UFC – Five Rounds with Emma

UFC 278: Leon Edwards shocks the world!

Photo credit: UFC

Leon Edwards became only the second British UFC fighter to win a title in the promotion last night at UFC 278, knocking out Kamaru Usman with a head kick in the final minute of the fifth round.

Edwards came into Salt Lake City as an underdog and knowing that Usman had beat him in their first encounter in 2015, but brushed that off, winning the first round by securing a takedown and threatening the champion with a rear naked choke attempt.

Usman would recover through rounds two, three and four, taking Edwards down repeatedly and grinding on the Brit, keeping Edwards’ back on the mat or the cage while throwing nasty little shots.

The fifth round is where the real story is though. Between rounds four and five, UFC analyst Din Thomas told the commentary booth that Edwards had lost the fight mentally as he was unable to look his corner team in the eyes, before commentators Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier starter talking about Edwards resigning himself to a decision loss and that that outcome would be in a win in it’s self for the Brit.

But as if on cue, “Rocky” would throw a left straight cross at Usman, hiding a big left roundhouse behind it that connected perfectly on the Nigerian’s chin to send him to the mat.

With that KO win, Edwards becomes the second Brit to hold UFC gold, the last British champ being Michael Bisping at middleweight.

In terms of what is next for Edwards, there seem to be two clear options. If Khamzat Chimaev beats Nate Diaz later this year, the UFC would surely have to book him in a title bout with Edwards.

The second option would be for a trilogy fight between Edwards and Usman, and with the UFC’s popularity in the UK being at an all time high with two sold out London cards this year, a first UK based PPV since UFC 204 back in 2016, which was held in Manchester.

In the co-main event, Paulo Costa took a unanimous decision win over former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.

The story of the fight was Rockhold’s gas tank, or lack of one, as he looked visibly tired after just one round, and between rounds two and three, had to be dragged by his team to the stool as he seemed two gassed to walk over.

Costa had broken Rockhold’s nose early on, and with it being full of blood, forced the former champ to breathe through his mouth the entire fight, and even wobbled him at one point.

Rockhold didn’t help himself though by continually loading up on his shots, throwing each one with the intent to end the fight without any real set-up.

The bad blood between the pair had been visible throughout fight week, and that spilled over into the fight, with Rockfold audibly telling Costa “f**k you” in the second round before hitting him with a left hook, and in a ground exchange in the third round the pair could be heard to be swearing at one another.

The judges scorecards would read 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Costa, who picks up his first win since 2019.

Merab Dvalishvili secured a huge decision win for himself against Jose Aldo in the bantamweight division.

The Georgian fighter was relentless in his attempts to get Aldo to the floor, but while the “King of Rio” was able to stay upright, he would end up with his back to the cage and being held there.

With the two landing similar numbers in the striking, Dvalishvili’s control time would give him the edge, and all three judges would award him the fight 30-27.

The night would also see one of MMA’s biggest rarities, with a split draw between Sean Woodson and Luis Saldana.

Full Results

Leon Edwards def. Kamaru Usman by KO in 4:04 of round five for the welterweight title

Paulo Costa def. Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision

Merab Dvaloshvili def. Jose Aldo by unanimous decision

Lucie Pudilova def. Yanan Wu via KO in 4:04 of round two

Tyson Pedro def. Harry Hunsucker via KO in 1:05 of round one

Marcin Tybura def. Alexandr Romanov via majority decision

Jared Gordon def. Leonardo Santos by unanimous decision

Sean Woodson vs Luis Saldana ended in a split draw

Ange Loosa def. A.J. Fletcher by unanimous decision

Amir Alabzi def.Francisco Figueiredo by submission in 4:34 of round one

Aoriqiling def. Jay Perrin by unanimous decision

Victor Altamirano def. Daniel da Silva by KO in 3:39 of round one

BKFC 27 – Michael “Venom” Page makes his bare knuckle debut against Mike “Platinum” Perry

BKFC make their UK debut on Saturday, August 20th, as they take over London’s Wembley Arena with a massive headline bout, as local hero Michael “Venom” Page takes on former UFC fighter Mike “Platinum” Perry.

Bellator MMA has undoubtedly done BKFC a massive favour by lending “MVP” to BKFC for this event. The knockout artist has considerable drawing power and ticket selling ability, given his brash style and outgoing personality.

Not only this, but by lending Page to BKFC for their London event, they will have undoubtedly made things harder for PFL, as they head to London on Saturday too for their first card in the city, with fans now being forced to pick between the pair.

Style wise, little is known about what Page could bring to the ring on Saturday. The Londoner has never fought without gloves before but has previously boxed with a pro record of 2-0, both wins coming by knockout. “Venom” has also shown one punch knockout power inside the cage, luring opponents onto his sniper like a right cross, sending them to the mat, but MMA and bare knuckle boxing are two very different beasts.

Page will also have to contend with the brazen style of Perry, a fighter who only has forward gears and will try to take the bout into his wheelhouse, bringing Page into a brawl at every possible opportunity.

