115 lb Brittany Anic preparing to slam 200 lb BJJ instructor Ezra Lenon

Undefeated Brittany Anic has already established herself as the premier female MMA fighter in St Louis, MO by soundly defeating the best 115 pounders in the Midwest. September 11, 2010 she will look to add to her resume when she challenges Ronni Lawerence for the Xtreme Fight League title in the headlining bout at the Strattford Inn in St Louis. The card, promoted by Shamrock Promotions, promises to be another exciting night of MMA action. Shamrock Promotions has co-promoted both Strikeforce and Fight Me MMA events, including the recent Josh Neer/Jesse Finney fight last month. Shamrock always brings the best fighters to the card and the Xtreme Fight Party on September 11th will be no exception.

Brittany Anic applying a triangle choke on Ezra Lenon

Anic and Lawerence have competed against each other in the ring on two occasions in 2008. Both meetings were sanctioned kickboxing matches and both saw Anic taking unanimous decision victories. This time around however, Anic looks for a decisive victory and the 115 lb title. In addition to her always improving striking game (she has been training in Tae Kwon Do and kickboxing since she was 9 years old!), Anic has been working extensively on her ground game. She has been training with Finney’s MMA BJJ instructor Ezra Lenon (who has one of the best BJJ resumes I have seen – check this guy’s profile out at http://finneyskickboxing.com/instructors). I talked with Brittany last week regarding her training and preparation. She said her ground game is on an “entirely different level” than it has ever been. She has also added weightlifting to her strength training regimen.
Anic teaches the “Mini Finney’s” program at Finney’s MMA where she has the opportunity to shape the next generation of MMA fighters by not only instructing them in “discipline, lifestyle, and respect” , but by leading her students by living those values. Brittany is up and training every day by 5:30am, avoiding the typical lifestyle of most 20-year olds. Brittany Anic is the real deal folks. Fighting and training have been a part of her life. September 11th is an important date for Brittany – not only is she fighting for the title – this will be her last fight as an amateur. After that, she has her sights set on competing in both Bellator and Strikeforce promotions. There is no doubt that she will be successful in both.

Don't try this at home

For more information on the September 11th Xtreme Fight Party in St Louis or info regarding training at Finney’s MMA check out http://finneyskickboxing.com/.
Follow Scottie Farrow at yodade37@twitter

Mirko Filipovic (better known as “Cro Cop”) was tapped as Noguiera’s replacement and will now instead face Frank Mir in the main event of UFC 119.  Although the original main event was enticing, this match up presents a large amount of interest now as well.  Cro Cop is currently on a two fight win streak, with his most recent win coming over Pat Barry by a late Rear Naked Choke at UFC 115.  Before the fight, many people questioned whether Cro Cop was still committed to the sport and if Cro Cop would even be competitive in the fight.  Through out the three round affair, Cro Cop was dropped and rocked but battled back by controlling the fight on the ground and eventually locked in the submission with no hooks.

Frank Mir is coming off a stinging loss to Shane Carwin back at UFC 111.  Mir battled Carwin for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship and would lose via first round KO from vicious uppercuts delivered by Carwin.  In the fight Mir negated Carwin’s wrestling and focused too greatly on defending the takedown.  With Mir too focused on one aspect of the fight, Carwin capitalized and delivered numerous uppercuts that left Mir face down on the canvas.

This fight serves as an extremely pivotal one for both fighters as it will help decide which fighter sits in the top 5 of the Heavyweight division and which one falls even further down the ladder.

Main Card

• A match up between Middleweight contenders Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares has been taken off the card and made the Main Event of UFC Fight Night 22 (formerly UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Belcher).  A match up between former Middleweight #1 contender, Demian Maia, and Alan Belcher was originally on tap for the main event until Alan Belcher was forced to withdraw due to needing emergency eye surgery for an injured retina.
• Demian Maia has now been moved on to UFC 118 card and will face Mario Miranda (1-1 in UFC, 12-1 overall) likely as the second fight of the main card.

