Tag: Wanderlei Silva

Daily Update: Weekend show notes, Wanderlei Silva, ratings update

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is out with the fallout of three major shows this past weekend and what key things we learned from them:

  • Reader polls on the weekend shows
  • Key points we learned from WWE going after AEW
  • Numbers for all three shows and how they did
  • Does the price make a difference, how is afternoon vs. evening?
  • What we’ve learned about AEW that goes against the grain of 30 plus years of PPV numbers
  • Mistico vs. MJF looked at as well as Mistico’s place in Lucha Libre history
  • Misconceptions about John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
  • The next big shows from WWE & AEW
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Advanced ticket sales for the major shows over the next month
  • Odds for last weekend and next weekend
  • Where wrestling shows stood in the weekly ratings and comparisons with the same week in 2024 and 2023
  • Exactly how much the audience makeup has changed for AEW on television this past year
  • For every major TV show, what percentage of viewers were women this past week
  • Blue Panther wins title at 65 years old
  • Big head-to-head battles in Mexico City on Saturday and Sunday this week
  • Lineup for the women’s Grand Prix match in Mexico City with talent from RevPro, Stardom and AEW/ROH
  • Notes from the Pokemon CMLL crossover event
  • Story about the changes in the crowds at Arena Mexico and leading reporter opposes the story
  • Lots of health updates
  • Real American Freestyle signs first woman gold medalist
  • Masha Slamovich controversy
  • Zuffa Boxing close to announcing TV deal
  • Former WWE developmental talent signs with UFC for November debut
  • International promotion in talks with ESPN Unlimited
  • Jake Paul vs. Tank Davis silliness
  • Cody Rhodes talks Paul Levesque’s successor
  • Mark Shapiro talks how WWE & UFC will decide on locations for big shows
  • ESPN review of Wrestlepalooza and the controversy allows ignoring the far bigger story
  • Jazmyn Nyx turns down WWE offer, says it’s too low

This Week’s Back Issue

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Sunday Update

— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about the weekend news. We also have a Hall of Fame show up on the site right now from Friday talking U.S. and Canada, Historical and Japan. We will be doing three more categories on next week’s show. I do want to mention that Ethan Tyler has apologized for the terminology used for black wrestlers on the show.  

— A few notes from last night. Hologram suffered a knee injury on Wednesday at the show in Pittsburgh. It was to the same knee that kept him out of action. When examined, it was worse than he expected and he will be out of the rest of the year. They shot a phantom angle where Kyle Fletcher attacked him and Clon had a part in it as well. They were about to start the Hologram vs. Clon feud and this could mean Clon is on ice as well waiting for him to come back.

— Ridge Holland suffered what was apparently a knee injury at the TNA tapings last night.

— NXT referee Vicky D’Errico won the Daytona Class Fit Model competition this weekend.

— Kurt Angle was in Quebec City yesterday at the Imperial for Kevin Raphae’s Sana Restriction Chnono on a show that also included Yves Ulysse Jr. a Quebec boxer who fought in Madison Square Garden, in his first pro wrestling match, against Evil Blachard.  

— As far as the biggest matches of the weekend, I haven’t seen it yet but Saya Kamitani vs. AZM from yesterday’s Stardom show has gotten a lot of praise as well Mistico & Bandido vs. Mortos & Difunto from last night at Arena Coliseo, Mascara Dorada vs. Capitan Suidida and Templario vs. Villano III jr. from Arena Mexico on Friday and Kyle Fletcher vs. Komander from last nights AEW tapings in Huntington, WV.

— We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s NXT No Mercy show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

— There have been a lot of questions about the ratings in Programming Insider for Tuesday and Wednesday. The ratings have come in late (Thursday isn’t up yet). Tuesday’s NXT was first reported at 702,000 viewers and 0.17, which is a very good number, and then PI listed it as 612,000 and 0.12, which would have been a disappointment for the show. We didn’t get a network listing independently from that night. PI did have a number of demos and half hours that indicated that latter number that were also in PI, but given we know the AEW number they listed for Wednesday was incorrect for not just wrestling but other shows leads me to believe the NXT number of 702,000 is the legit one. AEW did 638,000 viewers and 0.14, and we have quarters that confirm those numbers.

I can’t explain the discrepancies but they are not just wrestling shows. The top shows on Wednesday cable were the Mets-Cubs game on ESPN which did 1,161,000 and 0.27.  PI has it higher at 1,296,000  and 0.31.  Challenge on MTV did 322,000 and 0.14 while PI has it at 312,000 and 0.13. Jesse Watters on FOX News did 3,377,000 and 0.15 while PI has it at 3,468,000 and 0.14. Hannity did 2,600,000 and 0.14 and PI has it at 2,696,0000 and 0.14.  Dynamite did 638,000 and 0.14 and PI has it at 554,000 and 0.11. South Park did 613,000 and 0.20 and PI has it at 553,000 and 0.18.  

— Last night’s Wanderlei Silva vs. Acelino Freitas boxing match had a scary post-match. Silva, 49, weighed in at 206.7 pounds to Freitas, a former world champion in boxing who weighed 162.7.m  Silva ended up being DQ’d for three head-butts. Then the corners hit the ring and a crazy brawl took place. Somebody threw a punch at Silva from the side as he was squaring off elsewhere and he was knocked totally out cold. His face was a mess in the hospital but was released four hours later. Freitas said Fabricio Wedum and Andre Dida in Silva’s corner. started it. Freitas said one of them (believed to be Werdum, who is a big heavyweight) started throwing punches, as did Thor Silva, the son of Wanderlei.  Werdum said 20 guys from Freitas’ side got in the ring and only four were on Silva’s side and they came after us.  He said Wanderlei Silva suffered a broken nose. Rafael Freitas, the son of Acelino, was the one who hit Wanderlei. Wanderei said he’s very dizzy and has a bad headache.

— For Google searches for the weekend, the UFC show from Perth, Western Australia did 125,000. Wanderlei Silva had 20,000 and Ash by Elegance had 10,000.

— We don’t have an update on what caused Ash By Elegance’s retirement Friday night, vacating the TNA, which Kelani Jordan won in a Battle Royal and then a singles match.

