Monday, 20 May 2013 04:13

The #2 ranked Buakaw Por. Pramuk had a fight this weekend, headlining the Nuit des Titans 6 event in Tours, France. Buakaw’s opponent was Youssef Boughanem. Unfortunately, this fight did not amount to much, as Boughanem suffered a dislocated shoulder halfway through round 1, forcing the match to end even before it could get started.

Rough footage of the fight is available online, and it appears Boughanem is injured as a result of a strong Muay Thai dump that sends him awkwardly to the canvas. He gets up, throws a punch, and immediately waves off the fight, knowing something is wrong. Some reports are calling it a freak injury, but to me it seems Buakaw’s attack directly caused the injury, so it’s a legit TKO as I see it.

Check the full entry for the rough footage.

Prior to the fight there was a bit of controversy, as some reports indicate the fight was changed at the last minute from Muay Thai rules to more modified rules that did not allow elbow strikes.  Boughanem, a fighter skilled with his elbows, was reportedly frustrated and felt the rules were being skewed in favor of Buakaw.

With this win, Buakaw extends his current streak to 7 straight victories. Next up for the Thai legend is the Isuzu Thai Fight tournament, where he will represent Thailand at the 70kg limit. No further details yet on this fight.

Monday, 20 May 2013 04:13

Tonight was a night of upsets, in a way, as Andrei Arlovski and Fedor Emelianenko, two men who met a few years ago in Affliction to see who was the best Heavyweight outside of the UFC, both fell in dramatic fashion and we might see both of their careers come to a halt. The insanity really doesn't stop there, as Battle in the Desert, promoted by Lion Fights in Primm, Nevada went down tonight, where highly-regarded Muay Thai practitioner, Kevin Ross was going into his bout with Sittisak Por Sirichai as the favorite.

The bout was an even one that saw Sittisak come out on top in a Split decision that it sounds like could have gone either way.

The other big upset was Malaipet met Michael Mananquil in a rematch where he was seen as the early and big favorite for the WMC Welterweight Championship. Mananquil pushed the paced early on in the fight, but in the second round was met with a hook to the jaw that sent him crashing to the mat for an 8-count. Mananquil came back gracefully from the knockdown and proceeded to win the next three rounds, giving him the first, third, fourth and fifth rounds to Malaipet's one round, the second.

Mananquil walked away from the bout as the new WMC International Welterweight Champion and Malaipet walks away a little bit more humble in defeat.

The night also saw Coke Chunhawat stop Scotty Leffler after Leffler couldn't answer the bell after the second round, Remy Bonnel score a TKO in the third over Singsiri Por Sirichai and more. For the full results head to Muay Thai Authority who were live for the event.

Monday, 20 May 2013 04:13

Fedor is a name that is spoken amongst MMA fans as if he were royalty, his dominance in the sport has not been emulated, even slightly. So to say that him fighting in the US again is a big deal is an understatement, to say that him in the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP, well, it is even bigger. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva has sharpened his skill in Japan and EliteXC and two wins in Strikeforce.

In a way, the popularity of this tournament depends on Fedor Emelianenko moving forward in the tournament, but Antonio Silva is a tough opponent for any heavyweight in 2011.

The first round saw your standard Fedor action, where Fedor worked his quick hands and Silva's gameplan was to hold Fedor against the cage, using his size and strength to his advantage. The second round saw what many thought was the impossible happen, as Silva completely dominated Fedor on the ground. Ground and pound and a few near-choke attempts against Fedor. Fedor was able to persevere through most of the brutalizing and show us exactly what Fedor has done dozens of times before; tire out a bigger opponent before he makes his comeback.

Then one of th drawbacks to fighting in the United States hit us in between rounds; Fedor's right eye was swollen shut and the ringside doctors and ref, Dan Murgliotta decided that the eye was too bad for Fedor to continue, and called off the bout right after the third round. Bigfoot Silva has become the third man to hold a win over Fedor, and the second man to hold a win that fans will dispute for years.

Antonio Silva goes on to meet the winner of Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum, and the future for Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski are unknown after tonight. Fedor discusses retirement post-fight, and fans' hearts everywhere are breaking, while Dana White is smiling and saying, "that guy was never that good."

Monday, 20 May 2013 04:13

Andrei Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, sure it was from an era that is not well known for UFC's Heavyweight division, but to question if Arlovski was "legit" or not is a bit, well, ridiculous. He reigned supreme over UFC's division while Fedor reigned over Japan. Sergei Kharitonov has some legitimate wins from PRIDE and has competed in K-1 over the past few years, so a battle between Kharitonov vs. Arlovski is a fight that we've been waiting to see for a while, and it's happening in Strikeforce.

Arlovski comes in staring down the barrel of a long, three-fight losing streak (Fedor, Rogers, Silva), while Kharitonov hasn't faced top competition at Heavyweight in the past few years and won. Both men have a lot to prove on the world level here tonight, and this could make or break a career. Arlovski starts off strong and uses his movement and hands, but Kharitonov was patient and waited for his moment and struck, hard, swarming on Arlovski and not stopping until Arlovski was on the ground, knocked out cold.

This is Arlovski's fourth KO loss in a row, and one has to believe that he'll be dejected by this and there will be a lot of questions about his career.

Monday, 20 May 2013 04:13

Sugar Ray Sefo, a K-1 star unlike most entered into his third professional MMA bout tonight, against the big brother of Alistair Overeem, Valentijn Overeem. Valentijn has been removed from the world of elite fighters for a while, while Sefo has yet to move up to elite competition in MMA. Both men met in a reserve bout, to see in case of an injury or draw situation who could possibly fill in during the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP.

Ray Sefo came in looking to counterstrike against the bigger and younger Valentijn, but Overeem was able to get Sefo onto the ground within one minute and twenty seconds, and about ten seconds later ha a neck crank on Ray Sefo against the cage and Sefo had no choice but to tap out. Sometimes it is heart-breaking to be a fan of Sugar Ray, as a lot of his focus of late has been on training other fighters in the fairer sport that is kickboxing, and there were rumors that he did not train as much as he should have for this bout.

Next time, Sugar Ray, next time.