MMA Junkie’s “Gorgeous” George, “Goze” and Dan Tom unpack the latest MMA news and notes in Episode 9 of “Spinning Back Clique.”
Welcome to “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. In this week’s episode, “Gorgeous” George, “Goze” and Dan Tom react to what went down at Bellator 237, the promotion’s debut in Japan, preview the PFL Championship, and more.
Show rundown:
In the heavyweight main event of Bellator 237, [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] by first-round knckout at Saitama Super Arena. For his part, Emelianenko, 43, looked pretty good in the first fight of his retirement tour. The same cannot be said for “Rampage,” who came in a career-high 265 pounds for the fight, and it showed with his lackluster performance. Even he admitted just how overweight and out of shape he was. So, with that in mind, what can we really take away from this fight between legends?
Bellator went all out for its debut in Japan, with great production value and booking some of its biggest names on the card, while partnering with Rizin FF. It’s all part of company president Scott Coker’s plan of doing things outside of the norm in MMA. What do we think of this?
The PFL Championship takes place Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, which will feature [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] vs. Larissa Pacheco in the headliner as one of six fights set to make millionaires. Which final are we most looking forward to?
2019 was a big year for comebacks. Looking ahead to 2020, who could be on the comeback trail?
To conclude the decade in MMA, we ranked the top 10 fighters of the 2010s. As we look forward to the next decade, who could be among the best of the decade?
For answers to all of those questions, watch Episode 9 of “Spinning Back Clique.”
If you missed Fedor Emelianenko’s knockout of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson the first time around, here’s your chance to catch it.
Bellator put on it’s first-ever card in Japan on Saturday, bringing some of their biggest names to the iconic Saitama Super Arena just outside of Tokyo.
And what a night it was, as several of Bellator’s best brought their A-game to the venerated venue. [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag], [autotag]Ilara Joanne[/autotag], [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag], [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], and [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] all put on great shows leading up to the fight which brought everyone to the house: The return of the legendary [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag], who made short work of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a battle of former world champions.
Whether you missed the show the first time or watched it live and want to relive a night filled with slam-bang highlights, you can now watch the best moments from Bellator 237. Watch the video linked above.
“Rampage” Jackson is among six Bellator 237 main card combatants facing medical suspensions.
With five finish losses and two weight misses among them, many of Bellator 237’s main card competitors are facing medical suspensions.
Most prominently, headliner [autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] (38-14 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) has been suspended 60 days as a result of his first-round knockout loss to [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA).
Winners [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] (22-7 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) are facing indefinite suspensions until they’re cleared by a kidney doctor, presumably because both fighters missed weight at Friday’s weigh-ins.
In a list acquired by MMA Junkie, six of the 12 main card combatants have received medical suspensions from commission head Mike Mazzulli, who oversaw Saturday’s event in Japan.
Check out the Bellator 237 main card medical suspensions below:
Daron Cruickshank: no suspension
Goiti Yamauchi: suspended indefinitely until kidney check cleared by a nephrologist (Yamauchi missed weight)
Kana Watanabe: no suspension
Ilara Joanne: suspended 30 days for TKO loss
Keita Nakamura: no suspension
Lorenz Larkin: suspended indefinitely until kidney check cleared by a nephrologist (Larkin missed weight)
Shinsho Anzai: suspended indefinitely until MRI is cleared by doctor; also suspended 60 days for knockout loss
Michael Page: no suspension
Sidney Outlaw: suspended 60 days for knockout loss
Michael Chandler: no suspension
Quinton Jackson: suspended 60 days due to knockout loss
Fedor Emelianenko: no suspension
Bellator 237, the promotion’s debut in Japan, took place Saturday (Sunday locally) at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, near Tokyo. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Bellator president Scott Coker has earmarked Josh Barnett as Fedor Emelianenko’s next opponent following the Russian legend’s win at Bellator 237 in Japan.
SAITAMA, Japan – [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] bid farewell to his Japanese fans at Bellator 237 with a first-round knockout of Quinton Jackson, and Bellator president Scott Coker said another former Pride FC legend could be next for “The Last Emperor”.
