Verbal Violence: Quarterfinals

This tournament consists of eight of the greatest verbal heavyweights in our sport engaging in verbal violence, a competition that only really exists and makes sense in my head. Bouts will be judged on such things as the ability to use puns effectively, swearing, and actually pointing out things that are interesting in a fight. Points may be deducted for unwarranted hyperbole, useless information and ignoring the fighters to talk about people in the crowd, Randy Couture's new movie, etc.  

Mike Goldberg (UFC) vs Micheal Schiavello (HDnet)

The first quarter final sees the UFC's Mike Goldberg take on the well travelled Australian Micheal Schiavello. While Goldberg has been tried and tested on the biggest stage, Schiavello has valuable international experience, having said “Goodnight Irene” very loudly all over the world.

Round 1:

The round begins with both fighters tentatively but dutifully describing the action, in spite of the action consisting mostly of feints and leg kicks. Goldie hands Schiavello an easy opening saying “Anderson Silva like in his use of the clinch is Fabricio Werdum, Joe”, but Schiavello fails to capitalise by pointing out that no, he isn't.

Cage Warriors' (Somehow Overlooked) Female 125lb Tournament

Sexton vs Daly was epic.
Photo via cagequeen.co.uk

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship is currently putting on some great shows in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. In its female flyweight tournament, they have featured three of the top ten fighters in the world, with very little fanfare from the MMA community. I had a very brief moan about Rosi Sexton's exciting victory over Aisling Daly being somewhat overlooked by the MMA media over the weekend. Now I'd like to give and over view of the Cage Warriors women's flyweight tournament so far and give a little preview of the final which should come later this year.

Fight videos and commentary after the jump.

Where's the love for Sexton vs Daly?

Last night was an all round confusing one for me. Cage Warriors Fighting Championship put on a stellar show of fights, streamed free at MMA Junkie, headlined by a heavyweight title bout between Mike Hayes and DJ Linderman. The first perplexing part was to see two relatively pedestrian heavyweights flop around at the top of a card that featured two fighters (Rosie Sexton and Aisling Daly) right at the top of their division. The other strange part of the night was that in a night of great fights put on by arguably the biggest promotion in Europe, most of my favourite internet haunts were keeping quiet about it.

In hindsight, I understand that the two fights above the women's flyweight tournament semifinal were title fights and that promoters want those title fights to headline. However, perhaps the Sexton vs Daly fight should not have been on this card at all.

As for the lack of coverage, I can attribute that to this bout being held in Europe and there being a general lack of attention for European MMA. When you add that to the lack of attention women's MMA tends to get, you would expect even a massive fight like this one to get overlooked. That we can expect the MMA media to miss a fight between two top ten fights in a weight class is a pretty sad state of affairs.

MMA Writers Should Strive to be Professional

In the last month, there have been a few incidents which have led to a fair amount of criticism for certain big name fighters. Nick Diaz has been criticized for his inability to produce his medical marijuana card and for his World Ju Jutsu Expo no show. Alaistair Overeem has been lambasted for his recent suspension for having an abnormal testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.

Two other fighters have caught my eye with comments recently, reflecting on the way the media treat fighters when allegations arise. Chael Sonnen has been pretty critical of the media's judgmental reaction to Alaistair Overeem's suspension. Sonnen believes that since no banned substance was found in Overeem's system, media members who criticized him for cheating did so without knowing the full facts. Josh Thomson has recently voiced his own reaction to the way the MMA media talks about fighters in an interview with TapouT Radio (and quoted at Bloody Elbow). He was reacting to rumours being circulated that he had sustained serious injury while training for his upcoming fight with Gilbert Melendez. Thomson was worried that irresponsible people were writing things without thinking through the consequences for the fighters, in this case giving Melendez a heads up to a potential weakness.

jiMMA is back!

jiMMA has been on hiatus for a few weeks, while I have been trying out staff writing over at a Fansided blog called DocOctagon. Staff writing was fun, but I'm coming back to writing two or three times a week until I get the chance to write for a bigger blog.

