Rich Franklin and Dustin Hazelett tapped World MMA Awards finalists

By Dann Stupp | Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 07:09 PM

Rich Franklin and Dustin Hazelett, UFC fighters who both live in West Chester Twp., were today named finalists in the 2009 World MMA Awards.

The World MMA Awards, operated by Fighters Only magazine, are the leading industry awards for the sport of mixed martial arts. The month-long nominate stage will now be followed by a two-month voting stage that closes Dec. 5.

Franklin earned a nomination for Fight of the Year, and Hazelett is a finalist for Submission of the Year.

Franklin was specifically nominated for his June fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99, which took place in Cologne, Germany, and aired on pay-per-view. Franklin won the hotly contested fight via close unanimous decision.

Hazelett’s nomination stemmed from a November 2008 victory over Tamdan McCrory at UFC 91. Hazelett, who’s one of the welterweight division’s fastest-rising contenders, used a slick first-round arm-bar to pick up the victory (as well as a $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus from the UFC). Like Franklin, Hazelett trains at Jorge Gurgel’s MMA facility in West Chester.

Voting (in 18 different categories) for the World MMA Awards is now underway at www.worldmmaawards.com. Winners will be revealed at a Dec. 30 ceremony in Las Vegas that airs live on Versus.com (and via delay on Versus throughout January).

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OSU legend Mark Coleman out of UFC 106

By Dann Stupp | Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 08:07 PM

An injury has forced Mark Coleman out one of his biggest career fights on one of the year’s biggest mixed-martial-arts cards.

Coleman, a former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion at Ohio State University, was slated to fight ex-UFC champ Tito Ortiz on Nov. 21 at UFC 106 in Las Vegas. The fight was the pay-per-view broadcast’s co-main event behind the headliner of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin.

However, a knee injury (torn MCL) has forced the 44-year-old Coleman off the card.

Ortiz first broke the news on Twitter and said Coleman “sissied” out of the fight. However, the injury is legit and will likely keep Coleman out until 2010.

No replacement has been named.

The fight was supposed to be Coleman’s first since he upset Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100 in July.

Coleman was an early UFC fighter and the organization’s first-ever heavyweight champion. But he left the UFC in 1999 to fight in Japan, where MMA was more lucrative at the time. However, in 2008, Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and promptly announced he had signed a new deal with the UFC. After a lackluster loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his return fight in January, many dismissed Coleman. But the Bonnar victory earned him a second life.

Coleman, a former heavyweight, dropped to 205 pounds for his recent UFC fights and recently told the Dayton Daily News he’s in the best shape of his career, thanks to his new training camp in Las Vegas.

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After latest win, Kennedy proves marketable contender for Strikeforce

By Dann Stupp | Sunday, September 27, 2009, 12:08 PM

Tim Kennedy (11-2) delivered previously un-beaten Zak Cummings (11-1) his first career loss and improved his stock in Strikeforce’s intriguing middleweight division in the main event of the Friday, Sept. 25, Strikeforce Challengers event.

The show took place at the SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby, Okla., just outside of Tulsa, and aired on Showtime.

Kennedy easily scored takedowns and battered his opponent with an effective ground-and-pound assault. After nearly ending the fight with a standing guillotine, Kennedy ultimately forced the second-round tap-out via north-south choke.

Kennedy, a member of the Army’s Special Forces who recently signed on with the Texas National Guard so he could continue fighting full-time, has proven he can hang with the world’s top 185-pounders. He’s a well-spoken, insightful American hero who has a great story about joining the military following the events of 9/11.

As Strikeforce uses its Showtime and CBS deals to nip at the heels of the UFC, Kennedy could be one of the organization’s most marketable stars.

In other action at Friday’s event, former U.S. Olympic wrestling team captain Daniel Cormier (1-0) made a successful pro MMA debut and stopped a game Gary Frazier (0-1) with punches in the second round. Cormier, though, is still green and needs to quickly pick up some jiu jitsu to take advantage of his ability of taking the fight to the ground.

Welterweight prospect Tyron Woodley (4-0), a former University of Missouri All-American wrestler, again was impressive as he shut down Zach Light (6-9) via submission. Woodley is explosive, athletic and quick. And if Strikeforce doesn’t rush the youngster along too quickly, he could prove to be the real deal.