The American is no slouch, having won his last BKFC bout against Julian “Let Me Bang Bro” Lane (a former TUF contestant) and winning 11 of his 14 MMA bouts by KO.

This is the perfect fight to headline BKFC’s UK debut, a well known home town fighter against a well known American brawler, in what could potentially be a fantastic scrap.

On a slightly sour note, Paige Van Zant, who was scheduled to fight in Saturday’s co-main event, will no longer be on the card.

The former UFC fighter who has recently ventured into bare knuckle boxing and pro wrestling revealed that the decision not to fight wasn’t hers and that she was pulled from the fight with Charisa Sigala earlier this week for undisclosed reasons, stating she was disappointed to not be able to compete.

The rest of the BKFC card looks to have some fun fights, with notable names like Tyler Goodjohn, who made a name for himself in BKB with his aggressive style competing on the undercard, and former Cage Warriors lightweight champion and UFC fighter, Chris Fishgold, also making his first appearance for BKFC.

BKFC 27 can be watched via BKFC’s APP with a monthly subscription for $4.99, allowing fans to watch every fight the promotion puts on.

UFC 278 preview

Salt Lake City plays host to UFC 278 on Saturday night, as Kamaru Usman looks to defend his welterweight title against Leon Edwards in a rematch that has taken seven years to come around.

By Kieran Cobley

Salt Lake City plays host to UFC 278 on Saturday night, as Kamaru Usman looks to defend his welterweight title against Leon Edwards in a rematch that has taken seven years to come around.

Usman comes into the bout on a 19 fight win streak and is in the process of lapping the 170lbs division, having already had rematches with Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington, with his main event bout with Edwards being his third rematch in as many years.

For Edwards, UFC 278 sees his long wait for a title fight end after the Birmingham based fighter went through hell and high water to get his shot, racking up a nine fight win streak (not including his no contest with Belal Muhammed) and being taken out of the rankings for his refusal to fight a then un-ranked, Khamzat Chimaev.

The two last squared off in 2015, but both men have evolved since, and you can take a more in-depth preview of their upcoming bout here.

In the co-main event, Paulo Costa will look to show the UFC were right to let him return to the middleweight division after the fiasco with Marvin Vettori as the Brazilian takes on former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.

Costa’s shenanigans with his last fight, where he notified the UFC that he wouldn’t be attempting to make 185lbs or the then agreed 195lbs, forced the fight into a light heavyweight bout, were highly unprofessional and were rightly criticised by fans and media alike. Now Costa needs to show that he can make 185lbs and keep his name in the division; otherwise, another forced move to 205lbs could be on the cards.

Meanwhile, Rockhold will try to show that he can still beat top quality opponents despite a weakened chin. The former middleweight champion has lost three of his last four bouts by knockout, showing he is susceptible to a heavy punch.

In what could be a title eliminator for the bantamweight division, Merab Dvalishvili squares off with Jose Aldo, the former featherweight king of the UFC.

Dvalishvili is currently riding a five fight winning streak, utilising his heavy wrestling offence to grind out wins over his opponents by sapping their gas tanks. Nowhere is this better illustrated than by his record of 13 takedowns in a fight when he beat Gustavo Lopez back in 2020.

Aldo has looked impressive since moving to 135lbs, and his notorious leg kicks still give his opponents problems to deal with. “The King of Rio” is known for his knockout ability with 16 wins by KO/TKO, and that would look to be his best chance at winning on Saturday, especially if he can avoid hitting the mat with “The Machine.”

Further down the card, Miranda “The” Maverick is in action as she takes on Shanna Young in a flyweight contest to open the ESPN+ prelims. In contrast, Marcin Tybura takes on Alexander Romanov in a heavyweight bout in the evening’s featured prelim.

The action gets underway from 11pm on UfC Fight Pass, with the main card kicking off at 3am.

Fight Card

Main Card

Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards – welterweight title fight

Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold – middleweight bout

Jose Aldo vs Merab Dvalishvil – bantamweight bout

Wu Yunan vs Lucie Pudilova – women’s bantamweight bout

Tyson Pedro vs Harry Hunsucker – light heavyweight bout

Preliminary Card

Marcin Tybura vs Alexander Romanov – heavyweight bout

Leonardo Santos vs Jared Gordon – lightweight bout

Sean Woodson vs Luis Suldana – featherweight bout

Miranda Maverick vs Shanna Young – women’s flyweight bout

A.J. Fletcher vs Ange Loosa – welterweight bout

Amir Albazi vs Francisco Figueiredo – flyweight bout

Aori Qilieng vs Jay Perrin – bantamweight bout

Daniel Lacerda vs Victor Altamirano – flywweight bout

Usman vs Edwards II: Repeat or revenge?

UFC 278 takes place this Saturday, August 20th, in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is headlined by the long awaited rematch between current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-1, 9 KO, 1 Sub) and top contender Leon Edwards (19-3, 6 KO, 3 Sub, 1 NC).

By Kieran Cobley

UFC 278 takes place this Saturday, August 20th,in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is headlined by the long awaited rematch between current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-1, 9 KO, 1 Sub) and top contender Leon Edwards (19-3, 6 KO, 3 Sub, 1 NC).

“The pair first met in 2015, with “The Nigerian Nightmare” scoring a unanimous decision win over Birmingham native Edwards.

But seven years have passed since then, and both men have evolved during that time.

Usman’s reputation of being “boring” fighter who merely goes for decision wins has been shattered, with the TUF 21 winner utilising his wrestling background to take fighters to the mat and keep them there. That was how Usman successfully navigated his first bout with Edwards, securing six takedowns on his way to getting the nod from the judges.

That Usman is long gone. The Usman of 2022 is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, a fighter who can slam you, tie you in a tight clinch, or simply beat the brakes off you with his new found love of striking.

In three of his last five fights, Usman has scored knockout victories over the man opposite him in the Octagon, with those men being very notable: former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington, and last but not least, the BMF of the UFC, Jorge Masvidal.

This ferocity in striking, brought on from working with Trever Wittman in fight camp while training in Sanford MMA in Florida for the rest of the year, has made Usman lethal. Stepping into his boxing range is like putting your head in the mouth of a lion; nothing good can come of it.

Psychologically, Usman will feel good coming into this bout after seeing his brother, Mohammed, win the TUF Heavyweight final two weeks ago and coming into this fight on a run of 19 consecutive wins.

Edwards’ rise to the top of the welterweight division is nothing to sneer at. Since losing to Usman, the Team Renegade talisman has won nine bouts, with a no contest with Belal Muhammed in the mix too.

While Usman was regarded as being boring due to his heavy wrestling style, fans were equally unimpressed with Edwards, seeing him as a point fighter who lacked finishing ability in a division full of fighters who could get the win within the distance.

It was perhaps this fan resentment that caused Edwards to have to wait for so long for his shot; after all, he did have a more legitimate shout for a title fight than Covington or Masvidal did, with the pair getting rematches not long after being soundly beaten by Usman. At the same time, Edwards was forced to consistently hold onto his position at the top of the rankings.

There was also the issue of Edwards being removed from the rankings for not accepting a fight with the then un-ranked Khamzat Chimaev, instead opting to wait it out for either a title shot or a fight with a notable ranked contender, for instance, Nate Diaz, who Edwards beat easily.

That has to be put to the back of Edwards’ head now, and he needs to focus on Usman, a new Usman, a more dangerous Usman. If Edwards underestimates Usman and still believes him to be the same fighter he was in their first meeting, he will be in deep trouble.

There is no obvious way for Edwards to win this fight; slipping in an out of range against Usman is an impossible task given the man’s abilities and movement skills.

The bookies are certainly in favour of Usman in this fight, making him a heavy favourite with odds of ¼ to win and 11/5 to win by either submission or KO.

However, miracles can happen in MMA; Derrick Lewis’ come from behind KO against Aleksander Volkov, Matt Serra’s underdog win against George Saint-Pierre, and JuliannPena’s KO win against the double champ, Amanda Nunes.

A win for Edwards would undoubtedly be one of the most significant underdogs wins ever, but this is one hell of an uphill battle.

5 Fighters To Look Out For In the last quarter of 2022

Nearing the end of 2022, we’ve had exciting fight cards, we’ve had some big knockouts, and we’ve had some big upsets. The UFC has a massive roster and is home to some of the greatest mixed martial artists. In my opinion, I have come up with 5 fighters that we should watch out for in the last part of 2022.

Paddy Pimblett is a British UFC Lightweight fighter who’s burst onto the scene and taken the division by storm with all 3 of his fights resulting in finishes in the early rounds. Within a short time, ‘Paddy the Baddy’ has picked up a massive following, some even suggesting it mirrors Mcgregor’s starting UFC featherweight run. He holds a record of 19 wins and 3 losses, with almost half of his wins coming via Submission, which clearly reflects his 1st-degree black belt achievement. His dominating arrival in the division has seen him awarded Performance of the Night in each fight in the UFC. He also has taken a stand on promoting mental health awareness, as it is something he holds close to his heart, and upholding a “teenage” aesthetic to appeal to and essentially influence the younger generation. He has displayed great skill in his fights. He has overcome a lot of adversity in the fight world, with his ability to drop and gain weight, weighing as much as 205lbs almost a month after his last fight, gaining notoriety and attracting trolls. Paddy has a strong friendship with Molly McCann, also a British UFC fighter in the Women’s Flyweight division, and they are admired massively by the UK UFC scene.

My next fighter is Jiri Prochazka, a Czech Light Heavyweight UFC fighter, and after a win against former LHW Champion Glover Texeira, Jiri is now the current LHW champion. Jiri has a record of 29-3-1 and has dominated all his MMA fights, with 81% of his wins coming from the 1st round. He currently sits on an 11 fight win streak in MMA and dominates his first two UFC fights against two warriors, Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir, winning by KO in the 2nd round on both occasions. He has won Performance of the Night twice in both UFC fights and Fight of the Night against Reyes. He has had 25 KO’s to his name and 3 submission victories throughout his career. His main fight style is Muay Thai, and he highlights this massively as a creative fighter within the Octagon, and his record precedes him with numerous KO victories.

