Friday the 13th may have a bad luck reputation for some, but depends on which side of the coin is being looked at. XFO returned to the Copernicus Center in Chicago, IL with an all-pro card featuring several XFO vets along with professional debut fighters.
Main event was a battle among welterweights Daniel Vizcaya and Brandon Delprado. Vizcaya was able to control the first round with his advanced grappling ability and size and strength advantage, earning a clear nod on the scorecards for the first round. Second round he bloodied up Delprado and was able to sink in a rear naked choke mid-way through the round, earning the victory.

Co-Main event featured a slugfest between Andrew Krzeptowski and Lawrence Dunning. Both showed well-rounded skills with solid ground games, but the will to stand up and throw strikes. Krzeptowski earned a very close unanimous 29-28 decision.
Dan Aguirre faced off against Justin Robbins. Aguirre was able to use his reach advantage during the fight to keep things where he wanted. Third round came as Aguirre landed a devastating flying knee that rocked Robbins, which lead to a rear naked choke opening, giving Dan Aguirre the win.

Another featured bout was among Adam Ward and Bobby Frerrier. Despite Frerrier weighing in about 10lbs heavy, Ward had no problem with the weight disadvantage where he rocked his opponent with virtually every strike he landed, from punches to leg kicks. Ward made short work of Frerrier, and after an onslaught of strikes, he took Frerrier’s back during a scramble and sunk in a quick rear naked choke.

Although a Brazilian native, Uflacker runs a Brazlian Jiu Jitsu academy, having the support on his side with all of his students, however LC Davis has the experience of the big show under his belt.

The event will also feature a 155lb fight between Josh Kinser (brother of rising star Kurt Kinser) and the hometown favorite Nick Wayne.

Kevin Nowaczyk will be gracing the HFC cage yet again where he takes on Bulldog Fight Team’s Joe “Hoodzilla” Alexander.

Team Colon’s Ryan Storey will be looking to continue his newly-turned pro career when he goes up against powerhouse Kenny Brooker, who will be making his professional debut.

Professional fight card:

• Christian Uflacker vs LC Davis
• Nick Wayne vs Josh Kinser
• Jake Rosenbaum vs Dexter Wright
• Neil Magney vs Daniel Sandmann
• Ryan Storey vs Kenny Brooker
• Kevin Nowaczyk vs Joe Alexander
• Rob Morrow vs Bill Johnson
• Terry House vs Dennis Dombrow

For more info and tickets, visit www.hoosierfightclub.com

Fight Card Analysis:
The finalized card was not regarded as the UFC’s best fight card by far.  Not exactly their worst either, but what they lacked was a more high-profile undercard.  On that note, a possible counter to having more less-recognized fighters, would be to include more local/Chicago based fighters (Does the name Clay Guida ring a bell?).  On that note, they were able to book fan-favorite Mike Russow, who is a Chicago police officer when he’s not inside the UFC octagon.  Regardless, the UFC in some ways did what it intended to d0, which was to expose lesser-known fighters to the general public.

Fight Analysis:
Highlights of the night include a Chris Camozzi’s 10-finger guillotine choke victory over Dustin Jacoby at 1:08 of the third and final round.  Joey Beltran fell victim to UFC newcomer Lavar Johnson via TKO.  An obvious size difference among the two may have Beltran considering making the drop to the 205lb division.  Another exciting submission victory belonged to Charles Oliveira, who was one of the first fighters in the UFC to end a fight with a calf slicer, earning the submission of the night bonus.  Chicago’s Mike Russow scored a unanimous decision victory over John Olav Einemo.  Although looked hurt at times during the striking exchanges, Russow managed to control and dictate the fight with superior wrestling.  Russow is 4-0 in the UFC now, and is guaranteed to have a tougher test ahead of him, regardless of who his opponent may be.  A top 15 fighter shall be ahead of him for his next matchup.

