UFC 114 FIGHT CARD

Main Event:

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (No. 3 LHW) vs. Rashad Evans (No. 4 LHW)

Co-Main Event:

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller

PPV Fights:

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (No. 6 LHW) vs. Jason Brilz

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway

On Spike TV: (9 PM EST)

Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

Prelims: (Unaired)

Luis Arthur Cane (No. 9 LHW) vs. Cyrille Diabate

Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe

Aaron Riley vs. Joe Brammer

Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensen

Eddie Sanchez vs. Marcus Sursa- Eddie Sanchez wins by TKO (punches), round 3.

Alexander Shlemenko vs. Jared Hess- Alexander Shlemenko wins by TKO (injury: dislocated knee), round 3.

Bryan Baker vs. Eric Schambari- Bryan Baker wins by submission (triangle choke), round 1

Nik Mamalis vs. Mark Oshiro- Nick Mamalis wins by submission (rear naked choke), round 2

The victories by Baker (13-1) and Shlemenko (29-4) set up an intriguing final round matchup between two vastly different fighters.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney also announced that, with the victory, Sanchez had earned his way into Bellator’s Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament, which begins in August.

The event also played host to five Local Feature Fights:

- Aaron Rosa def. Robert Villegas via unanimous decisión

- Adam Schindler def. Brian Melancon via unanimous decisión

- Andrew Chappelle def. Cedrick Marks via rear naked choke (8:18)

- Jimmy Flick def. Humberto DeLeon via unanimous decision

- Fernando Rodriguez def. Kenneth Battle via rear-naked choke (6:28)

Catch special highlight shows on NBC, mun2 and in Spanish on Telemundo.

Tonight is the semi-finals for the middleweight tournament as Bryan Baker fights Eric Schambari and Alexander Shlemenko takes on season 1 runner up Jared Hess.

Middleweight Tournament: Second Round

Main Card:

Bryan Baker (12-1) -300 vs. Eric Schambari (12-1) +200

- Bryan Baker def. Sean Loeffler – TKO (Punches) BFC 16
- Eric Schambari def. Luke Zachrich – Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) BFC 16

This is a rematch from WEC 31 where Bryan Baker handed Eric Schambari the only loss of his career via a split decision.  However, that was three years ago and a lot has changed since then.  It was also Schambari’s last fight before his year and a half hiatus from the sport due to injuries and infections.  This is the fight Schambari asked for but, since being healthy, how much has he improved and will ring rust play a major factor?

Jared Hess (11-1-1) -520 vs. Alexander Shlemenko (28-4) +400

- Jared Hess (11-1-1) def. Ryan McGivern – Submission (Guillotine Choke) BFC 16
- Alexander Shlemenko def. Matt Major – Decision (Unanimous) BFC 16

Shlemenko is fun to watch but, literally gassed throwing spinning back fists repeatedly in his first Bellator fight.  It was good for him that Matt Major looked even more spent showed little effort, defense, or attempt takedowns.  Jared Hess will try and take this fight to the mat, which will not be hard for Hess, and it’s just a matter of time before the fight is over.   Shlemenko is exciting and has the power to knock out Hess, but odds are that’s just not going to happen.

Non-Tournament Bouts:
Eddie Sanchez (11-3) -600 vs. Wayne Cole (16-15) +400


Aaron Rosa (12-3) -295 vs. Robert Villegas (7-2) +235

Preliminary card:

Nik Mamalis (135.2) vs. Mark Oshiro (135.4)

Cedric Marks (166.8) vs. Andrew Chappelle (174.8)*

Brian Melancon (161.2) vs. Adam Schindler (154.8)*

Humberto Deleon (124.6) vs. Jimmy Flick (124.6)

Kenneth Battle (154.8) vs. Fernando Rodriguez (153.8)

* bouts will be contested at catch-weights

DREAM 14 will air live on HDNet Saturday, May 29  at 3:00 AM EST from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will feature the return on the White Cage along with a battle between current Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and Japanese MMA legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. The card will also include Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ralek Gracie, Joachim Hansen, and Ikuhisa Minowa.

Welterweight: Nick Diaz (21-7, 1 NC) vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (35-10-2): The real attraction for casual American fans will likely fall on the hands of Nick Diaz as he clashes with Japanese MMA legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai in welterweight action. Diaz is currently sidelined in the United States due to the post-fight altercation following Strikeforce: Nashville’s main event, but he believes Strikeforce will probably offer him catchweight fights due to their lack of depth at welterweight. For the time being, a bout against Sakurai, a fighter that Diaz believes is far better than Takanori Gomi or Shinya Aoki, will feed his appetite to brawl.

Middleweight: Kazushi Sakuraba (26-11-1, 2 NC) vs. Ralek Gracie (2-0): The “Gracie Hunter” moniker will be brought out of the closet once again as Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba will enter the cage against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ralek Gracie. Ralek is fairly green in the sport with only two victories at the young age of 24. The 40-year-old Sakuraba has over forty fights under his belt, and he still remains a dangerous submission threat to the unfortunate strikers who can’t hang on the ground.

Featherweight: Joachim Hansen (19-9-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-8-1): This should be one of the more interesting battles on the DREAM 14 card as former DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen will battle within the confines of the featherweight division once again as he takes on powerful striker Hiroyuki Takaya. Hansen is coming off a narrow split decision loss to Bibiano Fernandes at DREAM 13 while Takaya was defeated by both Fernandes and Michihiro Omigawa in his two most recent bouts.

Openweight: Ikuhisa Minowa (45-30-8) vs. Imani Lee (1-2):  Red wrestling shoes, red tights, and red knee-pads in perfect unison with the Kentucky mullet while taking on men easily 3times his size… It’s tough not to love Minowaman, am I right? The pro wrestler turned Goliath killer may not have the record or impressive victories to turn heads but, he certainly gets the attention he deserves in his masterful performances that cater to the fan wanting to be entertained.

Props to Bloody Elbow

Nick Diaz (21-7) -500 vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (35-10-2) +350

Kazushi Sakuraba (26-12-1) -215 vs. Ralek Gracie (2-0) +175

Joachim Hansen (19-9-1) -280 vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-8-1) +200

Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (17-3) -1800 vs. Federico Lopez (4-2) +900

Hideo Tokoro (26-21-1) -160 vs. Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura (10-5-1) +135

Takafumi Otsuka (10-4-1) -155 vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (8-7) +125

Yoshiro Maeda (26-8-2) -275 vs. Kenji Osawa (15-9-2) +215

Minowaman (45-30-8) vs. Imani Lee (1-2)

Saturday, May 29 UFC 114 will get underway on Spike TV at 9:00 PM ET as the prelims will be headlined by “Ultimate Fighter” winner Amir Sadollah who is taking on Korean Judoka Dong Hyun-Kim.

The first bout scheduled to air on Spike TV is in the lightweight division, and features another winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as Efrain Escudero (13-1) squares off against Dan Lauzon (12-3).  Escudero was the winner in the lightweight competition of Season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” defeating Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision to capture the crown.

Then , the heat will be turned up as Richmond, VA favorite Sadollah (3-1) faces major adversity in Dong Hyun-Kim (12-0-1). Sadollah has shown his devastating striking diversity, putting on clinics against both Phil Baroni and Brad Blackburn.

Making his UFC debut in 2008, Dong Hyun-Kim has now won three fights overall in the Octagon. He has one no contest for a fight against Karo Parisyan that Parisyan initially won, but had overturned for testing positive for illegal substances.

Speaking with UFC.com, Sadollah spoke about how he plans to stop Kim when the two battle it out this Saturday night.

“I don’t think I have absolute answers, but what works for me is just relying on my training and my coaches, and what I’ve been taught and what I know, and just believing in myself. And not getting bent out of shape if I did get hit because if you’re in a fight you’re gonna get hit, you’re gonna get taken down. You just accept that, and move on, and you’ll be a step ahead.”

“I think that’s one of the finer skills to learn – how much to rely on instinct, how much to not think and how much to be calculating about things. That’s a skill I’m still learning and one that I’ll continue to learn every day that I fight.”

Dong Hyun Kim

“Every fight is different. I’m not gonna say my other fights weren’t tough, but he (Kim) is a tough guy and a different kind of fight than my last two, so it’s definitely a challenge and I’m kinda looking forward to that. I never want to be a guy that just fights certain kinds of fighters or only does well in certain types of fights. I want to be successful in this division and in this sport, so I need to be able to fight all types of opponents. Kim definitely brings a different style than some of my previous opponents and that’s something that hopefully is gonna serve to make me better.”

“There’s no such thing as somebody who knows everything, especially in our sport. There’s vast room for improvement. Everyone’s so well rounded and so good. Maybe ten years ago you could have gotten away with being good at one thing, but now you’ve got to be good everywhere and this is how you do it – you’ve got to fight opponents that have different strengths. I want to legitimately be successful and be the best…ever (Laughs)…so this is the way you do it; you’ve got to pay your dues.”

This Thursday, May 27th, 2010, Bellator XX will feature Season Two’s middleweight semifinalist matches.

