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UFC: Is Nate Diaz being Hustled?

Since winning Season Five of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Nate Diaz has been a permanent fixture in the UFC topping several cards and fighting for a title along the way. When Diaz fought Benson Henderson for the Lightweight title back in December 2012 he received $50,000, which I'm guessing because of it being a title fight it was a One time thing (unless he won he may have kept that contract). Now, suprisingly though after 19 fights with the company Nate has been reverted back to only making $15,000 basic for a fight. To me that's pretty shocking considering his appeal and fighting ability. I have decided to look into this strange payroll situation and have devised a list of fighters who earn more, here are the stipulations;

Current UFC Fighters who, in their last fight earned more basic pay than Diaz

Competed on Nates' season of TUF, or

Competed on following seasons of TUF

All payroll stats were obtained from www.mma-manifesto.com

TUF Season 5

Gray Maynard: $45,000, 14 UFC Fights, UFC Record 9-3-1-1 No Contest (NC)

Matt Wiman: $18,000, 14 UFC Fights, UFC Record 9-5

Joe Lauzon: $27,000, 15 UFC Fights, UFC Record 9-6

Manny Gamburyan: $20,000, 9 UFC Fights, 4 WEC Fights (under ZUFFA), UFC Record 4-5, WEC Record 3-1

Cole Miller: $26,000, 15 UFC Fights, UFC Record 9-6

TUF Season 6

Mac Danzig: $30,000, 12 UFC Fights, UFC Record 5-7

George Sotiropoulos: $15,000 11 UFC Fights, UFC Record 7-4

TUF Season 7

CB Dollaway: $20,000, 12 UFC Fights, UFC Record 7-5

Amir Sadollah: $24,000, 10 UFC Fights, UFC Record 6-4

Matt Brown: $33,000, 16 UFC Fights, UFC Record 11-5

TUF Season 8

Ryan Bader: $47,000, 12 UFC Fights, UFC Record 8-4

TUF Season 9

Ross Pearson: $20,000, 11 UFC Fights, UFC Record 7-3-0-1NC

TUF Season 10

Brendan Schaub: $18,000, 9 UFC Fights, UFC Record 6-3

Roy Nelson: $24,000, 11 UFC Fights, UFC Record 6-5

TUF Season 11

Court McGee: $20,000,7 UFC Fights, UFC Record 5-2

Seth Baczynski: $16,000, 7 UFC Fights, UFC Record 7-3

Costa Philippou: $18,000, 7 UFC Fights , UFC Record 5-2

TUF Season 12

Michael Johnson: $18,000, 9 UFC Fights, UFC Record 5-4

TUF Season 13

John Dodson: $15,000, 5 UFC Fights, UFC Record

TUF Season 14

Diego Brandao: $20,000, 5 UFC Fights, UFC Record 4-1

  Understandably, as an unwritten rule, heavier fighters generally get more pay as they are more of an attraction for the company, but where Diaz is concerned he is definitely one of the most watched fighters on their roster, love him or hate him, you still watch him.

Nate Diaz Highlight Video Here

To be honest when I chose just to do the TUF fighters it was sctratching the surface. There are probably a lot of fighters that have fought less than 19 fights for the company and haven't headlined an event or fought for a title who are making a hell of a lot more money than Diaz. I'm no businessman but the UFC are certainly winning where Nate Diaz is involved

So gimme your input on what you think of the situation. Is Diaz being hustled? who is responsible for Diaz lack of show money? The UFC, his manager or himself?  if I have left anyone off let me know.

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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Fighters We Would Have Liked to Have Seen in the UFC

We all know the UFC has been around for 20 years and in that time it has had some of the best fighters in the world compete inside the illustrious Octagon. I say some, because there have been a few great fighters who never graced the Octagon and it was a crying shame.Past is past, but just for fun lets take a look at who I, and probably many of you would have liked to have seen compete inside that eight side cage.

Rickson Gracie

Before Royce broke onto the MMA scene, even before the UFC was a popular sport, Rickson was kicking ass at shows held in his native Brazil and at ValeTudo Japan. He had an undefeated MMA record that stands at 11-0 with all 11 wins coming via submission. He has gone on to claim victory in over 300 fights to which family members have branded him a delusional. We will never know the truth of it but either way Rickson was a great submission fighter and he would have done extremely well were he the one who entered the first UFC tournament instead of Royce.

Murilo Rua

The older brother of 'Shogun' Rua. Murilo fought like a man possessed when he was in his prime. His record doesn't reflect well but Rua was certainly a force to be reckoned with in the early noughties. He has notable wins over fighters such as Daijiro Matsui, Akira Shoji, Mario Sperry, Mark Weir and Joey Villasenor. He had close decision losses against Dan Henderson , Rampage Jackson and Ricardo Arona and he even fought at Heavyweight losing to Sergei Kharitonov after giving him trouble early on. In his hey day Murilo would have been a very fun addition to the UFC especially in the era he fought best in between 2000-05.

    Jose Landi-Jons

Jose Landi-Jons was a monster from 1993-2001 picking up 17 first round stoppages and 19 wins in 23 fights. He was a pretty crazy character. Not only was he wonderfully brutal when fighting, he was also wonderfully eccentric. He has notable wins over such greats as Matt Hughes, Pat Miletich and Jorge Patino, as well as wins over Cyborg Santos, Rodney Glunder and Alexander Shlemenko. He does have a One round decision loss to UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell which lasted an astounding 30 minutes. 'Pele' would have been a brilliant accquisition to the UFC anytime between 1993-2001 and possibly would have a lot more great names under his belt had he fought there.

Paulo Filho

Paulo Filho was a beast before all his personal problems. In between 2000-2008 Filho racked up an impressive 16-0 record, and believe me that record was against legit fighters. Filho managed to defeat fighters such as Ikuhisa Minowa, Yuki Kondo, Daijiro Matsui, Amar Suloev, Murilo Rua, Ryo Chonan, Kazuo Misaki and Chael Sonnen, in which he defended his WEC Middleweight Title. That right there tells you this guys pedigree when he was in his prime. At one point in time Filho was regarded as the second best Middleweight in the world behind the legendary Anderson Silva. So in summary aside from his love of wearing sleeveless plaid shirts he was a pretty awesome fighter.

Ricardo Arona

Ricardo Arona is a grappling wizard from the PRIDE era. He managed to defeat such notables as Dan Henderson, Murilo Rua, Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba, Wanderlei Silva and Alistair Overeem in his time with the Japanese company. Arona was at his best inbetween 2000-2005 where he amassed a

12-2 record.  At the moment it's unsure if Arona has retired from the sport as he has mentioned in an interview he still has a goal to reach the UFC. At 35 years old, he is running out of time to make that dream a reality. I for one would love to see him in the Octagon.

Igor Vovchanchyn

Igor Vovchanchyn is known by most people as the original Fedor. Admittedly he was not as skillfull, but their fighting styles had their similarities. Both heavy handed eastern Europeans with excellent finishing instinct. Vovchanchyn went on an incredible unbeaten run between 1996-2000 picking up 36 wins and One contentious No Contest decision against Mark Kerr in which the PRIDE rules had changed. Vovchanchyn holds victories over MMA greats such as Kazushi Sakuraba, Gary Goodridge, Mark Kerr, Enson Inoue, Gilbert Yvel and Bob Schrijber. Vovchanchyn would certainly have had the skills to hold the UFC heavyweight title in his era and he will go down as one of the greats in MMA history.

