The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
In this week’s newly posted retro Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we go back to April 2008 where Affliction MMA (yes, that Affliction MMA) was making a big move by bringing in Fedor Emelianenko.
Dave Meltzer looked at the 100th anniversary of the famous Frank Gotch vs. George Hackenschmidt match in addition to a deep dive on the biggest wrestling matches in major cities.
All that and more await in the latest WON added to our growing archive.
Click here to read (sub needed)
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio. Mary Fries, daughter of Pampero Firpo, joined in the first segment to talk about her friend Lanny Poffo.
Then, Dave and I went over the shows and news of the day. We discussed:
The video version of this show is available for video subscribers at video.f4wonline.com.
The final fight for MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko was a losing effort as “The Last Emperor” lost via first round TKO to heavyweight champion Ryan Bader at Saturday’s Bellator 290.
Emelianenko was never really in the fight, getting struck early, bloodied, and knocked down roughly a minute into the fight. Bader put the pressure on, using his ground and pound to continue the attack and eventually end things at 2:30 of the first round after vicious hammer fists.
Saturday’s show from The Forum in Inglewood, California, was on CBS and featured three total fights.
The fight was a rematch of their January 2019 battle that Bader won in just 35 seconds by TKO to take the then-vacant Bellator heavyweight title.
The 46-year-old Emelianenko entered Saturday on a two-fight win streak over three years, picking up knockout/TKO wins over Rampage Jackson (December 2019) and Timothy Johnson (October 2021).
A who’s who of MMA royalty were on hand to honor Emelianenko including Randy Couture, Royce & Renzo Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Josh Barnett, Chael Sonnen, Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes, Jackson, and Frank Shamrock.
Emelianenko (40-7-0-1) retired never having fought for the UFC even though there were talks years ago for him to fight Brock Lesnar. Over his near-23 year career, he competed for PRIDE, Strikeforce, Bellator, RINGS, Affliction, BodogFight, M-1 and others. He spent the last six years in Bellator.
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WON NEWSLETTER: November 15, 2021 Observer Newsletter: Death of Angelo Mosca, Full Gear & Survivor Series previews
In this week’s issue:
Current subscribers click here to read.
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Garrett and I just did a show today with Tony Khan talking Full Gear and a lot of other notes. Bryan and I will be doing a show tomorrow night with the news, talking about both Full Gear and the New Japan show in San Jose as well as other news.
On today’s call, Tony Khan said that the Battle of the Belts, which is the name of the new quarterly specials on TNT in 2022, right now looks to be one hour on Saturday nights, but that is to be determined.
He also hinted that there would be news on the Owen Hart tournament, perhaps as early as the post-show press conference tomorrow night. He hinted it would be a unique style tournament.
Smackdown tonight has announced Roman Reigns vs. King Woods and Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs vs. Humberto & Angel.
Rampage tonight from the Target Center in Minneapolis:
The Countdown to Full Gear airs at 11 p.m. tonight on TNT.
Bellator at 10 p.m. tonight on Showtime:
UFC tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern from the Apex in Las Vegas:
Congratulations to Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes, who were married yesterday in Las Vegas.
Here are the gambling odds for both Full Gear and Survivor Series from www.BetOnline.ag:
Survivor Series:
Full Gear:
Scott Coker spoke today about planning a Fedor Emelianenko retirement show coming summer in Moscow. Emelianenko said he wants one last fight and he wants it in Moscow.
New Japan Best of the Super Juniors opens tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. Eastern from Korakuen Hall on New Japan World with Japanese only commentary live (English commentary will go up a few days later):
Wrestle Universe airs a show tonight at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific from the Yokohama Budokan for NOAH with English commentary and Kaito Kiyomiya & Masa Kitamiya vs. Keiji Muto & Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC tag titles, Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kenou for the National title and Hayata vs. Aleja for the jr. title. Wrestle Universe is free from now until the end of the year.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: UFC 1 – The Beginning
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WON NEWSLETTER: June 28, 2021 Observer Newsletter: Hell in a Cell review, NJPW LA show announced
A look at the WWE’s last PPV of the Thunderdome era and what did and didn’t work on the Hell in a Cell show is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. We’ve got the booking, future direction for Money in the Bank, update on MITB tickets, star ratings, poll results and match and performer of the week.
Also in this issue:
A new lawsuit against UFC and why it is a potential game changer along with what would be almost a sure thing if it’s successful regarding WWE, what the claims are, and if it’s successful what it says about payment of money to athletes.
New Japan running shows in the United States, a look back at the early shows in Southern California, who is and isn’t on the cards and more.
Becky Lynch returning, SummerSlam ticket sales, WWE return to MSG, WWE ticket sales, FOX and NBCU suggestions for WWE programming, Montez Ford surgery, Karrion Kross and Bronson Reed tryouts, Shayna Baszler talks angle, International TV ratings, controversy over writer with no product knowledge continued and reaction internally, Rey Mysterio talks angle he doesn’t want to do, Kushida talks Kyle O’Reilly, Titus O’Neil talks his award nomination, plus next week’s TV shows, WWE’s biggest YouTube videos from this past week and WWE company market value.
Saturday’s UFC show with match-by-match coverage, future directions for the talent, business notes and more
Changes being worked on for the Nielsen ratings and who isn’t happy about them and why, television vs. streaming in 2021 and a comparison using AEW programming.
Suwama’s vacating the Triple Crown, how it will be decided, and then look back at how the three belts, the United National, PWF and International belts all formed, when, their rules, their history and the creation of the Triple Crown more than 30 years ago.
A feature on the death of former bodybuilding star turned pro wrestler Melissa Coates.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows and how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be back tonight talking about the news of the week, WWE cuts, how news from 17 years ago relates to today, risks by promotions, and much more.
