Title Hopes For Pickett Derail, As The McGregor Hype Train Thunders on

Brave Heart Pickett Loses in Fight of the Night as McGregor is Victorious

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

Brad Pickett makes McDonald question his power

UFC and British Bantamweight Brad Pickett saw his hopes of closing in on a title shot take a major set back in a second round defeat to Michael McDonald.

Saturday night saw the UFC debut on Fox Sports 1, with a card that was stacked to the ceiling in quality bouts. Pickett known for his punching power, granite chin and entertaining style, (which is why he's one of Dana White favourite fighters) didn't disappoint. Though this time is wasn't for his punching power.

McDonald entered the octagon on the back of a 4th round submission loss to Renan Barao for the bantamweight interim title in February when the pair met in Wembley London. Its easy to forget that McDonald is only 22 years old and already he has had 5 fights within the UFC before Saturday. So for that reason it was no surprise that he showed maturity years beyond his age in his win over Pickett.

Both fighters came out with one intention in mind, to knock the other guy out! Though it was McDonald who was landing the kicks and clearer punches until he landed a left hook buckling Pickett's legs sensing a early knockout McDonald landed with ease dropping Pickett within a minute of the first round.
Somehow surviving the onslaught from McDonald, Pickett was still standing and trading wild punches to the amazement of McDonald. This is where he showed real maturity , sensing the he couldn't finish Pickett at that moment he backed off , composed himself to conserve energy incase it went the distance.

Going into the second it was a cagey start, Pickett backing up McDonald manages to take him down, working from the top and looking comfortable until McDonald transitions into a brilliant triangle choke and locking it in. Leaving Pickett with little else to do, but to tap!

McDonald showed even at 22 he's a star, and one that maybe isn't appreciated by fans. Pickett finds himself just short of the elite level needed, but boy with fighters like him in the UFC we should be very thankful.
It won't be much consolation for Pickett though winning fight of the night and $50k that goes with it will no doubt help heel the wounds.

Conor remains undefeated in the UFC

Irelands very own featherweight Conor McGregor proved again on Saturday night maybe the 'Hype Train' is for real, with a workman like win over a tough Max Holloway.

The Irishman even got his very own walkout due to high demand by the public and fans Dana White made it happen, despite no other fighter on the prelim card getting this privilege.

Conor isn't one to hold back anything and enjoys telling the world and his fans just how great he is , without proving it. This would be his first real test and he passed with a C.

It certainly wasn't pretty or as exciting as maybe the fans had expected, and we saw 3 rounds of Conor out striking and counter punching Max at ease. Conor's stand up looked slick and fast, throwing from weird angles and throwing kicks we rarely see in the cage.

Holloway was really struggling to work Conor's style out, and had very few answers in return. With the fight being lop sided in rounds 1 and 2, the third round saw Conor take Holloway down, something we hadn't seen him do before, working on top smothering Holloway and eventually gaining full mount until he managed to roll free and get back to his feet for the duration of the round.

With the fight going to the official scorecards, all three judges gave the decision to Conor (30-27,30-27,30-26) its the first time ever in his MMA career that he's gone the distance. Maybe a reason for this was because of his knee.

After the fight Conor went onto say '' I wanted to put him away, but in the second round I caught a kick  and tried to pass his guard. He caught my leg in an awkward position and my knee popped"

McGregor will have a MRI scan on his knee on Friday and is hoping it won't keep him out long to either fight in Manchester or Vegas or well even both!! Being Conor it wouldn't surprise me if he done both!

Mixed Fortunes For Boston Pair at UFC Fight Night 26

Surprise Loss for Lauzon, Whilst Howard schools Hall

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea



Saturday night UFC Fight Night 26 saw mixed fortunes for Boston's Joe Lauzon and John Howard.

Lauzon (22-9) renowned for his exciting style of fighting that has earned himself 12 bonuses of the night awards, equal with the legend Anderson Silva.

Lauzon came into the fight on the back of a unanimous decision loss to Jim Miller at UFC 155 on the 29th December 2012. Not only did the pair pick up fight of the night bonus, they were also awarded fight of the year 2012! Though it was Michael Johnson that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Being a 2-1 underdog going into the fight, not many had backed Johnson to pull of a win against the submission artist in Lauzon.

