BELLATOR NEWS: Christian "Tonton" M'Pumbu joins season four light heavyweight tournament field

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Bellator's season four light heavyweight tournament field is nearly complete, as the organization on Friday confirmed Christian "Tonton" M'Pumbu as the sixth participant in the upcoming tournament.

The African born French fighter makes his Bellator debut bringing a 15-3-1 record, having finished 12 of his 15 victories by submission or TKO.

"Christian's dangerous in every facet of the game and he could use this platform on MTV2 to establish himself as a force in the 205 division," said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.

"I have wanted to take a step up in competition for some time now. I'm ready for this," said M?Pumbu. "I truly believe that I will be the Bellator World Light Heavyweight Champion. I'm excited about the future. Hard work always pays off."

Bellator's fourth season kicks off on March 5, and airs every Saturday night for 12 weeks on MTV2, and M'Pumbu now joins Richard Hale, Nik Fekete, Chris Davis, D.J. Linderman, and Tim Carpenter as the confirmed participants in this field.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_8580.shtml

Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus 

STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Weigh-in results for Strikeforce "Feijao vs. Henderson" in Columbus

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Weigh-ins took place this evening from the Arnold Sports Convention for tomorrow night's Strikeforce "Feijao vs. Henderson" event from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. All fighters in the night's two title fights made weight, as did the rest of the night's card.

Main Televised Card

* Rafael Cavalcante (204.5) vs. Dan Henderson (204.5) ? for light heavyweight title
* Marloes Coenen (135) vs. Liz Carmouche (134) ? for women's welterweight title
* Tim Kennedy (186) vs. Melvin Manhoef (185)
* Billy Evangelista (155.5) vs. Jorge Masvidal (155)

Preliminary Card

* Roger Bowling (170) vs. Josh Thornburg (170)
* Billy Vaughan (152.5) vs. Jorge Gurgel (155)
* Jason "Jay" Freeman (221.5) vs. Jason Riley (259)
* Ian Rammel (180.5) vs. Brian Rogers (184.5)
* Marc Cofer (185) vs. Mitch Whitesel (182.5)
* J.P. Felty (170.5) vs. John Kuhner (170.5)

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8655.shtml

Jess Liaudin Chuck The Iceman Liddell Shad Lierley  Jushin Thunder Liger

Bellator Welterweights Good, Hieron, Hawn, Weedman Advance

by Michael David SmithThe fourth season of Bellator Fighting Championships started Thursday night on MTV2 with Brent Weedman, Rick Hawn, Jay Hieron and Lyman Good winning their fights and advancing to the semifinals of Bellator's welterweight tournament.

It was a good start to Season 4 for Bellator, and a solid if not spectacular fight card, although it wasn't without controversy, particularly in Hieron's victory, which came on a bad stoppage with a referee who made a major mistake.

Weedman's unanimous decision victory over Dan Hornbuckle was a sensational bout, with back-and-forth ground action that had both guys in danger of being submitted multiple times. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Weedman, but it easily could have gone 29-28 for Hornbuckle, and many of the fans in Lemoore, California, booed the judges' verdict. Weedman was classy, saying, "Dan's the toughest opponent I've ever faced in over 30 fights." Weedman had what appeared to be a significant cut on his left eyelid, which will bear watching as he needs to return for the semifinals in less than two months.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/05/bellator-welterweights-good-hieron-hawn-weedman-advance/

He Peng David Heath Delson Heleno Dan Henderson

STRIKEFORCE VIDEO: Strikeforce "Feijao vs. Henderson" trailer

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Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson takes place this weekend from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Check out the video trailer from Showtime for this weekend's fights:

App Users Click Here For Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoSMAPbUht4

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8619.shtml

Antoine Jaoude Steve Jennum Ryan Jensen DaMarques Johnson

PENICK: Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko a perfect fight option for Strikeforce

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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With Dan Henderson's second straight knockout win in Strikeforce, the organization has a fight on their hands that could be massive: Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko.

The idea was presented today by Mike Chiappetta at MMAFighting, who makes a good case for the fight. Fedor, while he's always fought at heavyweight, isn't much larger than Henderson's opponent from last night in Feijao, who walks around at 225 lbs. by fight time. Henderson's also a huge name with Pride connections that would be an easy sell for Strikeforce.

Henderson is open for the fight, and in fact has stated on multiple times his desire for a bout against "The Last Emperor." With Fedor coming off of two straight losses in the heavyweight division, and Strikeforce flirting with the idea of tossing him back in the heavyweight, this fight is more appealing than some in the heavyweight division could be.

Granted, a rematch with Fabricio Werdum could be big for them if Overeem defeats Werdum in June, but with Fedor losing again since that fight, and Werdum coming into that fight off a loss, it would certainly lose a lot of its luster. Besides, Henderson, while he may not have drawn massive interest in his last several fights, remains an immensely popular fighter, especially with crowds at the arena live. The response he received in Columbus was massive, and showed that knocking out Michael Bisping gains you some fans for life.

But back to this fight itself, Henderson has fought as a heavyweight before. In Japan, he split a pair of fights with one of Fedor's old foes in Antonio Minotauro Nogueira. But, this fight would probably be contested at either a catchweight or at light heavyweight.

Fans and pundits alike have long called for Fedor to drop to the light heavyweight division, and while that's not all that likely, a catchweight of 215 or 220 lbs. wouldn't be out of the question. And Henderson's title doesn't need to be a factor in this fight. He does have some highly interesting fights in the 205 lb. division, but as far as interest and ratings and all of that go, a bout with Fedor would draw much more than a bout with Gegard Mousasi or Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal down the line.

This is an excellent fight. Fedor would have a chance to pick up a win for the first time since November of 2009 - and it would be against the biggest name he's fought since Andrei Arlsovski - and Henderson would have a chance to put the nail in the coffin of Fedor's lengthy and legendary career. Kudos to Chiappetta for tossing this fight out there, and I'm completely on board for putting this together next.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/penickstake/article_8666.shtml

Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga

As MMA Arrives in Ontario, Anti-MMA Voices Surface

by Michael David SmithWe're used to it by now. Those of us who love mixed martial arts have come to accept that our sport will be subjected to ignorant, unfair commentary from people who don't understand it and don't care to understand it, and that the anti-MMA voices will grow particularly loud any time the sport becomes regulated in an area where it had previously been banned.

But even if we're used to it, and it would be easier just to ignore it, sometimes it's valuable to point out some of the over-the-top assertions about MMA that come out in the local media whenever the sport arrives in a new town.

So with MMA recently being legalized in Ontario, let's take a look at some of the problems with this Windsor Star column by Anne Jarvis.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/07/as-mma-arrives-in-ontario-anti-mma-voices-surface/

Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante