock attempt from the bottom. Santos fights it off and remains on top. Santos doing nothing from the top but holding Page down.Santos into side control at 3:30. Santos landing light punches to the head. Big John warns them to work at 4:30. Elbows to the body and legs from Santos as the round ends. 10-9 Santos

Page advancing to start again. Page landing single punches from distance, while Santos just retreating for the first 90 seconds. Through 3 minutes, Santos may not have landed a single strike, although he’s thrown a few. Hard body kick from Page at 3:30 and Santos clearly affected by it. Another one at 3:45. Page closing the distance. Loud MVP chants. Santos finally lands a strike, a leg kick, at 4:15. Santos runs into a jumping knee and Santos is down like a shot. Highlight reel KO there.

WINNER – MICHAEL “VENOM” PAGE (11-0) by KO (jumping knee) at 4:31 of round 2

Page put over Cyborg in his post-fight interview, made a Pokemon Go reference and then led the crowd in his hand movements.

Lukasz Klinger (7-2) vs Francis Carmont (24-11)
Light Heavyweights

No walkouts for this one. Klinger took this fight on late notice when Linton Vassell from England dropped out. Carmont with a takedown 45 seconds in. Crowd is very quiet. Smith and Grande are so bored with the fight they start talking about Rory McDonald. Carmont not landing any punches and barely trying to advance, just holding Klinger down. Carmont finally landing some punches at 3:00, looking to set up a choke. Carmont secures the D’Arce choke at 3:30 and gets the tap after securing a body lock as well. 

WINNER – FRANCIS CARMONT (25-11) by submission (D’Arce choke) at 3:54

Matt Mitrione (10-5) vs Oli Thompson (17-8)
Heavyweights

Thompson is making his Bellator debut but formerly fought in UFC. Mitrione is back 3 weeks after scoring a KO win in his Bellator but nearly being knocked out himself in the same fight. Despite the fact that Thompson is from London and Mitrione has the American flag all over his entrance video, he gets a bigger reaction from the crowd. 

Mitrione with a nice punch combo 45 seconds in. Mitrione throwing bombs but Thompson ties him up in a clinch on the cage. Mitrione gets separation with a knee and follows up with punches. More knees from Mitrione. Thompson fires back with punches. Mitrione teeing off on him at 1:45 but then backs off. Thompson falls down in a takedown attempt but Mitrione lets him back up and they clinch on the cage again. Thompson cut over his left eye. Separation at 2:45 and they’re both landing hard punches. Thompson looks rocked but he’s still standing. Thompson staggers Mitrione with a shot and tries to clinch but Mitrione takes control of the tie-up at 3:30. Mitrione with hard knees to the body from the clinch. Thompson with a nice punch combo and they separate. Back to a cage clinch at 4:45 and that’s how they close the round. 10-9 Mitrione

Mtrione with a punch combo 15 seconds in. Thompson follows up with one of his own. Both guys starting to land leg kicks as well. First two minutes in the centre of the cage with neither having cage control. Mtrione starting to advance at 2:15. Mitrione unloading with punches at 3:00 and Thompson gets backed up to the cage. They clinch with Mitrione in control. Mitrione landing punches to the head and body from the clinch but they get warned from the ref for lack of action. They separate at 4:15. Mitrione with a left hook that staggers Thompson. A couple more punches from Mitrione and Thompson falls face first and the ref stops it.

WINNER – MATT MITRIONE (11-5) by TKO at 4:21 of the 2nd round

Mitrione gets a post-fight promo and has his young son with him. He basically just put over Thompson in his interview and then said he was talking his son for a trip around Europe. You’d have to think his next fight will be for the vacant heavyweight title and they really should’ve at least hinted at something here. 

Fedor, Lennox Lewis and Tito Ortiz were all shown at ringside. 

Douglas Lima (26-6) vs Paul Daley (38-13-2)
Welterweights

The comments from Grande and Smith would make you think that they are moving away from the idea of a Koscheck/Daley rematch. The winner here should probably be in line for a shot at Andrey Koreshkov for the welterweight title. Daley gets a nice reaction from the crowd. Not quite as big as MVP’s but just under that.

