Regional MMA

The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced an Indian TV deal today and, with the Super Fight League, exposing the entire country to some of the most dreadful MMA fights imaginable, it cannot come soon enough. 

First impressions count, and anyone who is unaware of MMA or unsure whether they like it or not could well be put off for life by the fare on offer at the SFL.

There is a time and a place for beginners to start to compete, and it is in an amateur-rules fight in a small venue, not in the biggest show in an entire country.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Snowden pretty much summed up most of my thoughts on the SFL 1 event in this article (5 Reasons India's Super Fight League Was One of the Most Epically Bad Shows Ever), and I don't want to hate on a brand-new organization, but he really hits the nail on the head.

The sooner the UFC starts to be shown on TV in India, where there is a vast market of 18- to 30-year-old men, the better, because the SFL is in danger of putting potential fans off of the sport for life.

Anyone who tunes in expecting to see high-quality fights and is greeted by the sight of two fighters with zero professional experience swinging hail-mary punches is hardly going to form a high impression of MMA.

Many of the fighters on SFL 1 were getting in the cage for the very first time. I've been to some MMA events which were held in small, seedy clubs or discos, and had amateurs debuting in their first fight, and they can be fun, but they aren't the reason I got into MMA.

Instead of being exposed to MMA for the first time by seeing the best fighters go head-to-head in the UFC, the 300,000 Indian fans who reportedly watched SFL 1 on YouTube were treated to a bunch of amateurs with basically no experience, not to mention the ongoing embarrassment that is Bob Sapp.

SFL 2 could be even worse, because seven of the fighters on the card have never, ever won an MMA fight, five of them have never had a proper MMA fight, and three of them have negative records. Have a look at the event page on Sherdog and you will see how low the bar is set for fighters wanting to get into the SFL.

No wins? No experience? No problem.

What makes it worse is the SFL make no effort to differentiate between the fights involving serious professionals like Todd Duffee and Neil Grove, and the fights involving out-and-out rookies. As shown by the above-referenced Sherdog link, the six fighters who are on immediately before the main event have a collective record of 2-5-1.

It is a really awful way to introduce fans to MMA. Unless a fighter is already very good at a respected combat sport such as boxing or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, they are unlikely to set the world alight in their first ever fight. Yet this collection of newbies is being promoted as the face of MMA in India.

And don't even get me started on the Bollywood theme. I really don't see how MMA and Indian musicals mix, and the "come for the concert stay for the fights" plea just sounds downright desperate as if no one would ever turn up to watch without the Bollywood bit.

People in India who had never seen MMA before SFL 1 are going to be in for a revelation when the UFC starts appearing on their TVs. I just hope by then it is not too late, first impressions stick and anyone who is introduced to MMA by the fights the SFL is putting on could lose interest in the sport forever.

There were plenty of talking points at One FC 3: Eduard Folayang and Ole Laursen's fight of the night, Zorobabel Moreira's submission of Felipe Enomoto and the brutal cuts which caused Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi's fight to be called a no-contest.

For me the most impressive performance of all came from a little-known fighter from Hong Kong. Eddie Ng's nowhere near as famous as some of the One FC fighters, but he is very exciting and very aggressive, and I really want to see him fight again.

At One FC 1, Ng destroyed Yuan Chun Bo with huge punches from the guard which left him unconscious. I thought Jian Kai Chee would be a lot more difficult to beat because he had more fights than Ng and had also fought against good opponents like Ole Laursen and Arnaud Lepont.

Often times a  fighter who has lost to top opponents that are good is better than one who has never faced a good opponent in the first place, and I thought this might be the case with Chee, who is a Muay Thai champion from Malaysia.

I saw Chee's fight with Laursen on YouTube, and you could see that he had very good stand-up, too good for Ng everyone assumed. They were wrong. Laursen got hit hard and hurt, but Ng did not get hit once; he did all the hitting himself.

The big surprise was that Ng's Muay Thai looked like more than a match for Chee's, and he almost knocked him out with a hook which had him hurt. Ng is not a patient fighter; he is very fast, and that is probably the reason why his fights have always finished in the very first round.

