UFC 194 finally happens where Jose Aldo meets Conor McGregor for the featherweight title in this highly anticipated bout, whilst Chris Weidman defends his middleweight title against Luke Rockhold in the co-main event being held at the Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
UFC 194 finally happens where Jose Aldo meets Conor McGregor for the featherweight title in this highly anticipated bout, whilst Chris Weidman defends his middleweight title against Luke Rockhold in the co-main event being held at the Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
In what will be a should be a great grappling matchup we see Demian Maia take on Gunnar Nelson in a welterweight bout, whilst Max Holloway and Jeremy Stephens is one to watch for in the striking and fireworks department who meet in featherweight division. With the only change coming to this amazing card in the form of Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger, who replaces the injured Michelle Waterson who will face Tecia Torres in the women’s strawweight division.
Before we can get to any of the fights in hand, we must make sure they are of course all on weight.
Main Card 3 am UK
Jose Aldo (145 lbs) Conor McGregor (145 lbs) – UFC featherweight championship
Chris Weidman (185 lbs) Luke Rockhold (185 lbs) – UFC middleweight championship
Yoel Romero (185b lbs) Ronaldo Souza (186 lbs)
Demian Maia (170 lbs) Gunnar Nelson (170 lbs)
Max Holloway (146 lbs) Jeremy Stephens (145 lbs)
Helen ‘Hellraiser’ Harper will be setting her sights on the bright lights of Las Vegas on December 14th for season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter Trials.
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!”
It’s day two of the IMMAF European Championships at Walsall in Birmingham, where Team UK are competing against several high level teams to gain the ultimate Gold.
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:
Toni Lampinen (Finland) def. Franklyn Rodrigues (Portugal) via Decision (Unanimous)
Sam Slater (Ireland) def. Jussi Pirttikangas (Finland) via unanimous decision
Jack Shore (UK) def. Jonny Martin (N. Ireland) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) (Round 1 – 1:03)
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
On Episode 5 of UFC 193 Embedded, women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey gets a message of encouragement from a big name in news before talking about loss at Ultimate Media Day. Her challenger Holly Holm, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and strawweight challenger Valerie Letourneau also take questions from the media in Melbourne.
After finishing their weight cuts, all parties head to the official weigh-in. Both champions get into heated staredowns, with Rousey and Holm having to be separated on stage.
UFC Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the double-championship fight night at UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm, Saturday, November 14th 2015.
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
On Episode 4 of UFC 193 Embedded, heavyweight Mark Hunt plots his Super Samoan performance on the streets of Melbourne.
Women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey explains alien astronauts and ustronauts, as her challenger Holly Holm hangs tough in a hot tub. Then both women head to Federation Square for open workouts alongside women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and her opponent Valerie Letourneau. Rousey also meets a fellow sports trailblazer, Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne.
UFC Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the double-championship fight night at UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm, Saturday, November 14th 2015.
On Episode 1 of UFC 193 Embedded, women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey makes her way through Melbourne, staying sharp in the gym and embracing her latest wave of media controversy.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, title challenger Holly Holm goes to dinner with her family, to the chiropractor and to the gym for her last day of tough training.
UFC Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the double-championship fight night at UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm, Saturday, November 14th.
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.
This ‘incident’ happened on September 2nd 2015, just over one month on I thought I would re-cover the said ‘incident’ and put this ‘attempted’ awful crime that happened back out there for even more people to see.
Monique Bastos and her friend were on their way to jiu-jitsu training in Acailandia, Brazil when two men demanded their phones!
Much to their surprise, Bastos turned out to be an MMA fighter and wouldn’t let them get away with their actions.
“I’ve been through this a few times before, and it’s the second time I fought back,” she told MMAFighting.com.”There were two guys, and they were using knives, but I was able to use my jiu-jitsu and get my phone back. It’s a huge risk, but I did it to defend myself and my friends, so I used what I learned.”
In the video above, you can see how Bastos managed to capture the would-be thief and then subdued him by a figure four leg lock around his neck to stop him from moving until the authorities showed up. Now, that’s some serious strength!
Five Rounds with Emma 
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