Talking MMA #1:- UFC, Bellator, Invicta & On Top
By Ross Brady
Talking MMA #1
With the UFC, Bellator, Invicta FC and On Top all taking place in the coming days. This is a very good weekend to be a fan of MMA!
Browne vs. Bigfoot! Along with a cracking Flyweight title decider on the card
UFC
As the dust settles at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, the UFC were already setting up for a big night in the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Travis Browne puts his undefeated record (13-0-1) on the line against the man best known for his TKO victory over Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. As we saw at the weigh-ins yesterday these two don’t have much love for each other and the intensity shown during that stare down has given this bout an added importance.
Browne has long been touted as a class act and a big part of the future of the Heavyweight division but hasn’t yet been given the opponents to match according to some fans. Although the KO of Stefan Struve last year by Superman punch would have a lot of critics disagreeing.
Silva was outclassed in his UFC debut by a hungry Cain Velasquez and was picked apart inside the cage leaving the mat underneath him a crimson shade of red. Bigfoot will want to show he belongs in the big leagues with an impressive showing against Browne.
Former Strikeforce and Bellator star Jay Hieron makes his UFC debut against the tough Jake Ellenberger. Elleberger’s six fight win streak was brought to an end last time out due to the knees of Martin Kampmann. Hieron comes in to the UFC having lost just two of his last fifteen fights although some would say he’s never fought anyone the calibre of Ellenberger.
Having been originally scheduled to fight at the infamous UFC 151, this fight along with a string of others from that card was moved to this one in Minnesota.
Having won the distinction of being called The Ultimate Fighter season 14 winner as a Bantamweight John Dodson (13-5) quickly moved down to Flyweight when the UFC introduced its new division. Having scooped ‘Knockout of the Season’ and ‘Knockout of the Night’ at the finale, Dodson was a scary prospect for anyone in the Bantamweight division never mind Flyweight.
This bout is dubbed as a Flyweight eliminator with the winner going on to face the newly crowned champ “Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson. Jussier Formiga is Dodson’s opponent and with only one blemish on his record (14-1), coming against Ian McCall, the Brazilian will be a tough opponent for the wacky Dodson.
Prindle vs. Santos is finally happening along with the other Heavyweight quarter finals
Bellator LXXV
Bellator 75 will see eight Heavyweights walk in with a chance of being crowned season seven winner of their Heavyweight tournament but only four will walk out of Indiana with that distinction.
Eric Prindle comes off his loss in the Heavyweight title match with Cole Konrad to face Brazilian Thiago Santos in a much anticipated rematch since their famous no contest at Bellator 59. The first fight was the final of the season five tournament but was stopped due to a groin kick in the first round. Santos kicked Prindle where it hurts the most and Prindle wasn’t able to continue and both have not been granted that rematch since although that isn’t through a lack of trying. Hopefully we get to see a finish this time around.
Brett Rogers hasn’t had the best record as of late since posting a perfect 10-0, Rogers now sits at 12-4-1. Rogers has lost to the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett and that is no disgrace by any means. However, Rogers bounced back with a TKO victory (doctor stoppage) of Kevin Asplund at Bellator 71. Rogers now takes on the Russian Alexander Volkov in his quarter final match-up with Volkov making his debut with the company.
With a record of 16-3 at the age of 23, the Russian has taken on a lot of fights in his three years as an MMA fighter. Rogers must be wary of his opponent making his US debut.
Other quarter finals include:
Richard Hale vs. Mike Wessel
Vinicius Queiroz vs. Mark Holata
Penne vs. Sugiyama at Invicta 3, the card will also hold the US debut of Joanne Calderwood.
Invicta 3 – Penne vs. Sugiyama
The biggest fight of the night on the Invicta card is no doubt the Atomweight championship bout between Jessica Penne and Naho Sugiyama but Scottish fight fans will only be looking out for one result. Joanne Calderwood (3-0) makes her state side debut against Ashley Cummins (3-0).
Scotland hasn’t had a rich history of fighters making it to the US which makes Joanne quite the rarity. So when one of their own steps out for the biggest fight of her career on Saturday expect Scotland to be going nuts. Following two TKO victories at On Top 4 and 5 and a unanimous decision victory over in India in front of an estimated 18,000 people, Joanne was touted for the big time.
Now given this opportunity to fight in one of the biggest all-female MMA organizations in the world, Joanne has her chance to thrive and with an impressive victory could see herself heading for the big time.
Graham “Afterburner” Turner looks to add more gold to his collection against Gianluca Scottoli.
ON TOP 6
The Play Drome, Clydebank will be the host of On Top 6 which will be sure to be another cracking night for Scottish and British MMA.
Graham “Afterburner” Turner straight from winning Vision Fighting Championship’s Lightweight gold in September will be looking to add another title to his collection. Turner takes on Gianluca Scottoli of Italy who has stopped all five of his fights to date (three by submission, two by TKO).
If that main event wasn’t enough to get your juices flowing, Bantamweight Champion David Aranda puts his belt on the line against Olivier Pastor in what is a great match-up between two of Europe’s finest bantamweights.
A who’s who of Scottish/British MMA will also be in action as we see the likes of Bobby McVittie vs. David Galbraith, Adam Stevenson vs. Marcin Wrzosek, Shaun “The Disgrace” Taylor vs. Kevin McKinnon and Alan Johnston vs. Sam Boult.
An amazing weekend of MMA action lies ahead for all fight fans. We @TalkingKOs wish the best of luck to all fighters and promotions this weekend but especially to Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood making her US debut.
Follow us on Twitter @TalkingKOs and you can also follow my personal account @RossBrady29. Thanks for reading.
