Category Archives: UFC

Bellator, mixed martial arts, Spike TV, UFC

No. 6 Light Heavyweight in the World Phil Davis joins Bellator MMA

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 Phil Davis Signing

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (April 15, 2015) – Bellator MMA is pleased to announce the signing of the sixth* ranked Light Heavyweight in the world, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis (13-3, 1 NC), to an exclusive, multi-fight deal.

 

“I can’t wait to be fighting in Bellator and wreck shop on everyone,” said Davis. “I am the absolute best and most dominant grappler to ever fight in MMA and I’m excited to get in there and compete at my new home.”

Born and raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Phil attended college close to home at Penn State University, where he became a four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler for the Nittany Lions.

 

Davis had his first professional MMA fight in 2008 and accrued nine wins in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, including victories against the likes of Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Lyoto Machida, Alexander Gustafsson, Brian Stann and Glover Teixeira.

A member of Alliance MMA in San Diego, Calif., where he trains alongside Bellator stars like Michael Chandler and Joey Beltran, “Mr. Wonderful” joins the promotions Light Heavyweight division, which is currently upheld by champion Liam McGeary.

 

“Phil is a world class Mixed Martial Artist and we are very happy to be adding him to OUR roster of some of the best Light Heavyweights in the world,” said the promotion’s president, Scott Coker.  “Bellator remains fully committed to building its world-class roster by signing top free agents like Davis, as well as grooming up-and-coming stars. We’ve got some amazing matchups in mind for ‘Mr. Wonderful’ that we will be announcing in the weeks to come.”


Bellator’s Light Heavyweight division is one of the deepest in the promotion, with stars like McGeary, Tito Ortiz, “King Mo” Lawal, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Emanuel Newton and Linton Vassell.

 

*Ranking according to www.sherdog.com

M-1, M-1 Challenge, mixed martial arts, UFC

Fight Network Presents M-1 Challenge 56 Live, RFA 25 This Friday, April 10

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TORONTO | NEW YORK (April 7, 2015) — Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a pair of exciting mixed martial arts events this Friday, April 10, beginning at 2:15 p.m. ET with M-1 Challenge 56 from Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, followed by a one-hour tape delay broadcast of RFA 25: Lawrence vs. Toomer from Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 11 p.m. ET.

 

In the M-1 Challenge 56 main event, a much anticipated rematch pits M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Vyacheslav Vasilevsky against challenger Ramazan Emeev, plus M-1 Challenge featherweight champion Ivan “Buki” Buchinger faces Aliyar Sarkerov.

 

Fight Network’s live broadcast of M-1 Challenge 56 will air on Cablevision’s Optimum TV, Grande Communications, Shentel Cable and Armstrong Cable in the U.S., nationwide in Canada, Roku devices across North America, and globally in over 30 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. (Note: RFA 25 will not be available on Fight Network’s U.S. feed)

 

In their first fight last September, Vasilevsky captured the belt from Emeev by way of fourth-round stoppage from punches, while Buchinger captured the vacant title with a fourth-round stoppage of Tural Ragimov in the “Fight of the Night” this past October. Buchinger hasn’t lost a fight in nearly 3 ½ years, winning seven in a row and 10 of his last 11.

 

The fight card for M-1 Challenge 56 includes:

-Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (26-2) vs. Ramazan Emeev (11-3) – M-1 middleweight title
-Ivan Buchinger (28-4) vs. Aliyar Sarkerov (13-4) – M-1 featherweight title
-Konstantin Gluhov (28-15) vs. Ante Delija (12-2)
-Valery Myasnikov (8-1) vs. Kristijan Perak (8-1)
-Javier Fuentes (2-1) vs. Nikolay Kaushansky (6-1)
-Rakhman Makhazhiev (2-1) vs. Alexey Makhno (8-3)

 

Airing at 11 p.m. ET following Fight Network’s weekly Canadian premiere of IMPACT Wrestling, RFA 25: Lawrence vs. Toomer will feature a main event between RFA featherweight champion Justin “The American Kidd” Lawrence and No. 1 contender “Super” Sam Toomer, who will be looking to keep his undefeated record intact. In the co-main event, Gabriel “Zangief” Checco meets fellow Brazilian Francisco “Kiko” France for the middleweight title.