— A crazy story in Omaha is that they had the Terrence Crawford victory parade in his home town last night, and then later that night he was pulled over by police and ordered out of his car at gunpoint at a traffic stop. Police said that they  stopped a car at 1:30 a.m. that was driving recklessly and saw a firearm on the driver’s side floorboard and for safety, the four occupants were ordered out of the car by gunpoint. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer ordered an internal affairs investigation over the incident.

— Arena Mexico tonight is headlined by Volador Jr. & Neon vs. Mortos & Bandido and Esfinge & Star Jr. & Templario vs. Gran Guerrero &  Valiente & Stuka Jr.

— Puebla on Monday has Esfinge vs. Valiente in a rematch from the mask vs. mask match that Esfinge won last week, plus the Sky Team faces Barbuza &  Difunto & Volador Jr.

— Dragon Lee won the three-way over El Hijo del Vikingo and Grande Americano (Kaiser) last night at Juan de la Barrera Gym in Mexico City when he pinned Americano. I saw the finish.  Lee did an incredible tope on Americano  on the announcers table. The other notable thing is that in the tag match with Pagano & Psycho Clown vs. Mesias & Mecha Wolf, they used American tag match rules with actual tags being needed and not just replacing the partners.  

This sets up Heroes Inmortales, the tribute show to Anotnio Pena, on 10/25 at Juan de la Barrera Gym with Dominik vs. Lee for the Mega title, Pagano & Psych Clown vs. Wyatt Sicks for the AAA tag team titles, and Flammer vs. Natalya vs. Faby Apache for the Reina de Reinas title.  I know Natalya beat Faby in Las Vegas for the title shot.

— Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ren Narita in Kobe earlier today to keep the IWGP world title Gabe Kidd beat Shingo Takagi in what was said to be the best match to keep the Global title. Hiromu Takahashi kept the GHC jr. title over Taiji Ishimori. Yuto-Ice & Oskar beat Tomohiro Ishii & Taichi to win the IWGP tag titles and Oleg Boltin beat Don Fale to keep the Never title. Yota Tsuji challenged Kidd. Evil challenged Boltin. Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura challenged Yuto-Ice & Oskar.

— WWE on A&E tonight at 9 p.m. has Greatest Moments of Randy Savage and 9:30 p.m has Survivor Series in the 2000s.

— Syuri returned to Stardom on Saturday’s Korakuen Hall show.

— AAA in Tijuana on Friday before a sellout of 5,000+:  Rey Furia & Aztec Fly b Terror Azteca & Khavali, Faby Apache & Lady Shani b La Hiedra & Keyra, Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito b Alas de Oro Jr. & Humilbe Jr., Abismo Negro Jr. & Taurus & Histeria b Octagon Jr & El Fiscal & Rey Horus, Pagano & Psycho Clown b Mecha Wolf & D-Luxe, Alberto El Patron & Mr.. Iguana b Sam Adonis & DMT Azul (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)

— Atlantis turned 63 today. Steve Blackman turned 62 (thanks to Tony Richards)

— Comet TV owned by Sinclair is running a seven hour marathon of WWE Rivals on 10/4.(thanks to Paul Verlander)

Daily Update: Weekend lineups, Julio Cesar Rivera, Wanderlei Silva

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Friday Update

– Garrett Gonzales and I will be up later today covering all the news from the past week as well as the first of two 2025 Hall of Fame shows, discussing North America and Japan. Bryan and I will be back on Sunday.

– The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is out with the fallout of three major shows this past weekend and what key things we learned from them:

  • Reader polls on the weekend shows
  • Key points we learned from WWE going after AEW
  • Numbers for all three shows and how they did
  • Does the price make a difference, how is afternoon vs. evening?
  • What we’ve learned about AEW that goes against the grain of 30 plus years of PPV numbers
  • Mistico vs. MJF looked at as well as Mistico’s place in Lucha Libre history
  • Misconceptions about John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
  • The next big shows from WWE & AEW
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Advanced ticket sales for the major shows over the next month
  • Odds for last weekend and next weekend
  • Where wrestling shows stood in the weekly ratings and comparisons with the same week in 2024 and 2023
  • Exactly how much the audience makeup has changed for AEW on television this past year
  • For every major TV show, what percentage of viewers were women this past week
  • Blue Panther wins title at 65 years old
  • Big head-to-head battles in Mexico City on Saturday and Sunday this week
  • Lineup for the women’s Grand Prix match in Mexico City with talent from RevPro, Stardom and AEW/ROH
  • Notes from the Pokemon CMLL crossover event
  • Story about the changes in the crowds at Arena Mexico and leading reporter opposes the story
  • Lots of health updates
  • Real American Freestyle signs first woman gold medalist
  • Masha Slamovich controversy
  • Zuffa Boxing close to announcing TV deal
  • Former WWE developmental talent signs with UFC for November debut
  • International promotion in talks with ESPN Unlimited
  • Jake Paul vs. Tank Davis silliness
  • Cody Rhodes talks Paul Levesque’s successor
  • Mark Shapiro talks how WWE & UFC will decide on locations for big shows
  • ESPN review of Wrestlepalooza and the controversy allows ignoring the far bigger story
  • Jazmyn Nyx turns down WWE offer, says it’s too low

– Drew McIntyre has been cast in a lead role in “The Highlander” movie. He will play the brother of Henry Cavill’s character. The movie also includes Russell Crowe and Dave Bautista and will be filming in early 2026, so he’ll have to be out of action at that time.

– CMLL announcer and part of creative Julio Cesar Rivera will be at the MLW show on 10/4 in Long Beach, CA. He will be doing interviews and commentary on the show.

– SmackDown tonight on USA is from Orlando, FL. In a trivia note, WWE actually has three shows going on in the same vicinity tonight with SmackDown in Orlando, an Evolve taping in Orlando at the PC and an NXT house show in Citrus Springs, FL. Tiffany Stratton defends the women’s title in a three-way against Jade Cargill and Nia Jax. The winner faces Stephanie Vaquer at Crown Jewel. Also tonight has a Sami Zayn U.S. title open challenge and Giulia & Kiana James vs. Michin & B-Fab. They had 9,100 tickets out for the show at last look.

