NEF MAKES HISTORY WITH NEW WEIGHT DIVISION AND TITLE FIGHT

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

Portland, Maine (October 15, 2018) – New England Fights (NEF) will hold its final mixed-martial-arts event of 2018, "NEF 36: Battle for the Gold," on Saturday, November 17 at Aura in Portland, Maine. Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the addition of a professional cruiserweight championship bout to the card.  "The Jamaican Shamrock" Ras "Rasquatch" Hylton (3-1) will meet undefeated Yorgan De Castro (2-0) to crown the first-ever NEF Professional Cruiserweight Champion.

 The fight will officially give birth to the brand-new NEF cruiserweight division.  This bout, as well as future bouts in the weight class, will take place at the 225-pound limit.  The division, which sits between light-heavyweight and heavyweight, was approved as an official weight class for MMA by the Association of Boxing Commissions at their annual conference in July 2017.  NEF will be one of the first promotions in the country to institute a cruiserweight division.

AMMO 5 LIVE PLAY BY PLAY 10/13/2018

Warchild and I made our nice short trip to Springfield Mass for Ammo 5.  The event is a mixed event of professional and amateur mma fights with 4 grappling matches at the beginning.  After talking to some people at the cage we found our spot at the media table.  The refs for the night are Tom and Brian Minor.  Shout out to Krystyne Curtis and Bill Idol for the lovely hospitality.  Just got word the Jon Manley fight got scrapped due to his opponent twisting his ankle pre fight warm up.  OK, the national anthem has been sung so let's have the fights begin.

Grappling Nicole Shattuck vs. Kristen Gardner

Winner by rear naked choke Nicole Shattuck at 1:00.

Grappling Jason Althiser vs. Andrew Tevay

Draw

Grappling Chris Manley vs. Aaron Tevay

Draw

Grappling Gianna Danielle vs. Hendrille Costa

Draw 

Bellator 207: Mitrione v. Bader Live Play-by-Play

Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinals

Travis Lizotte

Kastriot “Slaughterhouse” Xhema (2-1) v. Pat “The Gorilla Ninja” Casey (3-0)

Welterweight 170

Round 1: Kastriot comes out early with a headkick and clips Casey, Casey gets the takedown and looks to work from the top. Casey is heavy on top but Xhema is landing elbows from the bottom. Casey works his way to full mount and looks to land the ground and pound before Xhema escapes and returns to his feet. Casey closes distance early and gets the takedown again but it doesn't last long. They briefly return to striking distance before Casey lands another takedown and begins to work from side control. Xhema looks to escape and Casey grabs a guillotine but Xhema escapes the fighters trade right hands as the round ends. 10-9 Casey.
Round 2: Fighters touch gloves and Xhema comes out swinging. Casey connects with a right hand that drops Kastriot and Casey follows into side control. Casey is once again super heavy from the top as he continues to punish Xhema. Casey's elbows have opened a cut over Kastriot's eye or on his forehead as Pat continues to rain down elbows. Kastriot scrambles back to half guard but can not escape Pat's grasp. Casey goes for an armbar as the round ends but comes up empty. 10-9 Casey could be 10-8.
Round 3: Fighters hug in the center of the cage and they break and Kastriot looks to strike but Casey immediately lands a single leg. Kastriot scrambles but Casey ends up on top once again. Casey's wrestling has DOMINATED this fight from start to finish as we tick under three minutes left in the fight. Kastriot is trying to mount some offense from the bottom but Casey remains in control. The bell sounds and Pat helps Kastriot to his feet. 10-9 Casey
Decision: Pat Casey defeats Kastriot Xhema by unanimous decision (30-26 x 3), as I suspected judges saw round 2 10-8.

SANDERS AND BOHN WILL BATTLE FOR THE GOLD IN PORTLAND

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

Portland, Maine (October 11, 2018) – New England Fights (NEF) will hold its final mixed-martial-arts event of 2018, "NEF 36: Battle for the Gold," on Saturday, November 17 at Aura in Portland, Maine. Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the addition of a professional lightweight championship bout to the card.  "The" Ryan Sanders (17-9) is scheduled to defend the NEF Professional Lightweight Title against Jacob "Jaguar" Bohn (7-5).

 It is only fitting that the lightweight championship will be defended at the top of the card titled "Battle for the Gold."  The NEF 155-pound strap is the most-coveted in all of New England.  It has been known as the jumping off point for many athletes from the regional scene onto the national level of the sport.  Current UFC competitor Devin Powell (9-3) held the title just prior to signing with the world's biggest MMA promotion.  Desmond "The Predator" Green (21-8), also currently on the UFC roster, signed with Bellator just days after winning the NEF lightweight belt in 2013.  And Bruce "Pretty Boy" Boyington (16-11), another of the NEF 155-pound titleholders, went on to compete nationally for the World Series of Fighting.

MMA WEEKEND--Bellator 207 | Bellator 208

Bellator 207: Mitrione vs. Bader

Friday 10.12.2018 at 09:00 PM ET

U.S. Broadcast: Paramount Network

Matt Mitrione  vs.  Ryan Bader 265 lbs

Roy Nelson  vs.  Sergei Kharitonov 265 lbs

K. Ferguson Jr.  vs.  Corey Browning 155 lbs

Carrington Banks  vs.  Mandel Nallo 155 lbs

Lorenz Larkin  vs.  Ion Pascu 170 lbs

Mike Kimbel  vs.  Alex Potts 135 lbs

Sean Lally  vs.  Kemran Lachinov 175 lbs

Kastriot Xhema  vs.  Pat Casey 170 lbs

Sinead Kavanagh  vs.  Janay Harding 145 lbs

Alexandra Ballou  vs.  Lisa Blaine 125 lbs

Andre Fialho  vs.  Javier Torres 177 lbs

Kristi Lopez  vs.  Sarah Click 125 lbs

Tim Caron  vs.  Vinicius de Jesus 185 lbs

Bellator 208: Fedor vs. Sonnen

Saturday 10.13.2018 at 09:00 PM ET

U.S. Broadcast: Paramount Network

Fedor Emelianenko  vs.  Chael Sonnen 265 lbs

Benson Henderson  vs.  Saad Awad 155 lbs

Cheick Kongo  vs.  Timothy Johnson 265 lbs

A. Shlemenko  vs.  Anatoly Tokov 185 lbs

Henry Corrales  vs.  Andy Main 145 lbs

Tommy Espinosa  vs.  Suhrob Aidarbekov 125 lbs

Frank Buenafuente  vs.  James Gonzalez 145 lbs

Jeremy Puglia  vs.  Eric Olsen 185 lbs

Mike DiOrio  vs.  Andrews Rodriguez 170 lbs

Zarrukh Adashev  vs.  Christian Medina 125 lbs

Ryan Castro  vs.  Dennis Buzukia 155 lbs

Jerome Mickle  vs.  Nick Fiore 155 lbs

Robson Gracie Jr.  vs.  Jamal Pottinger 170 lbs

Jennifer Chieng  vs.  Jessica Ruiz 115 lbs

Shaquan Moore  vs.  D. Meshkhoradze 170 lbs

Bellator 207: Mitrione v. Bader Preview

Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinals

Travis Lizotte

Friday, October 12th Bellator once again takes over the Mohegan Sun Arena at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut as the promotion sets its sights, once again, on crowning their next Heavyweight Champion. The Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament which began in January with eight fighters, is now down to just four men, as former UFC Light-Heavyweight and current Bellator Light-Heavyweight Champion; Ryan “Darth” Bader (25-5) opens up the semifinal round with a tough test, in fellow UFC allumn and natural Heavyweight; Matt Mitrione (13-5). With the other side of the Heavyweight Grand Prix bracket coming to it’s culmination the following evening as “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (37-5) faces off with “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen (30-15) at Bellator 208 live from the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York on Saturday, October 13th. With both victorious parties facing off for the vacant Bellator Heavyweight Belt to be decided at a future event, likely in early 2019. As always Bellator has used it’s high octane headliners to help promote a fantastic card that will be littered with some of the top talent in the Northeast region, with many current and former regional champions or contenders set to do battle on the night’s undercard. But before we get into the undercard let’s take a closer look at the rest of the main card which airs live on Paramount Network at 9pm est. Friday night.

AMMO 5 TEASER 10/13/2018

Ammo returns this Saturday the 13th of October to their home at the Big E.  The Big E is huge so remember when looking for it to look for the Mallory Complex.  The doors will be opening at 5pm and the first fight is set to start at 7pm.  This show will be a mixed grappling and MMA event that will be featuring both amateur and professional mma battles.  I have listed the grappling matches below which I believe will be first and then I will break down the entire mma card for you all.  Tickets are still available at the link here starting at $35.  This is the fight card as of now so keep in mind things change as the shows get closer.

CAGE TITANS FIGHT VIDEOS: Seth Basler vs. Johnny Campbell | Mefi Monterosso vs. Dan Cormier | Stacey Anderson vs. Jeff Perez

CAGE TITAN FIGHT VIDEOS: John Clarke vs. Lukas Stavropoulos | Trevor Gudde vs. Marty Navis | Jay Ellis vs. Peter Barrett

CAGE TITANS FIGHT VIDEOS: Floran Kakacu vs. Brian Harrington | Montoyia Swilling vs. Antoine Caparotta | Keenan Raymond vs. Zach DiSabatino