Following on from Prochazka, we move to Swedish UFC welterweight fighter Khamzat Chimaev 12-0, a wrestler who has amazingly burst onto the scene. Firstly, winning 3 fights in 66 days earned him his first award in the UFC; secondly, within his first 4 UFC fights, he showed the world how dominant and skilled he was as a fighter, as he threw 254 strikes and only absorbed two. He knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds. He won numerous breakthrough fighter awards in 2020 from different fight reporters. He also won the award for quickest consecutive wins in modern UFC history, set at 10 days. Chimaev was scheduled to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 279 on September 10th 2022; however, come weigh-in day, chimaev came in 7lbs overweight, so his fight with Diaz was scrapped, and Kevin Holland took Nate Diaz’s place. Chimaev went on to win in dominant fashion finishing Holland via a D’Arce Choke at two minutes thirteen seconds in the first round. His previous fight against Gilbert Burns, that is what set the standard for fans watching to see how Chimaev deals with pressure during a fight. Khamzat delivered perfectly, winning via unanimous decision against Burns, scoring 29-28. He trains alongside Gustafsson in Stockholm, where Gustafsson has stated that he hasn’t met such a tough fighter as Chimaev. Most recently, Chimaev has paired up with Darren Till, which was a big shock to the MMA world, but from what it seems, they are both trainings well and learning from each other.

The next fighter is none other than Islam Makhachev. This Russian lightweight UFC fighter has annihilated his competition, holding a 10-fight win streak, with most of the fights lasting going into the later rounds, proving his durability and having 10 submission victories in total. Training with Khabib and the Dagestani team, they all prove their durability through their intense training methods up in the mountains. Islam trains at AKA, with notable fighters such as Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier and Khabib. Overall in his UFC fights and in UFC history, he has the least absorbed significant strike rate per minute at 0.77, meaning his defence and skillset is top level, and the next lowest rate is 1.04 per minute. He has won Submission of the Month twice and won Fight of the Night once. He is the potential next contender for a title fight, facing Charles Oliveira. However, Dana White wants Islam to face Beneil Dariush to cement his confidence in giving him the title shot. [Although Islam Makhachev vs Charles Oliveria has been slated for October 22nd 2022, at UFC 280].

Talking of Oliveira, he is my last fighter to keep an eye on in 2022. Charles Oliveira, a Brazilian Lightweight fighter, has just come off a big submission victory over Justin Gaethje; however, it didn’t come without controversy, as Charles missed weight and relinquished the belt. However, he remains in the championship picture as the No1 contender. He holds a 33-8, with an 11-fight win streak. He has the record for the most submissions in UFC at 16 victories via Submission. He also has numerous other records, such as the most finishes set at 19, the 3rd longest LW winning streak set at 11 fights, and he holds 12 Performance of the Night awards, and the list continues. His last 3 fights have been against the top 3 LW ranked fighters, and they have grandly dominated them, submitting two and winning via TKO with the other. However, he shows great determination as he recovers quickly from knockdowns or wobbles and manages to clutch the win. He fights out of Chute Boxe in Curitiba, with previous notable fighters such as Anderson Silva, Cris Cyborg and Mauricio Rua, who will go down in the history books. His next fight has been confirmed against Islam Makhachev on October 22nd 2022, at UFC 280.

This concludes my article, and we shall see how the rest of 2022 plays out and see if any of the hype continues.

What is your thought?

georgegough999

UFC ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH ‘FREETRAIN’ FOR LEON EDWARDS IN HIS UPCOMING FIGHT WITH NATE DIAZ

British athlete Leon Edwards will be using Freetrain products ahead of his blockbuster fight with Nate Diaz next month, June 12, 2021.

Freetrain, the innovative fitness and running brand, are proud to announce UFC fighter Leon Edwards as their next athlete ambassador.

British athlete Leon Edwards will be using Freetrain products ahead of his blockbuster fight with Nate Diaz next month, June 12, 2021

Freetrain, the innovative fitness and running brand, are proud to announce UFC fighter Leon Edwards as their next athlete ambassador.

As part of a new initiative to work with exciting sporting talent, Edwards has signed a partnership with Freetrain to see him use Freetrain products in his training camp to prepare for his next fight against American Nate Diaz on June 12 at UFC 263 in Arizona.

The fight was initially due on UFC 262 but was moved to UFC 263 on June 12 after Diaz suffered an injury. The contest will be the first five-round non-title co-main event in UFC history.

The current Freetrain product range includes the Freetrain V1 Vest and the Freetrain VR Vest, which offers an innovative alternative to phone holder armbands.

29-year-old Edwards, based in Birmingham, is the number-three ranked fighter in the UFC 170lbs Welterweight division and is currently riding an eight-fight win streak.

Edwards will be seeking a high-profile win to add to his record after being forced out of action for over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. He was then due to fight Khamzat Chimaev on three different occasions, but the fight was then cancelled due to Chimaev’s COVID-19 issues.