Daley advancing to start but gets dropped by a punch from Lima, who follows him to the ground. Daley to his feet at 45 seconds but Lima still in control of the clinch. Ref warns them to work at 1:15. Lima not doing much but working for a takedown. Daley landing knees to the body and legs with his back to the cage. McCarthy breaks them up at 2:15. Great punch exchange at 2:30. Daley still advancing and gets caught with a counter punch again but stays on his feet. Lima clinches up on the cage again at 3:00. Ref warns them to work again at 3:45 but they separate on their own. Daley landing leg kicks. Lima starting to land leg and body kicks as well. Daley clinches up on the cage right before the round ends. 10-9 Lima

Daley with early cage control as they trade leg kicks. A few single punches from both guys but no sustained offence through 1:45. Lima catches a kick and clinches up on the cage after a takedown attempt but Daley separates. Punch combo from Daley at 2:15. Daley slightly more active through 3:00. Lima rocks Daley with a left and follows up with more punches. Daley no-selling it but he’s clearly hurt. Lima unloading on him at 3:15 and then Daley tries for a takedown. Lima ends up on top and still unloading on punches but Daley makes it to his feet at 4:00. Lima with knees to the body while controlling the clinch. Daley gets off a good shot but then Lima rocks him with another combo as the round ends. 10-8 Lima, 20-17

Daley had to be cleared by the doctor to come out for the 3rd. Jimmy Smith only scored round 2 a 10-9 but Lima clearly ahead 2 rounds regardless. Round starts the same as the other two with Daley controlling the pace but Lima gets a takedown at 1:45. Lima looking for an armbar as he tries to advance position. Ref warns them to work at 2:15. He warns them again at 3:00. Lima landing light shots to the body and holding Daley down. Daley trying to secure an armbar from the bottom but Lima defends it. Daley sweeps to top position at 3:45 but Lima does the same and ends up back in top position. Ref warns them again at 4:45. Lima does land some punches as the round ends. 10-9 Lima, 30-26 overall

WINNER – DOUGLAS LIMA (27-6) by unanimous decision (scores 30-27 x 3)

Daley and Lima both got interview time after the fight. Neither guy had much to say except to say that everything they said about each other before the fight meant nothing, that they were just trying to build a fight.

Overall, an okay show. I don’t sense much interest in this one, though. The MVP KO is worth going out of your way to see although word is that Cyborg suffered a fractured skull from the knee. Bellator is back Friday night with Bellator 159 on Spike with Darrion Caldwell vs Joe Taimanglo in the main event.

JNPO: FloSports.com’s Jeremy Botter reveals new details on UFC sale

Posted on by Josh Nason

On the newest Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, we dive deep into the big news of the week: the sale of the UFC. And who better to help us wade through the murky waters than one of the captains of the story: FloSports.com managing editor Jeremy Botter!

Botter helped break the news on this story, standing by sources that tell him the UFC has indeed been sold to a group led by WME-IMG, headed by Ari Emanuel.

Some of the details the guys talked about:

– What happened at the recent infamous dinner meeting that made the bidding process moot

– What happened at the UFC offices on Wednesday

– What the UFC told him and what influences helped him navigate the waters

– Who this group is and when they came together

– Why this group wanted to buy the UFC

– When the announcement could be made

– And much more!

Enjoy this 30-minute conversation about one of the hottest topics in MMA right now by clicking below:

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Fedor Emelianenko returns, wins controversial decision Friday

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

In a fight that ranged from sad to exciting to perversely entertaining, sometimes all at once, former PRIDE & Strikeforce heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko was ruled the winner in the second fight of his comeback, but as far as his career goes, he was anything but that.

In the main event of Friday’s EFN show in Saint Petersburg, Russia, that aired for nearly seven hours on UFC Fight Pass, Emelianenko was awarded a controversial majority decision over former UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado on scores of 29-28 (x2) and 28-28.

A normal referee would have stopped the fight on at least two occasions: once in the first round when Emelianenko was being pounded on and knocked silly on the ground, and second, when he managed to get out of the position and his legs were gone as he was stumbling around. Still, “The Last Emporer” survived a first round where he took a terrible beating that somehow two judges called a 10-9.

In the second round, Emelianenko recovered and came back, although it was clear the 36-year-old’s Maldonado’s strategy was to block his punches and come back. Maldonado came back at the end of the round, landing a lot of solid punches, making it a close round.

