Gregg Mullen returns to bring his unfiltered thoughts on some of the latest MMA news in this Weekly Round-Up:
UFC 193
It’s Sunday morning, not even 9am yet, and social media is going in to meltdown. The UFC just broke attendance records in Australia, with more than 56,000 fans at the Etihad Arena in Melbourne, all of whom were there to see the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Rousey was the undefeated, “unbeatable” darling of MMA who had moved over to Hollywood blockbusters and WWE. Ronda was the face of the company who was proclaimed to be the greatest of all time and was, herself, claiming to be on a par with Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre.
“Bad Reputation” belted out in the arena as she made her way to the octagon, her now trademark mean-mug on show for everyone watching. Just days after being named the cover star for EA Sports UFC 2 video game, Ronda Rousey’s star had never shone brighter than it was in that moment.
Her opponent would be Holly Holm, a former professional boxing champ with a 33-2-3 record (and 2-time ring magazine female fighter of the year) who made the transition to MMA in 2011 and had been undefeated since.
Coming in to the UFC in 2014 with a lot of hype behind her, Holm’s first couple of fights in the promotion were slightly underwhelming (a split decision over Raquel Pennington followed by a unanimous decision of Marion Reneau) but, regardless, she was given the nod to go in and face the champ for the belt. Being written off by the casual fans, the bookies and even some of the media, “The Preacher’s Daughter” came in as a huge underdog, then the fight started…
Rousey refused the glove touch, came in furious and was swinging from the outset. Holm was patient, circling in and out, moving the whole time and picking Rousey off anytime she came in wild. Holm landed with her hands, hurt her opponent with oblique kicks, popped off a side kick to the head and even landed a takedown. The one time that the champ took her down, Holly popped straight back up. It was a master class.
Holm took the first round and less than a minute in to the second, knocked the champ out in scenes which will be shown for the remainder of the UFC’s history. Albuquerque erupted in joy, fans around the either celebrated or cried, Rousey went to hospital and Holly Holm won an extra 100k and etched herself in the history books forever.
Full UFC 193 results HERE.
Saying goodbye to “Cro Cop” (again)
The Pride Legend Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic has once again hung up his gloves and said goodbye to MMA competition.
During a blog post on his website, the Croatian striker thanked his fans and eluded to an injury as to why he was going away for good this time, then things got messy.
In the wake of his retirement, reports of a failed drug test came to light, making Mirko the first UFC fighter to fail a random USADA drug test since the UFC anti doping program was implemented in July.
Cro Cop took to his website again to tell his story, and claimed a doctor injected him with a small amount of human growth hormone to help with a shoulder injury that would not heal. Subsequently tested by USADA just a few days after, Cro Cop says he informed the UFC of his injections, knowing he had used banned substances.
“Growth hormones are on the list of banned substances, I knew that already. But there was no other way to save my shoulder–at least in my mind–without combining the blood plasma with growth hormones. Unfortunately it turns out the only cure was a good break and rest. But a desperate man will try anything.”
Having come from Pride FC, a place which has long been ostracized for a lack or drug testing and is thought to have been a place where the majority of fighters were ‘juicing’, Filipovic will forever be questioned about how long he had gamed the system before being caught. Whether he was abusing PED’s or not in his prime, his legacy will now be questioned by fans, much like Anderson Silva’s has been this year.
“Cro Cop” retires with a pro record of 31-11-2 with 1 no contest.
Rizin FF
Nobayuki Sakakibara’s newest venture in Japanese MMA continues to add recognizable names from around the world. Already having names like Fedor Emelianenko, Shinya Aoki, “King Mo” Lawal and Kazushi Sakuraba, you can now add Gracie and Yamamoto.
It was announced Monday that one of the top BJJ players in the world, Kron Gracie, will wrap his hands and jump into the ring to take on Asen Yamamoto. Kron (1-0) comes from the legendary Gracie family and will be a big draw in Japan. His opponent comes from a well known lineage as well as his uncle is Pride legend Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and his grandfather is the former Olympic wrestler Ikuei Yamamoto. Asen will be making his MMA debut at 19 years old.
Also announced for the promotion’s first ventures is a heavyweight 8-man Grand Prix and Britain now has a representative.
BAMMA heavyweight champion Mark Godbeer (10-2) was announced for the tournament Saturday night during BAMMA 23. The only other name announced for the tournament so far is Jungle Fight HW champ Bruno Cappeloza (7-3).
The opening round will take place on Dec. 29, with the semifinals and finals on New Year’s Eve. The winner of the tournament will earn $500,000.
BAMMA 23
Speaking of BAMMA, last night was a big night, for my community in particular.
BAMMA 23 was, from top to bottom, a very good show. Martin Stapleton showed exactly how good he is in claiming the lightweight belt, top prospect Jack McGann hit a bump in his road to the top and Shay Walsh earned himself the bantamweight belt in a brilliant showing. It was Paul “BearJew” Craig who got us going, though.
The Scottish Hit Squad’s new BAMMA Light Heavyweight champion kept his undefeated record intact, and earned the seventh submission victory in his 8 fight career, as he showed tremendous transitions and scrambling before locking in a triangle choke to tap out Marcin Lazarz in the first round.
Training his BJJ under Marcos Nardini, “BearJew” did his coaches and everyone under the MNBJJ and Scottish Hit Squad banners proud. I can’t wait to see him in action again, congratulations on the belt!
Full BAMMA 23 results & breakdown HERE.
As always you can hit me up @GeeMullen on twitter.
