Bellator
Fighting Championships will crown its first-ever
bantamweight champion on Oct. 14.
That's
when tournament finalists Ed West (15-4 MMA, 2-0
BFC) and Zach Makovsky (11-2 MMA, 3-0 BFC) meet in
a five-round title fight at Bellator 32, officials
today announced.
Bellator 32 takes place
in Missouri at the Kansas City Power & Light
District.
The night's main card, which
also includes a Cole Konrad vs. Neil Grove
heavyweight tournament finale, airs on FOX Sports
Net.
West, a former IFL fighter, defeated
Bryan Goldsby (unanimous decision) in the
quarterfinals and Jose Vega (split decision) in
the semifinals to advance to the finale. The
eight-year vet now has won seven consecutive
fights since a disappointing three-fight skid in
2007.
Makovsky, who previously competed
under the EliteXC banner, submitted Eric Luke in a
season-two fight and then got an invitation into
this season's tourney. He advanced to the finale
with a pair of decision wins over Nick Mamalis and
Bryan Goldsby. He now has a five-fight win streak
of his own.
section of MMAjunkie.com.
by Steven
Marrocco on Sep 30, 2010 at 10:00 pm ET
At
Bellator 31, one undefeated prospect punched his
way into the promotion's season-four welterweight
tourney, and the finals of a women's 115-pound
tournament were set.
Bellator 31 took
place Thursday at the L'Auberge du Lac Casino and
Resort in Lake Charles, La., and aired live on Fox
Sports.
Bellator newcomers Chris Lozano
and Yoshiyuki Yoshida kicked off the televised
card with an entertaining battle of wills.
UFC veteran and Judo standout Yoshida had
a clear mandate to take the fight to the mat
against the striking-savvy Lozano. From the bell,
he charged across no man's land and took shots
along the way. But with his quick takedown and
transition to mount, it looked like it might be an
easy night.
Lozano, though, proved tougher
than expected to hold down. He escaped the dicey
position and threw a spinning elbow that briefly
deposited the Japanese fighter on the mat. When
Yoshida righted himself and gave chase, Lozano
followed up with a straight right that again
staggered the UFC vet.
Inexplicably,
Lozano almost handed away the fight when he
appeared to roll for a kneebar and ended up giving
up his back. But he again managed to escape and
went back to business in the second frame.
Yoshida then resumed his mission to get
the fight to the mat, but Lozano was ready this
time around. The undefeated prospect landed two
knees to Yoshida's head that again dropped the
veteran and had him on thin ice.
A
desperation takedown saved Yoshida, and he even
managed to threaten Lozano with an armbar attempt.
But he gave up position in doing so, and his
opponent rained down punishment that had him
turtling up as the second round neared its end.
The punishment caused Yoshida's eye
to swell uncontrollably, and between the second
and third frames, his corner called off the fight.
It was the third consecutive loss for
Yoshida (11-5 MMA, 0-1 BFC), who's defeat to Mike
Guymon at UFC 113 brought his octagon walking
papers.
"I just had to take what I had and
damage him any way I could," Lozano (6-0 MMA, 1-0
BFC) said of his powerful strikes inside the
clinch and on the canvas. "I just got busy, man.
When I smell blood, I'm like a shark in the
water."
Lozano is now expected to join
welterweights Dan Hornbuckle, Steve Carl, Brent
Weedman and future additions in Bellator's
season-four tournament.
In the first
women's 115-pound tournament semifinal bout of the
evening,
Zoila Frausto squeaked
out a controversial split-decision victory over
Jessica Aguilar to advance to the
finals.
Early concerns about Frausto's
tough weight cut proved unneeded as the Team Jorge
Gurgel product stayed light on her feet and, in
fact, almost entirely on her bicycle. (Frausto
missed weight by four-tenths of a pound on her
first attempt and came in at an acceptable 116
pounds on the second try.)
Aguilar spent
the majority of the fight chasing down her
opponent, though she bucked expectations that she
would use her grappling abilities to take the
fight where she had a paper advantage. Instead,
she jammed in on Frausto and played the striking
game.
What transpired largely was a point
sparring affair, with no more than three strikes
thrown per exchange. It appeared, though, that
Aguilar landed a greater number of clean punches
while avoiding Frausto's bombs.