Emelianenko did more damage in a third round putting two exhausted fighters on display, but, at best, he should have earned a draw out of it.  While Maldonado blocked most of his punches, Maldonado was too tired to take advantage of Emelianenko’s tiredness and wear from the battering he took. Maldonado was also pretty battered by the time it was over.

A 28-28 score was legitimate as would be a 29-27 for Maldonado. 

The announcer, hilariously honest, openly thought the fight was over early in the first round and was cheering for Emelianenko. He also said this probably ruins his chances to get into the UFC.  Perhaps he could still get a deal because of his name, and that the viewership of this fight was small. But, it was clear that even though Emelianenko has unreal mental toughness, he would get destroyed by any good heavyweight striker unless he got to them quickly.

Maldonado proved a tough style match-up because the one thing he has is the ability to take punches which allowed Emelianenko to unload and tire himself out.  Emelianenko never once went for a takedown, prompting the announcer to questioning why not, since Emelianenko would have had a huge edge if he could get the takedown.

Even before the decision was read, the announcer acknowledged Emelianenko had lost the fight, but said that, of course, he would be ruled the winner.

JNPO: UFC 199 preview with Patrick Wyman of Bleacher Report & Washington Post

Posted on by Josh Nason

We’re still on the road to UFC 200, but we have to make a stop in sunny Los Angeles, CA, first for a fun-looking UFC 199 event that is full of bad blood.

On this week’s edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, Bleacher Report senior MMA analyst & Washington Post contributor Patrick Wyman drops by the show to go over the event and much more like…

– Why he feels like it would take an alien invasion for Michael Bisping to best Luke Rockhold

– If Urijah Faber has a real path to victory against Dominick Cruz

– What he feels should be next for bantamweight rising star Cody Garbrandt

– A little bit of UFC 199 true/false

– What MMA fans can watch for in order to get more educated on the nuance of the sport

– Patrick’s background and how he came to prominence as a striking analyst

– And so much more.

Click below to listen or right click to save to your computer, techno partners.

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JNPO: Understanding MMA analytics with ESPN Insider’s Reed “Fightnomics” Kuhn

Posted on by Josh Nason

Analytics is a hot topic and area of interest in pro sports and culture in general. Not to be left out of the game, MMA has been slower to the party than some due to several factors. But why?

On the latest Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, analytics pioneer Reed Kuhn of Fightnomics fame (buy his book!) stops by to explain. Here’s a little of what Reed and Josh discussed:

– The evolution of MMA analytics since Reed got involved back in 2009

– How he got hooked up with ESPN Insider/Chalk and his role there

– How to overcome the barrier of big data and breaking it down into usable information

– Whether there’s been pushback from managers and fighters on the data that’s been given to them

– A talk about the UFC sale news and what both guys would like to see from it

– What interests Reed about this weekend’s UFC 198, how UFC Rotterdam turned out…and more!

If you’re into sports analytics or want to understand more, this show is for you!

Click to listen below or right-click to save the MP3.

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Bellator fighter Jordan Parsons dies after hit and run incident

Posted on by F4W Staff

Bellator fighter Jordan Parson’s who had his leg amputated a few days ago after a hit and run has passed away.  He was 25 years old.  Parson’s was hit by a car early last Sunday, May 1st around 12:30AM while crossing a street in Del Ray, Florida.

Bellator promoter Scott Coker had this to say: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of a dear member of the Bellator family, Jordan Parsons. Jordan was an exceptional athlete and a rising star in the sport. But more importantly, he was an exceptional young man. Jordan was hard-working, dedicated, intelligent, and a pleasure to be around. He represented all the reasons we love this sport. It is a terribly tragic loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and teammates.” We at the Wrestling Observer echo the sentiments of Mr. Coker.

The driver, who has not been found, took off while Parsons was left on the road with a horrible leg wound. A police officer, Derek Chahine, responded and treated Parsons, who was taken to the hospital, in critical condition. Police believe that the headphones Parsons was wearing as he crossed the road may have prevented him from hearing the SUV approaching. Police were unable to determine who had the right of way. Police are searching for the driver, whose car would be missing the drivers’s side mirror and have damage on the driver’s side headlight and surrounding casing. Parsons had an 11-2 record and was scheduled to fight on Bellator’s San Jose show 5/14 against Adam Piccolotti.

