Issue 112

March 2014

Things we hear, things we see, things we know.

Hendricks found KO power on Expo punch machine

It turns out UFC welterweight contender Johny Hendricks discovered he had heavyweight power in his left hook when trying out a punch machine at the UFC Fan Expo in London in 2010. Hendricks reportedly beat scores laid down by the UFC’s 205lb Jon Jones and 260lb Matt Mitrione, and apparently did the same to heavyweight boxers’ records at a local gym that same week. 

Ex-105-pound Invicta champion to try out for UFC's 115-pound TUF

Former Invicta atomweight champion Jessica Penne has told FO she’s planning to try out for season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, which will feature 115lb females competing to become the first UFC strawweight queen. The UFC adopted the Invicta contracts of 11 strawweight females for the show, leaving four spots to be filled at auditions tentatively set for March. Former 115lb’er Penne, currently ranked second in the world at 105lb, told FO: “I just think it was really good timing. My contract with Invicta was up, I was going to have to wait a lot longer to get my rematch (with 105lb champ Michelle Waterson) and so it was a good time to go.”  

Xtreme Couture reeling after talent departs?

Revered grappling trainer Neil Melanson recently left Las Vegas gym Xtreme Couture for San Diego’s Alliance MMA. It followed a series of high-profile defections such as Michael Chandler’s own move to Alliance and Gray Maynard’s AKA switch, not to mention Martin Kampmann’s January announcement of a hiatus from MMA. Can the former home of Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin and Gina Carano regain its former glory after the slimming of its stable of fighters and loss of Melanson?

UFC co-creator launches Spanish-language MMA reality show

Campbell McLaren, one of the men behind the first-ever UFC event, is helping launch a brand-new reality TV show aimed at America’s large Spanish-speaking population. Combate Americas will follow 10 Hispanic fighters’ efforts to earn a spot in a new promotion of the same name, which, says McLaren, is “specifically created to present the best new Hispanic fighters and to introduce a whole new audience to this highly entertaining sport.” The series was in production in Miami at the end of 2013 and will air on the mun2 channel in the US.