CYRUS WASHINGTON AT ELITE FIGHTING SYSTEMS

If you missed Cyrus Washington last month when he did a seminar at BIMA Chicago, you now have a second chance. “Black Dynamite” is coming to Elite Fighting Systems in Crest Hill on May 21st from 1-4pm. Info on the poster below.

Our very own LJ Tabano took part in the last seminar and he raved about it. Click this link to watch his interview with Cyrus from that event.

PAT CURRAN DROPS TO FEATHERWEIGHT

Bellator Fighting Championships announced that Season Two Lightweight Tournament winner Pat Curran will drop to 145lbs. and enter the Bellator Summer Series Featherweight Tournament. Curran will make his featherweight debut on June 25th at Bellator 46, broadcast LIVE on MTV2 from the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. The Featherweight Tournament will begin at Bellator 46, with semifinal fights taking place at Bellator 47 and finals at Bellator 48. The winner will earn a title shot against reigning Bellator Featherweight World Champion Joe Warren.

“I’ve fought at featherweight for most of my career, so I’m really excited to get back to a weight class where I can really do some damage,” said Curran. “I had some great results as a lightweight, but I’m really going to make some noise in this summer featherweight tournament.”

After three straight victories in Bellator’s Season Two Lightweight Tournament, Pat Curran walked away with $100,000 and a title shot at Bellator 39 against current Bellator Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez. After five grueling rounds with the champ, Alvarez retained his Lightweight title. However, Alvarez was quick to sing the praises of his opponent, saying, “Pat’s got more heart than I could ever dream of having at 23 years old. The resiliency he showed for five rounds was incredible.”

“Eddie Alvarez was right on target when he talked about Pat’s heart, but Pat also has spectacular knockout power and a great all-around mixed martial arts arsenal. Pat Curran will be a beast at 145,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.

The Season 5 Featherweight Tournament is shaping up to be one of Bellator’s most competitive tournaments to date, with Sengoku veteran and Bellator 42 competitor Ronnie Mann, and Brazilian knockout artist Marlon Sandro as possible participants in the summer tournament, with additional fighter announcements coming shortly.

UFC 129 CARD AND VIEWING SCHEDULE

Here’s the complete card and viewing schedule for UFC 129:  St. Pierre vs. Shields. all 12 bouts will be televised in some fashion.

MIGUEL TORRES VS. DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON AT UFC 130

Matt Erickson reports at MMA Fighting that Brad Pickett has pulled out his scheduled UFC 130 fight against Miguel Torres. Torres will instead face Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

The Pickett/Torres matchup seemingly would have been a more pleasing fight stylistically, as Pickett likes to push the pace and strike. But Johnson relies on his wrestling ability. He also stands just 5’3″, so we could see something very similar to the Torres/Banuelos fight. Torres could use his reach advantage to jab and keep Johnson on the outside, denying him the takedown.

Torres was criticized by some following the Banuelos fight, accused of playing it safe and providing fans with a boring fight. That was Torres’ first official fight in the UFC, so expect him to bring a bit more in the Johnson fight.

Johnson has been a grinder since joining the WEC. His first fight was a loss to Pickett, but then he rattled off 3 straight wins over Nick Pace, Damacio Page and Kid Yamamoto at UFC 126. All 4 of those WEC/UFC bouts went into the 3rd round, 3 of them going to decisions. Johnson does have plenty of speed, as he showed against Kid Yamamoto. But Torres is a much better fighter on the ground than Yamamoto.

UFC 130 will take place on May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena is Las Vegas.

COMEDY CENTRAL VISITS THE UFC

If you’re not watching “Norm Macdonald’s Sports Show”, you should be. They just aired the second episode and it is hilarious. They’re also finding some fodder with the world of MMA.

In the first episode, Norm does a news story on on how the WEC and UFC recently merged and are coming up with a new sport: “Murder”. Then in last night’s episode, Norm’s nephew “Kyle” gets his big chance to work in TV. He produces and edits his very first piece. He visits the Honda Center to take in a UFC title fight.

Kyle is a cross between the “Boom Goes the Dynamite” kid and Dr. Steve Brule.