Conor McGregor possibly teases retirement

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

A cryptic tweet out of nowhere by Conor McGregor has shaken up the MMA world.

McGregor earlier today wrote:

“I have decided to retire young.

Thanks for the cheese.

Catch ya’s later.”

There was nothing more said, no doubt by design.

With Ronda Rousey out of action, McGregor is the key draw for UFC business going into its planned biggest week in history in July when he was the headline UFC 200 against Nate Diaz.

McGregor has been unavailable to media and UFC has not said anything.

Whether this is a negotiating ploy, a legitimate retirement or just his own practical joke that will be explained that he’s always said he doesn’t want to fight a long time is unknown.

McGregor is a big spender, and he was likely to get his biggest paycheck to date for UFC 200.  He had talked in the last year about a number of different business plans for the next few years but all of them involved building his name up bigger and continuing to fight.

There will no doubt be more on this as the day progresses.

Kimbo Slice heads to London for July return, interesting co-main planned

Posted on by Josh Nason

Photo: MMA Junkie

Kimbo Slice’s championship aspirations have never been at the top of the list for Bellator MMA, but interesting fights certainly are. Sunday night, the MMA world found out what his next foray into the cage will be.

In a rematch of one of the most watched MMA fights of all time, the 42-year-old Slice (6-2) will rematch James “Colossus” Thompson (20-16-1) on Saturday, July 16th at the O2 Arena in London, England. Bellator president Scott Coker made the announcement during a quick segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter on ESPNews.

Slice will ride into the fight on a two fight win streak, having dispatched Ken Shamrock and Dhafir “DADA 5000” Harris in February, the last fight notable mainly because Harris nearly died during the fight due to a terribly planned weight cut, and that Slice tested positive for banned substances. He was suspended for all of 90 days by the Texas Athletic Commission. 

While the quality of his fights haven’t been great, viewers continue to turn out in droves, making him the promotion’s biggest star. 

After winning four straight, the 37-year-old Thompson has lost his last two fights by TKO. He and Slice fought back in May 2008 for EliteXC, a fight Slice won by 3rd round TKO when Thompson’s cauliflower ear exploded after Slice punched it. The show aired on CBS and did huge ratings.

According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Bellator is looking at England native Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck II in the co-main event — a rematch of their infamous May 2010 UFC fight where Daley punched Koscheck after the fight ended, causing his immediate firing by UFC brass. Ever since Bellator signed both guys, the fight has been inevitable.

The fight announcement wasn’t lost on UFC VP of Public Relations Dave Sholler who had a simple tweet after the announcement. Even with a busy July, UFC has no shows planned for that date. They have run the O2 Arena six times, always drawing well there.

Bellator’s Aaron Pico goes for Olympic wrestling team berth tonight

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Bellator’s Aaron Pico will be going for an Olympic wrestling team berth tonight when he faces Frank Molinaro in the 143 pound weight division final.

Pico, 19, from Whittier CA, is attempting to become the first teenager to make the Olympic team in freestyle wrestling in 40 years.

Pico has two prior wins over Molinaro, but Molinaro has had a killer tournament thus far in beating Logan Steiber, the four-time NCAA champion, as well a Brent Metcalf, one of the best U.S. wrestlers of the modern era, and like Steiber, a former Hodge trophy winner.

Pico and Ed Ruth were both signed by Bellator as amateur stars who will debut in MMA after the Olympics, or sooner if they fail to make the Olympic team.

Pico, was considered perhaps the best teenage prospect in decades as he was named pound-for-pound the best high school wrestlers in the country while only a freshman, where he went 42-0, with no close bouts, in taking the California state title. He was world champion in his age group in 2013, and against older competitors in the junior division, took third in the 2014 and 2015 world championships.

Still, because of how loaded the 143 pound division was, he was considered a long shot to make the team. With Metcalf, Steiber, Molinaro, Jordan Oliver, Zain Retheford, Jayson Ness and Reece Humphrey, it was considered the most loaded division in the tournament.

While growing up, Pico won a number of boxing and Pankration tournaments and Bellator signed him in 2014, shortly after his 18th birthday, to essentially a futures contract and he was introduced on one of the company’s major shows.

