Take a look back at the past seven days in Mixed Martial Arts, which included fight cards from the UFC, Bellator, Titan FC and several 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. The first season of The Ultimate Fighter China concluded with live finale in Macau. In the night’s welterweight main event, Dong Hyun Kim (19-2-1, 1 NC) knocked John Hathaway (17-2) in the third round with a spinning back elbow. Kim’s knockout was really spectacular, and it’s the immediate favorite to win knockout of the year honors.
Welterweight Lipeng Zhang (7-7-1) became the first winner of The Ultimate Fighter China when by winning a controversial split decision against Wang Sai (6-5-1). The first two rounds could’ve gone either since both fighters had their moments in the grappling department, but Sai was able to convincingly secure the third round.
The other two fights on the main card saw Matt Mitrione (7-3) employ a flurry of powerful punches to finish Shawn Jordan (15-6) with only one second remaining in the first frame, and Hatsu Hioki (27-7-2) controlled Ivan Menjivar (25-12) with his wrestling and grappling in the first two rounds to go on and win a unanimous decision in their featherweight bout.
On the prelims, Yui Chul Nam (18-4-1) and Kazuki Tokudome (12-5-1) fought in a thrilling lightweight scrap. After being knocked down several times in the first round, Kazuki Tokudome rallied back to make the fight competitive. Vaughan Lee (14-9-1) soundly out-struck Nam Phan (18-13) to win a clear unanimous decision, and Chinese featherweight prospect Jumabieke Tuerxun (14-1) was upset by Mark Eddiva (6-0), who used his wrestling to score a unanimous decision victory. And in a battle of TUF China welterweights, a right eye injury to Albert Cheng (2-3) gave Anying Wang (2-0) a win via doctor stoppage int he first round.
Yui Chul Nam and Kazuki Tokudome won Fight of The Night honors, while the two Performance of The Night bonuses went to Matt Mitrione and Dong Hyun Kim.
2. Bellator kicked off it’s tenth season with Bellator 110, and the promotion got the fight they wanted. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (34-11) and Muhammed Lawal (12-3, 1 NC) both advanced to the finals of the Light Heavyweight tournament by knocking out Christian M’Pumbu (18-6-1) and outpointing Mikhail Zayats (22-8) respectively.
The season’s featherweight tournament also took place on the card, and three of the four contests ended with the underdog winning. In the three upsets, Matt Bessette (13-4) was awarded a questionable decision in his close fight with UFC alumn Diego Nunes (18-6), Desmond Green (10-2) turned the first two rounds into a wrestling match to earn a unanimous verdict against Mike Richman (16-4), and Will Martinez (9-2-1) slightly got the better of Goiti Yamauchi (16-2) in every aspect of the game to win a unanimous decision.
The lone favorite to win in the featherweight tournament was Daniel Weichel (32-8). The German made short work of Scott Cleve (14-4), submitting him in the first round with a rear-naked choke.
3. On Friday night, Titan Fighting Championship made it’s debut on CBS Sports Network with Titan FC 27. The event was capped off by Ultimate Fighter season 16 finalist Mike Ricci (9-4) putting away Jorge Gurgel (14-10) with a barrage of elbows in the first round.
In the night’s co-main event, Matt Riddle (8-3-2) obtained his first win outside the UFC by submitting Michael Kuiper (12-4) in the second frame of their bout. Other notable contests on the card saw Kurt Holobaugh (10-2) outpoint Eric Marriott (22-8) in a fun lightweight contest, Kevin Croom (14-4) extend his winning streak to nine by taking a decision over Bryan Goldsby (17-16), and 23 year-old bantamweight Anthony Gutierrez (5-0) submit Charlie DuBray (12-9) with a triangle choke in under a minute.
4. Cage Warrios returned to Ireland on Saturday with CWFC 65, and lightweight Saul Rogers (8-1) beat five time UFC fighter John Maguire (19-7) on the judges’ scorecards, earning a unanimous decision. Also, Ben Alloway (13-5), the other UFC alumn on the card, won a close decision over Jack Mason (26-13) in their welterweight scrap.
5. In battle of former UFC middleweights, Tomasz Drwal (21-4-1) knocked out Delson Heleno (25-8) with ground and pound in the first round at Pro MMA Challenge 1. Drwal has won his last four contests.
6. On the seventh episode of The Ultimate Fighter Nations, Canada’s Olivier Aubin-Mercier advanced to the next round of the welterweight bracket by controlling the grappling aspect of his fight against Jake Matthews to win a unanimous decision.
The News
1. The Nevada State Athletic Commission passed a motion on Thursday to ban TRT exemptions. Effective immediately, fighters will no longer be able to use TRT for fights in the state of Nevada.
2. As a result of the news about the banning of TRT exemptions by the NSAC, Vitor Belfort was forced to withdraw from his UFC 173 middleweight championship fight against Chris Weidman. Weidman will now defend his championship against Lyoto Machida.
3. The UFC matched Bellator’s offer for Gilbert Melendez, and the former Strikeforce champion will now contend for the UFC title against Anthony Pettis and coach the twentieth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
4. Bellator has a date and a main event set for it’s inaugural PPV. Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez will conclude his trilogy with Michael Chandler in the main event of the PPV, which is set to take place on May 17th.