Edwards ended up facing Belal Muhammad as a late-notice replacement in March at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad but an accidental eye poke to Muhammad in the second round ended the fight. The bout was ruled a no contest.

Now Leon “Rocky” Edwards moves on from that fight looking to build on an eight-fight win streak (excluding the no contest), and a win over the 36-year-old American Nate Diaz, who hasn’t fought inside the Octagon in almost 18 months, will put him within touching distance of a shot at the 170lbs title.

James Wren, a co-founder of Freetrain, said: “Being based in Birmingham, we’ve followed Leon’s journey closely over the last few years, and we are extremely excited to be partnering with him and helping him as he prepares for the biggest fight of his career.”

He added: “He is one of the most recognisable names in British MMA and is now within touching distance of a title shot and becoming a UFC champion.”

Edwards said: I’ve been a fan of Freetrain for some time now and have been using the V1 for a while, it’s a pretty simple product, but it does the job for me. Teaming up with the guys seemed like a no brainer, both based in Birmingham, so it was as simple as it gets.”

Last month, Freetrain announced their first athlete partnership with British boxer Conor Benn.

To keep up to date with Leon Edwards and to find out more about http://www.freetrain.co.uk/, visit: http://www.freetrain.co.uk

About Freetrain

The Birmingham based fitness company set up by former Aston Villa youth player Jack Dyer and former Walsall FC goalkeeper James Wren. The pair has created an innovative alternative to phone holder armbands to allow fitness enthusiasts to train smart and train free. Since 2015 when the business launched, they have experienced significant growth, increased their product range, and sold over 150,000 units worldwide in 12 different countries. The product range currently includes the Freetrain V1 Vest and the Freetrain VR Vest, along with other running accessories such as rechargeable illuminate LEDs, water-resistant gloves, reflective gloves and therma hats. To find out more about Freetrain, visit: http://www.freetrain.co.uk/

Exclusive: “I’m going to win the light heavyweight belt, and then I will move up and win the heavyweight belt” – Johnny Walker

Johnny Walker Credit:Fighters Only — Johnny Walker Credit: Fighters Only

Originally posted on 30th October 2019

The 14^th December 2013 is a date that will be forever ingrained in Johnny Walker’s brain. It was that day that Johnny had his first-ever professional mixed martial arts contest at the age of 22, in the heavyweight division. Having had no previous amateur fights, the fight only lasted :49 seconds in round one and Johnny won via TKO, something that he would be doing later throughout his career thus far.

Johnny fought another ten times at heavyweight in Brazil with a combined record of 8-3 before moving down to Light Heavyweight in March 2017, where he had another two fights before relocating to Aberdeen in Scotland in December 2017 for a year.

Johnny had grown up in Brazil all his life, until at the age of 25, he moved across the world to Aberdeen, for an exciting opportunity to help further his MMA career on a global scale.

It was, in fact, Johnny’s coach Leo Gosling who got a proposal/job offer from a businessman in Aberdeen, to go and teach classes in mixed martial arts. Leo stated he would only accept the invite if it included bringing Johnny over too. When Leo and Johnny arrived, they soon realised that it was all a big lie and that the gym owner was broke, which resulted in Leo and Johnny receiving no payment.

These were tough times for Leo and Johnny having travelled from Brazil to Scotland, and now, having no money to live on, their only option was to sleep on gym floors. However, both Leo and Johnny stayed positive and focused on the bigger picture, and Leo managed to get Johnny 3 fights in a month, which not only started to make a name for Johnny on the UK MMA scene (Johnny won the UCMMA light heavyweight title, Feb 2018) but also gave them the much-needed money to survive and progress in the MMA scene.

It wasn’t long after Johnny won his next three fights that he decided to try out for season 2 of ‘Dana White’s contender series in Brazil’ which was held on August 11^th, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This was Johnny’s chance to prove to Dana White that after all the hard work he had put in since 2013, he belonged in the world’s number one promotion. The ‘UFC’.

On Fight Night, Johnny was scheduled to meet Henrique da Silva and was looking forward to showcasing his skills. However, during his warm-up Johnny was physically sick and had a fever. He also got tired within three minutes of warming up, so he chose to stop and conserve his energy for the bout against Henrique.

Johnny went the whole three rounds with Henrique, in which he won every round on the scorecards. This was the only fight thus far that Johnny had left it in the hands of the judges. He won via unanimous decision. “It was a great experience even though I was sick, and I couldn’t make it my best performance,” Johnny said afterwards. “It was the first time that any of my fights have gone to the judges’ scorecards”.

That performance impressed Dana White so much that he rewarded Johnny with a UFC contract.

After that victory, Johnny moved to Southampton, England to train with his coach Leo Gosling, where he met female UK fighter and mum of two Bryony Tyrell. At the time, Bryony part-owned Exile MMA Central, Southampton, and later went on to train with Leo and Johnny in Thailand at Johnny’s gym called ‘Walker MMA’, while preparing for her Bellator debut on 22^nd June 2019. They formed a great bond with each other that still exists today.