As the
fight wore on, Aguilar began to time Frausto's
constant circling and sneak through a straight
right hand that scored consistently. Frausto,
meanwhile, played the hit-and-run attack and
landed several stinging leg kicks, though she
never managed to rock the American Top Team
fighter with punches.
In the fight's final
frame, Aguilar turned up the pace and chased an
increasingly tired Frausto with strikes. A
right-hand left-hook combination caused the most
damage to Frausto, who began to bleed out of her
nose. Running low on options, Frausto dove twice
for takedowns and nearly walked into a
picture-perfect guillotine as the fight came to a
close.
It appeared to be a clear-cut
victory for Aguilar, who earned her semifinal
berth with a submission victory over Lynn Alvarez.
But in a bizarre tally, two judges gave the
contest to Frausto (8-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) with 30-27
scores. The other dissented completely and awarded
Aguilar a 30-27 mark. Aguilar (9-4 MMA, 1-1 BFC)
was stunned, and the audience vocalized its
displeasure.
In the other women's
semifinal, undefeated sensation
Megumi
Fujii left no doubt in
Lisa
Ward's mind that she is the superior
submission fighter.
Ward claimed she never
tapped to an armbar Fujii applied in their first
meeting more than three years ago in the
now-defunct BodogFIGHT promotion.
This
time, she most certainly tapped. Fujii (22-0 MMA,
3-0 BFC) starched her with a flurry of punches,
got the takedown, and gained mount within two
minutes. A first armbar attempt was blocked by the
cage, but the second gave Ward (14-6 MMA, 2-1 BFC)
no choice but to submit.
Bellator 31's
full results included:
MAIN CARD
- Chris Lozano def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida via TKO
(corner stoppage) - Round 2, 5:00
- Zoila Frausto def. Jessica Aguilar via split
decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27)
- Megumi Fujii def. Lisa Ward via submission
(armbar) - Round 1, 1:39
PRELIMINARY
CARD
- Mark Holata def. Shawn Jordan via TKO
(strikes) - Round 1, 1:13
- Tim Ruberg def. Aaron Davis via submission
(rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 1:44
- Dave Herman def. Michael Kita via submission
(omoplata) - Round 1, 3:16
- Mike Chandler def. Scott Stapp via TKO
(strikes) - Round 1, 1:57
For more on
Bellator
31, stay tuned to the
MMA
Events section of
MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Zoila
Frausto)
by John Morgan
on Oct 01, 2010 at 1:45 am ET
BROOMFIELD,
Colo. – WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (18-1
MMA, 8-0 WEC) might as well get used to the
question.
After his latest destruction of a
top contender – this time, a WEC 51 win over Manny
Gamburyan in Broomfield, Colo. – MMA pundits and
fans alike once againwere forced to ask, "Is there
anyone who can beat Aldo in the 145-pound
division?"
Aldo says he believes there are
plenty of deserving contenders on the horizon, and
while he's not opposed to moving up in weight
someday, he's just fine where he's at right
now.
"The same way that Manny earned his
title shot, there's a lot of guys that are going
to come up and earn their title shots," Aldo told
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) through his
interpreter.
In the main event of
Thursday's Versus-broadcast event, Aldo earned his
11th consecutive win overall and remained
undefeated since debuting in the WEC. It was a
patient approach to facing a hyper-aggressive
opponent, and Aldo said he was unfazed by the boos
that came in early from the 1STBANK Center
crowd.
"I think that's normal with a fight
that's a little stale," Aldo said. "The public
wants to see the action."
In fact, Aldo's
attack was so conservative, only judge Mark Van
Tine awarded the champion the opening frame.
Judges Nelson Hamilton and Joe Garcia instead saw
Gamburyan claim a 10-9 round.
Aldo says he
understands why he fell behind, but it was all
part of a master plan.
"That's normal (for
the crowd to boo), but I think they were happy
with the end," Aldo said. "I think it's the same
thing that happened against Urijah (Faber). They
gave him the first round.
"I try to study
my opponent in the first round. In the second
round, I was able to execute my
gameplan."
Indeed, he was.