This one was the same, as Ng got right down to business, showing no respect at all for Chee's high level of stand-up as he pressed forward and landed a one-two combination with the second punch, sending Chee to his knees.

Ng could have won then and there because he had a guillotine choke, but he threw knees to the head and then mounted Chee and went for broke, throwing punch after punch after punch, which left the semi-conscious Malaysian tapping for dear life.

Ng was a BJJ world champion, but he did not seem to want to use his submissions and was only interested in inflicting the maximum punishment on his opponent. It was a display of pure, unbridled aggression, but it was also totally effective; he landed almost every single strike he threw and never looked out of control.

With the win Ng moves up to 5-1, a good record for a 26-year-old, and he has beaten some good fighters—it's not like his wins have been against low-level opponents. The time has surely come for him to take a step up; he trains at the best facility in the world, Evolve MMA, with fighters like Shinya Aoki and Rafael Dos Anjos, so he knows what it takes to be the best.

Training every day with world champions in BJJ and Muay Thai, as well as MMA, is really having an effect on Ng's game, and he is improving all the time. That is why I think One FC must test him against a top fighter soon. Evolve MMA can take him to the next level, and he has all the ability he needs to get there.

If you haven't heard the name Eddie Ng already, then listen for it, because you will soon. He is one of the most exciting and entertaining fighters around, and he is destined to do great things in One FC.

Victor Cui's ONE Fighting Championship delivered another stellar fight card with its "War of The Lions" event that some of the world saw exclusively on Youtube early yesterday morning.

For those who didn't see it, it's definitely recommended viewing from start to finish. B/R contributor Gerald Ng has the full recap of the event here.

Aside from a nasty shin gash that resulted in the bout between Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi becoming a no-contest, the rest of the action on the night of fights personified exactly what ONE FC is all about, and it reminded us of the ultimate goal to which they are getting closer and closer to achieving.

As a matter of fact, ONE Fighting's CEO and Owner, Victor Cui, said the following after the event:

“This was the best show we’ve had yet. The fights were fantastic from start to finish, the stadium was packed and the crowd loved it so I can’t ask for more than that. The growth of MMA in the region has been astounding and I am so proud of how far we’ve come in just a matter of months. I can’t wait for these fights to be shown to 24 Asian countries by ESPN Star Sports next month because people are going to absolutely love them.”

In addition to Cui's optimism about the future of ONE FC moving forward, the fans of the promotion, as well as those who caught the event online, have caught on to both the fighters that represent the Singaporean MMA promotion and the way in which they bring it every time they step inside the ONE FC Cage.

They all possess that warrior's spirit that many often talk about whenever they refer to a fighter that just cannot quit, and regardless of how long they may last against a Masakazu Imanari or a Tatsuya Kawajiri, they leave everything and more inside the cage when it comes time to throw heat. This case proves no less truthful that any number of the fights shown on yesterday's card.

In terms of becoming the largest MMA promotion in Asia right now, they aren't at that level yet, despite the promotion's end potential and their current roster of young prospects. They may never have that honor bestowed upon them, despite them earning that respect only three fight cards deep into their time as a legitimate mixed martial arts promotion.

However, the fact is that the Singapore-based promotion is putting together UFC-caliber action with a talent pool featuring international stars from all around the world and the hottest batch of Asian MMA prospects that you won't find in DREAM, Deep or any other overseas MMA promotion.

Altogether, ONE FC is coming closer than some think to becoming the UFC of the Asian MMA circuit, just as Cui envisioned when the announcement of the company's inception first came to light.

While there's still a long way to go before we can even give them an honest comparison to the UFC besides being "the most major," what we can say is that they are definitely one of the hottest spots for A-Class MMA action from bell to bell.

Get used to people talking about ONE FC and their fights, while you're at it, because Yours Truly can guarantee that it's here to stay and will not look soon to defeat its own momentum and fold away.

ONE Fighting Championship "War of the Lions" is the biggest and best card in the history of the promotion.

