Video of the Day - Vetell v. Nelson

Here is Roy Nelson fighting Bryan Vetell in the IFL Grand Prix Semifinals which took place at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on 11/3/07.

Nelson (19-9) would go on to win the IFL HW title and the TUF 10 title. He next fights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-8) at UFC Fight Night 39 in Abu Dhabi.

(Roy Nelson with his TUF trophy)

Video of the Day - Rothwell v. Soszynski

Krzysztof Soszynski fighting Ben Rothwell at IFL - Legends Championship 2006 which took place on 4/29/06 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Rothwell next fights Brandon Vera at UFC 164.

Video of the Day - Nelson v. Imes

Here is TUF 10's Roy Nelson v. TUF 2 runner-up Brad Imes in an IFL Heavyweight Title Fight which took place on 5/18/08 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

Roy Nelson has three straight KO wins over Dave Herman, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo. He will next fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 161.

Video of the Day - Horodecki v. Njokuani

Here is Chris Horodecki fighting Anthony Njokuani at WEC 45 which took place on 12/19/09 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Horodecki (18-4) who was touted as an MMA prodigy in the International Fight League, would go 2-2 in the WEC and 1-1-1 in Bellator, and currently does not have any fights scheduled.

Njokuani (15-7) made the move from the WEC to the UFC going 2-3 with wins over Andre Winner and John Makdessi. After losing to Rafeal dos Anjos in July of 2012, he has yet to fight again.

Big Country Goes Big

I have gotten a couple questions emailed to me lately inquiring about my thoughts on Roy "Big Country" Nelson's fighting skills, coaching job on TUF 16, his rankings among UFC heavyweights and a potential drop down in weight. Here are my thoughts:

Roy Nelson is an elite martial artist and gifted athlete. That has been evidenced several times, including KO's over Brendan Schaub, Stefan Struve, Cro Cop, Dave Herman and now Matt Mitrione. He has a legit BJJ black belt and has defeated Frank Mir in a grappling match. He can impose his will in fights, possesses an iron chin, and has excellent punching power combined with hand eye coordination.

I don't think Roy will ever drop to 205 pounds and have the prototypical UFC body. At 250 plus, I just don't see Roy wanting to lose that weight. Most fighters at 205 are faster than Nelson. There are some grapplers at 205 that could take Nelson down every round and stay away from his power.


Roy is at his best striking when he is able to counter and avoid power punches from big guys with reach on him. Long strikers should be peppering Roy with the jab and hitting him with kicks at distance. As far as his ranking, I'd guess Roy has a few more years left around number 10 with wins still left in the tank.

As evidenced by his championship TUF 10 run, Roy doesn't really like people telling him what to do. He knows what works for him and wants to do that. As a coach on TUF 16, it seemed like the fighters on Team Nelson wanted more instruction and harder practices. Roy deflected that sentiment by saying he couldn't teach heart, but really Roy probably just thought that's how his fighters should be trained to win the tournament.

Roy wasn't the best TUF coach, but look at the results. His fighters won 8 out of the 15 fights in the TUF tournament. His fighter Colton Smith emerged the champion of the show fighting the same way throughout the tourney. Smith imposed his will, got takedowns, threw elbows and attempted submissions. It wasn't the most pretty tournament run, but it was effective.

In the very first episode of TUF 16, Roy did say that the show is a marathon, not a sprint, and fighters should do anything they could to win. The goal is to win 3 fights in 6 weeks in the house to make the finale. The two worst things a TUF coach can do is burn his fighters out and pushing them too hard right before a fight or having a fighter get hurt during a practice. Neither happened under Roy's watch.

(Nelson was the first and only IFL HW Champ)

Video of the Day - Kennedy v. McGivern

Here is Tim Kennedy against Ryan McGivern from IFL: Chicago, which took place on 5/19/07 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

Kennedy next fights Luke Rockhold for the Strikeforce 185 pound title.

Video of the Day - Miller v. McGivern

Here is an IFL MW title fight between Dan Miller and Ryan McGivern which took place 5/16/08. Dan Miller will fight Nate Marquardt at UFC 128.

