UFC 118 follow up

If former boxing champ James Toney wanted to find out how tough mixed martial arts is, he certainly found out when Randy Couture slapped an arm triangle on him during the first round of their bout at UFC 118 in Boston on Saturday.
Toney tapped out and Couture, a legend in the sport, won, just one of the highlights from the UFC's first trip to Boston.
This is proof of a couple things in the world of MMA. One is that not just anyone - no matter the background or how tough he thinks he is - can just walk into the cage and win a fight. Dana White, the president of the UFC, has said numerous famous athletes have approached him about fighting. Toney was at the top of that list, so White finally decided to give him a fight and it didn't go so well for the former pugilist.
There is a lot more to the sport than what appears on the surface. There is strategy, defense, a lot of thinking and endurance. Fighters always have to be aware of where they are, their body position, what their opponent is trying to do and any possible submission moves. It's not just going toe-to-toe and slugging away.
The second thing Saturday night proved is that MMA is popular in New England, and hopefully this will open the door for more local fighters. For years, the MMA scene has been growing here, but it hasn't received the national recognition because Massachusetts, the state with the best venues in the area, did not sanction the sport until last winter.
Now that is has been sanctioned in the Bay State and the UFC has expanded its kingdom to the TD Bank Garden, more fighters from the area should get a chance to fight on the preliminary card and possibly earn a contract with the UFC, or other companies in ths sport.

The wait is over.

This weekend, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will come to Massachusetts with UFC 118 at the TD Bank Garden on Saturday.

It is the first time the UFC has come to the Bay State since mixed martial arts was sanctioned last winter. As usual, the card is an impressive one and features some local fighters.

There are co-main events. One is for the lightweight championship when Frank Edgar (12-1) takes on BJ Penn (15-6-1). The other features MMA legend Randy Couture (18-10) against former boxer James Toney (0-0), whom UFC President Dana White said has been practically begging him for a fight.

On the local scene, former Boston College soccer standout and Massachusettts native Kenny Florian (13-4) will battle Gray Maynard (9-0) in the lightweight division during the main card. The preliminary card features some local fighters such as Joe Lauzon (18-4) of Massachusetts, who will take on Gabe Ruediger (17-5) of Liverpool, England, in the lightweight division.

Some Grit at the Whitt

Mixed martial arts continues to grow in New Hampshire, and next month Global Fight League will host an event at what is believed to be the biggest venue ever in the state when GFL 9 comes to the Whittemore Center on the campus of the University of New Hampshire.
The arena, which holds nearly 6,000 people for an event like this, will play host to an extraordinary card featurning several of the best local fighters.
The most intriguing match on paper is at 170 pounds, where Dennis Olson (11-5) of Amherst takes on Tom Moreau (5-1-1) of Derry. The most recent Northeast MMA rankings have Olson at No. 1 in the weight class and Moreau at No. 3.
Other matches on the card so far include: Justin Homsey (4-1) against Josh Laberge (7-4) at 145 pounds, Matt Smith (7-2) against Pedro Gonzalez (6-3) at 135 pounds, John Benoit (9-2) against Josh Hersey (4-1) at 155 pounds and Cody Lightfoot (4-1) against Shawn Gallano (4-1) at heavyweight.
The Northeast MMA rankings for this fighters are as follows: Homsey 5, Laberge 2; Smith 8, Gonzalez 9; Benoit 8, Hersey unranked; Lightfoot unranked, Gallano 5.

Local talent taking the stage at "Massacre in the Meadow"