The biggest news of the day were the releases of 13 WWE performers, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, August Grey, Ever-Rise, Curt Stallion, the Bollywood Boyz (Sunil and Samir Singh), Arturo Ruas, Marina Shafir, and Killian Dain. Essentially the moves, like others, are ways to lower the budget and up the profit margin because of a number of things related to stock price and attractiveness to potential buyers. None of those cut fit majorly into the current plans, but you can also tell this wasn’t thought out far in advance since just a week ago Fandango & Breeze got a TV win and did the beginnings of an angle with Imperium, and Ever-Rise has been featured as a comedy act. It was a numbers game. A lot of these people have real talent and will get chances elsewhere. Nese is a solid top-level worker inside the ring. The Bollywood Boyz can make anything asked of them work. Breeze & Fandango can wrestle and entertain but really had done about all they were going to do in WWE. Dain is a big agile guy who can work. Daivari is a strong worker. Shafir is a good athlete and the last time WWE cut a strong judoka she turned out to be Tay Conti in AEW, whether Shafir can follow in her footsteps probably isn’t fair but with there being a premium right now on woman wrestlers someone who is a good athlete should get chances on the outside.
Smackdown tonight at 8 p.m. on FOX has a Roman Reigns victory celebration for his win last week over Rey Mysterio, Cesaro & Bianca Belair vs. Seth Rollins & Bayley, plus Apollo Crews vs. Big E in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. 205 Live has a pair of unofficial loser leaves town matches, although not billed as such, with August Gray vs. Grayson Weller and Ikeman Jiro vs. Ariya Daivari. Daivari and Gray were both cut earlier today.
New Japan Strong at 10 p.m. tonight has Tom Lawlor vs. Karl Fredericks for the Strong title, Rocky Romero vs. Clark Connors and Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta vs. Kevin Knight & The DKC.
Bellator makes its debut in Moscow at the VTB Arena on 10/23 featuring Fedor Emelianenko in the main event.
Today (or tomorrow, depending on where you live) is the 45th anniversary of the Antonio Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali match from Tokyo. It was the first national closed-circuit pro wrestling event in history with two boxer vs. wrestler main events, Ali vs. Inoki and Andre the Giant vs Chuck Wepner from Shea Stadium. In most of the rest of the country, various wrestling promotions put on undercards from major arenas such as Shea Stadium, The Omni in Atlanta, the Sam Houston Coliseum, the Cow Palace in San Francisco, the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, the Amphitheater in Chicago and others. The show aired the night of June 25 in the U.S. and the morning of July 26 in Japan. It is still among the highest-rated television shows in the history of TV-Asahi. Ali was the biggest name in sports at the time while Inoki didn’t have much of a name at all in the U.S., and overall the show did disappointing business outside of the Northeast where Bruno Sammartino had a grudge match with Stan Hansen that fans in that part of the country considered the real main event. Sammartino literally came out of the hospital with a broken neck to do the match because Vince McMahon Sr. told him that they had invested so much into the show and it was feared it would bomb and could lead to the closing of the WWWF. Sammartino was promised points from every arena where his match aired, and while he did get his points from Shea Stadium, he did not from the other arenas with McMahon claiming Bob Arum turned down the request. A notable part of the story is that when Paul Levesque was negotiating with Sammartino to do the Hall of Fame, he asked for a dollar figure that he believed he was screwed out of to agree to do it and Vince McMahon Jr. did eventually agree to the figure. As for Ali vs. Inoki, it was a 15 round fight and ruled a draw, although if you watched the fight with today’s eyes Inoki probably won about 12 rounds and should have easily taken the decision, but people didn’t get low kicks in 1976 or understand what they were.
There are several major Japan shows available this weekend. FITE has a show Saturday at 6 a.m. with Pro Wrestling NOAH featuring Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Masa Kitamiya, the tag team champions, facing each other in a hair vs. hair match, plus a Rumble match for the No. 1 contender for the junior title with Daisuke Harada, Junta Miyawaki, Seiki Yoshioka, Niaoh, Tadasuke, Haoh, Hajime Ohara, Ikuto Hidaka and Eita from Dragon Gate. Atsushi Kotoge defends against the winner on a Sunday at 6 a.m. show, also on FITE, plus Great Muta vs. Kenou and Naomichi Marfuji & Masato Tanaka vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Takashi Sugiura.
All Japan runs Saturday at Ota Ward Gym with the Triple Crown decision match with Kento Miyahara, Jake Lee and Yuma Aoyagi where it’s a series of singles matches that continue until one man has beaten each of the other two.
Bellator tonight at 9 p.m. on Showtime:
PFL tonight at 10 p.m. on ESPN 2:
All matches are part of a qualifying tournament in their respective divisions, with Goltsov vs Sayles at heavyweight, Palmer vs. Khaybulaev at featherweight, Pettis vs. Manfio at lightweight and Harrison vs. Dandois at women’s lightweight.
UFC tomorrow starting at 1 p.m. Eastern for an ESPN+ card:
Fast 9, with the debut of John Cena in the series, opens in North America this weekend.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: WWF King of the Ring 2000
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Legendary MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko said in a Thursday Instagram post that he is hospitalized with COVID-19.
RT Sport reported that the 44-year-old is at a medical facility that specializes in treating those with the coronavirus. Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA Novosti first reported Emelianenko’s health status but there is no news on how he got it or his current physical state.
On the post, he said (translated), “Thank you all who are sincerely worried about my health. I am feeling well now, I am on the mend. I am grateful to the doctors and medical staff for their care and your hard work.”
Emelianenko last competed in December 2019 as part of Bellator’s debut in Japan, defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by TKO in the first round. He signed a new multi-fight deal with the company in the summer of 2019 and is 3-2 overall since making his promotional debut in 2017.
