Anthony Ruiz's crooked face brought forth a smile and some timely advice from Vladimir Putin.
Eighteen months before the world visited Sochi for a slushy Olympic march inside the ring of steel, the Russian president joined friends at the seaside resort for a sports festival featuring one of his favorites: mixed martial arts.
The longtime judo player, a black belt who penned a book and starred in a DVD touting the grappling art, Putin is said to be especially enamored with combat sports because of what they reveal about people.
In recent years, Putin famously sat ringside in Moscow and Saint Petersburg paying respects to ethnic Russian heavyweight icon Fedor Emelianenko. Neither of those bouts, however, provided the former KGB officer a chance to see the mettle of a man. Ruiz's status, of course, can’t touch Emelianenko's, though he has earned a reputation during his 50-fight journey. Before meeting Alexander Shlemenko in Russia two summers ago, Ruiz competed exclusively in his home state of California for basically any MMA promoter operating there not named “UFC.”
If you saw him fight, you quickly realized he didn’t mind taking a beating. In Sochi, at the age of 34, for a $6,000 purse, Ruiz, of Coarsegold, Calif., endured his worst one yet.
Three days before the bout, ignorant of Russian people, promoters and customs, the man known as “A Train” arrived in a place seemingly incompatible with winter sports.
None of Ruiz's training partners or coaches owned a passport, so he brought along a friend who did. They navigated around town as best as they could, essentially succumbing to charades to communicate with the locals. When Ruiz wanted to find a place to swim, he took his nose between a couple of fingers and pretended to jump into the deep end of a pool. Another time, craving a steak, he actually stooped to mooing.
Ruiz eventually found a workable translation app for his phone that helped with the basics, yet on fight night it proved less than useful. As the only English speaker on the card he felt uncomfortable, in part, because of concerns about the rules. Ruiz had grown accustomed to competing under California State Athletic Commission regulation.
There wasn’t anything similar in Sochi, he said.
The American middleweight could have wrapped his hands however he wanted, he thought. Or used whatever drugs he wished—which in a way made sense considering the venue’s makeshift backstage, with its large beds and lounge chairs, seemed suited for that sort of thing.
The area along the coast of the Black Sea was muggy. Tropical even. It was damp enough so grass appeared green without being watered.
"Almost somewhere I'd take my wife," Ruiz said. "It was pretty bad ass."
To his chagrin, so was Shelmenko, who "hit me probably a thousand times," tallied Ruiz. "My nose was broken all the way to the side in the last round. It was brutal."
Alexei Zhernakov, Shlemenko's manager and matchmaker for the evening’s promoter, League S-70, described Ruiz's night like this: "He got the crap beat out of him."
The outgunned American was put down on several occasions, the first just three minutes after the opening bell. Said Shlemenko: “There were a couple times when I knocked him down and could have kept pounding him, but I didn't do it. I allowed him to stand. I didn't take advantage of it.
“Putin was right to tell me I fought nobly—I didn't want to kill Ruiz in the ring."
Shlemenko called Ruiz's multiple recoveries a "mystery."
Putin thought enough of the American's resilience and courage to offer a standing ovation, kind words and significantly more.
Immediately after the fight, with the tone of one friend telling another they have food stuck between their teeth, the Russian president offered this advice in English.
Said Putin: “You need to fix your nose.”
Inside the ring, minus the fun of charades, Ruiz clasped his nose between his fingers and rearranged tangled cartilage from a chicane to a straightaway. Just one more battle along the way, he thought.
Two weeks after returning home, mostly recovered by then, Ruiz’s phone rang. The voice on the other end spoke English, although it was obvious this was an intermediary for a Russian party who could be overheard in the background.
Ruiz was asked about his health.
Did he need anything?
He was fine, he said.
Then he was asked for a SWIFT code—the standard format for transferring money between banks, especially internationally. Ruiz didn't have a clue. He visited his bank to inquire why anyone would want to know such a thing.
Two days later, after deciding to play along, $50,000 was wired into his account from the Russian Federation.
Understandably, Ruiz freaked out. He checked with his financial institution and was told, indeed, it’s real money and, better yet, his to keep.
"I couldn't believe it," he recalled. "Then the next day, boom, another $50,000."
