Cris Cyborg Meets Jorina Baars for Lion Fight Welterweight Title March 28

Cris Cyborg Meets Jorina Baars for Lion Fight Welterweight Title March 28

Lion Fight will make an immediate return to action at The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Friday, March 28 and as CEO Scott Kent announced tonight on AXS TV’s Inside MMA, he has already signed the best pound-for-pound female fighter in the world, Cyborg for a women’s welterweight championship fight on the card.

Kent stated to Inside MMA that LION FIGHT 14’s main event will be a fight between WBC Muay Thai Champion Gregory Choplin and European Champion Marco Pique in the main event, and that on tap for the co-main event is the first-ever women’s welterweight title fight between Cyborg and Hollander Jorina Baars, who holds rank as a European Muay Thai Champion.

LION FIGHT 14 will be broadcast live on AXS TV in The UFC starting at 10 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT) with play-by-play and commentary by Pat Miletich and “The Voice” Michael Schiavello. This will be the seventh LION FIGHT event on AXS TV, who renewed their broadcast licensing deal with the Muay Thai promotion earlier this year.

“We are excited to have ‘Cyborg’ back with us March 28 for LION FIGHT 14 in Las Vegas,” said Kent. “In her last fight, Cyborg absolutely dominated French Muay Thai Champion Jennifer Colomb, leaving no question that she is a legitimate two-sport athlete who can win impressively in both MMA and Muay Thai. She also showed she is an aggressive fighter who has the power and pace to finish fights. I think she won over a lot of new fight fans in our ring, and they can’t wait to see her in action again.”

“I am excited to be fighting for LION FIGHT again, and I am grateful for the chance to fight for the belt,” said Cyborg. “I had a great experience last time I fought for Scott Kent and I promise to bring it to my opponent again this time. Jorina Baars has a lot of experience but I am training very hard for the win and another knockout. I promise the fans this will be another exciting fight!”

“I’ve heard and seen a lot of good things about Cris Cyborg,” said Baars. “I’m very happy to be offered the opportunity to fight her with Lion Fight. I only know one way to fight and that’s to win.”

LION FIGHT 14 also features the return of Thai fighting legend Malaipet who will be facing American Shane Oblonsky. More bouts for LION FIGHT 14 will be announced soon.
- See more at: http://www.lionfight.com/news/2014/02/cris-cyborg-signs-with-lion-fight-set-to-fight-for-first-womens-welterweight-title-at-lion-fight-14/#sthash.74aNb4Xp.dpuf

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.

5 MMA Fighters Who May Be Better Off Kickboxing in 2014

5 MMA Fighters Who May Be Better Off Kickboxing in 2014
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Alistair Overeem

If Overeem loses his upcoming fight against Frank Mir it's safe to say he's done, he's through, he's out.... peace.
3 losses in a row in the UFC is not good for anyone, especially not someone who is ridiculous paid, has lost his fights due to arrogant mistakes, and has recently been popped for juicing.

If Overeem were to get cut I can't see Bellator or WSOF interested in him, and I can't see any other MMA promotion in the world being able to afford to offer him regular fights. This for me if where Glory would step in.

On the rise Glory have some of the best Light-heavyweight and heavyweight fights in the world including Schilt, Saki, and Tyrone Spong. Armed with deals with Spike and BT sports, Glory have put on event after event of quality kickboxing which are threaten to take away some of the UFCs steam in the near future.

Should Overeem lose to Frank Mir, who is no easy fight, I feel the opportunity to sign a known MMA fighter, with legitimate kickboxing credential would be too good for Glory to pass up on.

Paul Daley

Paul Daleys inclusion on this list differs from most of the other fighters in that he may be too good for the level of competition he is fighting in MMA at this point.

A former top 10 welterweight, Paul Daley deserves to be fighting at the highest level. Having fought all over the world, Daley has knocked out some of the best welterweights to ever enter into a cage. However 2013 sees Daley fighting cans like Romario Manoel da Silva, Lukasz Chlewicki, and Patrick Vallee.

Having been cut from the UFCs roster for punching Josh Koscheck after the bell, and having been released from Bellator due to a legal issue outside of the cage, there's aren't many fights available to Daley where his opponent will have enough in his arsine to make the fight semi-competitive. This is where kickboxing comes into play.

Having already agreed to compete in kickboxing as well as MMA in 2014, Daley has an avenue to rise back to his former glory in 2014, establishing himself as a kickboxer worthy of competing for promotions such as Glory, K-1, and Legends, all which can offer Daley a bigger platform than the one he is currently on.

Pat Barry

As exciting as Pat Barry's fight are (while they last), Barry is simply not cut out for the level at which he is competing, and it's starting to feel like it might getting a little bit bad for his health at this point.

Barry is one of the best strikers in the heavyweight division - his kicks are some of the hardest in MMA, but unfortunately for Barry he is not physical enough, nor does he have the ground game to compete with most of the fighters in his weight division.

At 235lb Barry is not a massive heavyweight, and could probably make the cut to 205lb, however I genuinely don't see this making a difference for him. I still see him being man handled at light-heavyweight, possibly even more so than he is at heavyweight.