 

The fight card for RFA 25: Lawrence vs. Toomer includes:

-Justin Lawrence (6-2) vs. Sam Toomer (9-0) – RFA featherweight title
-Gabriel Checco (8-1) vs. Francisco France (11-3-1) – RFA middleweight title
-TJ Hepburn (4-0) vs. LaRue Barley (5-0)
-Khalil Rountree (2-0) vs. Cameron Olson (2-0)
-Jordon Larson (5-1) vs. Jarrod ‘LHeureux (7-1)
-Josh Rave (21-11) vs. Geane Herrera (6-0)

 

On Saturday, April 11, catch the UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 main card live on Fight Network in Canada at 3 p.m. ET. Live pre-fight coverage will lead into the main card on Saturdayafternoon with Fight Network’s UFC Pre-Show Live at 2 p.m. ET, featuring previews, predictions and analysis.

 

For a full listing of Fight Network’s broadcast schedule, visit tv.fightnetwork.com, follow us on Twitter @fightnet, become a fan on Facebook and visit us on Instagram @fightnet.
mixed martial arts, UFC, women's MMA

UFC 185: It’s Showtime!

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Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports

Despite the turmoil experienced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship so far this year, from the failed drug tests of stars like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz, to the reshuffling of UFC 184 because of an injury to middleweight champion Chris Weidman, the company has delivered in the Octagon so far this year. Despite Weidman’s injury, UFC 184 was still a smashing success thanks to another dominant performance by women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

Now UFC 185 is here, with another stacked card that should entertain once again. This card is anchored by TWO title fights, taking fans back to a time when the UFC would routinely offer stacked fight cards before rapid expansion under their deal with FOX apparently created an oversaturated product.

Here’s who I think emerges victorious on this talent-filled card.

Chris “Kamikaze” Cariaso (17-6) vs. Henry “The Messenger” Cejudo (7-0) (Flyweight – 125 lbs.)

Cariaso is coming off a submission loss to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson last summer. But to be fair, everyone is losing to Johnson these days, and he’s close to cleaning out the flyweight division. Cejudo has yet to experience defeat and enjoyed a unanimous decision victory in his UFC debut late last year.

Cariaso has been a UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) veteran for the last five years and rode a 3-fight win streak prior to his loss to Johnson. Cejudo is a young pup trying to make a name for himself in the UFC, but Cariaso will use his veteran savvy to catch the overeager fighter for a finish.

Winner: Cariaso by second-round TKO

Roy “Big Country” Nelson (21-10) vs. Alistair “The Reem” Overeem (38-14-1) (Heavyweight – 225 lbs.)

I’ll admit up front that I’m not a big Roy Nelson fan. He’s a talented fighter who delivers exciting fights and is an entertaining personality. But ever since he debuted in the UFC and won season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” he feasted on lower-ranked heavyweights like Stefan Struve, Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione. But when matched up with elite heavyweights like Fabricio Werdum, Junior Dos Santos and Daniel Cormier (before he dropped to light heavyweight), Nelson was routinely outclassed and battered.

Overeem has also failed to live up to the hype that came with his jump to the UFC. After he demolished Brock Lesnar in 2011, a title shot was in the works against then-champion Junior Dos Santos. But the fight never materialized due to injuries and Overeem suffered back-to-back knockout losses to Antonio Silva and Travis Browne.

Overeem has alternated wins and losses since then but is coming off a first-round knockout of Struve. Nelson was knocked out in his last fight against Mark Hunt, which despite Nelson’s usually iron chin, does not come as a shock, given Hunt’s incredible punching power.
Overeem may not have Hunt’s power, but I think he will batter Nelson for a rather lopsided decision victory. At this stage in his career, Nelson is a gatekeeper. But “The Reem” doesn’t need to prove himself against a brawler like Nelson.