  Fedor Emelianenko

Obviously I had to include Fedor Emelianenko on this list, it would have been sacrilege not to. Fedor is world reknowned as arguably the best MMA fighter to ever compete in the sport. What this man acheived is pretty insane, but for all MMA fans, it does leave a sour taste that he never competed in the Octagon. At one point the UFC almost had a superfight between Fedor and Brock Lesnar, although both fighters would have been a few years past their prime it would certainly have been the biggest fight ever in the sport. Fedor almost had a Ten year unbeaten streak in his career, his record ended up at 34-4-1NC while he had an unbeaten streak of 33 fights from May 2000-December 2009 (I fail to recognise his loss to Tsuyoshi Kosaka as a legitimate loss). Fedor will go down as the greatest Heavyweight to ever compete and only Cain Velasquez may have something to say about that in the future. Charles Bennett

Admittedly this is a personal one. Charles 'Krazy Horse' Bennett was a livewire, well he still is. Bennett's' a pretty special character in the MMA world. There are numerous videos of Bennett doing crazy stuff, from his backstage fight at PRIDE (here he is explaining what happened) to his professional wrestling moves (1:26 onwards) that he used in the cage/ring. He is just one crazy dude.  His record looks very bad at the minute at 26-28-2 but at one point he was actually a decent Lightweight going 12-4 to start of his career. He has fought a who's who of lighter weight fighters including current UFC fighters Urijah Faber, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Takanori Gomi,  K.J Noons and Bobby Green, as well as notables such as Duane Ludwig, Jeff Curran and Drew Fickett.

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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Max Nunes: Middleweights' Newest Threat

Max Nunes is a young Swedish fighter who has made his adopted home in Britain. Fighting from New Wave Academy in London, Nunes has become a very hot prospect in the world of MMA. Nunes record currently stands at 11-1 and something I noticed which is highly unheard of in MMA today is that he has a 100 percent stoppage ratio on those Eleven wins, Six by KO/TKO and Five by submission. Since starting his professional MMA path in July 2010 Nunes has had a steady rise in competition with each passing fight. Nunes has fought at Light Heavyweight all of his career thus far and unfortunately in his last fight the strength factor at that weight came into the equation. Nunes fought a very strong, well seasoned veteran in Dutch man Jason Jones, it was a learning curve that has now prompted Nunes to make the drop in weight down to Middleweight. A drop that has vaulted him back into the title picture with British MMA promotion BAMMA.

BAMMA Middleweight Title Opportunity

Nunes had previously lost out on a title bid at Light Heavyweight to the afformentioned Jason Jones, but due to the fact that Nunes is a highly skilled competitor with a bright future and his drop to Middleweight, BAMMA has awarded Nunes a shot at the Middleweight strap in a fight against the very tough Romanian Ion Pascu. Pascu has fought for BAMMA before on the undercard of BAMMA 13, the same card that the Nunes vs Jones fight took place on. Pascu was victorious in that fight defeating former BAMMA British Middleweight Title holder Jack Marshman by a strong left hand followed by some ground strikes at the end of the First. Pascu is a short stocky southpaw, which Nunes should be able to take full advantage of with his strong right hand and 6'4 frame. I noticed in Nunes last fight he was trying a lot of front kicks, I think against the much shorter Pascu these could pay dividends in helping him capture the Middleweight Title.

What Nunes Needs to do to Make it to the UFC

Max Nunes, as with any professional MMA fighter would one day like to fight for the UFC. After all when the majority of MMA fighters first started fighting pro, the epitomy of MMA was being in the UFC and their goal was to reach that promotion at some point. Nowadays things haven't changed much and the best fighters end up finding their way into the UFC. With Alexander Gustafsson flying the flag for Sweden and the UFC finding a very good audience there, surely it's only a matter of time before we see Nunes competing in the Octagon. Nunes is still a little inexperienced but as with anything the more fights under his belt against better competition he will gain that experience, after all Nunes is only Three years and Four months into his pro MMA career. I think his problem in his last fight (being out strengthed by Jones) will have been addressed by his weight cut, which hopefully, given his size at the weight, will make him a lot stronger than his opponents. He uses his kicks, punches and clinch work well and has brutal ground and pound, which overwhelms his opponents more often than not. His submission game is solid in the offense but could do with a little sharpening after his last fight but other than that, Nunes looks like he is on his way to becoming one of Swedens' top fighters, ney Europes' top fighters and I'm sure at some point in the not to distant future we shall see him kicking ass in the UFC.

  Max Nunes Highlight Video Here

You Can Follow Max on Twitter here https://twitter.com/maxpowernunes

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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UFC 167: GSP, Hendricks and the Infamous 1st Round

The main talking point from UFC 167 last Saturday has been the result of the GSP v Hendricks fight. Many fans, media and even C.E.O's feel that the decision was unjust, a 'robbery' even. To call it a robbery is pretty much an absurd thing to say as the fight was competitive all the way through and in truth you couldn't have been mad no matter what the outcome. Well guess what. I am a little bit annoyed at the fact that the majority feel like Hendricks actually won and are now treating GSP like a bad person, especially his boss, who after everything GSP has done for the company, feels like he can try and force him into a rematch and make him feel probably even worse than he already does. Some of the thing Dana White says are ridiculous but his rant after UFC 167 was totally uncalled for and he should be ashamed of himself. Hopefully he realises that. Anyway back to why I was writing this article in hte first place.

Most media sites are unanimous in the fact that they called rounds 2 and 4 for Hendricks and rounds 3 and 5 for GSP. I had that the same. Where people are differing is on the First round. Well I'm here to tell you why GSP won that round and Hendricks did not. Truthfully it was a close round but I feel like I can bring light to certain areas for why GSP won that round. Obviously MMA is a subjective sport and many people may still not agree with this article but even if I can change the mind of a small portion of people and get across the points that I feel won GSP the round then I will be happy.

I watched the First round of this fight Five times in a row just so I could keep all of the action fresh and to see if I scored anything different or maybe missed something the first few times. Here are my findings.

Literally 10-15 seconds into the round GSP times a Hendricks punch to perfection and scores a big takedown which resulted in him trying to apply a guillotine choke that Hendricks manged to get out of. The crowd were pretty vocal for the takedown but nothing too loud, possibly because they were expecting GSP to take Hendricks down. Just because they were expecting it doesn't make it any less impressive though.

The clinch was evenly contested with Hendricks landing Knees to the leg and GSP landing knees to the body and leg.  Hendricks strikes had more authority but were less frequent than GSPs'

As the action went to the cage GSP backed Hendricks up then Hendricks landed several strong elbows to the side of GSPs' head, This was number One of Two of Hendricks only moments in the round.

As they both struggled for position in the clinch Hendricks managed a takedown to which the crowd went into uproar. I feel that this is a point in which many people (commentators, media, judges and fans who judged at home) will have scored Hendricks more on the crowd reaction rather than anything else. Let's not forget GSP also had a takedown in the round but the crowd were nowhere near as vocal about that. Crowd reaction is very persuasive and can give people an impression that something more is happening than what is actually in front of them. After watching the round on mute you may get the picture. Number Two of Two for Hendricks moments in this round.

After the takedown GSP found his way to his feet very quickly and worked his kicking game, keeping Hendricks at bay with a series of leg kicks and body kicks.