Jessica Penne vs Lisa Ellis-Ward Preview

Recent History


While Lisa Ellis-Ward has lost her last two fights, those losses were to two of the biggest names in the lower weight classes, Megumi Fujii and Jessica Aguilar.  For this fight, Ellis-Ward drops down to 105 lbs.  Jessica Penne is fighting for the first time since the end of 2010, for which she blames the trickiness of finding appropriate opponents in her weight class.  That fight was a submission victory over Amy Davis.

via womentalksports

Invicta FC One: Coenen vs Ruyssen Preview

Women's MMA is in the spotlight this weekend as all female promotion Invicta Fighting Championships hosts its first ever event.  The event takes place in Kansas and is streamed live through the Invicta FC website.  When you combine a really strong first card with the fact that there is no Bellator or UFC card happening this weekend, the MMA community should really keep their eyes on Invicta this weekend.

via kampfkunst

Can Invicta FC Flourish?

This weekend, all-female promotion Invicta Fighting Championships will put on their first event in Kansas. With a weekend free of UFC and Bellator events, a really strong card and the event being streamed for free on the Invicta website, chances are that this event will garner some attention. With women's MMA seemingly on the rise just now, I would like discuss whether a newly started organisation like Invicta has a chance of succeeding and whether such an organisation is preferable to a Zuffa run female MMA organisation.

Jon Jones defeats Rashad Evans, Highlights Video and discussion.

At UFC 145, Jon Jones defeated Rashad Evans to retain his light heavyweight title for the third time. He did so by dominating the next best fighter in the division without getting into any serious trouble. The post fight discussion though, has seen people call the fight disappointing for one of two reasons; it was not exciting enough or Jon Jones did not look great in his win. I think Jones looked fantastic and I was on the edge of my seat all the way through the fight.

UFC 145 - Looking For Upsets

You may have heard that Jon Jones will defend his light heavyweight title at UFC 145 against former training partner Rashad Evans, or you might have been living in a cave.  Anyway, it just so happens that this is just the headlining fight of a really interesting card.  It seems like the UFC has decided that since the main event is a sure fire pay-per-view seller, they can fill up the under card with lesser known fighters.  Well that's just fine because as unknown as some of the fighters may be, some intriguing fights are in the offing.  On paper, it seems like a night of fights with pretty clear favourites, so let's have a look where the possible upsets lie.

Support jiMMA's other bits and pieces!

As well as writing jiMMA, I am also writing articles for MMA magazines and more mainstream news outlets.  Here are a few links to some bits and bobs I have been doing recently.

Huffington Post Blog on UFC 145
The Local article on UFC: Sweden
Contributions at MMAPlus Magazine

Take a look and show plently of love to MMA Plus, it promises to be an awesome, interactive digital publication!

UFC 145 Jones vs Evans: Love Lost

One of the most anticipated bouts in the UFC's history finally takes place this Saturday as former friends and training partners Jon “Bones” Jones and “Sugar” Rashad Evans fight for the UFC light heavyweight title.

In 2005, a young mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling named Rashad Evans joined Greg Jackson's fight camp in Alburquerque, New Mexico. On the road to winning the light heavyweight belt, he helped build Jackson's gym into one of the most successful and famous in the sport. By 2009, a new young fighter was making waves in the division and Jackson asked Evans how he would feel about inviting Jon Jones into the camp. Evans was excited by the youngster's potential and took him under his wing. The two developed a brotherly relationship and vowed never to fight one another.

Another Week, Another Awesome Bellator Card.

Around a month ago, I wrote a quick piece about how excited I was that Bellator was back.  In spite of the postponed and then cancelled heavy weight tournament final catastrophe, Bellator has continued to put on solid cards that repeatedly deliver, to the extent that I wonder why more people aren't watching.  This Friday sees an awesome card, headlined by Eddie Alvarez's long awaited rematch with Shinya Aoki, but also features three tournament semi finals.

Sheila Gaff Knocks Out Jennifer Maia - Controversial?

On Saturday night, Sheila "The German Tank" Gaff ran over Jennifer Maia at Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 in Dubai in just ten seconds.  With the win, she advances  to the final of a four woman 125lb tournament and faces the winner of Aisling Daly and Rosi Sexton later this year.

For Gaff, that was her sixth knockout and tenth career finish out of ten career wins.  The knock out has been surrounded by controversy though as people worry that she took advantage of Maia's lowered guard, when she was looking to touch gloves and knocked her out with a sucker punch.

