Martin Kampmann and Michael Chiesa big winners at ?The Ultimate Fighter? finale

In his last fight, Martin Kampmann was beat up by Thiago Alves for an entire fight before coming back with a submission win. This time, he only needed two rounds to get a comeback win.

Jake Ellenberger clipped Kampmann off the bell of the first round. He knocked him down and then tried to follow up with a bevy of strikes. Kampmann held on for the rest of the round. In the second, Kampmann again appeared wobbled, but caught Ellenberger with a right. He then finished the fight with knees that ended the fight at 1:40 in the second.

UFC commentator Jon Anik hinted in the post-fight interview that a match-up with Johny Hendricks in a title eliminator is the next step for Kampmann.

Michael Chiesa won "The Ultimate Fighter" tonight with a rear naked choke that put Al Iaquinta to sleep at the TUF finale in Las Vegas on Friday night. Chiesa held off Iaquinta's attacks early on before getting the takedown. He took Iaquinta's back and wore him down until he could finally maneuver the choke into place. Iaquinta didn't tap; instead the fight was stopped when referee Herb Dean recognized that Iaquinta was asleep at 2:47 in the first.

It was an emotional win for Chiesa, whose father died the first week the younger Chiesa was at the TUF house.

"This is exactly what I wanted. There's no way I was going to sell myself short. I overcame a lot of things to win this fight," Chiesa said after the bout.

With the win, Chiesa gets a six-figure contract with the UFC, a Tapout sponsorship and a Harley-Davidson. Iaquinta can be comforted by the fact he won $50,000 before even stepping in the Octagon. He won bonuses for Knockout of the Season and Fight of the Season for his bout with Myles Jury, who won $25,000. Joe Proctor won $25,000 for the Submission of the Season.

Lawrence, Oliveira shine

The first fight on FX was an entertaining back and forth battle that featured John Cofer's wrestling facing off with Justin Lawrence's striking. In the third round, Lawrence quickly ended the seesaw of a fight with a kick to Cofer's jaw. It knocked Cofer straight to the canvas and gave Lawrence the knockout win 19 seconds into the third round.

Max Holloway used unrelenting body shots to take out Pat Schilling in a unanimous decision. Schilling struggled to find any offense and just took the beating that Holloway gave him. Whenever Schilling was on the ground, Holloway beckoned him to stand up to keep the fight on its feet. Holloway, the youngest fight in the UFC, won the bout 30-27 on all three judges cards.

Charles Oliveira again showed that featherweight is the correct weight class for him as he showed his jiu-jitsu prowess with a second-round submission of Jonathan Brookins. The first round was filled with both men getting in good shots, but Oliveira took over in the second. He weakened Brookins with ground and pound, then sunk in a modified guillotine to cause the tap at 2:42.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/martin-kampmann-michael-chiesa-big-winners-ultimate-fighter-034217389.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao moved to UFC 149 after injury to Jose Aldo

The UFC's game of musical chairs continues, as Jose Aldo's bout with Erik Koch for the main event of UFC 149 has been scrapped because of an injury to Aldo. Urijah Faber's bout with Renan Barao was moved to the main event at 149 from being the co-main event at UFC 148.

This is the second change to Faber's bout this summer. After coaching against bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz on "The Ultimate Fighter," the two were slated to face off at UFC 148 in Las Vegas. Now, it's Faber vs. Barao for the interim belt at UFC 149 in Calgary.

It's also the latest in a string of main event changes to UFC events. This summer, the main event at UFC 146 was supposed to feature Alistair Overeem vs. Junior dos Santos, but Overeem's inability to get a license in Nevada gave Frank Mir a chance. UFC 147 was supposed to be at a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro for Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva's rematch. After the UFC couldn't get a venue, the bout was moved to UFC 148.

