Tony Ferguson Tire Kicks

UFC's top contender at 155 pounds, Tony "El Cucuy" Ferguson (22-3, 12-1 UFC) has won 9 straight UFC bouts since a decision loss to Michael Johnson in 2012. Ferguson was to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209, but Khabib had to go to the hospital with difficulty cutting weight. Ferguson has some unique training methods, as seen below.

Ferguson will fight Kevin Lee (16-2, 9-2 UFC) at UFC 216.

Marco Ruas – MMA Legend

By new MMA Blaster Contributor Scott Salem


Bad management is why he’s not a household name in the world of mixed martial arts. Bad management is why he never really sold a lot of UFC tickets.

Of course, he could have done both of those things if he had a manager who believed in him.

The mixed martial artist in question is the great Marco Ruas. He had just 15 professional fights and all but one occurred after his 30th birthday.

“I feel mad for that. I wanted to fight more fights.”

His professional record is 9-4-2. His was 4-2 in six UFC bouts.

His shining moment occurred in 1995 when he won the tournament competed at UFC 7: The Brawl in Buffalo. He did so by defeating Larry Cureton, Remco Pardoel, and Paul Varelans.
Ruas made Cureton and Pardoel tap out. He then captured the tournament title with a TKO of Varelans. Varelans is seven inches taller than the 6’1” Ruas and outweighed him by more than a hundred pounds.

In December, at Ultimate Ultimate 1995, Ruas defeated Keith Hackney. At the same event, he lost to Oleg Taktarov via a controversial decision. The two fought nearly a year later but the match ended in a draw.

From there, Ruas had six more pro fights. He won half of them. Two of his three losses occurred to Maurice Smith, once at UFC 21 in July of 1999 and then again at an IFL event in 2007. During the last fight, Ruas was 46.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Ruas is the founder of Ruas Vale Tudo, a mix of kickboxing and Brazilian submission fighting. While he was admired for his awesome kicking skills, Ruas brought a well-rounded style to MMA during an era when everyone was concentrating on jiu-jitsu.

“I trained everything, a long time before everybody. I trained judo, I trained karate, I trained capoeira, luta livre, jiu-jitsu. I trained everything.”

His professional record may not be as robust as others, but if you include his street fights, estimated to be somewhere between 300 and 1,000 contests, his resume easily enters legendary status.

Regardless of the number, he didn’t just fight on the streets of Rio. He won.

“In the streets, I’m undefeated. Nobody beat me.”

That leads us to his nickname, “King of the Streets.” It’s a clever play on words as Ruas means “streets” in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.

Quotes taken from MMA Junkie article: “Pioneer Marco Ruas looks back on contribution to MMA, wishes he'd had more UFC fights.” published 12/26/16

Photo Credit: Doug Churchill on location at Emily studio on the Street Scene set. Courtesy of Flickr. Believed to be in the public domain.

Video of the Day - Cro Cop v. Bernardo

Here is Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic kickboxing Mike Bernardo in K-1's, "World Grand Prix '99 Opening Round" which took place on 10/5/99. Mirko would go to the finals of the Grand Prix via three TKO wins, eventually losing to kickboxing legend Ernesto Hoost.

Fedor v. Pedro Rizzo

Here is the end of Fedor Emelianenko fighting Pedro Rizzo at M-1 Global - Fedor v. Rizzo which took place on 6/21/12 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Fedor (36-4) returns to action against Matt Mitrione at Bellator 180 this Saturday.

Raymond Daniels v Brandon Banda

Here is Raymond Daniels v Brandon Banda in the World Combat League or WCL, which was owned in part by Chuck Norris.

Video of the Day - Gracie v. Taktarov

Here is Renzo Gracie v. Oleg Taktarov fighting in MARS, Martial Arts Reality Superfighting, in Birmingham, Alabama, which took place on 11/22/1996.

Video of the Day - Miocic v. Penn

Here is Stipe Miocic fighting William Penn at NAAFS - Caged Vengeance 9 which took place on 4/16/11 in Canton, Ohio.

Miocic next fight Junior Dos Santos to defend his UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 211.

Video of the Day - Dos Santos v. Silva

Here is Junior dos Santos fighting Jailson Silva Santos at Demo Fights 1 which took place on 7/16/06 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Soccer kicks were legal for this fight.....

Dos Santos will look to reclaim the heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 211.

Video of the Day - Dos Santos v. Maiorino

Here is Junior Dos Santos fighting Eduardo Maiorino in MF 5 - Minotauro Fights 5 which took place on 12/9/06 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Dos Santos next fights Stipe Miocic at UFC 111.

Alexander Karelin versus Craig Pittman

Here is Alexander Karelin wrestling against Craig Pittman at the Greco World Championships in 1989 which took place in Martigny, Switzerland. Karelin went on to win gold, with László Klauz taking silver.

Flying Armbar - Diaz v. Sato

Here is Rumina "Moon Wolf" Sato fighting Charles Diaz at Shooto - Devilock Fighters which took place on 1/15/99 in Tokyo, Japan.

Sato, a submission legend, has career submission wins over Yves Edwards, Ryan Ackerman and Rafael Cordeiro.

Jacare's Pro Debut Against Jorge Patino

Here is Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza fighting Jorge Patino at Jungle Fight 1 which took place in Manaus, Brazil on 9/13/03.

Souza (23-4) is fresh off a TKO win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 198. The former ADCC and Strikeforce champion has career victories over Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy, Gegard Mousasi and Yushin Okami.

Patino (38-18) is a heavy hitter who has wins over Pete Spratt, Efrain Escudero and Beau Baker in his career while fighting in WSOF, Bellator, LFC and once in the UFC.

Video of the Day - Mercer KO's Sylvia

Here is Ray Mercer ending former UFC Champ Tim Sylvia's night at Adreneline 3. Rich Clementi and Jeremy Horn also notched victories on the card. Mercer's KO was the first major upset by a former boxing champ in MMA.

Jeremy Horn versus Forrest Griffin

Here is Jeremy Horn fighting Forrest Griffin at IFC Global Domination which took place on 9/6/03 in Denver, Colorado.

In that event, Forrest (19-7) had submitted Chael Sonnen in his previous bout. Horn (91-22) had submitted Mikhail Avetisyan. Forrest would go on to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame following his epic TUF 1 match-up against Stephen Bonnar and career victories over Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson and Rich Franklin. He retired after a 2012 win over Tito Ortiz and has been working for the UFC ever since.

Horn probably has officially retired from competition after tapping due to strikes against Egidijus Valavicius in 2015. Horn had a 19 year career which included wins over Chuck Liddell, Gilbert Yvel, Josh Burkman, Chael Sonnen and Dean Lister.

Video of the Day - Fulton v. Bullock

Here is Travis Fulton fighting Jeremy Bullock at Extreme Challenge 22 which took place on 11/21/98 in West Valley City, Utah.

As you will see, the bout features one of the most memorable slams in MMA history. Fulton currently has 248 confirmed wins on Sherdog, with many more that are unconfirmed.

Michael "Venom" Page v. Ben Dishman

Here is the pro debut of Michael "Venom" Page, who fought Ben Dishman at UCMMA 26 which took place on 2/4/12 in London, England.

Page (12-0, 7-0 BFC) next fights Derek Anderson at Bellator 179 which takes place on May 19, 2017 at Wembley Arena in London, England. Page puts his karate on full display during the finish.

Finish:

Full Bout:

Alexander Volkov versus Denis Smolderev

Here is Alexander Volkov fighting Denis Smoldarev at M-1 Challenge 64 which took place on 2/19/16 in Moscow, Russia.

Volkov (27-6, 1-0 UFC) won his UFC debut with a really close split decision over Timothy Johnson. In his Bellator stint, he had notable victories over WSOF champ Blagoy Ivanov, Mighty Mo and Brett Rogers. It has been announced that Volkov will next fight Roy Nelson (22-13) on a UFC on Fox card.

Fight starts at 10:27.

Jeff Lawson Gi Grappling

Here is judo black belt and former TUF competitor Jeff Lawson using his skills in a GI submission grappling match against Paul Richards.

Masakazu Imanari versus Mun Hwan Yang

Here is leg lock specialist Masakazu "Ashikan Judan" Imanari fighting Mun Hwan Yang at Deep Cage Impact 2015 which took place on 8/29/15 in Tokyo, Japan.

Imanari (35-16) has submission wins over Jorge Gurgel, Mike Thomas Brown, Yoshihiro Maeda and Nam Phan. He next fights against Juri Ohara (20-11) at Deep 78 Impact on 3/18/17.

Valentina Shevchenko's Early Bouts

Here are some of Valentina Shevchenko's early MMA bouts. The first is against Mi Choi Kim at WXF which took place on 12/3/03 in Seoul, South Korea. The second is against Roza Kalieva in KFP which took place on 3/22/05. The last is against Kyung Aeh Kim at WXF on 7/9/05.

Valentina (14-2, 3-1 UFC) recently submitted TUF champ Juliana Pena at UFC on Fox 23 via armbar, and promptly did the victory dance in the second video. In the bout prior, she defeated Holly Holm in a dominant unanimous decision. She will likely be looking for a rematch against Amanda Nunes next. Valentina has a litany of muay thai, kickboxing and tournament titles.

Boop

Andy Hug and the 1996 K-1 World Grand Prix

The 1996 K-1 Grand Prix which began with a field of 16 competitors, including Peter Aerts, Musashi, Cro Cop, Jerome LeBanner, Ernesto Hoost and Mike Bernardo.

The Opening Round took place on 3/10/96 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. Hug would fight Bart Vale, who took place in the infamous no holds barred fight against Mike Bitoni.

The next three rounds all took place on 5/6/96, again at the Yokohama Arena. Hug began by next fighting the lanky Duane Van Der Merwe, an alternate.