Women's Bantamweight (135lb) Division - Who's Who?

I am going to sort you all out with a veritable who's who of women's MMA.  I will take Fightmatrix's rankings and give you a run down of who these women are.  This will lead up to a piece about the depth, potential and future of women's MMA.

1 - Ronda Rousey (5-0)


Even if  you are not a fan of women's MMA, you should probably have heard of Ronda Rousey by now.  She is an elite judo player, having won a bronze Olympic medal and has used that base to run through her first five professional opponents, winning every fight by armbar in the first round.  Coming into her most recent fight against Miesha Tate, there was some discussion about whether she could win as easily as she had previously against a much lower level of opposition.  In the end she dispatched Tate towardsn the end of the first round.

Although Rousey dealt with some striking aggression from Tate in that fight, she has yet to face an opponent who attacks from the outside, refusing to clinch.  With only one and a half years as an MMA fighter, it remains to be seen where Ronda's stand up game is as yet.  That being said, she has not needed it so far.  Rousey's next test comes against Sarah Kaufman (#2), although no date has been set for that bout yet.

Tear Up 8 - In photos

On Saturday 18th March, Tear Up 8 went down at the City Academy in Bristol.  In a massive hall, a 24ft caged platform was erected, surrounded by 50 VIP tables and hundreds of standard seats.  The roominess of the venue, with waited tables, martial arts demonstrations, food and bar lent the event a special air of comfort rarely seen at an MMA event.  Modern MMA events are certainly rarely bloody slugfests held in pub car parks, but Tear Up 8 was a perfect example of how the production of a live show can highlight all the best things about MMA and its community.

I reviewed the event over at MMAplus, but here are some of the photos that my friend Philip Aldridge shot throughout the evening.  I'd be grateful if anyone can put names to some of these faces, then I can caption a few more of the photos, just hit the comment section.

Wes "The Immortal" Murch Celebrates Submission Victory

Bellator is Back!

Bellator is back with season 6, including tournaments in five weight classes.  Most MMA promotions, big and small, are lovable for their own reasons.  I love the UFC because it has most of the best fighters and I love the over top American-ness of it.  I love to watch any event that HDnet covers so I can hear some Schiavello commentary and local promotions all have charms of their own.  Bellator sets itself aside though because its tournament format works for so many reasons.  I have previewed Bellator 60 over at MMAplus,  but below are some of the reasons this promotion is great.

via mmavalor

What's Next for Ronda Rousey?

Ronda Rousey is the new Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion, having broken Miesha Tate's arm in the fifth minute of the first round of their title fight.  Having won her first four professional bouts by armbar within the first minute, there was some debate over whether Rousey would be able to do the same to the accomplished and experienced Tate.

I was very surprised that Ronda Rousey was able to do to Miesha Tate what she was able to do all her other opponents so far.  The only sign that Miesha Tate was the highest caliber opponent she had faced so far was that it took four and a half minutes rather than one and two attempts to lock in a devestating armbar.  Strikeforce now have a star for their 135lb champion and the opportunity to really drive forward the division.

Kaufman vs Davis Preview

As Ronda Rousey finds herself fighting for a title in a weight class she has never fought in, the number two fighter in the division finds herself buried on the preliminary card.  This might well be the fight that determines who challenger for the title next and exposure on the main card would certainly have helped build the next title fight in the division.

Kaufman must put her disappointment to one side though as she faces an opponent in Alexis Davis, who is well capable of upsetting the apple cart.

via womentalksports

Rousey vs Tate Preview

Since Zuffa, the UFC's parent company, bought Strikforce last year, there has been a lot of speculation over what will happen to the female divisions. In the past, UFC President Dana White has been adamant that women will never fight in the UFC. White has been known to change his mind and this Saturday Tate and Rousey have the chance to give him food for thought in one of the most high profile and eagerly awaited female fights for years.  I broke down the card over at MMAplus, but here is the slightly more opinionated jiMMA version.

I may not have enjoyed the manner of the fights promotion, but there is no doubt that this fight has garnered more interest than any female MMA bout in a long time.  On Saturday night, women's mixed martial arts may well take a giant leap towards the spotlight.

via 5thround