Take a look back at the past seven days in Mixed Martial Arts, which included fight cards from the UFC, Bellator, RFA, 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. The UFC returned to the 02 Arena in London with a nine-bout Fight Night card that aired entirely on Fight Pass.
At the end of the event, Alexander Gustafsson (16-2) called out UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones for a potential re-match after knocking out Jimi Manuwa (14-1) in the second frame with a knee and a trio of uppercuts.
On the rest of the main card, Michael Johnson (15-8) moved up the lightweight ranks by outpointing and out-striking a curiously cautious Melvin Guillard (31-13-2, 2 NC) en route to winning a unanimous decision, Brad Pickett (24-8) made his UFC debut at flyweight a success by outwrestling and taking the bout on the judges’ scorecards over a quite game Neil Seery (13-10), and Gunnar Nelson (12-0-1) maintained his mystique with his ground game by submitting Omari Ahkmedov (12-2) with a guillotine choke in the first frame of their welterweight contest.
The preliminary portion of the event concluded with Ilir Latifi (8-3, 1 NC) submitting Cyrille Diabate (19-10-1) with a neck crank in the first round of their light heavyweight tilt. That fight was preceded by Luke Barnatt (8-0) finishing Mats Nilsson (11-3-1) in the first period with strikes after hurting him with a head kick.
Also on the prelims, a pair of Brazilians took home a pair of unanimous decision wins. Middleweight Claudio Henrique da Silva (10-1) and welterweight Igor Araujo (25-6, 1 NC) outpointed Brad Scott (9-3) and Danny Mitchell (14-5-1), respectively.
And lastly, Louis Gaudinot (7-3) opened up the event by catching Phil Harris (22-12, 1 NC) with a guillotine choke in the early moments of their flyweight bout.
Alexander Gustafsson won multiple bonuses for on the Fight Night card. Gustafsson took home a Performance of the Night award, and along with Manuwa, won Fight of the Night honors. The other Performance of the Night went to Gunnar Nelson.
2. Rebounding after Anthony Leone (13-7) outwrestled him in the first round, Eduardo Dantas (16-3) successfully defended his Bellator Bantamweight Championship by submitting Leone with a slick rear-naked choke in the second frame of the main event bout at Bellator 111, the promotion’s second event of their tenth season.
The opening round of season ten’s light heavyweight tournament took place with Lavar Johnson (18-8) knocking out Ryan Martinez (10-4) late in the first round, Mighty Mo (6-2) keeping his fight against Peter Graham (9-7) out of the hands of the judges by submitting him with a head-and-arm choke in the third, Alexander Volkov (20-4) putting Mark Holata (12-5) away with short-spaced punches with his back against the cage, and Blagoi Ivanov (10-0, 1 NC) used his powerful punching to win a unanimous decision over Rich Hale (21-7-1).
3. RFA 13 took place on Friday night, and Dakota Cochrane (16-5) controlled the first two rounds with a steady diet of takedowns, ground and pound, and submission attempts against Efrain Escudero (21-8) in the night’s featured bout. Although Cochrane won a 29-28 unanimous decision, a case could’ve been made for a draw because Escudero dominated the third period after dropping Cochrane early on with a right.
As is the case on RFA cards, there were plenty of prospects present, attempting to fill out their MMA resumes. 25-year-old middleweight Andrew Sanchez (5-0) beat up Miles Marshall (3-2) with ground and pound, eventually finishing him in the second, and featherweight Luke Sanders (7-0) made the first blemish on Dan Moret’s (6-1) record by winning a close unanimous decision.
The lone negative from the event was the conclusion of Chidi Njokuani (10-4, 1 NC) and Chris Heatherly (7-1, 1 NC). The welterweight bout was stopped midway through the first frame and declared a no contest after Njokuani landed an illegal elbow to the spine of Heatherly.
4. On the eighth episode of The Ultimate Fighter Nations, Vik Grujic finished Luke Harris in the first round with a barrage of elbows from the top position. Grujic is the last middleweight to advance to the semi-finals, and all of the preliminary round bouts have taken place.
The four welterweights in the semi-finals are Chad Laprise, Kajan Johnson, Richard Walsh, and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. The four middleweights in the semi-finals are Sheldon Westcott, Tyler Manawaroa, Elias Theodorou and Vik Grujic.
5. Elsewhere in the MMA hemisphere, Karlos Vemola (14-4) was victorious in his fifth straight fight since being released by the UFC, winning a decision against Piotr Strus (9-3) on a MMAA Arena card in the Czech Republic.
The News
1. With less than a week until Bellator 112 and the tenth season’s welterweight tournament kicks off, the bracket suffered a huge shake-up. War Machine and Joe Riggs were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injuries, and Mark Scanlon is also out of the bracket with the reason for his absence being unknown.