Winner: Overeem by unanimous decision

Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks (16-3) vs. Matt “The Immortal” Brown (21-12) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

Speaking of brawling and battering, this fight has all the makings of a Fight of the Year candidate. Hendricks dropped the welterweight title to Robbie Lawler last year and should he win this fight, a rematch with Lawler is all but assured – assuming Lawler gets past Rory McDonald later this year.

Brown also lost to Lawler in his last fight and was also on the receiving end of a brutal beating. Hendricks and Brown tend to just slug it out and ask questions later, which should result in an entertaining fight for the fans. Hendricks seems to have renewed his commitment to MMA following his loss to Lawler and he seems driven to get his belt back. Brown is as game as they come, but Hendricks will prove to be too much.

Winner: Hendricks by second-round TKO

Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza (11-2) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (8-0) (Women’s Strawweight Title – 115 lbs.)

Esparza made her UFC debut with a bang by winning the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” to feature all female fighters, and in the process become the UFC’s first women’s strawweight champion. She effectively derailed the Rose Namajunas hype train to win the belt, when some were dubbing Namajunas the next Ronda Rousey in the strawweight division.

Jedrzejczyk derailed a favorite in her own right, defeating highly regarded Claudia Gadelha last year by a close decision when many thought Gadelha would be Esparza’s first title defense. Jedrzejczyk is a grinder who thrives in an ugly fight in close quarters. Esparza used her wrestling to neutralize Namajunas’ quick-striking offense, so getting into an ugly fight with Jedrzejczyk shouldn’t faze Esparza one bit. Esparza will take Jedrzejczyk down early and often and ride her wrestling to a decision victory.

Winner: Esparza by unanimous decision

Anthony “Showtime” Pettis (18-2) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (23-7) (Lightweight Title – 155 lbs.)

Pettis has been absolutely dominant as of late, not only winning the lightweight title from Benson Henderson in quick and exciting fashion with a first-round armbar but routinely displaying his amazing athleticism and using it to quickly shoot himself up the best pound-for-pound fighter list.

But Dos Anjos is not to be taken lightly. He too finished Henderson in the first round and earned his title shot by absolutely dismantling Nate Diaz late last year. Dos Anjos is tough and will know that Pettis is looking for a quick finish. He won’t get it, but Pettis’ freakish athleticism will make its presence felt eventually and overcome Dos Anjos and solidify Pettis’ case as one of the best lightweight fighters of all time.

Winner: Pettis by second-round submission

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also shares his thoughts on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.

Fight Network, mixed martial arts, One Championship, UFC

Fight Network Presents ONE Championship 25, Enfusion 25 & UFC 185 Pre-Show LIVE this Weekend

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TORONTO | NEW YORK (March 12, 2015) – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents the return of ONE Championship live this Friday, March 13 at 8 a.m. ET, as ONE Championship: Age of Champions emanates from Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

Airing live exclusively in Canada, the main event features a ONE FC flyweight championship clash pitting incumbent champion Adriano Moraes against Japanese stalwart Asuku “Riku Shibuya” Mikami.

 

In other featured bouts, Malaysian superstars Peter Davis and Ann Osman take on Rajinder Singh Meena and Walaa Abbas, respectively. Plus Thanh Vu moves down to flyweight to take on Malaysia’s Gianni Subba, Ev Ting battles Cary Bullos and Chan Rothana faces Ramon Gonzalez.

 

The live action continues on Saturday, March 14 at 4:30 p.m. ET, as Enfusion Live 25 invades Turnhout, Belgium for an exciting professional kickboxing card, featuring Hicham El Gaoui vs.Karapet Karapetyan for the -80 kg world title, plus Nordin Ben Moh vs. William Diender, Harut Grigorian vs. Marco Pique and Robbie Hageman vs. Engin Kutuk..

 

Fight Network’s live Enfusion broadcast at 4:30 p.m. ET will air on Cablevision’s Optimum TV, Grande Communications, Shentel Cable and Armstrong Cable in the U.S., nationwide in Canada, Roku devices across North America, and in Turkey on D-Smart.

 

Then at 7 p.m. ET, Fight Network will present its UFC 185 Pre-Show Live at7 p.m. ET, featuring previews, predictions and analysis ahead of UFC 185: Pettis vs. Dos Anjos on pay-per-view. Immediately following the main card, Fight Network will also televise the live post-fight press conference from Dallas, Texas.

