Press Release: NICK NEWELL BATTLES FOR THE XFC TITLE ON AXS TV

Undefeated Newell to fight Eric Reynolds for the first XFC Lightweight Title this Friday, December 7 at 10pmET

(December 6, 2012- Dallas, Texas) AXS TV Fights is LIVE from Nashville, Tennessee for “XFC 21: Night of Champions II” where undefeated one-armed MMA sensation Nick Newell meets Bellator Fighting Championship veteran Eric Reynolds in the main event Friday, December 7 at 10:00pm ET on AXS TV.

Nick “Notorious” Newell (8-0) has impressed and inspired fight fans with 6 of his 8 wins coming in the first round, including his recent August victory against Adam David Mays. AXS TV Fights aired the first round knockout as part of it’s XFC 19 – Charlotte Showdown LIVE fight coverage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCoOirT2QeU.

However, his fight with experienced veteran Eric “It’s a Wrap” Reynolds (16-5) is sure to be the toughest test yet in his young career. Newell says that he’s ready and told Inside MMA’s Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten, “I’ve picked up some new tricks…I fight to win.” Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvRUfy8CJVA&feature=youtu.be

AXS TV Fight fans can predict the Newell vs Reynolds battle and even score the fight competing with others in real-time via the AXS TV Fights app now available free for iPhone and iPad. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/axs-tv-fights/id513941346?mt=8.

Fight fans can also connect with AXS TV Fights on Facebook and Twitter:

www.facebook.com/AXSTVFights

twitter.com/AXSTVFights

XFC 21:  NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS II
LIVE Exclusively on AXS TV
Friday, December 7 at 10pm ET / 7pm PT

About AXS TV Fights

AXS TV Fights is renowned for its universally recognized Friday Night Mixed Martial Arts and Kickboxing events. As Your Home For MMA, AXS TV utilizes an expansive network of promotions from the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia to broadcast more LIVE fights than any other television network.  "The Voice" Michael Schiavello and five-time MMA world-champion Pat Miletich provide viewers expert play-by-play, in depth fighter coverage and extensive analysis to each fight card. AXS TV broadcasts world-class LIVE fight events from Legacy Fighting Championship, Resurrection Fight Alliance, XFC, Maximum Fighting Championship, BAMMA, The Score Fighting Series and It's Showtime every Friday night, at 7PM PT/10PM ET.  

AXS TV Fights can be found online at www.axs.tv, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/axstvfights and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/axstvfights.

Born to fight: Bigfoot Silva sinks Travis Browne in one round

Heavyweight Travis Browne, at 6' 7" is big and strong; agile and mobile; deadly combinations that have given him good fortune as an MMA fighter. And Travis Browne has made a habit of steamrolling his hapless opponents in the cage. In fact, out of Browne's 13 victories, he recorded 5 wins via the very short route, all made under a minute in the first round.

Yes, Travis Browne who was undefeated, going into UFC on FX in Minnesota has been dubbed by some quarters to be MMA's rising star, and because of the manner he is disposing his opponents one after another, Browne's supporters and some MMA observers have probably entertained the notion that he is unsinkable.
Thus, oddsmakers installed him a 2-to-1 favorite to dispose veteran Antonio "Pezão" Silva in their heavyweight encounter at the Target Center in Minneapolis last Friday night.

But Antonio Silva, who throughout his career had faced, fought and scraped with the best of what the MMA world has to offer (Fedor Emelianenko, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski) albeit with mixed fortunes, has promised to do what he does best inside the cage-

"I respect all my opponents but inside the cage, I will hurt him because I was born to fight."

But coming off two successive losses via stoppage, nobody really took Antonio Silva seriously. To many casual MMA observers, the veteran has seen better days and is ripe for the picking. Many have already fallen in love with the exciting reputation of the supposedly 'unsinkable' Travis Browne, and picked him to easily stump the Bigfoot from Brazil.

However, if there's one fighter who knows how to come back from the pits, it is Antonio Silva. Nicknamed "Pezão" which is "Bigfoot" in Portuguese, Silva has the talent, power and skills set to give any man inside the cage hell.

Travis Browne's road to oblivion began when he tried to be flashy against a very dangerous and accomplished fighter. Early in the first round, Travis Browne was a picture of confidence as he jumpstarted his attack with an overhand right that was blocked, a spinning back kick that missed and an attempted right kick that never pushed through, as Antonio Silva invaded his space and smacked him with a short right hand.

Then Travis Browne tried a jumping front kick that came short as Antonio Silva just stepped back, just out of reach. Still Travis Browne was in his element: light on his feet, bouncing and shuffling, while Antonio Silva was on guard, hands up high and biding his time to counter strike.