Main Card:
Demian Maia vs Chris Weidman – Not the best fight of the night by far.  Weidman was able to control the wrestling aspect, and win on the feet, however both fighters appeared to be very tired early.  Maia showed a very questionable game plan during this fight.  He’s possibly the UFC’s best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter that they have, yet every time he was on the ground, he refused to work submissions or sweeps whatsoever, and only looked to stand back up.  However losing the standup battle in all three rounds makes his game plan have little sense.

Chael Sonnen vs Michael Bisping – Definitely the most exciting fight of the three main card bouts.  Bisping won over many fans in that fight, giving a tougher fight to Sonnen than Brian Stann, Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, and Anderson Silva himself.  I personally scored the fight 29-28 Sonnen as two of the judges have.  The first round seems to be in question the most, but with several takedowns for Sonnen, he rightfully earned the nod for that round.
A question that I received, being “the Sonnen fan from the press conference”, was Bisping won me over last night.  Truth be told, the answer is no, and that’s because he won me over long ago.  I always knew he was a serious and overlooked contender.  His wins over Chris Leben, Dennis Kang, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jason Miller proved that.  But knowing how good he really is, didn’t have to stop me from publically stating that Sonnen was the favorite.  Betting odds for this fight proved my point.

Rashad Evans vs Phil Davis – Suprising fight that many thought would go the other way.  Despite the boo’s in the audience, Rashad Evans showed extremely clean boxing technique, and was able to land and counter at will.  Not only that, but he did the unthinkable and out-wrestled the NCAA champion Phil Davis.  Rashad Evans showed 25 minutes of skill, technique, and calm & collective fighting.  Although many may disagree, I feel that the Rashad Evans/Jon Jones matchup will be a lot closer than most will think.

Matt Giancarlo with Chael Sonnen

With just a day away from UFC on Fox 2 here in Chicago, this week so far has been extremely eventful.  I’ll kick things off with the biggest bang that was made regarding my personal experiences.  Yesterday, Jan 26th, downtown Chicago, the UFC Press Conference was held.  Myself, Matt Giancarlo, was sitting in the 2nd row, and was lucky enough to get the 2nd official question.  My question was concerning saftey issues among Chael Sonnen if he were to possibly win this fight on Saturday and then proceed to fighting Anderson Silva in Brazil – a country which their population that is less than fond of Chael Sonnen.

The way I approached the question, was basically me as myself and not putting on an act trying to be vanilla.  Not only that, I figured I could be one of the few reporters in any sport to make a comedic spark, without being completely insulting.  Here is a link to the video, my segment starts at exactly 27 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5JyHzeotgc&feature=g-u-u&context=G2ee531eFUAAAAAAAHAA

However, if you are not able to watch, the dialogue went on the lines of this:

“Matt: This question is for you Dana.  Assuming Chael wins this fight on Saturday, and to be fair is an accurate assumption… Sorry Bisping, I’m just a big Chael fan.
Michael Bisping: Yeah, you look like one.
Matt: Thank you!”

And later after my question was asked, Michael Bisping added “Now can we get a question from a real journalist?”

Let me clear some things up.  What I said, was not an Anti-Bisping comment whatsoever.  It was 100% a pro-Sonnen comment.  I have nothing against Michael Bisping, never met him in my life until yesterday, and didn’t (and still don’t) think what I said was disrespectful.  To be accurate, Bisping is known for getting into comeback-arguements quite easily, which is why I said what I said.  I wouldn’t call myself an MMA fan if I didn’t know that Bisping would fire back at me.  I had no problem being the one for him to make fun of, in order to add some color and excitement into the press conference, instead of the same boring questions: “How was the weight cut?” “Is this a good fight for you?” etc.  Not only that, but I wanted to publically support Chael Sonnen in a way that only Sonnen himself would.