Calvin "The Boston Finisher" Kattar, the reigning NCAB champion in mixed martial arts and one of the top ranked professional fighters in the Northeast, will return to the cage for the co-main event when Combat Zone MMA 33 moves to the Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion as part of the Laconia Bike Week events. The "Massacre in the Meadow" will be held June 19.
Kattar (9-2-0), who hails from Methuen, Mass., and is one of the most popular fighters in the region, takes on Chris Connor (5-2-0) from Winchester, Va., in the highly anticipated bout in the 155-pound class. Connor's record is deceiving because while he has had just seven professional matches, he won 10 of 13 amateur fights before turning pro.
Local fight fans are well acquainted with the charismatic Kattar, who is enormously tough, talented, and strong in the cage. But they might think they're seeing double when Connor is introduced by the ringmaster. That's because Chris Connor is the twin brother of Robert Connor, who lost for the first time in his pro career when defeated by Derry's Tom Moreau by unanimous decision in the main event of Combat Zone 32 at Rockingham Park this past March.
In the co-main event also for 155 pounders, up-and-coming fighter Luiz Rodriguez (2-0-0) of Somerville, Mass., will face an opponent to be named as the complete card of 15 fights takes shape in the final weeks.
In addition to Kattar, there will be plenty of star power in the cage. UFC veteran Josh "Heavy" Hendricks (15-6-0) from Ohio will match up against Carlos Lovato (2-0-0) of Haverhill, Mass., in a test of the heavyweights. Lovato, who trains at the Guy Chase Academy of MMA in Greenland, is another with more experience than his record shows. He is undefeated in Muay Thai and as both an amateur and pro boxer, so he is highly skilled in the various mixed martial arts necessary to score submissions.
Another fight that is sure to garner a great deal of interest is the one in the 185-pound class between Will "The Brown Bomber" Santiago of Lawrence, Mass., and Lowell Zangri of Manchester. Both of the young fighters are undefeated at 2-0-0 and match up well in their abilities.
Other combatants who figure to draw attention include RJ LeTendre (1-0-0), who is a police officer in his hometown of Rollinsford, Jared Dumais (2-1-0) of Derry, and Taylor Trahan (4-3-0) of Lunenburg, Vt., who has redeemed himself from a slow start in the cage by winning his last four fights decisively.
Tickets are available through www.czmma.com or through www.meadowbrook.net and range from $120 to $25, plus a service charge. For more information about the event or any of the fighters, visit www.czmma.com.

Combat Zone 33 part of Bike Week

Calvin Kattar, the reigning NABC champion in mixed martial arts, will be one of the featured fighters on the card when Combat Zone 33 moves to the Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion as part of the Laconia Bike Week events in June.
Other renowned fighters for Combat Zone 33 on Saturday, June 19, include UFC veteran Josh Hendricks, professional boxer Carlos Lovato, Jay Donacorsi, Adam McQuaid and John Levasseur of Manchester, and Jared Dumais from Derry. There will be up to 15 pro and amateur fights for Combat Zone 33.
Tickets are on sale and may be purchased online through the website www.czmma.com. MMA fans are urged to purchase tickets early as Combat Zone events have sold out in the past.

Notheast MMA prelimianry rankings

Under 135
T1-Paul Gorman
T1-Anthony Leone
3. Dan Ferrer
5. Tateki Matsuda
5. Jason Bennett
6. Matt Martin
7. Tom Giove
8. Matt Smith
9. Pedro Gonzales
10. Barrington Douse


145
1. Jason McLean
2. Ken Stone
T3. Saul Almeida
T3. Kenny Foster
T5. Josh LaBerge
T5. Justin Homsey
7. Rodrigo Almeida
8. Dan Bonnell
9. Mike Gresh
10. Chris Grandmaison


155
1. Rene Nazare
T2. Marc Stevens
T2. Mike Campbell
4. Don-Carlo-Clauss
5. Hitalo Machado
6. Glenn Brown
7. Calvin Kattar
8. John Benoit
9. Tony Leate
T10. Aniss Alhajjajy
T10. Damien Trites


170
1. Dennis Olson
2. Justin Torrey
3. Rick Hawn
4. Tom Moreau
5. Chandler Holderness
6. John Manley
7. Nate LaMotte
8. Tim Pinney
9. Ralph Johnson
T10. Ryan Schieding
T10. Chuck O’Neill


185
1. Nate Kittredge
2. Dan Keefe
3. Greg Rebello
4. Woody Weatherby
5. John Clarke
6. Fred Belleton
7. Scott Nichols
8. Dan Pasquarella
9. Elias Rivera
10. Jesse Peterson


205
1. Travis Bartlett
2. Alexandre Moreno
3. Pat Schultz
4. Josh Watson
5. Ryan Contaldi


