Take a look back at the past seven days in Mixed Martial Arts, which included fight cards from Bellator, Legacy, and other promotions.
Along with looking back at the fights that took place over the weekend, this week-in review includes the latest news, TV ratings and fight announcements.
The MMA Recap
1. Emanuel Newton (23-7-1) officially earned the title of being the Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion when he outpointed Attila Vegh (29-5-2), in what was a rather lackluster stand-up contest, to win a split decision in the main event of Bellator 113.
The Bellator 113 card also saw the opening round of the season ten lightweight tournament take place as Patricky Freire (12-5) and Derek Anderson (11-0, 1 NC) advanced to the next field of the bracket with highlight-reel knockouts. In the second round, Freire stunned David Rickels (15-3) with a left hook, and Anderson knocked out Brandon Girtz (10-4) in the second frame with a well-timed right knee.
22-year-old Marcin Held (17-3) needed less than two minutes to earn his way to the semi-finals of the tournaments as he submitted Rodrigo Cavalheiro (14-3) with a toe-hold in the first.
And the other lightweight to win the in the opening round of the tournament was Derek Campos (14-3), who dominated Tim Welch (10-5) with his striking to win a lopsided unanimous decision.
2. Legacy FC 29 also took place this Friday with a pair of UFC veterans in action. Former UFC title challenger Paul Buentello (33-16) was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the Legacy light heavyweight strap against Myron Dennis (10-2), losing a controversial split decision.
TUF Season 12 winner Jonathan Brookins (14-6) made his return to MMA in the night’s co-main event. Fighting at 128 pounds, Brookins was able to submit Cody Fuller (10-8) with a rear-naked choke in the second frame.
3. In Ultimate Fighter news, the semifinals kicked off on the tenth episode of The Ultimate Fighter Nations with a welterweight battle of fellow Canadians. Chad Laprise (7-0) brutally knocked out Kajan Johnson (19-10-1) with a huge right.
On the second episode of the The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, the latter half of the round to get in the house concluded.
In the heavyweight division, Antonio Branjao (3-0) came from behind to finish Fernando Ribas (4-1) in the second with ground and pound, Vitor Mirando (9-3) knocked out Bruno Silva (9-5) with a head kick in the second frame, Marcos Rogerio de Lima (11-2) submitted Thiago Santos (11-3, 1 NC) early on with a guillotine choke, and Richardson Moreira (7-1) finished Alexandre Machado (7-1) in the first with a flurry of punches.
In the middleweight division, Marcio Junior (10-2) tapped out Guiliano Arante (5-1) with a guillotine choke in the second, Warlley Alves (6-0) edged out Wendell Oliveira (23-7) on the judges’ scorecards to win a split decision, Pedro Paulino (3-0) was forced to quit after dislocating his finger in his fight against Ismael de Jesus (9-4), and Guilherme de Vasconcelos (3-1) submitted Markus Perez (3-0) with a rear-naked choke in the first period.
4. In Denmark, Nicolas Dalby (12-0) won the Cage Warriors Welterweight Championship when knocked out Sergei Churilov (15-2) with a violent head kick in the fourth round at Cage Warriors 66.
5. Transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox (4-1) was back in action, rebounding after her first career loss, to submit Heather Bassett (1-1) with an armbar in the second round.
6. KSW Middleweight Champion Michael Materla (20-4) successfully defend his title by taking home a decision over former UFC fighter Jay Silva (9-9) at KSW 26.
The other former UFC fighter on the card found more success as Goran Reljic (13-4) earned a decision victory over Karol Celinski (11-5-1) in a light heavyweight bout. Reljic has now won five of his last six.
7. Former UFC fighter and accomplished judoka, Yoshiyuki Yoshida (17-6) is having a renaissance later in his career. The 39-year-old increased his winning streak to six when he won a unanimous decision over Shigetoshi Iwase (12-16-4) on a DEEP event in Japan.
Also on that card, heavyweight Ken Hasegawa (8-0-1) topped Kazuhiro Nakamura (20-12) with a majority decision, and flyweight Yuki Motoya (10-4) won a decision of his own over Masakazu Imanari (27-12-2).
8. On a Russian MMA card, veteran heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (21-5) won his third fight in a row after finishing former top heavyweight prospect Tyler East (11-4, 1 NC) with strikes in the second round of their fight.
