MIGUEL TORRES IS…THE OFFICE ENFORCER

The Boss said it’s casual Friday! Tappin’ ain’t gonna help — we’re not in the cage!

Chicago’s MMA wishes Miguel Torres a big win tonight at WEC 51.

h/t: Cagewriter

CHICAGO’S MMA: THE BEAT

“The Beat” is a new weekly feature with news and notes from the world of Chicago’s MMA…

Now I know why I didn’t see Rob Hinds at APFC in DeKalb on Saturday night. He had a slightly better gig, serving as a referee for a smaller promotion you may have heard about: the UFC. Hinds took his considerable skills to Indiana for the big show, and he was on Spike for all the world to see. Congrats, Rob!

Congrats are also in order to FLO MMA’s Achour Esho, who was also in Indiana on Saturday night. Esho won yet another boxing match and improved to 10-0 in Evansville. He will fight again on October 30th in Ohio. He is undefeated in both MMA and boxing. Check out FLO MMA’s redesigned website. Even better, you can get in there and train. They have one of the best facilities and gyms around Chicago and you can get a free pass for a week to try it out.

Will Sean Sherk be making an appearance in Oak Brook? Maybe. Cut Throat MMA will be rocking the Double Tree in Oak Brook on Friday night IL. JJ Gilmer takes on Sean Sherk trained undefeated Donald Williams from Minnesota. Will the “Muscle Shark” be cornering Williams? Then in the main event, undefeated Dan Ortiz from the Olympian Center takes on bitter rival and also undefeated Matt Collum from Carlson Gracie Team MMA. Check out the fight poster on the Chicago’s MMA Events page.

Hackney’s Combat Academy also has a killer new redesign for their website. They also just started a new Mixed Martial Arts Class that will be held on Sundays from 1pm to 2:30pm. The first hour of the class will focus on technique and drills and the last 30mins will be sparring or conditioning work. Visit their website for more info, or stop by the gym in Roselle.

Have any news, tips or fight announcements? Send them to matt@chicagosmma.com

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LYMAN GOOD VS. BEN ASKREN AT BELLATOR 33

We first saw Lyman Good bombarding Jorge Ortiz at Bellator VII in May of 2009 right here in Chicago. He beat Ortiz with a barrage of shots that opened a cut and prompted the referee to stop the match. He went on to win the Bellator season 1 Welterweight tourney.  Today, Bellator Fighting Championships announced that Lyman “Cyborg” Good and Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Champion Ben “Funky” Askren will do battle at Bellator 33, taking place at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on Oct. 21.

“Lyman dominated Season #1 and Ben dominated Season #2.  This is a great Welterweight Championship fight between two world-class undefeated Welterweights,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.

The fight marks Good’s first title defense since racking up consecutive stoppage victories in the quarter and semifinal rounds of the Season 1 Welterweight World Championship Tournament that preceded a first round TKO of Omar De La Cruz in the finals at Bellator 11 in June of 2009.  The impressive run through the tournament established Good as the first Bellator Welterweight Champion and catapulted the undefeated star into the MMA spotlight.

Growing up in Spanish Harlem, NY and surrounded by adversity early in life, Good felt the need to establish himself as a fighter—both mentally and physically—to survive. Realizing this, his mother decided to enroll Good in martial arts at the famed Tiger Schulmann Gym as a healthy and disciplined outlet for his aggression.  Good fell in love with martial arts, eventually going pro in 2005 and becoming an instructor/sensei himself at Tiger Schulmann.

Ben “Funky” Askren overcame a different type of adversity to become the Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Champion.  The 2008 Olympian and two-time NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion silenced many critics who doubted his ability to transition from collegiate wrestling to MMA. Needless to say, the transition was seamless.  The Mizzou grad, known for his unconventional wrestling style, took out Ryan Thomas in both the quarterfinals and semis before completely dominating top welterweight Dan Hornbuckle with a non-stop barrage of takedowns and ground-and-pound in the finals to become the tournament champ, handing Hornbuckle his first loss in six fights and two years.

While Good is widely respected for his ability to push the pace and out-hustle his opponents, Askren, who wrestled in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is hardly intimidated by his opponent’s strength.

“He’s never really knocked anyone out. I don’t know what people keep talking his power for; he might have a little bit of strength but that’s going to go away after the first round,” said Askren.

“I’m going into this fight with the same strategy as my previous fights, just a lot more devastating,” said Askren. “I want to submit him and quickly, but if that doesn’t happen, I’m prepared for five rounds. I can go all day long.”

ANDREI ARLOVSKI OUT OF K1

In a quick Tweet from last night, Andrei Arlovski confirmed that he is no longer a participant in the October 2nd K1 event.

Arlovski recently had surgery, so that is likely a factor in his decision not to compete in the event.

JAMIE VARNER TALKS DONALD CERRONE

HDNet’s Ron Kluck recently did a tremendous interview with WEC fighter Jamie Varner as he prepares for his upcoming fight against Donald Cerrone on September 30th at WEC 51.

The quote from Varner about Donald Cerrone: “His mouth wrote a check that his ass can’t cash” is hilarious. But how Varner talks about his instructors and their passion and how they inspired him to become what he is today is even better.

Watch WEC 51 on Vs. September 30th at 8:30 central.

EVAN DUNHAM’S UFC 119 GASH

Plenty of fans think that Evan Dunham was robbed when Sean Sherk’s hand was lifted at the end of their UFC 119 fight. Dunham left disappointed, and with something to remind him of his first loss for the rest of his life.

h/t: Fightlinker

BELLATOR 30 VIDEO: JACOB MCLINTOCK VS. BRENT WEEDMAN

Jacob McClintock and Brent Weedman met in the cage at Bellator 30 for a welterweight qualifier bout. The winner advances to Bellator’s next welterweight tourney, scheduled to take place in 2011.

CUT THROAT MMA – OAK BROOK 10/1

The always busy crew from Cut Throat MMA are back with another show. This time they’ll be out in Western suburban Oak Brook.

KILLER FINISHES: JOE WARREN VS. JOE SOTO

In this edition, it’s actually “Killer ‘Championship’ Finishes”. Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Soto defended his title for the first time at Bellator 27 against Season 2 Tournament Champion Joe Warren. Soto was all over Warren in the first round. Round 2 went another way.

RESULTS: APFC & BODY LOCK “NO MERCY”

Past the many miles of cornfields and into the heartland at the South Pointe Center in DeKalb, Body Lock and APFC hosted a raucous night of MMA with their “No Mercy” event. The ring announcer –  wearing an old-school tux that would have made Tony Clifton jealous — got the event started promptly at 7pm, which has to be some sort of record for a local MMA promotion. The crowd was plentiful and excited and they were treated to 10 matches – 9 MMA and 1 grappling. To the results…

The card got off to a bit of an odd start as Jordin Hinman landed a low blow to his opponent, which was ruled accidental. But his opponent could not continue and the fight was called a no contest.

The second fight was clean and quick as Maurice “The Hulk” Jackson barely had enough time to turn his eyes green before securing a guillotine on Top Notch’s PJ Cajigas. Cajigas tapped at :47 of round 1.

For the third match on the card, 13-year old Danika Thibault battled 17-year old Bethany Jordan in a 5-minute, one round grappling match. Neither fighter could pull off a submission and the judges ruled it a draw.

The big boys were next as CFC’s Sebastion Antosiewicz took on Hackney Combat’s Jason Belyew, who was making his amateur debut. This fight made the crowd erupt. They traded blows to start and Antosiewicz used his size advantage — close to 30 lbs. — to push Belyew up against the cage and hold him there. He didn’t do any damage, but it was enough to win the round. The second round was scored differently by the judges. There were some back and forth exchanges, but I thought Belyew won the round. It was a tough round to score though, and that was evident in the difference on the judges’ cards. Round 3 was easy to score as Belyew dominated from pillar to post, securing a mount and dropping bombs on Antosiewicz, at one point looking up at the referee as if to say “When are you going to stop it?”

But Antosiewicz did survive and the fight went to the judges’ scorecards.

A draw doesn’t do that fight justice. But that fight was awarded “Fight of the Night” honors, and it was announced that they will be meeting in a rematch at APFC’s next event, “Aftershock”, on November 20th in Lemont.

The crowd continued to buzz as UMMA’s Steve Kozola needed just :24 to sink a rear-naked choke on Eric Thomas for a submission victory.

Next was another UMMA fighter, Eric Hedrick, taking on Hackney Combat Academy’s Edgar Torres. Torres put up a valiant effort and displayed some serious heart as Hedrick got the best of him. Hedrick was too much for Torres and in the 3rd round the doctor stopped the fight at 1:40. Hedrick got the TKO victory.

Midwest Training Center’s Dan Borke displayed vicious punching power with his right hand in a round 2, TKO victory against Kyle Hoffman. Hoffman threw in the towel after he couldn’t continue due to a low blow, but Borke certainly earned the victory.

Hackney’s Jeff Lavallee jumped all over David Gellegos early and often in a battle of 135-pounders. Lavallee absolutely dominated from the mount position and the fight was called at 2:40 of round 1. Lavallee improved to 8-4 and was awarded “Knockout of the Night” honors.

Nate “The Leviathan” Patrick convincingly defeated UMMA’s Tim Androsini by unanimous decision. It was 30-27 on all 3 cards as Patrick controlled the action on the ground and in the stand up. Patrick is starting a new gym in Elmhurst called “Patriot Boxing”.

The main event was non-stop excitement, as UMMA’s Mike “Drama” Ryan battled Sam Agushi at 145 lbs. Ryan landed power shot after power shot, including a thunderous power slam of Agushi. Agushi showed an amazing chin — and resolve — as he kept his head and searched for subs. After the slam by Ryan, Agushi quickly secured an armbar and Ryan tapped immediately. It was amazing comeback and a worthy main event. Agushi was awarded “Submission of the Night” honors.

All in all it was a thrilling card up in DeKalb, and the November 20th show will allow Belyew and Antosiewicz to finish what they started at “No Mercy”.

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