BELLATOR 136 (1)

Ultimate Fighting Championship is not the only high level MMA organisation in the United States. There is also a smaller one - but definitely not less exciting - Bellator MMA. The fact is that UFC is the most important organisation in the world. But Bellator is the second important federation, not only in the America but also in the world, and because the United States are an immense market, there is also space for them. They often organise their events in such places as Santa Barbara (CA) or Irvine (CA), where UFC does not arrive. Bellator currently is run by Scott Coker, who is a very dynamic bussinesman. He was a founder and CEO of, unexisting nowadays, Strikeforce. Once it grew up fast, and started to be a serious rival for the UFC, was bought by Zuffa LLC. - a company which purchased the UFC.

Bellator's logo

Coker recently put really interesting fightcard on Bellator 136 event, including bouts such as polish Held vs. Sarnavskiy, Joe Schilling vs. Rafael Carvalho or a lightweight title fight between, the reigning champion, Will Brooks and Dave Jansen. The event was organised 10th april of 2015 in the Bren Events Center, Irvine, California. I would like to present those three interesting figts, starting with the polish excellent grappler, Marcin Held who faced the russian Alexander Sarnavskiy.

MARCIN HELD vs. ALEXANDER SARNAVSKIY

Marcin Held (fot. chokes.pl)

Marcin Held is one of the best submission artist in the world. He is well known for his leg locks. Having a jiu-jitsu background, the polish fighter still works on his striking game. Stepping in the cage to face Sarnavskiy he risked a lot. By winning the Bellator lightweight tournament he earned a right to fight Will Brooks for a lightweight championship. Being only 23 years old, Held decided not to wait for a title-shot, but he told the Bellator's president he wanted to fight twice in 2015, in order to improve as a fighter. Losing to Sarnavskiy he could also loose a chance to face Brooks. And Sarnavskiy was a real deal. He won 10 of 11 fights, losing to the mentioned Brooks.

Marcin Held knew his limits in striking, so he was closing the distance right from the beginning, attempting takedowns and trying to submit Sarnovskiy. He showed some world class jiu-jitsu, rolling with his opponents. He was controlling the fight, most of the time being in the dominant position. Finally in the 3rd round he caught Sarnavskiy with the knee bar and referee, John McCarthy, stopped the contest. Another Held's win by submission.

UFC 182

The main event of the UFC 182 was one hell of a fight! Cormier was the most skilled opponent Jones has ever faced and Jon beat him, proving that not only is he the best light-heavyweight in the UFC, but the best pound-for-pound in the world. A combination of ridiculous physic, unorthodox striking and world class wrestling skills. Jon Jones is a complete fighter. And, being only 27 years old, get's better each time he steps into the Octagon.

Jon Jones' side kick to the body against DC

In the 1st round Jon Jones was using his reach advantage to distance Cormier and effectively using his elbows while clinching. He took DC down and it was the first time in the Daniel's MMA career that he allowed it. Make no mistake about it - Cormier is the Olympics level wrestler, who used to fight in heavyweight and nobody before Jones couldn't cope with his wrestling. He was throwing Dan Henderson, who is MMA legend, like a training mannequin. Although Cormier ended the 1st round really well. He was cutting the distance and delivered a few solid uppercuts in the clinch. 2nd round was similar to the end of the 1st. DC was more effective and delivered some more uppercuts, while clinching and caught Jon with some body kicks. 3rd round, although very close, was scored for Jones by the judges. Both fighters were throwing bombs. The champion ended the 3rd round at his back after missing a pull of the guard. 4th and 5th rounds - called also championship rounds - were scored for Jon Jones. Cormier reached his top during 2nd and 3rd round. "Bones" took DC down other two times and won by unanymous decision 49-46, remaining the light heavyweight division champion.

UFC 182: PREVIEW

Welcome in the 2015. This will be a very special year for the mixed martial arts. I'll try to keep you all updated with the news, because this January we'll have a tremendous number of great fights. This January the best fighters, champions and contenders, will step into the Octagon to demonstrate their real value. Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Conor McGregor, Anthony Johnson, Anderson Silva, Ronda Roussey and Chris Weidman for example. Not bad, right? Let's start with the UFC 182.

Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier (fot. fighthubtv.com)

The fight between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier can be the fight of the year. Jones is the best pound-for-pound martial artist in the world. Daniel Cormier is undisputed in the UFC. DC seems to be the toughest match-up for Jonny. He used to fight in heavyweight division (where Jones wants to transfer to, after beating the Anderson Silva's record of title defenses), he has impressing wrestling skills. And by writing "impressing", I meant that Daniel Cormier was a member of the US national team at the Olympics. Twice. He has a world class wrestling skills. But the thing that make this fight so interesting is that both men hate their guts. They were supposed to fight in september, but it was cancelled due to Jones' knee injury. But it doesn't mean that they were not fighting. They had a brawl during the media day. After the incident Jones lost his contract with Nike. There were also a lot of thrash-talking in the interviews. To sum up, watch this video:

UFC on Fox 13

The UFC on Fox 13, held in Phoenix, Arizona, was a real christmas gift for all the fans who love heavyweight fights. The event was headlined by a bout between Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocić, preluded by confrontations between Matt Mitrione with Gabriel Gonzaga and Alistair Overeem with Stefan Struve. 

