ufc 170 Results: Alexis Davis potentially puts herself next in line for the 135lb title fight

UFC 170 Results: Davis defeats Eye by Split Decision

by Ben Heather @benheather

This battle between two of the best 135lb women in the UFC could decide who will be the next contender for the women's bantamweight title which will be contested later tonight. Only time will tell who will be the champion later but if Ronda Rousey wins I see the winner from this fight being the next in line.

Round 1
Davis starts the round with some leg kicks always targeting the left leg of Jessica Eye. It doesn't take long before Davis locks in a nice Thai clinch and lands a couple of knees to the body and thighs in the clinch.
Just over a minute in to the fight Davis is mixing up her kicks and lands a front kick to the head but then the fight gets clinched against the cage where it stays until the ref steps in to break the women up. Davis goes back to working the left leg before moving up to the body. The fight returns to being clinched against the cage and this time it is Eye who has her back against the cage. The fight returns to the middle and Davis gets the takedown with ease and has 30 seconds left to work on the floor in half guard but can't find any space to lock in a submission as the round ends. A very close round which I believe Davis may have stolen with the late takedown.

Round 2
Round 2 starts the same way as the first as Davis comes out with some leg kicks, still targeting the left leg of Jessica Eye. Just after the minute mark of the round Davis catches a kick and takes Eye down landing in half guard. Davis is controlling the fight on the ground doing enough to keep the fight down without doing any real damage. However, with 90 seconds left it looks like Eye was giving up her back to prevent the body attacks from Davis but Davis keeps her in half guard. With 20 seconds left Davis lands some big hammer fists to the head and Eye clearly had no answer for Davis on the ground. The first round may have been close but the second was very one sided with Davis controlling 4 minutes of the round on the floor.

Round 3
Again as every round has started Davis lands more leg kicks but now Eye begins to catch the kicks but cant find any counters. With 3 minutes of the fight left Eye catches Davis with a left hook when Davis was going for more leg strikes. At the half way point Davis lands a big body shot but nothing more comes from it. As both women exchange on the feet its Eye who is landing the harder strikes with 90 seconds left. Now Eye is trying to give Davis a taste of her own medicine by working her legs. The remainder of the fight sees both women picking there punches but no hard punches are landed. I think Eye won the last and certainly by keeping the fight standing had a much better round but it was too little to late in my opinion.

The judges agree and score the fight 29-28 Eye, 29-28 Davis and 29-28 Davis. It goes in to the books as a split decision victory for Alexis Davis and the crowd react with some boos which I don't understand as to me it was clearly 29-28 to Davis.

Davis could have just booked herself a date with the winner of the main event tonight, only time will tell but if not she is doing a good job at clearing out some of the other contenders to the belt.

Kingdom MMA 2013 Awards: Female Fighter of the Year

Kingdom MMA Female Fighter of the Year Award 2013: Joanne Calderwood
by Ben Heather - @benheather

2013 has been the year women's MMA has joined the big leagues and is started to get the full respect it deserves, not only did the UFC finally introduce a women's division in the 135lb division but Invicta has been building on its debut year last year to have a strong 2013. You also have promotions such as Cage Warriors who have signed a host of women to its roster this year. The UFC has only recently announced that it will introduce a second women's division to its roster in 2014, this time the strawweights are coming on board and in a big way. TUF20 will be the first time where it will be a house full of women and not only that the winner of the series will be crowned the UFC's first 115lb champion.

So as part of our inaugural Kingdom MMA awards 2013 it was an easy decision to include a category for female fighter of the year.

Its been a great year for WMMA, in a year where Ronda Rousey twice defended her UFC title, Cris Cyborg became the first 145lb champion in Invicta FC and Juliana Pena became the first woman to win the title of The Ultimate Fighter its hard to pick a winner. You also have women such as Alexis Davis who has been a pro for more than 6 and a half years and has gone undefeated in 2013 having fought some of the top women in the 135lb division. Then you have some of the new fighters coming on to the scene in a big way such as Scotland's undefeated JoJo Calderwood.