Johnson wasted no time in silencing the hometown crowd that were cheering on local boy Lauzon with jabs and leg kicks to keep Lauzon at range and stuffing any take downs he attempted. Over the 3 rounds Lauzon had no answer for Johnson's speed, landing at will with little or nothing coming back.

By the third round Johnson had broken Lauzon, leaving him clueless on what to do next! Johnson produced one of, if not his best performance within the UFC to take a one sided victory on the judges score cards, so much so one judge scored the fight (30-25).

Lauzon offered no excuses after the fight , saying he was 100% fit and healthy, had a great training camp and everything went to plan. It just wasn't his night. Handing every credit to to the winner Johnson. I'm sure this is just a blip in Lauzons career and he will be back in the style we have all come accustomed too.

On the flip side we saw Boston's John Howard returning to the UFC for the first time since 2011 having left a Welterweight, now returning inside the octagon as a Middleweight to face TUF 17 runner up Uriah Hall.

In truth the fight was a stinker! Which had Dana White commenting on twitter:

'HORRIBLE!!!!!!! The high 5 of the night WTF"

With so many eagerly anticipating the Hall that we saw in the TUF series knocking fighters out in style, hoping his loss in the TUF final to Kelvin Gastelum was just a one off. Though sadly it was much of the same.

Hall come out from the bell using his reach advantage to keep Howard at range, though going into round two Howard found his rhythm and showed better striking and wrestling skills to take the advantage over Hall who offered very little in return. The fight didn't get any better in rounds 2 or 3 where the crowd were getting restless and venting their frustrations with chorus of boo's.

Everyone was grateful to hear the final bell and see the fight come to an end. The fight went to the judges scorecards which saw John Howard take a split decision win (30-27-28-29 -29-28)

Uriah Hall is now (0-2) with the UFC and with his back really up against the wall if he wants to stay within the UFC.

Dana White wasted no time giving his opinions on Uriah Hall:

"I love Uriah Hall. I have a great relationship with this kid. He's one of the nicest human beings you can ever meet. He's not a fighter, man. If I could take Brad Pickett's brain and heart and put it inside Uriah Hall's body, holy shit there would be some damage done, because Uriah has all the physical attributes to be amazing. He's got speed, he's got power, he's unbelievable. He doesn't have what it mentally takes to fight here. You know what I mean? He was this killer on TUF, and then he comes into the big show where it really matter and this is going to make your livelihood and everything else, and he turns into a different person. This super nice guy. He was telling me after the Kelvin fight "I really like him, he's a really nice guy. Ok, well that really nice guy just took every fucking thing you ever wanted"

Is this the last we have seen from Uriah Hall?! What do you all think??

Could Matt Brown go all the way??

Could we really see Matt Brown fight for UFC Gold?

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

If you asked that question a little over a year ago you would of seemed mental. It would of been a ludicrous story. Brown has had a fairytale ride lately, his whole life never mind his career has been a mix of massive lows followed by huge highs. On Saturday night he may of just reached the biggest high of them all. His name is now being banded about as a legit possible welterweight title challenger.

At 32 he has matured and finally settled into the best form of his life. His UFC career wasn't always like this though. His past story was revealed when he debuted on The Ultimate Fighter all the way back in 2007. His past drink and drug abuse came to a head when he survived a heroin overdose. "The Immortal" was born. He had moderate success on the regional circuit after realising he had to change his ways. He thought his career was over due to money issues until 'TUF' and the opportunity of a lifetime came along. 

He started life in the UFC very promisingly, defeating Matt Arroyo by stoppage on his official debut. He lost a controversial decision to Dong Hyun Kim before reeling off three straight stoppage wins, including going into James Wilks backyard and stopping him on the back of winning his own series of 'TUF'. That could have been as good as it got for Brown. A horrific 2010 culminated in losing his third fight of the year all by submission. In the space of nine months he had gone from 4-1 with only one harsh loss on his record to 4-4 with three successive finish losses.