(fot. combatbear.com)

For Alistair Overeem the fight with his co-national was a chance to retaliate for two embarrassing losses against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Ben Rothwell. In both fights Overeem was dominating but both of them ended knocked-out. If he didn't want to fall out of the top 10 of the division he had to win. And he did. Fighting against taller, and having a reach advantage, Struve, Alistair didn't want a kick-boxing match. He was trying to clinch, use his wrestling skills taking Struve down and strike him on the ground. Long limbs of Struve didn't help him to defend himself. Overeem knocked him out in the very first round. 

The main event of the evening gave us a response for the question in what form the former UFC heavyweight champion, Junior Dos Santos, is. Three battles against Cain Velasquez - and the punches that the current heavyweight champions has landed - have left an imprint on Dos Santos' game. The Brazilian won with Stipe Miocić by the unanimous decision, but - after what we've seen in the Octagon - it's doubtful that he could be given a forth bout against Velasquez.

UFC 180: WERDUM BEATS HUNT

The main event of the UFC 180 was a great show. We could see a bout for an interim heavyweight title between the most skilfull grappler in the division, three times brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Fabricio Werdum and a world class kick-boxer, very underrated by the MMA commentators because of lacking in ground game, Mark Hunt. 

Werdum with the belt (fot. foxsports.com)

Werdum had a huge reach advantage. However it was Hunt to controll the 1st round. In fact he knocked Werdum down two times and worked suprisingly good on the ground after taking the opponent down. Despite the reach advantage Werdum didn't deliver any significant punch. Hunt was stepping in and out very wisely. He knocked Werdum down also in the 2nd round. Although "The Super Samoan" did not incorporate to his game any kicks. It meant that he was forced to come very close in order to deliver a punch. That was a chance for Werdum. "Vai Cavallo" caught his opponent in the 2nd round with a flying knee when Hunt was ducking under. After delivering a clean knee to the chin, the Brazilian finished him with a massive "ground and pound". The referee gave Hunt all the time he could to recover, but "The Super Samoan" was not able to defend himself. The fight was over. Fabricio Werdum became the interim heavyweight champions and he's supposed to face Cain Velasquez by the end of the next year. Also in Mexico City.

UFC 180: WERDUM VS HUNT

The 15th of november 2014 UFC visits Mexico for the very first time in its history. The event takes place in Mexico City, at Arena Ciudad de México, and all the tickets - 21,000! - were sold out in only 8 hours. UFC 180 is headlined by the heavyweight bout between Mark Hunt and Fabricio Werdum.

The heavyweight division in the UFC is ruled by Cain Velasquez and the mexican show was supposed to contain the heavyweight title bout between Velasquez, as a champion, and Werdum as no. 1 contender. Unfortunately the best heavyweight fighter in the world is out due to serious knee injury. The champions was replaced by Mark Hunt, no. 4 in UFC heavyweight division ranking. The winner of the fight will become the interim heavyweight champion and will have an opportunity to face Velasquez when he'll recover. Also if Cain won't be able to fight before the march 2015, the title will be taken from him. In the history of the UFC there was a similar case, when Dominic Cruz wasn't able to defend his title for two years. The other interesting fight in the main card is a confrontation in the featherweight division between Ricardo Lamas - who lost his title-shot easily against José Aldo - and Denis Bermudez, no. 7 in the ranking.

INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is Tomasz and I'm going to blog about the MMA (Mix Martial Arts) scene from all over the world. But firstly I'd like to introduce you to the history of this sport.

(fot. www.dreamsnest.com)

Despite the modern mixed artial marts formule is rooted in Vale Tudo tournaments, organised in the 20s of the XX century in Brazil, a full-contact combat sport was already known in the ancient Greece and it was called Pankration. It combined boxing and wrestling. Pankration, invented as an olympic sport by Greeks, was later adapted - as many other elements of culture - by the Romans. The International Federation of Pankration (IFPa) was created in the 1999 in order to revive an ancient sport, but due to the growth of the popularity of MMA it was not a successful movement. So, as I mentioned, the modern MMA formule evolved from brazilian Vale Tudo which was followed by Shooto-wrestling shows organised in the 80s of the XX century in Japan. What was Shooto? It was a new martial art, created in purpose to emulate - as realistic as it was possible - a real fight. First MMA tournaments are dated from the 90s, when UFC organised in the United States its first tournaments. The aim of the first UFC shows was to confront rapresentatives of various martial arts. So to confront, for instance, a judo fighter with a boxer, ecc. Within twenty years, the MMA reached a point where it became a distinct discipline.