To Michael Bisping if reading:
Regarding your statement about being a real journalist – You got me.  I don’t have a four year degree to type on a computer and show up to MMA events.  But what I’ll say is, I’m a fighter first, journalist second.  The reason why I am involved with MMA News, is because unlike most reporters, I actually know the sport, and have been following it before it was even called Mixed Martial Arts.  I started off as a kid watching UFC 6, and haven’t watched a single football game, basketball game, or hockey game since.  On Fox Chicago, a woman reporter asked Dana White if “Women are involved in UFC fighting”.  I don’t think I need to explain to you why that is a silly question.  How sports commentary has “Color Commentators”, this source of MMA news is brought to you by the same concept.  Regarding what I said at the presser – Nothing personal against you.  I knew you wouldn’t lose sleep over it, and would’ve found it entertaining to get an opportunity to publically make fun of me, which you did, and I laughed about it.  All in good fun, and if I thought that you wouldn’t found a way to make light of it, I wouldn’t have said it.  But I still will publically support Chael Sonnen, whether he’s fighting you, Junior Dos Santos, Dominick Cruz, or Gina Carano.
PS: I still don’t know what a Chael Sonnen fan “looks like”, but with the clothes that I wear and punk rock-related tattoos, I would say I look more like a fan of Dan Hardy’s out of anyone.

Other random news from this week:

Chicago’s Mike Russow said he basically had two training camps in a row for this fight (due to his previous bout with Dave Herman being cancelled).  Says he feels in great shape, and was able to take time off of work to prepare for this fight, giving himself better training than ever.

I got to ask Dana White if Shinya Aoki was ever a possible addition to the UFC in Japan card.  Unfortunately, he did not have an answer for me, saying that he never really knew.  Of course a bout in Japan featuring Aoki in the UFC would be a great interest for fans.  Although unanswered, it was officially brought up to Dana White’s attention as of yesterday.

Brian Ebersole is being considered to coach Team Australia for a future Ultimate Fighter series, however nothing is set in stone, and Dana White stated that when the time gets closer, Ebersole will be one of a handful that will be talked to regarding the position.

Stepping up to take his place is Great Britan’s Michael Bisping. The winner of the Bisping-Sonnen bout will earn a title shot and face Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

However, Bisping was slated to fight Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Demian Maia on the same card, so Maia was left without an opponent. According to White, fellow Brazilian Rousimar Palhares was offered the fight, but Palhares declined. While a match-up between the two submission specialists would have been intriguing, Palhares just fought 3 days ago at UFC 142, winning by heel hook in 1:03 of the first round over Mike Massenzio, and it would be a short turn-around time to take another fight. Instead, former NCAA All-American wrestler Chris Weidman has accepted the Demian Maia fight. Chris, who is 7-0 in his pro MMA career, will look to keep his record perfect against the former title contender.

The fight card for UFC on Fox 2 now looks like this:

Main Card – Aired on Fox TV

• Main Event: Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans
• Michael Bisping vs. Chael Sonnen
• Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman

Preliminary Card – Aired on Fuel TV

• Johnny Bedford vs. Mitch Gagnon
• Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz
• Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller
• Jon Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow
• George Roop vs. Cub Swanson
• Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
• Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson
• Chris Camozzi vs. Dustin Jacoby

For more information on UFC on Fox 2, visit www.UFC.com.

Tune in to WCIU-TV in Chicago this Friday night at 2:00am to see the premiere of Cheez TV. If you don’t know Cheez, he is a TV and radio personality who covers local MMA shows in Chicago.

Featured on this week’s show, Cheez visits recently paralyzed fighter Jeff Dunbar, Jeff’s mother Kathy, and his coach Josh Bulak of Team No Comment.

To see the whole interview with these three and more, make sure you’re watching Cheez TV this Friday, January 20, at 2:00am on WCIU-TV. Check your local cable listings to find WCIU in your area!

This isn’t a question, but   just putting it out there: If you remember, the first and only UFC event in   Chicago was in 2008 where Anderson Silva basically ruined the event by dancing   away from Patrick Cote to the point where Cote blew out his own knee, so I just want to thank you for accepting the fight here in Chicago to give some redemption. 