 

In addition to all the live pre and post-fight coverage, Fight Network is the destination for UFC library content, specials and series, including UFC Unleashed, UFC Now and UFC Ultimate Insider. All airings are listed at tv.fightnetwork.com.

 

Post-fight coverage continues on Monday’s edition of 5 Rounds on Fight Network, which debuts at 7 p.m. ET and features a comprehensive breakdown of Saturday’s event.

 

For a full listing of Fight Network’s broadcast schedule, please visit tv.fightnetwork.com and follow on Twitter @fightnet, become a fan on Facebook and visit us on Instagram @fightnet.
mixed martial arts, UFC, women's MMA

Ronda Rousey- The Cleaner

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Photo Credit: Esther Lin/MMA Fighting

Given that it’s tax season, it’s a good time to remember that are there three guarantees in life: death, taxes and Ronda Rousey once again showing why she is the best female fighter on the planet with a first-round demolition of her opponent.

Rousey’s performance at UFC 184 last month was her finest to date. She submitted Cat Zingano, widely regarded as Rousey’s biggest challenge, in 14 seconds. While Rousey was aided by an absolutely horrible strategy by Zingano, her virtuoso performance led to another discussion of who has what it takes to dethrone Rousey. It also led to a ridiculous conversation of whether or not Rousey could compete against and defeat male fighters in the UFC’s bantamweight division. The less time spent on that absurd notion that accomplishes nothing but trying to discredit the great fighter Rousey is, the better.

Of course, the first name that always comes up is Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the Invicta FC featherweight champion. She is expected to drop to 135 pounds for a fight with Invicta this summer before moving on to a fight with Rousey. However, Cyborg attempted a drop to bantamweight last year and abandoned those plans. So I wouldn’t hold my breath on the long-awaited grudge match between Rousey and Cyborg happening anytime soon.

Rousey recently expressed a desire to fight Bethe Correia, who battered two of Rousey’s “Four Horsewomen” teammates and has been calling Rousey out ever since. Jessica Eye has also staked her claim to a title shot, but neither of these women pose a real threat to Rousey. During UFC 184’s postfight coverage, Daniel Cormier floated the idea of his colleague Miesha Tate getting a third crack at Rousey.

Besides the fact I think trilogies should be reserved only when each fighter has a victory over the other, I see no reason why third time would be a charm for Tate. While she is the only woman to go further than the first round with Rousey, Tate has plateaued as a fighter while Rousey has gotten better. If the two were to fight a third time, I see no reason to believe the result would be any different.

So where does this leave Rousey? In my opinion, she has cleaned out the UFC women’s bantamweight division. There is no one who poses a credible threat to her. If Zingano adjusted her strategy and received another shot at Rousey, she might have a chance of winning. Beyond that, if Rousey decided to go out on top and build on her burgeoning film career, I don’t think anyone would hold it against her.

Rousey is currently on a run akin to Anderson Silva’s run atop the UFC’s middleweight division. He dominated everyone in his path and except for his first fight with Chael Sonnen, made it look easy. Rousey’s hardest fight to date was against Liz Carmouche, when she had Rousey in a rear naked choke in the first round of their fight in 2013 before Rousey was able to escape and secure another armbar victory.

Silva’s reign atop the middleweight division came to an end when the previously unknown Chris Weidman came along and showed no fear and took the fight to Silva. Maybe that’s what needs to happen with Rousey. She needs to find an opponent who will get right in her face, give her no quarter and take the fight to her. Zingano attempted that at UFC 184, but her overzealousness ended up costing her dearly.

Until Rousey finds her own Chris Weidman, we can add another superlative to the many that are already attached to the women’s bantamweight champion: cleaner. Rousey is fresh out of worthy challengers to her crown, a task she accomplished by cleaning out her division.

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also shares his thoughts on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.

mixed martial arts, UFC

UFC and PEDs: Where do we go from here?