We had a really hard time getting just one winner with two stand outs for the award in Alexis Davis and JoJo Calderwood, both of who went undefeated in 2013 and have beat some of the top women in their respective divisions. In the end after a group discussion we had our winner, Joanne Calderwood.

Jojo had her first professional MMA fight only last year and is now 8-0. She has had four fights in 2013 three of which were under the Invicta FC banner winning each by unanimous division. She also fought in her home town of Glasgow, Scotland fighting for Cage Warriors back in April where she won by TKO. Then possibly the biggest news for JoJo came only a couple of weeks ago when she found out her Invicta FC contract had been acquired by the UFC making her only the second Scottish fighter to be on the books with the UFC, the first was her Dinky Ninjas team mate Rob Whiteford. She also becomes the second British woman to have signed for the UFC with Rosi Sexton the first.

2013 has been a great year for JoJo but 2014 could be a year which defines her whole career. She has the opportunity to become the UK's first UFC champion and in all honesty is our best hope, with only Michael Bisping and Brad Pickett as our other real contenders.

Congratulations Jojo you have been crowned Kingdom MMA’s 2013 female fighter of the year – Jojo we salute you.

What's Next for the Winners of Fight for the Troops 3

What's Next for the Winners of Fight for the Troops 3
By Jack Broadey - @j3ck_b

Tim KennedyTim Kennedy was never going to lose in front of his brothers in the armed forces against a good but limited Natal. He still doesn't seem to see eye to eye with Dana White and it's no coincidence in my eyes that the UFC tried and ultimately failed to match Kennedy with 1st Vitor Belfort and then Lyoto Machida. Circumstances determined neither of these happened but I think we see the theme continue with another dangerous opponent put in front of Kennedy. If Bisping is ready for UFC London that would be the logical matchup. If that doesn't happen then Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza would make sense and I think that's what happens.

Alexis Davis
Alexis Davis looked very comfortable against a solid contender. Division is tied up for the immediate future so a fight with Jessica Eye makes sense to me and allows the division time to sort itself out.

Yoel Romero
Yoel Romero didn't look like he would fulfil his potential when he was in the Strikeforce ranks. Since the Zuffa merger he's opened up his UFC account with 2 straight wins. He's not been severely tested and the UFC won't be in a hurry to rush his progress. Derek Brunson strung together his 2nd UFC win in a row in impressive fashion on the undercard and a battle between the former Strikeforce colleagues would push a contender into the proverbial mix.

Rustam Khabilov
Rustam Khabilov put together his 3rd successive UFC win and deserves a higher calibre opponent. He's got solid wrestling credentials and his standup looks very sharp. I like the idea of the Maynard-Diaz winner facing Khabilov but they may be pushed into bigger fights. An all rounder like Myles Jury would see where Khabilov belongs in the division.

Michael Chiesa
Michael Chiesa rebounded from a loss to Jorge Masjvidal with a good win over Colton Smith. Although 3-1 in the UFC he's a middle of the pack guy and is likely to get another guy with a similar standing. Lightweight has a big roster so there's plenty of choices. Jon Makdessi is of similar standing and isn't currently matched so that would be a fun fight to make.

UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 Main Card Predictions

UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 Main Card Predictions
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

The UFC is back on Wednesday showing some love to the US troops in Kentucky for UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3. There has been some grips about the quality of the card, but hey... its free, and what else are you doing on a Wednesday night (or Thursday for those with jobs like me).

Kingdom MMA writers Chris Houten and Ben Heather take a look at the main card for UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 and give you their thoughts and predictions on the night affairs.

Michael Chiesa vs Colton Smith 

Houten: Its safe to say, year on year the winner of TUF get weaker and weaker. The fact that guys like Colton Smith and Michael Chiesa share the same honours as guys like Bisping, Evans, Griffin etc just isn't right.

I personally don't care about this fight, I would have rather had Camozzi vs Larkin, or Bermudez vs Siler on the main card because I don't expect this fight to be that good.

I do think Chiesa will take this one though by submission though much to the dismay of the troop... surely this is the more exciting prospect of a Smith cuddle hug victory.

Prediction: Michael Chiesa - Submission RD 2 

Heather: A battle of TUF winners here and also a potential showcase that the talent in the house recently has got very stretched. If either of these guys were in any of the earlier seasons they surely wouldn't have gone on to win.

I think Smith was exposed last time out and may be again, has any TUF champion gone 0-2 after the finale (yes I know he beat Ricci in the final) but i think Chiesa will have enough to take the win.

Prediction: Michael Chiesa - Unanimous Decision

Rustam Khabilov vs Jorge Masvidal

Houten: Fight of the night right her anyone? Who wins - the fans.....end of!

Prediction: The Fan

Heather: Khabilov has certainly excited the fans since arriving in the UFC and some great team mates to train with at Jacksons. I think he will carry on his path up the ladder of the lightweight division on Wednesday night.

Prediction: Rustam Khabilov - TKO RD 2


Ronny Markes vs Yoel Romero

Houten: Markes is likely to be better that Romero in most areas, but does that matter when you an Olympic wrestler? My answer is no! Romero could surprise us again with some 'flying shit' but its more likely he will take this fight to the ground as and when he wants. I expect him to grind out a unanimous 30 - 27 decision.... I cant guarantee excitement however.

Prediction: Yoel Romero - Unanimous Decision

Heather: This fight is one of the fights I am really excited to see on Wednesday night. Ronny Markes welcomes the heavy hitting Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero to the UFC and I think it is sure to bring the excitement.

I think Markes should be able to put his experience of fighting tougher opponents to use and I think after what should be a very exciting first round Markes will get the victory in the second if he doesn't get caught early on.

Prediction: Ronny Markes - Submission RD 2
 
Liz Carmouche vs Alexis Davis

Houten: Alexis Davis is currently considered the 3rd best 135 in the world at the moment, and with good reason too. Davis is on a good win streak, has descent boxing, and is one of the best submission artist in the female division.... She's also pretty big for the weight too.


Her opponent Carmouche is a great little wrestler, and her ground and pound is one of the best in the division.

With both fighters possessing unique skill sets, the stage is set for an intriguing fight which could go either way. I'm gonna go Davis in this one though by late submission victory. I do think Carmouche with drag this fight to the floor, however I can Davis catching Carmouche off her back to take the victory, setting up Davis as the no. 1 contender.

Prediction: Alexis Davis - Submission RD 2


Heather: after seeing what Andrade did to Rosi Sexton in Manchester by first thought was how good it made Liz Carmouche look in the way she beat Andrade last time out. Davis also beat Sexton in her UFC debut but I think Carmouche will have enough to get the win.

Prediction: Liz Carmouche - Unanimous Decision


Tim Kennedy vs Rafael Natal

Houten: A lot of people have complained about this fight.... "It's not main event worthy".... "worst main event in the history of The UFC" blah, blah, blah, personal fans need to look at the facts - it's on free television in the US, and all of the tickets have been given out for free to US soldiers, what's more a former Marine in Tim Kennedy tops the bill, in a fight he will win, again Natal who steps in as a late replacement for Lyoto Machida who was move to last weeks Fight Night 30 card where he replaced injured Michael Bisping.


One can't help but think the moving and shaking at the top of the 2 cards brought on a huge sigh of relief for Kennedy. Natal is a much easier fight for Kennedy that a Machida who just crippled a wrestler in Munoz far beyond Kennedy's skill set. I like Kennedy to stick in move in this one, keep Natal again the cage, and mix up takedown to take a convincing unanimous victory.

Prediction: Tim Kennedy - Unanimous Decision


Heather: Originally, when he was scheduled to fight Machida I had this as a fight to make Kennedy pay for speaking out against UFC pay and his lacklustre performance against Roger Gracie. Now after calling out the whole division he is set to fight Natal, this fight I now see as a give me fight to Kennedy and I think he will be too much of a step up in opposition for Natal.

Prediction: Tim Kennedy - Unanimous Decision