For all Ruiz knew, a third wire transfer, also to the tune of $50,000, represented the number of times Shlemenko buried him in Sochi.
“The bank was telling me there's some people who aren't all that straight doing transfers and stuff like that,” he said. “I also knew it was coming from Putin, and he's one of the wealthiest persons in the world. So, really, $150,000 ain't that much to him. That's what I'm telling myself to justify it. Sure enough, I kept it in there and left it alone. It was real. It really happened.”
He couldn’t be blamed for pulling up his balance from bed at 6 a.m. the next morning, but that was it, the transfers ended, leaving the middleweight’s family and friends ecstatic, in disbelief and frightened.
When they asked how in the world this could happen, Ruiz answered as best as he could: “Well, I offered my life. I was there. I was willing to die. And it showed on film."
He’s never been rich, or close to rich. So a hundred-fifty grand in three days thanks to Vladimir Putin? This was life-alterin
Born and raised in a poor community in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Flavio Alvaro was involved with drug dealers and became a criminal when he was a young kid.
He ended up in jail years later, forcing his mother to intervene. Geni Alvaro, Flavio’s mother, made him go to a martial arts gym and train. He needed to focus on something else and get away from the criminal life. It worked, and her son later became a vale-tudo fighter.
Alvaro fought in five different weight classes over his MMA career, from featherweight to light heavyweight. He even competed in a controversial underground vale-tudo tournament in Brazil called Rio Heroes. Six years after the death of the promotion, Alvaro still fights at the highest level in the Brazilian circuit.
"I won Rio Heroes title with a win over Udi Lima six years ago, and I left some of his blood on the belt to remember the beating I put on him," Alvaro told MMAFighting-com. "It was an easy win. Took him down and submitted in two minutes. I fought two other guys at that night, including a 30-minute war, but the tournament final was pretty easy."
Rio Heroes was an underground vale-tudo tournament, with no gloves and only a few rules, streamed live on the internet. Despite the criticism from the MMA community, Alvaro misses those days.
"I was a happy man at Rio Heroes despite the critics," he said. "Most of the fans know me because of those fights, and it didn’t bother me that people believe it was too violent because I know the reason why I was there.
"My mother and wife were happy, so I was happy. That’s the only thing that matters to me. I wasn’t there because I like to brawl or because I like blood. I needed the money to pay my bills, buy my mother’s medicine and give my family a house. The ones who criticize me never had to go through what I had to overcome. "I’m very proud of what I am and what I have faced in my life. I was at the bottom, people used to look at me and say I’d never be more than a criminal, a thief, and now I live from my work and people look up at me. I’m not embarrassed of anything. I’d do everything again if I had to because that made me who I am."
At his 55th professional fight last September, Alvaro could barely focus on his bout with Sergio Soares. One week before the fight, his mother passed away in Sao Paulo and he almost quit fighting.
"I always fought to make her happy and proud," he said. "I first started to train because of her. She signed me up in a gym because she was trying to get me out of the crime. That fight was my way to say thank you and show how grateful I am for everything she has done for me. She saved my life."
With 45 professional victories, the 36-year-old veteran is not worried about signing with the UFC anymore.
"I have so much fun fighting in Brazil," Alvaro said. "It will be my sixth fight this year, and if I were in the UFC I would probably have fought only two or three times a year, and that would make me sad. I would probably make more money in the UFC, but my life isn’t about money. I work with MMA, and MMA is bigger than the UFC."
Eight years after his professional debut, Alvaro doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. In fact, he's scheduled to fight on March 15 at Xtreme Fighting Championship International 2 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Alvaro will headline the card in a lightweight bout with Adson Lira (37-10-2).
"If I feel motivated and happy, competing in the highest level and not being a punching bag for the new guys, I will keep fighting," he said. "I never get hurt, so I believe I can get to 100 professional fights under my belt. I want to be the best. When I don’t feel that anymore, I’ll be a sad man."
Saved by MMA, former criminal Flavio Alvaro sets goal to reach 100 fights - MMA Fighting
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey successfully retained her title for the third time on Feb. 22 at “UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann” in Las Vegas. The bronze medalist judoka stopped fellow Olympian Sara McMann with a devastating knee to the body just 66 seconds into Round 1 of their main event fight.
Competing for the second time in two months, Rousey (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) made a statement with her quick win over McMann (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), but she had to fight through early adversity in order to secure her first TKO victory.
In the opening seconds of the fight, McMann scored with a series of right hooks that briefly sent the champion off-balance. Rousey regained her composure and clinched against the cage, where she landed short knees and elbow strikes while pinning McMann against the fence. Rousey continued to target McMann’s midsection with knees and she landed one to the liver that dropped the standout wrestler to the ground. McMann was unable to get back to her feet and referee Herb Dean intervened to stop the fight at the 66-second mark of Round 1.
While some observers took issue with Dean’s quick stoppage of the bout, McMann was all class in her post-fight speech and she accepted responsibility for not being able to recover more quickly from Rousey’s pinpoint knee strike. Rousey, who had previously finished all eight of her pro opponents with armbars, stated after the fight that targeting McMann’s body with strikes had been a key part of her game plan.
As the list of potential challengers for Rousey’s title continues to grow, a new name entered the fray this past week. Former EliteXC and Strikeforce superstar Gina Carano (7-1) has been rumored as a possible future opponent for Rousey later this year.
Carano has not fought since she suffered her lone career defeat in an August 2009 Strikeforce women’s featherweight title bout against current Invicta FC champion Cristiane Justino. She has since transitioned to acting in Hollywood and appears in the upcoming film “Fast & Furious 6,” which is scheduled to premiere in May.
As a result of her lengthy hiatus from fighting, as well as past struggles with making weight, it would seem unlikely that Carano would be awarded an immediate UFC title shot should she return to MMA. However, UFC president Dana White has confirmed that he would be interested in signing Carano to the UFC roster should an opportunity present itself.
No matter whom she faces next, Rousey remains the premier female fighter in MMA today and her TKO victory over McMann showed that she is capable of more than just submitting her opponents. To date, only one of the 27-year-old’s fights has made it out of the first round.
Following UFC 170 win, Alexis Davis eyes bantamweight title fight
Hours before Rousey and McMann took to the cage for their main event showdown at UFC 170, a second female fight headlined the preliminary portion of the card. Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Alexis Davis (16-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) picked up her third straight Octagon victory by outpointing rising star Jessica Eye (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a closely-contested battle.
Leading up to the fight, Eye became the center of attention among MMA media after it was revealed that she had failed a post-fight drug test following her October split decision victory over Sarah Kaufman at UFC 166. After two days of confusion, it was ultimately determined that Eye had tested positive for cannabinoids. She incurred a fine and a probationary suspension, and her win against Kaufman was overturned to a no decision. At the same time, Eye was dealing with another serious matter at home as her father battled brain cancer.
In spite of the personal and professional adversity, Eye fought as planned at UFC 170 and she put on a strong showing against top contender Davis. Eye landed some nice combinations and short uppercuts in the first round, but Davis finished the round strong with a takedown in the final minute. She dominated Eye on the mat in Round 2 with rear-naked choke and keylock attempts, as well as some nasty elbows from top position.
With the fight still potentially up for grabs, both Davis and Eye were active with punch-kick combos in Round 3. Eye stuffed Davis’ takedown attempts and she scored with punches and leg kicks throughout the round. After 15 minutes, one judge scored the close bout in favor of Eye, but the remaining two both sided with Davis, who took the narrow decision win.
Sporting a perfect 3-0 record inside the UFC, and with wins in eight of her past nine fights overall, Davis could be next in line for a shot at UFC champion Rousey. However, with former number one contender Cat Zingano targeting a return in the coming months, Davis may be forced to wait a little longer for her crack at UFC championship gold.
Emi Tomimatsu loses fight, wins Deep Jewels interim title
Japan’s all-female Deep Jewels promotion crowned a new interim lightweight (52-kilogram/114.4-pound) champion on Feb. 16 at Deep Jewels 3 in Tokyo, but the event’s controversial championship bout between grappling specialist Emi Tomimatsu (7-7) and teen prodigy Mizuki Inoue (7-2) remains a topic for discussion for all the wrong reasons.
During the pre-fight weigh-ins, Inoue came in 1.76 pounds heavy on her first attempt. She weighed in a second time, but remained 1.21 pounds over the 114.4-pound limit. As is customary when a fighter misses weight in Japan, Inoue was penalized with two yellow cards, which roughly equates to a two-point deduction on the scorecards. However, unfortunately for the 19-year-old, her punishment for failing to make weight was not over.
In addition to the yellow cards, Inoue was also given a second penalty that, while rare, has been used on occasion in Japan during recent years. Under the rules for the fight, Inoue was deemed to be ineligible to win on the official record. A Tomimatsu win would stand as is, while an Inoue victory would be declared to be a disqualificat
Tyron Woodley talked his way into his biggest career fight, as he got a bout against former UFC interim and WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit.
Saturday, Woodley walked the walk at UFC 171 in Dallas. The St Louis native went toe-to-toe with the popular veteran for seven minutes before Condit went down with an unfortunate knee injury.
Woodley improved to 13-2 with the victory, which goes into the books as a TKO at 2:00 of round two.
"I heard him say ‘ow' when I took him down," said Woodley. "So I thought, I'm going to test him with a left and a right, one of those things is going to hurt."
The opening round was the exciting, back-and-forth battle we've come to expect from Condit over the years. Woodley scored several times with his huge right hand, earning Condit's respect. Condit got his bearings later in the round and began to mix up his strikes, using kicks to set up his boxing. Woodley scored a takedown, and Condit worked for submission from the bottom.
The second round was just starting to heat up when the fight came to a sudden end. Woodley threw a right leg kick behind Condit's knee, which caused Condit's leg to visibly dislocated. Condit (29-8) crumpled to the mat and the referee waved off the bout.
"He's a really tough guy," said Woodley. "I landed some really hard right hands in the fight."
With the victory, Woodley feels he is deserving of the next shot at the welterweight title.
"We know what's next, the world title," Woodley said. "This is all about. I stepped up to the plate when nobody would and I fought the toughest guy in my weight class."
UFC 171 results: Tyron Woodley finishes Carlos Condit via injury TKO - MMA Fighting
New UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks won’t be wearing his belt around town, and he’s definitely not going to sleep with it.
Instead, he’s taking it to the bank – literally.
“I’m going to put it in a vault,” Hendricks today told MMAjunkie Radio. “It’s going to be locked away.”
Hendricks (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and Robbie Lawler (22-10 MMA, 7-4 UFC) drew just shy of 20,000 reported fans to watch a new champ crowned at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. In this past Saturday’s UFC 171 pay-per-view headliner, the pair fought for a belt left vacant by the semi-retirement of Georges St-Pierre.
Hendricks said he’ll celebrate his narrow win for a few more days. But very soon, the biggest reminder of his biggest accomplishment is going away until he can defend his title a couple more times.
“I want a couple more before I can be happy with the performance that I’ve given,” Hendricks said.
Of course, apart from Lawler, who lost three of five rounds on two judges’ scorecards (the final tallies were unanimously 48-47 for Hendricks), you’d be hard pressed to find someone unhappy with the heart and courage on display in the title bout. Both fighters took a tremendous amount of punishment and rallied from danger. Hendricks likely cinched the title in the final round when he landed a barrage of punches and a takedown that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Late Saturday night, billboards around town congratulated the new champ on his victory.
Hendricks, though, isn’t satisfied by winning the belt that eluded him when St-Pierre won a controversial decision at this past November’s UFC 167 event.
“I want to remember what it felt like to get it, and I want to feel what it feels like to get the next one,” he said. “I’m still 0-0. Yeah, I was able to do something great on Saturday, but realistically, I’ve got to turn right back around and do it again if I want to stay champ. I want to get back and see how my body is doing and start moving forward.”
As for who Hendricks would like to be standing opposite him when he returns to the cage, an old familiar name is at the top of the list.
“There’s only one person I’d like to fight, and I’m pretty sure everybody knows who that is,” he said. “And that’s Georges St-Pierre. I would like to get back into the octagon with him. If that can happen, then I want that. So that’s what I’m really shooting for.”
From the look of things, Hendricks may get what he wants sooner than later. St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) remains on hiatus from the sport, but he recently hinted to reporters that his break may not be as long as he initially made it seem.
New UFC champ Johny Hendricks taking belt to bank vault, wants GSP next | MMAjunkie
Our friends at CagePotato brought a nasty, and nasty-quick, fight from the UK to our attention.
The WCMMA 14 fight between Mike Garret and Sam Heron Saturday night in London (video above) very well may have ended quicker than any other MMA fight on record.
Check out the time at the bottom right of the screen for yourself.
From the time the referee began the fight to the time Heron was knocked out, cold, with a head kick, just 1.13 seconds elapsed.
That will likely not be the official time listed for the ending, however, because it nearly took more time (understandably) for the referee to run in and officially wave off the fight as it did for the fight itself to take place.
Have you ever seen a faster ending than this nearly "one-second KO" in MMA? Let us know in the comments section.
Video: Quickest MMA knockout of all time - Yahoo!7 Sport
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) is one step closer to finding their next Executive Director. After long-time Executive Director Keith Kizer resigned in January of this year, ending a run of more than seven years in the position, the Department of Business and Industry in Nevada, a regulatory body overseeing the NSAC, began a process to find his successor.
After taking applications through February and narrowing the choices down, the Department of Business and Industry forwarded a list of candidates to the NSAC for further consideration. The larger NSAC will publicly interview between three and five candidates, of which one will be selected to replace Kizer.
The list of potential Executive Director candidates, already commission members in listed states, were sent to MMA Fighting. They are as follows:
Robert Sean Bennett (NV)
Eric Bentley (NY)
Aaron M Davis (NJ)
Christopher Eccles (NV)
Andrew Foster (CA)
Craig Hubble (CA)
Michael Martino (NV)
Jeffrey C. Mullen (TN)
Joseph W. Nady (NV)
Mark Smith (NV)
The commission is expected to formally fill the vacancy by April.
List of potential Executive Directors for Nevada State Athletic Commission narrows - MMA Fighting
Noted amateur MMA organization Tuff-N-Uff recently announced that it will hold a women's strawweight tournament featuring four female combatants, and the winner gets something a little bit better than a trophy and some bragging rights.
At the tournament finale—which is slated for June 7 inside Las Vegas' Thomas and Mack Center—Tuff-N-Uff will crown a champion, and this victor will then be sent to Invicta FC—the world's premier women's mixed martial arts organization—with a fancy new professional fighting contract in hand.
For the combatants, Tuff-N-Uff's tournament offers the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to realize lifelong dreams and to fulfill lofty goals.
"Tuff-N-Uff has long supported women's martial arts, and we've been fortunate enough to have some of the best ladies in the game compete in our cage," Tuff-N-Uff CEO Jeff Meyer said in a press release. "The chance to partner with the best all-women's MMA organization in the sport for this unique opportunity was a natural fit for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing this tournament play out."
Making this idea even more exciting for mixed martial arts fans, Tuff-N-Uff's resume of past fighters is nothing to scoff at. The future of the women's strawweight division may very well be one of the above names.
This league churns out world-class competitors, and its amateurs oftentimes go on to become some of the finest professionals in the world. Most notably, Tuff-N-Uff has hosted names like UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, The Ultimate Fighter 18 winner Chris Holdsworth, The Ultimate Fighter 18 veteran Jessamyn Duke, Ryan Couture (son of UFC legend Randy Couture) and noted judoka and undefeated amateur fighter Marina Shafir.
The opening round of this four-woman tournament takes place April 11 at The Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Tickets are available at Tuff-N-Uff's website starting at $25.
Melvin Guillard's almost nine-year UFC run has come to an end.
"The Young Assassin" was released from the UFC on Thursday night, according to his manager Malki Kawa. The decision comes after the 30-year-old lost a unanimous decision to Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night 38 in London earlier this month.
Guillard (31-13-2, 2 NC) debuted on second season of "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2005. Despite losing early in the tournament, Guillard defeated Marcus Davis via second-round TKO in the Finale to secure a spot in the organization. The lightweight fighter went 12-9 inside the Octagon, with notable wins against Dennis Siver, Gleison Tibau, Evan Dunham and Mac Danzig.
The Louisiana native had his ups and downs in the UFC -- from testing positive to cocaine to missing weight to switching camps -- however, he always remained a fan favorite for his exciting fighting style and dynamic personality.
UFC president Dana White was critical of Guillard's performance following his loss to Johnson three weeks ago.
"There’s no doubt Melvin ran the entire fight and was incredibly passive, the complete opposite of how he used to fight," he said. "There was a lot of smack talk leading up to that fight, and those are the fights that everybody gets excited about, and nine times out of 10 they end up like tonight. Those drive me crazy."
Kawa said Guillard, who wasn't available for comment, is handling the news well and eager to move forward.
"We're working to get him signed somewhere else," he said. "I'm going to do what's best for Melvin."
Kawa wouldn't disclose any potential landing spots for Guillard at this time.
43 year old Dan Henderson (30-11) has locked up the most incredible comeback victory of his long and storied career, defeating fellow legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (22-9) via TKO in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 38 main event clash today.
"Hendo" was getting smashed from pillar to post over the first two rounds of the sequal between two of MMA's most notable combatants, yet in the end, the American made it two-from-two against the former Pride champion.
Early on, "Shogun" dropped the former Olympic wrestler to the canvas with a powerful one-two combination but was unable to finish the fight, with "Hendo" working his way back to his feet. Upon getting there, Rua delivered another power shot - this time in the form of a devestating uppercut that almost separated the former Strikeforce champ from his consciousness - but once again, Henderson survived.
Going into the third, Rua was measured in his approach, landing hard leg kicks to stifle the movement of Henderson while successfully avoiding the big overhand right (dubbed the "H-bomb" for obvious reasons) of his ageless opponent.
In the middle round, the momentum of the fight shifted on a dime - as the two fighters broke from the clinch in the centre of the Octagon, "Hendo" landed a right hook that would be the beginning of the end for the local MMA legend. The mad scramble for position was all "Hendo" needed to deliver his famous, one-punch strike that appeared to break the nose of "Shogun" on impact.
Rua tumbled backwards with Henderson swarming him and landing another blow to the Brazilians head that looked to have put him out, if only for a moment.
Henderson signalled to the referee that Rua was done, but it was only after a few more shots that Herb Dean called a stop to the action, ending Rua's night there and then - a decision which proved to be a merciful one, with "Shogun" in no shape to continue as "Hendo" celebrated atop the Octagon to a stunned crowd who just like "Shogun", never saw that the ending was coming.
Post fight, Henderson paid tribute to his fallen opponent.
"This one means more than most, Shogun’s been such a big part of mixed martial arts and such a talented and tough fighter,” he said.
"It just means a lot to me to fight and beat a guy like Shogun," he continued.
"He definitely rang my bell... he rang my bell just a tad in the first round also and again in the second. That third round I think we both decided to get after it and leave things where we left the last fight."
Henderson, Rua and Godofredo Pepey each earned USD$50,000 bonuses for their performances, with Henderson doubling up with another US$50,000 (total $100,000) for the “Fight of the Night and “Performance of the Night”.
Light Heavyweight: Maurício Rua vs. Dan Henderson
Round one:
Both men touch gloves as the fight gets underway. "Shogun" flicks a jab, but gets hit with a powerful return shot from Henderson. Low kick from Henderson lands, as Rua quickly returns one of his own. Another leg kick from Rua follows, and none of them have been checked by the former Pride champ. Hendo charges with a kill shot, but it misses by a mile. Rua attempts to clinch, but changes his mind after a hard uppercut. Rua hits a left-hook, followed by a nasty leg kick. "Shogun" backs Henderson against the cage, lands a knee, but backs away without attempting a takedown. Another low kick from Rua lands, before Henderson puts Rua on wobbly legs. Rua quickly drills Henderson this time, and goes to the floor, moves to mount and starts to unload with punches, 10-9 Rua.
Round two:
Rua opens with a vicious leg kick, that's clearly a big part of his game plan to chop down the aging fighter. Pushing "Hendo" against the fence, Rua connects with short knees before they separate. Henderson attempts a takedown, but it's easily thwarted. Henderson gets floored by a big uppercut, and Rua goes to the floor. Inside Henderson's guard, Rua hits short punches to the head and body. Rua is doing little on top, and is only really giving the former Strikeforce king time to recover. Ref Herb Dean separates the duo with seconds on the clock. Henderson wings a wild shot, but it misses, 10-9 Rua.
