Ronda Rousey

Here is UFC women's bantamweight champ in a behind the scenes look at her cameo in the coming Entourage movie. After dispatching Miesha Tate and crushing Sara McMann, the UFC star will get some acting work in.


Why are they making an Entourage movie? Your guess is as good as mine. I thought the show had a couple great seasons, a couple mediocre seasons, then got very stale. The Chuck Liddell appearance in the series was one of the better cameo's. Drama got, got.

Wow, video already pulled, I'll guess I'll put a video up of her discussing it. If I were producing an Entourage movie, I'd want as much publicity as possible.

Video of the Day - Cormier v. Johnson

Here is Daniel Cormier fighting Tony Johnson for the King of the Cage heavyweight title on 8/13/10 in Mescalero, New Mexico. King of the Cage airs live on HDNet. Cormier was on the 2004 and 2008 USA Olympic teams and was an NCAA wrestling runner-up with Oklahoma State in 2001.

Cormier (17-1, 6-1 UFC) next fights at UFC 200 defending the LHW title against Jon Jones (22-1, 16-1 UFC) who was stripped of said title after his most recent brush with the law. Cormier lost a decision to Jones at UFC 182.

The fight starts at the 8:45 mark. At 10:00 you will see Cormier use an attempted Johnson takedown into one of his own. After that you can see the elite body positioning and grappling that Cormier possesses.


(Daniel Cormier slams Josh Barnett)

Prospects For UFC's Women's Divisions

I was recently asked about the depth of the women's divisions in the UFC and whether or not there are any intriguing prospects existed outside the organization. Like the HW and flyweight divisions on the men's side, the women's divisions need more prospects. The key is to get fighters in the organization, give them fights, and find out if they are legit. Having fighters sit on the sidelines will only hurt the division.

Here is a look at some of the prospects who should be very close to getting the call:

135 Pound Prospects

Tonya Evinger (18-5) the 34 year old Evinger has been on the women's MMA scene since 2006. After coming up short at but recently has strung together 9 straight wins and capturing the Invicta title. A college wrestler, Evinger recently TKO'd Pannie Kinzaid, then 8-0, and has career victories over Julie Kedzie, Ediane Gomes and Carina Damm.


Taila Santos (13-0) the 22 year old has been tearing up Santa Catarina, Brazil fight scene. She has 8 T/KO's and 2 submission wins on her resume. Her best victory was probably over Gisele Moreira. For some reason, she hasn't fought since August 16, 2015.


Elina Kallionidou (4-0) the 17 year old Greek fighter has fought exclusively in Athens thus far in her career. In her last 2 bouts, she defeated Foteini Kromida, then 4-0, and Roxane Teixeira, then 4-2.



125 Pound Prospects

Barb Honchak (10-2)- the current Invicta flyweight champ has gone undefeated since 2 decision losses in 2010 to UFC fighers Cat Zingano and Angela Magana. She has wins over UFC veterans Leslie Smith, Aisling Daly and Roxanne Modafferi. At 36 years old, a cut to 115 would be difficult to say the least.


Jennifer Maia (13-4)- Maia recently defeated Vanessa Porto via decision to win the interim Invicta title. Maia has won four straight since a loss to Deanna Bennett.


Vanessa Porto (18-7)- the Brazilian has been on fire lately with 3 straight quality wins after a decision loss to Barb Honchak. A little on the short side at 5'2" you would expect Porto could make the 115 pound limit. Porto has career wins over Tonya Evinger, Roxanne Modafferi, Germaine de Randamie, Tara LaRosa and former Bellator champ Zoila Frausto.


115 Pound Prospects

Viviane Pereira (10-0)- the Brazilian has dominated low level competition on Sao Paulo, Brazil fight circuit.


Alex Grasso (7-0)- the 22 year old Mexican fighter has won 3 straight in Invicta, most recently defeating Mizuki Inoue (9-3) via decision.


Livia Renata Souza (9-1)- the Brazilian recently KO'd DeAnna Bennett then 8-1 and beforehand submitted Katja Kankaanpaa via 4th round triangle choke handing the Finn her first loss. She is generally ranked in the top 5 now, but then lost a split decision to UFC veteran Angela Hill.