– TNA has Victory Road tonight from Edmonton:

  • Cedric Alexander vs. Trey Miguel vs. Zach Wentz
  • Joe Hendry vs. Eric Young
  • Matt Cardona & Home Town Man vs. Nic & Ryan Nemeth
  • Mike Santana vs. Ridge Holland
  • M & Heather by Elegance defend the Knockouts tag titles against The IInspiration
  • Leon Slater defends the X title against Myron Reed
  • Steve Maclin defends the International title against Frankie Kazarian
  • Moose vs. Mustafa Ali to determine the man advantage in the Hardcore War team match at Bound for Glory
  • Ash By Elegance will make an announcement

– We’re looking for reports from these shows:

  • SmackDown tonight in Orlando, FL (dark matches only)
  • NXT tonight in Citrus Springs, FL
  • TNA tomorrow night in Edmonton, Alberta
  • NXT tomorrow night in St. Petersburg, FL

We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]

– For the weekend, we’re doing a poll on the NXT Heatwave show tomorrow night,thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]

– Originally Mistico was listed as working three shows yesterday. He did work the first two, but was not at the Arena Neza show. In fact, nobody but Star Jr. from CMLL was at the show. Not sure what happened. The crowd was not told until late in the show that the talent wasn’t going to be there at the Neza show.

– There’s a carriage issue with YouTube TV and NBCU. The contract between the sides expires on Tuesday. The hold-up is money, of course, as YouTube wants Peacock as part of its package and the two sides have not reached an agreement yet.

– CMLL has Noche de Campeones (Night of Champions) tonight with all the matches voted by the fans. Normally this does not draw well even though you would think it should. With the company as hot as it is, we’ll see how this does. They did draw a sellout 16,000 fans last night for the Pokemon Legend tie-in show. For tonight:

  • Tengu defends CMLL Micros title against KeMalito
  • Templario defends CMLL middleweight title against Villano III Jr.
  • El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Cobarde & Felino Jr. defend the Mexican national trios title against Stigma & Arkalis & Rayo Metalico
  • Mascara Dorada defends the Historic welterweight title against Capitan Suicida
  • India Sioux defends the Mexican national women’s title against. Kira
  • Ultimo Dragoncito defends the CMLL minis title against Angelito
  • Atlantis Jr. defends the Historic light heavyweight title against Xelhua

– UFC runs from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.Eastern tomorrow night on ESPN+ only from Perth, Western Australia:

  • Elisha Ellison vs. Brando Pericic
  • Luana Carolina vs. Michelle Montague
  • Rolando Bedoya vs. Jamie Mullarkey
  • Josias Musasa vs. Colby Thicknesse
  • Andre Petroski vs. Cam Rowston
  • Loma Lookboonmee vs. Alexia Thainara
  • Rodolfo Bellato vs. Navajo Stirling
  • Charlie Campbell vs. Tom Nolan
  • Louie Sutehrland vs. Justin Tafa
  • Neil Magny vs. Jake Matthews
  • Jack Jenkins vs. Ramon Taveras
  • Jimmy Crute vs. Ivan Ersian
  • Dominick Reyes vs. Carlos Ulberg

We have more notes on this in the current issue.

– NXT No Mercy runs tomorrow night at 7 p.m. from Fort Lauderdale, FL

  • Oba Femi vs. Ricky Saints for NXT men’s title
  • Jacy Jayne vs. Lola Vice for NXT women’s title
  • Blake Monroe vs. Jordynne Grace in a weapons cage match
  • Ethan Page vs. Tavion Heights for North American title
  • Sol Ruca vs. Lainey Reid for the Speed title
  • Je’Von Evans vs. Josh Briggs

– Wanderlei Silva has a boxing match tomorrow night in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Silva is 49 and has claimed issues with concussions but he’s still sanctioned. It gets better, his opponent, Acelino Freitas, a former WBA and WBO champion, weighed in at 162.7 while Silva weighed in at 206.7. There’s a reason boxing is supposed to be regulated.

– The documentary on Raven is airing tonight in Red Bank, NJ ,at the Smodcastle Cinemas. Raven will be doing a Q&A after the movie in the theater.

– AEW’s Deonna Purrazzo and TNA’s Steve Maclin will be running the Tunnel2Tunnel 5K race in New York on Sunday to benefit heroes of 9/11.

– AEW’s Justin Roberts was the in-stadium announcer for last night’s Arizona Cardinals vs. Seattle Seahawks NFL game.

– Shotzi Blackheart vs. Natalia Markova has been added to the 10/17 NWA Samhain show at Center Stage in Atlanta.

– Rikishi will appear on tomorrow’s Memphis Wrestling TV show. He will be there with his son, Thamiko Fatu, who wrestles on the show. Fatu is the brother of The Usos and Solo Sikoa.

– Arya Witner has a book out called “40 Years of Pay-Per-View: Book Two” covering pro wrestling PPV shows from 1991-93, that will be available on Tuesday via Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. It will also be released on paperback. It is on Amazon right now.

– MLW’s Fury Road taped show airs tomorrow night on YouTube:

  • Mads Krule Krugger vs. Bishop Dyer
  • Atlantis & Blue Panther & Diego Hil vs. Zandokan Jr. & Barboza & Difunto
  • Shotzi Blackheart vs. Alejandra Quintanilla
  • Kushida vs. Austin Aries in the Opera Cup
  • Satoshi Kojima vs. Mr. Thomas
  • Volador Jr. vs. Titan in the Opera Cup
  • Paul London vs. Okumura in the Opera Cup

– Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling 29th anniversary show is 10/3 in Newark, CA at the Pavilion with Bret Hart as the special guest for a meet and greet. Also on the show is QT Marshall vs. Powerhouse Hobbs, Timothy Thatcher vs. Mo Jabari, Aaron Solo vs. Jack Cartwheel, VertVixen vs. Brooke Havok, Los Suavecitos vs. Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson, LJ Clearly vs. Marcus Lewis and Dan Lausen vs. Jeri Giggalow

Wanderlei Silva named to UFC Hall of Fame class of 2024

Posted on by Ian Carey

Wanderlei Silva has been announced for the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2024. 

During last night’s UFC 298 broadcast, it was revealed that Silva will be inducted into the Pioneer Wing this summer. He is the second person announced for this year’s inductions, joining former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. 

“Wanderlei Silva is one of the true pioneers of the sport of MMA,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a statement. “Wanderlei was an absolute savage who left his mark by delivering some of the most memorable fights in combat sports history. He had legendary fights against Mirko Cro Crop, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Brian Stann, and his fights against Rich Franklin, as they were absolute wars! He was also one of the early superstars of PRIDE who helped grow the MMA fanbase on a global scale, and it will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”

Silva will be the 19th fighter in the Pioneer Wing. He joins Anderson Silva, Jens Pulver, Kevin Randleman, Rich Franklin, Matt Serra, Kazushi Sakuraba, Maurice Smith, Don Frye, Minotauro Nogueira, Bas Rutten, Pat Miletich, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, and Royce Gracie. 

The Pioneer Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame is for fighters who began their careers before November 17, 2000, are a minimum age of 35, or have been retired for more than one year. 

Silva was the first Pride Middleweight Champion. He holds the record for most title defenses, most consecutive title defenses, and most wins in the promotion’s history as well. 

In the UFC, Silva is a five-time Fight of the Night winner and two-time Knockout of the Night winner. 

Silva has won five awards in the annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards. He won Feud of the Year in 2001 with Sakuraba, Most Outstanding Fighter in 2001, Fight of the Year vs. Hidehiko Yoshida in 2003, Fight of the Year vs. Quinton Jackson in 2004, and the Most Outstanding Fighter in 2004. 

He finished his career with a record of 35 wins, 14 losses, one draw, and one no-contest. 

Bellator 206 live results: Rory vs. Mousasi, Rampage vs. Wanderlei 4

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Josh Nason

Wih no UFC on the slate, Bellator has the MMA world focused on their big show in San Jose, CA, Saturday night, but on a new broadcast partner, sports streaming app DAZN.

We’re looking for your thoughts on the show, as well as last night’s ROH Death Before Dishonor and tomorrow night’s New Japan show, so you can leave a thumnbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

The main event features an interesting champion vs. champion bout as welterweight champion Rory MacDonald challenges middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. The two have made great traction since Bellator signed them away from UFC and for MacDonald, a win here puts him, and Bellator, in an interesting position with the upcoming welterweight tournament. For Mousasi, a win helps increase his value and growing respect among fans.

Also on the card, Wanderlei Silva and Rampage Jackson fight for the fourth time, Douglas Lima and Andrei Koreshkov battle for the fourth time to kick off the aforementioned welterweight tourney, Aaron Pico faces his toughest challenge to date in Leandro Higo, and more. 

The prelims can be seen on ParamountNetwork.com with the entire main card available on DAZN. 

**********

By Dave Meltzer

YSIDRO GUTIERREZ (4-2) VS. GASTON BOLANOS (3-1), FEATHERWEIGHTS

First round:  Head kick by Bolanos.  Bolanos threw a kick, was taken down but got back up.  Good right by  Bolanos.  Gutierrez with some punches.   Head kick by Bolanos.  Knees by Bolanos.  Bolanos just threw him down.  Bolanos then let him up.  Bolanos missed the spinning elbow.  Takedown by  Bolanos.  Head kick Bolanos didn’t hit solid.  Bolanos 10-9

Second round:   Takedown by Bolanos.  He let Gutierrez back up.  Bolanos landed a left hook behind the ear that put him down.  He’s landing punches on the ground and it was stopped.  There were ten hard puches on the ground that landed and a few that missed. 

1:37 of round two. 

KERI MELENDEZ (2-0) VS. DAKOTA ZIMMERMAN (0-0), WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHTS

First round:  Melendez got a big reaction.  Front kick to the face by Melendez and a takedown.  Melendez with a stuff power bomb.  Another short power bomb by Melendez.  Melendez with a hard elbow.  Zimemeran is working for a triangle.  Zimmerman also has the armbar.while working the triangle.  Melendez survived  the submission attempts but they were dangerous.  10-9 Zimmerman

Second round:  Both swinging.  Knee by Melendez.  They’re in a clinch.  Melendez seems tired.  Zimmerman trying for a takedown.  Nothing much is happening.  Melendeza landed knees to the body.  They’re back in the clinch.  Melendez brought her to the corner in front of Gilbert Melendez.  Knees to the body by Melendez.  Melende took the round with the knees to the body.  19-19 after two.

Third round:  Melendez landing punches now.  Left by Melendez.  Zimmerman shot in looking for a takedown.  Zimmerman got her down.  Zimmerman in side control.  Melendez reversed to the top.  Zimmerman tried for an armbar but didn’t have it.  Zimmerman landed an up kick and got to her feet.  Both are landing.  Melendez’s punches lack the zing becuase hse’s tired.  She’s still the better striker and is landing.  Zimmerman shot in again.  Melendez got a takedown.  Melendez 29-28.

Scores:  29-28 Melendez 29-28 Zimmerman 29-28 Melendez

AARON PICO (3-1) VS. LEANDRO HIGO (18-4), FEATHERWEIGHTS

First round:  Freddy Roach is in Pico’s corner.  Pico laned a few punches.  They traded low kicks.  Knees by Higo.  Trading punches.  Low kick by Higo.  Pico with a nice body shot.  Low kick by Higo.  Uppercut by Higo.  Pico dropped him and is unloading with shots.  Higo stayed up.  Low kick by Higo.  Pico with big shots.  Pico dropped him and landing hard punches on the ground.  The ref is letting it go way too long.  Higo got up and Pico landing more big punches and put him down again and it was finally stopped.  This was a great three minutes.  Pico came across like a superstar.  But that referee, he really blew it on this one.

After the fight, Pico said to Patricio Pitbull that you’re time wil come.  

3:19  

ANDREY KORESHKOV (21-2) VS. DOUGLAS LIMA (29-7), WELTERWEIGHTS

First round:  Koreshkov came out to the Nikolai Volkoff Russian national anthem.  Lima with a head kick.  Low kick by Lima.  Ric Flair whoo’s all over the joint.  Koreshckov shot in for a takedown.  Lima  blocking it and  landed some elbows.  Koreshkov lifted Lima off his feet twice but Lima kept his balance.  Lima got a momentary takedown.  Neither can take the other down.  The crowd is booing heavily now.  Elbow by Koreshkov.  Very hard round to judge.  10-9 Lima but could easily be 10-10.

Second round:  Body kick by Lima.  Nothing happening again.  Body kick by Lima.  Koreshkov’s left shin is swelling up bad from low kicks.  Lots of clinching but the crowd isn’t as restless.  Another boring round.  Lima  20-18

Third round:  Front kick by Lima.  Lima stumbled.  Body kick by Lima.  Body kick by Lima. Lima continues to land low kicks.  Koreshkov tried a takedown.  Lima landed a knee after a momentary takedown.  Crowd booing heavily at the end of the round.  Lima 30-27.