 His submission defence had been called into question alongside his spot on the roster. Fans started calling for him to be cut. UFC officials thankfully disagreed and granted Brown another shot. He took his most vital fight to date against John Howard and showed all his mental toughness in a make or break fight. Brown won perhaps the most vital fight of his life that night. His troubles were not over though as his submission defence frailties came back to haunt him immediately. He couldn't get on another hot streak as Seth Baczynski made it four losses out of five. All finishes, all by submission.

 This is where Brown really turned his career around. He got back in the Octagon as soon as he could, desperate to prove himself. He reeled off three wins in six months to prove many of his doubters wrong including two knockouts and beating the much hyped Stephen Thompson. His Fox journey then started. Whether people liked or rated Brown no one could deny he was an exciting fighter to watch. Win or lose he consistently puts it all on the line. Joe Silva recognised this and gave Brown a spot on the free to air fox channel. Brown didn't disappoint and grabbed his chance with open hands. He came out swinging and impressively stopped Mike Swick.

 People were now starting to sit up and take notice. Brown had quietly turned his career around but this was his biggest win in front of his biggest audience by far. The win impressed UFC and Fox executives enough to give him a spot on the next fox card. This time against rising star Jordan Mein. Brown again came out and destroyed Mein winning fight of the night in the process. He was no longer going along quietly. He was now winning fights, not only winning them but stopping opponents impressively. He was now 5-0 since his resurgence. A step up in opponent was required. He was granted that again on Fox's new channel Fox Sports 1.

 He took on the Mike Pyle on Saturday night and made quick work of a tough fighter. He steamrolled through Pyle in just 30 seconds to win KO of the night and putting himself in the title picture. He immediately called for a title shot following his latest dominant win. It would be a true Cinderella story should he be granted it. Realistically he will need to win one more fight though. He may be looking towards the winner of Condit-Kampmann next Wednesday. Could you imagine the violence a potential Condit-Brown fight could bring?

 Whatever happens it guarantees to be one hell of a journey. Strap in and enjoy the ride. Brown is now 6-0 after his past struggles. That shows you can constantly get better in this sport. There is no substitute for pure hard work. Brown is perhaps the single best example of this I have ever come across. Never give up and work as hard as you possibly can and you can comeback from almost anything. Even near death. Brown is a great example for many young fighters out there today.

Fighter vs Writer: Cathal Pendred - UFC Fight Night 26

Fighter vs Writer: Cathal Pendred - UFC Fight Night 26
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Joe.ie & Cage Warriors

Welcome to another Kingdom MMA fighter vs writer challenge.

For this challenge we challenge some of the big names from the world of MMA to give us their picks and fight outcomes for specific MMA events. Then they will be challenged by one of our writers, who will make their own predictions. Previously we have challenged the likes of Luke Barnatt, Jim Alers, Mike Wilkison and Phil Harris. Last time out at UFC 163, Mike Wilkinson was defeated by 2 point by Tommy, leaving Jim Alers the only fighter to beat one of our Kingdom MMA writers.

This weeks opponent needs no introduction. One of the biggest prospects on the European scene, he is the current Cage Warriors Welterweight Champion, holds impressive victories over Gael Grimaud, Che Mills and many more, and is a team mate of Conor McGregor. He is Cathal Pendred and you can expect to see him taking UFCs welterweight division by storm within the next 18 months.

The Scoring
If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra point. However, if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well the method you could earn a third bonus point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

The Predictions


Chael Sonnen vs Shogun Rua

Pendred: You never know what you're going to get with Shogun. He can sometimes look like that world class fighter that won the Pride tournament, but at other times he looks very average and even sluggish. You always know what you're going to get with Chael and his style is generally very effective.

Prediction: Chael Sonnen - Unanimous Decision 

Houten: This is a big fight for both guys, with both needing to avoid a loss to save the curtains coming down on their careers. Shogun has looked up for it in the lead up to the fight, and could knock Chael out if he keeps the fight standing. Unfortunately I don't think he will be able to stop Sonnens relentless grinding style.