Preview by Josh Nason
Even though they spent time in the same organizations throughout their lengthy careers, Fedor Emelianenko and Rampage Jackson never crossed paths inside a ring or a cage. That changes Saturday as the two will face off in the main event of Bellator 237, a joint event with Rizin at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The show will be aired live on DAZN and Paramount Network.
Fedor is on his retirement tour after signing a new deal with Bellator, but hasn’t fought since last January when he was knocked out by Ryan Bader in the heavyweight title Grand Prix finals in just 35 seconds. Jackson has been on the shelf even longer as he hasn’t fought since September 2018 in a second round TKO win over Wanderlei Silva.
Michael Chandler was originally scheduled to face Benson Henderson in the co-main, but Henderson had to pull out in early-December due to an injury. Chandler will now face Sidney Outlaw instead. Michael Venom Page (aka MVP) will also fight on the main card against Shinsho Anzai.
Our live coverage will begin at 10 p.m. Eastern.
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Daron Cruickshank of the good ole USA out to Hulk Hogan’s “Real American” theme, which would be like if Jack Swagger (not Jake Hager) had used “Wild Boys” in pro wrestling. He’s facing Goiti Yamauchi. Ironically, Yamauchi, the Japanese fighter, is the one representing Bellator in this promotional battle, as Cruickshank, a former UFC fighter, is a RIZIN regular.
And Bellator wins as Goiti Yamauchi wasted no time in taking the back standing of Cruickshank and dragging him to the mat, before securing a rear naked choke for the first round submission. That’s his SEVENTEETH first round submission.
WINNER – GOITI YAMAUCHI (25-4) by submission (rear naked choke) over Daron Cruickshank (22-13) at 3:11
Next up are the ladies, with Kana Watanabe representing RIZIN against Ilara Joanne of Bellator. Joanne comes up to a weird remake of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” that Mike Goldberg and John McCarthy make light of.
Joanne was landing good shots on the feet so Watanabe took her down. Joanne was working for a triangle from her guard for a couple of minutes and it looked close but Watanabe escaped. Watanabe landed some ground and pound and was going for an arm triangle as the round ended. Close round, probably goes to Watanabe since she closed strong.
Watanabe took Joanne down early in round 2 but Joanne reversed and spent most of the round on top. She did nothing with the position, though. Watanabe was landing very light strikes from the bottom and then reversed position with about 30 seconds left and landed a lot of hard shots and likely took that round as well. John McCarthy had round 1 for Joanne but I’ve got Watanabe up 20-18
Watanabe got a takedown early in round 3. Joanne was working for an armbar from her back and throwing elbows but Watanabe fought it off. Watanabe moved into half guard and was landing enough ground and pound to avoid a standup. Eventually she took her back and was landing punches to the head that weren’t being defended and the ref stopped it.
WINNER – KANA WATANABE (9-0-1) by TKO (punches) over Ilara Joanne (9-5)
Nakamura fighting next against Lorenz Larkin, representing Bellator in a battle of former UFC fighters. No, it’s not THAT Nakamura. K-Taro Nakamura is the “master of the rear naked choke”. Larkin is pumped about getting a chance to fight in the Saitama Super Arena. Larkin missed weight by 2.5 lbs for this welterweight clash.
Round 1 was all on the feet. The difference was the speed of Larkin, both in landing shots and avoiding them from Nakamura. Larkin landed hard kicks to the body and legs that were leaving their mark and clearly took the first.
Round 2 was more of the same. Nakamura had a brief flurry where he backed Larkiin up to the cage but by the end of the round, Larkin was landing hard shots including a jumping knee with a hard elbow to the head shortly after that. Larkin clearly up 20-18 after 2.
Larkin dominating on the feet to start round 3. Nakamura went for a takedown and held onto the leg and in the process ate some hard punches and elbows from Larkin that busted him up. He got to his feet bleeding heavily from his left eye and other cuts on his head. Larkin coasted the rest of the round but probably did enough for a 10-8 with all the damage so I’ve got it 30-26 Larkin
WINNER – LORENZ LARKIN (22-7) by decision over K-Taro Nakamura (35-11-2) on scores of 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26
Another guy coming out to a WWE theme song with Shinsho Anzai using Limp Bizkit’s “Rollin'” for his fight with MVP, aka Michael Venom Page. This was set up as a 173 lb contracted fight but MVP looks at least a weight class bigger.
Anzai got hit with a flying knee while going for a takedown but managed to stay on his feet. MVP did the same thing a 2nd time but didn’t connect as well and got stuck with his back to the cage. MVP managed to break free of that and toyed with Shinsho on the feet. A straight punch from MVP knocked Shinsho down but he let him up. Shinsho with a huge cut around his left eye after that. MVP hit him with another jumping knee while taunting him. He closed the round by taking his back standing. Probaby a 10-8 round but the way this is going, the score probably won’t matter.
MVP finished him with a hard right to the head early in the 2nd to pick up the KO win. This was basically a squash match and MVP looked good.
WINNER – MICHAEL VENOM PAGE (17-1) by KO (punch) over Shinsho Anzai (11-4) at 21 seconds of the 2nd round
Another enhancement match serves as the co-main with former lightweight champion taking on Sidney Outlaw. Outlaw is coming off a win over former UFC star Roger Huerta but that’s it for the Bellator vs RIZIN theme for the night. This is a 160 lb catchweight fight.
Chandler was dominating on the feet, although he did eat one hard shot from Outlaw. Shortly after that, he dropped Outlaw with a straight right cross that knocked him down and another shot to the side of the head on the ground and the ref stopped it. Outlaw was up quickly but it was a good stoppage.
WINNER – MICHAEL CHANDLER (20-5) by KO (punch) over Sidney Outlaw (14-4) at 2:59
Lenne Hardt doing the intros for the main event and Rampage out to the old Pride theme. Business has just picked up. Rampage, who fought the majority of his career at light heavyweight, had to cut to make the 265 lb limit and outweighs Fedor by 25 pounds for this fight. He greatly resembles his childhood hero, Junkyard Dog, at this point.
