Brock Lesnar, Gina Carano & Junior Dos Santos: MMA News & Notes
By Kevin Nelson
This week’s edition of MMA News & Notes will talk about upcoming events and fights in the world of mixed martial arts. We will also discuss rumors. The organizations covered are Bellator, Strikeforce and the UFC. We will also talk about MFC and other organizations. This is the spot for all the news related to the wonderful world of mix martial arts.
Bellator
Bellator 41 was filled with controversy in that featherweight champion Joe Warren looked to be defeated but walked away with a decision over Marcos Galvao but many felt Galvao deserved the decision.
Galvao stuffed many of Warren’s takedown defense but the judges felt Warren was the aggressor throughout. Warren is a former Olympic wrestler turned MMA star who is one of the cockiest people you will ever here speak. The self proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” is going to have to work at it before earning such a distinction.
Also in action was bantamweight champ Zach Makowski who earned his first knockout of his career as he defeated Chad Robichaux. Bellator 42 is going to take place Saturday April 23 and will feature the inaugural Light heavyweight tournament semi final featuring DJ Linderman ( 9-1) facing Richard Hale( 16-3-1) and Christian M’pumbu ( 16-3-1) facing Tim Carpenter ( 6-0). My tournament prediction is Tim Carpenter. Here are some of the other division tournament fights remaining.
Welterweight
Champ: Ben Askren
Tournament Finals
Rick Hawn vs. Jay Hieron
Featherweight
Champ: Joe Warren
Tournament Finals
Daniel Strauss vs. Patricio Freire
Lightweight
Champ: Eddie Alvarez
Tournament Finals
Michael Chandler vs. Patricky Freire
Light Heavyweight
Dj Linderman vs. Richard Hale
Tim Carpenter vs. Christian M’pumbu
(Note: winner is declared light heavyweight champion)
Strikeforce
It was a terrific card that had a main event with Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, producing fireworks with a come from behind KO victory for Diaz. Nick Diaz is now looking to the boxing ring and possibly Jeff Lacy. By reading some of the other websites and the fans saying Diaz has a really good chance, I however tend to disagree and say he will be knocked out. You don’t spend a lifetime perfecting an art and get beaten by someone with only one pro fight (Diaz).
If this were in an octagon I would pick Diaz by whatever he wants. Diaz had an eventful week in which he criticized video reporter Ariel Helwani during the prefight interview by telling him he did not want the interview because he felt Helwani liked to stir the pot and said that where he comes from you get slapped.
Diaz talked about his disappointment about his pay. Love him or hate him Diaz is a polarizing figure who is fun to watch in MMA. The next Strikeforce card is the Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum card which takes place June 18th in Dallas. The other fight is the Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers. The winner of these two fights will move on to the semi finals of the tournament to face Antonio Silva or Sergei Kharitonov.
Also included is the return of Gina Carano vs. TBD and Valentjin Overeem vs. Chad Griggs and Shane Delrosario vs. Dan Cormier. Other fights expected to be announced soon is a July card featuring Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko at a catchweight.
The July card also might have Ovince St. Preux to face Rafael Feijao, and there are also rumors that King Mo will be on the card.
UFC
The next card is the UFC 129 at the Rogers Center, in what should be a record breaking crowd of over 55,000 in attendance. The card will have GSP VS Jake Shields, Mark Hominick vs. Jose Aldo, Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida.
The card is a stacked one that promises to be a memorable one. The UFC 134 card is set to take place in Brazil for the first time in over twelve years. There are some rumblings that Royce Gracie could be returning in the octagon against Matt Hughes. UFC 130 will be Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard. UFC 131 is Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos.
Other MMA news
Former MFC fighter Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford is set to face former UFC contender Karo Parisyan at an Aggression MMA card TBA soon. The MFC 30 card may reportedly have Hermes Franca facing Drew Fickett for a shot at lightweight champ Antonio Mckee. If you haven’t seen Douglas Lima fight, you are missing out on one of the brightest stars in MMA. The recent shark fights main event had Danillo Villefort decisioning veteran Matt Horwich. Ringside MMA had fight of the year candidate Mitch Gagnon defeating Rejean Groulx by a slam.
This was some of the news in MMA this week!