Hendricks throws a knee that didn't actually connect but for some reason Joe Rogan get very hyper about it. Even though it didn't connect, the way that Rogan yelled it made this another one of those moments which could influence somebodies scoring of the round. Please let me reiterate that the knee never landed.

GSP throws up a head kick that connected, it wasn't all that powerful but it still hit the mark. 

All through the round I saw Hendricks strikes being parried, hitting GSP on the gloves or missing wildly.

I feel that GSP landed cleaner strikes throughout the round, even Fightmetric had GSP up on the significant strikes count 19-18.

If you check out the stats on Fightmetric, they are even on pretty much all of the stats, so in reality the round is subjective to the person watching it. For me those facts I bullet-pointed sway this round in favor of GSP. I urge you to watch the first round again on mute and you can see exactly what I saw. It was a close fight but the right guy got his hand raised in the end.

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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TUF: The Comeback 2014, Who's in?

This is just a bit of fun taken from a few calls I heard on MMAJunkie Radio. I decided to roll with it because I think it could be highly entertaining. As with the last comeback season of TUF, many of these fighters are not doing so good in terms of winning the majority of their most recent fights but still there are some big name fighters who would definitely bring entertainment value to the show. The shows premise could be that only the winner actually gets a UFC contract (per the original TUF), that way the fighters really would put their all into training, fighting and all other aspects of the show.

The weight division I have decided to go with is, Heavyweight, a division in dire need of some depth. Obviously I'm not expecting any of these guys to be challenging for the title anytime soon but they could at least present some of the current UFC fighters with a challenge. 

Dave Herman - UFC Record 1-4

Dave Herman has recently been released from the UFC so he may still be a little fresh in peoples minds. Although he found himself on the end of a 1-4 run with the company and with a positive drug test (marijuana) he does still hold some qualities. He is a very quirky guy who would entertain viewers and you never know training with other heavyweights may improve his own game.

Brett Rogers - ZUFFA Record 0-1

Okay so I cheated on this one a little bit. Brett Rogers never fought for the UFC but he does hold a Strikeforce appearance under the ZUFFA banner. Rogers has had his fair share of problems outside of the cage but inside he is a bit of a headhunter. He has a good knockout ratio and most of his losses have been to very good competition. There could be a good angle here, 'bad guy turns good' or something along those lines.

  Heath Herring - UFC Record 2-3

Heath Herring hasn't fought since 2008 and is now a fully fledged poker player but I can't seem to remember him ever officially retiring. He is still only 35 so he could possibly manage a few more years. He is quite a character and he will forever be remembered for his pre- fight shenanigans against Yoshihiro Nakao. This is a long shot but it would be worth asking him as he was an entertaining fighter.

  Phil De Fries - UFC Record 2-3

Phil De Fries is another fighter who has recently been released by the UFC. He is a British fighter who specializes in Jiu-Jitsu. His main downfall was his stand up (He was stopped Three times by strikes in the UFC). Being in a house training with other good strikers could help improve him to the point where he could be a decent UFC Heavyweight once again. With De Fries being British it would also make the British fans more inclined to watch the show.

    Sokoudjou - UFC Record 1-2

Sokoudjou has recently stepped up to fight at Heavyweight. Sokoudjou may be a little undersized at 5'10 but he certainly loves a fight. He is one of those fighters who either knocks you out or goes out on his shield. He has a pretty mediocre record at this point but maybe this show could help him get his career heading back in the right direction. He does after all have some notable wins over fighters such as 'Lil Nog' and Ricardo Arona. If he can get back to those glory days he may be on to something.

Christian Morecraft - UFC Record 1-3

Christian Morecraft has become somewhat a ghost since leaving the UFC. He has only fought once since then, picking up a win against Randy Smith at CFX 23. At 27 years old he still has a lot of years left in his career and this show could be the platform to get him back to that UFC level. It would also give him the exposure and opportunity to improve on his skill set while training with more experienced veterans.

  Tim Sylvia - UFC Record 9-4

Tim Sylvia does not hide the fact that he wants to fight in the UFC again. A former champion (who has been on a really bad slide as of late) giving it one last push at glory. It would be the story of the series if Sylvia won. Sylvia is still remembered by most UFC fans as the man that Randy Couture put away back in 2007 to win the UFC Heavyweight Title. This would be his chance to prove himself to be a better fighter and to really gain some momentum for the latter part of his career.

    Andrei Arlovski - UFC Record 10-4

Andrei Arlovski is still going strong, currently fighting for WSOF. He has still been putting in good performances for smaller promotions going 5-1-0-1NC (although that No Contest should have been a win) in his last Seven fights. While that's good, everyone knows that the UFC is where all the best Heavyweights want to be. Arlovski would no doubt be one of the favorites for this series but it would be up to him to translate that potential into winning ways.

So what division and fighters would you pick? Lemme know as I'm intrigued to whoother fight fans would have.

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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Goiti Yamauchi and Bellators' Future Stars

Bellator has firmly established itself as the Second best promotion in the North of America. It has produced some top fighters who are now breaking into top Ten rankings, which are usually reserved for UFC fighters. It has been refreshing to see fighters getting the credit they deserve, no matter what organization they are currently with. Fighters such as newly crowned Lightweight Champion, Eddie Alvarez, Michael Chandler, Pat Curran, Daniel Straus, Ben Askren, Douglas Lima, Patricio Freire, Joe Warren, Eduardo Dantas, Emanuel Newton, Atilla Vegh, Alexander Shlemenko, Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Minakov have all established themselves through Bellators' tournament format. Those fighters have become well known names to MMA fans and have helped the company, along with themselves, get the recognition they deserve.

There are certain young talented fighters who have already competed through tournaments and are already on their way to becoming stars for the company, fighters such as Marcin Held, Tiger Sarnavskiy and Andrey Koreshkov. I won't be including those guys in this list. I would like to take a look at the second wave of fighters making their way up the Bellator ladder. Ones that look like they will have a good future with Bellator and could potentially be the next breakout stars for the company.

Rafael 'Morcego' Silva - Bantamweight

Rafael 'Morcego' silva has now competed twice under the Bellator banner and has looked strong both times.  His most recent fight in Bellator he beat previous Bantamweight Tournament runner up Anthony Leone, which is no small task. 'Morcego' looks very strong and has excellent scrambles, which prevents the opposition from getting comfortable on the ground. He has his victories pretty evenly distributed ( 8KO, 9SUB, 4DEC) and he has now won his last 13 fights in a row. He is part of the well regarded Renovacao Fight Team that house such fighters like , Jose Maria Tome (UFC) and Luis Nogueira (BellatorMMA).

Bubba Jenkins - Lightweight

Bubba Jenkins is a 2011 NCAA Division 1 champion and he rightfully earned himself the best prospect label when he decided to make the jump to MMA. Although Jenkins ended up losing his last fight, it had more to do with his over eagerness, which in turn made him gas pretty substantially, rather than anything his opponent did. Jenkins was dominant all through the first but faded in the latter rounds. At only 25 years old, if he addresses the issue of over eagerness then he will become a force in the Lightweight division. He has all the physical gifts and he is extremely athletic. At American Top Team, he will get the guidance and training he needs to reach new heights in his Bellator career.

Who is Bubba Jenkins?

