Pat Healy vs Jorge Masvidal & Brad Tavares vs Yoel Romero added to UFC on FOX 11

Brad Tavares vs Yoel Romero,  Pat Healy vs Jorge Masvidal added to UFC of FOX 11
by Chris Houten  - @mrhouts

The UFCs Orlando debut is filling up with the addition of 2 more bout to the April card.

UFC officials confirmed today a lightweight bout between Pat Healy (31-17 MMA, 0-3 UFC) and Jorge Masvidal (25-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC) as well as a middleweight bout Yoel Romero (7-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) takes on Brad Tavares (12-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) has been added to the card

UFC on Fox is slated for April 19th, and will take place at the Amway Center in Orlando Florida, home to the Orlando Magic, and the host of the 2012 NBA all-star game. The event’s main card airs on FOX in the US following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Fighting for the 50th time in his professional career, Pat Healy enters the bout with Masvidal on a two fight losing streak, and will be hoping to rekindle the magic which he used to submit long time top 10 lightweight contender Jim Miller in his UFC debut, to earn both 'Submission of the Night' and 'Fight of the Night' bonus.

Unfortunately for Healy however, Healy tested positive for marijuana following the bout and was stripped of the win and the $130,000 he earned in bonuses. After the fight with Miller, the 30-year old former MFC Champion dropped decisions to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 165, and Bobby Green at UFC on FOX 9, and may need a victory over Masvidal to save his UFC career.

Also coming into the bout on the back of a loss, Masvidal will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Healy having a 3 fight win streak snapped against Russian prospect Rustam Khabilov at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 in November. Prior to the loss, the former Strikeforce title contender had picked up wins against Justin Wilcox in Strikeforce, as well as Tim Means, and Michael Chiesa in the UFC, and was tipped as a possible future contender in the UFC lightweight division.

Currently enjoying a 5 fight win streak, Hawaii's Brad Tavares most recently defeated Lorenz Larkin at UFC Fight Night 35 in January. Prior to the victory over Larkin, the well travelled Tavares, who has fought in Japan and England for the UFC, defeated Dongi Yang, Tom Watson, Riki Fukuda, and Budda McDaniels and would be most-likely looking at a big, top 10 fight with a win over Romero.

Also featured on UFC Fight Night 35, Cuban, Yoel Romero came back from 2 rounds down to knock out Derek Brunson in the final round. The fight earned the Olympic Wrestling Silver medalist 'Fight of the Night' honours, his 2nd UFC bonus having picked up 'Knockout of the Night' bonus in his debut against Clifford Sparks, and also broke Brunson jaw on his way to victory. Although Romero has one of the best wrestling pedigrees in all of MMA, all 7 of the 36-year olds professional victories has come by way TKO / KO.

With the additions of Tavares vs Romero and Healy vs Masvidal,UFC on FOX 11 now includes:

Travis Browne vs Fabricio Werdum
Liz Carmouche vs Meisha Tate
Edson Barboza vs Donald Cerrone
Rafael dos Anjos vs Khabib Numagomedov
Pat Healy vs Jorge Masvidal
Yoel Romero vs Brad Tavares

UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 Main Card Predictions

UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 Main Card Predictions
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

The UFC is back on Wednesday showing some love to the US troops in Kentucky for UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3. There has been some grips about the quality of the card, but hey... its free, and what else are you doing on a Wednesday night (or Thursday for those with jobs like me).

Kingdom MMA writers Chris Houten and Ben Heather take a look at the main card for UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 and give you their thoughts and predictions on the night affairs.

Michael Chiesa vs Colton Smith 

Houten: Its safe to say, year on year the winner of TUF get weaker and weaker. The fact that guys like Colton Smith and Michael Chiesa share the same honours as guys like Bisping, Evans, Griffin etc just isn't right.

I personally don't care about this fight, I would have rather had Camozzi vs Larkin, or Bermudez vs Siler on the main card because I don't expect this fight to be that good.

I do think Chiesa will take this one though by submission though much to the dismay of the troop... surely this is the more exciting prospect of a Smith cuddle hug victory.

Prediction: Michael Chiesa - Submission RD 2 

Heather: A battle of TUF winners here and also a potential showcase that the talent in the house recently has got very stretched. If either of these guys were in any of the earlier seasons they surely wouldn't have gone on to win.

I think Smith was exposed last time out and may be again, has any TUF champion gone 0-2 after the finale (yes I know he beat Ricci in the final) but i think Chiesa will have enough to take the win.