Preliminary Card

• The main attraction of the free Spike TV portion of the preliminary card which pitted lightweights Joe Lauzon against Terry Etim is now no longer occurring.  Terry Etim was forced to pull out of the bout in early August due to a broken rib suffered in training.  In an odd turn of events, UFC veteran and TUF exile Gabe Ruediger (0-1 in the UFC, 17-5 overall) will return and step in for Etim.  Gabe is best remembered for his brief stint in The Ultimate Fighter 5 during which the entire world saw him struggle to make weight before eventually breaking down and quitting the show.  (Apparently quitting The Ultimate Fighter now equates to deserving a spot on the televised portion of the preliminary card…who knew?)
• A match up between Alessio Sakara and Jorge Rivera has been scrapped altogether.  The two middleweights were set to face off as the first fight for the free Spike TV portion of the preliminary card.  Jorge Rivera withdrew in late July due to a broken arm during training and Gerald Harris stepped in as a replacement.  In early August, Sakara withdrew from his bout against Harris due to unknown reasons.  Joe Vedepo (0-2 in UFC, 11-3 overall) will now return to the UFC on a 4-fight win streak and face off against Harris on the untelevised portion of the preliminary card.
• A lightweight bout between TUF 9 alumni Andre Ward and Nik Lentz has been promoted to the free Spike TV preliminary card.
• Phil Baroni has been forced to pull out of his untelevised preliminary bout against John Salter due to an undisclosed injury.  Stepping in for him will be Dan Miller (3-3 in the UFC, 11-4 (1) overall) who is currently riding a three fight losing streak.

Entering the fifth round Chael had seemingly easily and decisively won the first four rounds utilizing an extremely effective game plan that mixed together take downs, a few guard passes and a good dosage of Ground n’ Pound.  He made a seemingly invincible warrior look like a mortal man and did so consistently for the entire fight.  But then, during a moment of brilliance on Silva’s behalf, Chael was caught in a Triangle Choke and the beginning of the end was upon him.  In a matter of seconds Silva crept up an impending Triangle Choke on to Sonnen and locked it in tight.  Sonnen had come too far to tap out without at least trying to escape the submission.  Sonnen sat back on to his butt to try and set up a “sit-and-pry” escape but left his arm that was inside the choke straight (instead of contracting it and posting his hand to his ear) and Silva snatched the arm instantly.  While Chael successfully began defending the choke, Silva took Chael’s straight arm and raised his hips up, effectively creating an armbar submission whilst Chael was still caught in the Triangle Choke.  Chael then tapped on Silva’s thigh twice, conceding defeat, although many were left wondering if Sonnen did indeed tap.  After a few moments of confusion and plenty of replays, it was indisputable that Sonnen did tap.

Following the fight Sonnen admitted his disappointment in the loss stating that he was “devastated” but wanted a rematch, even going as far as to say that “fighting Anderson Silva is like eating Chinese food, 20 minutes after you do it you wanna do it again.”  Even Dana White was quick to express his delight with how well the fight went, giving props to Anderson Silva for his submission victory, which netted him an additional $60,000 for Submission Of The Night.  White even referred to the fight as “legendary” and said Silva was a true champion in overcoming such adversity in that fight.  Both men also received the bonus for Fight Of The Night in what proved to be by far one of the most emotionally and physically entertaining fights of the year.

Weigh-in below in the comment section about UFC 117, whether you want Silva vs. Sonnen 2 or Silva vs. Belfort  next and anything else about MMA!

Written by FightPros Contributor Dylan Routledge. Follow him on twitter @Dylan_geezus

Fightpros.com: it’s good to talk to you again my friend. How is the workout coming?

Hapa: Yeah, its good to talk you again, I’m currently just getting back into the beach workout scene.

Fightpros.com: Oh yeah, what does that like?

Hapa: It looks like I’m getting a tan and soaking up some sun man…

Fightpros.com: Ah, man! Just rub it in!

Hapa: (laughing) Yeah it’s a good place to be …

Fightpros.com: I bet. So tell me Hapa, it’s been awhile since we have touched base, and from what I can tell a lot has been changing in your life. What’s it like after your first UFC win? Is life changing yet? Rock star status yet?

Hapa: Oh, Bud, it’s kinda crazy. I wouldn’t say I’m like Rock Star status or anything, but I am definitely getting those looks from a lot of people, like, “Man, why do I feel that I should know that guy?”