At more than two minutes into the fight, Travis Browne tried several unorthodox kicks: low, front and side aiming for Bigfoot's knees and shin. But Antonio Silva kicked, punched forward and attempted a takedown but was met with a high knee to the stomach while coming in. Still, Antonio Silva was not deterred and cornered Travis Browne on the side of the cage as Bigfoot employed his own trick of the trade -- trying to stump Browne's feet with his big feet for some time.

The turning point came at approximately the three minute mark when Travis Browne tweaked his left knee while trying to mount an inside attack. Less than 5 seconds later, Travis Browne unleashed a left that was easily blocked by Antonio Silva. The Brazilian retaliated with a front kick that landed on Travis Browne's breadbasket but found himself on the seat of his pants from the recoil.

Travis Browne tried his best to put up a fight, but fighting on just one good leg is just futile against a hungry and determined veteran. Travis Browne tried to adjust by turning southpaw, hiding his bad leg to no avail. Browne ate a right counter from Bigfoot as he also continuously targeted Browne's bad leg, while slowly but surely invading his opponent's comfort zone. Bigfoot stalked his prey while Browne slowly backpedaled...

Shortly thereafter, mayhem fell on Travis Browne.

And when the dust finally settled, Travis Browne saw his unbeaten run halted in 3:27 of the first round when he got caught with a right sledgehammer to the jaw that sent shockwaves to his brain, his eyes rolling and reeling from the power, he sank sideways to the canvas wherein Bigfoot pounced on him and pounded his head with short blows and quick hammers, prompting referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the beatdown.

Antonio "Pezão" Silva stamped his class over an obviously dejected Travis Browne. Thus, Antonio Silva finally won a UFC fight and improved his record to 1-1 in the UFC ; 17-4, 12 KOs overall, moving into contention in the heavyweight division.

With the first setback of his 15-fight pro career, Travis Browne needs to go back to the drawing boards and work out more on his game so as to reverse his fortune whenever he steps up his opposition. He was held to a draw by Cheick Kongo at UFC 120 in October 2010.

Note: This article was previously published on Detroit Fight Sports Examiner

Gross vs. Sugiman-Marangos Confirmed for The Score Fighting Series

TORONTO, September 17, 2012 – Two more fights have been confirmed for The Score Fighting Series (SFS) event Sarnia, Ontario on Friday, October 19^th. Jesse “The Ghost” Gross will battle Seiji Sugiman-Marangos in a main card featherweight tilt while Joel Paquette will take on Ronnie Phillips in a preliminary bout.

Gross (6-3) is an SFS veteran who started his career with six straight wins but has since dropped his last three. His most recent loss was to Daron Cruikshank, who went on to compete in the Ultimate Fighter and is now in the UFC. 

Originally from Wallaceburg, Ontario, Gross will have strong local support at his first fight since taking time off to hone his skills at the Adrenaline Training Centre in London, Ontario where he works out alongside UFC veterans Chris Clements, Mark Hominick and Sam Stout as well as SFS competitors Jesse Ronson and Chris Horodecki. This has led to a leaner physique and a new weight class resulting in his first fight at featherweight.

Jesse Gross

A very well rounded fighter, Gross is known for pushing the pace and brutal ground and pound with all six of his wins coming via T/KO. He predicted a similar outcome for his fight with Sugiman-Marangos.
”Someone needs to have Tylenol on standby because Seiji’s going to have one hell of a headache when he regains consciousness after this fight,” he said.

Sugiman-Marangos was born and raised in Toronto but has spent the last nine years living in Hamilton, Ontario where he attends McMaster University. He is currently in the final year of a PhD in biochemistry.

“Despite his recent hiccups, Jesse is a very dangerous opponent and I’m very excited to be facing him in October,” he said. “This fight hearkens back to the early days of Canadian MMA as we are two young fighters coming out of two of the oldest MMA camps in Ontario."
 

Seiji Sugiman-Marangos

Sugiman-Marangos has been training with Shah Franco for the past seven years at Shah Franco Martial Arts/Innercity MMA and with Marco Costa of Body of Four BJJ. Inside the cage he sports a 5-1 record and is on a four-fight win streak. Outside of MMA, Sugiman-Marangos has competed extensively in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, where he won the Ontario Provincial Championships at Purple belt in 2009 and Brown/Black in 2011.  He also took second place at Naga Toronto 2011 and won a superfight against Shaun Krysa on the SubX show, also in 2011. He is currently a Brown belt in BJJ.