And for fight fans all around the world, the news just got better because the entire show will be available to view completely free of charge.

Originally set to cost $24.95, it was announced today that instead ONE FC CEO/Owner Victor Cui has decided to let fans view it for free.

This is from the press release:

“As a gift of appreciation to all MMA fans around the world, I have decided to make the broadcast of the entire fight card for 'ONE FC: War of the Lions' on March 31 completely free-of-charge in HD quality on our YouTube Channel. I want the world to see that Asian MMA is back bigger and better than ever! ONE Fighting Championship is Asia’s largest MMA organization with the biggest pan-Asian media broadcast to a potential 500 million viewers across 24 countries. We are here to lead the way in Asia!”

Cui added, “On this fight card, you will see some of the biggest stars and rising stars in Asia from most of the major Asian MMA organizations like ONE FC, DREAM, URCC, DEEP, etc as well as from the top Asian MMA gyms like Evolve MMA, Team Lakay, Team MAD, Juggernaut, Muayfit, etc. Tatsuya Kawajiri, Eduard Folayang, Eddie Ng, Kevin Belingon, Zorobabel Moreira, Masakazu Imanari, Ole Laursen, Melvin Manhoef, Yuya Shirai, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi and the rest of the fighters on the card will set Asia on fire on March 31.

"For this event, we are anticipating record attendance for ONE FC. Several thousand tickets have already been sold for 'ONE FC: War of the Lions' at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. We are expecting a sold-out show.”

There are 11 fights on the card in total:

Felipe Enomoto vs. Zorobabel Moreira

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Donald Sanchez    

Eduard Folayang vs. Ole Laursen

Yuya Shirai vs. Fabricio Monteiro

Melvin Manhoef vs. Yoshiyuki Nakanishi

Eddie Ng vs. Jian Kai Chee

Masakazu Imanari vs. Kevin Belingon

Jeet Toshi vs. Nicole Chua

Quek Kim Hock vs. Juan Wen Jie

Jiang Long Yun vs. Yodsanan Sityodtong

Danny van Bergen vs. Richie Whitson

And the broadcast times are as follows:

8:00 PM – Kuala Lumpur

1:00 PM – London

8:00 AM – New York City

5:00 AM – San Francisco

 * Free live streaming is geo-blocked in Singapore and Japan.

This is a huge power play by ONE FC because although it will cost them some pay-per-view income, it will have the effect of making this event one of the most viewed in the history of the sport of MMA. 

These days, you don't see women like Georgia Graham, the official ring girl for the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts, but spending some time to talk to her can definitely make a man wish that there were more women like this chilled-out young lady.

How goes that?

She always responds to her fans on Twitter, she's not afraid to admit that she loves to talk to people in general, whether they should be fighters or fans (but be nice to her, boys!), she'll take a chill night with some pizza and some X-Box Kinect over a night at the club any day of the week, and she loves tattoos as well as cars.

As a matter of fact, she does have a pretty sweet tattoo, and she's had a very extensive modeling career before becoming a BAMMA ring girl.

All of this, and yet she lives what some would consider a "quiet" lifestyle.

Above all else, she's a girl with a pretty awesome job involving an atmosphere like none other, which she gets to do tonight live at BAMMA 9: Watson vs. Marshman, and for those of you stuck going off of Twitter reactions for the event, if your provider allows for a subscription to HDNet, you get to experience the atmosphere of tonight's event on your television sets on Friday, April 6 when the fight card hits HDNet.

So how did it all start for Georgia?

"BAMMA was my first-ever job as a ring girl," Graham told Bleacher Report MMA, "I was just a promotion girl working at various motor sports and red-carpet events, and it was a red-carpet event doing a promotion that I was noticed by BAMMA, and that's how I got into it."

It didn't take the world long to catch on to Graham, and from BAMMA 5 on until now, the world of MMA knew this vivacious young lady, who has often been brought up in the same sentence as Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer in the past.

By her own admission, the ring girl job was brand-new to her when she first started out, but she's a girl that does what she loves and loves what she does, and one of the best parts of the job is the atmosphere of the crowds.