The full results from Friday’s event included:

Tim Kennedy def. Zak Cummings via submission (north-south choke) - Round 2, 2:43

Ray Sefo def. Kevin Jordan via TKO (injury) - Round 2, 0:24

Tyron Woodley def. Zach Light via submission (armbar) - Round 2, 3:38

Thomas Longacre def. Travis Calanoc via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Daniel Cormier def. Gary Frazier via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 3:39

Jeri Sitzes def. Lacey Schuckman via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 2:18

Paul Bradley def. Levi Avera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Trey Houston def. Brandon Gaines via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 2, 1:28

Kenny Giddens def. Jon Carson via submission (D’arce choke) - Round 2, 4:15

Josh Pulsifer def. Nick Gibbons via submission (D’arce choke) - Round 1, 1:05

Dillon Smith def. Lemont Davis via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 1:15

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Fighters make weight for Friday’s Strikeforce-Showtime event

By Dann Stupp | Friday, September 25, 2009, 10:14 AM

Strikeforce returns to Showtime tonight for its latest “Strikeforce Challengers” installment.

Strikeforce, one of the top organizations behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship, features two of the sport’s top middleweight prospects when current U.S. soldier Tim Kennedy (10-2) takes on undefeated Zak Cummings (10-0).

The “Challengers” series is designed to showcase prospects, though the California-based organization usually books a fight or two with proven commodities.

Also competing on the televised main card tonight are kickboxing legend Ray “Sugarfoot” Sefo, who competes in MMA for the second time, as well as former U.S. Olympic wrestling team captain and MMA newcomer Daniel Cormier (0-0) and former University of Missouri All-American wrestler Tyron Woodley (3-0).

The event takes place at the SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby, Okla. The Showtime portion of the card airs at 11 p.m.

This event is the final one before Strikeforce makes its CBS debut on Nov. 6 with Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0). However, events will air on both CBS and Showtime in the future.

The full weigh-in results for this latest event include:

MAIN CARD

Zak Cummings (186) vs. Tim Kennedy (186)

Kevin Jordan (236.6) vs. Ray Sefo (240.8)

Zach Light (170.4) vs. Tyron Woodley (171)

Travis Calonoc (146.6) vs. Thomas Longacre (148)

Daniel Cormier (250.2) vs. Gary Frazier (245.2)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Lacey Schuckman (121) vs. Jeri Sitzes (120.4)

Levi Avera (175.4) vs. Paul Bradley (176.6)

Brandon Gaines (187.8) vs. Trey Houston (183.6)

John Carson (155.8) vs. Kenny Giddens (155.2)

Nick Gibbons (147) vs. Josh Pulsifer (147.6)

Lemont Davis (168.4) vs. Dillon Smith (169.4)

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NFL great Herschel Walker, 47, signs MMA deal

By Dann Stupp | Monday, September 21, 2009, 07:16 PM

Two-time NFL Pro Bowler and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker has signed a deal the mixed-martial-arts promotion Strikeforce and will make his pro MMA debut sometime in early 2010, the organization today announced.

Walker is 47 years old, which isn’t exactly working in his favor.

Also not working in his favor? Walker has no professional fighting experience, though Strikeforce executives say the famed running back holds a fifth degree black belt in the martial art Tae Kwon Do.

Still, from a marketing standpoint, it’s not a bad move for Strikeforce, which recently signed a deal to air quarterly shows on CBS (with the rest of its events airing on Showtime). Walker’s name alone should pull in some viewers and help ticket sales. Many major outlets, including ESPN, and the MMA media covered the story today, so it’s also providing the organization some publicity.

However, Walker isn’t anywhere ready for the sport’s top fighters, and Strikeforce officials will have to work diligently (and strategically) to find an opponent that provides a fair match-up while also maintaining some sense of legitimacy.

Walker isn’t the only former NFL player to try MMA. Four players (including former No. 1 draft pick Marcus Jones) appear on the current 10th season of the UFC’s reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter,” on Spike TV And Others such as former Cincinnati Bengal Michael Westbrook and Indianapolis Colt Rex Richards have actually had pretty successful careers.

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West Chester Twp.’s Franklin KO’d in UFC 103 headliner

By Dann Stupp | Sunday, September 20, 2009, 03:46 AM

DALLAS - A grazing punch hit Rich Franklin in the top of the head. He saw stars. He dropped to the mat. And he remembers little else.

The former UFC middleweight champion suffered another setback on Saturday, Sept. 19, and dropped a first-round TKO loss to fellow ex-champ Vitor Belfort.