Born Walker Johnny Barra Silva de Souza on March 30^th, 1992 in Tingua, Rio de Janeiro, Johnny, his brother Valter and his parents, relocated to Rio das Ostras when he was a teenager, where he lived until he was 25 years old.

Rio das Ostras was a cool place to grow up. The city used to be very safe back then. Johnny would frequently go play out in the street or visit the beach a lot. Unfortunately, as with many children today, some of the kids at school were mean, and for a while, Johnny got bullied for being so tall and skinny.

At 15 years old, Johnny took up one of his first loves, dancing, RIP rop, and Lamaerobica, (which is a Brazilian style of dance), — gradually moving onto lifting weights. Then he moved onto Muay Thai, which he fell in love with after his first lesson.

After leaving school, Johnny started studying Chemistry Engineering but decided that he wanted to follow his dream of becoming a world champion mixed martial arts athlete. After being introduced to Leo Gosling at Leo’s gym, Johnny was offered a scholarship to train in Brazilian Jiujitsu, and Leo invited Johnny to train in MMA as well.

With the mentorship of Leo fully formed, and an incredible bond, even when Leo went to London for a year, Johnny trained at Team Evolucao in the South of Brazil. They then reunited to carry on with their close coach/manager bond that they established.

Starting his MMA career off in the heavyweight division, Johnny knew that weight class was not for him. So, he dropped down to light heavyweight, where the 6ft 5 Brazilian has found great success in the 205lb weight class.

Since being signed to the UFC in 2018, Johnny has had three fights with all of them ending with a first-round win, and a total combined time of 2 minutes 48 seconds in the octagon, gaining three “fight of the night” bonuses while in the process. “Starting my career in the heavyweight division and now in the light heavyweight division, I’m going to win the light heavyweight belt. Then, I will move up and win the heavyweight belt” stated Johnny while we were on the subject on whether he will make a return to the heavyweight division.

If you’re familiar with Johnny Walker, then you will know that after every win in the octagon, Johnny, celebrates by doing a version of what he calls ‘the worm’. However, the last time Johnny did his celebratory ‘worm’, he dislocated his shoulder just before having his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. He then had to have surgery, and this kept him out of competitive action for four months while his shoulder was healing.

“My shoulder is 100% recovered now. I had surgery and have been rehabbing it, and I’m good to go. I will have to look for a new celebration to do when I win as my mum won’t let me do ‘The Worm’ anymore lol,” Johnny says laughing.

Having had six months out of the octagon to rehab his shoulder injury, it has given Johnny plenty of time to spend time with his two dog’s – Pitbull’s named ‘Yoga’, who is the female, and ‘Tanus’, the male. This has given them plenty of time to go down to the beach to chill as well as playing video games. Which at the moment is ‘Call of Duty 4’ online. “I haven’t had time to play the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare yet!”. As well as visiting other gyms to get some more experience, as you can never have enough skills, Johnny has recently come back from spending three weeks at SBG Ireland.

Johnny (17-3), ranked #11 will be facing Corey Anderson (12-4), ranked #7, (according to UFC rankings) on Saturday, November 2^nd at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, at UFC 244.

Looking at these two athletes on paper the only similarities (which are small) is that Johnny is 6ft 5 inches and has an 82-inch reach, whereas Anderson is 6ft 3 inches and has a 79-inch reach.

Anderson is on a three-fight winning streak, all coming by way of decision. In fact, all his fights bar 4 have come by leaving it in the hands of the judges. On the other hand, Johnny is on a nine-fight winning streak, with only one of those wins coming by way of decision back in 2016. That is the only one so far on his overall career record. The rest of his wins have come by way of T/KO and two submissions, with all of those T/KO’s happened in the first round one and one coming in the second round.

With a win over Corey Anderson on Saturday, November 2^nd, it should put him in the top #6 of the light heavyweight division. The question everyone will be asking is, who is next for him? Will he be in title contention to fight the current champion Jon Jones?, Or will it be someone in the top 5? “I’m not bothered by who my next opponent is, I want to fight as soon as possible, within three weeks would be ideal, in Washington, DC, on 7^th December. If not then, then UFC 245 in Vegas on 14^th December.”

UFC 244 takes place on Saturday, November 2^nd, live from Madison Square Garden, New York, NY.

Felice Herrig vs Michelle Waterson ‘10 Years In The Making – Fight Girls’

Originally posted on 6th October 2018

Tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Michelle Waterson and Felice Herrig will finally get the chance to meet in the centre of the octagon for their strawweight battle at UFC 229.

To some, this will be another showcase of the talented females in the strawweight division getting to show why women should be on the main card within the UFC, to others (like myself) this has been a fight 10 years in the making.

Back in 2007, an oxygen original tv show, similar in spirit to The Ultimate Fighter TV series had ten female fighters live together and train together with Muay Thai instructor – Master Toddy, in Las Vegas for six weeks to win a Muay Thai championship in Thailand.

The group of women were then narrowed down to five via a three-round fight between the housemates, the winners got to go to Thailand and the losing fighter was eliminated from the house and the competition.

