UFC Fight Night Las Vegas and Ultimate Fighter Finale Media Conference with the Rose Namajunas, Paige VanZant, Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes.
UFC Fight Night 80 takes place on December 10th and The Ultimate Fighter Finale takes place on December 11th.
Born and raised in Aldershot, Hampshire in the UK and having spent a few years living and competing in Phuket under Phuket Top Team, Helen is now firmly back where she started at home in Farnham, Surrey.
With her only loss coming by the way of controversial stoppage due to a Groin Strike against Strawweight UFC Athlete Cortney Casey, the 28-year-old has only been competing in mixed martial arts for four years and holds an impressive record of 4-1 inside the cage.
Not content with simply applying herself to the world of mixed martial arts, Helen has also competed in several Muay Thai events successfully including winning her pro kickboxing bout.
The pound for pound ranked #4 in UK & Ireland and #1 in Southeast Asia on Tapology does not take anything for granted in this forever evolving sport and has been working hard over the last few months by competing in many Gi and No Gi Competitions. So much so that Helen has picked up 7 Golds, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze, placing in every competition she has entered.
Having recently competed in a Muay Thai event at ‘The Road to Main Event’ on November 21st against Kat Holden, Helen took the fight on 2 weeks’ notice due to some prior pull-outs with her own schedule of fights in mixed martial arts. After three hard fought rounds, Helen was the one to walk away victorious with a decision win, although it was no easy feat.
“I’d had a few pull outs in a row and the only fight that I could have had was up in Sunderland, which would have meant I wouldn’t have had a corner. It was very frustrating. My coach at Shinkick (Jesse Saunders) told me he already had a few guys fighting on this show and they’d had a pull out – did I want to fight? Of course I said yes, that’s equivalent to asking a fat kid if they want cake…
“It was incredible! Kat is no walkover, she’s a seriously tough girl and as you said, it was by no means easy. I absolutely loved it though, and would do it again tomorrow if I could!”
Having decided to sharpen up her forever growing arsenal of tools in her tool box, Helen has been focusing more on becoming more specialised and dedicated to the whole of her MMA game. Having spent some time down at Legacy BJJ/Urban Kings under the tutelage of BAMMA‘s Head Match-Maker Jude Samuel, who was in Helen’s corner for her last MMA fight against Sophie Langsford where Helen picked up a win via decision over three hard fought rounds.
“I’m sharpening up my technique. I can brawl amongst the best of them but when it comes to technique I do struggle to keep things tight. My Muay Thai is the main thing I can see a big improvement in, and that’s thanks to the guys at Shinkick – especially Jesse and Rob. Strength and conditioning is done at Andy’s with the resident S&C coach, James Hardy. Wrestling is also at Andy’s, with Csaba who is an absolute beast – fantastic teacher and all round nice guy. I couldn’t ask for a better set of guys. Having spent a few months’ worth of training up at Jude’s in London, it is a fantastic gym, but I just couldn’t afford to keep travelling up there. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who does find themselves in the Kings Cross area though.”
Having recently been over to Phuket in Thailand to see her good friend and UFC flyweight athlete Ben Nguyen get married, which must of been amazing. Helen went over to AKA to train and then competed in a Muay Thai fight.
“I went over to witness Ben’s wedding, and had the opportunity to fight, so I grabbed it. Unfortunately, I also got very sick that week so it wasn’t my best fight but I made it to the end without throwing up so I was kind of happy about that!“
Now back in the UK, Helen is set to face one of her biggest goals to date – the TUF 23 Trials out in Las Vegas on December 14th. This is not the first time Helen has gone to try out for The Ultimate Fighter, back in April 2014 for season 20, Helen made it through to the final 20 athletes which is a great accomplishment in itself.
“I came home on Monday evening to 8 messages telling me about the trials. I wasn’t going to go, purely through lack of funds, but then Andy had a long chat with me and told me to get there any way I could. He reminded me that this is what I have been aiming for all this time so it would be stupid not to go.