Aldo
looked more comfortable, more ready to attack in
the second frame. As Gamburyan looked to close the
distance, Aldo stunned him with a counterpunch and
immediately pounced on the wounded prey with a
series of powerful ground-and-pound blows that
left the challenger unconscious on the mat just 92
seconds into the round.
To hear Aldo tell
it, it was like a lion playing with its
dinner.
"I saw what Manny was trying to do
in the fight, and I wanted to take the shortest
route to the end of the fight," Aldo said. "I
wanted to see what Manny's strong points in the
fight were going to be, and then I was able to end
it.
"I did everything I trained for. I came
in with a clear mind and executed my gameplan in
the fight. Thankfully I was able to do
that."
As for what's next, it's anybody's
guess. Mark Hominick made a nice case for himself
with a WEC 51 win – his fourth-straight victory
overall. Josh Grispi is 4-0 in the WEC and owns
10-straight overall wins.
If WEC
lightweight Donald Cerrone (12-3 MMA, 5-3 WEC),
who also picked up a key win at WEC 51, has his
way, Aldo might have an opponent already lined up
at 155 pounds.
WEC general manager Reed
Harris was quick to point out Cerrone's wide grin
when Aldo was discussing the possibility of a
future lightweight bout. In fact, in a comical
reference to Cerrone's ongoing verbal battles with
arch-rival Jamie Varner, Harris even jokingly
signed-off on the fight.
"They can't really
talk [expletive] because they don't speak the same
language, so that would be alright with me,"
Harris said with a laugh.
As for the
24-year-old Aldo – quickly gaining praise as one
of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters with
seven knockout wins in eight WEC bouts – he says
he'll let company brass ultimately
decide.
"I'm here for the WEC," Aldo said.
"Whoever they put in front of me, I'll have to be
ready."
For complete coverage of
WEC
51, stay tuned to the
MMA
Events section of
MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Jose
Aldo)
by John Morgan
on Oct 01, 2010 at 10:45 am ET
BROOMFIELD,
Colo. – WEC featherweight contender Mark Hominick
didn't show up to Thursday's post-WEC 51 press
conference with a cast on his hand.
Then
again, he didn't wear one to that evening's fight
with Leonard Garcia, either.
But despite
the obvious lack of medical supplies surrounding
his jab hand, Hominick revealed following his
split-decision win over Leonard Garcia that he
outstruck his opponent for 15 minutes despite
suffering a broken hand several days prior to the
contest.
"It was my thumb," Hominick told
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com). "I'll have to get a cast, but
in four weeks, it will be all OK. The last hard
day (of practice), someone just rolled on my
thumb, and it rolled all the way back. I just
taped it up."
Despite the obvious
disadvantage of trying to win a fight with a bum
paw, Hominick said it never crossed his mind once
to withdraw from the contest.
"I had a
strong mental edge going into the fight," said
Hominick, who opened the Versus-televised
broadcast from the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield,
Colo. "There was nothing that was going to stop
me. I knew I was going to fight regardless."
And fight he did. Hominick (19-8 MMA, 3-2
WEC) stood toe to toe with Garcia (14-6-1 MMA,
4-3-1 WEC) throughout the contest. The Canadian
delivered jab after jab with the injured hand
while avoiding the haymakers Garcia was firing off
at every corner.
And while Hominick has
shown capable submission skills throughout his
27-fight career, the Team Tompkins fighter said he
never once considered bringing the fight to the
floor.
"That's the type of fighter both
Leonard and I are," Hominick said. "To stand there
and trade, that's our M.O.s.
"We knew
exactly what our gameplans were going to be. Mine
was more technical, and he was going to try and
make it a brawl."
The technical fighter
won out.
Despite the impressive
performance, Hominick actually expressed some
displeasure in his approach. While Hominick picked
his fight opponent apart, the 28-year-old said he
had expected to stay a little more active.
"What we wanted to do was frustrate him in
hitting him first and making him throw and miss
and counter," Hominick said. "I was hoping I could
have countered a little bit more. I was countering
with single punches, and it should have been twos
and threes. But that was the gameplan – to just
get in his face and swing off that."
Despite Hominick's perceived shortcomings,
most observers believed he deserved more than a
split-decision result (MMAjunkie.com actually
scored the bout 30-27 in his favor). Nevertheless,
Hominick, who's only been to a decision five times
in his 27 career outings, said he was anything but
certain.