Cormeir just got the biggest pop of the show by far.  Pretty much a standing ovation.

Fourth round:  Lima accidentally kicked him low.  Lima with a few punches.  Crwod booing heavily. Knee by Lima.  Koreshckov with a left.  Lima has him in trouble with punches as the round ended.  Lima 40-36

Fifth round:  Lima with a body kick.  Lima with a big right.  Lima took him down landed punces on the ground and has a choke and Koreshkov went out and it was stopped.

3:04

WANDERLEI SILVA (35-13-1) VS. RAMPAGE JACKSON (37-13), HEAVYWEIGHT

First round:  People see Jackson as a big star.  Silva looks old, like much older than his chronological years.  Looks late 50s.  Jackson is much heavier than the past at 254 pounds but looks like a guy who still trains.  The crowd is still really hot for this.  Both traded and Jackson rocked him.  Silva threw a kick to the head.  Both swinging.  Silva landed a wild punch and Rampage closed the distance.  Jackson landed a right on the break.  Front kick by Silva.  Both landing punches.  This was actually a hell of an exchange.  The people really liked the ending of the round.  10-9 Jackson

Second round:  Both swingig wildly.  Silva almost went down but came back.  For 15 secons it was 14 yeas ago.  Jackson with a right.  Jakcson hurt himn with a right that just cracked him.  Silva swinging swing wildly back.  Theyr’e in a clinch.  Jackson with a knee to the body.  Jackson with upperucts.  Knee by Jackson to the body.  Both are swinging wildly again.  Both are in a clinch again.  Both trading again.  Jackson with a right.  Jackson dropped him with a right and was landing punches on the ground and it’s over.  Fans loved this fight.  It was much better than expected.

4:32

GEGARD MOUSASI (44-6-2) VS. RORY MACDONALD (20-4) FOR MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE 

First round:  Mousasi landed  a left.  Mousasi does look a lot bigger in the cage far more than two days ago when he had cut weight. Mac Donald with a low kick and punch.  Mousasi wih a left.  MacDonald with a right.  Mousasi back with jabs.  Nice low kick and jab combo by Mousasi.  Head kick by MacDoanld just missed.  Big right by Mousasi.  MacDonald with a right.  Mousasi landing jabs.  Mousasi 10-9

Second round:  MacDonad dove for an Imanari roll and Mousasi ended up on top.  MacDonald is bleeding heavily from the nose from punches.  Mousasi landing punches.  Mousasi moved to mount.  Mousasi landing elbows to the head.  He’s landing more elbows and continued to hammer the elbows until it was stopped.

3:23

Bellator NYC live results: Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva

Posted on by Josh Molina

Bellator MMA returns to pay-per-view for the first time in over three years with a big show from Madison Square Garden in New York City tonight.

Headlining the show is a grudge match between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva that was originally scheduled for 2014, first for UFC 173 and then UFC 175. 

Drug test issues on the part of both men made it seem like this fight might never happen, but barring any last minute complications they will finally step into an MMA cage tonight.

Another former Pride legend — Fedor Emelianenko — will also make his Bellator debut as he faces heavyweight Matt Mitrione in the co-main event. These two were originally supposed to fight in February before a last minute medical issue on the part of Mitrione forced a postponement. 

Rounding out the big matchups are three title fights. Light heavyweight champion Phil Davis goes up against Ryan Bader in Bader’s Bellator debut. Lorenz Larkin also gets a title shot in his first fight for the promotion as he takes on welterweight king Douglas Lima. 155 lb champion Michael Chandler will defend his belt against the unbeaten Brent Primus. 

Spike.com will have five prelim fights beginning at 6 p.m. eastern. The prelims move over to Spike TV starting at 8 p.m., and that portion of the show will be called Bellator 180. The PPV main card begins at 10 p.m. Join us for live coverage starting with the Spike TV fights. 

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Bellator 180 / Spike TV by Josh Nason

The production definitely has a more professional feel with Mike Goldberg and Jimmy Smith doing the intro plus Mauro Ranallo, Brendan Schaub, and Josh Thomson on the in-arena desk. This is the promotion’s big night and they are going all out.

We did get one report of the upper part of the arena being tarped off and fans being moved down to the lower level.

> Heather Hardy (1-0) def. Alice Yauger (4-6) by third round TKO (4:47)
Flyweights

This is Hardy’s pro debut after a quality career as a boxer. She’s also a Brooklyn, NY, native.

R1: Hardy bloodied up Yauger above her eyebrow, but took some shots that had her blinking. Yauger has a little size on Hardy and doesn’t seem intimidated in the least, catching her in the clinch and delivering knees when she can. Thus far, not a great showcase for Hardy. Yauger 10-9

R2: Hardy looks a little more confident, but you have to keep in mind this is her MMA debut so the expectations should be kept in check. Yauger is slowing down and Hardy is making her pay with punches. Her hands are down though and if Yauger had any real power, she’d be in a lot more trouble. Better round for Hardy, but she’s getting by on guile and an edge on skill at this point. Hardy 10-9

R3: Yauger went down with a stiff shot at the beginning of the round. Seeing lots of reports of ‘Hardy’ chants in the arena and you can kinda hear them sitting at home. Hardy is using Yauger as a punching bag, landing hooks and trying to land with the occassional wild Liddell punch. Yauger did land a nice head kick and Hardy took it like a champ. Hardy got a decent cut over her left eye after a headbutt with a minute to go that caused ref John McCarthy to have the doctor check it out, but the fight went on. The last 40 seconds, Hardy turned it on, hurting Yauger badly with a right hand that put her on her butt. She got up and Hardy swarmed with lefts and rights, eventually causing McCarthy to stop the fight. 

This was something you’d see in your local MMA promotion on a Friday or Saturday night. Again, this wasn’t the showcase I was expecting, but it’s hard to expect a lot from someone making their pro debut.

> James Gallagher (7-0) def. Chinzo Machida (5-3) by 1st round submission (2:22)
Featherweights

Pre-fight, Gallagher walked all the way over to the opposite end of the cage and got in Machida’s face during the announcements. He’s from Conor McGregor’s camp and Bellator is fully behind him as their Irish star…unless they sign Joe Duffy, that is. Machida is Lyoto’s brother and isn’t exactly a spring chicken.