Speaking to reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage at the Saitama Super Arena, Coker said former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Josh Barnett[/autotag] (35-8, 0-0 BMMA) is a strong candidate to face Emelianenko (39-6, 3-2 BMMA) next.
“The guy that keeps knocking on the door is Josh Barnett,” Coker said. “He had an unfortunate situation two weeks ago, or a week ago in Hawaii. He was sick. I’ve been texting with him, and he’s recovering and getting back. He’d like to fight end of January, but I said that’s not going to happen because L.A. is already so booked up.
“But we’ll get Josh in there against the same opponent (Brazil’s Ronny Markes), and we’ll see how it works out. We’ll see if it’s something Fedor wants to do. I know Barnett would like to do it. He tells me he’d like to fight Fedor, so maybe that’s a fight we can put together.”
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There was some confusion immediately after Emelianenko’s post-fight interview, with the in-cage translation of his words suggesting his Bellator 237 appearance was the final fight of his career. But it transpired that it was simply his last fight in Japan, with the Russian legend targeting one more fight in the U.S., then a farewell fight in his homeland before he hangs up his gloves.
Coker said he’s happy to be guided by whatever Emelianenko chooses as he looks to give the legendary heavyweight the send-off he deserves.
“It’s really about what Fedor wants,” Coker said. “To me, I want him to feel respected by this sport. I feel like it’s our job to make sure that, as long as he wants to continue in this next year, we’re going to do it. If he really said he wanted to retire tonight I would’ve been all about it. I would’ve been like, ‘Hey, Fedor. Whatever you want.’ But I was in the back talking to his guys, and if we can do a fight in Moscow one day I really feel like it’s like ‘the king has returned.’
“It should be a big celebration. It should be an honoring of Fedor, which he probably won’t want any of it because he’s such a humble guy. But I feel like, (after) so many great years, he’s the GOAT. He’s the GOAT, and he proved it again tonight.”
And, Coker said, the 43-year-old has been turning back the clock with his performances as he bids to end his career on a high.
“I think this is the best I’ve seen him look in the last year-and-a-half,” he said. “So take that for what it’s worth, but he’s 3-1 in his last four fights in Bellator, so he’s doing very well. It’s really going to be up to him.”
A recap of the most important storylines from Bellator 237, where Fedor knocked out “Rampage” in the main event.
What mattered most at Bellator 237 in Saitama, Japan? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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1. ‘Rampage’ was fun … until he wasn’t
[autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] executed fight week perfectly right up until the moment he got in the cage, and the referee said “fight.” He was in vintage form and endlessly entertaining every time he appeared in front of the media, then rolled out an epic PRIDE-style walkout for his return to Japan after eight years that served as a major nostalgia trip for anyone who lived through that era.
But then the fight against [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] started, and it was a sad state of affairs. While “Rampage” has blown up in weight every fight since moving to heavyweight three years ago, this was by far the worst he’s physically looked. And it translated into an embarrassing result.
The 265-pound Jackson plodded around the cage, struggling to get his footing to target a meaningful punch. The best thing he did the entire fight was check a leg kick from Emelianenko. Otherwise he was a sitting duck, and Emelianenko took advantage as he put together smooth striking combinations before a final overhand stunned Jackson and led to his first knockout loss in 14 years.
No one wants to see that version of Jackson again. If he follows through on his post-fight message about shedding his unnecessary weight and making a return to light heavyweight, where he was once a UFC champion, then perhaps some intrigue will be restored. But if it’s going to be the guy who showed up Saturday night, then he might as well hang up the gloves.
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 237, which took place Saturday in Saitama, Japan.
The final Bellator event of the year took place Saturday with Bellator 237, which went down at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, with a card that aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN.
In the main event, [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) knocked out [autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] (38-14 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) in the first round of their heavyweight clash. It was the first time “Rampage” has been stopped with strikes since 2005.
Check below for 31 facts coming out of Bellator 237.
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General
Betting favorites went 5-1 on the main card.
Betting favorites improved to 14-8 (with two no contests and one draw) in Bellator main events this year.
Total fight time for the six-bout main card was 43:56.
Main card
Emelianenko improved to 5-2 since he returned from retirement in December 2015.
Emelianenko improved to 9-2 (with one no contest) when facing former UFC champions.
Emelianenko has earned 31 of his 39 career victories by stoppage. That includes all three of his Bellator wins.
Emelianenko has earned all three of his Bellator victories by first-round knockout.
Fedor Emelianenko and “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 237. (Photo courtesy Bellator)
Jackson fell to 4-4 in his career in heavyweight fights.
Jackson has suffered four of his six career stoppage losses by knockout.
Jackson suffered his first knockout loss since Apr. 23, 2005 – a span of 5,362 days (nearly 15 years) and 24 fights.
[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 17-5 BMMA) has earned 15 of his 20 career victories by stoppage. That includes 12 of his 17 Bellator wins.
Chandler’s 17 victories in Bellator competition are second most in company history behind Patricio Freire (18).
Chandler’s 12 stoppage victories in Bellator competition are most in company history.
[autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) suffered his first knockout loss since Sept. 13, 2014 – a span of 1,932 days (more than five years) and 13 fights.
Outlaw has suffered three of his four career losses by stoppage.
Michael Page at Bellator 237. (Photo courtesy Bellator)
[autotag]Michael Page[/autotag]’s (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) earned his third victory in a 92-day stretch. He’s finished all of those wins by knockout.
Page’s 10 stoppage victories in Bellator competition are fourth most in company history behind Chandler (12), Patricio Freire (11) and A.J. McKee (11).
Page’s nine knockout victories in Bellator competition are tied with Douglas Lima and Patricky Freire for most in company history.
[autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] (22-7 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) improved to 7-3 since he dropped to the welterweight division in January 2015.
Larkin’s four-fight Bellator winning streak at welterweight is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind Logan Storley (five) and Joey Davis (five).
Larkin has earned nine of his past 12 victories by decision. That includes all four of his Bellator wins
[autotag]Keita Nakamura[/autotag] (35-11-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) has alternated wins and losses over his past 10 fights.
Nakamura has suffered nine of his 11 career losses by decision.
Goiti Yamauchi at Bellator 237. (Photo courtesy Bellator)
[autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) improved to 6-1 since he moved up to the Bellator lightweight division in October 2016.
Yamauchi has earned 21 of his 25 career victories by stoppage. That includes nine of his 11 Bellator wins.
Yamauchi’s nine stoppage victories in Bellator competition are tied for fifth most in company history behind Chandler (12), Patricio Freire (11), McKee (11) and Page (10).
Yamauchi’s eight submission victories in Bellator competition are most in company history.
Yamauchi’s five submission victories in Bellator lightweight competition are tied for the most in divisional history.
Yamauchi’s five submission victories by rear-naked choke in Bellator competition are most in company history.
[autotag]Daron Cruickshank[/autotag]’s (22-13 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) three-fight losing skid is tied for the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since September 2018.
Cruickshank has suffered 10 of his 13 career losses by stoppage.
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s Bellator 237 event.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a Bellator win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
See what the fighters from Bellator 237 went with as their backing tracks in Saitama, Japan.
[autotag]Daron Cruickshank[/autotag]: “Real American” by Rick Derringer
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Fedor Emelianenko isn’t retiring from MMA following his knockout of Quinton Jackson at Bellator 237.
SAITAMA, JAPAN – [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] isn’t retiring from MMA following his knockout of Quinton Jackson at Bellator 237.
Emelianenko (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), the former PRIDE champion, returned to Japan after nearly four years on Saturday to score a first-round knockout of “Rampage” (38-14 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) in the heavyweight headliner, which took place at Saitama Super Arena and aired on Paramount.
Immediately after his win, Emelianenko’s translator made as seem as though Emelianenko was announcing his retirement. There was a plan in place for a three-fight retirement tour ahead of Bellator 237, and Emelianenko actually meant it was his last appearance in Japan.
