BAD MMA - The origins of combat™ » Bfc

Brazilian phenom Goiti Yamauchi debuts at Bellator 99

BAD MMA News — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 19:45:00 +0000

Brazilian phenom Goiti Yamauchi , a 20-year-old who already boasts a 14-1 pro MMA record, will make his Bellator debut on Sept. 13 at Bellator 99. Yamauchi (14-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he’s scheduled to fight fellow featherweight Musa Toliver (9-8-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) at the event, which takes place at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. Yamauchi vs. Toliver will be part of the Spike.com-streamed prelims, which precede the night’s Spike TV-televised main card. Yamauchi, who’s riding a nine-fight winning streak with 12 submissions in 14 career victories, was born in Japan to Brazilian parents but moved to the South American country when he was just 3 years old. As detailed in a previous MMAjunkie.com story, Yamauchi launched his fight training early .

Read the rest here:

Brazilian phenom Goiti Yamauchi debuts at Bellator 99 – MMA Junkie

Bellator 100 heads to Phoenix with Lima-Saunders, Season 9 170 tourney

BAD MMA News — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 04:30:00 +0000

Bellator MMA will make its first visit to Phoenix in September for Bellator 100. Promotion officials on Friday announced the card, which will feature the delayed Season 8 welterweight tournament final, plus the start of the Season 9 170-pound tourney. Bellator 100 will take place Sept. 20 at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. The main card will air live on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. Tickets for the event now are on sale starting at $25. In the main event, Douglas Lima (24-5 MMA, 6-1 BFC) meets Ben Saunders (16-5-2 MMA, 7-2 BFC) in the delayed Season 8 tournament final in the welterweight division, a fight that also is a rematch of the Season 5 tourney finals. The two were scheduled to meet at Bellator 93 in March, but consecutive Lima injuries pushed the fight back

Link:

Bellator 100 heads to Phoenix with Lima-Saunders, Season 9 170 tourney – MMA Junkie

CEO: Bellator champ Michael Chandler now one of MMA’s highest-paid lightweights

BAD MMA News — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 23:00:00 +0000

When asked how much he had to convince Bellator MMA lightweight champion Michael Chandler to sign a new long-term deal with the Viacom-owned fight promotion, Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney put it in terms everyone could understand. “I can tell you that every single time Michael and I go out to dinner for the rest of our lives, he picks up the check,” Rebney told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). That sounds just fine to the unbeaten Chandler (11-0 MMA, 8-0 BFC), who told MMAjunkie.com on Wednesday that he’d agreed to a new multi-fight contract with Bellator – one which Rebney insisted would make Chandler “one of the highest-paid lightweights in all of MMA.” The new deal comes just a week before Chandler is slated to defend the Bellator 155-pound title against Season 8 tournament winner David Rickels (14-1 MMA, 8-1 BFC) at Bellator 97 on July 31. It also comes at a time when Chandler had roughly a year left on his existing Bellator contract, according to Rebney. The new contract will keep him off the free agent market and with Bellator for years to come, both men said in a phone interview.

See more here:

CEO: Bellator champ Michael Chandler now one of MMA’s highest-paid lightweights – MMA Junkie

Video: Ben Askren still not worried about any big talkers ahead of Bellator 97

BAD MMA News — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 22:15:00 +0000

Ben Askren no longer makes a point of watching the opening rounds of Bellator tournaments. Before, the Bellator welterweight champion did so, in part, because he wanted to see what his prospective opponents were saying about him. He seemed to notice that just about everyone had something to say. He got to the point, though, where he decided he was wasting his time. “I’ve been the champ since fall of 2011, so it’s getting to be quite a while – every single season, there’s six or seven of the eight guys that say, ‘Oh, I’m going to kick Askren’s ass,’” Askren told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “And then half of them lose in the first round, and you’re laughing at them like, ‘Well, maybe you could beat me up if you could win the first round of the tournament.’” Askren (11-0 MMA, 8-0 BFC) is aware of what his next opponent, Andrey Koreshkov (13-0 MMA, 5-0 BFC), has to say about him in advance of Bellator 97, where they meet in a co-main event bout at Santa Ana Center in Albuquerque, N.M., and what he hears are a lot of empty words. (The event’s main card airs live on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.) Koreshov, who won Bellator’s Season 7 tourney with three straight wins, recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Askren “has no idea what he is in for,” and claimed he’s a stronger, faster and more powerful fighter than any previous title challenger. But forgive Askren if he simply hears empty words. “It’s kind of a funny thing because it happens over and over again,” he said. “Most people that I fight, they see a semi-chubby white kid with an afro (and think) ‘How tough could he be?’ “They all think the same thing, and all of a sudden, they’ve got this person on top of them that they can’t get off and is repeatedly punching them in the face for 25 minutes. So I don’t think he has anyone to simulate that, so I would guess that he actually doesn’t have any idea, but I would never say that because it’s so cliche.” Askren’s smothering style is, of course, an easy target for welterweights looking to end his reign as champion. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing thing to watch, and so the title hopefuls promise to be different than others who’ve tried to stay on their feet against the decorated wrestler and wound up on their back for the better part of 25 minutes. Three successive tournament winners, including experienced UFC vet Jay Hieron , and five title hopefuls have been dominated en route to a decision loss against Askren, who remains undefeated after 11 pro fights. “Some of these schmucks get three or four chances at the tournament, and they can’t even win the tournament, and they’re still talking about me,” he said