Antonio McKee Not Quite In UFC Yet

Antonio McKee, a dangerous grappler and cardio freak, is currently riding a 14 fight win streak. In his last fight, McKee defended his MFC lightweight title by crushing Luciano Azevedo with a series of elbow shots to the head. McKee has career victories over Delson Heleno, Carlo Prater and Derrick Noble.

Here he is Antonio speaking to Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV, friend of MMA Blaster.

Video of the Day - Miller v. Phillips

Here is a fight from the defunct IFL between BJJ blackbelt Dan Miller and Dan Phillips which took place on 8/2/07 in East Rutherford, NJ. One of the most brutal guillotine chokes I've ever seen in MMA competition.

Dan Miller next fights John Salter at this weekend's UFC 118.

Video of the Day - Patrick v. Steinbeiss

Here is Claude Patrick fighting Ray Steinbeiss from IFL - Gracie v. Miletich which took place on 9/23/06.

Patrick won his UFC debut against Ricardo Funch via guillotine choke at UFC 115. Patrick has 6 guillotine choke wins in 13 total fights.

Video of the Day - Matyushenko v. Kawaguchi

Here is Vladimir Matyushenko fighting Kenji Kawaguchi in Vale Tudo Japan which occured on 10/25/98. Vladdy is fighting Jon Jones next on UFC: Versus 2 this Sunday.

Video of the Day - Markum v. Pyle

Here is Rory Markum v. Mike Pyle from the IFL: Legends which took place on 4/29/06. Markham next fights Nate Diaz at UFC 111.

Video of the Day - Gracie v. Holloway

Here is Rolles Gracie's MMA debut against Sam Holloway in the IFL. Rolles fights Mustapha Al-Turk at UFC 109. Renzo Gracie is also rumored to be joining the UFC.

Video of the Day - Villefort v. Massenzio

Here is Danillo Villefort v. Mike Massenzio from IFL Connecticut which took place on 5/16/08. Villefort fights Jesse Lennox next at UFC 101 on 8/8/09.

Video of the Day - Hieron v. Miller

This Saturday, Jay Hieron will fight Jason High in Affliction's second event. Hieron was the IFL 170 pound Grand Prix winner and this is his first title defense so to speak. Unfortunatley the IFL clung to his contract as they dissolved and Hieron was only able to fight twice in 2008. Hieron combines wrestling and boxing into his fighting style.

This fight is from IFL New Jersey which took place on April 4, 2008.

Video of the Day- Wagnney Fabiano v. L.C. Davis

Here is Wagnney Fabiano (10-1) v. L.C. Davis (10-1) in the International Fight League. Fabiano is the current featherweight champ of the sinking IFL. L.C. was recently signed by the WEC. Hopefully Fabiano gets signed next to fight Urijah Faber. The IFL is sinking fast.

Tim Kennedy - Solid MW You Probably Don't Know About

Thoughts by the MMA Blaster

Nobody knows much about Tim Kennedy (9-2) who is an active army ranger, and an occasional member of the Pit. But with his impressive record and talent we should. He has wins over Jason "Mayhem" Miller (19-5), Dante Rivera (10-2), Ryan McGivern (i5), Hector Urbina (9-3) and Cruz Chacon (11-11). He recently lost a decision to Mayhem Miller, and two weeks later KO'd Elias Rivera.


Kennedy v. McGivern

Tim is an impressive 3-0 in IFL competition, and 1-0 in the WEC. In addition, Tim has fought in the army compatives mma tournaments. In 07', he won his five matches in less than 10 minutes. That tourney win was his third straight.


Get more pictures like this from SHERDOG.COM

Interesting article by the Knucklepit
http://www.knucklepit.com/mixed-martial-arts-tim_kennedy.htm

Video of the Day - Schultz v. Horodecki II

This video shows the second fight between Chris Horodecki and Ryan Schultz, this one for the IFL GP 155 pound title. The first encounter left Schultz unconscious and taken out in a stretcher. The IFL posted this video on youtube.



Rest of the results:
Marcello Salazar def. Alex Cook via unanimous decision, round three

Brett Cooper def. Rory Markham via TKO (strikes) at 1:15 of round two - Brett Cooper (7-4, 3 wins in a row) is a great young prospect, this was a slugfest.

