by Tim Priester

So my buddy says to me prior to the Lesnar/Carwin fight that he thinks Carwin was going to win and he had a 12 pack on it. Not one to shy away from a bet especially one dealing with beer, unless it was that bet of jumping off my house and using the trampoline to try and clear my neighbor’s house…dude, it was a two story with an 80’s antennae! But back to this bet. He was telling me stories of Carwin’s magnificent first round defeats and how not one lasted more than four minutes. How Carwin, who by the way looks huge, at 6’4 and 265 was evenly matched against the bigger looking Lesnar. He felt Lesnar hadn’t really been tested, how could he in so few MMA fights. And he felt confident; enough to make it that fancy beer.

I took the bet. I thought that other than Mir and Gonzaga, Carwin hadn’t really been tested, and that although Lesnar was returning from a devastating injury that kept him from the ring, Carwin had a year in between victories himself. Lesnar also beat Mir (he may have lost to Mir early on in his career but that was when Lesnar was fresh to the ring), Couture (yes, that legend) and I wouldn’t hold his going to a decision on the Herring fight against him, after all he wasn’t rushing in to lose again like he did against Mir.

So the fight started and man was I confident in my boy Lesnar. That was good for about 10 seconds and then came Carwin’s famous first round. That was brutal. An unbelievable fury that would have killed any normal man, but Brock managed to keep his bearings and held off the blasts as part of his game plan. I thought for a moment, “There goes my free beer!”

Thankfully that moment lasted for about 10 seconds of the second round. Lesnar did what he has done since college, used his size to control the flow of the match, and about half way through the second round he submitted Carwin via the arm triangle.

Now the questions would have to be asked, Did Lesnar show that he was fully recovered from his injury and ready to retain the heavy-weight belt? Was this Carwin’s only chance to take on a less than 100% Lesnar and become champ? Who will face Lesnar next? Frankly I don’t have an answer yet, just drinking in my victory!

Tim Priester is a local MMA fan and a new contributor to Chicago’s MMA.

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Team Top Notch lightweight Keoki Cypriano brings fireworks all the way from Hawaii. Don’t blink when he’s in the cage because he can finish the fight in a flash.  Check out “Hawaii’s Bad Boy” as he faces Mark Sinclair at Total Fight Challenge 14. This is how you ground and pound.

Come watch Keoki Cypriano and other local fighters at Bellator 25 on August 19th at the Chicago Theatre.

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MMA Junkie is reporting TUF veteran Kevin Knabjian will face journeyman Brian Gassaway, and Keoki Cypriano(training partner of WEC lightweight Ricardo Lamas) will face Eric Kriegermeier in the promotion’s third show in the Windy City.  Those matchups join a lineup already featuring Chicago favorite Shonie Carter and Dan Hornbuckle, who has fought in several regional promotions including Ironheart Crown, Total Fight Challenge, and The Duneland Classic.

The Gassaway /Knabjian will be interesting to watch because both trained together at Midwest Training Center, although Gassaway has since left the gym.   The “Mandingo” hasn’t fought since 2008 when he lost to Mike Pyle by armbar at SuperFights MMA in Las Vegas.  Knabjian will make his second appearance in Bellator.  He lost to Jacob Volkman at Bellator 7  by Brabo Choke.

Cypriano goes by the nickname “Hawaii’s Bad Boy” and brings a heavy-handed exciting style to the cage.

Bellator has not officially announced these fights, nor have they officially announced Carter’s fight(against Torrance Taylor) or Hornbuckle’s(against Brad Blackburn.)   The only officially announced fights are two tournament matches.

In the heavyweight tournament Damian Grabowski faces  Scott Barrett in opening round action.  Meanhwhile, Jessica Pene will face Zoila Frausto in the first round of the female 115 pound tournament.  Grabowski and Frausto are two names to watch in season 3 of the Chicago/Los Angeles based fight promotion.

Damian Grabowski is undefeated at 13-0 and has finished all his opponents.  Zoila Frausto has a Muay Thai background and is fresh off an upset knockout victory over highly regarded Rosi Sexton.  That knockout helped the “Warrior Princess” steal the tourney spot originally intended for Sexton.

But give White a ton of credit for a great recovery. Instead of losing it in the ring, he poked a little fun at himself and it was fun to watch.

h/t: The Score

The event, held on July 9th-10th at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida drew more than 2,500 competitors from 37 countries.

Participants competed in nearly 600 divisions contesting more than 20 disciplines of martial arts competition.

The ESPN2 broadcast will feature some of the world’s elite martial arts performers vying for ISKA World Titles in Extreme Weapons and Forms, Power, Speed and Creative Breaking, Demonstration Team, Synchronized Forms, and Self Defense competition. The spectacular Night of Champions show, from which much of the material for the broadcast was drawn, also included submission grappling, continuous fighting, sport jujitsu, and a special team fighting event.

Tune in this Friday night to ESPN2 for a dynamic presentation of unprecedented talent by these extraordinary martial arts athletes!

Chris “Lights Out” Lytle (The Ultimate Fighter Season 4) will be at The Olympian Centre for a one day MMA and Jiu Jitsu workshop.  He’s coming off a win at UFC 116 where he Matt Brown with an armbar.  This will be a three(3) hour workshop.  Lytle is one of the most exciting fighters in the Octagon who brings professional boxing experience(13-1-1 record) and a solid ground game to the fight.   It will take place August 7 and goes from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Price is $50 per person but there is a discounted price, $35, to the first 25 people that register at TOC and pay up front. To reserve your spot contact The Olympian Centre.

MMA Junkie is reporting Carter will face Torrance Taylor, a one time Strikeforce fighter, at Bellator 25 which is scheduled for August 19.  Bellator has not officially announced the fight yet.

Prior to taking part in Bellator 25, Shonie is supposed to fight in New Hampshire at HAVOC on July 31 against former Olympic Judoka Rick Hawn for the promotion’s welterweight title.  It’ll be a quick turnaround for Mr. International but maybe he’ll pull off some Chris Leben-esque magic and rip off two straight victories in a month’s time.

Here’s the promo video for HAVOC.

The MMA promotion Moosin is bringing some big fighters — in both name and size — right here to Chicago according to MMA Fighting. The event is scheduled to take place on October 9th at a venue that has yet to be determined.

Moosin wants to match up Tim Sylvia against Hong Man Choi and Kimbo Slice against world’s strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowski. Moosin executive Corey Fischer told MMA Fighting, “I would say the Kimbo-Pudzianowski fight is the furthest from being finished, but we’re trying to work on it and make it happen.” With Chicago’s huge Polish population, Pudzianowski against anyone would be a huge draw here. But pitting him against the former Elite XC and UFC fighter Kimbo makes it sensational.

Sylvia is coming off a win against Pudzianowski at the first Moosin event in May, “God of Martial Arts”. Slice hasn’t fought since losing by TKO to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113. He was cut by the UFC after that loss. Hong Man Choi is most famous for having fought Jose Canseco, as well as being submitted by Fedor Emelianenko on New Year’s Eve in 2007. He last fought in October of 2009, losing to Ikuhisa Minowa. He holds a 2-4 MMA record, with other losses to Badr Hari and Cro Cop.

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