My pleasure.

• No, he is a solid competitor.  He won the match, but I don’t concede  that he is a better wrestler. He had his style that he excelled in and won a   National title, and I had my style, where I was National Champion.  I   don’t mind competing with Mark. Anderson ducked both of us. I destroyed  Anderson in a match, Mark whipped him in practice each day for 2 months.   Anderson put this fight together to eliminate one of us. I’m fine with the bout, just bothered that Andy got his way.

• Yushin is the best man. Just got done working out with him. He is a great partner and a blessing for our team.

• All the veterans in the UFC had the “hard road.” It was a different sport when we started, a different industry.  The amount of opportunity out there now has changed things and made it better for new guys.

• Okami.

• I’m just getting warmed up.  I can beat anybody out there, but they can beat me too. Got to be sharp, got to be ready at all times.

• No question, Randy Couture. Multiple time champion in multiple weight classes.  I think Dan Henderson needs to be looked at too. He has won   many titles, in many weights, and many different organizations.

• I can’t exclude team and coaches, because that is all I have.  Lindland, Couture, Henderson.

• I’m going to decline to answer. It was a loss, it was a turning point,   and put me at a cross road.  I had to leave the sport, or pick things up.   I made changes and turned the heat on full blast.

• Man, Ed is great at his job, really is. He drives me nuts because of the way he has been injected into the industry, but what is he suppose to do? When you represent guys that refuse to speak to the public, you have to talk for  ‘em. Good for Ed.

FOR FCE LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

THIS SATURDAY NIGHT IN JOLIET

CHICAGO, IL (December 12, 2011) Brookfield’s Hector Mercado will battle Sandwich, Illinois native Jason Todd for the Fight Card Entertainment Lightweight Title in one of the feature bouts at FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT this Saturday night, December 17th at Mojoes Music Venue (22 W. Cass. Street, Joliet, IL 60432).

Sporting an undefeated record of 4-0, fan favorite Mercado challenges Todd who sports a hard fought even record of 3-3.

The 24-year-old Mercado was originally set to challenge Omar Diaz for the title, but Todd has stepped in on short notice with an eye on the FCE belt.

A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Mercado is an all-around athlete drawing huge crowds to his fights at Fight Card Entertainment events.

Said Brian Angelo of Fight Card Entertainment, “Hector was a terrific high school athlete at Lyons Township prior to his four year stint in the US Army. He’s got an outstanding all-around game, particularly on the ground.”

“Although Omar Diaz would have presented a tough challenge for Hector, we’re very confident that Jason Todd, who has faced numerous skilled fighters, will present a more than worthy test for Hector.”

Also at FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT card is the highly anticipated five bout finals of the 2011 Fight Card Entertainment Team Challenge between finalists TEAM NO COMMENT and TEAM 110.

Four additional bouts will also take place in the lightweight division as Josh Pemble faces Ken Hanson, Raphael Reyes battles James Karns, Salvatore Terracciano hits the cage against Dontrell Parnell followed by Patrick Yates challenging Jacob Rose.

Additionally, flyweights will see action at FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT as James Carmisa clashes with Christian Lucero.

In the light heavyweight division Great Lakes’ Denarius Mobley will challenge Albert Cunningham. Also in the light heavyweight division Top Notch’s Garret Anderson battles Tim Phinney.

Doors on the night of the event will open at 5:30pm with the first bell at 6pm.

For advance tickets and more information on Fight Card Entertainment, please visit their website at www.FightCard.net and find them on Facebook and Twitter at “FightCard” or call them at 773-745-1112.

All fan events at Hollywood Casino Joliet will be held in the Hollywood Stadium, Chicagoland’s most exciting sports bar and entertainment venue featuring an enormous 80 X 20 foot main screen and 40 flat-screen TV’s.

“We’re thrilled to work with the Hollywood Casino Joliet for this event. Their team has been outstanding and we look forward to partnering with them on many of our future cards” said Brian Angelo of Fight Card Entertainment.