Fightpros.com: Ha ha,… I’m sure that won’t be the last of that. Your moving up the ranks. You have an upcoming fight with Kongo, if you take that match in like fashion to your last 7 fights your practically gonna become a household name.

Hapa: Yeah, it’s weird. Kongo is a top 10 ranked fighter. I am really looking forward to this. I imagine that after this fight things are really gonna start changing, and really start rolling along.

Fightpros.com: So what’s this I’m hearing about you switching brands? What’s with VF Elite?

Hapa: VF Elite is my new management company. I was formerly with NCSC Elite, but I just felt like I need to make a move toward a company that could do more than get me fights. VF Elite is a good group that can represent me and help get me out there in other ways.

Fightpros.com: but you didn’t switch training camps did you?

Hapa: Oh no. I am still with Alliance Training Center. They are great. I trust my coaches completely. They are awesome trainers.

Fightpros.com:How is the training coming?

Hapa: I don’t start my training camp for the Kongo fight until August 23rd. Then I will start training solid.

Fightpros.com: What will that look like?

Hapa: Solid training 2 to 3 times a day. Sprints on Tuesday and Saturday. 20 seconds on, 20 seconds off, 20 times a day… then moving to 25 and 25. Then switch to mile sprints. Every morning start working some team training; wrestling, jujitsu… you know the kind of training that requires help from other people.

Fightpros.com: Very nice. Well I am gonna try to be there for your Kongo fight. I look forward to seeing your hand raised in victory. But what about after the fight? What’s next on the plate for your career?

Hapa: After the Kongo fight I have a feeling that I will be laying low for awhile. The Heavyweight world is so stacked right now, that they will have to clean it up a little by taking care of some important matches before I will be back in.

Fightpros.com: And on the home front side of things?

Hapa: Lately I have been thinking a lot about turning some attention toward the kids. I know a young guy that I want to work with and maybe start some after school programs or do somethings in relation to training younger people to enrich their lives a little.

Fightpros.com: Awesome. What do we have going for us if we can’t pass it along?

Hapa: Exactly.

Fightpros.com: So tomorrow, 1560am on the ESPN radio show “Fired Up With Starfire” I believe you and I are still going to make an appearance aren’t we?

Hapa: Yes. Looking forward to it.

Fightpros.com: Well until then I guess I ought to let you get back to your “beach work out.”

Hapa: (laughing) Ok.

Again, Travis “Hapa” Browne exhibits the heart of a champion. Passionate about the octagon, and passionate about how he can be a good role model for those around him. Fightpros.com has called it, and now VF Elite has called it, Hapa is destined to compete for a championship. Hop on board the Hapa train people, and root for a fighter that will not disappoint!

As always, what say you?

Pastor Bob can be followed on twitter @pastorbobmma

Never the less this card was entertaining. We got to see one of the best grapplers in the world, Roger Gracie, fight in the cage against Kevin Randleman, once again not the most relevant fight but it was entertaining. The Co-Main event of the evening was an important fight as  it would decide who would be slightly relevant in the Heavyweight division in Strikeforce, as well as the overall MMA Heavyweight rankings. Andrei Arlovski didn’t look like “The Pitbull”, the man who was really beating Fedor ’til he threw the knee in their fight. I hate to say it but he kind of reminded me of Cro Cop in his fight with Junior Dos Santos back at UFC 103. He just looked tentative and not as ferocious and quick as he used to. He couldn’t seem to get through the defense of Antonio Silva. Silva was able to land some good shots on Arlovski and really out box him for the entire fight.  Silva would go on to take a Unanimous Decision with scores of 29-28 across the boards. I had the fight scored 30-27 in favor of Silva but you could argue Arlovski won the last bit of the second round.