In undercard action Joel Paquette (0-1) will be competing for the first time since a submission loss to Jason Meisel in December. Ronnie Phillips (0-1) will also be looking for his first win after being TKOed by Oliver Vadnais in April.

Gross and Sugiman-Marangos joins Lyndon Whitlock and Rick Glenn on the main card for the event, which will be televised live in Canada on theScore Television Network and in the US on AXS TV beginning 10:00pm EST. Tickets are on sale now starting at $29.95 and can be purchased through the RBC Centre box office and rbccentresarnia.com. Additional fights will be announced soon.

UFC 146: Junior dos Santos shoots down Frank Mir

In front of a wild cheering crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos dealt former two-time UFC heavyweight title holder a beat down to retain his belt. Frank Mir, a submission expert, failed to capitalize on his expertise against the heavy-handed Brazilian. Instead, Mir elected to play into dos Santos' gameplan and paid the price.

Frank Mir failed to take the fight to the ground, a milieu where dos Santos was untested wherein he has a greater shot of upsetting the champion. After a failed takedown attempt right at the start of the fight, he elected to trade blows with Junior dos Santos, a decision that proved costly to his cause.

Continue reading HERE

UFC: 119 Mir lulls Cro Cop to sleep

In the UFC 119 main event, Frank Mir dropped Mirko Cro Cop with a well- timed right knee to the kisser that was followed by a heavy right to the chin for insurance, as the Croatian lay flat on his back, to finally knock him out with just 58 seconds left in the fight. It was the highlight of a rather dull and slow fight where neither fighter was keen on fighting toe to toe as they elected not to engage each other up until the last minute. It was the end of an arduous journey for both fighters who simply did not have the will to fight which was unthinkable in their younger days.

The knockout was the culmination of the match that was spent more on holding and hugging each other rather than fighting. It was the end of a boring fight that put the fans up their seats but for the wrong reasons. It was the zenith of a fight that was characterized more by non- action than by fireworks that left the fans with no other choice but to rain the Conseco Fieldhouse with boos. It was the climax of a slow and tactical fight that ended up with no winner.

Visit Detroit Fight Sports Examiner.com for the full article

Dynamite 2009: Aoki's Antics

Shinya Aoki, Dream's colorful champion and considered to be one of the best submission fighters in the world showed no class in his win over rival Sengoku champion Mizuto Hirota.

The very impressive victory was tainted by Aoki's post fight antics when he gave the fallen Hirota the bird. It was an obvious PR nightmare for Dream's top fighter considering the fact that he once criticized several American fighters for their behavior inside the octagon as being disrespectful to the sport.

He would later apologize for the wild wayward birdie.

There was a history of bad blood between the two fighters as Hirota had defeated Aoki's friend Satoru Kitaoka for the lightweight title at Sengoku 9 in August 2009, not to mention that Hirota labeled Aoki as a "repulsive person."

Also Aoki felt insulted when the organizers put Hirota against him instead of Tatsuya Kawajiri, another top-notch lightweight for the fight.

Thus, Aoki vowed before the event that he consider the fight with Hirota to be personal and promised to give Hirota the beating that he deserved.

The much- anticipated fight turned out to be one-sided as Aoki dominated and broke Hirota's will early that culminated into the brutal bone-breaking submission.


"When I had his arm behind his back, I could feel it popping, I thought, 'Well, this guy's pride just won't let him tap, will it?' So without hesitation, I broke it. I heard it break, and I thought, 'Ah, there, I just broke it.' I was stopped afterward, but even if I hadn't been, continuing to break it more would have been fine by me."


Now, wouldn't it be awesome if he can prove his mettle against world no. 1 BJ Penn in the near future? Dana White should consider bringing Shinya Aoki to the UFC soon. If he was able to lure Takanori Gomi to cross the Pacific, I'm sure he can do the same with Aoki.

Strikeforce: Fedor Emelianenko versus Brett Rogers

Byváy Andrei ?

Andrei Arlovski, the Belorussian former UFC Heavyweight champion suffered a humiliating loss in the first round to unheralded Brett Rogers in a Strikeforce card at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri last night.

Arlovski, whom celebrated boxing trainer Freddie Roach once proclaimed as the best boxer in the MMA and has hopes of invading the ranks of professional boxing was exposed by Rogers and was never in the match as he took a left-right-left combination to the head and dropped on all fours to the mat that forced referee Big John McCarthy to call for an early stoppage.

Truly, after his brutal knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko, Arlovski is a different fighter now. And with his glass chin, he should reconsider his ambition of boxing full time with or without Freddie Roach in his corner.