Michael Page - Welterweight

Michael Page is a well established kickboxer who made the cross over to MMA back in February 2012. He is an absolute killer in the striking department, some have even likened his style to that of Anderson Silva. He currently sports a 5-0 record with all Five coming in the First round (3KO, 2SUB). His short MMA career took off when he got signed by Bellator earlier this year. So far he has fought once under Bellator picking up a First round Knockout of Ryan Sanders. His style will no doubt endear him to fans as he is always exciting and looking for a finish. The way his career has started is a good sign of things to come for the young Brit.

  Julio Cesar 'Morceguinho'  Neves Jr - Featherweight

Julio Cesar 'Morceguinho' Neves Jr is another Renovacao Fight Team member and younger brother of Rafael 'Morcego' Silva. At only 19 years old, 'Morceguinho' has racked up a pretty good 28-0 record. Okay so many of those fighters have been cans but to stay undefeated in that many fights and at such a young age is pretty unheard of. He has excellent finishing instinct picking up 89% of his wins by stoppage (17KO, 8SUB) and he is definitely a little flash as you can see from this knockout. He has the potential to do big things in Bellator.

Liam McGeary - Light Heavyweight

Liam McGeary is  a late starter to the MMA game but that may work in his favor. He hasn't had half the beatings that many fighters his age have had. He is a tall (6'6) rangy fighter (81 inch reach) with very heavy hands and a good submission game. From what I have seen he is also able to use his hips well when on the bottom, looking to grab hold of limbs in between with his long legs. His record is currently 5-0 (3KO, 2SUB) and did I mention he's British, so he would definitely help Bellator reach out to the market in Britain.

Blagoi Ivanov - Heavyweight

Everybody on the internet knows Blagoi Ivanov as the guy that beat Fedor Emelianenko in the World Sambo Championships in 2008. Pretty impressive huh. He has a fan friendly style, which in regards to his stand up is more swing than technique but he gets the job done. He is also a southpaw which generally cause problems for a lot of fighters. Along with winning the Sambo Championships he has competed for his native Bulgaria in Judo, which translates pretty well into MMA.  They are bringing him on slow at Bellator, where he currently has 3 fights (3 Wins) under his belt. Hopefully we get to see him in the next Heavyweight Tournament as I think he would be a handful for their top guys.

Goiti Yamauchi - Featherweight

The man responsible for this article, Goiti Yamauchi. He is an excellent young Brazilian fighter who despite only being 20 years old, fights with the composure and knowledge of a veteran. Yamauchi is 15-1 in his short MMA career and 1-0 in Bellator. The rate at which he is improving is pretty remarkable and I don't think it will be long until he is fighting the best fighters Bellator has to offer. Yamauchi is a finisher and a great submission artist, he especially loves the rear naked choke, picking up 9 of his 13 submission wins that way. Another thing I noticed about Yamauchi is his ability to strike the body, which in MMA is highly underutilized. If he keeps progressing there is no reason that Yamauchi shouldn't be in a Featherweight Tournament in the near future.

You can watch;

Liam McGeary on 15th November @ Bellator 108

Goiti Yamauchi, 

Blagoi Ivanov,

Michael Page

and Bubba Jenkins on 22nd November @ Bellator 109

  Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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UFC FN 32: The Nights Big Winners

UFC was back last Saturday for their Second event in Three days. UFC Fight Night 32: Belfort vs Henderson took place at the Goiania Arena, Goiania, Goias, Brazil and the featuring bout was, yes you guessed it, Vitor Belfort v Dan Henderson. It was a rematch between the Two from their days over in PRIDE, Japan. Henderson managed to defeat Belfort the last time out, but With Belfort demolishing Henderson this time it now seems as though both their careers are heading in completely different directions, with Belfort looking like the best fighter he has ever been and Henderson slowing down due to a number of reasons (namely age). Here is who I think the nights big winners were, with some fighters possibly breaking the top 15 rankings.

Jeremy Stephens

Stephens looked like a killer out there on Saturday night. He brutally dispatched of Rony 'Jason', a fighter who was on a 3-0 run himself. Stephens is now 2-0 since his drop to Featherweight and looks like he could make his way into contention. He has unquestionable power in his strikes which not many Featherweights have, barring Aldo, Mendes, Swanson and probably Robbie Peralta. He will get a nice step up for his next fight. I can see him getting someone like Dennis Bermudez or possibly Cole Miller as they both recently had good wins themselves.

Brandon Thatch

Wow! That's pretty much what everyone thought who saw Brandon Thatchs' debut when they saw him destroy Justin Edwards, it was pretty much what we all thought when he manhandled Paulo Thiago and silenced the Brazilian crowd last Saturday. His striking was solid and sharp not to mention painful. Thatch has thrust himself into the spotlight with those performances. He's proved he can take the pressure of fighting in a big fight and in another fighters backyard, I can see him getting a big fight next time out. I would like to see him face Adlan Amagov next time out. It's time to pit those Two prospects against one another and see who makes the cut.

Cezar 'Mutante' Ferreira

Cezar 'Mutante' has been on a roll since entering the Octagon and he continued to build on that start with another win, this time over fellow TUF Brazil participant Daniel Sarafian. With the win 'Mutante' saw his stock rise . He is now 4-0 in the UFC and has already fought as a co-main so he could expect a big step up in competition. outside of the top 15 there are a lot of fighters who would provide 'Mutante' with that step up in competition, I'd most like to see him take on, Yoel Romero, Failing that I think a fight with Lorenz Larkin would also be fun.

Vitor Belfort

The man of the hour, Vitor Belfort. Belfort looked amazing in demolishing Henderson last Saturday night, thrilling the Brazilian crowd and sending them into roaring applause. I admit I was standing at home and applauding myself, it was that good. He became the first man to stop Dan Henderson by KO/TKO and became the first fighter in the UFC to defeat Three opponents by Head Kick (also Three in a row). Although this fight was contested at Light Heavyweight, he has more than established himself as the number One contender at Middleweight and I don't see how he can't be given that fight even if Anderson Silva defeats Weidmann at the end of the year. I would be more than happy to see Belfort take on either Weidmann, or Silva again, especially this new Vitor Belfort 2.0.

Post Fight Press Conference Video Here

  Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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UFC FN 31: Fight for the Troops. Fight Night Bonuses

UFC returns to midweek action again tonight with UFC FN 31: Fight for the Troops. Heading up the card is a Middleweight battle between Two tough grapplers in Sgt 1st class Tim Kennedy and Brazilian Rafael 'Sapo' Natal. No surprises who the crowd will be pulling for in that fight. The co main features a former member of the US Marines, Liz Carmouche. Carmouche will be taking on the slippery Canadian Alexis Davis who is on an impressive 6-1 run. The whole card looks like this

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Main Card

Tim Kennedy v Rafael Natal

Liz Carmouche v Alexis Davis

Ronny Markes v Yoel Romero

Rustam Khabilov v Jorge Masvidal

Michael Chiesa v Colton Smith

Prelims

Bobby Green v James Krause

Francisco Rivera v George Roop

Dennis Bermudez v Steven Siler

Amanda Nunes v Germaine de Randamie

MMAJunkie Prelims

Chris Camozzi v Lorenz Larkin

Yves Edwards v Yancy Medeiros

Seth Baczynski v Neil Magny

Derek Brunson v Brian Houston

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knockout of the Night:  Liz Carmouche

Although Liz Carmouche lost her first bout in the Octagon, against current Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey, she did look like she could hang with the best in the division. Her next outing was a pretty brutal stoppige of Jessica Andrade via ground and pound. 'Girl-rilla' looks very strong when on top and I personally feel the difference between her and Alexis Davis will be that strength. Davis is usually content to fight off her back, but she is yet to face someone so bullish as Carmouche. I think Carmouche takes the fight to the mat and unloads a while lot of ground and pound on Davis' face earning a big TKO win and another top Ten name to her resume.