R1: This was all Gallagher. He used his strikes and got it to the ground early and locked in the body lock, working for the RNC. About halfway through the round, it was a quick tap for Machida. This wasn’t even competitive.

Two fights in, this hasn’t been the best show, but there’s time.

>Ryan Bader (24-5) def. Phil Davis (17-5) by split decision (49-46, 49-46, 47-48) to win the Bellator light heavyweight title

R1: Davis looks a lot bigger than Bader. Bader stuffed Davis’ first takedown attempt. The two fighters circled each other with Bader pushing the action. Bader stuffed another takedown attempt by Davis. The crowd booed at the lack of action. Not much action in the first round. Pretty much even, with neither guy doing much to win the round. Bader10-9. Barely.

R2: Davis is a bit busier in this round, but he isn’t landing much. The Madison Square Garden boobirds are out. Bader seems content with a stand-up fight. Bader stuffed another takedown attempt. Round 2 was a lot like the first. Bader landed a big right hand toward the end of the round. Bader 10-9. 

R3: Davis landed a big righ-left combo that rattled Bader for a second. Bader seemed to recover quickly. Davis started to land leg kicks. Davis is showing more of a sense of urgency in this round, loosening up with his punches. Davis kept Bader on the defense for much of the round. Bader scored a quick takedown and almost put him in a guillotine, but Davis rolled out.. Close round. Davis 10-9

R4:The referee a minute into the round pulled both fighters together and told them to “fight.” Bader landed a right hand, but couldn’t follow it up. Davis was moving a lot, but wasn’t doing any damage. Both fighters started throwing more kicks in the round. Davis kept trying to throw an overhand counter-right after Bader threw a jab or a kick. Davis landed a few good knees to the mid-section. Another close round. Davis has yet to land a takedown. Davis 10-9.

R5: Bader is fighting like he’s ahead in the fight, content with an unaggressive stand-up attack. Davis land a long right hand, followed up by a left. Davis threw a roundhouse kick that missed. Bader scored another takedown, but Davis popped up quickly. Bader landed another right hand. Davis’ left eye is swollen. This was a boring fight and not the best lead-in to the PPV. Bader 10-9.

Official decision: Winner Bader, via split decision, 49-46 Bader, 49-46 Bader, 48-47 Davis

PPV (10 p.m. ET) —

> Bellator Welterweight Champion Douglas Lima (29-6) def.  Lorenz Larkin (18-6) by unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47) to retain the Welterweight Championship

R1: Both fighters traded a few leg kicks, but not a lot of action. Both fighters showing a lot of respect for each other. Lima is busier, throwing more strikes. He landed a couple of kicks to Larkin’s front leg. Larkin threw a fast combination, but missed. Lima landed a left jab and pushed Larkin up against the cage to end the round. Close round. Lima 10-9

R2: Larkin was more aggressive to start the round, but Lima did a good job of dodging punches. Larkin connected with a big right hand that bloodied the nose of Lima. That woke up Lima who landed a wicked left hand that dropped Larkin. Lima pounded him with elbows and fists, but Larkin defended and eventually scrambled to his feet. Lima continued to land with combinations, but appeared to punch himself out a bit. Larkin connected with some punches to end the round. Lima 10-9

R3: The two fighters seem very aware of each other’s power to start the round. Lots of circling of each other, but not a lot of punches landing. Larkin landed a left body kick Lima countered with his own. They both seemed to take the round off, but Lima is more aggressive. Lima 10-9

R4: Larkin landed a left leg kick to Lima’s shoulder. Lima landed a clean bodypunch. Larkin landed a leg kick again. Lima seemed a bit flustered by Larkin’s movement, even though Larkin didn’t land much. Larkin landed a double jab, but Lima pushed him down and jumped on top of him. Larkin stood up to end the round. Another close round. Larkin 10-9

R5: Although Larkin is busier, he seems relunctant to close the distance after tasting Lima’s power in the second round. Larkin gave Lima lots of different looks, but Lima stayed conservative and stuck to his game plan of throwing leg kicks to Larkin’s front leg. Everytime they get close, Lima pushes him off. Lima seemed a lot stronger than Larkin throughout the fight. Lima 10-9

Official decision: Lima retained the title via unanimous decision, 50-45, 48-47 (2x)

> Zach Freeman (9-2) def. Aaron Pico (0-1) by d’arce choke in 24 seconds
Lightweights

Freeman landed a right uppercut to the face of Pico and dropped the former amateur wrestling champion to the mat. He jumped on Pico and finished him with a d’arce choke. Pico tapped in 24 seconds, the fourth fastest finish in Bellator history. Not the outcome Bellator expected. 

> Brent Primus (8-0) def. Michael Chandler (16-4) to win the Bellator lightweight championship via doctor stoppage at 2:22 seconds of Round 1.

R1:Chandler slipped early inexplicably and seemed to have rolled his ankle or twisted his knee. Chandler is favoring his left leg heavily. Chandler landed a right hand that dropped Primus, but Chandler could not stand up. The referee interrupted the fight to check on Chandler’s leg and the doctor called the fight off. The replay showed that Chandler’s ankle gave out underneath him as he was backing up. A freak injury cost him the title. The Madison Square Garden crowd booed heavily.

Chandler in his post-fight interview said “cut it off” referring to his ankle, and challenged Primus to a rematch. 

> Matt Mitrione (12-5) def. Fedor Emelianenko (36-5) by knockout at 1:14 of Round 1
Heavyweights

R1: Fedor stalked Mitrione for the first few seconds. Emelianenko landed a left jab. The two connected simultaneous right hands and both went down, but Mitrione got up quicker and pounced on Emelianenko for the ground-and-pound finish. Mitrione landed several punches and Emelianenko was out cold. 

>  Neiman Gracie (6-0) def. Dave Marfone (5-3) by rear naked choke at 2:27 seconds of Round 2
Welterweights

R1: Gracie took him down quickly and tried to take his back, but Marfone pushed him off. Marfone landed a big right hand, but didn’t follow it up. Gracie took Marfone down, but he scrambled up. Gracie landed a few punches in the standup. Gracie went for a takedown, but Marfone caught him in a guillotine choke with less than 10 seconds to go in the round. Gracie held on. Gracie 10-9

R2: Gracie took his back and tried to get a takedown. Marfone tried to flip him forward, but Gracie held on and slapped on a body triangle. A few seconds later, he tapped Marfone out with a rear naked choke. 