9. A pair of former Bellator fighters had great outings over the weekend. Featherweight Nazareno Malegarie (27-3) submitted Derinaldo da Silva (17-1) with an arm-triangle choke, and Ricardo Tirloni (17-5) forced a corner stoppage in the second round of his lightweight bout with Esteban Bonaveri (8-3)
The News
1. After it was discovered last night by Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter that Will Chope was removed from the United States Air Force five years ago due to assaulting and threatening his wife, Chope has removed from the UFC roster and his fight with Diego Brandao, which was scheduled for later today, was canceled. Brandao will receive his show and win bonus money.
2. UFC veteran lightweight Melvin Guillard was released by the organization earlier this week. Guillard has only won twice in his last eight UFC outings. It is unlikely that Bellator will sign him as Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told TheMMAReport.com that “Melvin’s management reached out to us early this morning via email, but we will not be making an offer to Melvin,”.
3. Jeremy Kimball will replace Doug Marshall in the middleweight tournament. Kimball will face Dan Cramer at Bellator 115. Marshall was forced to withdraw after he was unable to receive his license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
4. Ronny Markes missed weight by four pounds for his UFC Fight Night 38 bout with Thiago Santos. Markes weighed in at 190 for his middleweight contest. The fight will still go on, but Markes will give up 20 percent of his earnings for the fight.
5. Two main events for upcoming fight cards were announced. The May 31st Germany card will be headlined by a middleweight bout between Gegard Mousasi and Mark Munoz, and Benson Henderson will take on Rustam Khabilov in the featured contest on June 7th in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Fight Announcements
Bellator 115 – April 4
MW Tourney: Jeremy Kimball (10-4) vs Dan Cramer (10-4)
WW Tourney: Andrey Koreshkov (15-1) vs Sam Oropeza (11-2)
Bellator 116 – April 11
HW Tourney: Lavar Johnson (18-8) vs Blagoi Ivanov (10-0)
HW Tourney: Alexander Volkov (19-4) vs Mighty Mo Siliga (6-2)
WW Tourney: Nathan Coy (14-4) vs Adam McDonough (10-0)
UFC on FOX 11 – April 19
FW Bout: Chas Skelly (11-0) vs Mirsad Bektic (7-0)
UFC 173 – May 24
LW Bout: Anthony Njokuani (16-7, 1 NC) vs Vinc Pichel (8-1)
WW Bout: Danny Mitchell (14-5-1) vs Jingliang Li (8-2)
UFC Fight Night 41 – May 31
MW Bout: Gegard Mousasi (34-4-2) vs Mark Munoz (13-4)
UFC Fight Night 42 – June 7
LW Bout: Benson Henderson (20-3) vs Rustam Khabilov (17-1)
WW Bout: Lance Benoist (6-2) vs Bobby Voelker (24-11)
UFC 174 – June 14
WW Bout: Daniel Sarafian (8-4) vs Kiichi Kunimoto (16-5-2, 1 NC)
UFC Fight Night 43 – June 28
FW Bout: Cub Swanson (20-5) vs Jeremy Stephens (23-9)
LW Bout: Colton Smith (3-3) vs Carlos Diego Ferreira (9-0)
The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale – July 6
FW Bout: BJ Penn (16-9-2) vs Frankie Edgar (16-4-1)
Ratings Report
The ratings used in this section are the non-DVR preliminary viewership averages according to Nielsen sources.
Bellator 112, Spike TV: 699,000
UFC on 171 prelims, Fox Sports 2: 305,00
Quick Results
Bellator 113
LHW Title: Emanuel Newton (23-7-1) def. Attila Vegh (29-5-2) via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
LW Tourney: Patricky Freire (12-5) def. David Rickels (15-3) via KO (punches) – Round 2, :54
LW Tourney: Marcin Held (17-3) def. Rodrigo Cavalheiro (14-3) via submission (toe-hold) – Round 1, 1:56
LW Tourney: Derek Campos (14-3) def. Tim Welch (10-5) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
LW Tourney: Derek Anderson (11-0, 1 NC) def. Brandon Girtz (10-4) via KO (knee) – Round 2, :23
BW Bout: LC Davis (21-6) def. Tony Bogguess (10-8) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:58
Legacy FC 29
LHW Title: Myron Dennis (10-2) def. Paul Buentello (33-16) via split decision (49-46, 47-48, 49-46)
128 lb. Bout: Jonathan Brookins (14-6) def. Cody Fuller (10-8) via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:02
LW Bout: Chris Pecero (12-5) def. Thomas Longacre (6-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
MW Bout: Andrew Todhunter (5-0) def. Art Parker (4-3) via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:05