Their fight, held at a catch-weight of 195 pounds, was part of a 13-fight lineup at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Two fights aired on Spike TV and the main card, including the Franklin vs. Belfort headliner, was available on pay-per-view.

Both fighters largely played it safe in the first few minutes of the main event fight. Each bounced in and out of the pocket and rarely threw or connected on more than a few punches in each spurt. In fact, it was a seemingly innocent shot that did the most damage.

Nearly three minutes into the round, Belfort connected with a looping left hand that grazed the top of his opponent’s head. The blow wobbled Franklin, who fell to the mat, and Belfort quickly followed with a barrage of punches before Franklin could ever shake off the cobwebs.

“Once you get clipped, everything goes blank,” Franklin, who’s now lost two his past three to drop to 25-5, said after the fight. “I’m sure things, bits and pieces, will come back once I get back to the locker room.

The ending shocked the soldout crowd of 17,428, most of whom were clearly supporting Franklin, who headlined his third UFC card of the year.

Belfort (19-8), who returned to the UFC for the first time in more than four years, picked up his fifth straight win with the victory, which came at the 3:02 mark of the first round. In the night’s post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White didn’t rule out the possibility of Belfort getting a shot at current middleweight champion Anderson Silva in his next bout.

As for Franklin, White praised his loyalty and said the former high school math teacher “will always have a home in the UFC.”

But what does Franklin want?

“Losing definitely wasn’t part of my plans,” he said. “I’m going to have to let the dust settle and figure that out.”

OFFICIAL UFC 103 RESULTS:

Vitor Belfort def. Rich Franklin via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:02

Junior Dos Santos def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via submission (verbal) - Round 3, 2:00

Paul Daley def. Martin Kampmann via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:31

Josh Koscheck def. Frank Trigg via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:25

Tyson Griffin def. Hermes Franca via knockout (punches) - Round 2, 3:26

Efrain Escudero def. Cole Miller via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 3:36

Tomasz Drwal def. Drew McFedries via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 1:03

Jim Miller def. Steve Lopez via TKO (injury) - Round 2, 0:48

Nick Lentz def. Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Rick Story def. Brian Foster via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 2, 1:09

Eliot Marshall def. Jason Brilz via split decision (30-28, 27-30, 30-27)

Vladimir Matyushenko def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Rafael Dos Anjos def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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UFC 103 live updates from Dallas: Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort

By Dann Stupp | Saturday, September 19, 2009, 06:21 PM

DALLAS - The Dayton Daily News is on scene for tonight’s UFC 103 event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Tonight’s event features a main event of former UFC middleweight champion and West Chester Twp. resident Rich Franklin (27-4) vs. fellow ex-champ Vitor Belfort (18-8) at a catch-weight of 195 pounds.

The 13-fight lineup includes six un-aired preliminary cards (6:20 p.m.), two fights on Spike TV (9 p.m.) and then the night’s five-fight lineup on pay-per-view (10 p.m.).

Refresh often; live updates will be posted throughout the evening.

Rob Emerson (10-8) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (12-4)

RESULT: Rob Emerson used an effective sprawl to avoid much of his opponent’s ground game, but Rafael dos Anjos slowed the former cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter 5” with a series of devastating inside leg kicks to slow his opponent and score some late-fight takedowns. Although a lot closer than the judges’ scores would indicated, dos Anjos picked up the unanimous-decision victory with shutout scores of 30-27 on all three cards. Rafael Dos Anjos def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Igor Pokrajac (21-6) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (22-5)

RESULT: After the UFC struck a deal with Affliction Entertainment and picked up most of the company’s roster of fighters back in July, Vladimir Matyushenko returned to the UFC for the first time in six years. Although the fight did little to please the Dallas crowd, the “Janitor” won all three rounds and topped Igor Pokrajac, a sparring partner of co-main-event fighter Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, via unanimous decision. Vladimir Matyushenko def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (30-27, 20-27, 30-27)

Jason Brilz (17-1-1) vs. Eliot Marshall (7-2)

RESULT: After two fairly lackluster bouts before it, Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall did little to re-energize the crowd with a sloppy and slow-paced stand-up affair. In an indication of just how difficult the light-heavyweight bout was to score, each fighter earned the shutout victory on one judge’s card. Eliot Marshall def. Jason Brilz via split decision (30-28, 27-30, 30-27)

Brian Foster (12-4) vs. Rick Story (8-3)