With a record of 5-7 in the UFC on paper Barry looks like he has what it takes to pick up a few wins here and there, however upon further inspection, you will see all the guys he's beat have since been deemed as not good enough for the UFC either and have all been handed their release papers.

When I say Barry isn't good enough for the level of competition he's facing, I don't just mean the UFC, I mean national MMA in general as I don't envision Barry performing too well in Bellator or WSOF either. Both promotions have several fights that would have no problem beating Barry: Kongo, Lavar Johnson, Arlovski, Mike Russow, and that's just a few off the top of my head.

What's keeping Barry around at this point is his fights are exciting, but getting knocked out is no good for anyone especially when it's 230lb plus guys knocking you out. It also feels that Pat Barry is easier to put away with each outing - example being Barrry's most recent fight against Soa Palelei where it looked as if Barry's chin had deserted him.

With all this being said Pat Barry is a great fighter, just not the well rounded fighter required to compete at the top level in MMA. Having competed to one the the highest levels in Kickboxing while with K1, Barry may find that not only may he have more success fighting under kickboxing rules in 2014, it will be a whole lot safer for him.

Thiago Alves

Alves' inclusion is very similar to Overeems in the fact that he can't afford to lose in 2014. Unfortunately though for Alves by the time he steps in the octagon he will have been out of action for over 2 years.

2-4 in his last 6 fights, Alves will be in desperate need of a win his next outing, or face the likely chop from the UFC.

Fighting for a health purse of $60,000 a fight, Alves does not come cheap, especially when you consider the UFC have been footing his medical bills for the last 2 years.

Should Alves ultimately be cut in 2014 it's hard to see any promotion paying anywhere near this kind of money especially when you consider the only 2 leagues (WSOF and Bellator) on the planet who may be willing to dig deep enough to cough up that kinda change, have divisions chocked up of guys that would beat Alves.The likes of Fitch, Palharis, Lima, Burrell etc. shouldn't have a problem despatching an apprehensive Thiago Alves who is worried about being taken down, and therefore hesitant to strike.

That being said, when he is trading Alves Is a formidable striker capable of finishing just about anyone on Gods green earth with a variety of strikes. He is still a marketable name too thanks to his 2008/09 title run, so much so he actually headlined the last UFC event he fought at before his injury.

With a catalogue of brutal knocks, and a marketable name, signing Alves would be an attractive proposition for almost any kickboxing promotion out there. Should Alves be released from the UFC, he may actually be better off leaving MMA for kickboxing, a sport that may suit Alves' fighting style a little more at this point.

Cris Justino

Justino is an absolute beast. Facts are Justino could carry on fight MMA and beating the worlds best 145lb women in the world as she has done her whole career, but what's the point? Justino insists on fighting at 145lb, a weight category 10lbs heavier than anyone actually cares about.

Being one of the most feared strikers in all MMA - men and women, Justino has made of career of battering high level strikers such as Gina Carano and most recent French Muay Thai champion Jenifier Colomb at all kickboxing event Lion Fights.

If it is genuinely true and Justino can't go down to 135lbs, I really don't see the point in her sticking around fighting 145ers who can't / won't bring their weight down for a shot at the UFC either. Having recently competed in a kickboxing event to great success, maybe Justino should consider hanging up her 4 ounce groves and commit full time to a growing sport which can provide her with a greater level of competition, and the opportunity to fight more often.

Cris Cyborg Takes Muay Thai Fight Meets Martina Jindrova at Lion Fight 11

Cris Cyborg Take Muay Thai Fight Meets Martina Jindrova at Lion Fight 11

Lion Fight Promotions and the D Las Vegas today added a blockbuster women’s matchup to the September 20th LION FIGHT 11 event in announcing that two-time MMA world champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino will take on multiple standup world champion Martina Jindrova.

Scott Kent, CEO of Lion Fight Promotions said, “As one of the best female fighters in the world, we are thrilled that Cris Cyborg is going to fight full rules Muay Thai and take on World Champion Martina Jindrova on September 20. Both of these fighters are fierce, aggressive strikers who like to end fights. With Cosmo Alexandre vs. Nampon and Kevin Ross vs. Tetsuya Yamato already set for Lion Fight 11, Cyborg vs. Jindrova now fully stacks this card.”

Fighting out of San Diego, California, Cris Cyborg Justino is one of the top-ranked female mixed martial artists in the world. With a pro MMA record of 12-1-0-1, she is the former Strikeforce Featherweight Champion and current Invicta FC Featherweight Champion. She has fought in numerous Muay Thai competitions in her native Brazil and is considered one of the most dangerous strikers in the world.

“This is a great fight for me at Lion Fight 11, I fought Muay Thai in Brazil and I love competing in this sport,” said Cyborg. “I’m really excited for this fight. I love to fight. I can’t wait to go to Vegas and get in that ring on September 20.” 

Kent and Lion Fight matchmaker Christine Toledo worked with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, Cyborg’s manager, to secure this fight. Ortiz expressed confidence and enthusiasm in her return to the Muay Thai ring.