“I’m doing my tour and this is my final fights and I want to do a fight in Japan, I want to do a fight in United States and I went to do Russia,” Emelianenko told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at Bellator 237. “So Japan, it was my retirement fight in Japan. So I’m not retiring.”
Emelianenko, 43, said he was unsure exactly how long it will take to complete the final two bouts in his tour. He intends to return home to Russia and spend the holidays with his family before discussing the future with the Bellator brass.
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For now, though, he is enjoying the fruits of his labor against Jackson. It was a one-sided effort against the former UFC champ, because Emelianenko had a sizable speed advantage and had no issue pulling the trigger.
The fight wasn’t exactly how Emelianenko envisioned it, he said, but it worked out for the best.
“I thought the fight would end up on the ground, but as soon as I got into the cage I started to feel that I was faster than ‘Rampage’ and I started to feel that edge,” Emelianenko said. “It would make no sense to go to the ground, so that’s why I kept it up.”
Emelianenko landed the fight-ending shot less than three minutes into the opening round, and while Jackson seemed to take some issue with the stoppage, Emelianenko thought referee Kevin MacDonald made the right call in waving it off.
“It was a good stoppage because I felt like I would just get on top of him and start to deliver very heavy punches,” Emelianenko said. “Right after my punch he just collapsed and went face down. There was no necessity to do more.”
See the top Twitter reactions to Fedor Emelianenko’s win over Quinton Jackson at Bellator 237.
[autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] added another legendary name to his prestigious resume on Saturday when he defeated [autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] in the Bellator 237 main event.
Emelianenko (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) returned to Japan for the first time in more than four years and earned a first-round knockout win over “Rampage” (38-14 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) in the heavyweight headliner, which took place at Saitama Super Arena in aired on Paramount.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Emelianenko’s victory over Jackson at Bellator 237.
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We've arrived at the final @BellatorMMA fight of 2019! Former PRIDE champ Fedor Emelianenko meets former UFC champ Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4Real) in the #Bellator237 headliner.
It's kinda sad to think that not so long in the near future there won't be anymore matchups that take us back to the Pride FC era. We're looking at the last of the mohicans here. #Bellator237
Fedor Emelianenko knocks out Rampage Jackson in the first round. Wow. Big right hand. Rampage had never been stopped by punches in his career. #BellatorJapan
If this is truly the end of the road for Fedor, it's been an incredible career and I'm honored to have been a part of it over the last ten years or so. No doubt in my mind- the heavyweight GOAT. The Last Emperor. pic.twitter.com/HOTIIUY2RF
Fedor Emelianenko became the first since 2005 to stop Quinton Jackson with strikes at Bellator 237, then he appeared to end his career.
SAITAMA, JAPAN – [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] became the first since 2005 to stop [autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] with strikes on Saturday when he picked up an opening-round finish in the Bellator 237 main event.
Then, he retired from MMA.
Emelianenko’s (38-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) speed advantage far exceeded anything a heavy, slow-moving Jackson (38-14 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) was prepared for as he put together smooth striking combinations before landing a fight-ending haymaker that dropped “Rampage” face-first into the canvas inside three minutes.
The heavyweight bout headlined Bellator 237, which took place at Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN.
Emelianenko came out of the gate strong with pressure on Jackson and some multi-strike combinations. The speed advantage from Emelianenko was evident, and Jackson had a difficult time making up for it. After landing strike after strike, Emelianenko finally found a home for the shot that end of the fight. He crushed Jackson with a powerful shot that sent the UFC champ to his knees, causing the referee to step in and wave off the fight at the 2:33 mark of Round 1.
Although Bellator president Scott Coker said pre-fight he intended to do a three-fight retirement tour for Emelianenko, starting with Bellator 237. Emelianenko appears to have had other plans, though, because he said the win over Jackson would be the last of his career.
“Perhaps my career stops here in Japan where I started,” Emelianenko said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview. “Thank you for supporting me in my career. This is the end of my tour.”
Complete Bellator 237 results included:
Fedor Emelianenko def. Quinton Jackson via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:33