Bryan Baker vs. Eric Shambari
At 12-1-0, Baker has utilized submissions in the past, although he is primarily a striker. He has a lot of decision victories on his record, which may cause him trouble against Shambari.
Shambari holds a record of 12-1-0, has ended the majority of his fights, and his last three victories have been by submission. He likes to finish the fights, so this match may not go past the first round.

Alexander Shlemenko vs. Jared Hess
Holding a record of 28-4-0, Shlemenko is a striker and an experienced one at that. He can also submit his opponents and he’s very versatile with his striking, most notably obtaining a KO victory by a spinning back fist.
Hess comes into this fight at 11-1-1 and his only loss was to Hector Lombard, the current Bellator middleweight champion. In his last two fights, Hess has gone back to his grappling roots, successfully adding two submissions to his record.
If Hess does end up facing Lombard again, there will be no doubt that he’ll know what to expect. Could he actually be a contender this time around?
Hector Lombard has become the man to beat. By beating Jay Silva in a mere six seconds, Lombard sent a loud reminder to the Bellator semifinalists that he is the champ and he wants to stay at the top.

Main Card:

Middleweight Tournament Bouts:
Bryan Baker (12-1) -300 vs. Eric Schambari (12-1) +200

- Bryan Baker def. Sean Loeffler – TKO (Punches) BFC 16
- Eric Schambari def. Luke Zachrich – Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) BFC 16

Jared Hess (11-1-1) -520 vs. Alexander Shlemenko (28-4) +400

- Jared Hess (11-1-1) def. Ryan McGivern – Submission (Guillotine Choke) BFC 16
- Alexander Shlemenko def. Matt Major – Decision (Unanimous) BFC 16

Non-Tournament Bouts:
Eddie Sanchez (11-3) -600 vs. Wayne Cole (16-15) +400


Aaron Rosa (12-3) -295 vs. Robert Villegas (7-2) +235

Catch Bellator XX highlights on Telemundo  and in English on mun2 late Saturday night.

Ever since they competed against each other as coaches on season ten of The Ultimate Fighter, light heavyweight superstars Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Suga” Rashad Evans are set to headline UFC 114, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 29 during the weekend of the UFC Fan Expo. Finally, these two former Ultimate Fighting Championship® light heavyweight champions get a chance to let their fists do the talking and it promises to be one of the most intense showdowns of 2010.

Main bouts:

Rashad Evans (14-1-1) -130 vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) EVEN

Michael Bisping (18-3) -210 vs. Dan Miller (11-3) +150

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3) -800 vs. Jason Brilz (18-2-1) +500

Todd Duffee (6-0) -400 vs. Mike Russow (12-1) +300

Diego Sanchez (21-3) -230 vs. John Hathaway (12-0) +190


On Spike:

Amir Sadollah (3-1) -145 vs. Dong Hyun Kim (12-0-1) +120 

Efrain Escudero (12-1) -500 vs. Dan Lauzon (12-3) +365


Preliminary bouts:

Melvin Guillard (23-8-2) -275 vs. Waylon Lowe (8-2) +215

Luis Cane (10-2) -575 vs. Cyril Diabate (15-6-1) +375

Aaron Riley (28-12-1) -175 vs. Joe Brammer (7-1-1) +145

Ryan Jensen (14-6) -145 vs. Jesse Forbes (11-4) +120

UFC Takes Over Spike Tonight – Starting at 10pm
A night of exciting, all new UFC® shows kicks off tonight at 10pm ET/PT with an all new episode of The Ultimate Fighter® – don’t miss the most shocking episode of the season! Then, Rampage and Rashad make their final preparations before their grudge match this Saturday night – the final episode of UFC® Primetime premieres at 11pm ET/PT. At 12:30am ET/PT, the Countdown to UFC® 114 begins – follow Rampage, Rashad, Michael Bisping, Dan Miller, Minotoro Nogueira and Jason Brilz as they get ready to enter the Octagon this Saturday night.

UFC Undisputed 2010 Hits Stores Today The next installment in the Undisputed series comes to Playstation® 3 and Xbox 360®.

Challengers VIII: “Lindland vs. Casey”

Middleweight (185 pounds) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) superstar and former Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland (21-7) will return to the cage in the main event of a STRIKEFORCE Challengers.

The five-fight main card will air live on the Showtime beginning at 11 p.m. ET

Main card:
Matt Lindland (21-7) vs. Kevin Casey (3-1)

Tyron Woodley (6-0) vs. Nathan Coy (8-2)

Roger Bowling (7-0) vs. Bobby Voelker (21-7)

Nate Moore (6-1) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (8-2)

Pat Healy (22-15) vs. Bryan Travers (13-1)