HWT
1. Christian Morecraft
2. Josh Diekmann
3. Lee Beane
4. Paul Barry
5. Shawn Galano

Lamotte to fight in Boston Thursday

Well known around the world for hosting the Boston Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker,” the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre has been part of the fine arts scene in the Hub since 1925.
On Thursday, the historical theatre will host a completely different type of arts -- mixed martial arts -- when Bellator Fighting Championships and Manchester’s Nate Lamotte come to town for Bellator XVII.
It will be the first nationally-televised mixed martial arts event in the Bay State since the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission sanctioned the sport in March. Four fights from the event will be aired live on Comcast SportsNet.
“We’re thrilled to be the first major group bringing MMA to Boston,” said Bjorn Rebney, chief executive officer of Bellator. “I’m thrilled. I think it will be a magical event.”
The Wang Theatre was chosen because of an alliance Bellator has with Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which handles the booking for the venue. The alliance is for four events, two at the Wang and two at the Chicago Theatre. The second show at the Wang will take place in late summer.
Rebney said he was amazed at the beauty of the Wang and feels it will be a great venue for MMA. Bellator has used what Rebney described as “cool, electrifying, unique settings” for its events including an outdoor show last Thursday from the Kansas City Power and Light District.
Lamotte, a Manchester Memorial High School graduate whose MMA resume features a four-second knockout win, will take on Chuck O’Neil of Bridgewater, Mass., in one of the fights that won’t be shown live.
A Bellator spokesman said the doors open at 7 p.m. and the live broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Lamotte should fight at about 7:20 p.m. Bellator also has a contract with NBC, which airs a highlight show late night on Saturdays.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Lamotte said. “It’s about time Massachusetts fully realized (the sport’s potential) and is bringing in the bigger shows.”
Rebney said there is a recruiting process that takes place for the local fighters. A Bellator representative searches for “great names” and “ticket sellers who can perform at a high level,” and Lamotte fit that description.
Lamotte, 26, is 11-5 and has won three of his last four matches including a first-round submission of Davin Wesinger on March 27.
He has been working out about six hours a day, seven days a week to get ready for the fight.
“I’ve been working hard,” Lamotte said. “It’s been good though.”
One thing Lamotte has been working on is making his game more rounded. He has a background in wrestling and karate. Now he is also being trained by a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach, a staple for most MMA fighters.
“I feel more complete,” Lamotte said.
The capacity of the Wang is 3,600 people, which Lamotte said would be the second largest crowd he has fought in front of. In 2006 he fought in front of about 8,000 people at the IZOD Center in New Jersey.
The amount of people doesn’t matter to Lamotte, however. He said once he gets into the cage he is able to block everything else out.
“To tell you the truth, once you get into the ring you don’t see anything else,” Lamotte said. “You train that long to focus on one person.”
And that one person just happens to be somebody Lamotte knows pretty well. He said O’Neil has come up to the MMA school Lamotte owns in Manchester and the two have sparred for his students. Lamotte said the MMA community in New England is small, and every fighter knows each other.
Still, Lamotte is positive the bond the two have won’t hinder his ability to land a blow to O’Neil’s chin if need be.
“It’s a job and he’s in the way of another paycheck,” Lamotte said.
It could be more than just another paycheck for Lamotte. The fight in Boston is more of an audition. Rebney said local fighters who perform well could get “high on the list” for a Bellator contract. He said if Lamotte fights well, he will likely be invited back for the second show in the late summer, and if he does well there it could mean a spot on the Bellator roster.
“It’s a vital part of taking people out of the local market and bringing them to the national one,” Rebney said.
Two of the four fights that will be shown live are the semifinals of an eight-man tournament in the lightweight division. The other two televised matches feature Bellator fighters. They will be book ended by the four local fights, two before and two after.
The televised fight card includes Eddie Alvarez vs. Josh Neer, Roger Huerta vs. Pat Curran, Carey Vanier vs. Toby Imada and Cole Konrad vs. Pat Bennett.
The local fight card includes Lamotte vs. O’Neil, Dan Bonnell vs. Josh Laberge, Greg Rebello vs. John Clarke and Nate Kittredge vs. Justin Torrey.