 “We are excited about the baddest woman on the earth fighting Muay Thai at Lion Fight 11 live on AXS TV in Las Vegas,” said Cyborg’s manager Tito Ortiz, former UFC Champion. “Cris is not only the best, but the most exciting fighter to watch and I’m sure September 20 will be full of excitement.”

Fighting out of TKBC Prague in Holland, the 22-year old 5’8” Jindrova has a pro Muay Thai record of 17-5 with three knockouts. Originally, from Kaznejov, Plzensky Kraj, Czech Republic, she is a world champion across four standup fighting organizations. She was a two-time boxing champion in her native Czech Republic. She went undefeated in standup fighting for four years before moving to Holland to train among the world’s best coaches and kickboxers. On September 20 she will fight in the United States against her most accomplished opponent to date.

“I know Cyborg is a huge MMA star and this is a big challenge for me to fight an opponent like her,” said Jindrova. “She is very strong with hard punches, kicks and knees. But this is not an MMA, this is Muay Thai and she will be fighting me against my rules. I’m very proud to be on this historic Lion Fight 11 card and am ready to make a great knockout win for the fans.” 

In Lion Fight 11’s main event Brazilian superstar Cosmo Alexandre takes on two-time WMC Champion and Rajadamnern Stadium Champion Nampon. In the co-main event, American Muay Thai star Kevin Ross will square off against former WBC Muay Thai Japan Champion Tetsuya Yamato.

Press Release: Invicta FC 6 to Broadcast Live on PPV in The US

Invicta FC 6 to Broadcast Live on PPV in The US

Two of the premier women mixed-martial-arts fighters in the world, Cris Cyborg (11-1) and Marloes Coenen (21-5), headline the July 13^th Invicta Fighting Championships 6 pay-per-view event, airing live from Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.Brazilian KO artist Cyborg, arguably the top pound-for-pound fighters in women’s MMA, and equally dangerous Dutch submission specialist Coenen, will battle in a five, five-minute round rematch for the inaugural Invicta FC World Featherweight (145-pounds) title. “Cyborg” won their first meeting on January 30, 2010, in an action-packed fight that ended on a technical knockout (punches) in the final round. 
“We are excited about bringing the Invicta FC brand of women’s world championship Mixed Martial Arts to television for the first time with this tremendous rematch between two of the world’s top women fighters,” said Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp.  “This is yet another step forward for women’s MMA and we are extremely proud to be leading the charge.”
 
“Invicta FC 6,” presented by Invicta Fighting Championships, is being distributed in  North America by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9:00 p.m. ET – 6:00 p.m. PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DISH,  Avail-TVN in the United States, as well as Bell TV in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $14.95.

“We’re excited to be distributing Invicta FC 6 to MMA fans in the U.S.,” Integrated Sports Media president Doug Jacobs said.  ”Women’s MMA has exploded and Invicta Fighting Championships has led the charge.  Fighting stars from all over the world are coming out July 13^th for Invicta FC 6. Cyborg is one of the most recognizable and entertaining superstars in women’s MMA.  Fans really enjoy watching her fight and she’s in tough again with another bonafide star, Coenen.  It’s our pleasure to be part of this great top-to-bottom women’s MMA show on July 13^th.”

The co-main event showcases a pair of undefeated strawweights (115 lbs.) sporting identical 9-0 professional records, Japanese invader and JEWELS champion Ayaka Hamasaki and Brazilian sensation Claudia Gadelha, in a three-by-five-minute-rounds match.

Three-time Invicta FC fight winner Sarah D’Alelio (7-3), fighting out of San Jose (CA), takes on unbeaten Texas bantamweight (135 lbs.) prospect Lauren Taylor (6-0), while California (Pleasant Hills) striker Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (5-3-1) shoots for her third “Fight of the Night” performance, dropping down from bantamweight to flyweight (125 lbs.)for a throw-down with another gifted Brazilian, Jennifer Maia (7-2).

Also scheduled to fight on the undercard are atomweight (105 lbs.) Jessica Penne (10-2, California) vs. Nicdali “The Queen Queen” Rivera-Calanoc (8-6, Oklahoma), strawweight (Joanne Calderwood (6-0, Scotland) vs. Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider (6-6, Missouri), featherweight Ediane “India” Gomes (10-2, Florida) vs. Julia Budd (5-2, Canada), strawweight “Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (5-2, Australia) vs. Mizuki Inaoue (5-1, Japan), bantamweight Miriam Nakamoto (2-0), California) vs. Duda “Diamond” Yankovich (1-1, Brazil), strawweight Rose Namajunas (2-0, Minnesota) vs. Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres (2-0, Florida), strawweight Ashley Cummins (3-1, Missouri) vs.Emily Kagan (2-1, New Mexico), featherweight Mollie Estes (1-2, Missouri) vs. Veronica “The Heartbreaker” Rothenhausier (1-0, California), and atomweight Livia Von Plettenberg (1-1, Austria) vs. Cassie Robb (0-1, Colorado).

All fights, excluding the main event and co-main event, feature three, five-minute round fights.  All fights and fighters are subject to change.