Take a look back at the past seven days, which included fight cards from UFC, Bellator, RFA and many 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. UFC had a Fight Pass card on Friday, and in the main event, Roy Nelson (20-9) won a fight by knockout or TKO for the thirteenth time in his career when he finished Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1, 1 NC) with a huge right hand in the first round of their main event tilt.
The night’s co-main event saw Clay Guida (31-14) improve to 2-1 in the UFC featherweight division by using his wrestling and striking to outpace Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-8-2) and win a unanimous decision.
In the other two fights on the main card, Ryan LaFlare (11-0) won the first and third rounds of his welterweight bout with John Howard (22-9) en route to taking home a unanimous decision, and Ramsey Nijem (9-4) ran through Beneil Dariush (7-1), putting him away in the first round with ground and pound after hurting him early on with strikes.
On the undercard, up-and-coming heavyweight Jared Rosholt (10-1) used his wrestling to dominate Daniel Omielanczuk (16-4-1, 1 NC) and win a unanimous decision. For the first time in his career, Thales Leites (23-4) blitzed Trevor Smith (11-5) early on with a powerful combination to earn a rare knockout win for the Brazilian. UFC newcomer Jim Alers (13-1) edged out Alan Omer (18-4) to win a razor-thing split decision, and the bantamweight fight between Johnny Bedford (19-10-1, 1 NC) and Rani Yahya (19-8, 1 NC) was a declared a no contest after a clash of heads left Yahya in rough shape.
Roy Nelson and Ramsey Nijem won performance of the night bonuses, while fight of the night honors went to Clay Guida and Tatsuya Kawajiri.
2. Season ten of Bellator continued with Bellator 116 as both Blagoi Ivanov (11-0, 1 NC) and Alexander Volkov (21-4) advanced to the heavyweight tournament finals with first round victories. Ivanov submitted Lavar Johnson (18-9) with an americana after bringing the fight down with a takedown, and Volkov landed a highlight reel head kick that knocked out Mighty Mo (6-3).
In the other tournament bouts of the night, Adam McDonough (11-0) earned a spot in the welterweight finals by defending Nathan Coy’s (14-5) wrestling and knocking Coy out in the second frame, and Brandon Halsey (6-0) will be in the middleweight tournament final after using his wrestling to win a clear decision over Joe Pacheco (7-2).
The lone non-tournament bout on the televised portion of the card featured Joey Beltran (15-10, 1 NC) getting his first win since his most recent release from the UFC by submitting a tired Vladimir Matyushenko (27-8) in the third round with a north-south choke.
A trio of former UFC fighters were successful on the undercard. Karo Parisyan (23-10, 1 NC) shockingly finished Ron Keslar (11-6) with strikes in the second round, Rodney Wallace (20-8) opened the card with a decision win over Carlos Eduardo (11-3), and Robert Emerson (16-10, 1 NC) had a successful outing at bantamweight, winning a decision of his own against Joe Taimanglo (19-6-1).
3. The most head-scratching moment of the weekend took place in the main event of RFA 14. The fourth round of the flyweight championship fight between Matt Manzanares (7-2) and Junior Maranhao (9-3) ended with Manzanares attempt to elicit a tap from Maranhao with a triangle choke, but Maranhao survived the submission. After the round, Maranhao collapsed off of his stool and was unconscious for a brief moment, and instead of stopping the fight, Maranhao’s corner, doctor, and the referee allowed the contest to continue.
Junior Maranhao would go on to lose a split decision to Matt Manzanares, who became the promotion’s new flyweight champion with the victory.
In a pair of no. 1 contenders bouts, featherweight Mark Dickman (9-1) dominated the second round against Raoni Barcelos (7-1), eventually securing a fight-ending submission, and flyweight Tyler Voth (6-1) outpointed Jeimeson Saudino (7-3) to earn a unanimous decision.
The other three fights on the AXStv part of the card concluded with welterweight Alan Jouban (8-2) knocking out Armando Montoya (8-4) in the second, featherweight Daniel Aguilar (10-3) submitting Tyler Toner (15-7, 1 NC) with a heel hook within the first thirty seconds of the bout, and women’s flyweight Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (3-1) winning a convincing unanimous decision against Rosa Acevedo (1-1)
4. In Ultimate Fighter news, the first season of Ultimate Fighter: Nations concluded with Sheldon Westcott (8-1-1) submitting Vik Grujic (6-2) with an arm-triangle choke after slamming him down in the first frame.
Westcott advanced to the middleweight tournament final against Elias Theodorou (8-0), and the welterweight finale bout will pit Chad Laprise (7-0) def. Olivier Aubin-Mercier (4-0). All the fighters in the finale fights were on Team Canada.
On the Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, Ricardo Abreu (4-0), one of the favorites to win the middleweight field, outpointed Guilherme Vasconcelos (3-1) to win a two-round decision.
5. In a bantamweight championship fight where James Brum (14-3) was the only fighter that could win the title because Brett Johns (10-0), who as previously the champion, missed weight, Johns controlled Brum throughout the five-round fight en route to winning a unanimous decision at Cage Warriors 67.
6. Touted women’s bantamweight Marina Shafir (1-0) won her professional MMA debut on Saturday night by submitting Chandra Engel (0-2) with an arm-bar with ease in the first round.
The News
1. Ronda Rousey has her next opponent, and it’s not Gina Carano. Rousey’s next scheduled title defense will be against Alexis Davis in the co-main event slot of a UFC 175 card that already has a title fight between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida finalized for the card.
2. Another UFC title fight that was announced during the week was a flyweight championship clash between title-holder Demetrious Johnson and challenger Ali Bagautinov. The fight will headline UFC 174.