The bad luck continued for UFC 147 as main eventer Vitor Belfort was injured and Rich Franklin had to fill in. UFC on Fox 4 was also hit as Brian Stann's shoulder injury forced him out of the main event against Hector Lombard. Maurico "Shogun" Rua, who was free because of an injury to his UFC 149 opponent Thiago Silva, will now fight Brandon Vera in the main event of the UFC's fourth Fox show.

Even for a sport as dangerous as MMA, that's a crazy run of bad luck. Can the UFC do anything to prevent injuries? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/urijah-faber-vs-renan-barao-moved-ufc-149-200748264--mma.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

Cain Velasquez TKOs Antonio Silva in a bloody UFC 146 battle (PHOTO)

Cain Velasquez wanted to make a statement in his first fight back after losing the UFC heavyweight belt to Junior dos Santos. He did that with a bloody, first-round TKO of Antonio "Big Foot" Silva.

Velasquez caught a Silva kick and took him down right off the bell. From there, Velasquez pounded away at Silva's face, opening a massive cut on Silva's nose. The cut gushed a ton of blood, more than is usually seen during a fight. It covered Silva's face and body, coated Velasquez's arms, and gathered in a pool next to them.The bout was stopped for a doctor to check the cut.

[Kevin Iole: Junior dos Santos rocks Frank Mir at UFC 146]

Silva tried to shake the blood off as the doctor looked at the cut. After the fight was allowed to continue, Velasquez kept throwing bombs at Silva's head until the bout was stopped at 3:36 in the first round.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/cain-velasquez-tkos-antonio-silva-bloody-ufc-146-034956588.html

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

Tyron Woodley on Nate Marquardt?s use of testosterone and preparing for their bout

For his return to Strikeforce and championship bout with Tyron Woodley, Nate Marquardt said he is off the testosterone replacement therapy that led to his firing from the UFC. The one person who will be affected by Marquardt's hormone levels is his opponent on July 14.

But Woodley doesn't know if Marquardt is telling the truth, and doesn't care.

"It doesn't matter to me. I don't play into if he is or not. To me, a guy that's been on it his whole career, I think it's very hard to jump off that stuff," Woodley said to Cagewriter.

"Your body becomes dependent on it. If you bring in testosterone outside your body, it probably stops producing it because it thinks you're going to get it from the outside. Whether he's on it or not, I'm winning this fight. It's not going to be a factor."

With the Strikeforce welterweight belt on the line, Woodley says the stakes are high for Marquardt. Why would he change now?

"Be honest. When you have a fight this big, and it's for the world title, and you've been on it for your whole career, you're going to come off when it's for the marbles? I just don't know about that."

Woodley was surprised when he heard Marquardt call him a boring wrestler.

"I remember his agent and my agent making a fuss about an interview I did. Actually had an interview pulled because I talked about testosterone. I said to those guys, people are going to ask me about it. I'm going to give them my honest reply. When I'm asked if I think he's going to be on it, I said yeah. It made it seem like 10 seconds of the interview was the entire interview. But then I saw an interview he gave, and he called me a  boring wrestler. So it's OK for you to put out stuff where you're slinging mud, but I put out an interview, and I'm just stating facts. You tested positive three times. I'm not drawing something out of air. If they ask me a question. I'm going to answer it."

Marquardt's testosterone levels will not affect what the 10-0 Woodley will do in their bout.

"I have to prepare as if I'm fighting a robot. He's shown he's not going to give up. He'll stick in there and try to fight, try to win. I think his experience is the only real threat. He's been in there and faced a lot of top guys."

Woodley's plan for his first five-round bout is to keep up his energy throughout.

"I've got to be able to do damage five rounds, for five minutes. Every minute of the round, I've got to be active. I've got to open look for openings, opportunities. I watched a couple of his fights, but outside that, I'm working on myself."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/tyron-woodley-nate-marquardt-testosterone-preparing-bout-123113674--mma.html

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

Urijah Faber teaches CNN?s Soledad O?Brien about rear naked chokes (VIDEO)

UFC bantamweight contender Urijah Faber stopped by the set of CNN's "The Starting Point" to talk about his new book, "The Laws of the Ring", and ended up tapping out to host Soledad O'Brien. The lessons starts at 1:20 with Faber admitting there are MMA moves that could kill, including a rear naked choke.

