Tuesday, August 31, 2010

When Daiju Takase stunned the mixed martial arts world with a victory over Anderson Silva in 2003, many pegged the jiu-jitsu specialist as a serious contender. Unfortunately for Takase, many fighters now had him figured and refused to go to the mat with him. Takase was dropped from Pride Fighting Championships after losing three of his next five. Now more than a decade into his career, Takase is looking to make a name for himself in America. David McKinney was recently able to catch up with Takase through his translator for MMASpot.net.

UltimateFighter.com will celebrate the season twelve coach with “Month of Koscheck,” a look at Koscheck’s greatest moments during the inaugural season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”  In 2005, Koscheck was a part of the historic cast of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and his shock of bleach blonde hair and explosive feud with Chris Leben made him one of the show’s most polarizing figures amongst fans.  UltimateFighter.com will feature special content each day of Koscheck including complete episodes, full fights, special clips, all to be kicked off Wednesday, Sept. 1 with an exclusive interview with the coach and a look at his very first fight on season one.

Bellator today announced the signing of undefeated MMA prospect Chris “The Assassin” Lozano to its already impressive roster.  Sporting an impressive undefeated record of 5-0,  Lozano has dominated all of his fights to date, beating all five opponents he has faced by technical knockout or knockout, with four of the five stoppages coming in the very first round.  In his most recent outing, Lozano took out well rounded Pride/UFC veteran Jason Dent via fourth round TKO in an extremely impressive showing.

Monday, August 30, 2010

World Championship Kickboxing’s World Muay Thai Championships kicked off at Buffalo Bills Casino in Primm, Nev. on Saturday, August 28 for another successful and memorable night of Muay Thai. With three World Boxing Council titles on the line and 12 bouts total, this event drew in an attendance of approximately 3,500 fight fans from all over. In one of the most anticipated fights of the night, Jeri Sitzes—well known Strikeforce fighter and American boxer—continued to make her wave in women’s combat sports as she took on Joanna MacEachern. Continue reading for the full results.

May 15, 2010 held the promise of being huge success. Shine Fight Promotions, LLC planned to put on “Worlds Collide” in Fayetteville, N.C. with a headlining bout that finally pitted a true boxer against a veteran MMA fighter. But the event never happened. Since then, the promotion has left a wake of unpaid debts across the state. Ranging from a venue left at the altar, and a bevy of fighters not paid by the promotion. The event, or lack thereof, has shown the murkier side of fight promotions.

On a night of entertaining fights from Cage Contender 6 in Manchester, England, it was Icelandic grappling star Gunnar Nelson who walked away from the main event with another submission victory on his impressive résumé. In additional bouts, Greg Knapp defeated James Doolan, and bantamweight prospects Declan Williams and Damien Rooney battled to a draw in an impressive battle that lived up to the hype. Continue reading for full results.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Bellator officially announced today that the promotion will bring the first nationally televised, sanctioned MMA event to Wisconsin with Bellator 29, taking place in Milwaukee from the historic Rave-Eagles Ballroom on Sept. 26. The event will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net with a highlight show running on NBC Network. Bellator 29 will feature two main-card semi-final tournament fights that include heavyweight tournament action along with special middleweight and light heavyweight feature fights, as well a host of exciting local feature fights.

With the weekend fast approaching towards the Cage Contender 6 event in Altrincham, England, we caught up with fight promoter John Ferguson to talk about the fights on the card and the main event that seems to be catching the eye of many international fight fans. Fight fans in Europe are in for a treat this weekend, when two of the continents fastest rising welterweight stars collide in the cage. Danny Mitchell takes on Gunnar Nelson in a battle that is already expected to rival some of the fight of the year contenders in the award stakes.

The Octagon will travel to Boston for the first time on Saturday night, and one of the deepest cards of the year is on tap for New England's mixed martial arts fans. Co-headlining the event will be boxing crossover James Toney facing UFC legend Randy Couture in the most notable boxing vs. MMA fight in years (and perhaps ever). B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar will continue where they left off in April after their controversial title fight, and Kenny Florian will battle Gray Maynard for the next shot at the lightweight belt.

With one of the biggest fights in Europe taking place in Altrincham, England this weekend, our reporter Martin Smith caught up with Icelandic star Gunnar Nelson to talk about his fight with fellow highly-regarded prospect, U.K. welterweight Danny Mitchell at Cage Contender 6 this Saturday evening. 

Thursday, August 26, 2010

With high expectations in the M-1 Selection tournament finals taking place Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010 at Bally’s Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, M-1 Global is raising the bar with equally impressive undercard bouts featuring tournament returnees and newcomers to the M-1 ring; Shane Primm and Bristol Marunde will battle for position on the M-1 Global middleweight contender ladder. The final round bouts feature rising American stars who are one victory away from being crowned the M-1 Selection champion in their respective weight classes.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

With the biggest fight of her career rapidly approaching, the Washington-based submission specialist Lisa Ward currently has her sites set on undefeated Irish power-puncher Aisling "Ash the Bash" Daly. The pair of top women's mixed martial artists will clash in the biggest fight of either of their careers at Bellator 26 in Kansas City to determine the final spot in Bellator's electrifying women's tournament. Ward will be entering tomorrow evening's bout with a level of confidence that can only come from testing herself against many of the best in the business for more than six years with impressive results.