RESULT: The night’s first crowd-pleaser came via courtesy of Brian Foster and Rick Story, who kept a frantic pace throughout the first round of their lightweight bout. Despite suffering an apparent broken nose in that round, Story took control in the second, scored a takedown and locked in a fight-ending choke. Rick Story def. Brian Foster via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 1, 1:09

Rafaello Oliveira (9-1) vs. Nick Lentz (19-3-1)

RESULT: After a close first round, Nick Lentz took control in the second and used a steady mix of stand-up and ground fighting to wear down fellow UFC newcomer Rafaello Oliveira. Lentz, who entered the UFC as a replacement for injured Dan Lauzon, fired off a variety of submission attempts but ultimately suffered for the decision win, which pushed his current win streak to seven. Nick Lentz def. Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Steve Lopez (12-2) vs. Jim Miller (15-2)

RESULT: Steve Lopez’s only reprieve from Jim Miller’s five-minute-plus offensive onslaught came in the form of a dislocated shoulder. Miller, now 4-1 in the UFC’s deep 155-pound division, battered the lightweight UFC newcomer with big blows, including a body kick that stunned Lopez late in the first round. But when Lopez tried to counter with a left jab early in the second round, his shoulder popped out of place and forced a TKO stoppage due to the injury. Jim Miller def. Steve Lopez via TKO (injury) - Round 2, 0:48

Tomasz Drwal (17-2) vs. Drew McFedries (8-6)

RESULT: After moving from light heavyweight down to middleweight, Tomasz Drwal showed no ill signs from the drop and easily handled Drew McFedries in the opening bout on Spike TV. Drwal did damage late in the first round and locked in a choke that was spoiled by the bell. But after forcing the fight to the mat early in the second round, he finally forced the tap-out. Tomasz Drwal def. Drew McFedries via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 1:03

Cole Miller (15-3) vs. Efrain Escudero (12-0)

RESULT: Despite dealing with a significant height and reach disadvantage, Efrain Escudero, the lightweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 8,” avoided Cole Miller’s dangerous ground game and ultimately connected on a brutal combination of punches late in the first round. The knockout victory pushes the rising prospect’s record to a perfect 13-0. Efrain Escudero def. Cole Miller via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 3:36

Hermes Franca (20-8) vs. Tyson Griffin (14-2)

RESULT: While no doubt an exciting fighter who’s posted an unbelievable five Fight of the Night award performances in just five career UFC fights, Tyson Griffin was often criticized as a non-finisher. However, behind the power of a straight right that dropped his opponent, Griffin laid out former top UFC lightweight contender Hermes Franca and delivered additional blows to force a TKO stoppage in the second round of their PPV opener. Tyson Griffin def. Hermes Franca via knockout (punches) - Round 2, 3:26

Frank Trigg (19-7) vs. Josh Koscheck (15-4)

RESULT: In a matchup of former collegiate wrestling standouts, Edinboro University’s former NCAA Division I national champion and four-time All-American Josh Koscheck popped University of Oklahoma All-American Frank Trigg with a right hand that sent the fighter to the mat. Koscheck followed with additional blows to force the swift TKO stoppage over Trigg, who was fighting in the UFC for the first time since 2005. Josh Koscheck def. Frank Trigg via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:25

Paul Daley (22-8-2) vs. Martin Kampmann (15-3)

RESULT: MMA veteran Paul Daley has competed in most of the world’s top promotions, and he didn’t disappoint in his long-awaited UFC debut. The British fighter popped and dazed top welterweight contender Martin Kampmann with a big left hand midway through the first round. Kampmann ate an additional dozen shots, and though he remained standing, he was clearly out on his feet, which forced the referee to rightfully stop the fight. Paul Daley def. Martin Kampmann via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:31

Junior Dos Santos (19-8) vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (24-7-2)

RESULT: Junior Dos Santos picked up the biggest win of his career and moved into serious title contention with a second-round TKO victory over the quickly fading Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. Although once of the world’s best fighters and most feared strikers, Filipovic again looked sluggish and ultimately verbally submitted when a punch blurred his vision and left him unable to continue. Junior Dos Santos def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via submission (verbal) - Round 2, 2:00

Vitor Belfort (19-8) vs. Rich Franklin (27-5)

RESULT: After little action in the first few minutes of the main-event fight, Vitor Belfort connected on a clean left to drop Rich Franklin midway through the first round and then continued the barrage, which included some obviously illegal shots to the back of his opponent’s head. By then, though, Franklin was already dazed and unable to defend himself, and the referee had no choice but to declare the TKO stoppage. Vitor Belfort def. Rich Franklin via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:02

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