"It's crazy," Graham said, "it's the best thing ever. It's really hard to describe...especially when a fight is really going, like when it was Tom Watson vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua, the atmosphere was...watching it on TV, you just can't get an idea of how mad it actually is in there."

"I feel so happy to be there and to be a part of it."

Graham has been one of the names synonymous with BAMMA for a long time now, and when she got a glimpse of the card, she was really pleased with it, which is not an unfamiliar feeling for the official BAMMA ring girl.

"When I read the card, I was really pleased with it," Graham said, "and I was really excited when I read some of the names that were popping up."

From top to bottom, the card looked like it would be a great show for fans of the promotion and a real treat for MMA fans looking for fresh talent.

But of course, like many in the MMA world, the one that stood out was the main event of the night with BAMMA World Middleweight champion Tom Watson facing British Middleweight Champion and undefeated prospect Jack Marshman.

Graham herself was asked about the fight when it first came out, and like those familiar with what "Kong" and Watson are capable of doing inside the cage, she couldn't wait for the fight to finally go down.

"In my honest opinion, I just don't know what to say," Graham said, "because Tom is an extremely talented fighter—I mean, he's proven himself—he's brilliant and very skilled, but Marshman just doesn't give up. He just keeps going 'til the end, and I think it'll be a very interesting fight."

"I can't say an opinion on who I think will win or what'll happen, but I think it'll be the fight of the night for sure."

One thing Georgia can say for sure is that when she takes a job, she always looks to educate herself and understand what the job encompasses, and a look at her official YouTube channel will show you that she knows a thing or two about the hard work that goes into training for the sport of MMA.

"It's fun," Graham said, "but it's a good sport to do, and I think it'd be good if more people saw it and could see it and the fighters as a sport."

With organizations such as BAMMA and Ultimate Challenge MMA, one might think that MMA is off and running, but while British MMA is going strong right now, it is still coming further along, just as the sport is coming further along. 

"When I started working in MMA, obviously in America, it's huge, but in the UK, it's still getting out there, and people are like 'Oh, that just fighting?' and I'm like, 'Well, not really. It's Mixed Martial Arts...it's not just brawling.'"

Graham has seen the sport of MMA grow, she's watched BAMMA grow throughout her time in the sport, and she'll watch both BAMMA and MMA continue to grow until there is no more MMA left to watch for sure as she remains positive about the future of this sport.

"I think it'll be big," Graham said, "I think, from watching BAMMA grow, I reckon it's going to be huge, and even this year with BAMMA 9, I think there'll be attending [events]...it's going to keep on going, and I just can't wait to see what happens."

"It'd be really great to see that happen, but you just never know. You've got to work hard and put in the effort and the promotion."

The sport will grow, as will BAMMA after tonight's event takes place, and when BAMMA grows to become quite possibly the largest and most must-see organization in the UK, we're all going to enjoy what happens next for that organization.

One thing's for sure, boys and girls, you can bet that Georgia Graham will watching it all from start to finish, and when you finally get to see what happens next, you'll wish you were there.

BAMMA 9 takes place on Saturday, March 24, in the UK at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena. BAMMA is presented by Go Daddy in association with Lonsdale and PKR
BAMMA 9 televises on Extreme Sports Channel (UK & Europe), HDNet (U.S.) The Fight Network (Canada), TDN (Latin America), Setanta (Africa) and Red Media (Russia). For all viewing information visit www.bamma.com

Zorobabel Moreira is not a top-10 ranked lightweight yet but he is on his way.

After being knocked out by upstart American Joe Ray in 2010, he has put together wins against better opponents, culminating in victories over veteran fighters Ferrid Kheder and Andy Wang.

His record now stands at 5-1 and he has been rewarded with a fight against Felipe Enomoto in the main event of One FC "War of the Lions" next weekend. If he wins—and I think he will—then the world might start to see what I see in Moreira.