Prediction: Michael Chiesa - Unanimous Decision

Rustam Khabilov vs Jorge Masvidal

Houten: Fight of the night right her anyone? Who wins - the fans.....end of!

Prediction: The Fan

Heather: Khabilov has certainly excited the fans since arriving in the UFC and some great team mates to train with at Jacksons. I think he will carry on his path up the ladder of the lightweight division on Wednesday night.

Prediction: Rustam Khabilov - TKO RD 2


Ronny Markes vs Yoel Romero

Houten: Markes is likely to be better that Romero in most areas, but does that matter when you an Olympic wrestler? My answer is no! Romero could surprise us again with some 'flying shit' but its more likely he will take this fight to the ground as and when he wants. I expect him to grind out a unanimous 30 - 27 decision.... I cant guarantee excitement however.

Prediction: Yoel Romero - Unanimous Decision

Heather: This fight is one of the fights I am really excited to see on Wednesday night. Ronny Markes welcomes the heavy hitting Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero to the UFC and I think it is sure to bring the excitement.

I think Markes should be able to put his experience of fighting tougher opponents to use and I think after what should be a very exciting first round Markes will get the victory in the second if he doesn't get caught early on.

Prediction: Ronny Markes - Submission RD 2
 
Liz Carmouche vs Alexis Davis

Houten: Alexis Davis is currently considered the 3rd best 135 in the world at the moment, and with good reason too. Davis is on a good win streak, has descent boxing, and is one of the best submission artist in the female division.... She's also pretty big for the weight too.


Her opponent Carmouche is a great little wrestler, and her ground and pound is one of the best in the division.

With both fighters possessing unique skill sets, the stage is set for an intriguing fight which could go either way. I'm gonna go Davis in this one though by late submission victory. I do think Carmouche with drag this fight to the floor, however I can Davis catching Carmouche off her back to take the victory, setting up Davis as the no. 1 contender.

Prediction: Alexis Davis - Submission RD 2


Heather: after seeing what Andrade did to Rosi Sexton in Manchester by first thought was how good it made Liz Carmouche look in the way she beat Andrade last time out. Davis also beat Sexton in her UFC debut but I think Carmouche will have enough to get the win.

Prediction: Liz Carmouche - Unanimous Decision


Tim Kennedy vs Rafael Natal

Houten: A lot of people have complained about this fight.... "It's not main event worthy".... "worst main event in the history of The UFC" blah, blah, blah, personal fans need to look at the facts - it's on free television in the US, and all of the tickets have been given out for free to US soldiers, what's more a former Marine in Tim Kennedy tops the bill, in a fight he will win, again Natal who steps in as a late replacement for Lyoto Machida who was move to last weeks Fight Night 30 card where he replaced injured Michael Bisping.


One can't help but think the moving and shaking at the top of the 2 cards brought on a huge sigh of relief for Kennedy. Natal is a much easier fight for Kennedy that a Machida who just crippled a wrestler in Munoz far beyond Kennedy's skill set. I like Kennedy to stick in move in this one, keep Natal again the cage, and mix up takedown to take a convincing unanimous victory.

Prediction: Tim Kennedy - Unanimous Decision


Heather: Originally, when he was scheduled to fight Machida I had this as a fight to make Kennedy pay for speaking out against UFC pay and his lacklustre performance against Roger Gracie. Now after calling out the whole division he is set to fight Natal, this fight I now see as a give me fight to Kennedy and I think he will be too much of a step up in opposition for Natal.

Prediction: Tim Kennedy - Unanimous Decision

Masvidal vs Khabilov in the works for later this year

Masvidal vs Khabilov announced for November

by John Haigh @JohnBJayHaigh

A lightweight bout between Jorge Masvidal and Rustam Khabilov is in the making for an unannounced UFC on Fox Sports 1 event in November.

News of the fight was first reported on Tuesday's edition of "UFC Tonight" on Fuel TV. No official date or venue has been announced for the event.
Masvidal (25-7) who won just over a week ago with a second round submission victory over Michael Chiesa at "UFC on Fox" in Seattle. Masvidal finished the contest with less than one second remaining in the second round. A onetime No. 1 contender in the now defunct Strikeforce, Masvidal is (2-0) in the UFC. He recorded a unanimous decision over Tim Means in his promotional debut in April.

Khabilov (16-1) has also got off to a 2-0 start in the Octagon. The 26-year-old prospect has finished back-to-back fights since singing with the UFC last year. A long-time resident of Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts, Khabilov knocked out Vinc Pichel in his UFC debut in December. In his most recent performance, he retired Yancy Medeiros with a thumb injury, which resulted in a TKO win at UFC 159.