“UFC is an organisation where anything could happen. Yes, I know the general expectation of me, but what they are looking for in a person for each series varies from show to show. The real bonus having been to Vegas before, is that there are a number of friendly faces I can count on to cheer me on!”
With costs from the UK to Las Vegas being expensive, especially on a massive UFC fight card week, yet alone near Christmas, Helen has decided to set up a ‘MAKEACHAMP‘ page to try to assist with the costs associated with getting to Las Vegas for the TUF 23 Trials.
“Andy encouraged me to get to the trials any way I can. I am a Teaching assistant who’s been living in my overdraft since I can remember. Realistically the only way, even though I absolutely hate asking people, is to ask for help. I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the support. The way I look at it is people are not only giving me their hard earned cash to achieve my own dream, which is incredible in itself, but they are believing in me. For that I am extremely lucky.”
Helen is also holding a grapplethon at the gym she trains at, Andy Roberts BJJ, on December 6th to also help raise funds for herself to get to the TUF 23 Trials.
“The plan is to grapple for 8 hours (10am-6pm). I was worried about not having enough people to turn up so I have been trying to book half hour slots – it’s not going that well so far. I hope I will get a few more booked this week! If anyone wants to come, it’s in Farnborough on Sunday and open to anyone!”
Helen would like to thank the following:
Whisky Wolf @TheWhiskyWolf
She cries war @shecrieswar
Str8 Cheer @STR8_CHEER
Xbrain @XbrainUk
Battle Balm @BattleBalm
Pony Club Grappling Gear
Andy Roberts BJJ @AndyRobertsBJJ
Shinkick Muay Thai @ShinkickMDK
And you can follow her on these social media platforms:
Twitter @hhhellraiser
Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/HelenHellraiserHarper/
Instagram – hhhellraiser
Website – www.helenhellraiserharper.com
Thanks for your time Helen. I look forward to seeing you reach your new goal and wish you the best of luck.
Photo Credits: Main Pic Say Uncle Promotions
Photo Credit: Pic 1 Main Event
Photo Credit: Pic 2 Scott Griffiths
YouTube video: Wombat Sports
Team UK had 7 athletes competing today and went 3-4 overall, which will also see both flyweights Jake Bond and Warren Mason face each other in the final.
Here are the official results from day 3.
Day Three #RingOne
155lb Women’s – Leah McCourt (Northern Ireland) def. Sini Koivunen (Finland) via Submission (Armbar) Round 3 – 2:12
155lb Women’s – Mia Isola (Finland) BYE over Aurore Quintin (Frannce) due to missed weight
115lb Women’s – Aleksandra Toncheva (Bulgaria) def. Amy Omara (United Kingdom) via Decision (Unanimous)
115lb Women’s – Raluca Dinescu (Romania) def. Lyudmila Sadirina (Azerbaijan) via Decision (Unanimous)
125lb Women’s – Anja Saxmark (Sweden) def. Inka Auvinen (Finland) via Decision (Unanimous)
125lb Women’s – Sunna Rannveig (Iceland) def. Michaela Dostalova (Czech Republic) via TKO (ground strikes) Round 1 – 2:48
125lb Men’s: Jake Bond (United Kingdom) def. Hussain Haki Mahdi (Bahrain) via Submission (rear naked choke) Round 3 – 1:22
125lb Men’s – Warren Mason (United Kingdom) def. David Forgarty (Ireland) via Decision (Unanimous)
145lb Men’s – Joel Moya Schondorff (Sweden) def. Connor Hitchens (United Kingdom) via Decision (Unanimous)
145lb Men’s: Ross McCorriston (Northern Ireland) def. Ante Ageneby (Sweden) via Decision (Split)
265lb Men’s: Irman Smajic (Sweden) def. Petur Oskarsson (Iceland) via Submission (standing guillotine) Round 1 – 1:56
265lb Men’s: Daniel Galabarov (Bulgaria) def. Ryan Spillane (Ireland) via Submission (Kimura) Round 2 – 1:49
155lb Men’s – Jack Shore (United Kingdom) def. Thomas Martin (Ireland) via Submission (Armbar) Round 1 – 2:15
155lb Men’s – Geir Kare Cemsoylu (Norway) def. Lee Hammond (Ireland) via TKO (Ground strikes) Round 3 – 2:24
Day 3 #RING2
205: Balaze Kiss (Hungary) def. Dillon Murphey (Ireland) via submission (arm-bar), round 2 (0:35).