Fedor landing a lot of shots early. Rampage covering up and most of them blocked but a few got through. Rampage nearly fell over while throwing a haymaker and Fedor landed some nice punches. Fedor started to land kicks to the leg and body. Uppercut from Fedor lands hard and Rampage falls face first to the canvas and the ref stops it. Crowd goes silent.
WINNER – FEDOR EMELIANENKO (39-6) by KO (punch) over Rampage Jackson (38-14) at 2:44
Rampage was questioning the stoppage but it was good as he was clearly out of it for several seconds before regaining his bearings and he had nothing. This wasn’t quite as bad as Chuck Liddell looked against Tito but it wasn’t far off.
Bellator MMA announced Wednesday that former PRIDE heavyweight champion and all-time great Fedor Emelianenko will face former UFC light heavyweight champion and former PRIDE star Rampage Jackson on Sunday, December 29th.
The heavyweight fight will main event Bellator’s Japanese debut, taking place at Tokyo, Japan’s famed Saitama Super Arena. The event is being billed as Bellator vs. RIZIN with the expectation the two sides will continue their past of interpromotional fights.
It will be simulcast on DAZN and Paramount Network.
Emelianenko, 43, re-signed with Bellator this summer for what’s expected to be the final time as he once again prepares for retirement. He’s 2-2 in his run with the company and is coming off a 35-second January loss to Ryan Bader in the finals of the Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Jackson, 41, won his first four Bellator fights, but has lost two of his last three. He last was seen defeating Wanderlei Silva by second round TKO in September 2018.
Preview by Josh Nason
After a year and six fights, the finals of the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix are finally here. Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir, Matt Mitrione, King Mo, Roy Nelson, and Rampage Jackson all fell by the wayside and now, Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader remain.
Luke Thomas pointed out on this week’s MMA Beat that while the sports world is buzzing about the length of time between Tom Brady’s first Super Bowl and this year’s big game, Fedor has been in the game for an incredible 19 years, most of which has been at a high level.
Bader is the company’s light heavyweight champion, but the fight is lacking that champ-champ feel. Perhaps that’s because the vacant heavyweight title has been pushed far into the background throughout this whole tournament in favor of the Grand Prix name. Bader has looked great in this new weight class and his signing several years ago continues to pay off dividends for all parties involved.
Did you know they haven’t had a heavyweight champion in nearly three years? Very odd.
Anyway, Aaron Pico is also on the show and could earn a title shot with a big win, but the bigger news for our audience is the MMA debut of Jake Hager, the former WWE champion Jack Swagger. He has a great pedigree as a college wrestler, but at 36 years old, this is a big shift. He faces a relatively inexperienced fighter in J.W. Kiser on the main card.
Paul Fontaine kicks us off with results from the main event, the Pico fight and the Hager fight later tonight.
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Earlier in the show:
Adel Altamimi (8-5) submitted Brandon Macmahan (5-7) with an armbar in the first round. Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt was in the corner of Altamimi and celebrated with him in the cage afterward.
Juan Archuleta (22-1) won an unanimous decision (29-28 x 3) over Ricky Bandejas (11-2). Archuleta was cornered by UFC champion TJ Dillashaw. This was a good fight and worth checking out if you have DAZN.
Bellator announced 2 title fights for April 27 in San Jose with Rory McDonald defending his welterweight title against Jon Fitch, which is also a first round match in the welterweight Grand Prix. Ilema-Lei MacFarlane and Veta Artega meet up for MacFarlane’s flyweight belt.
Leading up to the Hager fight, analyst Frank Mir talked about taking on a former WWE champion himself earlier in his career when he faced Brock Lesnar. The commentators joked that Hager and Lesnar had legit credentials as compared to another former WWE champ, CM Punk, who also tried MMA and didn’t do so well.
Jake Hager vs. J.W. Kiser – heavyweights
Hager reprised his WWE catchphrase of “We The People” to zero reaction from the crowd during his entrance. Ron Killings, aka R-Truth, sang his entrance song. Not making that up.
Hager has a 6 inch height and 12 inch reach advantage over his opponent, who is also 3 years older and giving up about 20 lbs of weight.
Hagger gets a takedown to start. Mick Foley tweeting support. Heger with a Kumura attempt as he eats punches from Kiser. Goldberg mentions Bautista, Lashley, Lesnar and CM Punk as former pro wrestlers who have done MMA. Hager landing punches to the head and sets up an arm triangle and gets the quick tap.
Official result – Jake Hager (1-0) by submission (head and arm choke) at 2:09
Hager said that hard work paid off and gave a shout-out to Parry, OK and, not surprisingly, he got no reaction from the LA crowd. They clearly have no idea who he is or just don’t care because he’s not getting any more reaction than any other 1-0 fighter. He promised to be in the Bellator cage alot and says he’ll be fighting for the next decade.
He addressed Vince McMahon telling him not to lose by saying “Sometimes to convince Vince, you have to con Vince”. Again, zero reaction and he again tried the “We The People” gimmick to no reaction.
Aaron Pico vs. Henry Corrales
Corrales is a real fighter who has only 3 losses, all to former Bellator champions, in his career. Pico has the crowd chanting for him from the start of the fight.
Pico stunned Corrales with an uppercut 45 seconds in. Corrales recovers and lands a combo that knocks Pico out cold.
Official result – Henry Corrales (17-3) by knockout (punches) at 1:07
While Corrales was giving his post-fight promo, the camera was showing Pico walking back to the cage. There is a reason why fighters are brought up slowly and why prospects are generally protected early in their careers and this is it. Corrales is a world title contender and Pico was not even close to being ready for him. Corrales asked for a rematch with Patricio Pitbull, who beat him in a fight he took on short notice first time out. His promo was expletive-ridden and I watched on DAZN so not sure how much of it would’ve made air on Paramount.