Faber is a busy man these days. Michael Chiesa, his fighter the latest season of "The Ultimate Fighter," won the show on Friday night, earning both Chiesa and Faber a Harley-Davidson. He is preparing for a chance at the bantamweight interim belt at UFC 148 and publicizing a book.

If you skipped straight to choke, it's worth your time to go back and watch the first part of the interview. Faber handles the questions well and lets O'Brien choke him out, being careful to mention the honor in tapping out.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/urijah-faber-teaches-cnn-soledad-o-brien-rear-203340191.html

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Jason ?Mayhem? Miller retires from fighting at UFC 146 loss and dismissal from UFC

Jason "Mayhem" Miller is a man of his word.

The now-unemployed fighter said before his bout with C.B. Dollaway that if he'd lost, he'd retire. He dropped a decision at UFC 146 on Saturday, then was cut from the UFC.

On Monday's "MMA Hour," he said he's walking away from fighting after winning 23 bouts and losing nine.

"Every fighter gives the same answer when they say they're retired. Pretty much every fighter says 'I'm retired until I need money.' I'm a pretty smart dude, I have other avenues open to me."

Miller hosts MTV's "Bully Beatdown," and is, as he puts it, a smart dude. He gets business and selling his own brand, which is why he uses the flamboyant entrances that Dana White blasted.

He also shed light on the "backstage incident" White referred to when discussing Miller's dismissal at the UFC 146 post-fight press conference.

"It was my mask," Miller said. "Burt suddenly started yelling about my mask. I had a gas mask for the troops underneath my paper bag, and Burt started telling me right as I'm walking out for the fight. I'm trying to get focused instead of arguing about a paper bag. Maybe it was my fault for, I don't know, I thought we had an understanding once I start walking out to the cage that now I'm working, but obviously we're not on a playing field of mutual respect."

He is referring to UFC backstage director and jack of all trades Burt Watson. UFC events being the well-run events they are has much to do with Watson and the respect fighters afford him. If there is just one rule that supersedes every other in the UFC, it's listen to Burt. Fighters, employees, media and anyone doing business with the UFC knows this. Whether Miller is right or wrong is not important.

Now, Miller will have both the time and freedom to figure out his next move. He tweeted on Tuesday:

Don't worry. I'm not dead. Just analyzing it all so I can share my human experience with you.

Though his next move won't be in a cage, it will still be interesting to see what Miller does with his post-fighting life

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jason-mayhem-miller-retires-fighting-ufc-146-loss-192114145.html

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Brett Rogers signs with Bellator after losing streak and assault arrest

Brett Rogers started his career with 10 wins, and followed it with four losses, one win, a no contest, an assault arrest stemming from a domestic abuse incident and a jail sentence of 60 days. Now, he's looking to start over again by signing with Bellator.

"Over the past year I have been challenged in my personal life, but all is now good in the Rogers family," Rogers said via a Bellator press release. "Everyone makes mistakes in life but it's how you recover that really counts. I spend every day with my wife and kids and enjoy every minute of it. Fighting is my job and I love it, but I also love my family and that's why I made things right before returning to the cage. All I can say is get ready for a new and improved Brett Rogers."

Rogers' last win came in October of 2010 over Ruben Villareal. After that, he dropped bouts to Josh Barnett and Eddie Sanchez. The no-contest comes from a February bout. He also has losses to Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem, and his biggest win came over Andrei Arlovski in June of 2009.

He will debut at Bellator 71 on June 22. An opponent has not been named.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/brett-rogers-signs-bellator-losing-streak-assault-arrest-204329657.html

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott