Mike Russow

Tap Selections: UFC 102

Here are our predictions (after the jump, winners in bold) for UFC 102.

The event will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture and former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Also on the card will be a light heavyweight attraction featuring Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva.

Feel free to leave your predictions as well in our comments section.

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Miletich Stops Denny in Return Bout at Adrenaline MMA II

Former UFC welterweight champion and Miletich Fighting Systems founder Pat Miletich was victorious in his first bout in over two years last night in Moline, Illinois as the MMA pioneer scored a first-round TKO of journeyman Thomas Denny in the main event of Monte Cox’s second Adrenaline MMA show.

During an early exchange, Miletich tagged Denny with a looping left hook that stunned him and then scored an easy takedown. Miletich spent the majority of the first round controlling Denny on the mat. Denny was able to get back to his feet on one occasion, but Miletich was quick to push him back down to the canvas.

The fight stayed standing in the second round, where Miletich blasted Denny with two consecutive right hands that sent the King of the Cage veteran crumbling to the ground. Miletich (29-7-2) pounced on Denny (26-18) and delivered a few more unanswered punches before referee Michael Reid stepped in to save Denny.

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Miletich’s Return Headlines Adrenaline MMA’s Latest Venture Tonight

Former UFC welterweight champion and longtime mixed martial arts trainer Pat Miletich will return to action after a two-year layoff to headline Monte Cox’s second Adrenaline MMA event tonight at the I-Wireless Center in Moline, Illinois against journeyman veteran Thomas Denny.

The event will be broadcast live on HDNet starting at 10 PM ET.

Miletich returned from a four-year retirement to take on Renzo Gracie at an International Fight League event in September 2006 but was submitted by Gracie in the first round. Miletich, who successfully defended his UFC welterweight belt four times, was forced to retire from active competition in 2002 due to lingering problems with his neck. Denny last competed at EliteXC’s “Unfinished Business” event on July 26, losing via second-round TKO to Nick Diaz.

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Fighters on the Move: Herman, Russow, Mishima & More

More details are coming out regarding a potential deal struck between promotional newcomer Bellator Fighting Championships and ESPN Deportes to produce a reality show that could air starting in April of next year. In turn, so is a list of fighters that may be involved with the show as well.

According to MMA Junkie, former EliteXC employees Hector Lombard and Dave Herman have both reportedly been sent offers from Bellator regarding their possible inclusion on the show. However talks are only in the preliminary stages.

Japanese-based World Victory Road has also indicated that they would like to use Herman on their “Sengoku VII” show in January. Two fighters that have competed overseas in the past year - Eddie Alvarez and Jorge Masvidal - round out the list of approached fighters known at this time.

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Russow, Martin Win at Adrenaline Debut

PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran Mike Russow was victorious over last-minute replacement opponent and fellow veteran Jason Guida Saturday night in Chicago, submitting Guida with a first-round guillotine choke at Adrenaline MMA’s inaugural show at the Sears Centre.

The two local products exchanged punches on the feet before Russow scored a takedown during the first minute of the fight. Guida surprisingly was quick to spring back up to his feet, only to be taken down by Russow once again. Another attempt to stand up came next for Guida, but his exposed neck was grabbed by Russow who locked in a tight guillotine choke that ultimately forced Guida to tap out.

Fresh off of a successful professional boxing debut, UFC veteran Terry Martin was victorious in his return to mixed martial arts, defeating longtime Japanese veteran Daiju Takase by disqualification after Takase kicked Martin in the groin three separate times during the course of their bout.

Forrest Petz shook off a damaging left hand from opponent Brian Gassaway to wrestle his way to an unanimous decision win in a fight that was much closer than the judge’s scorecards read. Other notable veterans who garnered victories at last night’s show included Bart Palaszewski, Rory Markham, Clay French, and Joe Jordan.

Complete results from the event:

Mike Russow def. Jason Guida - Submission (Guillotine)
Terry Martin def. Daiju Takase - DQ (Groin Kicks)
Forrest Petz def. Brian Gassaway - Unanimous Decision
Bart Palaszewski def. Jeff Cox - KO (Head Kick)
Rory Markham def. Jay Ellis - Submission (Triangle)
Clay French def. Jameel Massouh - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Joe Jordan def. Ryan Williams - Unanimous Decision
Joe Pearson def. John Hosman - Submission (Triangle)
Herc Hayes def. Kerry Schall - Unanimous Decision
Aaron Rosa def. Ron Fields - TKO (Strikes)
Hector Urbina def. Dave Keiczkowski - TKO (Strikes)
Mike Stumpf def. Dom O’Grady - TKO (Strikes)
Louis Taylor def. Adam Maciejewski - Unanimous Decision
Tom Belt def. Marcus Levesseur - TKO (Strikes)

Injury Forces Monson Out of Adrenaline

Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Jeff Monson has reportedly been forced to pull out of his upcoming scheduled bout against PRIDE veteran Mike Russow at Adrenaline MMA’s inaugural show in Chicago this weekend.

The news comes from Sergio Non of USA Today.