So, is it Byváy (goodbye) Andrei?

Lights Out

Saturday Night. Two fights. Same results.




Lyoto Machida's dismantling of the previously undefeated Rashad Evans at UFC 98 was an eye- opener. He will reign as the Light Heavyweight champion a bit longer than his predecessors not only because of his talent but his awkward style that baffles his opponents no end. But make no mistake about it, this Brazilian got game.



On the other hand, Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan recovered from an early knockdown in the first round to hand Johnny Gonzales another stoppage in the third round to retain his WBC Super Bantamweight crown. I am not impressed with Nishioka as fighter but on this particular occasion he rose to the challenge and poleaxed the once promising Mexican right in his own backyard to silence the rowdy crowd.


The two fights were really good but not spectacular in my book. There were flashes of brilliance but there were moments of indecisiveness. Still the winners deserved the wins.

Watch the fights here--

Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida


Toshiaki Nishioka versus Johnny Gonzales

Gone in 24 Seconds

Former Pro wrestler Bobby Lashley clobbered Mike Cook in just 24 seconds during the Maximum Fighting Championship 21 at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.



Lashley was upset with Cook earlier because Cook came in sporting a Lucha Libre mask as he taunted him and his WWE background and he made him pay for that.

Cook was cooked the moment Lashley got hold of his neck, flattened him out and choked him to submission. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight when saw Cook's feet quivering from Lashley's stranglehold.

"I’m here for business," said Lashley (3-0). "I’m here and everyone wants to and tries to make fun of the wrestling thing. I’m real. If they want to play around, I’ll knock them out or choke them out. And that’s what I did. I choked him out and made him pay. Now he can go put the mask back on and have fun with himself."

Bobby Lashley with his size and speed has the potential to be a legitimate fighter in the MMA. But for now he is better off fighting the likes of Bob Sapp to gain the much needed experience to figure in a fight with the elite fighters like Fedor and Mirko Cro Cop in the future.

The Iceman melts under pressure

It's the end of an era. The legendary Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell (21-7) melted against the hammer fists of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (18-3) in the Octagon at UFC 97 Saturday night.

Referee Mario Yamasaki halted the fight when The Iceman was unable to protect himself from the head blows that Shogun is raining on him to prevent further damage. Liddell has now lost three of his last four fights.

Much as I want to see more of Chuck Liddell in the Octagon but in the brutal world of Mixed Martial Arts, I am inclined to see him to just fade into the sunset with his dignity intact. He is not the same fighter that electrified the MMA fans earlier in his career.

He's done and accomplished everything as a fighter and there is nothing left for him to prove. It's time for him to just relax and enjoy his fortune because to his legions of supporters, The Iceman was and still is a legend in the Octagon, no matter what.

Fedor, the Last Emperor

It was a brutal realization for MMA Top Contender Andrei Arlovski in the form of Fedor Emelianenko's crushing right hand as he was knocked out cold in the first round in a fight that he was winning earlier in the main event of Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

No doubt, with the victory, Fedor, the pride of the now defunct PRIDE MMA organization proved that he is the best MMA fighter in the world today.

I say bring Josh Barnett on!

MMA Short Stops

Two fights featuring four of the top MMA lightweights in the world. Two fights that both ended in identical fashion.

Here's a clip of the fight between the much- heralded Takanori Gomi (29-5)against Satoru Kitaoka (24-8-9), one of the featured cards at Sengoku 7: Sengoku no Ran 2009 held today in Japan which was considered as the first major MMA event of the year.






Here's Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki in the 2008 K-1 Fields Dynamite! for the first ever Lightweight Championship of the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA)held on December 31, 2008 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.







To see more fight clips visit Lords of the Ring...

UFC 92

December 27, 2008
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada



Wanderlei Silva versus Quinton "Rampage" Jackson





World Light Heavyweight Championship

Forest Griffin versus Rashad Evans

Kimbo, Sliced!

Yes Sir, Kevin Ferguson a.k.a. Kimbo Slice, the brash and arrogant Mixed Martial Arts fighter being groomed by television giant, CBS to be the face of its MMA franchise, EliteXC was TKO'd in the first round tonight by Seth Petruzelli, a young average fighter from Florida and a late replacement for Kimbo's original opponent Ken Shamrock (who suffered a cut on his left eyebrow earlier in the day while doing some routine warm- ups and was ruled ineligible to fight by doctors to his dismay).

So what's next for the much- hyped EliteXC now that their "face" was virtually "sliced" by an unknown fighter and thus exposed their king, Kimbo as a fraud?

Back to the drawing board folks.