"You never know how the judges
are seeing it," Hominick said. "You're kind of
holding your breath. When you hear the other guy
gets one of the cards, it's like, 'Oh, man.' You
swallow your heart.
"It makes you want to
finish the fights, for sure."
Hominick is
now riding a four-fight win streak that includes
three-straight victories in the WEC cage. They
have the well-rounded competitor firmly in
145-pound title-shot discussions. The only man to
beat Hominick in his past seven fights is fellow
top featherweight Josh Grispi.
Riding high
on confidence, Hominick said he's comfortable
bidding next for either the title or revenge,
whichever the WEC sees most fit.
"I know
there's no one in this division that brings to the
table what I do – my technical ability and what I
bring on the feet," Hominick said. "There's no one
in this division that brings that. I do bring a
different element compared to a lot of different
guys.
"Josh Grispi is one of those guys
that's been a really bitter pill for me to
swallow. I haven't been able to get over that
fight, and I would love to get that opportunity
one time. But if you're not in this sport to fight
for a title, you picked the wrong game."
For complete coverage of
WEC
51, stay tuned to the
MMA
Events section of MMAjunkie.com.
by
MMAjunkie.com Staff on Sep 30, 2010 at 4:45 pm ET
The
third episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team
GSP vs. Team Koscheck" scored a 1.3 household
rating and 1.8 million viewers.
Spike TV
officials today emailed the ratings information to
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com).
The ratings were the
best of the season and topped both the season
debut (1.6 million viewers) and this past week's
second episode, which drew 1.7 million
viewers.
As is typical with most episodes
of "The Ultimate Fighter," the final quarter-hour
of the episode
The ratings remained fairly
consistent throughout the one-hour episode with
the household rating bouncing between 1.2 and 1.3
each quarter hour.
"TUF 12," which airs
Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, features welterweight
champ Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck as
coaches overseeing 28 lightweight fighters.
Episode No. 3 saw the second opening-round matchup
as Team St-Pierre's Michael Johnson scored a
submission win over Team Koscheck's Aaron
Wilkinson. Team GSP now has a 2-0 lead.
The
ratings figures for episode No. 3 include an
impressive 1.71 rating among men 18-49, a 1.90
among men 18-34, and a 2.3 among men
25-34.
The full season ratings include:
Spike TV, which has
hosted "TUF" since its debut in 2005, is available
in 98.6 million homes.
For the latest on
this season, stay tuned to "
The
Ultimate Fighter 12" section of
MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Michael
Johnson)
by
MMAjunkie.com Staff on Oct 02, 2010 at 11:25 am ET
The
UFC's first event in Michigan since UFC 9 in May
1996 in now official with 11 contests.
UFC
brass today officially announced five additional
contests for "UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida," and
the pay-per-view's lineup is now complete.
Main card additions include Tim Boetsch
vs. Phil Davis and Joe Lauzon vs. George
Sotiropoulos, while new preliminary contests
feature Matt Brown vs. Rory MacDonald, Darren
Elkins vs. Edson Barboza and Paul Kelly vs. Gabe
Ruediger.
All five fights were previously
reported by
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com).
UFC 123 takes place
Nov. 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban
Detroit. A light-heavyweight bout between former
champs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida
headlines the pay-per-view portion of the show.
Davis (7-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is a little more
than a month removed from a short-notice fight at
UFC 117 when he stepped in for injured newcomer
Stanislav Nedkov and bested Rodney Wallace on
points. It was the decorated collegiate wrestler's
third-consecutive UFC win after impressive
victories over Alexander Gustafsson and Brian
Stann at UFC 112 and UFC 109, respectively.
It's all but certain, though, that Boetsch
(12-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC), nicknamed "The Barbarian,"
will try to outmuscle the up-and-comer. Boetsch
recently returned to the octagon at UFC 117
following a three-fight win streak on the regional
circuit and bullied newcomer Todd Brown for a
unanimous decision.