The main event was quick, short and something the casual fan would enjoy. Alistair Overeem made his return, finally defending the belt after 2 and half years away from the Strikeforce banner, fighting in DREAM and K-1 up until last night. His opponent would be Brett Rogers, last seen losing to Fedor on Strikeforce’s CBS debut back in November. There have been arguments that Brett didn’t deserve to fight Overeem but really who were they going to give him? Bigfoot was already tapped to fight Arlovski and Werdum is already tied up with Fedor next month. The lack of depth on Strikeforce’s roster forced this fight to happen and I didn’t really mind it. Rogers was originally slated to face Overeem earlier on in his career but instead got fights with Arlovski and Fedor. Rogers did not look good last night. He looked tentative and reluctant to engage his opponent. This was not the same Rogers who came storming at Arlovski and Fedor. Overeem was able stay distant and eventually trip Rogers to the ground and from there tee off with vicious ground and pound as Rogers assumed the fetal position, allowing Overeem to claim the TKO victory in the 1^st round.

In his post fight Interview Overeem called out Fedor’s management on the reason for him not fighting Fedor. That fight is the only logical next step for Overeem and Strikeforce. Fedor is favoured to beat Werdum which would result in  two wins against Strikeforce’s best and lead to a future title shot. Now if this happens or not revolves around M-1 Global and their willingness to take a risk for probably the biggest fight Strikeforce could make since Cyborg vs. Carano.
As for Strikeforce’s commentary, well it’s time for a change….that’s all that needs to be said.

Written by FightPros.com Contributor Mike Mazzacres

As reported by TMZ.com earlier today,

“Tito Ortiz was just arrested for felony domestic violence at the home he shares with Jenna Jameson.

We’re told when cops arrived at the couple’s home in Huntington Beach, CA — Jenna Jameson had “visible injuries.”

We’re told someone called 911 today at 9:53 AM and reported a “disturbance.”

Tito is currently in custody and on his way to a Huntington Beach jail in Orange County, CA.”

The story will be updated as more info is provided.

WEC definitely benefited from the free prelimary fights on Spike TV. I told my family who don’t follow MMA that much that, “Heyfree MMA is on Spike,” to which they replied “Why didn’t you just say UFC is on?” Leonard Garcia vs “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung lit it up with a great 3 round fight. Wild hay makers just laying it all out there for the world to see. I don’t agree with the decision but that happens some times, nothing we can do about it. Pettis vs. Karalexis was a fun affair ending with a nice Triangle Choke early in the second round.

The main PPV card didn’t slow the frenetic pace set by the Spike prelims. Scott Jorgenson avenged his loss against Antonio Banuelos in a fun 3 round decision. Shane Roller and Anthony Njokuani fought for what, in my opinion, could have possibly been the right to fight the winner of Henderson vs. Cerrone II. Roller was able to get in and use his wrestling to muscle Njokuani around eventually taking it to the ground, finding a Rear Naked Choke a little over half way through the 1st round. It was great hearing Mark Laimon frantically yell at Roller coded instructions like “Tyson Griffin” and “Florian vs. Gomi” using those names as comparisons to the situation Roller was in. Him and Kenny Florian’s brother, Keith Florian, have to be two of the loudest corner men in MMA .

Then we moved in to the top 3 bouts on the card starting with Brown vs. Gamburyan. This had possible Featherweight title implications written all over it but I don’t know why you would want to fight Aldo right now but its part of the job description right? Manny circled Brown for most of the fight until Brown got in close and Manny caught Brown with a nice short right hand that dropped him.  Manny is a thickly built fighter and it would be interesting to see if Aldo can chop away at him like he did Faber. Next we had the rematch of one of the fights of the year from 2009 as we saw Henderson vs. Cerrone II. I was expecting a great 5 round knock ‘em down, drag it out brawl like their first fight. Nope. Instead we saw Henderson grab a single leg, force Cerrone up against the cage then knee him there a little bit before putting him to the ground and getting a Guillotine choke in the first round. In my opinion his next opponent should be Shane Roller, who “BenHen” has already defeated so that could be fun to see. If anything, hearing Laimon shout
Modern Warfare 2 references will be a treat.

The main event was Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber for the WEC Featherweight title. If Faber was going to win I figured he was going to have to go in and use some wrestling and just try to control Aldo on the ground, maybe showing us Aldo’s ground game. That was not the case, we had Aldo kicking Faber’s legs out from under him for all five rounds, seeing Aldo thoroughly dominate the final three rounds, eventually leading to a Unanimous Decision win for Aldo over hometown favourite Faber.