Andrew Whitworth of the LA Rams was interviewed in the crowd and got a lot of boos in advance of next week’s Super Bowl. Must be Chargers fans at the Forum tonight. He was asked for a prediction in the main event and took Bader, which drew a mixed reaction from the crowd.
Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix/Vacant Championship Finals: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Ryan Bader
Both national anthems were played in their entirely. A ton of down-time on this show with all the early finishes and a 3 hour broadcast window to fill for 5 fights, only 3 of which anyone cares about.
Still kind of unreal that Fedor is fighting for a major world title in 2019. Bader looks like he’s giving up some size,
Bader knocks out Fedor with the first punch of the fight, a left hook. Frank Mir had called that earlier in the night as being what Fedor would need to look out for.
Official result – Ryan Bader (27-5) by KO (punch) at 35 seconds
Bader got two more belts with the heavyweight title as well as a belt for winning the Grand Prix. Bader said it was an honor just to be in “the ring” with Fedor.
Bader said he would talk to his team and see what he would do but that he would like to defend both belts if at all possible. He also said he loved the idea of the tournament and put over Bellator for making it happen. He got a nice reaction from the crowd, who seemed pro-Fedor before the fight.
Image: Bellator MMA
At 42 years old, Fedor Emelianenko showed he still has plenty of power and used it to defeat Chael Sonnen Saturday to advance to the Bellator heavyweight title Grand Prix finals against Ryan Bader.
Emelianenko beat Sonnen by first round TKO (4:46) in the main event of Bellator 209 Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. He’ll face light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader who advanced Friday with a dominant performance over Matt Mitrione at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
Emelianenko countered Sonnen’s attempts at takedowns for the most part, landing hard fists that immediately hurt Sonnen in addition to sambo throws. Sonnen did eventually gain the advantage on the ground, but Emelianenko was able to avoid any serious trouble.
The end came when Sonnen had Emelianenko’s back and was working for a rear naked choke. He rolled over the top and left himself prone to a punch by Emelianenko that led to Sonnen to cover up and take a dozen unanswered shots before the referee called it.
Bader and Emelianenko will meet in January for the vacant Bellator heavyweight title.
Preview by Josh Nason
One night after light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader punched his ticket to the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix finals, Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen will do battle for the chance to face him for the vacant Bellator heavyweight title in January.
Welcome to our live coverage for Bellator 208 from the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, live on Paramount Network and DAZN.
As mentioned, the main event will pit Emelianenko vs. Sonnen against each other in an interesting match-up of styles. Sonnen dominated Rampage Jackson in a decision win to get where while Emelianenko defeated Frank Mir by first round TKO in his first tournament appearance.
Also on the main card, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson vs. Saad Awad, Cheick Kongo faces Timothy Johnson, former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko returns to take on Anatoly Tokov, and Henry Corrales faces Andy Main.
Our coverage begins with the kickoff of the main card at 9 PM Eastern.
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First up is a featherweight bout between Henry Corrales (15-3) and Andy Main (12-3-1). Rob Hinds is the referee.
Main is making his Bellator debut after fighting for Pancrase in Japan. Corrales is a Bellator vet with wins over Georgi Karakhanyan as well as former UFC fighters Noad Lahat and Cody Bollinger.
Main is the taller fighter and landed a lot of punches and kicks from distance early, while Corrales was having trouble finding his range. Crowd was booing toward the end of the round as both guys seemed reluctant to engage at times. Corrales woke up the crowd with a flurry of punches with about 30 seconds left that may have been enough to steal a close round. Main did rock Corrales with a counter shot right before the bell. 10-9 Corrales
Main had a really nice combo in the first minute, right after Mike Goldberg brought up the fact that he has won 4 of his last 5. Corrales’ only pro losses were against 2 former champs and Emmanuel Sanchez, who has the next title shot. Most of the action in the first half of the round took place in the center of the cage until Main got a takedown but Corrales got right up. Both guys were landing leg kicks from distance while also throwing occasional punches. Another close round. 10-9 Main, 19-19
Corrales landed a really nice punch combo a minute into the third that rocked Main. Main having trouble walking around from taking all kinds of damage from leg kicks on his lead leg. Corrales drops Main with a punch combo and then finishes him on the ground with punches.
Offical result – Henry Corrales (16-3) by KO (punches) at 2:08 of the 3rd round
Corrales has now won 4 straight, including 2 KOs. He put over Main as a tough opponent and his fight camp of MMA Lab, who he gave credit to for his winning streak. Benson Henderson is a teammate and will fight later tonight in the co-main.
Next up is a battle of Russian middleweights featuring former champion Alexander Shlemenko (57-11) vs Anatoly Tokov (26-3). Shlemenko has been splitting his time between M-1 and Bellator and has just 1 win here in the last 4 years, including losses to Tito Ortiz and Gegard Mousasi. Tokov has won his first 2 Bellator fights, both by stoppage. Dan Miragliotta is the referee for this one.