Sotiropoulos (13-2
MMA, 6-0 UFC), a cast member on "The Ultimate
Fighter 6" who recently defeated Kurt Pellegrino,
carries a six-fight UFC win streak (and overall
seven-fight win streak) into UFC 123. And though
multiple sources told MMAjunkie.com that the UFC
tentatively is planning a February return to
Sotiropoulos' home country of Australia, a
potential title shot may not come there.
Besides, getting past Lauzon (19-5 MMA,
6-2 UFC) is going to be no easy feat for
Sotiropoulos. The "TUF 5" cast member has dealt
with injuries in recent years but recently came
into a UFC 118 bout with Gabe Ruediger in good
health. And it made a difference; Lauzon simply
overwhelmed and battered Ruediger for a dominating
and eventual first-round submission victory. It
marked the "TUF 5" cast member's third win in his
past four fights, which included stoppage
victories over Jeremy Stephens and Kyle Bradley.
The complete UFC 123 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD
- Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida
- Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn
- Maiquel Falcao vs. Gerald Harris
- Tim Boetsch vs. Phil Davis
- Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson
- Matt Brown vs. Rory MacDonald
- Dennis Hallman vs. Karo Parisyan
- Darren Elkins vs. Edson Barboza
- Paul Kelly vs. Gabe Ruediger
- Nik Lentz vs. Tyson Griffin
For the
latest on
UFC
123, stay tuned to the
UFC
Rumors section of
MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Phil
Davis)
by
MMAjunkie.com Staff on Oct 02, 2010 at 9:30 am ET
Weigh-ins
for next week's "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II"
event are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 8, at the HP
Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The
proceedings, which begin at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT
local time), are free and open to the
public.
The same venue also hosts
Saturday's fight card, which airs on
Showtime.
Doors for the weigh-in ceremony
open at 3:30 p.m. PT local
time.
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II"
features a main event between Strikeforce
welterweight champion Nick Diaz (22-7 MMA, 3-0 SF)
and former EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons
(10-2 MMA, 2-0 SF). The contest serves as a
rematch of the pair's November 2007 meeting in
which Noons earned a TKO victory at the close of
the first round. Noons has since reeled off four
more wins, while Diaz is 7-0 since the
loss.
The evening's main card also sees an
intriguing lightweight bout between former
Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson (17-3 MMA, 8-2
SF) and promotional newcomer Gesias "JZ"
Cavalcante (15-3-1 MMA, 0-0 SF), as well as a
135-pound female title fight between undefeated
champion Sarah Kaufman (12-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) and top
challenger Marloes Coenen 17-4 MMA, 1-1
SF).
A welterweight bout between undefeated
Tyron Woodley (8-0 MMA, 3-0 SF) and fellow
prospect Andre Galvao (5-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) rounds out
the main card.
The full "Strikeforce: Diaz
vs. Noons II" card includes:
MAIN CARD
- Champ Nick Diaz vs. K.J. Noons (for
welterweight title)
- Champ Sarah Kaufman vs. Marloes Coenen (for
women's welterweight title)
- Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Josh Thomson
- Andre Galvao vs. Tyron Woodley
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Bret Bergmark vs. James Terry
- Ron Keslar vs. Eric Lawson
- Jess Bouscal vs. Luis Mendoza
For
the latest on the "
Strikeforce:
Diaz vs. Noons 2," stay tuned to the
MMA
Rumors section of
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com).
(Pictured: Nick
Diaz)
by
MMAjunkie.com Staff on Oct 01, 2010 at 12:50 pm ET
This
month's Bellator 34 card got another title fight.
Joining a previously reported title fight
between middleweight champ Hector Lombard and
season-two tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko
is the organization's women's 115-pound tournament
finale.
The Oct. 28 event pits Megumi
Fujii (22-0 MMA, 3-0 BFC) against Zoila Frausto
(9-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC).
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the date with
Bellator officials. Bellator 34 takes place at the
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in
Hollywood, Fla. The event concludes Bellator's
current third season and airs on FOX Sports Net.
Fujii and Frausto punched their tickets to
the finale with semifinal wins at Thursday's
Bellator 31 event. They fight for both the
tournament crown and the first-ever Bellator
women's championship.
After scoring a TKO
win over Sarah Schneider in a season-two showcase
fight, Fujii entered the tourney field and
submitted both Carla Esparza and Lisa Ward via
armbar. The famed Japanese fighter has now won 22
consecutive fights, and the past 10 have come
stoppage.
