MMA News

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Bellator MMA put on one of the craziest nights of combat sports ever with ‘Dynamite 1’. We saw GLORY kickboxing and Bellator MMA going on throughout the night and saw some pretty wild fights. Perhaps most exciting was the light heavyweight tournament, which Phil Daivs ended up winning. King Mo was supposed to fight in the final but was injured, so alternate Francis Carmont stepped in. He got TKO’d by Davis in the first round.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the night’s main event champ Liam McGeary took on Tito Ortiz with the light heavyweight title on the line. The two felt each other out for a little while, then Tito shot in and got the takedown, but McGeary went for a guillotine choke. He held on to it for a little bit, then let it go. Tito stared working from full guard.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

First off, King Mo was injured an unable to fight in the final. Also, his opponent Linton Vassell was not cleared to fill in, so alternate Francis Carmont stepped in to fight Phil Davis. The fight didn’t last long. There was a feeling out process where both fighters sort of stayed patient and didn’t really throw much.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Just announced on the Bellator ‘Dynamite’ broadcast, Fedor Emelianenko will return and headline a new years eve event held in Japan. It is not a Bellator event, it’s the new promotion run by the former PRIDE boss and might feature some Bellator fighters on the card.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson made his Bellator debut in front of his home crowd at Bellator ‘Dynamite’ against Mike Bronzoulis. These guys didn’t waste time getting after it. Both fighters got after it. They exchanged on the feet. Thomson almost landed a big head kick but it was blocked. Mike slipped and Thomson capitalized and got top control. He worked from top with Mike pressed on the cage. Thomson looked to transition to a better position. He made his way to full mount, with his legs triangled over Mike’s legs. From here Thomson couldn’t’ really posture up. Finally he gained normal full mount, but then the round ended. Good round for Thomson.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Paul Daley took on Fernando Gonzalez in a GLORY kickboxing match. Daley came out with some hard kicks, to the leg than the body. The round wasn’t too lopsided. Gonzalez held his own, but it most likely went to Daley. His kicks were hard and he seems to be the more active.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the first GLORY kickboxing match of the main card, Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez took on Hadley Griffith. Melendez came out firing, landing leg kicks than a body kick. Early on, it was clear Melendez was the more aggressive fighter. While Griffith threw out soft jabs, Melendez was putting together quick and powerful combos. Yup, this was pretty lopsided. In the first it was all Melendez, basically beating the carp out Griffith who seemed stiff and wooden (that’s a Conor McGregor quote).

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Phil Davis and Emanuel Newton fought in the second tournament fight, with the winner advancing to face ‘King Mo’ in the final. Both fighters came out and went through a feeling out process. Newton looked to land some of his spinning kicks. Davis stayed patient. Davis moved in as Newton threw a spin kick. Davis grabbed him and took him down. Newton was able to get up but Davis dragged him bad down. Right away Davis start working for a kimura. Newton got out and worked to he knees, with Davis on his back. Davis landed some punches on the ground. Newton was able to get to his feet, but not for long. They scrambled and Newton tried to grab a leg for a takedown but Davis got out and once again got his own. He had Newton’s back on the cage and started working for a kimura. Davis pulled guard and cranked it.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

The first round most likely went to Gabe Carrasco. Joe Neal had issues with his footing and slipped on a few occasions. Carrasco stayed busy, and for the most part seemed to be the aggressor. In the second round Carrasco really came out on fire. He landed some nice body kicks early. Neal continued to slip almost every time he threw punch or got hit. He just didn’t seem to have his legs underneath him. Carrasco didn’t really look to take advantage of that though. Carrasco landed a few nice leg kicks. Eventually Neal shot in for a takedown. He pushed him to the cage. Carrasco was warned about grabbing the cage. They broke away. Neal really couldn’t do anything to get Carrasco out of his rhythm.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the first round the story was Adam Piccolotti moving backwards while Salvador Becerra moved in and seemed to land first with his range. In the second Becerra kept landing big strikes. Eventually Piccolotti made the decision to get it to the ground. He got the takedown pretty easily and from there went right to working for a choke. He managed to get to Becerra’s back and went for a rear naked choke. It ended up being more of a neck crank and after trying to hold on, Becerra was force to tap.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the second GLORY kickboxing match we saw lightweights Serhiy Adamchuck and Anvar Boynazarov go to work. There was a big of a feeling out process at the start. Adamchuck landed first, then it was Anvar who landed a heavy body kick. Both of these guys were very technical. It was Anvar who seemed to be walking Adamchuck down, plotting forward. They clinched briefly a few times. Anvar’s pace was pretty slow, but he kept the pressure on.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the first GLORY kickboxing match of the night we saw Jose Palacios tale on TJ Arcengal. TJ landa a few nice front body kicks early. Both fighters start fast. Jose lands a nice leg kick. These guys really went for it. TJ landed a few teak kicks. Both fighters took turns landing leg kicks. TJ comes in with a sweeping right hand. Both guys landed some nasty leg kicks. TJ landed with a nice one-two combo. Spinning back fist just missed from Jose before the round ended. It was close that round.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the very first fight of the night we saw the four-man, one-night tournament alternate scrap go down. Francis Carmont took on extremely late replacement Anthony Ruiz.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Bellator’s massive cross-promotional event ‘Dynamite’ goes down tonight in San Jose, California and will feature both MMA fights in the cage and GLORY kickboxing matches in the ring, which will be right next to each other. For the most part the fights will take place one after the other, but for a few on the prelims we’ll get to see simultaneous action going in the cage and the ring.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

The night is finally here. Bellator MMA’s ‘Dynamite 1’ event is set to take place tonight in San Jose, CA. In what is sure to be an exciting and interesting night of fights, we will finally see what it’s like to see MMA and kickboxing going on in the same night, in the same venue, right next to each other. One cage, one ring and a ton of exciting fights.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. MMA legends Royce Gracie and Fedor working out together, trying to keep up with their fitness. The two greats were in San Jose, CA as a part of the Bellator ‘Dynamite’s’ Fan Fest. Other guests included Randy Couture, Sakuraba, Frank Shamrock and Cung Le.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Fedor Emelianenko, the man, the myth, the legend, was in attendance at Bellator MMA’s ‘Dynamite’ media day. ‘The Last Emperor’ was there as a guest and a part of the Fan Fest, along with other legends like Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Frank Shamrock and Sakuraba. Fedor talked to the media, including BJPENN.COM’s Layzie The Savage, who asked Fedor about all the biggest topics in MMA.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Last night at WSOF 23, lightweight champion Justin Gaethje once again defeated Luis Palomino in the night’s main event to retain his title. It was a rematch from their previous fight, which Gaethje won via TKO in round 3. This time around it ended in the second when Gaethje landed a massive right hand that dropped Palomino.