Tokov is a teammate of Fedor, who of course fights in the main event tonight. He was on the defensive early as Shlemenko controlled the page, landing punches and kicks. They fought for control in a cage clinch and Tokov briefly took Shlemenko down. Halfway through the round, Tokov got him down again and held him down a little longer. Tokov controlled his back when standing but Shlemenko eventually got away. Tokov back to the cage clinch and Shlemenko was looking to the ref to break it up but eventually got away himself. Tokov back to the cage clinch with 30 seconds left and held him against the cage for the rest of the round. 10-9 Tokov
John McCarthy agreed with me and scored round 1 for Tokov. Shlemenko looking tired and nailed Tokov with a low blow, which should earn him a little longer to rest. Dan Miragliotta gave him a hard warning. Tokov took him down right after the restart. Shlemenko up quickly but Tokov controlling his back standing. Shlemenko got away and thowing a lot of desparation shots with Tokov landing nice counters. Hulk Hogan had a tweet aired on the broadcast in support of Chael Sonnen and Mike Goldberg put him over, doing a Hulkster impression. Tokov back to the cage clinch and again Shlemenko looking to the ref to break it up. They separated on their own and Tokov looking tired now as well. Tokov took the back standing with about 30 seconds left, landing knees to the legs as the round ends. 10-9 Tokov, 20-18 overall
Herschel Walker and Ryan Bader were both shown cageside. Big John has Tokov up 20-18 as well. Shlemenko with a standing guillotine attempt in the first minute but gives it up quickly. Tokov starting to pick off Shlemenko with punches at will so Shlemenko took it to the cage clinch. Tokov broke away fairly quickly and landing shots from distance. Shlemenko looking very tired but does get a flash takedown halfway through the round. Tokov takes the back standing with 90 seconds left. Tokov gets a takedown but Shlemenko up quickly. Tokov hangs onto the back. Tokov took him down a couple more times but Shlemenko kept getting up with Tokov still on his back. Tokov with knees to the head and body as the round ends. 10-9 Tokov, 30-27 overall
Official result – Anatoly Tokov (27-3) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
They officially announced a second card in Hawaii on December 14th on Paramount the night before the DAZN card on the 15th. Announced fights are Brent Primus defending his lightweight title against former champ Michael Chandler on the Friday and Hawaiian Ilema-Lei MacFarlane defending the women’s flyweight belt against Valerie Letourneau on the 15th. Also on the Saturday card are Lyoto Machida making his Bellator debut against Rafael Carvalho and a first round match in the welterweight Grand Prix between Neiman Gracie and Ed Ruth.
Speaking of the welterweight tourney, 50 Cent was show cageside. He has committed a 1 million dollar prize to the winner of the Grand Prix. Douglas Lima, who has already advanced to round 2 was interviewed at the desk by Jenn Brown, Frank Mir and Josh Thomson but didn’t really have anything of importance to say.
Heavyweights Cheick Kongo (28-10-2) and Timothy Johnson (12-4) are next up. Kongo is one of only two fighters to have picked up at least 10 wins in both Bellator and UFC. Johnson is making his Bellator debut after going 3-3 in UFC. They share a common former opponent in former Bellator champ Alexander Volkov. Kongo beat him by decision in 2015 while Johnson lost via split decision last year. An interesting note is that Kongo is higher ranked at heavyweight according to FightMatrix.com than 6 of the 8 fighters in the Grand Prix but didn’t get a spot in that tourney despite 6 straight wins in Bellator.
Todd Anderson gets the officiating duties for this one. Both guys keeping their distance early. Johnson moves in to clinch on the cage but Kongo takes him down and finishes him quickly with punches on the ground.
Official result – Cheick Kongo (29-10-2) by TKO (punches) at 1:08
That’s two straight first-round finishes for Kongo. Kongo, in his post-fight interview asked for Bellator to bring a card to France. Kongo asked for a fight with the winner of the tournament and even said he could fight in a few weeks if needed to. He said he’s still going strong at age 43 and is drug-free.
Former UFC and WEC champion Benson Henderson (25-8) takes on Saad Awad (23-9) in a lightweight bout next. Rob Hinds gets the reffing duties. Saad Awad ties Alexander Shlemenko for 3rd all-time in fights with 18th here tonight.
Both guys throwing mainly kicks early. Henderson looks to be giving up size to Awad, who has fought at welterweight in the past. Awad with a standing guillotine after Henderson moved in for a takedown. Henderson completes the takedown and escapes the guillotine. Henderson takes the back with 2 minutes left and secures a body lock. Awad escapes and ends up in top position with a minute left. Awad with a D’Arce choke attempt. Henderson escapes and lands punches and elbows. Henderson takes the back again and working for a rear naked choke. Awad escapes and throwing upkicks after Henderson stands up. 10-9 Henderson
Awad pushing the pace early in round 2. Henderson with a takedown 90 seconds in but Awad reverses and ends up on top. Awad with a guillotine but loses position and Henderson escapes and ends up on top. Awad to his feet but Henderson controls his back and drags him down again. Awad escapes and to his feet but Henderson takes him down again. Henderson takes the back and landing punches and knees to the body with a minute left. Henderson landing elbows and punches to the head while setting up a head and arm choke. He secures it with 15 seconds left but the bell saves Awad. 10-9 Henderson, 20-18 overall. Almost a 10-8 round but not quite
McCarthy has it 20-18 as well. Awad sprawls out of a takedown attempt early and lands a nice knee to the head that rocks Henderson. He lands a takedown shortly after that but Awad landing punches to the head while Henderson is just trying to maintain position. Henderson takes the back and landing punches to the head. Ref breaks it up because Henderson was grabbing the cage and told him he’d take a point if it happened again. Awad defends a couple of takedown attempts but Henderson ends up trapping him in a cage clinch. Awad knocks down Henderson with a punch but he gets right up and takes Awad down with 90 seconds left. Henderson with an arm triangle attempt with 30 seconds left. Awad gives up his back. Henderson with a rear naked choke but time runs out. 10-9 Henderson, 30-27 overall
Official result – Benson Henderson (26-8) by unanimous decision (30-27; 30-26 x 2)
Henderson cut a promo calling out fighters who act like morons and then say they were just building up a fight, obviously referring to Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Crowd did not like this at all and booed him pretty noticeably.
Ryan Bader was interviewed cageside by Mike Goldberg and John McCarthy. Bader joked that he hasn’t been hit yet in the tournament and the only damage he’s taken is mat-burn on his knees. He seemed to indicate that Chael Sonnen might be a tougher matchup for him but did admit that Fedor’s power worries him. He thinks that for his legacy, he’d rather fight Fedor in the finals.