Submission of the Night: Seth Baczynski

Seth Baczynski has had a tough time as of late. Consistency is the key to progressing in your MMA career and at the moment the only thing Baczynski is doing consistently is losing. However, I think with all the fights on this card, this is the one that has the most potential for submission. Baczynski has 10 submission victories to his credit, and both of Neil Magnys' losses have been by submission. There are far more accomplished submission artists on this card, but the gulf in class in that area is less noticeable. Fortunately for Baczynski, this fight may save his job and earn him a nice little bonus in the process.

Fight of the Night: Dennis Bermudez v Steven Siler

Both Dennis Bermudez and Steven Siler are fans of a good scrap, as witnessed in each of their last few fights. Bermudez could even have arguably lost his last Two fights, they were that close. Siler, just coming off a big knockout of Mike Brown, has earned himself a sneaky good 5-1 record in the Octagon, and is somewhat flying under the radar in the Featherweight Division at the moment. Both guys are more than capable of finishing this fight, but I feel like Bermudez will try and drag Siler into a gun fight and Siler will be more than happy to oblige. Unless Bermudez decides tofight like Darren Elkins and wrestle his way to victory this is a toss up and surely a fight of the night.

UFC FN 31 Fight for the Troops: Watch the Fighter weigh-ins here

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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Bellator 106: Still Worth The Watch

  Bellator 106 is upon us. Ok so maybe it's not going to be the pay-per-view it was originally scheduled to be, but it does still have some awesome fights that will get the average MMA fans juices flowing.At the top of the card is a seriously mouthwatering battle between Two of the worlds top lightweights in Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez. As many of you fans may know, the last fight between these Two was a FOTY candidate back in 2011 in which Chandler came out the victor with a Fourth round submission.

 Michael Chandler v Eddie Alvarez   for the Bellator MMA Lightweight Title

Chandler seems to have improved dramatically since that fight, picking up Three stoppage wins in impressive fashion. Alvarez on the other hand had recently been entangled in a farcical feud between the UFCs' CEO Dana White and Bellators' CEO Bjorn Rebney. That fiasco has limited Alvarez to only Two fights since the first meeting between Chandler and himself, only One of which has come within the last 13 months. Alvarez is still a top 15 lightweight at the minute, but in terms of career ceiling, Alvarez is just about there, whereas Chandler is progressing at a ridiculous rate and looks like he is on his way to possibly becoming One of the top Two lightweights in the world. Don't get me wrong this is still a tough fight for Chandler and if he doesn't bring his A game Alvarez can cause an upset, but from what I have seen of Chandler he seems like a very focused young man who takes his opportunities. I'm hoping this One has even half of the action the last One did and I will be a happy man.

King Mo v Emanuel Newton   for the Bellator MMA Interim Light Heavyweight Title

It's safe to say that King Mo is not the biggest Emanuel Newton fan. After their ever so strange dialogue on Ariel Helwanis' show The MMA hour, you get the idea that Mo has a lot of hatred for Newton. It most probably stems from the fact that he was embarrassed by Newton the last time they fought. Newtons backfist has become somewhat infamous in the MMA world, I for one have watched the replay many times. The fight this time around though, I don't expect Newton to have much luck, none at all in fact. I see Mo fired up, intent on doing damage to Newton from the outset. I think this time Mo uses his wrestling to give Newton an early sleep courtesy of some vicious ground and pound before the end of the First stanza.

Pat Curran v Daniel Straus    for The Bellator MMA Featherweigt Title

Another awesome fight between Two top Featherweights in the brilliant Pat Curran and live wire Daniel Straus. Straus earned his place to face Curran by beating some good fighters in Marlon Sandro and Alvin Robinson. Although those guys are good fighters they are nowhere near the level of Curran, who in my eyes has become a top Three Featherweight in the world. Curran and Straus have met before, with  Curran taking the W in that One. But, as is usually the case when fighters fight when they are young, they have both got a hell of a lot better since then. Curran has pretty much torn the Bellator FW division apart since he dropped from Lightweight back in 2011, going 6-0 and beating established fighters such as Joe Warren, Patricio Friere and the pretty impressive Shahbulat Shamhalaev. I think Curran is going to take this fight. It will be all guns blazing for the First round but as they settle I think Currans crisp boxing gets to Straus, where Curran will earn himself a stoppage due to strikes. Right now I think outside of Patricio Friere and maybe Frodo Khasbulaev the Bellator FW division doesn't really hold too many more interesting fights for Curran. Hopefully the next Featherweight tourney brings through some new

challengers.

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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UFC 169: Dominick Cruz Set For Return

Since 2011 Dominick Cruz has seen a multitude of injuries that has kept the 'Dominator' out of action. This seemingly coincided with a young Brazilians rise to fame and notoriety, that man being Renan Barao. For the last Two and a Half years Barao has put together a 6-0 record in the UFC, picking up the interim Bantamweight Title and beating just about every top Bantamweight they had to offer. I say 'just about' as One man who has been sidelined ,who truly is a man which in theory could deal Barao his first loss in what will be at the time, around Nine years and 31 fights. Dominick Cruz had seemingly manhandled the best of the best in the Bantamweight division, something similar to what Barao has done in recent times.

Barao delivers the fight winning kick to end Eddie Winelands' chances

  Finally Cruz seems to have been given the all clear for training camp or at least that's the picture I am getting, since the UFC has given us a date for this massive fight. The date in question is the Superbowl weekend card, UFC 169, 1st February 2013. This fight is as I said, massive for the Bantamweight division. A division that has been stuck in limbo since the inactivity of Cruz and people feeling that an interim belt is not really a 'thing'. Barao believes he is the actual champion and at this point I am inclined to go with this, Cruz is coming of a long lay off and he has to prove he is still at that championship level. In theory the pressure is all on Cruz. Barao has delivered for the UFC and the fans and the onus is now on Cruz to prove to us that he can beat the man of the moment.

If Cruz can come into this fight anywhere near how he was before his unfortunate injuries, it is most definitely going to be a pick em fight. Both guys have their qualities and both have the ability to win bred into there fabric. So I guess only time will tell. Here's hoping Cruz can make that date and It all goes without a hitch because this is a fight we as fans have been dying to see for a long time.

UFC 167 preview video here. A little something to get your MMA juices flowing

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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WSOF 6: Main Card Picks

With all MMA talk currently focused on the UFC event being held in Manchester, England  this Saturday, I thought I would shift my attention. This weekend there have been some big events on with the likes of RFA, Cage Warriors and Bellator, and with the UFC tonight. The one I will be focusing on will be WSOF 6. There are some tasty match ups and some good prospects on the card along with that inaugural Welterweight Title fight that will be hotly contested by Josh Burkman and Steve Carl. WSOF always brings high octane events and this one will be no different I'm sure, so here are my picks for the main card.