3. Although a contract has not been signed for the fight, sources have told TheMMAReport.com that a potential light heavyweight bout between Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko and Tito Ortiz is in the works for Bellator 120.
4. The middleweight bout between Andrew Craig and Chris Camozzi for UFC Fight Night 39 was scratched after Craig pulled out of the fight due to an illness. According to Camozzi on twitter, the UFC will pay him the show money for the fight.
5. Two major UFC fights switched dates with the Wanderlei Silva/Chael Sonnen fight moving to the UFC 175 PPV and the Junior Dos Santos/Stipe Miocic bout now scheduled to main event the TUF Brazil 3 Finale.
6. Top UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley has inked a new eight fight deal with the UFC.
7. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter was the first to report earlier in the week that former UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard has signed a multi-fight contract with the World Series of Fighting.
Fight Announcements
TUF Nations Finale – April 16
MW Tourney Finale: Sheldon Westcott (8-1-1) vs Elias Theodorou (8-0)
W BW Bout: Sarah Kaufman (16-2, 1 NC) vs Leslie Smith (6-4)
UFC on FOX 11 – April 19
FLW Bout: Dustin Ortiz (12-3) vs Ray Borg (6-0)
MW Bout: Luke Zachrich (13-2) vs Caio Magalhaes (7-1)
Bellator 118 – May 2
WW Tourney Bout: Andrey Koreshkov (15-1) vs Sam Oropeza (11-2)
UFC Fight Night 40 – May 10
WW Bout: Yan Cabral (11-0) vs Zak Cummings (16-3)
WW Bout: Tim Means (20-5-1) vs Neil Magny (9-3)
Bellator 120 – May 17
HW Tourney Final: Alexander Volkov (21-4) vs Blagoi Ivanov (11-0, 1 NC)
ONE FC 16 – May 30
WW Bout: Ben Askren (12-0) vs Bakhtiyar Abbasov (11-2)
TUF Brazil 3 Finale – May 31
HW Bout: Junior Dos Santos (16-3) vs Stipe Miocic (11-1)
UFC Fight Night in Albuquerque – June 7
BW Bout: Bryan Caraway (18-6) vs Erik Perez (14-5)
UFC 174 – June 14
FLW Title: Demetrious Johnson (19-2-1) vs Ali Bagautinov (13-2)
WW Bout: Tyron Woodley (13-2) vs Rory MacDonald (16-2)
LW Bout: Kajan Johnson (19-10-1) vs Tae Hyun Bang (16-8)
UFC Fight Night in San Antonio – June 28
WW Bout: Kelvin Gastelum (8-0) vs Nico Musoke (12-2, 1 NC)
UFC Fight Night in New Zealand – June 28
MW Bout: Nate Marquardt (32-12-2) vs James Te-Huna (16-7)
UFC 175 – July 5
W BW Title: Ronda Rousey (9-0) vs Alexis Davis (16-5)
MW Bout: Chael Sonnen (28-14-1) vs Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1)
Ratings Report
The ratings used in this section are non-DVR preliminary viewership averages according to Nielsen sources.
Bellator 115 – 828,000
TUF Nations, Episode 13 – 162,000
Quick Results
UFC Fight Night 39
HW Bout: Roy Nelson (20-9) def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1, 1 NC) via KO (punch) – Round 1, 3:37
FW Bout: Clay Guida (31-14) def. Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-8-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
WW Bout: Ryan LaFlare (11-0) def. John Howard (22-9) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
LW Bout: Ramsey Nijem (9-4) def. Beneil Dariush (7-1) via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:20
HW Bout: Jared Rosholt (10-1) def. Daniel Omielanczuk (16-4-1, 1 NC) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
MW Bout: Thales Leites (23-4) def. Trevor Smith (11-5) via TKO (punches) – Round 1, :45
FW Bout: Jim Alers (13-1) def. Alan Omer (18-4) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
BW Bout: Johnny Bedford (19-10-1, 1 NC) fought Rani Yahya (19-8, 1 NC) to a no contest (clash of heads)
Bellator 116
HW Tourney Bout: Blagoi Ivanov (11-0, 1 NC) def. Lavar Johnson (18-9) via submission (americana) – Round 1, 4:08
LHW Bout: Joey Beltran (15-10, 1 NC) def. Vladimir Matyushenko (27-8) via submission (north-south choke) – Round 3, 3:06
WW Tourney Bout: Adam McDonough (11-0) def. Nathan Coy (14-5) via KO (punch) – Round 2, :30
HW Tourney Bout: Alexander Volkov (21-4) def. Mighty Mo (6-3) via KO (head kick) – Round 1, 2:44
MW Bout: Dave Vitkay (14-12-1) def. Keith Berry (15-13) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
LW Bout: Poppies Martinez (29-9, 1 NC) def. Josh Smith (9-7) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:50
FW Bout: Brandon Bender (12-1) def. Mario Navarro (4-4) via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:15
MW Tourney Bout: Brandon Halsey (6-0) def. Joe Pacheco (7-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
WW Bout: Karo Parisyan (23-10, 1 NC) def. Ron Keslar (11-6) via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:05
BW Bout: Robert Emerson (16-10, 1 NC) def. Joe Taimanglo (19-6-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
WW Bout: Ricky Rainey (7-2) def. Andy Muray (6-2) via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:11
LHW Bout: Philipe Lins (8-0) def. Travis Clark (7-3) via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, :40
LHW Bout: Rodney Wallace (20-8) def. Carlos Eduardo (10-3) via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)