In the semifinals, Hug would meet Ernesto Hoost in a hard fought bout.

In the finale, Hug fought Mike Bernardo to complete his epic journey.

Video of the Day - Sexton v. Jedrzejczyk

Here is Joanna Jedrzejczyk fighting Rosi Sexton at Cage Warriors 69 which took place on 6/7/14 in London, England.

Jedrzejczyk (13-0, 7-0 UFC) won a unaminous decision over Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 205. Her next opponent has yet to be announced.



(Joanna Jedrejczyk pictured)

Alexey Oleynik v. Krzysztof Kulak

Here is Alexey Oleynik or "Olexey Oleinik" fighting Krzysztof Kulak at KSW 8 which took place on 11/10/07 in Warsaw, Poland. This fight is the finale of an open weight tournament.

You'll notice Oleynik (51-10, 3-1 UFC) pull off one of his trademark maneuvers at the end of the bout, but from a different position as compared with his recent triumph over Victor Pesta.

Igor Vovchanchyn's Bizarre World Vale Tudo 5 Run

Here is Igor Vovchanchyn fighting Tulio Palhares, Elias Rodrigues and Nick Nutter at the World Vale Tudo Championship 5 which took place on 2/3/98 in Brazil.

At the time, World Vale Tudo's rule set was no holds barred/NHB without rounds. Vovchanchyn (55-10), an MMA and combat sports legend, fought almost exclusively in tournaments until entering the Pride organization. Vovchanchyn hold career victores over Mark Kerr, Yuki Kondo, Gilbert Yvel, and a very fatigued Kazushi Sakuraba.

Tulio Palhares, his first opponent that night, does own a TKO at UFC 17.5. The rest of his career wasn't much to write home about. No clue what happened at the end.


Vovchanchyn next fought Elias Rodrigues who was brought in supposedly after UFC veteran Patrick Smith could not continue after his bout. It features maybe the most non nonchalant tap outs I've seen.


In the finale, Vovchanchyn fought NCAA All American from Ohio State Nick Nutter, and the rest is history.

Who was Andy Hug?

Andreas "Andy" Hug was a superstar Swiss karate fighter who lived from September 7, 1964 - August 24, 2000. Andy was the first karate fighter to win the K-1 Grand Prix, which he did in 1996. K-1 is hands down the best kickboxing organization in the world. He was runner up in 1996 and 1997.

Hug was revered by the Japanese public, who admired his courage as he usually was the smaller fighter in the ring against much larger kickboxers. He was nicknamed "Blue Eyed Samarai" by the Japanese. Outside of K-1, Hug fought in numerous full contact karate matches, winning various titles around Europe and Asia.

His trademark axe kick was perfected to epic proportions as you will see in the highlight reels below. Andy also possessed a brutal spinning back fist, and nasty spinning high kicks and low kicks. In his last big K-1 match on June 3, 2000, he defeated Mirko "Cro Cop" Filopovic at K-1 Fight Night in his native land of Switzerland. Sadly, Hug died of leukemia a short time later. He was rewarded an honorary samurai title by K-1 founder Kazuyoshi Ishii and was considered to be the bravest K-1 fighter of all by the Japanese public.

Hug notched K-1 wins over all the top K-1 stars in Jerome LeBanner, Musashi, Mike Bernardo and Masaake Satake; K-1 Champs Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Branco Cikatic, Ray Sefo; and UFC Champ Maurice Smith. He even KO'd Duke Roufus of Roufusport.

Video of the Day - Boyle v. Popov

Here is Derek Boyle fighting Alex Popov in RITR 15 which took place on 9/9/11 in Alberta, Canada.

Textbook flying knee? Check.

Video of the Day - Dandois v. Pink

Here is Cindy Dandois fighting Anjela Pink at Conquest of the Cage 24 which took place on 11/11/16 in Airway Heights, Washington.

Dandois (8-2) has career wins over former Strikforce champ Marloes Coenen, TUF veteran Jessamyn Duke and Invicta prospect Meghan Anderson. Dandois is a frequent training partner of former UFC champ Miesha Tate and has some solid grappling. As you can tell post fight, she is desperate for a chance to get to the UFC.

Fight starts around 5:25.

Video of the Day - Miesha Tate

Miesha Tate (18-7, 5-4 UFC) has retired from active MMA competition, though she is still training.

Genki Sudo v. Butterbean

Here is Genki Sudo fighting Eric "Butterbean" Esch at K-1: Premium Dynamite!! which took place on 12/31/03 in Nagoya, Japan.

Butterbean had a 77-10-4 boxing career with wins over Peter McNeeley (47-7) and Kenny Craven (28-20). His MMA career was respectable in its own right, as he went 15-10 with TKO's of Cabbage Correia, James Thompson and Sean O'Haire. He got a rough debut fight in that of MMA legend Genki Sudo.

Bas Rutten's Bar Fight in Sweden

Here is Bas Rutten discussing a bar fight in Sweden on the Joe Rogan Podcast. Paul Klawiter did the animation, pretty funny stuff.