Justin Gaethje v Dan Lauzon

  Gaethje has been making waves since joining WSOF and I fully expect him to continue in doing so. Dan Lauzon is a solid competitor but I think Gaethje wins this with his powerful wrestling. At 9-0 in his short career and and 2-0 in his WSOF fighting career, Gaethje is becoming a very good talent in the upstart promotion.  Although Gaethje has Eight stoppages so far through his career, I'm expecting this to be a tough fight that goes all the way to the judges, where Gaethje picks up his second ever decision victory.

Justin Gaethje via Unanimous Decision

    Marcelo Alfaya v Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch has come across some tough times as of late. His only victory in his last Five fights coming against a what now seems to be over-hyped Erick Silva. That's all in the past though and for this fight I expect Fitch will right his course again and set up a possible rubber match with Josh Burkman. Alfaya is a skilled grappler but he isn't at the level of 'The Fitch'. Not only do I think Fitch will win but I think he will pick up his First stoppage win since 2007, a span of 13 fights. This one I got Fitch by RNC in the Second round.

Jon Fitch via Rear Naked Choke, Round 2

Carson Beebe v Marlon Moraes

In the last Two years Marlon Moraes has gone from middle of the road fighter to top Ten talent. Picking up victories over former WEC Bantamweight kingpin Miguel Torres, Eduardo Dantas destroyer Tyson Nam and most recently a very game Brandon Hempleman. Moraes now finds himself in a position where everyone is expecting him to win. I think he deals with the pressure and manages to out hustle Beebe to pick up a hard fought decision. Hopefully after going (what will be) 4-0 in the promotion, he gets the chance to pick up the inaugural WSOF Bantamweight Title.

Marlon Moraes via Unanimous Decision

Josh Burkman v Steve Carl: For WSOF Inaugral Welterweight Title

Prior to joining WSOF Burkman was considered a decent fighter, a fighter who competed with the best but couldn't really get over the hump of beating a top guy. All that changed June 14th 2013, when he choked out long time top Ten Welterweight fighter Jon Fitch. That was just his last fight, before choking out Fitch he had also beaten former UFC fighters Gerald Harris and Aaron Simpson. Burkman seems to really have leapt over the proverbial hurdle and now he gets to reap the rewards of his efforts.  Carl is a good fighter on a good run but when he has fought tough competitors he has come up short, most notably in his time with Bellator MMA when he where he was defeated by Douglas Lima (who I think is a top 15 Welterweight) and Dan Hornbuckle . So as you may guess I'm picking Burkman in a stifling battle which ultimately goes to a decision.

Josh Burkman via Unanimous Decision

    Official Weigh-in Results For The Card

  Here is a little something to get you amped up for the event

  Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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Now is The Time The UFC should sign Satoshi Ishii

The UFC is set to jet off to Asia in 2014 for their inaugural event in Singapore on January 4th. With that in mind and reports coming out that the UFC have signed long time Shooto, PRIDE and Dream vet Tatsuya Kawajiri and Dream and Deep stand out Katsunori Kikuno, surely the UFC are looking to add to that by signing at least One more top Asian star. I feel this should be Heavyweight Judoka Satoshi Ishii, and here is my reasoning.

Ishii is a big name star in Asia

Ishii is most well known for his sporting career pre-MMA. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Ishii managed to win the Gold medal in Judo +100kg category for Japan. A massive feat for his country and one that propelled his status to almost legendary proportions in Japan. He has competed most recently for M1- Global beating UFC vet Jeff Monson,  before that he had fought and won Five straight for IGF in Japan. Ishii would be a massive name for the UFC's first event in Singapore and would definitely help get people interested in the card.

He is a Heavyweight and would add much needed depth

Although Ishii is only 5'11, he is a large man weighing in at anywhere between 233lbs- 240lbs. He has a muscular frame and incredible strength. The way the UFC heavyweight division is looking now, quite a lot of the top fighters are coming in at around the 240lb mark, namely Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. Ishii would add some much needed depth and a fresh face to a division that has been treading water for a while now. His unique style and southpaw stance would definitely give some of the top UFC fighters problems.

Only 26 years old and has massive potential

When I wrote earlier that Ishii had won a Gold Medal in 2008, for some reason (and probably a lot of people thought this) I thought he was a lot older than he actually was. He won his Gold when he was at the tender age of 21, which is incredible. Now at the age of 26, he is getting a hell of a lot better with each fight and has earned now his Brown Belt in Jiu Jitsu. His base gives him a great deal of potential to cause a more few waves in the UFC. At only 26, Ishii has fought the likes of Fedor (loss), Sylvia (win), Rizzo (win), McCorkle (win), Minowa (win) and LeBanner (win). His potential is there for everyone to see. At this point in time, after being signed to the UFC a good first fight for him could be someone along the lines of, Matt Mitrione or Brandon Vera. Those fights would be a stiff test but would ease Ishii into the competition of the UFC.

Here Ishii is tapping out former UFC fighter Sean McCorkle

  Watch Dana's VLOG UFC 165 Jones vs Gustafsson

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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Current UFC Fighters With Losing Records

After last Wednesdays UFC event, Fight Night 29 in Brazil, Joey Beltran ran his record to 3-6-0-1NC (No Contest).  So it got me thinking who is still currently a UFC fighter with a losing record. There are some names which you wouldn't expect and some which are blatantly obvious. Here they are.

All fighters are still on the UFC website at time of writing

Joey Beltran 3-6-0-1NC

Beltran has had a rough time since joining the UFC back in 2010. He managed to win his first Two fights with the promotion but he has really hit a slide in recent times. Starting out at Heavyweight, Beltran went 3-4 before dropping to Light Heavyweight where he has gone 1-2-0-1NC. The end has got to be getting near for Beltran and I'm expecting the fighter will get his pink slip sometime in the near future.

Jared Hamman 2-5

It's ironic how Jared Hamman likes to use a variation of Sergio Olivas' 'Victory Pose' at his weigh ins given the fact that he hasn't tasted victory in quite a while. After starting out at Light Heavyweight, Hamman was Knocked out by Alexander Gustafsson in 41 seconds in his first outing, He then lost to Kyle Kingsbury in a decision, going 1-2 in the LHW division, he then dropped to Middleweight. On dropping to MW Hamman stopped CB Dollaway before losing Three straight to, Costa Phillipou, Michael Kuiper and finally Magnus Cedenblad. All Three of those fights were stoppages, including his first ever submission loss to Cedenblad.

Nam Phan 2-4

29 fight vet and former TUF 12 contestant, Nam Phan has had an unpredictable path so far in the UFC. He lost at the TUF 12 finale to everyone's favorite slugger, Leonard Garcia and after that he lost former WEC Featherweight Champ Mike Brown. He avenged his loss to Garcia in his Third UFC fight but then went on to lose to Jiu Jitsu whiz Jimmy Hettes. He earned a very tight, split decision win over middle of the road fighter, Cole Miller, before losing to the muscle bound German, Denis Siver in December 2012. He hasn't fought since but is currently booked to take on Takeyu Mizugaki at UFC FN 33 in the Bantamweight division, where he is hoping to make his new home.

Mac Danzig 5-7 

Since winning season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter, Mac Danzig has had a pretty rocky road. While in the house you could tell he was the most accomplished fighter in there, he even looked like he would do well when brought into the UFC. Danzig won his First Two official UFC fights but from there on he has been unable to string together more than One win at a time. He is currently on a Two fight skid with only Three wins in his last Ten outings.

Igor Pokrajac 4-5-0-1NC

Igor Pokrajac is undoubtedly the second best Croatian to compete in MMA (Pat Miletich and Stipe Miocic are better but are only of Croatian descent). He had a very good record of 21-5 outside of the UFC but unfortunately he hasn't been able to put together results on a consistent basis. He did hold a Three fight win streak from March 2011 to September 2012 but the opposition was sub par, beating Todd Brown (Who??), Krzyszstof Soszynski and Fabio Maldonado. Since that time Pokrajac has lost Three in a row although his loss to Joey Beltran was overturned to a No Contest due to Beltran failing a drugs test.

Rafaello Oliveira 2-5 

Rafaello Oliveira holds a bad 2-5 record over Two stints with the UFC. He holds losses to Nik Lentz and Andre Winner before being released in 2010. He went 4-0 outside the organisation before getting a recall where he has lost to Gleison Tibau, Yves Edwards and most recently his leg was demolished by Muay Thai stud Edson Barboza.

Matt Grice 2-5 

Everyone in the MMA community is well aware of Matt Grices' devastating road collision, fortunately Grice is recovering, albeit slowly. We all wish him the best. Grice also has a 2-5 record compiled over Two stints with the UFC. He was however part of one of the most fun matches to watch back in February 2013 with Dennis Bermudez. He went on to lose a split decision, although there was no real loser in that fight. His other losses have been to Featherweight standout Ricardo Lamas, new Bellator signing Terry Etim, Matt Veach and Shannon Gugerty. We all hope to see Grice back in the octagon and entertaining his fans as soon as he is fully recovered.

Dustin Pague 1-4 

Dustin Pague is some how still a fighter in the UFC. His career with the company has not gone according to plan, losing fights against middle of the road competition in Ken Stone, John Albert, Chico Camus and Yves Jabouin. He has another fight scheduled this Saturday at UFC166, where in all truth he is being used as a sacrificial lamb to Japanese import, 23 year old wonderkid Kyoji Horiguchi. The fight doesn't bode well for Pague, so expect him to own a 1-5 record come Sunday morning.

Patrick Cote 6-8

Patrick Cote has competed in Three weight classes in the UFC.  That sort of tells you how his career has been going. He started out as a Light Heavyweight facing Tito Ortiz back in 2004 which ended up in a loss. From there he dropped to Middleweight and lost Two more fights. He was then involved in TUF 4: The Comeback, where he was defeated in the final by Travis Lutter. Thats 0-4 for those who are counting.  He would go on to win his next Five, Four in the UFC, bringing him back to 4-4. He would reach the pinnacle of his career fighting Anderson Silva in his next fight which he lost after a valiant effort. Since then he has lost Three more fight in the UFC and picked up a bogus DQ win versus Alessio Sakara before dropping to Welterweight where he has picked up another win versus Bobby Voelker.

Alessio Sakara 6-7 1NC

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ONE FC: Asia's Biggest and Newest Promotion

If you follow MMA you will surely have heard of Asia's newest and biggest promotion, ONE FC.

 ONE FC is filling the void left by the legendary MMA promotion PRIDE FC. Although not at that level yet, ONE FC is firmly establishing itself as the top promotion in Asia, as well as one of the best in the world. Asia is a hot bed for MMA and Victor Cui and his team have contributed to this significantly. ONE FC have now hosted Ten events across Asia, ranging from Singapore, where it is based, to Indonesia, The Phillipines and Malaysia. Recently ONE FC has announced that it will be starting an amateur MMA series throughout the continent, to help MMA fighters have the opportunity to fight on larger cards while gaining experience before turning pro. The idea is pretty innovative and helps fighters trying to make it to the big leagues by giving them a platform to start from. Victor Cui is a forward thinking individual who is looking to make his brand explode. After only Ten events it has a massive following, due to the fact that it never disappoints. The cards are always entertaining and jam packed with action. Here are some of the main reasons ONE FC will explode.

Talented Fighters

  ONE FC has managed to secure some of the best fighters the world has to offer, most notably Bibiano Fernandes (pictured), who chose to sign with them over the UFC. That was a major coup and shows where this promotion has set its sights. Other fighters they have with the company include, Edward Folayang, Eric Kelly, Eddie Ng, Honorio Banario, Jake Butler, Koji Oishi, Shinya Aoki, Masakatsu Ueda, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Caros Fodor, Bruno Pucci..... you get the picture. They have a stacked stable of fighters from all over Asia with a sprinkle of American and Brazilian talent. With many of their fighters looking like they have their best years ahead of them, the sky is the limit for what they can achieve with the company.

Beautiful Ring Girls

    Just take a look at the pictures for a minute and tell me that you wouldn't pay just to see those ring girls. In all seriousness though, ONE FC has managed to assemble a ring girl team featuring some of the most beautiful women to have graced an MMA promotion. Among the team are former Miss World Malaysia finalist, Felixia Yeap and Aussie beauty Christine Hallauer.

Forward Thinking C.E.O

I've become a massive fan of Victor Cui and his approach to promoting MMA. He has rapidly grown an upstart promotion into becoming the top MMA promotion in Asia and one of the best in the world. In little over Two years, yes you heard that right, Two years, this has come to fruition. What he has achieved so far is beyond great and it looks as though it will continue to prosper for a long time with this guy at the helm. His experience in the sports media industry has been invaluable and has helped him market ONE FC and himself superbly. He makes top signings without blowing budgets and he helps produce some of the most exciting events not named UFC. Always looking to expand and take ONE FC to the next level, the promotion is in very safe hands with Victor Cui.

Major TV and Sponsorship Deals

  Back in January 2012 ONE FC announced a massive 10 year TV deal with ESPN Star Sports, Asia's biggest sports broadcaster. Here is what Victor Cui had to say about that deal;

Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Fighting Championship, said, “Asia has been the birthplace and home to martial arts for the last 5,000 years and ONE Fighting Championship has a vision of bringing mixed martial arts to the 3.9 billion people living in Asia.  ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s biggest provider of sports content, is a wonderful partner to help with that mission.” 

Along with that TV deal, ONE FC has some massive sponsorship deals in place with some of Asia's biggest and well regarded companies. Companies such as Tune Talk, BCard, Sepang International Circuit, Motor Traders and The Star. This makes ONE FC one of the most sought after advertisement platforms in Asia.

Amateur League

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Takeaways from UFC FN 29

 Well UFC Fight Night 29 turned out to have it's surprises, which is becoming somewhat a theme in recent weeks. I'm not going to pretend that this was the most exhilerating card that I've seen, but it had it's moments that made your jaw drop. The main event was set up to be a grapple-fest pitting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu against American Jiu-Jitsu and that lived up to the billing. Let's check out some of the good things that happened at the event.

Bantamweight Division has a New Challenger in Assuncao

This was a very enjoyable fight. It had a fast pace and the fight managed to cover all facets of MMA. Dillashaw certainly had the speed advantage over Assuncao, beating him to the punch more often than not, whereas Assuncao had the power advantage, stumbling Dillashaw on a couple of occasions. It was a very evenly contested fight, one in which Assuncao got the split, was it the right call, who am I to say. Screw it I'll say it, I thought Dillashaw had this fight. It was a very close call though so I could see how the judges came to that conclusion. The plus is Assuncao now has an impeccable record at Bantamweight, now at 5-0, which will push him into a possible fight with the winner of Faber v McDonald. Dillashaw has no reason to be disappointed though as he will still get a big name fight next time out. His appearance here will do nothing but make his career progression go just a little bit slower than before, he is still going places so not to worry.

