BAD COP, GOOD COP

Mirko Cro Cop, UFC Fight Night 64

There were many people who thought 40-year-old Mirko Cro Cop was ‘too old for this s**t’ ahead of the UFC’s first ever show in Poland. However, he came back from the brink of defeat to lay down the law on Gabriel Gonzaga and prove he’s still a lethal weapon.

Two rounds into their Krakow main event, it looked like the Pride legend was ready to hand in his badge and take a pension after a long and celebrated career. He looked dangerously out of his depth as ‘Napao’ took him to the mat and pistol-whipped him from mount.

But the Croatian was in search of justice for a famous 2007 upset. A series of standing elbows dropped Gonzaga to the mat, and some slashing ground ‘n’ pound finished the Brazilian in the third. Cro Cop is back and in the hunt for heavyweights to rematch. They’ve just gotta ask themselves one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punks?

RAGING IN VIRGINIA

Al Iaquinta, UFC Fight Night 63

Al Iaquinta’s hot microphone skills stole the headlines in Fairfax, even overshadowing Jon Anik’s new head of luxurious brown hair, reminiscent of a young George Clooney.

The 155lb’ers post-fight outburst at the UFC boo-boys, in light of his controversial split decision over Jorge Masvidal, was hilarious and cringeworthy all at once.

The usually nonchalant New Yorker had a temper tantrum of epic proportions and forced the Fox Sports production crew to dive for the censor button. Laced with Long Island blasphemies and waving a middle finger at one lucky fan he shouted: “Are you guys booing me? You better not boo me, I fought my f**king ass off tonight! F**k you!” The loser was smiling, the winner was flipping the bird and the magnificently coiffed Anik was almost speechless. Madness.

BELT BLITZ

David Branch, WSOF 20

When World Series of Fighting drew up the bracket for its light heavyweight tournament, its 185lb title holder David Branch was nowhere. Now he’s through to the final and the favorite to claim the belt and become a two-division champion.

Injury blows to Matt Hammil and Ronny Markes, as well as contract issues for Vinny Magalhaes, led to a hastily rearranged field and pitted the Brooklyn native against overmatched late replacement Jesse McElligott.

The 24-year-old looked helpless as he got smashed all over the cage by kicks and knees. His Hail Mary guillotine did nothing but take him into the grappling world of the Renzo Gracie black belt. McElligott took a nap courtesy of the second Von Flue choke of that weekend, and Branch booked his place in the tournament final against Thiago Silva’s conquerer, Teddy Holder.

KARMA IS A B**CH

Marcos Galvao, Bellator 135

If winning Bellator’s 135lb strap wasn’t sweet enough for Marcos Galvao, then taking it from Joe Warren was certainly the icing on the cake. Four years before their title fight at Bellator 135, Warren defeated Galvao in one of the biggest robberies of the year, somehow earning a unanimous decision against the Brazilian despite clearly losing the first two rounds.

‘Loro’ eventually got his revenge in their rematch, as he latched on to a devastating kneebar and yanked back so hard he made Warren scream in agony, forcing ‘Big’ John McCarthy to jump in and save him from a trip to the emergency room.

’FIGHT OF THE YEAR’ CONTENDER

Justin Gaethje vs. Luis Palomino, WSOF 19

Is it us or is WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje becoming must-see viewing every time he steps into the cage?

This time the Grudge standout took on heavy-hitting Peruvian Luis Palomino and the two fight-finishing fanatics proved why they’re fan favorites with an outstanding back-and-forth battle.

Neither man wasted time in slinging heavy leather, dropping each other with haymakers in the first and second round before Gaethje’s superior cardio and power overwhelmed ‘Baboon’ in the third as he was finished via some crushing leg kicks and punches.

RUSSIAN RULE-ETTE

Shamil Abdulkhalikov vs. Mikhail Kolobegov, ProFC 57

Oh, those crazy Russians. They really don’t care about the rules, do they? Just look at the main event at ProFC 57. After three rounds, it looked like Shamil Abdulkahlikov was going to have his hand raised against Mikhail Kolobegov, yet the judges claimed there had been a ‘judicial error’ and demanded one more round.

Despite getting beaten from pillar to post for 15 minutes, Kolobegov threw caution to the wind and landed a Hail Mary flying knee to Abdulkahlikov’s jaw, which sent him face-first to the canvas. Of course, this didn’t sit well with his cornermen, who leapt into the cage to land some strikes of their own on the winner – before everyone else nearby got involved too. The Diaz brothers would be so proud.

HEALTHY DEBATE

Chad George vs. Mark Vorgeas, Bellator 136

We’ve commented on some ‘interesting’ performances by officials in these pages over the years, but this has got to be a first.

Bantamweight veteran Chad George flexed some nifty grappling to choke opponent Mark Vorgeas unconscious with a Von Flue choke on the undercard of Bellator MMA’s trip to Irvine, California in April. But that wasn’t enough for referee Milan Ayers. Oh no.

‘Savage’ sportingly let go of the hold and tried to reason with the third man. “He’s out,” he said. Despite a clearly unconscious body on the canvas in front of him, Ayers actually argued against this diagnosis. “No he’s not,” he replied, and allowed the fight to continue between one fighter who was awake, and one who certainly wasn’t – possibly in an attempt to satisfy some kind of unquenchable blood lust.

“Yes he is! He’s out!” screamed George, which finally forced the issue and the contest was belatedly waved off.

MOST SURPRISING VICTORY

Teddy Holder, WSOF 19

In the world of MMA, things can change at the drop of a hat, as World Series of Fighting light heavyweight Teddy Holder knows only too well. He woke up on the morning of March 28th ready to face UFC vet Clifford Starks, but the MMA gods decided to pull the rug from under him and insert him into a marquee fight with Thiago Silva on three hours’ notice instead after Matt Hamill pulled out ill.

Holder had recently spent 19 months on the sidelines, so most gave the Tennessee native the slimmest chance against the former highly-ranked UFC contender. Yet, a powerful right hook to Silva’s temple and some brutal follow-up ground ‘n’ pound proved any doubters wrong and secured one of the biggest upsets of 2015.

...

Already Subscribed? | Login