RIDICULOUS COMPARISON: UFC VS. WWE

Some kid took a break from playing Halo to drum up this woefully uninformed infographic comparing the UFC vs. WWE. Click the pic for the full-screen.

This appeared on Madatoms.com. I’m not sure if he was trying to start a flame war or just obtain traffic, but it’s pretty lame. Almost every ‘point’ can be refuted easily. Random appearances by Kimbo Slice? Weak sauce, son!

DAN HORNBUCKLE VS. LYMAN GOOD AT BELLATOR 44

Bellator Fighting Championships continues to add to its Atlantic City fight card, this time adding a Season 5 welterweight tournament qualifier fight between former Bellator Welterweight World Champion Lyman “Cyborg” Good and Mahomet’s Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle. Headlining the May 14th show will be a non-title Super Fight featuring reigning Bellator World Middleweight Champion and former Judo Olympian Hector Lombard against dangerous Hawaiian UFC veteran Falaniko Vitale. And, rounding out the nights stacked card is a Lightweight Tournament Championship fight between Brazilian Knockout artist Patricky Pitbull and undefeated NCAA Champion Mike Chandler.

“Good vs. Hornbuckle is a fight a lot of MMA fans, myself included, have wanted to see for quite some time,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “These two guys have Bellator in their blood, and on May 14th one will move into our next Tournament and one will go home. This promises to be a great fight on May 14th at Caesars.”

Coming off a tough split decision loss at the hands of undefeated Judo Olympian Rick Hawn in the Bellator Season 4 Welterweight Tournament Semifinals, the explosive Good was quick to give Hawn all the credit for the impressive victory, but also admitted he wasn’t fully prepared for his Bellator 39 fight.

“A lot of people didn’t know I had about a two week layoff before my fight with Rick because I got sick,” said a frustrated Good. “90 percent of a fight is always mental, and when I got in the cage, it never really felt like it was my fight.”

Good now looks to return to his winning ways as he collides with Hornbuckle, who himself is coming off a rare loss to Brent Weedman by unanimous decision at Bellator 35. While the loss is still upsetting to Hornbuckle, “The Handler” plans to unleash a new attack against the former champion.

“There’s no excuse for my loss to Brent Weedman,” said Hornbuckle. “It’s my fault for not pulling the trigger. I can only be mad at myself for not taking the opportunity to finish the fight. No more of that. This fight with Lyman [Good], the proof will be in the pudding – mark my words. Just watch, as soon as that bell rings, I’m going to be sprinting dead at him and I’m going to put my knee dead in his face.”

The strong words from Hornbuckle shouldn’t be a surprise, as the opportunity to fight Good has always been on his mind.

“My original goal when I first signed with Bellator was to fight Lyman Good,” said Hornbuckle. “Lyman Good has never left my radar. Stylistically, physically and mentally – we both share the same attributes that’s going to make this a “Fight of the Year” nomination.”

PATRICKY PITBULL STRIKES AGAIN

Patricky Friere truly lives up to the nickname “Pitbull”. After his devastating flying knee KO of Toby Imada at Bellator 39, Patricky gave the fans a taste of something different against Wilson Reis. He delivered rapid fire, pinpoint accurate strikes that amounted to another amazing finish.

Pitbull moves on to the finals to take on XFO vet Daniel Straus. Straus hasn’t lost since XFO 29 when he was knocked out by Pat Curran. It should be a very exciting fight.

TOTAL FIGHT CHALLENGE: MAY 7

Total Fight Challenge is back in Willow Springs on Saturday, May 7th at the Willowbrook Ballroom.

On the card:
» Eric Oria looks to remain undefeated as an amateur. He is 3-0 with all 3 wins coming in previous Total Fight Challenge events.

» Eric Papineau fought to a draw in his first amateur bout. Since then he has won three straight fights. Two victories were by sub and on TKO.

» Jacob Brewick comes back to fight for the first time since 2009. He ended the year with a 3-fight win streak but has not fought since.

More fight card info to come, and see the poster below for ticket info.

UFC 130: EDGAR VS. MAYNARD 3 PROMO

Latest promo for the upcoming title bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard for the UFC lightweight championship.

The latest odds have Edgar as -140 and Maynard as +110. I know that odds don’t necessarily reflect the matchup, but in such early odds you would think both would be -110.

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