Sport review 17.03.15

 

Bellator\’s Alexander Shlemenko suspended, fined after failing post-fight drug test.

Former
Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko failed a post-fight
drug screening with elevated testosterone levels after his knockout win
over Melvin Manhoef on Feb. 13 in Fresno, Calif., Bellator officials
confirmed with MMAFighting.com on Monday night. MMAjunkie was the first
to report the news.

Shlemenko has been suspended indefinitely and
fined $2,500 by the California State Athletic Commission, CSAC
executive officer Andy Foster told MMAFighting.com. His victory over
Manhoef has been overturned to a no contest.

“We are disappointed
to hear about the results of Shlemenko\’s drug test,” Bellator MMA
president Scott Coker said in a statement. “As I\’ve stated previously,
performance-enhancing drugs have no place in this sport, and Bellator
fully supports the commission in enforcing harsh penalties to deter
fighters from taking banned substances.”

Shlemenko (52-9)
finished Manhoef with a spinning backfist in the second round. It was
his second straight win after losing the Bellator middleweight title to
Brandon Halsey last September.

Shlemenko, 30, a native of Russia,
held the Bellator belt for 19 months following Hector Lombard\’s
departure from the organization to the UFC.

This is just the
latest in a rash of failed drug tests in MMA. UFC legend Anderson Silva,
Jon Fitch and Lombard, among others, have all popped positive for
performance-enhancing drugs since 2015 began.

Also at Bellator
133, Emelio Chavez tested positive for marijuana, sources confirmed with
MMAFighting.com. Foster said he\’ll be suspended 30 days and fined $100
plus the cost of the test.

 

 

 

UFC 185 results recap: Alistair Overeem vs Roy Nelson fight review and analysis

Ultimate
Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Roy
Nelson traded blows last night (March, 14, 2015) at UFC 185 inside
American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

While Nelson is always
dangerous with his one-hitter quitter, the portly power puncher was on a
bit of a slide heading into his bout with Overeem. In order to keep his
position inside the top 10, Nelson needed a victory here.

Earning
the win was similarly pivotal for “The Demolition Man.” If he managed
to take out the notoriously tough “Big Country,” it would put him back
into the title mix.

It wasn\’t always pretty, but Overeem good the job done in a strong showing.

Overeem
looked extremely sharp in the opening round. Keeping his distance from
Nelson, Overeem kicked hard at Nelson\’s lead leg with both round house
and oblique kicks. He also landed a few steeping knees into Nelson\’s
notoriously large mid-section.

At one point, Overeem covered up
against the fence, as Nelson tried to attack with a series of punches.
It momentarily seemed like this would be the moment “Reem” fans are
afraid of, when the Dutch kickboxer gives away the fight. Instead,
Overeem angled off the fence and dug his knee into Nelson\’s belly.

While
Overeem undoubtedly won the second round as well, some cracks appeared
in his assault. Overeem threw far more punches in this round — and some
of them did crack Nelson — but they also allowed Nelson to land some
of his own counters, one of which seemed to stun Overeem a bit.

This
was Overeem\’s best UFC performance since he defeated Brock Lesnar in
his debut. Early on, Overeem looked incredibly slick, as he landed some
very heavy strikes and made Nelson miss over and over. While the
defensive flaws that made themselves more noticeable as the fight wore
on will probably keep him from being a title contender, his chances look
better after this performance.

The best part of Overeem\’s
assault was his unpredictability. Overeem switches stances and attacked
with a large variety of kicks and knees, while largely staying out of
range of the overhand.

Defensively, Overeem still has plenty of
problems. If Nelson hadn\’t kept trying to take down Overeem after
rocking him, he may have gotten knocked out. Plus, that standing still
against the fence with his guard up thing? That may work in kickboxing,
but not with tiny mixed martial arts (MMA) gloves.

For Overeem\’s next fight, a bout with the winner of Stipe Miocic-Junior dos Santos would make sense.

