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.

Keep Reading

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].
Keep Reading

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].

Keep Reading

UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields
April 30, 2011

Rogers Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Preliminary Bouts

Welterweight (170 lbs)
21 year old Rory MacDonald (11 – 1 – 0) defeated Nate Diaz (13 – 7 – 0) by unanimous decision.  MacDonald wowed the Canadian crowd with three belly to back suplexes in the third round against the visibly smaller Diaz.  All told, MacDonald finished 7 of 10 takedown attempts, while Diaz did not complete 1 of his 7 takedown attempts.  Other than the 1st round, Diaz looked like he had little to offer in this bout.  He looked out-sized, out-struck and out grappled against the Canadian prospect.  MacDonald, who bounds 32 spots up the ranks from [#60] to [#28], should look to put some wins together and face the always dangerous [#22] Chris Lytle or fellow prospect [#34] John Hathaway next.  Diaz, who has lost 5 of his last 8 (2 in a row at welterweight), falls 13 spots from [#28] to [#41].  His next fight will be an absolute must win to stay in the promotion.  He should look to rebound against [#40] Brian Foster (should he be able to compete following his brain hemorrhage that forced him out of his bout with [#86] Sean Pierson) or [#38] Claude Patrick.

Welterweight (170 lbs)
Jake Ellenberger (24 – 5 – 0) defeated Sean Pierson (11 – 5 – 0) by KO due to a punch at 2:42 into round 1.  Ellenberger, who took the fight on 16 days notice when [#40] Brian Foster had to pull out due to brain hemorrhage, made short work of Pierson with a counter left hook that sent the Toronto native crashing to the mat.  Ellenberger followed up with punches on the ground on Pierson’s prone body, forcing the ref to stop the fight.  Ellenberger, who moves up 1 spot from [#17] to [#16], would benefit hugely from a victory over fellow winner on the night [#28] Rory MacDonald if they were to fight next.  Ellenberger is on a 4 fight win streak, 3 by stoppage.  Pierson gained considerable momentum by defeating prospect [#94] Matt Riddle at UFC 124 in December 2010, and he needs a victory to have a hope of gaining this momentum back.  A bout with [#80] DaMarques Johnson would determine which fighter will move onward and upward.

Keep Reading

In Episode 6, Clay Harvison learned that the finger injury he suffered during his fight with Michael Bowman is a dislocation and not a fracture.  Therefore, Harvison will be able to continue in the competition.

Meanwhile, Junior Dos Santos’ assistant coach Lew Polley, who butted heads with Santos the entire season, was fired from the team by Junior for visiting the fighters’ house on his own.

The six and seventh opening round fights took place in this episode, with Team Lesnar and Team Dos Santos splitting the wins:  Team Lesnar’s Tony Ferguson defeated Justin Edwards in the first round with a knockout due to an upkick, and Team Dos Santos’ Zachary Davis submitted Chuck O’Neil with a triangle choke (also in the first round).

The current win tally is 4 Team Dos Santos, 3 Team Lesnar.

For the remaining wild-card spot, Chuck O’Neil will face Javier Torres in a second chance matchup.

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

[#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

[#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

[#387] Clay Harvison
episode 5: defeated Michael Bowman with a unanimous decision (20-18)

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

[#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

UFC 129 – St. Pierre vs. Shields
April 30, 2011

Rogers Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

UFC Welterweight Championship

Welterweight (170 lbs)
Welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre (22 – 2 – 0) handed Jake Shields (26 – 5 – 1) his first defeat in 15 fights and 5 1/2 years via unanimous decision.  St. Pierre, who has gone to decisions in 5 of his last 6, sustained an eye injury during the 2nd round (according to him in the post fight interview).   St. Pierre also stated that he was surprised with the striking acumen that Shields brought to the fight.  Shields certainly exceeded expectations in the striking department, bloodying GSP’s face and coming out looking less worse for wear.  Shields tried a few times to get the fight to the ground, but GSP stuffed the feeble takedown attempts and kept the 25 minute contest on the feet.  GSP used his jabs, as well as frequent spinning back kicks to vex Shields during much of the bout.  GSP, who said he could not see out of his left eye following the bout, did not answer questions about who he believes he should fight in the future.  The superfight between GSP and [#1MW] [#1DD] Anderson Silva always looms on the horizon.  However, since Anderson will be facing [#3MW] Yushin Okami at UFC Rio in August, it looks like that fight would not happen until late 2011 at the earliest.  In the meanwhile, the time seems just right to make a fight between GSP and red hot Strikeforce welterweight champ [#3] Nick Diaz.  Jake Shields should face the winner of the upcoming [#12] Thiago Alves/[#23] Rick Story bout, or perhaps [#6]Josh Koscheck.  Both GSP and Shields hold their rankings at [#1] and [#2], respectively.  GSP moves up 1 spot from [#3DD] to [#2DD] in the Division Dominance rankings. Previously ranked at [#9DD], Shields falls off the Division Dominance “Top 10.”  GSP, who has not lost in 4 years, extends his winning streak to 9.

UFC Featherweight Championship

Keep Reading

In the fifth opening round fight, Team Lesnar’s Clay Harvison defeated Team Dos Santos’ Michael Bowman by unanimous decision.  However, it was revelead post-fight that Harvison suffered a severe fracture of his pinky finger, which will likely force him out of the competition.

The current win tally is 3 Team Dos Santos, 2 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

[#182] Justin Edwards
episode 3: alternate taking place of Keon Caldwell

[#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

[#289] Chuck O’Neil
episode 1: alternate taking place of Miles Jury

[#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

[#387] Clay Harvison
episode 5: defeated Michael Bowman with a unanimous decision (20-18); forced to withdraw from competition with a broken finger

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

[#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

[NR] Javier Torres
episode 2: lost an overtime unanimous decision (29-28) to Chris Cope