Issue 161
December 2017
No shortage of crazy goings on in mixed martial arts.
1. Purple pin
Edmonton, Canada
On the slightly lower end of the gruesome scale (but still pretty horrible), Gilbert Melendez ended up with one of the most mangled legs we’ve ever seen after his run-in with Jeremy Stephens at UFC 215. ‘El Niño’ toughed it out for 15 minutes, but we don’t know how, given the pictures his wife, Keri, shared in the days after.
2. Stumpy
Battle Ground, Washington
Now at the top of that gruesome barometer. Half a finger shouldn’t stop Ed Herman from competing in the Octagon, because that’s what he was left with after a plumbing accident. ‘Short Fuse’ described on Twitter how a pipe well head ripped part of his digit off . He also kindly shared a picture, but if you want to see the gory details, we’ll let you find it for yourself by searching his social media. Ouch!
3. Bobble
San Jose, California
Are great bouts between elite fighters like Benson Henderson vs. Patricky Pitbull and Lorenz Larkin vs. Paul Daley not enough? Fans hardly needed bribing to come to the SAP Center for Bellator 183, but a free Fedor Emelianenko bobblehead, with ‘The Last Emperor’ wearing his ‘Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory’, for the first 5,000 ticket holders didn’t hurt sales.
4. Reality check
London, England
BAMMA may have found an unlikely star. Despite coming from a TV show built on heavy drinking and partying, Aaron Chalmers from MTV’s Geordie Shore – the UK’s equivalent of Jersey Shore – is now 2-0 as an MMA professional after knocking out Alex Thompson at the world-famous Wembley Arena. Using no exaggeration, it was a stunning salvo. That’s two pro debutants he’s finished in the first round now, so let’s see if he can hang with anyone that has a little experience next time.
5. Get down
Wonju, South Korea
Chris Barnett didn’t have a good night at Road FC 41. He took a direct kick to the balls and then got knocked out by Hyun Man Myung moments later. That didn’t stop ‘Huggy Bear’ from getting the DJ to drop a beat and treating fans to an impromptu breakdance in the middle of the cage. You can’t deny that he moves well for someone who’s 5'9" and 300lb.
6. Hostile territory
Kaspiysk, Dagestan
Diego Brandao’s loss to Akhmed Aliev at Fight Nights Global 73 will go down as a TKO loss due to ‘retirement’, but you can hardly blame the guy for leaving the cage before the fight was officially over. After some mid-fight controversy stemming from an alleged ear-bite and strikes after the referee had called a halt to the action, the crowd turned against the Brazilian. While he was waiting for a restart, bottles started to fly towards him, so he decided to get out of Dodge. This is a man who fought Conor McGregor in his backyard of Dublin, so things must have gotten hairy for him to try and escape.
7. Cover and roll
Munich, Germany
Credit to the referee in the Aggrelin 19 main event for some first-class striking defense. He called a halt to the main event title fight when Wilhelm Ott appeared to tap after Nihad Nasufovic’s rear naked choke, but Ott wasn’t happy. He attacked with some brutal body blows, but the official covered up with a textbook tight guard to deflect all damage.
8. Wrong direction
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Drugs, depression, getting shot – life has been tough for Paulo Filho since his days as a Pride star and WEC champion. The Brazilian seemed to have got his life on track in recent months, but MMA Fighting reported he was back in hospital after he accidentally drove the wrong way on a road that was under construction and collided headfirst with another car. Oh, Paulo.
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