170: Dorian Dermendzhiev (Bulgaria) def. Jorden Indsetviken (Norway) via submission (Guillotine), round1 (2:16).
170: Bjarki Palsson (Iceland) def. Hardeep Rai (United Kingdom) via TKO, round 2 (1:59)
135: Gabriella Ringblom (Sweden) def. Camilla Mannes (Norway) via unanimous decision.
135: Varpru Rinne (Finland) def. Eloise Picard (Canada) via unanimous decision
145: Cornelia Holm (Sweden) def. Caline Provost (France) via submission (Americana), round 1 (1:59)
145: Sanna Merta (Finland) def. Julia Dorny (Germany) via submission (arm-bar) round 3 (1:58)
135: Marco Zannetti (Italy) def. Alexis Guilleux (France) via submission (Guillotine Choke), round 1 (2:55)
135: Abdul Hussein (Finland) def. Renato Vidovic (Sweden) via unanimous decision
185: Rostem Akman (Sweden) def. James Duckett (United Kingdom) via unanimous decision
185: Marius Hakonsev (Norway) def. Astenio Lucchesini (Italy) via submission (Triangle Choke), round 3 (2:58)
Results courtesy of IMMAF
After yesterdays great start, Team UK carried on the momentum and brought today’s score to a rather impressive 5-3 by the end of the first rounds. With Jack Shore and Hardeep Rai both competing twice today and winning both times also. So you could say 7-3 at the end of the day in total.
Here are the Unofficial results from today:
Results Courtesy of Brandon Collings Team Canada
With Team UK having five athletes competing today they went onto a great start of 3-2.
Here at the Unofficial Results Day 1:
Results courtesy of http://brandoncollings.com/results-day-1-championships/
As well as having two Title fights for their main and co-main events, the rest of the card was nothing to be sniffed at quietly either with three exhibition fights, in which everyone was making their debut and one of those was a 0.23 second KO. I can easily say Dwight Edmonson has a very bright future in this ever evolving sport if that exhibition fight was anything to go by.
Whilst holding it down in the amateurs we were entertained to three exciting mma fights for which all went the distance, just proving that each and everyone that competed were evenly matched and fought damn hard, not forgetting the only amateur K1 fight which pitted 17-year-old Mason Carter against 22-year-old Josh Bishop.
Moving on to the PRO card and we got to see the current UIC female K1 title holder, Laura Handy compete in her 3rd MMA bout which was using semi-pro rules (No Elbows). I for one can tell you that Laura will be one to watch out for in the female flyweight division, especially having witnessed first hand how much of a ‘beast’ she is with her rear naked choke. Natalie Bee was no push over and tried to defend Laura’s RNC for a good 60 seconds before finally giving in and tapping.
Before we reached the two title fights we were in for a PRO lightweight treat between Aaron Khalid and former UIC lightweight champion Wayne Drake. From the outset you knew this was going to be a battle of whose submission game is the best and with a very evenly scored first round from both guys it was Aaron Khalid who came out in the second round with slick rear naked choke that made a very worthy opponent in Wayne Drake tap at the 1 minute 18 second mark.
First up for one of two title fights was the current UIC MMA Middleweight Champion Craig White competing against former Cage Warriors athlete ‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski in a PRO K1 title fight. Kudos to Craig White coming out to ‘The Lion King – Just can’t wait to be king’ and having an excellent choice in his perfectly pedicured painted toe nails ;). As expected we got to witness some ‘beautiful violence’ in true K1 fashion with both athletes having their own fair share of the non stop action for the full five rounds. It was, however, to be ‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski’s night as he was crowned the new UIC Middleweight K1 Champion via Unanimous Decision.
The final fight was now upon us and it was time for current UIC lightweight champion Marc Allen to defend his title against UK MMA veteran in that of submission expert Jordan Miller.