UFC on FOX 7 Prelims Round up

A look back at the UFC on FOX 7 Prelims

by Ben Heather @benheather

I think that Saturday nights UFC on FOX 7 event was one of the best UFC events I have seen in a long time. For me its up there with the likes of UFC 139 as one of my favourite cards. Yes UFC 139 was finished off by one of the greatest fights ever to take place in the octagon in the war between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua, but UFC on FOX 7 as a whole is definitely well up there in the top few events to me. So now lets have a recap on the main highlights from the prelims.

Facebook Prelims

Lets start with the Facebook prelims, we had two fights both ended in brutal finishes. The opening fight was finished off with one of the best flying knee's I have seen in a long time by Yoel Romero before he jumped on Clifford Starks to finish the fight with punches to a clearly beaten opponent. That fight only lasted 92 seconds and set the tone for most of the nights fights. This earned Romero $50k for a joint KOOTN bonus.

The second and final Facebook prelim fight made it in to the second round but again after 2:52 seconds Anthony Njokuani knocked out Roger Bowling. Bowling tried to rush Njokuani but as he chased in he was caught with a brutal hook which sent Bowling crashing first in to Njokuani's shoulder before face planting the canvas and ending the fight.

FX Prelims

Now on to the FX prelims (or as we Brits have to view it the UFC.tv prelims) and the great fights continued. The FX prelims consisted of six fights and four of them finished in knockouts. One of the two fights in the prelims which went to a decision was an early contender for FOTN.

Three of the knockouts came from members of Team Alpha Male, under the new head coach Duane Ludwig the team have been unstoppable. The first fight for Team Alpha Male was the back and forth battle between TJ Dillashaw and Hugo Viana. TJ got the TKO victory at the end of the first round after catching Viana with a couple of huge shots before pouncing on Viana until Big John had seen enough.
 Next up for Team Alpha Male was Joseph Benavidez who put on a show of class and justified why he is ranked so highly in the UFC rankings. He was better than Darren Uyenoyama in every aspect of the fight before finishing the fight with some brutal body shots at the end of the second round.
 The final member of Team Alpha Male fighting on the night was Chad Mendes and he was in and out of the octagon in only 68 seconds with another great performance for the team and a TKO of Darren Elkins. I truly believe Chad Mendes is the best featherweight in the world.... who is not called Jose Aldo.

The remaining knockout from the prelims was by Myles Jury. Jury Ko'd Ramsey Nijem in the second round, this came as a shock after the way the first round went. The first round was a great ground battle with so many transitions, nobody could keep the momentum and their opponent down. It was a beautiful contest of styles that us true fans of MMA really appreciate. The second round however stayed on its feet before Myles Jury landed the perfect counter right which puts Nijem to sleep. This doesn't stop Jury from jumping on the downed Nijem for one last shot before Big John can stop the fight. In my opinion, on any other fight card this would have been given as KOOTN but with so many to pick from tonight it didn't get the bonus for Jury.

We also had an early contender for FOTN, this was a closely fought three round war between Tim Means and Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal got the win on the judges scorecard he did what he needed to when he got the fight to the canvas. From top position Masvidal did enough to keep it there and get the win but Tim Means showed the world of MMA how to defend when on your back with some nasty elbows which turned Masvidal in to a bloody mess. Tim Means reputation surely has improved even though he rightfully lost this fight, it has to be a warning to any future opponents be warned if you want to take him down in future.

 The other fight on the prelims was a close fight between Lorenz Larkin and Francis Carmont. This was the first disappointing fight on the card and Francis Carmont got the decision with the judges but on the night I scored it for Larkin. Yes Carmont got on top and held Larkin against the cage for spells but it was Larkin who was always the one trying to fight and do damage and when on bottom with his back to the canvas he was looking for submissions, Carmont however was happy to just lay on top to get his win. On my scorecard I had this fight 29-28 Larkin.

In Review

I think its going to be a long time before we get to see a prelim card with as many highlights as we saw on this UFC on FOX 7 prelims. Other than a submission victory the prelims had everything that fans of MMA want to see. To finish with six KO/ TKO finishes in the prelims is unheard of so here today I would like to thank you to all the fighters for making this fight card so enjoyable and once again reassuring me as to why I love the sport of MMA.

Keep checking Kingdom MMA for the results from the Main Card of UFC on FOX 7.