Main event time. Fedor Emelianenko (37-5) vs Chael Sonnen (30-15-1) in the semi-finals of the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix. Winner faces Ryan Bader in early 2019 to determine the winner and new Bellator heavyweight champion. Dan Miragliotta is the ref.
They didn’t touch gloves at first but Miragliotta asked again and they did. Fedpr knocked Chael down with the first punch of the fight but let him up. Chael goes down again from a shot but again Fedor lets him up. It seems to be on purpose to get Fedor to the ground. Chael takes him down but Fedor reverses into top position. This is all in the first minute. Fedor to his fet and sonnen shoots for a takedown but gets stuffed easily. Sonnen gets a takedown and takes Fedor’s back but Fedor shakes him off. Fedor all over Sonnen with punches but he weathers it. Fedor into side control at the 2 minute mark. Sonnen to his feet at 2:30. Fedor ducking away from Chael’s punches, which are coming in slow. Sonnen gets a takedown at 3:00. USA chants from the crowd even though they were cheering Fedor during the intros. Chael just laying on Fedor and ref warns him to work. Fedor landing body punches. Chael into mount but Fedor immediately reverses and gets to his feet. Chael misses a takedown and Fedor lands some heavy punches and back into top position. Fedor all over him with punches and the ref stops it since Sonnen wasn’t fighting back.
Official result – Fedor Emelianenko (38-5) by TKO (punches) at 4:46
Fedor says Ryan Bader’s a great fighter and a serious opponent for him.
Chael was interviewed as well and said that everything Fedor did hurt him and that he thinks that he and Bader will be a great fight.
Bader and Fedor squared off in a pose and then shook hands.
Amazingly, every scheduled match in this tourney took place and the finals are set for LA on January 26th.
A year and a half after the heavyweight title was stripped off the champion, Bellator MMA finally has a plan to crown a new champion and it’s a big one.
On Friday, the promotion announced to MMA Junkie that an eight-man heavyweight tournament Grand Prix is expected to begin in late-January with a conclusion in December 2018. The Grand Prix format is a favorite of Bellator president Scott Coker who famously last had a heavyweight Grand Prix in Strikeforce’s dying days.
The tournament is loaded with notable talent, making for some interesting potential matchups:
– Fedor Emelianenko
– Frank Mir
– Roy Nelson
– Matt Mitrione
– Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader
– Rampage Jackson
– King Mo
– Chael Sonnen
Yes, you read that right. Sonnen will compete in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament without actually having fought at heavyweight before. He joins the newly re-signed Jackson, King Mo, and Bader — all of which have made their names at different weight classes. Mo and Jackson have fought each other at heavyweight while Mo has competed there several times over the past few years.
Bader’s inclusion is particularly interesting, given he just defended his light heavyweight gold for the first time last weekend. It’s unclear how this will affect the title going forward.
Mir was released from his UFC contract months after a USADA violation that put his career in doubt and signed with Bellator earlier this year. Mitrione is coming off a knockout of Emelianenko, while Nelson is coming off a win in his promotional debut.
No brackets were announced, but expect that to be part of of the official announcement that will happen at one of Bellator’s five remaining 2017 shows. In the Junkie piece, Coker said there will be one fight per event at seven different shows throughout the year. However, there wasn’t any mention of alternates if one of the tourney fighters gets injured.
The last Bellator heavyweight champion was Vitaly Minakov who last defended the title in April 2014 by downing Cheick Kongo. He was finally stripped in May 2016.
Preview by Paul Fontaine
Bellator 172 returns to the SAP Center in San Jose, CA, Saturday, but not with the main event everyone expected.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione was scrapped late in the day due to Mitrione suffering from kidney stones. There were fighters who offered to take his place but at such late notice Bellator was unable to put a new fight together. The co-main event of Josh Thomson vs. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire has been elevated to main event status — a fight that could determine the next challenger to lightweight champ Michael Chandler.
Also on the undercard, former UFC welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck finally makes his promotional debut as he’s set to fight journeyman Mauricio Alonso.
Cheick Kongo will step into a Bellator cage for the tenth time on Saturday as he takes on ex-UFC fighter and Englishman Oli Thompson. Rounding out the main card is a women’s flyweight fight as Veta Arteaga goes up against Brooke Mayo, who will be making her pro debut.
Dave Meltzer will be live at cageside with the main card coverage starting at 9 p.m. on Spike TV.
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There will be five fights on Spike. The new fight will be Anatoly Tokov, one of Fedor’s fighters, against Francisco France, which was scheduled to be on the streaming undercard.
JOSH KOSCHECK (17-10) VS. MAURICIO ALONSO (12-7), WELTERWEIGHTS
First round: Koscheck looks in great shape for his age. Koscheck was mostly cheered, not thunderously loud or anything. Koscheck landed a nice uppercut. Alonso with a left jab. Alonso with a few punches and then missed. Both trading punches, Alonso landed more. Low kick by Alonso. Both trading again. Alonso rocked him with a punch. Alonso with an uppercut and put Koscheck down and landed punches on the ground and it was stopped. Josh’s chin has been gone for some time and unfortunately that doesn’t turn around.