> Chael Sonnen (29-15-1) def. Wanderlei Silva (35-13-1) by unanimous decision,  30-26, 30-27, 30-27.
Light heavyweights

Prefight: Both fighters got their national anthems played. Guitar legend Dave Navarro played the U.S. national anthem live. 

R1: Sonnen took Silva down in the opening seconds and started with the ground and pound. Sonnen showed an aggression at the level of the first Anderson Silva fight. Sonnen tried to apply a can opener, but Silva defended. It’s all Sonnen right now. Silva scrambled to his feet and pulled away. Silva landed a big right hand and dropped Sonnen. Sonnen scrambled up and took Silva down again. Silva went for a guillotine choke, but Sonnen slipped out. Sonnen finished the round on top. Sonnen 10-9

R2: Sonnen came out hot and landed a flying knee. He went for a takedown and Silva put on a guillotine choke. He kept the choke on forever, forcing the referee to stand them up because Silva wasn’t doing anythin to finish the hold. Sonnen immediately took Silva down again. Sonnen stayed on top and pounded Silva with right hands and elbows. The round ended with Sonnen on top of Silva. Sonnen 10-9

R3: Sonnen took Silva down again to start the round. Sonnen is showing shades of his dominant performance against Anderson Silva, just staying relentless on top of Silva. Sonnen tried for a wristlock submission attempt that Silva defended. Silva doesn’t have much on the ground in this position. Sonnen wrapped him up with a leg lock, but Silva tied him up from the top. Sonnen just wouldn’t let him up and Silva had no way to get off of his back. Sonnen 10-9

Official Decision: Winner Sonnen, 30-26, 30-27 (2x)

Bellator returning to PPV with Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva at MSG

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva seems to finally be happening, and the fight is scheduled to headline Bellator’s return to pay-per-view and debut at Madison Square Garden.

In a story broken by the Associated Press, Bellator revealed that they would be running MSG for a PPV on June 24th. More match announcements involving Bellator’s top fighters are expected to be made soon.

“We always said that when we come to New York, we’ll bring the biggest and the best fight card we’ve ever had in the history of this company,” Bellator president Scott Coker said. “We’re putting it together, and our roster is robust enough that we feel like it’s time to get into the pay-per-view business, so here we go.”

Bellator 120, which took place under the promotion’s previous regime, is the only other PPV in company history. The AP article noted that Coker doesn’t intend to run PPVs every few weeks, but is open to using it for their biggest shows.

Sonnen and Silva have long been rivals, but the UFC was never able to make the fight happen while both were in the promotion for a variety of reasons. Silva hasn’t fought since 2013, while Sonnen debuted for Bellator in January in a loss against Tito Ortiz.

Wanderlei Silva signs with Bellator MMA

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Just weeks after Wanderlei Silva had his lifetime ban reduced to 3 years, “The Axe Murderer” has signed with Bellator MMA to an exclusive multi-year, multi-fight contract the promotion announced today. Silva is eligible to apply for reinstatement in May of 2017 and cannot fight anywhere that recognizes suspensions by the Nevada State Athletic Commission until that time.

Bellator has announced a number of international events for 2016 so it’s possible he could fight before that time. Silva has a 35-12-1 record and this signing comes on the 3rd anniversary of his last fight in the UFC, where he scored a 2nd round KO of Brian Stann, who retired after that fight.  The former Pride Middleweight Champion was a legendary figure in the sport who had a stretch between April 2000 and December 2004 where he had 18 fights with no losses and 14 knockouts. Those fights were against the top fighters in the world at the time including, Dan Henderson, Rampage Jackson, Sakuraba, Mirko Cro Cop and others. He’s now 39 with his best days over a decade behind him but as shown in recent weeks, Bellator seems willing to book fights with guys that are long past their prime and have done so with ratings success.

No fight was announced, or even hinted at, in the company press release but they did say that Silva fielded multiple offers from companies around the world before deciding to sign with Bellator MMA.

Daily Update: Wanderlei Silva gets 3 year suspension, Mauro Ranallo misses Smackdown

Posted on by F4W Staff

By Josh Nason

The long legal ordeal of former UFC and PRIDE star Wanderlei Silva came to somewhat of a resolution Wednesday as the Nevada Athletic Commission reduced his lifetime suspension issued nearly a year and a half ago down to three years.

The catch is that the suspension is retroactive to the date of what caused his incident —- dodging a drug test before his never-did-happen fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 175 — which was on May 24, 2014. Silva can apply to fight again on May 25, 2017, and must provide a clean drug test when he does so.

The 39-year-old’s lawyer Ross Goodman is expected to file an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court as he feels it wasn’t legal for the NAC to test Silva while he was unlicensed. 

Earlier Wednesday, Silva shared a poster of himself and Fedor Emelianenko for August 2016. While he’s ineligible to fight anywhere that recognizes licenses, that doesn’t completely put him out of the running to fight in Japan or another DGAF country if he wants to.

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly

Figure Four Weekly 2/1/2016: Weekly Hogan/Gawker update
A look at the past weeks developments in the Hulk Hogan and Gawker lawsuit.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: February 15, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Daniel Bryan retires

The newest issue of the Wrestling Observer is one of the best of the year.  A very detailed look at the end of Bryan Danielson’s career and retirement. Looking back at sports, pro wrestling and the ramifications that are and are not being talked about.  Danielson’s retirement is a big story, both his short and long term impact on pro wrestling.  How his story will act as a catalyst for change not only within pro wrestling but all contact sports.  If you are a wrestling fan, a sports fan or a science fan, this may be the most important issue of the year.

Bryan Danielson’s retirement speech, career highlights, home town, character both in and out of the ring, booking, the crazy way he ended up as champion for the first time, the birth of the “Yes” chant, the build to WrestleMania 30 & 31, the various exams, why he wanted to continue wrestling and WWE didn’t, his goals outside of WWE and why he changed his mind in the last few weeks.