See more here:

Video: Ben Askren still not worried about any big talkers ahead of Bellator 97 – MMA Junkie

Bellator champ Eduardo Dantas focused on unknown next fight, sponsors

BAD MMA News — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Eduardo Dantas is starting to get that itch again. The Bellator MMA bantamweight champion hasn’t fought since a second-round knockout win over Marcos Galvao in February. But with no 135-pound tournament winner waiting in the wings, Dantas (15-3 MMA, 5-0 BFC) is stuck in purgatory unless the promotion books him for a stay-busy non-title fight. “I wish to fight often,” Dantas told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) earlier this summer. “I hope Bellator books me as soon as possible. I simply asked for a fight – I don’t care who it is. I just want to fight. I already sent Bellator a note via Andre (André) Pederneiras, my trainer and manager. He has already contacted them, but until now, nothing

Bellator champ Eduardo Dantas focused on unknown next fight, sponsors – MMA Junkie

Fifty-pound cut underway, Bellator’s David Rickels on slimming down, growing up

BAD MMA News — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 04:00:00 +0000

David Rickels thinks he probably was at a buffet eating lo mein and crab rangoon when he got the call to fight lightweight champ Michael Chandler at Bellator 97. He knows he was 205 pounds. Rickels isn’t big on living in the past or the future, but the present of that moment sticks in his memory. “Initial shock factor was about a nine,” he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). A winner in Bellator’s Season 8 lightweight tournament, Rickels (14-1 MMA, 8-1 BFC) stepped in for an injured Dave Jansen to meet Chandler (11-0 MMA, 8-0 BFC) on July 31 at Santa Ana Star Center in New Mexico. The title fight headlines the event’s main card on Spike following prelims on Spike.com

Go here to read the rest:

Fifty-pound cut underway, Bellator’s David Rickels on slimming down, growing up – MMA Junkie

Matyushenko-M’Pumbu headline Bellator 99, Freire-Nunes set for 145 tourney

BAD MMA News — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 01:55:00 +0000

The field is set for Bellator’s Season 9 featherweight tournament, and it will feature two recent title challengers and a UFC veteran. Bellator 99 returns to Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., on Sept. 13. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between the recently signed Vladimir Matyushenko (26-7 MMA, 0-0 BFC) and former champion Christian M’Pumbu (18-5-1 MMA, 3-2 BFC), and the featherweight tournament’s opening round starts the same night. The Season 9 featherweight tournament includes opening-round bouts featuring Patricio Freire (17-2 MMA, 5-2 BFC) vs. Diego Nunes (18-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC), Shahbulat Shamhalaev (12-2-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) vs.

Read the original:

Matyushenko-M’Pumbu headline Bellator 99, Freire-Nunes set for 145 tourney – MMA Junkie

After working past ‘lose-lose situation,’ Bellator’s Joe Riggs hitting stride

BAD MMA News — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 00:50:00 +0000

Once upon a time, Joe Riggs (39-14 MMA, 0-1 BFC) was MMA’s version of a cautionary tale. But now, as a cast member of Bellator MMA’s new reality show “Fight Master,” the 30-year-old Riggs said he’s primed for a second run to prominence. “My ass kicking has just begun in my career,” Riggs recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I’m hitting my second stride.” Riggs already boasts nearly 11 years of professional MMA experience, but he’s best known for an eight-fight UFC run followed by seven appearances under the Strikeforce banner.

After working past ‘lose-lose situation,’ Bellator’s Joe Riggs hitting stride – MMA Junkie

Bantamweight Ed West granted release from Bellator, looks for quick turnaround

BAD MMA News — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 05:00:00 +0000

As far as breakups go, Ed West ‘s departure from Bellator MMA sounds like the start of a courtship, not a divorce. But sometimes in the pro sports world, athletes and their bosses part ways amicably – or mostly amicably. That appears to be the case with West and the California-based promotion. West (18-7 MMA, 4-3 BFC) on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he has been granted his release from Bellator and will be exploring the free-agent MMA market, and Bellator officials confirmed the fighter’s release. “I spent three years with Bellator, and I had a really good time with them,” West said.

Here is the original post:

Bantamweight Ed West granted release from Bellator, looks for quick turnaround – MMA Junkie

Jared Downing replaces Rob Emerson, meets Patricio ‘Pitbull’ at Bellator 97

BAD MMA News — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 03:45:00 +0000

After nearly three years away from the promotion, featherweight Jared Downing (9-2 MMA, 2-0 BFC) returns to the Bellator MMA cage to face Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (17-2 MMA, 5-2 BFC) at Bellator 97. Bellator officials recently announced the switch, which sees Downing step in for an injured Rob Emerson . Bellator 97 takes place July 31 at Albuquerque’s Santa Ana Center. The evening’s five-fight main card, which includes the new Downing vs. Freire bout, airs on Spike TV. The preliminary card streams on Spike.com. “It takes a ton of heart to accept a fight less than 20 days out, especially when you have to step in the cage with one of the most dangerous men in the world in ‘Pitbull,’” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney stated. “Jared is a guy we’ve had our eye on for a while, and win or lose, he’ll make a great addition to our featherweight ranks.” Two of Downing’s first five professional fights took place in the Bellator cage, where “Demon Eyes” earned wins over Danny Tims and Chad Vandenberg

See the original post here:

Jared Downing replaces Rob Emerson, meets Patricio ‘Pitbull’ at Bellator 97 – MMA Junkie