He is a BJJ black belt who has won world championships, so he has that base covered. He's been fighting MMA since 2008, so has had plenty of time to get used to using his grappling in a situation where opponents are allowed to hit him in the face and he can't grab the Gi.

It's unlikely that anyone is going to be able to submit Moreira, unless they can hurt him badly first. He trains with Shinya Aoki, Rafael Dos Anjos and Eddie Ng at Evolve MMAm so he has lots of good lightweights to spar, roll and wrestle with.

Moving to Singapore was a career defining moment for Moreira. Had he stayed in Brazil he would have been in danger of becoming a journeyman—a one dimensional BJJ expert in a country which is full of fighters with identical characteristics.

Joining Evolve MMA put him in the same place as some of the best Thai trainers on the planet. Working with former Lumpini champions is just what Moreira needed to progress from being a great BJJ fighter to becoming a great MMA fighter.

There is probably no one in all of Brazil who has the same sort of knowledge when it comes to kicking, punching and using elbows and knees as the trainers at Evolve MMA, who have completely unpronouncable names but very impressive pedigrees.

Another good thing which happened to Moreira—although at the time it probably didn't feel that good—was getting knocked out by Joe Ray. After a loss like that a fighter can either give up or get better and Moreira didn't give up.

Instead he went away and improved and came back stronger beating three much more experienced opponents in succession. Yun Seob Kwak, Ferrid Kheder and Andy Wang have 34 wins between them and Moreira beat them all impressively.

The defining moment came against Wang at One FC "Champion vs Champion" in Singapore. Moreira never even needed to use his BJJ and was able to beat Wang down by using just his Muay Thai. He had finally discovered how to use his 190 cms height and is going to be a handful for anyone at 70 kgs.

The fight with Enomoto will be a timely test because unlike Wang, Kheder and Kwak he is coming off a win and looked like a very skilled fighter in his last fight when he beat Ole Laursen by rear naked choke. 

Moreira is 28 years old and is approaching his peak at exactly the right time. He has the best trainers and training partners and One FC is the perfect place for a fighter like him to gain experience and exposure while gradually moving up the lightweight ladder.

Evolve MMA is very confident that Moreira will go all the way and as they already have lightweights like Aoki and Dos Anjos, they should be able to judge pretty astutely just how good a prospect Moreira really is.

Right now his record is 5-1 and 2012 will be the year in which Moreira breaks out into the big time and becomes one of the best lightweights in the world.

The Score Fighting Series fighters delivered an absolute war, some quick knockouts and some hometown wins last night in an exciting night of fights in Hamilton.

The night was set to be a showcase for Canadian lightweight John Alessio and a few local favorites, but two surprise fighters stole the show when the dust settled.

Veteran Forrest Petz and Toronto's Sergey Juskevic traded vicious blows from the opening bell, and Juskevic hurt Petz early in the fight and looked to have the finish in hand. Juskevic could not secure the finish and Petz recovered enough to push the war to the second round.

The fireworks only picked up in the second with Petz pounding hard to the body and Juskevic throwing to the top with the crowd in a frenzy. The battle stayed hot right up until Petz backed Yuskevic to the cage and peppered him with unanswered shots, leading to the referee stoppage at 3:25 of the second round.

In other headline action, John Alessio was able to overcome a tough Ryan Healy by using strength and takedowns to gain a unanimous decision victory.

Alex Ricci continued his early career assault on his foes, as he beat Iraj Hadin by TKO at 3:16 of the first round.

Josh Hill used his strength, quickness and takedowns to stay undefeated and dominate Eric Wilson for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision.

Lyndon Whitlock landed a beautiful shot to the button of Cory Houston, knocking him out cold at 4:28 of the first round, and massive heavyweight Craig Hudson knocked out John MacPherson one minute into their fight.

The rest of the results:

- Adam Assenzio defeated John Roche via verbal tap; 4:17 of the first round

- Elias Theodorou defeated Erik Herbert via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

- Jason Meisel defeated Mike Sledzion via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

- Shane Campbell defeated Derek Boyle via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

- Attendance: 1,800

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.