Monson has yet to recover from a broken hand suffered during his recent loss to Josh Barnett at World Victory Road’s second “Sengoku” show last month and thus will be unable to compete in the show’s main event. He has been replaced by longtime veteran Jason Guida, a fellow Chicago native along with Russow.

Adrenaline promoter Monte Cox apparently attempted to sign Ricco Rodriguez as a late replacement but the former UFC champion is slated to take on none other than Monson at Global Fighting’s Godz of War show next weekend. Despite his lingering hand injury, Monson is still advertised as participating at the event.

“He [Monson] found that the thing wasn’t healing properly and he wasn’t going to be able to fight,” Cox said in the report. “It made sense for me at this point to go with two Chicago guys fighting each other, and they come from different camps in the same city and I just thought, you know what, this will probably sell me more tickets than anyone I can get on a week’s notice.”

Adrenaline 1 Show Taking Shape

The inaugural Adrenaline show, the result of the collapse of M1 Global and subsequent reorganization by president Monte Cox, is set for Chicago on June 14th. At this point, the fight card looks like this according to the Adrenaline website.

Main Event
Jeff Monson (23-7) vs. Mike Russow (9-1)

Main Card
Daiju Takase (7-11) vs. Terry Martin (16-4)
Alberto Crane (8-2) vs. Clay French (14-2)
Tony Fryklund (14-9) vs. Brian Gassaway (25-17-1)
Jeff Cox (9-6) vs. Bart Palaszewski (28-11)
Taiwan Howard (6-1) vs. Rory Markham (14-4)
James Giboo (11-2) vs. Mark Miller (9-3)
Herc Hayes (7-5) vs. Kerry Schall (22-9)
Rob Kimmons (15-3) vs. Hector Urbina (11-3)
Aaron Rosa (10-2) vs. Ron Fields (18-24-1)

Preliminary Card
Dom O’Grady (4-0) vs. Mike Stumpf (8-1)
Joe Jordan (40-11) vs. Ryan Williams (6-1)
Christian Reynosa (6-2) vs. Josh Hosman (7-3-1)

The event will take place at the Sears Center in Chicago.  Plans have already been announced for the second Adrenaline show, to take place in September in Iowa and featuring heavyweights Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell.

 

Sylvia, Rothwell Headed to Adrenaline

Monte Cox promised a new promotion to come out of the now defunct M-1 Global project and he delivered by signing former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and IFL star Ben Rothwelll to multi-fight deals with Cox’s recently created Adrenaline MMA organization.

The news comes one day after rumors started to circulate concerning Sylvia’s potential departure from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Miletich Fighting Systems product made it official on last night’s episode of HDNet’s Inside MMA.

“Adrenaline is a new promotion, but it allows fighters to fight for other organizations… that’s huge,” Sylvia said. “I’ve got 3 to 4 years left and want to fight as much as possible, so this is the perfect choice for me at this time.”

Sylvia’s parting ways with the UFC, the organization in which he fought exclusively in since 2002, was mutual on both sides according to the Maine native, who still had one fight remaining on his current contract with the promotion. However Sylvia has maintained that he would like to return to the UFC to finish out his career.

Sylvia is coming off of his second straight loss in yet another bid to regain his heavyweight title. He was submitted by interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81: Breaking Point in February.

Rothwell, who has not fought since winning a unanimous decision over Ricco Rodriguez in September of last year, was most recently embroiled in a controversial end of his relationship with the International Fight League, where Rothwell has won his last nine fights.

“Adrenaline will give me the chance to take things to the next level,” Rothwell said. “I’m ready to see how I fare against the best heavyweights in the world.”

Cox and company will hold their first show on June 14th at the Sears Centre in Chicago. One bout has been made official already: Jeff Monson and Mike Russow will clash in a heavyweight bout.

Yarennoka! Live Results

We will be going live at 6:00 AM EST with live results of Yarennoka!, which is taking place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Yarennoka! features the return of Fedor Emelianenko as he takes on K-1 kickboxer Hong Man Choi. The undercard includes Gilbert Melendez going up against Mitsuhiro Ishida and Kazuo Misaki battling with Yoshihiro Akiyama. Shinya Aoki, Hayato Sakurai, and Murlio Bustamante will also be competing.

For those that are interested, the event is being shown live on HDNet starting at 6 AM EST.

Be sure to leave comments throughout the morning.

Live results and commentary are shown after the jump.

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Break It Down: Yarennoka! & K-1 Dynamite!!

John Chandler here again, breaking down Yarennoka! and K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! fight-by-fight, including detailed predictions along the way.

Yarennoka! features the return of Fedor Emelianenko as he takes on K-1 kickboxer Hong Man Choi. The undercard includes Gilbert Melendez going up against Mitsuhiro Ishida and Kazuo Misaki battling with Yoshihiro Akiyama.

K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! features an astounding total of 13 fights - 7 MMA bouts and 6 kickboxing matches. (I’ll only be previewing the MMA fights) The event is headlined by a main event between long-time Japanese veterans Kazushi Sakuraba and Masakatsu Funaki. Bob Sapp, “Kid” Yamamoto, Kiyoshi Tamura, Melvin Manhoef, and Ikuhisa Minowa will all be in action.

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