Tag: Melissa Croden

On the Doorstep: 5 fighters who could make UFC with April wins

For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey starts long before they strap on UFC or Bellator gloves.

Every champion in MMA history started out somewhere.

For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey begins long before they strap on UFC, Bellator, or PFL gloves. Modern-era fighters progress through the regional ranks with hopes of accomplishing the highest accolades. Many will try, few will succeed.

This month, five fighters on the verge of achieving major promotion notoriety – one for the second time – return to the cage for what could be their stepping-stone fight. There are dozens of fighters close to making the jump in the coming weeks, but these five are particularly exemplary.

  • A Cage Warriors champion might be the best unsigned prospect in MMA and he hopes to continue showing it one body punch at a time.
  • One of the top regional female fighters in Canada hopes to win LFA gold – then make her UFC debut in her home country.
  • A Texas-based lightweight who has overcome numerous life hurdles looks to pick up his fourth victory in a row and get on the UFC’s radar once again in the process.
  • A heavyweight who also works as a professional wrestler and celebrity body guard takes on his biggest test to date as he tries to figure out which avenue he wants to go down.
  • Michigan’s prodigal MMA son returns as he looks for his ninth pro win in as many fights – at 21 years old.

Titan FC 67 results: Danny Sabatello blasts boo-birds after dominant title defense

A pair of title fights closed the show at Titan FC 68 on Friday with one champ defending and another being crowned.

[autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] was levels above [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] on the ground at Titan FC 67 on Friday, and it led to a one-sided main event.

Sabatello (10-1) put his grappling to use over and over throughout the course of five rounds, and Blackshear (8-4) had no answer. As a result, Sabatello left the cage with a unanimous decision victory, as he successfully defended his Titan FC bantamweight title for the first time. The scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 at the InterContinental Miami in Miami, Fla.

Sabatello’s strategy was no secret from the outset. He attacked with takedowns and established a presence from top position in the first round. It was a route from there on out, with Sabatello controlling Blackshear in the grappling positions, chipping away with ground-and-pound and going for submissions.

The semi-conservative approach from Sabatello garnered come displeasure from the small crowd in attendance as well as the commentary team. Nevertheless, he got his hand raised in his first fight since not receiving a UFC contract for his dominant win at Dana White’s Contender Series 35 in November.

He didn’t care, though, and shared his thoughts to anyone who took issue with his style.

“If you (expletive) (expletives) want to boo me, that’s fine,” Sabatello said in his post-fight interview. “But this is mixed martial arts. You don’t like? Come (expletive) beat me. If it’s not exciting, I don’t give a (expletive). Come beat me. You won’t.”

Blackshear, who, according to the broadcast experienced a travel crisis en route to the event, missed the 145-pound championship limit by three pounds, and would have been ineligible to leave as champion.

Sabatello would have still kept the title had he lost, but it didn’t matter in the end, because he delivered a dominant victory.

Prior to Sabatello’s triumph in the main event, [autotag]Olivier Murad[/autotag] (5-0) claimed the vacant Titan FC featherweight belt in the event co-headliner in a competitive unanimous decision win over [autotag]Muhammad Naimov[/autotag] (5-2).

Complete Titan FC 67 result included:

  • Danny Sabatello def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
  • Olivier Murad def. Muhammad Naimov via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) – to win vacant featherweight title
  • [autotag]Alberto Montes[/autotag] def. [autotag]Richie Santiago[/autotag] via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 2:01
  • [autotag]Dilano Taylo[/autotag]r def. [autotag]Lewis Gonzalez[/autotag] via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • [autotag]Evelyn Martins[/autotag] def. [autotag]Melissa Croden[/autotag] via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
  • [autotag]Adrian Garcia[/autotag] def. [autotag]Rudy Isidro[/autotag] via TKO (body kick) – Round 1, 4:27
  • [autotag]Adi Alic[/autotag] def. [autotag]Carlos Espinosa[/autotag] via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)