Felice Herrig and Michelle Waterson were two of the original ten women to compete to try to go over to Thailand and were mentored by Lisa “The black widow” King, who was the original shows winner back in 2006, when there was a one-off documentary with seven female fighters and female Muay Thai & MMA legend Gina Carano.

Whilst Michelle lost her fight to get to go to Thailand, Felice won and set off to Thailand with the rest of the other four finalists, winning her fight in Thailand via TKO.
Felice went back to her kickboxing roots for a further two years before transitioning to MMA in 2009 where “The Lil Bulldog” had arrived.

Having competed for XFC, Bellator and Invicta, Felice was finally signed to The Ultimate Fighter season 20 in 2014.

Michelle transitioned to MMA in 2007 with help from Donald Cerrone at the time and “The Karate Hottie” competed at strawweight and atomweight in which she won the Invicta Atomweight Belt before being signed to the UFC in the strawweight division in 2015.

After Felice’s third win in a row against Justine Kish in 2017, she called out Michelle Waterson citing “she had already been offered the fight and accepted it, but it got taken away from her.”

With Felice Herrig being ranked #9 and Michelle Waterson being ranked #8 in the UFC fighter rankings and given both their shared history, this is one fight not to be missed.

“Cage Warriors is the show where I’m going to make my comeback and win the welterweight title.” – Tom ‘Kong’ Watson

Originally posted on 8th April 2019

Born and raised in Southampton, England, Tom Watson first started in combat sports at the age of 16, when he took up boxing. A three-time ABA Southern Counties Champion and being awarded ‘Amateur boxing standout of the year’ in 2006 was his introduction into mixed martial arts.

Watson made his professional mixed martial arts debut on 19^th February 2006 for a local show at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort in London. On ‘ZT Fight Night 1’ where he won via Guillotine choke in 71 seconds, he returned on the show’s second instalment on June 25^th the same year where he won via decision.

In 2007, Watson competed in five fights for UK promotion Cage Rage gaining a record of two wins and three losses. From 2008 – 2012 Watson fought a further twelve times for promotions Cage Rage, AFC, UCMMA (formerly Cage Rage), MFC and BAMMA. With his sole loss to Jesse Taylor at MFC 26, Watson picked up the inaugural UCMMA middleweight title along with the BAMMA middleweight title when he fought Jack Marshman at BAMMA 9.

With news that Watson has signed to elite European promotion Cage Warriors and will be facing Aaron ‘King’ Khalid at Cage Warriors 104 on April 27^th, 2019 in Cardiff, it was only fitting that I should re-introduce ‘Kong’ to the world.

You’d be forgiven if you are not familiar with Tom ‘Kong’ Watson as of late, with his last competitive fight being on August 8^th, 2015 for the UFC. Spending three years with the world’s number one promotion in the UFC, Watson had two wins and five losses (with those losses coming by way of decisions) for the UFC taking his overall record to 17-9.

Watson was not done with competing and was still actively seeking opportunities to fight in the UFC. Having no success, Watson was released by the UFC and continued to explore roles outside of the UFC, doing some commentary jobs here and there. It was at this point that promotion BAMMA contacted Watson regarding doing some presenting and commentary jobs for them. They also wanted Watson (who had been with BAMMA since their first event up until he signed to the UFC) to compete again for them. This news was music to Watson’s ears as he had not hung up his gloves and retired as many people thought due to his 3-year absence from the sport.

Unfortunately, due to issues out of Watson’s control, BAMMA was no longer a viable option as a promotion to make his long-awaited come back on. Instead, elite European promotion Cage Warriors signed Watson in the welterweight division (Watson previously competed in the middleweight division) in January of 2019.

Watson trains predominately at his state of the art gym called ‘Analysis’ which is located right next to him in Southampton, and with the occasional odd trip back to California to train. Watson is already preparing hard for his upcoming bout for his Cage Warriors debut.

Deciding to cut down to welterweight was an easy decision for Watson. He stated that “quite a few people had told me that I should have been a welterweight when I competed in the UFC as I never really cut any weight. When I look back on my career I do wonder if 170lb was the weight, I should have been competing at, so this is an attempt to test out that theory.”

Not content with winning a UCMMA (formally known as Cage Rage) and BAMMA title, Watson has made it very clear that the aim is to win the Cage Warriors welterweight title stating “I’m not coming here to have a bit of fun or have a couple of fights. I’m coming here to pick up another title to add to the two other titles I have held. I don’t know if there is anybody that has all of those titles, so that is my goal.”

With his first love being boxing Watson is in the middle of applying of getting his trainers license as he has a few guys who are looking to make their pro boxing debut so he can be in their corner.

/With the legalisation of Bare Knuckle Boxing, Watson has a couple of guys that he trains. Watson stated “it is not something that interests me, I do like the idea of fighting without gloves more than with gloves, I think gloves are probably less safe, and bare-knuckle is safer. It’s a big misconception that people think Bare Knuckle Boxing is more dangerous. I’d say it is a lot safer as you can’t do much damage as you break your hands more and you don’t have this protection and mould on your fist to keep punching the shots away. I will say though on bare-knuckle when they wear the wraps; I think it’s like wearing gloves and its worse, so to me, bare-knuckle boxing should be basically without wraps or anything.”