The round starts fierce with both guys aiming with high kicks until Allen goes in for a single leg takedown on Miller against the cage where the action stays for a while as Miller’s takedown defence is really strong and he is not giving an inch. Allen is also not walking away as he is now aiming to go for a double leg takedown whilst both guys are battling for pure dominance but Allen perseveres and gets the takedown but not without getting himself caught up by Miller. Miller has Allen’s head and arm possibly looking for a head/arm choke to no avail and both guys scramble back to their feet.
Both up against the cage again with Allen trying to get a takedown and Miller looking for a kimora but to no avail and turns to land a few elbows to soften up Allen’s body. With the action returning to the ground Miller manages to slide himself back towards the cage to sit up but Allen has Millers legs tied up. Allen tries to sneak round-up and round to Millers back but as in doing so the submission expert Miller gets Allen in a Kneebar and he is forced to tap at the 4 minute 32 second mark of the first round. We have a New UIC Lightweight Champion – Jordan Miller.
Here are the full results:
Exhibition fights
Ben Bassett vs Joe Macfield
Josie Dorse vs Emilia Posadzhieva
Tom Rubery vs Dwight Edmondson (0.23 second KO Round One)
Amateurs
Charles Mason Def Donovan Smile Unanimous Decision
Dayle McCrae Def Dan Kneil Unanimous Decision
Josh Bishop Def Màson Càrter Unanimous Decision
Lukasz Marcinkowski Def Will Jones Unanimous Decision
Semi-Pro MMA
Laura Handy Def Natalie Bee RNC 2.00 Round One
Pro MMA
Aaron Khalid Def Wayne Drake RNC 1.18 Round Two
Pro K1 – Middleweight K1 Title
Iron Piotr Ptasinski Def Craig White Unanimous Decision
New Middleweight K1 Title – ‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski
Pro MMA – Lightweight Title
Jordan Miller Def Marc ‘Suplex’ Allen Kneebar 4.32 Round One
New Lightweight Title – Jordan Miller
Photo Credit 1: Paul Sutherland Facebook
Photo Credit 2: Jordan Miller Facebook
UFC 193 came live from Melbourne in Australia, in an all female double title headliner. Ronda Rousey was making a defense to her bantamweight belt against boxing champion Holly Holm in the main event at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia tonight and it was Holly Holm who put on a master class performance and KO’d Ronda Rousey in the 2nd round to become the New Bantamweight Champion.
UFC 193 came live from Melbourne in Australia, in an all female double title headliner. Ronda Rousey was making a defense to her bantamweight belt against boxing champion Holly Holm in the main event at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia tonight and it was Holly Holm who put on a master class performance and KO’d Ronda Rousey in the 2nd round to become the New Bantamweight Champion.
In the co-main event it was strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk who was defending her belt against Canada’s own Valerie Letourneau in a five round battle, for which we saw Joanna Jedrzejczyk retain her title via Unanimous Decision from a very tough Valerie Letourneau.
Here are the full results:
Main Card
Holly Holm DEF Ronda Rousey via KO 0.59 seconds Round Two
#AND #NEW #BANTAMWEIGHT #CHAMPION
Joanna Jedrzejczyk DEF Valerie Letourneau via Unanimous Decision 49-46, 49-46, 50-45
Mark Hunt DEF Antonio Silva via TKO 3 mins 41 seconds Round One
Robert Whittaker DEF Uriah Hall via Unanimous Decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28
Jared Rosholt DEF Stefan Struve via Unanimous Decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Prelim Card
Jake Matthews DEF Arreola Akbarh via TKO (Dr Stoppage) end of Round Two
Kyle Noke DEF Peter Sobotta via TKO 3 mins 01 secs Round One
Gian Villante DEF Anthony Perosh via KO 2 mins 56 seconds Round One
Danny Martinez DEF Richie Vaculik via Unanimous Decision 30-27, 30-27, 30-27
Prelim card – Fight pass
Daniel Kelly DEF Steve Montgomery via unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28,29-28
James Moonstasri DEF Anton Zafir via spinning back kick TKO 4 mins 36 secs Round One
Rich Walsh DEF Steve Kennedy via decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28
Ben Nguyen DEF Ryan Benoit v RNC 2 mins 35 secs
FOTN
Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm
POTN
Holly Holm
Kyle Noke
UFC 193 comes live from Melbourne in Australia, in an all female double title headliner. Ronda Rousey will be making another run at her title defense of her bantamweight belt against boxing champion Holly Holm in the main event. In the co-main event strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be defending her belt against Canada’s own Valerie Letourneau.