The finals at 143 will air on NBC Sports tonight at some point after 7 p.m. Eastern and 4 p.m. Pacific.

Many of the top wrestlers in the recent NCAA tournament are competing for slots on the team. Nick Gwiazdowski, who placed second at heavyweight, is in the super heavyweight division with the finals tonight.

Kyle Snyder, 20, the NCAA heavyweight champion and defending world champion, will compete at 215 pounds, will be in a tournament tomorrow.

WON Preview: Hogan wins Gawker lawsuit, MMA Legalized in NY

Posted on by F4W Staff

Subscribers click here to read: MARCH 28, 2016 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: HOGAN WINS GAWKER LAWSUIT, MMA LEGALIZED IN NY, WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND PREVIEW, MORE

The lead story examines the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker trial and what is next regarding the two sides and appeals. The article examines why Gawker believed they would lose in the trial but prevail in appeal, how the jury came to the $140 million verdict, evidence Gawker is looking at introducing in the appeal, the role of Bubba the Love Sponge, the stupid things Gawker said in the trial, a realistic look at loss of income for Hogan, and why playing the tape had nothing to do with it.

Also in this issue, a complete rundown of WrestleMania weekend including lineups with many matches not yet announced for not only WrestleMania itself but for all of the different events next week in Dallas. There is also an update on the WrestleMania attendance, ticket sales for other events, plus mythical records, and people scheduled to appear that haven’t been announced.

Big shows with are coming up for Evolve, NXT, Wrestlecon and more.

UFC has huge plans for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rematch, potentially at UFC 200. 

MMA promoters are thrilled about the passing of the bill in the New York state assembly to legalize professional MMA. There are plans by both UFC and Bellator for live events in New York as soon as possible.

There have been lawsuits filed against WWE and by WWE that have been thrown out either completely or partially earlier this week. 

Sting and Daniel Bryan are both in the news.

Check out the scene in Mexico with AAA losing talent, the Lucha Underground/AAA connection, how Lucha Underground stopped the main event on Elite’s first television taping, what Bellator star headlines that show, who has quit TNA, how the philosophy has changed, and the economics of all this.

Eric Young and Bobby Roode departed from TNA. Read about the background of both men leaving, their status and history in TNA, their value to WWE, their future as well as comments made by both regarding leaving.

This issue features the results of UFC’s Fight Night from Brisbane, Australia over the weekend, with thoughts on the Neil Magny vs. Hector Lombard officiating, ratings notes, plus match-by-match coverage.

CMLL’s Dos Leyendas show, its first big show of the year, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, plus the revealing of family with the country’s top heel, all in this issue.

DDT’s has its biggest show of the year, with the return of Kota Ibushi, held at Sumo Hall.

Subscribers click here to read: MARCH 28, 2016 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: HOGAN WINS GAWKER LAWSUIT, MMA LEGALIZED IN NY, WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND PREVIEW, MORE

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Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: February 8, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Giant Baba passes away  A look at the life and times of Giant Baba, details on the Mankind vs. Rock empty arena match at WWF Halftime Heat, plus tons of news.

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

Also in this issue:

  • CMLL’s unique tournament going on right now and its history of creating some of the biggest stars in the company of the past 20 year
  • Perro Aguayo for the first time talks the death of his son
  • Notes on Dragon Gate’s Memorial Gate show
  • NOAH’s big show this past week with multiple title matches
  • Former WWE wrestler returns to New Japan at Invasion Attack
  • Tanahashi talks working with the Young Bucks
  • Two big weekend shows and four title matches in New Japan
  • Major woman’s star for three decades is retiring
  • Former three-time world champion moving to Canada to come out of retirement to go for the freestyle world title
  • NCAA Division I heavyweight title match and its background
  • Update on the status of Speedball Mike Bailey
  • Kurt Angle talks fighting MMA and returning to WWE
  • UR Fight show with Angle vs. Mysterio
  • The first modern wrestler to use entrance music wasn’t The Freebirds
  • What will air in early 2017 on Lucha Underground and future directions of the company
  • The next month of TNA Impact that was taped this past week
  • Business notes regarding UFC 196
  • Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice failing drug tests
  • What drugs they failed for and why they both failed the IQ test
  • Potential WWE lawsuit that is being talked about behind the scenes

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New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.