Thursday’s news was mishmash from all across the board, with Bellator, WSOF, and Legacy, providing some material to the MMA world on a slow day for the UFC.
Bellator made a couple of announcements regarding their ‘Dynamite!’ show. First, they released the rules for the light heavyweight tournament bouts, which state that the first round will be contested via a two-round bout, while the second round will be a standard three-round bout. In the event of a draw in any bout, judges will determine the winner via ‘Must’ decision. Somewhere, Michihiro Omigawa is smiling and he has no clue why.
The sound of Bellator will also be changing for their big MMA/kickboxing crossover card. Lenne Hardt (former announcer for PRIDE) will lend her unique vocal stylings to the broadcast to help usher fighters out to the cage. It is not yet known what sort of entrances Bellator has planned, but it seems safe to assume it will be something elaborate, and Hardt’s presence should only amplify that.
The other news from Bellator yesterday surrounded the twice-planned, twice-failed bout of Bobby Lashley and James Thompson. The organization has now pencilled the fight in for Bellator 145 on November 6th. Thompson holds the last defeat over Lashley from a 2012 bout of theirs in Super Fight League, and Lashley has gone on to win six straight since then. While Lashley never developed into the draw or the fighter that some had hoped when he made the transition from pro wrestling to MMA, as far as heavyweights go, he’s not that bad.
World Series of Fighting made a couple of signings yesterday to contribute to the news. Former UFC and Strikeforce vet Caros Fodor signed with the promotion after a 3-1 run in ONE FC. He has won his past two bouts, and could find himself in WSOF’s lightweight title picture in short order given their dearth of contenders. Fodor’s brother is also under contract with WSOF already, but if you’ve heard of him it would probably be under the name ‘Phoenix Jones.’
The promotion’s other signing was Cory Devela. The middleweight is a veteran of the regional circuit in the Northwest, and has appeared on Strikeforce cards on four separate occasions. After losing four of five at one point (including three straight in Strikeforce), Devela has bounced back with three consecutive wins, including a victory over UFC veteran Nick Ring in his most recent outing.
Legacy FC was forced to scramble at the last minute for their Legacy FC 45 show tonight, as planned headliner Andrew Todhunter suffered an injury late in training and was forced out of his bout just days before the card. Todhunter’s bout has been scrapped, and the co-main event of JC Cottrell and Ed Kline will now headline the card. UFC veteran Sean Soriano will also be featured on the main card of Legacy FC 45.
The last bit of news for today involves UFC strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha. It seems that Dana White was right to book Valerie LeTourneau as Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s next challenger, since it now appears that Gadelha’s hand injury will keep her out of action until February. That should be perfect timing for her to return and meet up with Jedrzejczyk for the fight in the 115lb division that everyone wants to see.