Before any of the above action can take place we have to make sure they are of course all on weight.
Here are the full weigh-in results:
Main Card
Holly Holm 134 lbs vs Ronda Rousey 134 lbs
Joanna Jedrzejczyk 114 lbs vs Valerie Letourneau 115 lbs
Mark Hunt 265 lbs vs Antonio Silva 263 lbs
Robert Whittaker 185 lbs vs Uriah Hall 185 lbs
Jared Rosholt 238 lbs vs Stefan Struve 265 lbs
Prelim Card
Jake Matthews 155 lbs vs Arreola Akbarh 155 lbs
Kyle Noke 169 lbs vs Peter Sobotta 169 lbs
Gian Villante 205 lbs vs Anthony Perosh 205 lbs
Danny Martinez 125 lbs vs Richie Vaculik 125 lbs
Prelim card – Fight pass
Daniel Kelly 185 lbs vs Steve Montgomery 185 lbs
James Moonstasri 170 lbs vs Anton Zafir 170 lbs
Rich Walsh 170 lbs vs Steve Kennedy 169 lbs
Ben Nguyen 126 lbs vs Ryan Benoit 125 lbs
Piotr Ptaskinski will be making his return to the octagon this weekend after two years away from the sport at Ultimate Impact Championship 16 this Saturday, November 14th at GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester, in a K1 Title fight against Craig White.
The 33-year-old, originally from Poland who now resides in Worcester, Worcestershire has only been competing in professional MMA for the last five years, but I guess realistically you could actually say only three years with his last two years out of the sport due to injury and having no motivation or hunger for the sport during that time.
Piotr Ptaskinski will be making his return to the octagon this weekend after two years away from the sport at Ultimate Impact Championship 16 this Saturday, November 14th at GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester, in a K1 Title fight against Craig White.
The 33-year-old, originally from Poland who now resides in Worcester, Worcestershire has only been competing in professional MMA for the last five years, but I guess realistically you could actually say only three years with his last two years out of the sport due to injury and having no motivation or hunger for the sport during that time.
Before his two-year hiatus, Piotr fought for established European promotion Cage Warriors for which he had a career that consisted of 2 wins and 2 losses which brought his impressive welterweight record to 5-4 inside the octagon for professional MMA. Now fully healed, full of motivation and more hungrier than ever Piotr has decided to make his comeback in a K1 middleweight title fight.
“I have always liked stand up and although I have been away for two years I have been training in K1, Kickboxing and Muay Thai, so this to me was the perfect option for me to come back to with a great opponent in that of Craig White to showcase both our skills.”
Having watched several of Piotr’s fights myself, I for one know that he never takes a backwards step in the octagon and is always coming forward no matter what is being thrown at him. I guess this is where his love of the sport definitely comes in and makes him a fan favourite to watch in whatever promotion he his competing in at the time. Whenever Piotr competes you can usually guarantee there will be ‘beautiful violence’ involved.
“Whilst competing for the promotion Cage Warriors I did get given the nickname ‘The Polish Zombie’ after my fight with Moshen Bahari, at one point there was just blood coming out of my eyes but the polish zombie is not my real nickname (infact it is current TUF 22 competitor Marcin Wrzosek nickname) my nickname is ‘Iron’ given to me by Paul Sutherland after my fight with Daniel Brzozowski who knocked me down in the first round, twice, and I came back to finish him in that round in 2 mins via Armbar. That was when I was given my fight name of ‘Iron’.”