On Wednesday, December 7th at 7pm, Hollywood Casino Joliet will host a Press Conference/Meet and Greet for Mixed Martial Arts fans in the Chicagoland area as numerous participants on the FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT card will attend. Fans will also be given the opportunity to obtain pictures and autographs from their favorite fighters.

Next up on Friday, December 16th at 7pm, the Hollywood Stadium will be the location for the open to the public Official Weigh-In in which all combatants scheduled for FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT will be available to greet fans in attendance after making their assigned fight weight.

The following evening, Saturday, December 17th at 10pm following FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT, the official After Party will take place in the Hollywood Stadium where all fighters from the card at Mojoes Music Room will celebrate their success in the Hexagon.

Already announced for FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT card are the finals of the 2011 Fight Card Entertainment Team Challenge between finalists TEAM NO COMMENT and TEAM 110.  Also on the card is a terrific FCE Bantamweight Title bout between Ricky Hernandez and David Gallegos.

In a stellar clash for the FCE Lightweight Title, fan favorite Hector Mercado will clash with Omar Diaz.

Many more details on FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT will be announced shortly.  Doors on the night of the event will open at 5:30pm with the first bell at 6pm.

For advance tickets and more information on Fight Card Entertainment, please visit their website at www.FightCard.net and find them on Facebook and Twitter at “FightCard” or call them at 773-745-1112.

Hollywood Casino Joliet is located at 777 Hollywood Boulevard in Joliet, Illinois.  For directions and more information please visit their website at www.hollywoodcasinojoliet.com

Mojoes Music Room is located 22 W. Cass St. in Joliet. For more information, please visit their website at www.mojoesofjoliet.com

Hexagon Girls Brooke and Marjhel, FCE's Brian Angelo and Mitch Nix. Photo by Carlos Acevedo.

CHICAGO, IL (October 24, 2011) Off a sensational five year anniversary show at FCE #42/NO MERCY at the sold out Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates, Fight Card Entertainment, Chicagoland’s Premier Combat Sports Promoter presents FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT on Saturday, December 17th at Mojoes Music Venue (22 W. Cass St. Joliet, IL 60432).

Headlining FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT will be the finals of the Fight Card Entertainment Team Challenge between finalists TEAM NO COMMENT and TEAM 110.

“With the team challenge, TEAM NO COMMENT will be competing for the third time against TEAM 110,” said Brian Angelo of Fight Card Entertainment. “Both of these teams are very hungry to win this championship.”

“TEAM NO COMMENT has had a rough year with mixed martial arts fans doubting them due to so many newcomers. But these last two events are the playoffs and the finals. They have a chance to show all the naysayers that “Hey, don’t count us out because we’re not going anywhere.”

Continued Angelo, “TEAM 110 is a strong team and a team with a lot of heart. They’re another Cinderella Story of the newest team on the block, sitting on the sidelines the last two years of the Team Fighting Challenges. Both years they’ve said “We’re going to be there next year” now NEXT YEAR is here, they’re in the finals and prepared to win the tournament.”

‘It’s a huge statement for TEAM 110, they’ve trained all year for December 17th.”

Angelo was just as enthusiastic speaking about plans for the rest of the event. “After the super stacked card at FCE #42, Nilo and I are putting together a fantastic undercard. We can officially announce an FCE Lightweight Championship bout between Hector Mercado and an opponent to be named.”

“Hector is a very tough, undefeated fighter and has continued to improve. We’ll see how he handles himself when the pressure of a title fight is upon him.”

Speaking about the new venue location, Angelo stated “Joliet is another great fight town and I hope they’ll embrace Fight Card Entertainment with open arms. With such a fantastic city, we have to bring a terrific event with us.”

Many more details on FCE #43/FINAL CONFLICT will be announced shortly.

For more information on Fight Card Entertainment, please visit their website at www.FightCard.net and find them on Facebook and Twitter at “FightCard” or call them at 773-745-1112.