Frausto, a former Strikeforce
fighter, earned her way into the tourney with a
stunning season-two upset of would-be competitor
Rosi Sexton. After taking the notable British's
fighter's slot, Frausto then scored a
unanimous-decision win over Jessica Pene in the
opening round and narrowly edged Jessica Aguilar
via split decision at Bellator 31.
For
more on
Bellator
34, stay tuned to the
MMA
Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Megumi
Fujii)
by
MMAjunkie.com Staff on Oct 02, 2010 at 1:05 pm ET
A
matchup between two of the brightest prospects in
the UFC's light heavyweight division appears
likely for early 2011.
A long-discussed
contest between "The Ultimate Fighter 8" winner
Ryan Bader (12-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and the dynamic
23-year-old Jon Jones (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) appears
likely for the as-yet-unannounced UFC 127
event.
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) learned of the planned date
from sources close to the event.
UFC 127 is
expected to take place Feb. 5 in Las Vegas and
feature a middleweight title fight between current
champion Anderson Silva and dangerous striker
Vitor Belfort.
Jones' agent, Malki Kawa,
recently told MMAWeekly.com he was hoping for a
Jan. 1 booking for his client, but that now
appears unlikely.
Bader recently earned a
high-profile decision win over longtime veteran
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at this past-month's UFC
119 event. The win was Bader's fifth-straight in
the octagon and 12-straight victory overall since
turning pro.
Meanwhile, Jones fought most
recently in August, when he needed just 1 minute
and 52 seconds to dispatch of another longtime
veteran, Vladimir Matyushenko.
The
prospective matchup between Bader and Jones has
been rumored for months, and "Bones" talked about
the potential contest on Friday's new edition of
HDNet's "Inside MMA."
"If that's the fight
to have, I'm excited," Jones said.
While
Bader's wrestling credentials are well-documented,
Jones said he sees the contest as a chance to
proves his own grappling prowess.
"I've
been trying to prove that since my debut," Jones
said. "I'm trying to secure a respect level in my
wrestling. I'm sure Ryan Bader, the advantage
he'll have going in is to be 'the better
wrestler.' I want to try and prove the UFC wrong
again.
"It'll be fun."
While the
UFC's 205-pound division is one of the promotion's
deepest, the winner of the Bader-Jones contest
will certainly emerge as a top contender. And
should he prove victorious, Jones says he hopes to
face someone with a different skillset than Bader
and past opponents Matyushenko, Matt Hamill and
Jake O'Brien.
"I'm ready to fight some
strikers; I'm ready to fight some southpaws,"
Jones said. "I'm ready to really mix it up, maybe
some jiu-jitsu black belts., but if this is what I
have, this is what I have."
For more on the
rumored
UFC
127 event, stay tuned to the
UFC
Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Jon Jones)
by Steven
Marrocco on Oct 02, 2010 at 3:55 pm ET
"Mandingo"
meets "Christmas" on New Year's Day.
MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that the
40-year-old Antonio "Mandingo" McKee (25-3-2 MMA,
0-0 UFC) and Jacob "Christmas" Volkmann (11-2 MMA,
2-2 UFC) have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 125
and contracts are expected to be finalized
shortly.
While not officially announced by
the organization, UFC 125 is expected to take
place Jan. 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las
Vegas and air on pay-per-view.
After years
of carrying the unofficial title of "world's most
boring fighter," McKee, a former amateur wrestler,
made a concerted effort to smash that mantle with
two recent stoppage wins. The performances earned
the outspoken 11-year-vet a shot in the world's
biggest mixed martial arts promotion.
McKee
brings with him a 15-fight unbeaten streak that
carries 11 wins via decision.
Meanwhile,
Volkmann opened his UFC career in difficult
fashion after enduring back-to-back losses to top
contenders Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann.
However, since that tough skid, Volkmann has
bounced back with decision wins over Paul Kelly
and Ronys Torres.
The bout is expected to
place on the evening's preliminary
card.
For more on
UFC
125, stay tuned to the
UFC
Rumors section of the
site.
(Pictured: Jacob
Volkmann)
Bellator
Fighting Championships will crown its first-ever
bantamweight champion on Oct. 14. 