A right cross hurt him. , then an uppercut, a right cross and punches on the ground. 4:42
VETA ARTEAGA (2-1) VS. BROOKE MAYO (0-0), WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
First round: Mayo is from Concord, CA so and she’s got fans here. Nice reaction. Mayo with a knee to the head. Arteaga shoved her down. Mayo back up. Mayo took her down, and has her back. She’s working for a choke but doesn’t have it. Arteaga landing punches. Arteaga out of trouble and on top after escaping and on top after escaping. Arteaga with punches. Mayo back up. Arteaga is cut from a collision of heads. The doctor was called in. Head kick by Mayo. Mayo 10-9
Second round: Both trading and Mayo with a head kick. Takedown by Mayo. Arteaga reversed to the top. Both throwing. Arteaga with some body punches. Close round, Arteaga so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Arteaga with punches and knees. Spinning punch by Arteaga. Arteaga with punches. Mayo throwing knees form the clinch. Arteaga landing a lot. Mayo took her down. She moved to mount and got her back. Mayo again working for a choke. Arteaga reversed to the top. Crowd is super hot for this. Left by Mayo. They stopped the fight. Mayo was begging for it to continue. Her left eye was swollen and she was bleeding from the nose. It didn’t look like something that would stop a fight but John McCarthy was right there. The crowd was loving the third round. I can’t say either fighter looked impressive but the third round was exciting. The stoppage was from her swollen left eye. 4:04
They pushed Arteaga against Anastasia Yannikova, they had a controversial split decision last year that Arteaga lost.
ANATOLY TOKOV (24-2) VS. FRANCISCO FRANCE (13-4), MIDDLEWEIGHT
First round: Tokov in with punches. Tokov took him down into side control. France working for an armbar. Now France has a triangle. Great escape by Tokov. France 10-9
Second round: France tried a takedown and Tokov easily evaded it. Uppercut by Tokov. France went for a takedown. Tokov land a nice punch. France is on his back. A time out was ordered as Tokov kicked him in the groin as France was on his back. Tokov landed a counter punch and is on top. Tokov landed hard punches from the top and it was stopped. 2:24
Fedor Emelianenko did an interview. They strongly indicated that Fedor vs. Mitrione would be taking place as soon as they can arrange a date.
CHEICK KONGO (25-10-2) VS. OLI THOMPSON (17-9), HEAVYWEIGHTS
First round: Kongo landing good punches and now Thompson back with punches. Kongo with a knee to the groin from close range causing a time out. Kongo with a punch and takedown. Hard punches on the ground. Knee by Kongo. Lots of knees by Kongo, a right and a ton of more knees by Kongo until the round ended. Thompson was in trouble. 10-9 Kongo, almost a 10-8
Second round: Thompson landed a right. Knee by Kongo. Takedown by Kongo. Hard right on the ground by Kongo. Kongo with body and head punches. Now Kongo landing elbows. He’s bouncing Thompson’s head all over the place. Kongo was landing more hard punches on the ground. For sure a 10-8 for Kongo so 20-17 after two.
Third round: Thompson went for a takedown but blocked. Kongo throwing knees to the body again. Kongo with a takedown. Kongo with a mount. Kongo is continuing to land punches. Kongo with elbows from the top. Another for sure 10-8 round, 30-25 overall.
Scores were 30-26, 30-25 and 30-25 for Kongo
JOSH THOMSON (22-8) VS. PATRICKY PITBULL FREIRE (16-8), LIGHTWEIGHTS
First round: Of course Thomson got by far the best reaction of the night. This is the 11th anniversary of his first fight in this arena. Body kick by Pitbull. Pitbull landed a right. Low kick by Pitbull. Low kicks by Pitbull. Pitbull threw a few punches. Pitbull landed a punch. Thomson with a low kick. Another low kick by Pitbull and another. Pitbull knocked him down with a right. Thomson back up and tried a takedown and didn’t get it. Thomson threw a head kick. Pitbull 10-9
Second round: Pitbull dropped him although they may have bonked heads. He then cracked Thomson with an uppercut and that was it. Nice knockout. Not a good night for this area’s original stars. :40
First reported by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani and later confirmed by Bellator president Scott Coker via Twitter, Saturday night’s main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione has been canceled due to an undisclosed illness suffered by Mitrione.
As of this writing, the cause for the illness hasn’t been disclosed, nor has any rescheduled date been announced. John Morgan of MMA Junkie said he has heard kidney stones were the reason.
Helwani tweeted that officials tried to find a last second replacement, but were unable to do so. Of note, there is another heavyweight fight on the show featuring Cheick Kongo and Oli Thompson but it’s unclear if either man was asked to fill the spot.
As a result, Josh Thomson vs. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire is now the new main event in San Jose, CA.
This was to be Fedor’s first fight in the U.S. since a July 2011 loss to Dan Henderson on a Strikeforce event.
After retiring in 2012, Fedor returned to action in 2015 and was riding a five-fight win streak going into tonight’s show although his last performance against Fabio Maldonado was a controversial victory in which “The Last Emperor” looked anything but.
This was the biggest fight of Mitrione’s career and his third since signing with Bellator as a free agent in 2016. The 38-year-old is 2-0 in his new home with two T/KO wins.
Fedor Emelianenko and Scott Coker have done business before, dating back to Coker’s days running Strikeforce. Now, one of the best heavyweights of all time and Bellator’s head honcho will run it back one more time.
During Bellator’s Saturday show in San Jose, CA, it was announced that “The Last Emperor” has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion with his first fight scheduled for Saturday, February 18th in San Jose against former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione.
Mitrione was brought out for a promo with Jimmy Smith where Mitrione said he had been asked to sign a bout agreement with the opponent name blacked out, saying the promotion said to trust them that this would be a big fight for him. He had no idea he was going to fight Fedor until they announced it in the arena which led to Fedor coming out, donning one of his well-known sweaters.
The 40-year-old Russian is riding a five-fight win streak and is 2-0 since coming out of retirement. However, his last bout — a majority decision win over Fabio Maldonado — was very controversial as many thought the fight should have been stopped several times for how much damage Fedor took, not to mention the decision win.
The 38-year-old Mitrione is 2-0 in Bellator with two finishes after signing with the promotion earlier this year.
Fans can buy pre-sale tickets now by using the word ‘glove’.
