The
final fight weekend of 2016 did not disappoint, World Series of Fighting,
Rizin Fighting Federation and the Ultimate
Fighting Championship all stacked their cards for the year-ender and the
results thrilled fans around the globe. WSOF
made their New York debut, treating fans in Madison
Square Garden to four Championship bouts. Japanese promotion, Rizin FC packed Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan to a two-day, three round
open-weight tournament. The UFC christened
the new, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
with two Championship fights, headlined by Ronda Rousey challenging Amanda
Nunes for the Banamweight belt.
Rizin feels a lot like Pride FC from over a decade ago and for
good reason, former Pride president,
Nobuyuki Sakakibara created the MMA promotion in 2015. It’s more than just
that, their second annual open-weight tournament offered all the best aspects
of the former promotion, Rizin 2 in
September, kicked off the first round of the tournament, with round two on Dec
29th and rounds three and four on New Year’s Eve. Getting that familiar Pride FC vibe? Well… Forty-two year old, Mirko “Cro Cop” won it
all, in dominating fashion.
Filipovic
Submitted Hyun Man Myung at Rizin 2
(9/25/16) with a First Round (2:20) Arm-Triangle
Choke. He faced last year’s Tournament Champion, King Mo, Muhammed Lawal at Rizin
3 (12/29/16) earning a Second Round (1:41) TKO, to advance to the semi-final
round where he faced, Four hundred pound, Sumo wrestler, Baruto Kaito. On just
two days rest, Cro Cop TKO’d Kaito in
the first 0:49 of the fight. Finals opponent, Amir Aliakbari went to a pair of two-round
Decision wins, in both his Wednesday quarter-final fight versus Heath Herring
and his semi-final bout over Valentin Moldavsky earlier that evening. It took a
rested, Filipovic 2:03 to separate Aliakbari from consciousness and win the
2016 Rizin Open-Weight Grand Prix
Finals. Mirko won the 2006 Pride
Open-Weight Grand Prix ten years earlier.
All
four WSOF Champions retained their
titles, Saturday afternoon at WSOF 34.
On only three weeks-notice, Luiz Firmino traded punches with undefeated, Justin
Gaethje.
Through three rounds, Firmino gave Gaethje all he could handle,
out-pointing the Champ on the Judges’ scorecards, but for every combo Luiz
landed, Justin delivered a devastating upper-cut or humbling hook. In the end
Firmino’s face could fare no more abuse and a Doctor stoppage came before the
fourth round. Gaethje held onto his Lightweight Championship by TKO.
Two-division
WSOF Champion, David Branch defended
his Middleweight Title with a Fifth Round Rear-Naked-Choke
of Louis Taylor. Branch improves to 20-3, he defended his Light Heavyweight
Title in October with a Unanimous Decision victory over Vinny Magalhaes at WSOF 33.
Marlon
Moraes retained his Bantamweight Title when a leg injury to Josenaldo Silva
haulted the bout. Moraes was getting the best of the early exchanges and nearly
cinched up a Guillotine-Choke for the
win, before the injury. Silva scrambled to his feet, threw a right hand and
launched into a flying knee. When he came down Silva immediately grabbed his
leg and Referee, Dan Miragliotta wisely stepped in granting Moraes the TKO
victory.
In a
five-round grappling display, Jon Fitch beats Jake Shields by UD. Shields
attempted to submit the crafty Fitch for five rounds, but the Thirty-eight year
old was able to stay safe and score points with punches inside Shields Guard
for most of the bout.
Cody
Garbrandt pulled off the upset and handed Dominick Cruz his first lost in over
nine years. Garbrandt improves to 11-0 winning the UFC’s BW Title and marks just the second time in his career that he’s
seen the Judges’ decision, winning by UD. No
Love’s game plan was perfect and his performance, masterful.
In
the Main Event of the
UFC’s final card
of 2016, Amanda Nunes refused to allow Ronda Rousey time to warm up. This one
wasn’t a contest, Nunes wins by TKO 0:48 into the fight. The win improves
Lioness to 14-4 with five wins in a row.
Rowdy was dealt the second loss of
her career and second by TKO/KO consecutive, she falls to 12-2
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