Tim Kennedy def. Elias Rivera via KO (punch) at 2:30 of round one - Tim Kennedy overmatched Rivera from start to finish. He next takes on Horwich for the MW title on 2/29/08.



-Belts-
Roy Nelson def. Antoine Jaoude via TKO at 0:20 of round two - Roy Nelson (IFL HW Champ) is (11-2, 3 wins in a row) now and looks to be the new Ben Rothwell of the IFL.

Wagnney Fabiano def. L.C. Davis via submission (armbar) at 3:38 of round one - Fabiano (FW champ)(9-1, 5 wins in a row) is the face of the IFL's new featherweight class.

Jay Hieron def. Delson Heleno via TKO (injury due to strikes) at 4:00 of round one - big upset, ex-UFC WW Jay Hieron (14-4) is now the IFL welterweight champ.

Matt Horwich def. Benji Radach via TKO (strikes) at 1:58 of round two - Horwich (MW champ)(21-9, 3 wins in a row) is certainly an interesting character, but his intense, non-stop fighting style is great to watch.

Vladimir Matyushenko (20-3, 7 wins in a row) won the LHW belt in the first round of the grand prix. Vladdy's has had an excellent MMA career with wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (12-3, Lil Nog), Pedro Rizzo (16-7), Travis Wiuff (49-11), Yuki Kondo (48-20-6), Alex Schoenauer (12-9) for IFL belt, Anthony Ruiz (21-10) and Travis Fulton (182-44).

Shad Lierley Out Of IFL GP

News by the MMA Blaster

Shad Lierley has posted the following in a bulletin on Myspace:

"If you haven't heard I will no longer be fighting Chris in the GP finals due to a broken toe. The toe broke off, and the bone was protruding through the skin. At first I thought I would still be able to fight with the injury, but sometimes it's more important to be a smart fighter than a tough fighter.

The doctor told me there's no amount of Lidocaine that would numb the excruciating pain that I would feel in the fight. He also informed me that no amount of tape could keep the sharp bone from protruding through the skin and tape. Furthermore he said that re-breaking the bone would be the least of my concerns, it would be the likely infections to follow that I'd have to worry about.

I'd like to apologize to everyone that has bought tickets to come see me fight. I'd also like to thank everyone for all their support."

Looks like Shad is out of the 155 pound IFL GP title fight against Chris Horodecki. That must be extreme disappointment to the IFL. Reading that bulletin post however would make me want Shad to err on the side of caution.

The IFL basically inserted Shad into the finals, despite Shad not competing in the first round of the tourney, to try to recapture the "fight of the year" magic. Shad and Horodecki fought in a bout on June 1st of 2007 that was action packed. Shad was 2-1 in the IFL this year and had a case to make the GP.

I wish the best for Shad and hope this injury isn't as nasty as it sounds. "The toe broke off, and the bone was protruding through the skin." That is harsh, get well soon.



It appears that Ryan Schultz is replacing Lierley at the finals. John Gunderson was first rumored as the replacement. Schultz (17-9) lost previously to Horodecki by TKO in the second round on 11/2/06. Schultz is the lone person to hold a win over Roger Huerta (20-1-1).

Tim Kennedy v. Mayhem Miller II scheduled for HDNET Fights

Story by MMA Blaster

While Tim Kennedy should have been placed in the IFL Grand Prix, I am happy to see that he will take on Mayhem Miller on December 15th for HDNet Fights Part II. I haven't been able to track down the footage of the previous Tim Kennedy v. Mayhem Miller fight but it did occur during a tournament hosted by Extreme Challenge on 2/23/07. Miller had fought Denis Kang (23-9) prior to the Kennedy bout and Kennedy had just beat Ryan Narte (1-3). Kennedy won via decision versus Miller and then won the finals bout against Cruz Chacon (11-12).

Kennedy is stepping in for Sean Salmon who was suspended following a devastating knee strike from Jorge Santiago in the Strikeforce tourney. Kennedy is still listed as fighting in the IFL Grand Prix finals on the under card, but I'm guessing that bout may be canceled.

**Sweet action pic taken by the MMA Blaster

Check out a great exclusive interview of Tim Kennedy on Five Ounces of Pain's website.