The quandary he was in about continuing his career, how his career began, the formation of ROH and the changing landscape of independent wrestling, the changing ideas of what a pro wrestling headliner can look like, the first time I ever saw him wrestle while sitting with Red Bastien and Nick Bockwinkel

The suspension of Titus O’Neil, a longtime WWE star talking about going into another sport, another star looking at retiring soon, lots of WrestleMania plans including an early summer major match, Steve Austin’s WrestleMania status, update on promotion of Stephanie McMahon, star who may be interested in returning, Fast Lane, A.J. Styles talks his beginnings in WWE and how hard he tried to hide the Royal Rumble story, how DDP figured in Styles’ return, Linda McMahon forms a new company, Roman Reigns in Raw main events, WWE cuts five in developmental, new WWE books. New announcer hired, Update on many Tough Enough competitors from the past season, plans for a WWE show taped this summer, international star WWE has interest in, as well as a look at all the weekend house shows from WWE & NXT with business notes.

PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: Jan 11, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Finger Poke of Doom, Awards results, Sam Muchnick passes away
Details on World Title changes in 3 promotions including the Finger Poke of Doom, full results of the Observer Awards, plus tons more.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE

The reason Mauro Ranallo missed Smackdown wasn’t because of some nefarious issue. Simply, he proved he is human and was sick.

WWE / Pro Wrestling

  • In case you missed the news, Jim Ross continues to get work everywhere and will do some boxing commentary for CBS Sports Network, likely for Premier Boxing Champions. No start date was announced.
  • It was officially announced today that WWE 2K16 is coming to Windows PCs on March 11th.
  • Here’s spoilers for this week’s Smackdown.  The full line-up for Fastlane after the show has Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Title, Charlotte vs. Brie Bella for the Divas title, Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina, Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler for the IC Title, Ryback & Big Show & Kane vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman, and AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho III.
  • Our Zach Dominello has a new column up about why The Miz focusing on being a mentor is best for, well, Mizness.
  • Our Bryan Alvarez and peers from other sites were featured in this Motherboard piece on why wrestling podcasts are popular.
  • Bryan and Mike are also giving away a copy of SUNNY SIDE UP on DVD on Wrestling Observer Live (Sports Byline was sent 5 copies to give away), and the contest is to try to guess who is getting the Vince McMahon Sr. Award of Excellence on Monday.  You can listen along and play every day on Sports Byline USA at noon Pacific/3 ET, and links to listen are on the front page of the website.
  • Here’s a column from reader Ian Hamilton on how WWE should handle the call-up of Baron Corbin.
  • Voices of Wrestling analyst Brandon Howard did some additional must-read analysis of the WWE Q4 financial call. Especially of note from Brandon:
    “The infograph WWE released on Thursday along with their press release seemed to claim their YouTube channel had received 8 billion views for the full year of 2015. Just by looking at their YouTube channel’s “About” page, which publicly lists all-time video views, you can see that’s not the case as the channel has accumulated about 7.5 billion video views all-time (since May 2007). Based on archived instances of that web page that I found, I estimate YouTube video views for WWE in 2015 at about 3.5 billion. I’m guessing they’re including in that total the views of all WWE videos on YouTube that are uploaded by other users, which WWE has made copyright claims on.”
  • Here’s a look at a new science fiction wrestling game called Champions of The Galaxy.
  • Fire Pro Podcast this week looks at the suspension of Titus O’Neil, the upcoming UR Fight card and the retirement of Daniel Bryan.
  • Here are details about Mark Nulty’s funeral this Saturday.

UFC / MMA

  • Lots of MMA media are making the mainstream sports media rounds talking about Ronda Rousey’s admission that she briefly contemplated suicide after her loss to Holly Holm. Friend of the site Ariel Helwani was on The Dan Patrick Show this morning talking about Rousey and more.
  • Gleison Tibau has agreed to drop his appeal and accept the two year suspension handed down by the USADA for his drug test failure last month.  He actually said in an interview that he’d used the substance (EPO) out of competition and “we thought (it) wouldn’t be anything”.  So whoever WE is, presumably his team, they figured EPO was perfectly fine to use outside of competition.  He claims his conscience is clear because he took it “without imagining I was doing something wrong.”  
  • Recently re-signed UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem says that he’ll be headlining the UFC Sunday, May 8th show in Rotterdam in his home country of the Netherlands. No opponent has been announced.
  • Invicta FC announced its next show will be on March 11 in Las Vegas’ Tropicana, headlined by an atomweight (105 lb) title fight between champion Ayaka Hamasaki vs Amber Brown. Former UFCers Jessamyn Duke and Roxanne Modaferri will also fight on the show in separate bouts.
  • ONE Championships announced its next show will be on March 18 in Myanmar. Teenage sensation Christian Lee will be featured on the card after he’s finished each of his first two pro opponents in under two minutes.

ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: Bret Hart wins the WWF World Title

Wanderlei Silva released from his UFC contract

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Former Pride Grand Prix  Champion and 12 fight UFC vet Wanderlei Silva was released today from his UFC contract. Silva last fought in March 2013, knocking out Brian Stann in the 2nd round of a Fuel TV show from Japan. He was then scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen in a fight stemming off the two of them coaching on TUF Brazil. The fight was put off several times due to injuries and then drug testing issues with both fighters.

First reported by MMAjunkie’s Steven Marrocco .

In Silva’s case, he was approached at his gym by drug testers and famously ran out the back door to avoid the test. He was eventually given a lifetime ban by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That ban has since been rescinded and both sides are currently in negotiations for a more appropriate punishment. In the meantime Silva has still been at odds with the organization he’s under contract to, including accusing the UFC of fixing fights.

This morning, word actually came out that Silva was taking back those claims, saying that he’d been misunderstood. A few hours later, word came out that Silva had been released.

For several years in the early 2000’s, “The Axe Murderer” was one of the most feared fighters in any weight class. After losing to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25 in April 2000, Silva had a stretch of 18 fights in a row where he didn’t suffer a loss before losing a split decision to the much larger Mark Hunt on the 2004 Pride year-end show. 14 of those fights ended with Silva KO’ing his opponent, most in the first round.

Silva returned to UFC in December 2007 after Zuffa bought Pride and absorbed the fighter contracts. He went 4-5 after his return with 3 knockouts. All but one of those fights was in the Main Event or co-Main event position. He leaves the UFC with an overall record of 35-12-1 and would almost certainly be highly sought after by either Rizin Fighting or Bellator MMA.