The replacements will be Nathan Coy, Paul Bradley, and Cristiano Souza, and the four tournament bouts are now: Andrey Koreshkov vs Nah’ Shon Burrell, Sam Oropeza vs Cristiano Souza, Jesse Juarez vs Adam McDonough, and Nathan Coy vs Paul Bradley.
2. On his tumblr, Ultimate Fighter season six winner and UFC veteran lightweight, Mac Danzig has announced his retirement from MMA.
Fight Announcements
Bellator 112 – March 14th
WW Tourney: Andrey Koreshkov (14-1) vs Nah’ Shon Burrell (11-3)
WW Tourney: Cristiano Souza (7-0) vs Sam Oropeza (10-2)
WW Tourney: Jesse Juarez (21-8) vs Adam McDonough (9-0)
WW Tourney: Nathan Coy (13-4) vs Paul Bradley (21-5)
UFC 171 – March 15th
MW Bout: Sean Strickland (13-0) vs Bubba McDaniel (21-7)
Bellator 114 – March 28th
FW Bout: Desmond Green (10-2) vs Will Martinez (9-2-1)
FW Bout: Daniel Weichel (32-8) vs Matt Bessette (13-4)
WSOF 9 – March 29th
MW Bout: Yushin Okami (29-8) vs Svetlozar Savov (12-4)
UFC 172 – April 26th
LW Bout: Takanori Gomi (34-9, 1 NC) vs Isaac Vallie-Flagg (14-4-1)
LW Bout: Danny Castillo (18-6) vs Charlie Brenneman (19-6)
Bellator 116 – May 2nd
BW Title: Eduardo Dantas (16-3) vs Joe Warren (10-3)
Ultimate Fight Night 40 – May 10th
WW Bout: Matt Brown (18-11) vs Erick Silva (16-4, 1 NC)
WW Bout: William Patolino (7-1) vs Neil Magny (9-3)
UFC 173 – May 24th
HW Bout: Junior Dos Santos (16-3) vs Stipe Miocic (11-1)
LW Bout: Tony Ferguson (14-3) vs Katsunori Kikuno (22-5-2)
LW Bout: Yves Edwards (42-20-1, 1 NC) vs Piotr Hallman (14-2)
Ratings Report
The ratings used in this section are the non-DVR preliminary viewership averages according to Nielsen sources.
Fight Results
UFC Fight Night – Gustafsson vs Manuwa
LHW Bout – Alexander Gustafsson (16-2) def. Jimi Manuwa (14-1) via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:18
LW Bout – Michael Johnson (15-8) def. Melvin Guillard (31-13-2, 2 NC) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
FLW Bout – Brad Pickett (24-8) def. Neil Seery (13-10) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
WW Bout – Gunnar Nelson (12-0-1) def. Omari Ahkmedov (12-2) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:36
LHW Bout – Ilir Latifi (8-3, 1 NC) def. Cyrille Diabate (19-10-1) via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 3:02
MW Bout – Luke Barnatt (8-0) def. Mats Nilsson (11-3-1) via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:24
MW Bout – Claudio Henrique da Silva (10-1) def. Igor Araujo (25-6, 1 NC) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
WW Bout – Igor Araujo (25-6, 1 NC) def. Danny Mitchell (14-5-1) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
FLW Bout – Louis Gaudinot (7-3) def. Phil Harris (22-12, 1 NC) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:13
Bellator 111
BW Title – Eduardo Dantas (16-3) def. Anthony Leone (13-7) via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:04
LHW Tourney: Lavar Johnson (18-8) def. Ryan Martinez (10-3) via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:22
LHW Tourney: Mighty Mo (6-2) def. Peter Graham (9-7) via submission (head-and-arm choke) – Round 3, 2:31
LHW Tourney: Alexander Volkov (20-4) def. Mark Holata (12-5) via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:31
LHW Tourney: Blagoi Ivanov (10-0-1) def. Rich Hale (21-7-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
FW Bout: Stephen Banaszak (3-1) def. Treston Thomison (7-2) via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:56
MW Bout: Cortez Coleman (10-5) def. Daniel Miller (4-3) via verbal submission (punches) – Round 2, 4:49
HW Bout: Javy Ayala (7-3) def. Eric Prindle (10-5) via doctor stoppage (eye) – Round 3, 2:05
CW (190 lbs) Bout: Abdul Razak (2-0) def. Matt Jones (4-7) via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:23
LW Bout: Brent Primus (5-0) def. Chris Jones (8-3) via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:45
BW Bout: Chris Gutierrez (2-1-1) def. Justin McNally (2-2) via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:50