Friday, March 18, 2011

This Saturday marks the 37th installment of Bellator Fighting Championships as it makes its first visit to Concho, Oklahoma. Bellator 37 will host the opening round of the promotion's featherweight tournament, as well as such notables as decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Wilson Reis, WEC/UFC alumni Jake Rosholt, and "The Ultimate Fighter" veteran Roli Delgado. The main card of the show features four featherweight quarterfinal bouts that should supplement the preliminary card perfectly.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

On March 25, Titan Fighting Championship airs Titan FC 17 with former wrestling superstar Bobby Lashley headlining against John Ott. Also featured on the card is former Strikeforce and UFC fighter Phil Baroni in a welterweight matchup against Nick Nolte. The event will broadcast live on Mark Cuban's HDNet, the home of mixed martial arts and K-1 tournament action.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that they will be returning to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., the venue that hosted the promotion’s mixed martial arts tournament debut on April 3, 2009 to open Bellator’s first season. Following several successful performances at the Seminole Hard Rock for Bellator since then, the upcoming return is the result of a newly signed multi-year agreement with Florida’s Redline Media Group.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

As with past UFC events, MMA Spot will be bringing our readers coverage of press conferences, weigh-in events, post-fight press conferences, exclusive video, and behind-the-scenes moments leading right up to "UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones." The event takes place on March 19 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and will be broadcast via pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The main event of the evening features a light heavyweight championship battle between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and a young and hungry Jon "Bones" Jones. Keep it here at MMA Spot for all of your UFC video coverage.

Sambo world champion and undefeated mixed martial artist Blagoi Ivanov joined the heavyweight ranks at Bellator Fighting Championships, according to a recent announcement from the promotion. The Bulgarian fighter holds the distinction of having defeated MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko at the combat sambo world championships in 2008, ending an eight year undefeated win streak for Emelianenko.

When it comes to business matters in sports there is very little that can be chalked up to mere coincidence. The timing around the recent purchase of Strikeforce, by mixed martial arts giant Zuffa LLC may be a very calculated move. Given the timing of the transaction and the number of potential dollars at stake it would appear that Zuffa, with mixed martial arts organizations Strikeforce and Ultimate Fighting Championship are gambling on a drawn out work stoppage between the NFL and its players union.

On March 19, 2011, New York's own Jon Jones will face his toughest challenge yet when he squares off against current 205 pound kingpin Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Jones has the opportunity to become the youngest light heavyweight champion in UFC history and change the MMA landscape as it currently stands. Showcasing his rise up the ladder, Spike TV is premiering their "UFC Presents: In The Moment" television special to introduce the world to one of the brightest young fighters in the sport today.

With the questions and speculation mounting in the wake of Zuffa’s purchase of rival promotion Strikeforce, the biggest questions surround what will happen with M-1 co-promotions and in particularly Fedor Emelianenko. MMA Spot went directly to the head of M-1 Global to seek out those answers.

Monday, March 14, 2011

This past weekend, MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani broke "story of the year" caliber news by having Dana White announce the purchase of Strikeforce by UFC parent company, Zuffa, LLC. After the initial shock from MMA fans, analysts and industry insiders, many were left with an exorbitant amount of questions as to what exactly this meant for the sport. Hoping to clear some aspects of the deal up, Zuffa Owner Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC President Dana White and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker were on hand today for a media teleconference. What follows are some relevant quotes from the call.

As the fallout and speculation continues regarding Zuffa LLC’s recent acquisition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s only significant rival, Strikeforce, various industry players, fighters, and pundits have offered their opinion on the effect the shakeup will have on the future of the sport—as well as the role and possibility for competition left available for the remaining mixed martial arts promotions. The British Association of Mixed Martial Arts’ Head of Business Development Liam Fisher recently offered his take on the ever-changing MMA playing field. 

Forza, LLC, a subsidiary of Zuffa, LLC, which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship brand, announced today that it has purchased the assets of Explosion Entertainment, LLC dba Strikeforce. Under the terms of the deal, all Strikeforce fighter contracts will be honored, as will its broadcast agreement with Showtime Networks, Inc. Strikeforce will continue to operate as a separate business and current Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has signed a long-term employment agreement with the company.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The results are in for the opening round of Bellator Fighting Championships’ season four lightweight tournament. The event took place live from the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, La., Saturday night, and included four tournament bouts and three local feature fights. Remarkably, all seven matches avoided the judges’ scorecards, with a total of three submissions and four technical knockouts for the evening.