Issue 138
February 2016
In a first for a leading major MMA promotion, a brother and sister fought and won on the same card at One Championship: Spirit of Champions in Decmber. Featherweight 17-year-old Christian Lee was first to take to the cage for his pro debut, and defeated David Meak by TKO in 29 seconds, before 19-year-old strawweight Angela submitted Lena Tkhorevska in round two.
Shanghai, China: 10 points must go
Korean promotion Road FC took the bold decision of abandoning the ‘10 point must’ scoring system at its 27th event. Instead, it pioneered an ‘unlimited points system.’ One point was awarded for each clear strike, takedown, near submission, mount, back mount, clear control on the mat and aggression, as well as five points for knockdowns. Judges must have needed calculators just to keep up.
Reykjavik, Iceland: Odin’s drinking room
The biggest MMA gym in Iceland, Mjölnir MMA, is set to become the first to offer a full-service, Nordic-style bar. And no, it’s not just going to serve kale smoothies and protein shakes when it opens in the summer. Expect the likes of Gunnar Nelson to be enjoying a fully-stocked selection of beer after training.
Seoul, South Korea
Benson Henderson fought for almost three full rounds against Jorge Masvidal before spitting his trademark toothpick out in the UFC Fight Night 79 main event.
St Petersburg, Russia: Medieval times
M-1 Global celebrated its 18th anniversary with a knight to remember. The 63rd edition of its Challenge featured three title bouts on the main card, including the first medieval championship, in which Eugene Bedenko defeated Dmitry Kovrizhina on points in a fight with swords and shields.
Turin, Italy: Combattimento
Bellator MMA has booked its first event outside North America. After announcing plans for a trio of events in London, England and Tel Aviv, Israel; a co-promoted event with Italian kickboxing promotion Oktagon was confirmed for Turin on April 16th. The organization has added UFC veteran Alessio Sakara to its roster for some local star power.
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