Palhares, Breaking Bad Once Again

I will try and say this in the nicest way possible, Palhares is a dirty bastard. There you go. His win was a good one if he would have just let go after the first couple of taps. What Palhares did was try and maim his opponent and leave him with a potentially career threatening injury. It was inexcusable and with news coming out that Palhares has been cut, I fully agree. When you try and injure your opponent like that it goes beyond the realm of sport and turns into an ugly debate of malicious assault and police involvement. Hopefully he changes his ways before he does actually ruin someones career as he is actually a good fighter, but never again will he set foot in the octagon and deservedly so.

Stungun Shocks, The Erick Silva Hype Train Departed

This match set off at a frenetic pace. Kim was swinging wildly and Silva was controlling the stand up portion with relative ease. Silva clocked Kim on one occasion and sent him to the canvas but Kim, as tough as ever just kept on plodding. The Second round was a lot different. Both fighters looked like the pace of the First round had caught up with them as they both slowed considerably. Silva managed to get a body lock on Kim and was pursuing a take down until Kim blatantly grabbed the fence. As it panned out that was probably the turning point in the fight as Silva lost the hold and they stood back in the center and swung left hooks simultaneously, Kim diverted his head out of the center line, Silva did not and he paid the price. It was a very clean connection by Kim and he left Silva flat out on his back to earn a big knockout victory.

Shields Shows He is a Top Ten Welterweight

So if Maia out Fitched Fitch, did Shields just out Maia Maia? Jake Shields and Demian Maia put on a terrific grapple heavy contest last Wednesday night. Some fans don't appreciate but I do. It takes a special fighter, one who is at the peak of their respective sport to be able to compete at that level. The game of human chess, as it it sometimes known, goes over the casual fans head and the only reason why is because they don't bother to understand what is actually happening. This fight was not for everybody as I say, but to me it was fun. I was extremely surprised by how Shields managed to nullify Maia and even get in some good offense on the ground. It was an extremely close fight but ultimately the judges went with Shields and in truth he deserved it. Decisions are hard to come by in Brazil for pretty much anyone other than a Brazilian, so I'm sure Shields heart was in his mouth until it was announced. Maia is still a top Ten Welterweight and there are some interesting matches for him with fighters coming off losses. For Shields who knows what direction the UFC wants to take him, I guess another top Ten but who knows.

Post Fight Conference Video Here

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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The Real Ronda Rousey

 Ronda Rousey. Poster girl of the UFC Women's Division and role model to wannabe female MMA fighters worldwide. The UFC made the Women's Bantamweight Division solely on Rouseys' star power and skills and the division has started to thrive. The UFC has even gone as far as making a series of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) featuring women, with Rousey and her arch rival Miesha Tate being the head coaches. That's where we, as the audience/fans, started to get to know our Women's Champion on a new level, a level that you wouldn't usually get to see without the exposure of the TUF platform. This for me now seems like a very big faux pas on the part of the UFC. Were the UFC to know that Rousey was such a petulant little brat with a lack of respect for fellow professionals, I'm sure they would not have cast her as a coach on the show.

Before the First episode of TUF aired I was looking forward to the show and getting to know the fighters and coaches better. In fact I was even a big Rousey fan before the show. I respected what she had achieved in a short amount of time in the sport and from what I had seen in interviews she was a nice personable woman. That was all to change after a few episodes aired. Wow I couldn't believe Rousey's persona was that of a spiteful child with a massive chip on her shoulder. I mean there is being competitive and then there is just outright being a nasty person. Rousey has complained of being portrayed in a bad light but I don't see why the UFC would want portray her in a bad way given all the time and money they have invested in Rousey to make her a likable champ that the fans wanted to watch fight. The long and short of it is, Rousey is actually a nasty, vindictive person so that is all the footage they got. I'm sure if they had even One minute worth of Rousey doing something nice then they would have highlighted that in the show.

On a plus note, The show has really shown a different side to Miesha Tate and even her boyfriend Brian Caraway. Both of them seem like good coaches who are there to help their team whilst holding no animosity to Rousey or her team, unlike Rousey and her coaches. I've grown very fond of Tate over the last few weeks and I am now rooting for her in the rematch. Hopefully Rousey can tone her bad attitude down and get the fans back on her side as she is a very skilled fighter, I wouldn't count on it though.

Yes I know I'm a little late but I have finally caught up with this season of TUF so I thought I would have to give my opinion on the females involved.

  Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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UFC FN 29:Fight Night Bonuses

UFC Fight Night 29 is upon us. With a main event that will surely enthrall all you grappling enthusiasts out there, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu standout Demian Maia takes on American Jiu-Jitsu expert Jake Shields. The co-main consists of Two Welterweights currently hovering just outside the top Ten in the explosive and unorthodox Erick Silva and the tough grinder Dong Hyun Kim. Filling out the card are Matt Hamill versus Thiago Silva, possibly a loser leaves town fight between sluggers Joey Beltran and Fabio Maldonado, Rousimar Palhares makes his Welterweight debut against the vastly underrated Mike Pierce and Raphael Assuncao and TJ Dillashaw hope to get their names in the mix at Bantamweight. A night that will see some 50/50 fights and potentially big finishes. Here are my picks and how I think the fights will finish.

Submission of the Night

  Erick Silva:

This one was a tough pick given the level of fighters on offer for this category. I decided to go with Erick Silva, who I think will have a better opportunity to submit Dong Hyun Kim, rather than Maia or Palhares would with their respective opponents. Erick Silva is a firecracker and I think that will help him to neutralize Kims' grapple heavy attack. I can see Silva catching Kim on the feet, transitioning to take Kim's back and securing a rear naked choke somewhere in the First, earning himself a big fat check and a whole lot more hype.

Knockout of the Night

  Thiago Silva:

This in my eyes is a mismatch of epic proportions. Hamill has retired, then un-retired and I'm sure after he has been knocked out cold by Silva he will retire for good this time. Hamill has been on a downhill slope for a while, so much so that his trainer even refused to train him for this fight for fear of Hamills' safety. Thiago Silva on the other hand is a killer. Silva would if not for Two failed drugs tests, be standing at 8-3 in the UFC with Seven finishes and Four in the First. It's hard to argue with Silvas' killer instinct and that doesn't bode well for a washed up wrestler who's best days are way behind him. This has Thiago Silva by First round Knockout written all over it so that's what I'll go for. Silva via murderous big right hand in round One. 

Extra prediction: Thiago Silva breaks the top Ten and replaces 'Shogun' Rua

  Fight of the Night

   Raphael Assuncao v TJ Dillashaw:

These Two guys have slowly been working their way up the ladder somewhat on the down low. With the Barao v Cruz headlines taking most of the attention away from the other fighters in the division, this is their chance to stand up and be counted. I think Dillashaw will look to take the fight to Assuncao and I think Assuncao will come under some heavy pressure early on. The way both these guys fight is going to make this an entertaining match and one that I can't really decide between. I'm rooting for the Alpha Male camp to keep up their 100% UFC record since the appointment of Duane Ludwig as head coach. TJ Dillashaw via Unanimous Decision in a back and forth scrap

UFC FN 29 Weigh-in Video here

Dana White UFC Fight Night Maia v Shields VLOG Video here

Written by Ryan Naylor MMA enthusiast/predictor and writer

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