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Photo Credit: Esther Lin/MMA Fighting

Usually when I ask that question, it’s in the wake of a pay-per-view and I’m wondering aloud at what’s next for the fighters who competed on it. This time around, I’m talking about something that affects ALL mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The UFC announced this week that it will implement far stricter, far more comprehensive drug testing in the wake of fighters like Anderson Silva and Hector Lombard failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), while Jon Jones and Nick Diaz failed tests for cocaine and marijuana, respectively.

Increased drug testing and harsher penalties can only help the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general. But what brought on this increase in failed tests? PEDs have been a part of sports long before MMA fighters started taking them, and they have been a problem in MMA prior to the last month-and-a-half.

But more fighters seem to be getting caught. As in most sports, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform in MMA and in the UFC. If you don’t perform, you basically don’t get paid. The increased demand for UFC programming by virtue of its deal with FOX could also be a factor. They went from being on Spike TV – where they only broadcast “The Ultimate Fighter” once a year and two or three live fight cards annually – to practically having two live fight cards a month and airing “The Ultimate Fighter” twice a year on the FOX channels.

The increase in programming means a need of more bodies to fill that programming. It also means that more fighters are training for more fights, which can lead to more injuries. PEDs, in addition to giving you a competitive advantage over your opponent, allow you to recover from injuries more quickly. With the need for more fighters to fill more fight cards, I think it’s possible the apparent increase in failed drug tests can at least be partly attributed to that.

The UFC’s increased drug-testing measures take effect July 1. What can we expect once it does? Here are some of the guidelines the UFC presented.

Even UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta admitted during this week’s press conference that things “would get worse before they better” with the new testing. Plus, it remains to be seen how much of this will actually stick once July 1 rolls around. UFC previously considered expanding its drug-testing efforts before but pulled back, citing cost and a previously botched attempt at doing so.

However, with the rash of high-profile stars like Silva, Jones and Diaz failing tests, cost can’t be considered a hindrance and the UFC must be vigilant. Browsing my Twitter feed following the press conference, it was eerily quiet. Almost no fighters weighed in initially. It is likely that was just a byproduct of the press conference taking place on a Wednesday afternoon, when most people are working or presumably have other things to do besides post on Twitter. But it was still pretty telling. It seems like this has grabbed fighters’ attention, as it should.

What do I think will happen? There will be an increase in failed test once the new measures take effect July 1, I’m fairly confident. But given that the UFC is supporting harsh penalties for those who do fail – including a ban of up to four years – I expect the dirty fighters to eventually cycle themselves out and the ones who compete clean (which is most of them, presumably) to take a more prominent role.

Increased drug testing is long overdue in the UFC. The sport of mixed martial arts itself is still in its infancy, especially compared to other sports like football, basketball and baseball. But just like baseball is still recovering from its own crisis with PEDs, these recent failed drug tests have shaken the foundation of the UFC and have harkened back to the days when it was referred to as “human cockfighting.”

UFC adopted the slogan “The Time Is Now” for 2015, and I couldn’t agree more. The time is now for them to take the lead in cleaning up the sport of mixed martial arts.

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also shares his thoughts on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.

mixed martial arts, UFC, women's MMA

Dana White and the Women

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Photo Credit: Esther Lin/MMA Fighting

Saturday, Feb. 28, is going to be a landmark day for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. All the fighters on the pay-per-view card that day will pass their pre-fight drug…….never mind. That’s too easy.

That day will be the first time a UFC card features women’s bouts in both its co-main event and main event. After middleweight champion Chris Weidman was forced to withdraw from his fight against Vitor Belfort due to injury, the new main event at UFC 184 is Ronda Rousey defending her women’s bantamweight belt against Cat Zingano. In the co-main event, much-heralded prospect Holly Holm will make her UFC debut against Raquel Pennington in another women’s bantamweight fight.

As I’ve mentioned before, UFC has come a long way from when Dana White told TMZ that women would “never” fight in his organization. Rousey will main event her third consecutive February PPV and Holm is widely believed to be the next in line for a shot at the title, should she defeat Pennington. Holm is still very raw in mixed martial arts, but trains with the world renowned coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn.