Although you may only recognise Piotr’s name from the MMA scene, you can be forgiven as although K1, Kickboxing and Muay Thai are the disciplines he prefers to compete in and for which he has done so previously in-between his MMA days, his last competitive K1 fight was in Spain three years ago for which he won and then he promptly carried on with his MMA way of life.
Being blessed in both disciplines of K1 and MMA and seeing now that Piotr’s motivation and clear hunger for the sport had worked its way back to him and having a ‘rebirth’ into this forever evolving sport the question now is what is the ultimate goal for which he would like to achieve within the sport.
“I don’t know at the moment as I don’t look too much into the future. I’m just looking at this Saturday and taking this belt, this is my ultimate goal at the moment.”
Training out of renowned Cheltenham Trojan Free Fighters under the guidance of head coach Paul Sutherland and Conditioning guru Matt Ewin who is known for his crazy hill sprints, Piotr’s level of training just keeps adding more explosive sets of weapons to the ever-growing arsenal of tools that he has already and is forever expanding into his growing tool box.
“The secret in Trojans being a really good teaching gym is the head coach, Paul Sutherland. He is one of the best coaches in the UK and the gym has a great training programme for every person. Paul Sutherland is the key to Trojans he is the Glue.”
For this specific training camp Piotr has travelled around a few places to get the ‘best of the best’ training and it all started in Poland where he trained at Tomasz Drwal gym who happened to be a pioneer of MMA in Poland and was the first Polish person in the UFC. Piotr’s next part of his camp was then spent with UIC 15 WW K1 Champion David Willmot at Team Tieu Cheltenham and then finally onto sparring seasons with former UFC and Cage Warriors athlete Chè Mills, not forgetting his daily training sessions with Paul Sutherland at Trojans.
“I was over in Poland for ten days training with Tomasz Drwal at his school which was just really good, having around 7/8 sparring partners my size training in boxing and kickboxing, it was a great experience. Training with David Willmot for whom is a multiple K1 champion, well, you couldn’t ask for any better and as for getting to train with Chè Mills he is 6ft tall just like Craig White but I feel Chè’s striking is world-class, in my opinion. If you want to beat the best you must train with the best.”
They say ‘Iron sharpens Iron’
As we start to talk about Polish fighters with the date being the 14th November when Piotr himself is due to compete, there is also another Polish fighter who goes by the name of Joanna Jedrzejczyk competing on the same night for a title belt defence, it would be rude of me not to at least test the waters on this subject.
“Joanna Jedrzejczyk is such a beast and I have been a watching her since I saw here compete in Cage Warriors. We polish are very proud. Although Valerie Letourneau may not be all together an easy fight, Joanna is still a different type of beast, her confidence is great and she will be unstoppable for a long time to come.”
Piotr would like give a shout out to his sponsors:
Poundout Gear and JGS Couriers Ltd
And also wanted to thank everyone who has supported him. Who has helped him with his preparation, training, motivation and inspiration.
You can follow Piotr on his Social Media Facebook and Twitter @IronPiotr
UIC 16 takes place this Saturday, November 14th at GL1 Leisure Centre, Bruton Way, Gloucester, GL1 1DT
Doors open 5pm first fight around 5.30pm
Tickets will be available on the door and online here
Photo Credits Main and 1st pic: Piotr Ptasinski Facebook and Cage Warriors
Video Credit: Stu Jotham
Women’s bantamweight champion ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey [12-0] will be taking on her toughest test to date, when she defends her title on November 14th at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia against ‘The Preachers Daughter’ Holly Holm [9-0].
Having reached a level of mainstream stardom, for which is unprecedented in MMA, Ronda Rousey counts A-listers like Mark Wahlberg, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Stephanie McMahon, Sylvester Stallone, Mike Tyson and Demi Lovato among her fans.
Holly Holm, who is no stranger to the big bright lights herself, being a former undefeated boxer in several weight divisions who then turned her ambitions in to ‘a new mountain to climb’ in MMA.
UFC Embedded: Rousey vs. Holm is an all-access, behind-the-scenes look at the lives and training camps of elite fighters leading up to the UFC 193 event in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday November 14th, 2015.
Five Rounds with Emma 
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