In Episode 8, the first two quarter-final fights took place, with Team Lesnar and Team Dos Santos splitting the wins.  Team Lesnar’s Chris Cope defeated Shamar Bailey with a 20-18 unanimous decision, while Team Dos Santos’ Ramsey Nijem forced a tapout from Clay Harvison with a rear naked choke in the first round.

Next week the remaining two quarter-final fights will take place, and semi-final matchups will be announced.

The current win tally is 5 Team Dos Santos, 5 Team Lesnar.

Here’s who remains:
(all rankings are approximated as-of the show’s taping, and not necessarily reflecting the fighters’ current rankings)

[#113] Anthony Ferguson
episode 6: moved on to quarter-finals with a first round TKO (upkick) win over Justin Edwards

[#182] Justin Edwards
episode 3: alternate taking place of Keon Caldwell
episode 6: lost to Anthony Ferguson by TKO (upkick)

[#179] Myles Jury
episode 1: forced to withdraw due to an injury

[#200] Ryan McGillivray
episode 3: moved on to quarter-finals with a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) over Len Bentley

[#247 LW] Ramsey Nijem
episode 4: moved on to quarter-finals with a second round submission (rear naked choke) win over Charlie Rader
episode 8: moved on to semi-finals with a first round submission (rear naked choke) win over Clay Harvison

[#289] Chuck O’Neil
episode 1: alternate taking place of Miles Jury
episode 6: lost to Zachary Davis with a first round submission (triangle choke). Brought back for the wild card fight with Javier Torres
episode 7: moved on to quarter-finals with a second round submission (D’Arce choke) win over Javier Torres in the wild card bout

[#321] Charlie Rader
episode 4: lost to Ramsey Nijem with a second round submission (rear naked choke)

[#364] Shamar Bailey
episode 1: moved on to quarter-finals with a 20-18 unanimous decision win over Nordin Asrih
episode 8: lost a 20-18 unanimous decision to Chris Cope

[#387] Clay Harvison
episode 5: defeated Michael Bowman with a unanimous decision (20-18)
episode 8: lost to Ramsey Nijem with a first round submission (rear naked choke)

[#441] Chris Cope
episode 2: moved on to quarter-finals with a 29-28 overtime unanimous decision win over Javier Torres
episode 8: moved on to semi-finals with a 20-18 unanimous decision over Shamar Bailey

[#475] Len Bentley
episode 3: lost a majority decision win (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) to Ryan McGillivray

[NR] Nordin Asrih
episode 1: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Shamar Bailey

[NR] Michael Bowman
episode 5: lost a unanimous decision (20-18) to Clay Harvison

[NR] Keon Caldwell
episode 2: withdrew from competition

[NR] Zachary Davis
episode 6: moved on to quarter-finals with a first round submission (triangle choke) win over Chuck O’Neil

[NR] Javier Torres
episode 2: lost an overtime unanimous decision (29-28) to Chris Cope
episode 6: brought back for a wild card fight with Chuck O’Neil
episode 7: lost to Chuck O’Neil with a second round submission (D’Arce choke) in the wild-card bout

Xtreme Fighting Organization 39
May 13, 2011
Sears Centre Arena,
Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States

Featherweight (145 lbs)

Jeff Curran (34 – 13 – 1) defeated Billy Vaughan (9 – 9 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Curran, who is 4-1 in his last 5, moves 5 spots up the ranks from [#67] to [#62].  Vaughan, who is on a 4 fight losing streak, remains unranked.

Welterweight (170 lbs)

Former WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner (17 – 5 – 1) defeated Tyler Combs (13 – 8 – 1) by technical submission via north-south choke at 1:30 of round 1.  Varner, who is 1-3-1 in his last 5, moves from [#116LW] into the welterweight “Top 500” at [#109].  Combs, who is on a 2 fight losing streak, moves from [#285LW] into the welterweight “Top 500” at [#354].
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World Absolute Fighting Championship – Mayor’s Cup 2011
May 7, 2011
Platinum Arena,
Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)

Baga Agaev (21 – 11 – 0) defeated Kevin Randleman (17 – 16 – 0) by submission due to an armbar at 3:00 of round 1.  Agaev, who has won 6 of his last 7 (5 by armbar) jumps 20 spots up from [#72] to [#52].  Randleman, who has lost 4 in a row, drops 21 spots from [#76] to [#97].  Randleman announced his retirement following the loss.