Going back to his time with the UFC, Watson stated “ I competed against the best in the world, and I have never got finished by any of them, only losing by decisions. Quite a few were controversial decisions at best for me. Fighting is fighting and if you are losing a decision sport contest– well I’ve said it before, in the UFC I don’t really see that as losing, just the system and the setup. For instance, if we changed the UFC fight to a no time limit would of I lost any of those fights? I doubt it. It is what it is, that’s the rules you play by. Strategy wise I probably didn’t fight too smart. If you look at the earnings of the people in the UFC, I’m still relatively high up there, and I didn’t win many fights, so, on that basis, well it was smart – possibly.”

For those of you that have followed Watson’s career from the beginning, you will recall Watson enters the cage wearing a gorilla mask, hence why he has the nickname ‘Kong’. As Watson made his last appearance for the UFC in 2015, a new British fighter in the name of Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till was making his debut for the promotion. “I’m not bothered by Darren Till” Watson states, “I believe Dan Hardy gave him the nickname ‘Gorilla’, it is what it is. I think everyone knows ‘Kong’ more than Darren Till’s ‘The Gorilla’.

“Darren Till is a great fighter, but I don’t think he is synonymous with a Gorilla.”

“Cage Warriors is the show where I’m going to make my comeback and win the welterweight title.”

With his debut for his Cage Warriors bout being dubbed ‘King’ vs ‘Kong’, there will only one way to find out if this is the start of a resurgence for Tom ‘Kong’ Watson by tuning into Cage Warriors 104 on April 27^th live on UFC Fight Pass.

Who will be The Baddest Motherf*cker – Diaz vs Masvidal UFC 244?

On Friday, November 2, 2019, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be making their 500^th live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York for UFC 244.

Headlining the event will be a welterweight bout between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz for the newly created ‘Baddest Motherf*cker’ in the game belt.

After a three-year hiatus, Nate Diaz returned on August 17^th, 2019 at UFC 241, with a winning performance over Anthony Pettis reminding us (those that needed reminding), why he is regarded already as one of the ‘Baddest Motherf*ckers’ in this sport by hardcore fans.

Watching cage side was Jorge Masvidal, who by all accounts wasn’t that impressed with Nate’s performance, so when Nate called out Jorge, it was music to his ears.

Coming off a five-second win via knockout of Ben Askren, Jorge Masvidal has of late been surging through the welterweight division this year with back to back violent knockout wins, and in the process, gaining more casual MMA fans due to his aggressive winning style.

The fans and the whole MMA community were begging for this matchup to be made, and to everyone’s delight, it was confirmed that Nate Diaz would face Jorge Masvidal for the Baddest Motherf*cker belt on November 2^nd, 2019 at Madison Square Garden.

With both men having similar losing records Diaz (20 wins), 11 losses, one knockout, one submission, nine decisions, and Masvidal (34 wins) 13 losses, one knockout, two submissions and ten decisions, it comes down to who is the real BMF in this sport.

Although some fans will see this fight as a submission artist in Diaz, having had 11 of his wins come via submission, and knockout artist Masvidal having had 15 of wins come via knockout – a grappler vs striker fight, this couldn’t be further than what it seems on paper.

With official early betting odds coming in as Jorge Masvidal being the favourite over Nate Diaz, with odds ranging from -165 to -179, as stated by Sascha P from Sports Betting Dime, it was only fair that I asked a few other people who they thought would win the BMF belt.

“The American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar – TUF 1 finalist and UFC Hall of Famer says:

“I’m leaning on Masvidal because he’s been wrecking guys.”

Matt Bailey – The MMA Bible and superfan says:

“Masvidal has shown explosive skills recently, however, I feel Diaz will be all too familiar with this, opting to keep distance early on but will close the distance as the fight goes on. I expect this to be a stand-up affair but feel that Diaz will look to turn to his grappling in the latter stages of the fight, and it may well hit the canvas. I’m expecting a lot of clinching and cage work in this fight with Diaz getting the better of Masvidal in these exchanges. Both fighters have exceptional stand-up skills in which I see it being a very fast-paced chess match style. With all of the above said my official prediction is – Nate Diaz via decision.”

Mark Baldwin of FightPost says:

“It’s a difficult fight to pick a winner. Masvidal, after a career slump, is riding into this fight after highlight-reel knockouts of Darren Till and Ben Askren. Masvidal is on the verge of a title shot. A win over Diaz should give him that chance sometime in 2020. The odds slightly favour Masvidal, and that’s the way I see it also. There is every chance Diaz could be too busy, and for me, he has more ways to win. But I think Masvidal gets it done, probably on points, although a late stoppage in his favour can’t be ruled out.”

And as for me, well, if Masvidal can get it done within three rounds he can win, otherwise, as Nate is known as a slow starter and comes alive more as the rounds go on, I see Nate taking it over the five rounds and wins via decision.

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