Rousey is carrying the flag for women’s MMA and for women in the UFC. Other female fighters have followed her into the Octagon, including Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche and Alexis Davis. What do those three have in common? They all also fell to Rousey – Tate twice in Strikeforce and the UFC, and Carmouche and Davis both in the first round at UFC PPVs in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Rousey and Tate’s feud is well-chronicled. It led to the two being coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, which included female fighters for the very first time who greatly outshined their male counterparts on the show that season.

Given that season’s success, the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter featured ALL female fighters and the debut of the UFC’s newest division, women’s strawweight. Carla Esparza, the former Invicta FC strawweight champion, won the inaugural UFC version of that belt after defeating Rose Namajunas.

So in the span of four years, UFC goes from having no female fighters and White emphatically stating that it never will, to being home to TWO female weight classes and undoubtedly the promotion’s biggest star right now in Rousey. Don’t believe me? Did you see the third Expendables movie? Or do you plan on seeing the film version of Entourage this summer? You might notice a familiar face.

So where does women’s MMA go from here? I am personally a big fan of female fights, as they tend to be among the more entertaining and action-packed fights on a UFC card. As I previously stated, female fighters are more than capable of outshining their male contemporaries. Why is that? Maybe female fighters feel they have more to prove inside the Octagon and always go for broke. Maybe they go into the Octagon with more of a “go for broke” mentality and actively seek a finish as opposed to “playing it safe.”

The fight between Rousey and Zingano on Feb. 28 will also go a long way toward determining the future of women’s MMA. Should Rousey defeat Zingano – which all signs indicate she will – she will have essentially cleaned out her division, with only unknown challengers like Holm and Bethe Correia left. If Zingano pulls the upset, then the division has a fresh batch of exciting matchups waiting.

But who knows what would have happened if Dana White kept his promise to TMZ?

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also contributes his thoughts to our site on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.

Fox Sports 1, mixed martial arts, UFC, women's MMA

UFC 183: Who will show up?

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Photo Credit: UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has hit it out of the park so far in 2015, with its first two major cards of the year living up to the hype of their main events. Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones dominated Daniel Cormier to prove he is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world at UFC 182, and at the UFC’s live card in Boston, Mass., in January, Conor McGregor secured a featherweight title shot against José Aldo and wasted no time getting in his next opponent’s face.

Which brings us to UFC 183 tonight, and a main event that is considered a dream matchup by many. Anderson Silva returns to the Octagon after suffering a gruesome leg injury in his last fight against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in 2013. Nick Diaz also makes his return to the UFC after losing his last fight against former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in 2013.

Tonight’s card isn’t without its other storylines though. A pair of significant undercard fights are taking place under some controversy, as flyweight John Lineker came in overweight for his fight against Ian McCall, which is expected to determine the next no. 1 contender to the flyweight title. In the co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum came in 9 pounds overweight for his fight against Tyron Woodley, which means 30 percent of Gastelum’s fight purse actually goes to Woodley. Talk about insult to injury.

Of course, there is always the wild card with Diaz too. He plays by his own rules, having no-showed the open workouts earlier this week. Will he actually show up to the cage for tonight’s main event? It remains to be seen, though most everyone thinks he will.

So, having said all that, who do I think wins tonight?

Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (15-5) vs. Sara McMann (8-1) (Women’s bantamweight – 135 lbs.)

This is actually the main event of the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1. Tate requested to compete on this portion of the card instead of the pay-per-view card, taking a page from Urijah Faber’s playbook. Tate is also eager for a third fight with Ronda Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title. Both of these women suffered Rousey’s wrath, particularly McMann, who was demolished by Rousey in about a minute last year.

McMann is a pure wrestler with very little else to her repertoire, whereas Tate built on her established wrestling skills to become an effective striker. I think she will stuff McMann’s attempts to take this fight to the mat and use her vastly superior striking skills to keep McMann befuddled en route to a dominant victory.

Winner: Tate by unanimous decision

Jordan “Young Gun” Mein (29-9) vs. Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (25-9) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

Alves has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights, while Mein rides a two-fight win streak. Alves is always dangerous with his Muay Thai and striking, while Mein landed a first-round TKO victory in his last fight. This should be an exciting stand-up battle with neither guy willing to give an inch. I think Alves is the more dangerous fighter here, and will land one good shot to knock Mein silly.