Video of the Day - Jones v. Holm

Here is Holly Holm fighting Allanna Jones at Legacy FC 21 which took place on 7/19/13 in Houston, Texas. Holm trains out of Jackson-Winklejohn and has a pro boxing record of 33-2-3.

Holm (10-0, 3-0 UFC) shocked the world as she destroyed Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 with a perfectly placed kick to the jaw. Prior to that kick, Holm had Rousey's number landing with counter lefts, elbows, kicks and even scored a takedown. It was by far the best Holm looked after previously winning twice via decision against Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau in her UFC bouts.

Holm next fights Miesha Tate (17-5, 4-2 UFC) at UFC 196 in her first title defense.




(Holly Holm pictured, click to enlarge)

Metamoris Mega Match Forecast

Metamoris is a professional grappling organization which holds submission only matches on a square mat. Athletes are allowed to wear gi pants, full tights, wrestling shoes, knee pads and rashguards during the 20 minute round. Each event so far has had consisted of 6 bouts, consisting of BJJ superstars, current/former MMA stars and fantasy match-ups.

After seeing the mega-star match-ups of Eddie Bravo v. Royler Gracie, Andre Galvao v. Chael Sonnen and Dean Lister v. Josh Barnett, Metamoris 5 featured MMA pioneers Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba. The pair were involved in an epic battle at Pride 10 which saw awesome scrambles for position with Sakuraba eventually latching on a fight ending kimura. The grappling match didn't quite prove to be as entertaining as it was nostalgic.


With many pioneers of MMA retired or retiring, Metamoris is an event to give them an outlet for competition while promoting grappling. Who are some of the other legendary former fighters and what match-ups are possible? I've conjured up a few interesting names below, ranked from most likely to least likely to compete:

Matt Hughes- the former UFC welterweight champ and UFC HOF'er is rumored to be grappling Renzo Gracie in ADCC in 2015. A former Eastern Illinois wrestler, Hughes placed 5th in the NCAA tournament in 1997. In the ADCC he has defeated Jeremy Horn and Ricardo Almeida, while losing in absolute matches to Tito Ortiz and Jeff Monson. He was known for power slams in MMA, slamming is illegal from the top position in Metamoris. Interesting bouts for Hughes would be against BJ Penn, Frank Trigg, Carlos Newton, Royce Gracie or GSP. Hughes compiled an MMA record of 45-9 with 18 submission victories.


Randy Couture- the former HW and LHW UFC champ and UFC HOF'er has been on the outs with Dana White since his decision to coach on Bellator's Fight Master reality show. Couture is a 2X runner-up NCAA champ, multiple time Greco Olympic alternate and won a Greco Pan Am Games Gold in 1991. Couture was awarded a black belt in Neil Melanson's No Gi submission wrestling system following his arm triangle of James Toney. Couture had an epic battle with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2009 and a rematch would make sense. It would be cool to see a rematch against Enson Inoue. The blockbuster would be a bout against former Pride superstar Fedor Emelienenko.


BJ Penn- the former LW and WW champ retired from MMA following his TKO loss to Frankie Edgar, but may still have a drive to compete. BJ was awarded his BJJ Black belt in 2000 by Andre Pederneiras. He won gold at the IBJFF World Championships in 2000, has won a World Jiu Jitsu Championship. There are several former MMA opponents that would lend themselves to huge match-ups, such as Matt Hughes, Rodrigo Gracie, Renzo Gracie and perhaps even GSP. The big X-factor would be whether or not BJ wants to train.


Masakatsu Funaki- The co-founder of Pancrase, Funaki began fighting in 1993, last fighting to a draw against Volk Han in 2012. A two time King of Pancrase winner, Funaki started off in professional wrestling and last took part in a 2013 Wrestle-1 show. While some of the early Pancrase fights were a little suspect, Funaki holds submission wins over Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger and Yuki Kondo. Potential match-ups could include bouts with Sakuraba, Frank Shamrock, Minowaman and Bas Rutten.


Ricardo Arona- At 13-0 in ADCC competition including 3 tournament championships, Arona last competed in MMA in 2009 defeating Marvin Eastman via decision. Arona would win a Rings middleweight title and become a Pride superstar with his performance at the 2005 MW Grand Prix. He holds wins over Wanderlei Silva, Jeremy Horn, Dan Henderson, Sakuraba and Alistair Overeem. Match-ups could include an MMA rematch with Dean Lister or ADCC rematches against Ricardo Almeida or Babalu Sobral.


Carlos Newton- A legend of Canadian MMA, Newton is an IBJJF 3rd Degree Renzo Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under coach Terry Riggs. While retiring from MMA following a decision loss to Brian Ebersole, Newton has remained active in running Warrior MMA. Newton versus Kazushi Sakuraba in Pride 3 remains one of the most thrilling grappling based MMA contests. Newton won the UFC championship with a bulldog choke submission over Pat Miletich at UFC 31, only to be controversially slam KO'd to lose the belt at UFC 34. Some maintain that Hughes was asleep for the slam. He had other career wins over Erik Paulsen, Daijiro Matsui, Jose Landi-Jons, Renzo Gracie and Pete Spratt. Interesting match-ups would include a rematches with Sakuraba, Paulsen(who probably has a weight advantage), Renzo Gracie or Matt Hughes.


Genki Sudo- With flair and charisma to spare, Sudo was one of the most entertaining and unorthodox fighters to ever enter an MMA arena. Sudo has career submission victories over Nate Marquardt, Mike Thomas Brown, Kazuyuki Miyata and Hiroyuki Takaya, and KO'd Royler Gracie. In 2010 he received his BJJ black belt from Naoyoshi Watanabe at Triforce Academy, and was lightening fast in transition. Re-matches with Mike Thomas Brown, Kid Yamamoto or Royler Gracie make sense.


Fedor Emelianenko- Perhaps the greatest fighter of all-time, Fedor retired from MMA in 2012 following a KO win over Pedro Rizzo. Fedor has taken part in many Combat Sambo tournaments over the years, winning multiple gold medals in the Russian and World championships. He also has a bronze medal in Russian Judo Championships. Fedor accumulated 16 submission victories among his 34 total victories, submitting Tim Sylvia, Matt Lindland, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman during his MMA career. Obvious roadblocks to his potential entrance include his fee, potential co-promoting with his old management team M-1 and whether or not he has interest. He is supposedly considering a return to MMA. Match-ups could include Randy Couture, Josh Barnett, Antonio Nogueira and Mark Coleman.


Royce Gracie- The face of the early UFC and one of the reasons the UFC exists today, Royce and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu revolutionized fighting as we know it today. Royce captured the UFC 1, 2 and 4 tournament titles notching submission wins over Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Kimo Leopoldo. He was TKO'd by Sakuraba at Pride GP 2000 and won a rematch via decision in 2007. For the 2007 fight, Royce was failed a drug test for Nandrolone. A 6th degree black belt, it appears that he will be content with running his California schools and teaching private lessons. A rematch with Matt Hughes or Sakuraba makes sense.



Rickson Gracie- An 8th degree red and black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu and sporting a 12-0 MMA record, Rickson claimed to be undefeated in over 400 bouts. He acheived much notierity for the documentery Choke, which followed him as he prepared for Vale Tudo Japan tournament. A son of the legendery Helio Gracie, his son Kron Gracie tapped out Shinya Aoki and Otavio Sousa at the first and second Metamoris events. Any competitor over fifty would be a good one for Rickson, such as Dan Severn, though the odds of him returning are slim to none.


*GSP was not included due to his knee ailments. Was on the fence with Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, Kevin Randleman, Shane Carwin and Mark Kerr, but they might be too injured to return to a competition like this. I'd also say Dan Severn, but he is 56 years old. Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira each may retire following their rumored UFC match-up, this type of event would be perfect for them. Lesnar probably would want way more money than Metamoris could offer and this might not be the right type of event for him.