WEC 48 delivered like the WEC always does. Other than the Garcia vs. Jung decision there is nothing that people should legitimately complain about. Man its been a long month of MMA and this has been the best show of the month for sure.

You can follow Mike MaZZacane on Twitter @MaZZacreMMA

Roy Nelson, the winner of the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, confirmed via his twitter account (@RoyNelsonMMA) that his next opponent will be the devastating striker, Cheick Kongo.  “Done at swapmeet, just got off internet phone found out fighting Kongo, excited for the fans, and the press” said Nelson’s tweet posted late last night.  Roy Nelson is coming off of two of the most impressive performances in his career, having won his only two fights in the UFC thus far by first round KO.  In his first fight Nelson faced off against fellow The Ultimate Fighter 10 finalist, Brendan Schaub to decide who would be the season’s winner.  Nelson would land a right hook behind the ear of Schaub, knocking him unconscious midway through the first round.  In Nelson’s next and most recent fight he took on 6’11″ Stefan Struve.  Although being much shorter than Struve, Nelson was capable of reaching Struve’s chin, hitting him flush with an overhand right to bring an abrupt stop to the fight in only 39 seconds.  Now as Nelson gears up to take on Cheick Kongo, one must ask, will Nelson be able to handle the raw KO power of which Kongo possesses?  Or can “Big Country” prove he belongs in the UFC against the upper echelon of Heavyweight fighters?

Cheick Kongo is a very recognizable face within the UFC.  Having entered the Octagon on a dozen occasions now, he posts an 8-4 UFC record.  He was even viewed as a top contender until he dropped two consecutive bouts in 2009.  Kongo started off last year with promise, finishing off Antoni Hardonk at UFC 97 in Montreal.  He would then replace an injured Heath Herring and face the young prospect, Cain Velasquez, at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany.  Kongo would drop the fight to Cain by Unanimous Decision, although often creating problems for Cain when the fight was standing.  Kongo would then lose to Frank Mir at UFC 107 by a very quick Guillotine Choke in the first round.  Days seemed dark for Kongo, that is until he turned around his fortunes this past March.  Kongo faced off against UFC veteran Paul Buentello at UFC LIVE on Versus and ended up thoroughly dominating Paul en route to a 3rd round TKO stoppage.  Now Kongo sets his sights on derailing “Big Country” and getting himself back into title contention.  Will the devastating striker be able to make Roy Nelson take a nap of his own? Or will Kongo be the third man to be put to sleep by the big belly of “Big Country”?

Written by FightPros.com contributor Dylan Routledge.  Follow him on twitter @dylan_geezus

MAIN CARD

Featherweight Championship bout: Jose Aldo (c) vs. Urijah Faber

Jose Aldo def. Urijah Faber via Unanimous Decision (49-45, 49-45, 50-45) to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship

Lightweight Championship bout: Ben Henderson (c) vs. Donald Cerrone

Ben Henderson def. Donald Cerrone via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:57 of Round 1 to retain the WEC Lightweight Championship

Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs. Manvel Gamburyan

Manvel Gamburyan def. Mike Brown via KO (Punches) at 2:22 in Round 1

Lightweight bout: Anthony Njokuani vs. Shane Roller

Shane Roller def. Anthony Njokuani via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:21 in Round 1

Bantamweight bout: Antonio Banuelos vs. Scott Jorgensen

Scott Jorgensen def. Antonio Banuelos via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Featherweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung

Leonard Garcia def. Chan Sung Jung via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

Lightweight bout: Alex Karalexis vs. Anthony Pettis

Anthony Pettis def. Alex Karalexis via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:35 of Round 2

Bantamweight bout: Brad Pickett vs. Demetrious Johnson

Pickett def. Johnson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Featherweight bout: Chad Mendes vs. Anthony Morrison

Chad Mendes def. Anthony Morrison via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:13 of Round 1

Bantamweight bout: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Rani Yahya

Mizugaki def.Yahya via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Feathweight bout: Brandon Visher vs. Tyler Toner

Toner def. Visher via TKO (elbows) at 2:36 of Round 1