5. Bellator season eight featherweight tournament winner Frodo Khasbulaev is still having visa issues and remains unable to travel to the United States, so Bellator has given him permission to fight in Russia.
6. In other Bellator news, the promotion announced that this season’s middleweight tournament will consist of four combatants: Kendall Grove, Brett Cooper, Doug Marshall, and Dan Cramer. Grove will face Cooper at Bellator 114, while Marshall is scheduled to take on Cramer at Bellator 115.
Fight Announcements
Bellator 114 – March 28th
MW Tourney: Brett Cooper (19-9) vs Kendall Grove (19-13)
Bellator 115 – April 4th
MW Tourney: Doug Marshall (18-7) vs Dan Cramer (10-4)
UFC Fight Night 39 – April 11th
FW Bout: Clay Guida (30-11) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-7-2)
HW Bout: Daniel Omielanczuk (16-3-1, 1NC) vs. Jared Rosholt (9-1)
MW Bout: Andrew Craig (9-2) vs. Chris Camozzi (19-7)
BW Bout: Rani Yahya (19-8) vs. Johnny Bedford (19-11-1)
FLW Bout: Alptekin Ozkilic (9-2) vs. Dustin Ortiz (12-3)
LW Bout: Ramsey Nijem (9-4) vs. Beneil Dariush (7-0)
LHW Bout: Ryan LaFlare (10-0) vs. John Howard (22-8)
BW Bout: Jim Alers (12-1) vs, Alan Imer (18-3)
MW Bout: Trevor Smith (11-4) vs. Thales Leites (22-4)
TUF Nations Finale – April 16th
FW Bout: Dustin Poirier (15-3) vs Akira Corassani (12-3, 1 NC)
UFC on Fox 11 – April 19th
FW Bout: Mike Brown (26-9) vs Estevan Payan (14-5, 1 NC)
WW Bout: Jordan Mein (27-9) vs Hernani Perpetuo (17-3, 1 NC)
UFC Fight Night 40 – May 10th
MW Bout: Lorenz Larkin (14-2, 1 NC) vs Costas Philippou (12-4, 1 NC)
BW Bout: Eddie Wineland (21-9-1) vs Johnny Eduardo (26-9)
LW Bout: Erik Koch (14-3) vs Daron Cruickshank (14-4)
Bellator PPV – May 17th
LW Title: Michael Chandler (12-1) vs Eddie Alvarez (25-3)
UFC 173 – May 24th
MW Title: Chris Weidman (11-0) vs Lyoto Machida (21-4)
BW Bout: TJ Dillashaw (9-2) vs Takeya Mizugaki (19-7-2)
LW Bout: Jamie Varner (21-9-1, 2 NC) vs James Krause (20-5)
LW Bout: Mitch Clarke (10-2) vs Al Iaquinta (8-2-1)
LW Bout: Michael Chiesa (10-1) vs Francisco Trinaldo (14-3)
Ratings Report
1. The prelims for UFC 170 on FOX Sports 1 drew 936,000 viewers, while the seventh episode of The Ultimate Fighter Nations garnered 161,000 viewers.
2. The fourth episode of Rampage4Real on Spike TV was up 31% from it’s last episode with a viewership of 413,000.
Quick Results
UFC Fight Night 37
WW Bout: Dong Hyun Kim (19-2-1, 1 NC) def. John Hathaway (17-2) via KO (spinning back elbow) – Round 3, 1:02
TUF China WW Final: Lipeng Zhang (7-7-1) def. Wang Sai (6-5-1) via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
HW Bout: Matt Mitrione (7-3) def. Shawn Jordan (15-6) via KO (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
FW Bout: Hatsu Hioki (27-7-2) def. Ivan Menjivar (25-12) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
LW Bout: Yui Chul Nam (18-4-1) def. Kazuki Tokudome (12-5-1) via split decision (29-27, 27-28, 29-28)
FW Bout: Vaughan Lee (14-9-1) def. Nam Phan (18-13) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
WW Bout: Anying Wang (2-0) def. Albert Cheng (2-3) via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
FW Bout: Mark Eddiva (6-0) def. Jumabieke Tuerxun (14-1) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bellator 110
LHW Tourney: Quinton Jackson (34-11) def. Christian M’Pumbu (18-6-1) via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:34
LHW Tourney: Muhammed Lawal (12-3, 1 NC) def. Mikhail Zayats (22-8) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
FW Tourney: Matt Bessette (13-4) def. Diego Nunes (18-6) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
FW Tourney: Desmond Green (10-2) def. Mike Richman (16-4) via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
FW Tourney: Will Martinez (9-2-1) def. Goiti Yamauchi (16-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
FW Tourney: Daniel Weichel (32-8) def. Scott Cleve (14-4) via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:46
FW Bout: Saul Almeida (14-5) def. Andrew Fisher (12-6-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
LHW Bout: Egidijus Valavicius (26-10) def. Atanas Djambazov (18-4) via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, :48
LW Bout: Ryan Quinn (10-4-1) def. Andrew Calandrelli (6-4) via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
HW Bout: Manny Lara (4-4, 1 NC) vs Josh Diekmann (14-5, 1 NC) declared a no contest (unintentional eye poke) – Round 1, :18
BW Bout: Marvin Maldonado (1-1, 1 NC) vs Rico DiSciullo (1-0, 1 NC) declared a no contest (illegal strike) – Round 1, 1:53