Lightweight (155 lbs)

Alexander Sarnavskiy (14 – 0 – 0) defeated Douglas Evans (13 – 8 – 0) by submission due to rear-naked choke in round 1.  Sarnavskiy, who scored his 3rd consecutive choke victory in this bout,  jumps 34 spots up from [#108] to [#74].  Evans, who is 3-2 in his last 5, moves from [#57FW] into the lightweight “Top 500” at [#239].

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In Episode 7, Team Lesnar’s Chuck O’Neil defeated Team Dos Santos’ Javier Torres with a D’Arce choke in the second round, earning the wild-card spot to become the eighth and final quarter-finalist.

Here are the quarter-final matchups (all rankings approximated as-of the show’s taping):

[#113] Anthony Ferguson vs [#200] Ryan McGillivray

[#247 LW] Ramsey Nijem vs [#387] Clay Harvison

[#289] Chuck O’Neil vs [NR] Zachary Davis

[#364] Shamar Bailey vs [#441] Chris Cope

The current win tally is 4 Team Dos Santos, 4 Team Lesnar.

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Tachi Palace Fights 9 – The Contenders
May 6, 2011
Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino,
Lemoore, California, United States

Flyweight (125 lbs)

WEC veteran Ian McCall (10 – 2 – 0) defeated Dustin Ortiz (7 – 1 – 0) by unanimous decision.  McCall, who is on a 3 fight win streak (4-1 in his last 5), moves 2 spots up from [#6]to [#4].  Ortiz, who tasted defeat for the first time, remains unranked.

TPF Featherweight Championship

Featherweight (145 lbs)

Issac DeJesus (10 – 3 – 0) defeated Russ Miura (9 – 2 – 0) by TKO due to punches at 2:52 of round 1.  DeJesus, who stopped a 2 fight losing streak with this victory, leaps 50 spots forward from [#127]to [#77].  Miura, who was on a 6 fight win streak prior to this loss (5 by stoppage), plummets 105 spots from [#112] to [#217].

Lightweight (155 lbs)

UFC veteran Fabricio Camoes (12 – 5 – 1) defeated fellow UFC vet Efrain Escudero (16 – 3 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Camoes, who is on a 2 fight win streak following release from the UFC, jumps 16 spots forward from [#72] to [#56].  Escudero, who was on a 3 fight win streak prior to this loss,  drops 22 spots from [#135] to [#157].

Middleweight (185 lbs)

UFC veteran Gerald Harris (18 – 4 – 0) defeated Anthony Ruiz (25 – 16 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Harris, who was on a 2 fight losing streak prior to this bout, moves 28 spots up from [#82] to [#54].  Ruiz, who is on a 3 fight losing streak, drops 11 spots from [#97] to [#108].

Flyweight (125 lbs)

Mamoru Yamaguchi (26 – 5 – 3) defeated Kevin Dunsmoor (10 – 4 – 0) by KO by a punch at 4:03 of round 2 .  Yamaguchi, who is on a 6 fight win streak (5 by stoppage), moves 1 spot up from [#2] to [#1].  Dunsmoor, who is 3-2 in his last 5, drops 6 spots from [#30] to [#36].
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Bellator Fighting Championships 43
May 7th, 2011

First Council Casino,
Newkirk, Oklahoma, United States

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Final

Welterweight (170 lbs)
Jay Hieron (22 – 4 – 1) won an extremely close and contentious split decision over Rick Hawn (11 – 1 – 0).  Round 1 belonged to Hieron, who out-struck his Olympic foe for the first 5 minutes.  Round 2 started to swing in Hawn’s favor.  It was this round that would cause the fight to be such a close call.  Hawn stalked the backpedaling Hieron and struck him often throughout the 3rd round.  It was not enough to make the judges see the fight in his favor.  Hieron, who is on a 10 fight winning streak, holds his ranking at [#10].  He will now face Bellator welterweight champion [#21] Ben Askren for the title.  Hawn, who tasted defeat for the first time, moved up 4 spots from [#49] to [#45].

Middleweight (185 lbs)
Bryan Baker (15 – 2 – 0) defeated UFC veteran Joe Riggs (34 – 13 – 0) by KO due to a punch at 3:53 of round 2.  Except for a duo of flying knees from Baker, there was little action in the 1st round.  Riggs was able to connect with straight punches, but did not have an answer for Baker in the 2nd round.  Baker swarmed the dazed Riggs midway through the round and knocked him out against the fence when he dropped his hands.  Baker, who on a 2 fight win streak (9-1- in his last 10),  moves 7 spots up from [#37 ] to [#30]. Baker will be in the Bellator season 5 middleweight tournament.  Riggs, who is on a 2 fight losing streak (both by T/KO from punches), drops 7 spots from [#100] to [#107].

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