Winner: Alves by second round TKO

Thales Leites (24-4) vs. Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (18-7) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)

Leites comes into this fight on a roll, having won his last seven fights, with the last two coming by way of TKO. Boetsch has alternated wins and losses in his last four fights, including a TKO victory in his last fight against Brad Tavares.

Boetsch is a slow, plodding bruiser best known for derailing the Hector Lombard hype train when he first made his UFC debut. Leites is a crafty, dangerous fighter who can finish you with his hands or by submission. I think Leites will avoid Boetsch’s power and wait for Boetsch to make a mistake, where Leits will capitalize.

Winner: Leites by third round submission

Joe Lauzon (24-10) vs. Al “Raging” Iaquinta (10-3-1) (Lightweight – 155 lbs.)

You know what you’re getting with a Joe Lauzon fight. You’re going to see an exciting, action packed bout that will most likely end with him locking in a slick submission or, in the case of his fight against Jim Miller, suffering a gnarly cut that will guarantee a blood battle.

Iaquinta has been on a roll since his time on The Ultimate Fighter Live, having only lost once in his last six fights. A win against Lauzon would be a real feather in his cap and might propel him into title contendership discussion. But Lauzon is one of the best submission specialists in the UFC, and I think the crafty veteran has another submission up his sleeve.

Winner: Lauzon by second round submission

Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley (14-3) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (11-0) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

As mentioned above, Gastelum weighed in 9 pounds over for this fight and will forfeit 30 percent of his purse directly to Woodley. It was reported that Gastelum spent time in the hospital leading up to this fight, which contributed to him coming in overweight.

Woodley will be angry in this fight, and rightly so. It’s not fair that his opponent will have a weight advantage due to his own failure to do what he was supposed to do. Give Woodley credit for wanting to keep fighting when it would have been perfectly understandable to postpone it.

Woodley will channel his rage into a blitzkrieg of offense at Gastelum, and the lethargic and probably still-injured Gastelum will have no response.

Winner: Woodley by second round TKO

Anderson “The Spider” Silva (33-6) vs. Nick Diaz (27-9-1) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)

This is one of the several main events that have fight fans buzzing in 2015. Many didn’t think Silva would ever walk again after his leg injury against Weidman, let alone come back to the UFC to fight. The matchup style of Diaz wanting to push the pace, get in his opponent’s face and sucker him into trading blows against Silva’s unrivaled elusiveness will be interesting to watch.

Diaz said he wouldn’t trash talk Silva during this fight out of respect. But if Silva keeps bobbing and weaving and dodging Diaz’s punches, we’ll see how long Diaz commits to that. I think we’ll see vintage Silva in this fight, making Diaz look silly in some spots while landing well-timed strikes that will confuse and frustrate Diaz, which will allow Silva to land even more.

Diaz is too tough to finish, but this fight will show that Silva still has it and is the vastly superior fighter.

Winner: Silva by unanimous decision

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also contributes his thoughts to our site on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.

boxing, mixed martial arts, UFC

June White Joins the FNU Combat Sports Show TONIGHT!

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By: Rich Bergeron

Our special guest this week on the FNU Combat Sports Show is June White. It’s perfect timing since I just received this message on Twitter the other day:

“You are blocked from following and viewing ‘s Tweets.”

June White (@JuneWhiteMMA) will join Tom, Tony and Rich on the FNU Combat Sports Show TONIGHT to discuss her unauthorized biography on the UFC President known for his brash language and a ruthless approach to building and expanding the UFC brand. Her book is an unflattering, honest look into the life of the former boxercise instructor who now rules over the UFC with an iron fist and a loud mouth. Check out this telling YouTube Promo for “Dana White, King of MMA:”

“Psychic” Tom Padgett, “Rabble Rousin’” Rich Bergeron and Tony “The Tornado” Penecale also have a ton of combat sports events and news to discuss this week.

Click Here to Listen to our broadcast Live from 8-10PM EST Tonight. Use the same link to access the recording of the show. The June White interview starts at 9:15 PM EST.