Prediction: Chael Sonnen - Unanimous Decision

Alistair Overeem vs Travis Browne
Pendred: These big boys are most likely gonna hit each other with big shots early and one of them will probably go unconscious. If that doesn't happen we might see a 3 round sloppy affair where both guys gas out. Lets hope not.

Prediction: Alistair Overeem - TKO (RD 1)

Houten: I think this is the fight Overeem gets found out in - no roids, no good. I expect him to look a little sluggish compared to the athletic Browne. I think Browne grind on Overeem, gets a few takedowns and wins this one.

Predictions: Travis Browne - Unanimous Decision

Urijah Faber vs Yuri Alcantara
Pendred: Faber always brings it. And he is world class, but unfortunately just falls short of being a champion. I haven't seen many of Alcantara's fights, but looking down his record he looks very good. I think this one will go the distance, unless Faber manages to slap on one of his viscous guillotines.

Prediction: Urijah Faber - Unanimous Decision 

Houten:Alcantara is a pretty serious guy, but hes not a patch on Faber. I think Faber will catch Alcantara with a big shot in second and finish the fight by submission.

Prediction: Urijah Faber - Submission

Matt Brown vs Mike Pyle
Pendred: Great welterweight fight here. Both guys are on a serious run here and a win for either will be huge. Pyle definitely has the experience advantage here and I think they'd going to play the difference here. The majority of Pyle's wins have come from submission and the majority of Brown's losses have come by submission.

Prediction: Mike Pyle - Submission (RD 2) 

Houten: This fight could be fight of the night. Both a savy vets who are competent in pretty much all areas of MMA. This fight is a pick 'em if ever there was one, but I'm gonna go with Pyle. I think Pyle has the ability to take more punishment, and might be the deciding factor in what could be an electric fight.

Prediction: Mike Pyle - Unanimous Decision 

Uriah Hall vs John Howard
Pendred: Howard is usually welterweight and I think Hall is a bit over rated because of that infamous KO. I'm really not sure about this one.

Prediction: Uriah Hall - TKO (RD 2)

Houten: John Howard has been knocking fools out since he was cut from the UFC, and say 185 is where he is best at. The problem is he is nowhere the stiker Hall is. I do however think Hall might be a little overrated thanks to the highlight real he produced against a bunch of cans in TUF, and I question whether he has the bottle to hack in on the big stage.

This fight is hard for Hall than people think. I think Howard could take this one - it will be a bit boring the way he does it but I'm having Howard as a dark house.

Prediction: John Howard - Unanimous Decision

Joe Lauzon vs Michael Johnson
Pendred: Lauzon is a submission machine and I don't rate Johnson too much. I actually think this fight is a bit of a mismatch.

Prediction: Joe Lauzon - Submission (RD 1) 

Prendred: The UFC must has decided the want rid of Johnson cause this fight is a major mismatch. Johnson is on a 2 fight losing streak to guys that our half the fighter that Lauzon is. Expect this one to end in Lauzon collection a bonus, and Johnson collection the US equivalent of a P45.

Prediction: Joe Lauzon - Submission (RD 1)

Brad Pickett vs Michael McDonald
Pendred: This is an incredible fight. I can't believe how little attention it's getting! Both guys are awesome, the only thing I can separate them by is experience, which Pickett has more off (although McDonald did fight for the title).

Prediction: Brad Pickett - Unanimous Decision

Houten: The fact that this fight is on the undercard shows how deep the line up for UFC Fight Night 26 is! No. 5 vs No.3 is worth of a main card maybe even main / co-main event on some cards.

I have been thinking about this fight all day, and I' struggling to pick. I can make cases for either guy, and while I deep down I think McDonald is probably the better fighter, I can't go against my man Pickett.

Prediction: Brad Pickett - Unanimous Decision

Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway
Prendred: MY MANNNN!! Conor can finish this fight wherever he wants! Unfortunately for Holloway the fight starts standing. The fight might last 2 rounds because I think Holloway will respect Conor's power and keep his distance. But if I predict anything less than a first round finish for Conor he'll kill me!!

Prediction: Conor McGregor - TKO (RD 1)

Houten: Simple - Holloway way came out in the press this week slating the media attention McGregor has received this week, and I expect him to come out feeling like he has something to prove. I expect Holloway to go toe-to-toe with McGregor in the first round and get knocked out for his trouble.

McGregor deserves the attention he has received, he is a start in the making. Here's hoping a big win sets up a fight on the Manchester card against some one like Nick Lentz or the winner of Poirier / Koch

Prediction: Conor McGregor - TKO (RD 1)

So that's our predictions for the fights, we will be live tweeting on Saturday night as always and we will keep you all informed as to how the challenge is going with latest scores throughout the main card.

Thanks again to Cathal for providing us with his picks for this weekends fights and it just leaves me to say.... May the best man win!!

Kingdom MMA speak to James Vicks before his UFC Fight Night 26 fight

UFC on Fox Sports 1's James Vick chats to Kingdom MMA about Ramsey Nijem, what it would be like to fight in the UK and more

by Chris Houten @mrhouts

Recently Kingdom MMA had the pleasure of catching up with UFC fighter James Vick who on Saturday night will open up the UFC Fight Night 26 event taking part in the first fight of the night live on Facebook. Vick who made his way to the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter Live as the fifth pick for Team Cruz. Since then Vick has gone off the radar but now he is most definitely back in the spot light.

Chris: It's been over a year since you were not medically cleared to face Vinc Pichel at The TUF 15 finale, how did you feel when you got the news you couldn't fight?
Vick: Well honestly after we both lost in the semi finals of the show I don't think either one of us, me or Vinc thought we were going to fight the next week on the finale. We both believed we were just going to get placed on a different card later down the road.

Chris: Did you ever feel like you might not make your debut or was there always the promise of a fight down the line?
Vick: Well immediately following TUF the UFC matchmaker Joe Silva promised me a fight. Then once I got injured he told me go ahead and get the surgery and then he would find me a fight once I was healthy again.

Chris: You face Ramsey Nijem on the debut UFC on FOX Sports card, why has it taken so long since the TUF finale to be handed your UFC debut?
Vick: I got injured during training and had to have surgery on my shoulder.

Chris: How has your preparation gone for the fight?
Vick: My preparation for this fight has gone great so far!   

Chris: Going into to the fight with Nijem you have a pretty big height and reach advantage, is the game plan to fight tall and keep Nijem from being able to close the distance?
Vick: Yes its no secret that my plan is to stand with him and try to keep him on the outside and land some big shots and possibly knock him out.

Chris: Nijem is known as a wrestler, with the reach advantage you have do you expect him to be keen to try and take you down?
Vick: Yes I definitely think his plan is to take me down. He'll probably start off trying to come in hard and fast with wild punches and then immediately go for the takedown just like he has done in all of his fights I've seen.

Chris: Do you feel any pressure going into the fight knowing the ufc could cut you with a loss?
Vick: I think every fighter feels some pressure going into these fights since they have been cutting people so frequently recently. But I'm not that worried about it because I plan on winning and then won't have to worry about it for awhile!

Chris: What's your keys to victory against Nijem and how do you see yourself winning the fight?
Vick: Well my keys to victory are to use my superior boxing skills to pick him apart or get back up to my feet should he take me down or work my jiu jitsu to catch him in a submission.

Chris: Finally do you have any interest in fighting outside of the US, maybe on a UK card?
Vick: I would love to fight outside of the US, I've never been outside of the country and it would be so exciting to travel the world some. The UK would be a great place to go fight and visit, since the TUF show I've had alot of really cool and supportive fans from the UK so it would be a honor to fight there!

Chris: Is there anyone you would like to thank?
Vick: I would like to thank all my teammates and friends from Team Lloyd Irvin, Phalanx mma academy, Ironside mma, and Weatherford boxing team who have all been so supportive and helped me progress into the fighter I am today. Also my Mom and Dad  and all my brothers and sister who are always so supportive of me and my career.

Thank you to James Vick for taking the time out to talk to us, we all wish him all the best for his fight and for all the fans who want to watch that fight against Ramsey Nijem then log on to Facebook on Saturday night.