Nelson
fought terribly. He waited for his opportunities to land his overhand
— which made sense — but then never pursued the finish when he did do
damage. It just didn\’t make sense; there was no way Nelson was going to
win the decision.

Nelson has already fought basically the entire
top 15, and I can\’t imagine there\’s a ton of interest in the rematches.
With that in mind, perhaps Nelson should face off with an up-and-coming
heavyweight, such as Todd Duffee.

At UFC 185, Overeem put forth
his best offensive performance in years, dominating Roy Nelson. Can
Overeem finally live up to his potential?

 

 

 

 

 
FFC7 Results: Poturak Outpoints Munoz

FFC has been on a roll
for the past few years and if you are wondering why FFC 7 is happening
now, sequentially quite out of order, the story is pretty cool. FFC had
initially planned an event in Sarajevo but was forced to cancel it. They
promised to return to hold FFC 7 and they did just that this weekend
featuring a solid card headlined by Heavyweight standouts Dzevad Poturak
and Frank Munoz. The once-retired Poturak proved himself still at the
top of his game against the very tough Munoz, edging him out for a
decision victory in the main event.

As always, FFC events are both kickboxing and MMA events, so we\’ve included both results.
FFC 7 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
March 13 2015, Skenderija Hall
MMA
Vladislav Genov def. Gergo Munczeberg – SUB (armbar), round 1 (2:16)
Darko Stošić def. Dyonisios Papadopoulos – KO (ground n\’ pound), round 1 (0:59)
Vladimir Prodanović def. Ivan Skoko – KO (ground n\’ pound), round 1 (1:55)
Adam Borics def. Marko Burušić – Unanimous decision
Laszlo Senyei def. Dawid Defort – KO (ground n\’ pound), round 3 (4:34)
Tomislav Spahović def. Kamen Georgiev – Unanimus decision
KB
Antonio Plazibat def. Bojan Džepina – KO, round 3 (2:14)
Strahinja Denić def. Dženan Poturak – KO (injury), round 1 (5:00)
Denis Marjanović def. Boban Krušić – KO, round 2 (5:00)
Igor Emkić def. Nikita Chub – Unanimous decision, after round 4
Tomislav Čikotić def. Elmir Mehić – Unanimous decision, after round 4
Dževad Poturak vs. Frank Munoz – Unanimous decision

 

Fedor Emelianenko is not a fan of female fighters because \’\’MMA is a man\’s sport\’\’
Fedor
Emelianenko is widely considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of
all time, but he may have angered fans of the sport with his regressive
views on female fighters.

In an interview with WHOATV, the
now-retired Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) was asked about the success of UFC
women\’s bantamweight champion \’Rowdy\’ Ronda Rousey.

The 38-year-old\’s response was less than enthusiastic.

The Russian MMA legend explained through an interpreter that he doesn\’t support women competing in mixed martial arts.

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Fedor
Emelianenko is widely considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of
all time, but he may have angered fans of the sport with his regressive
views on female fighters.

In an interview with WHOATV, the
now-retired Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) was asked about the success of UFC
women\’s bantamweight champion \’Rowdy\’ Ronda Rousey.

 

The 38-year-old\’s response was less than enthusiastic.

The Russian MMA legend explained through an interpreter that he doesn\’t support women competing in mixed martial arts.

“He
saw her fight,” Fedor\’s interpreter said. “She has really interesting
fights. Maybe a little bit of improvement to striking, but he doesn\’t
support women\’s MMA.”

Rousey has become one of the UFC\’s biggest stars, most recently submitting Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds at UFC 184.

Rousey
is running roughshod over her division, much like Emelianenko dominated
the heavyweight ranks from 2001-2009, going undefeated for 28 fights.

But Emelianenko, who never competed in the UFC, claimed that mixed martial arts is not a women\’s sport.

Through
the interpreter, Emelianenko added, “Women shouldn’t compete in UFC/MMA
because this sport is for men. There are a lot of sports where women
look like women – like gymnastics, water sports, maybe some athletics.

“He’s telling that women shouldn’t fight. MMA is for men. It’s a man sport.”