Round three:
Rua opens the third frame with his leg kicks again. Henderson connects with a nice right-hand, and backs up the Brazilian but Rua goes right back to work with his jab, dictating the entire fight right now. Two piece combo from Rua lands, before Henderson lands a right-hook flush to the nose that sends him crashing to the floor. "Hendo" immediately chases him to the floor and unloads with punches to get the finish.
Henderson launches incredible comeback, TKO's 'Shogun' in the third | MMA Kanvas
ONE Fighting Championship, Asia's largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90-percent market share, has bolstered its talent-rich roster with a series of signings of champions from around the world. England's Chi Lewis Parry, China's Ji Xian, Ukraine's Igor Subora, the Philippines' Cary Bullos and Indonesia's Yohan Mulia Legowo have all agreed to exclusive contracts with ONE FC, and will be making their respective debuts at a later date.
Chi Lewis Parry is the current Heavyweight champion in the United Kingdom who has amassed an undefeated record of five wins and no losses. Parry stands at a towering height of two meters and prior to competing in mixed martial arts, was a professional basketball player in the British Basketball League. He boasts the longest reach in the ONE FC Heavyweight division and will look to use that advantage to propel him to victory in the ONE FC cage.
China's Ji Xian has demonstrated that he can defeat most of the Bantamweight fighters in Asia, having earned a championship belt while competing in the now-defunct Legend FC. All 11 of his wins have come via submission, a testament to Ji Xian's grappling prowess. He now gets an opportunity to test himself against tougher competition as he joins arguably the most talented division in ONE FC. The Bantamweight division currently boasts names such as Japanese MMA veteran Masakatsu Ueda, Filipino striking prodigy Kevin Belingon, Korean MMA star Soo Chul Kim and ONE FC Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes.
Igor Subora, who also joins ONE FC's Heavyweight ranks, is the former URCC Heavyweight Champion. The Ukrainian is trained in the combat sport of Sambo and has been unstoppable since coming to Asia. He is riding a five-fight winning streak and will be eager to demonstrate his Sambo skills as he takes a step up in competition and faces the best Heavyweights in the world.
Cary Bullos is one of the top mixed martial artists in the Philippines and the URCC Bantamweight Champion. He has been involved in martial arts since he was eight, competing in Muay Thai and Judo before turning his attention to the fastest growing sport in the world. He began his professional mixed martial arts career in 2006 and has won seven of his eight professional bouts with all of his wins coming by finishes, proving what an exciting fighter he can be.
Yohan Mulia Legowo grew up in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, and was exposed to all forms of martial arts from a young age. Since nine, Legowo has been committed to learning all the various forms of martial arts in the world and would take his time mastering each one before gradually progressing to the next. He eventually began to compete, earning accolades in Kickboxing, Sanda, and Submission Grappling.
Like many Indonesian mixed martial artists, Legowo also had a sustained run in the now-defunct TPIFC from 2002 to 2004, including a contest against Fransino Tirta, another recent signing by ONE FC. His career stalled in 2007, when he suffered a broken arm. Although doctors told him his career was over, he resiliently fought back, recuperating intensely before finally being able to return to mixed martial arts action in 2010. Since then, he has been determined to make up for lost time and has not looked back since.
ONE FC's next event, titled ONE FC: RISE OF HEROES, will take place at the 20,000-capacity Mall of Asia Arena on 2 May, and will feature a ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship title bout between reigning and defending world champion Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes and Japanese contender and ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix winner Masakatsu Ueda.
For more updates on ONE Fighting Championship, please visit ONE Fighting Championship - Home and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ONEFCMMA and Facebook at www-facebook-com/ONEFCMMA.
In the latest and perhaps greatest tease of something big, like really big, happening in regards to a new challenge for UFC bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, former Strikeforce champion Gina Carano now says she is "very open" to a return to the cage.
For weeks, rumors have swirled about who is next for Rousey thanks to Joe Rogan and Holly Holm's agent not being very good with secrets. The biggest names that have been thrown around are "Cybog" Justino and the woman she beat to become the Strikeforce champ in 2009, Gina Carano.
UFC president Dana White has expressed his enthusiasm at having Carano fight for the UFC should she decide to come back. Now, in an interview with Damon Martin, Carano herself has spoken about the chances of her making a comeback.
"I've never retired. I've never officially said that," Carano said.
"For some reason a part of me has always kept it open. I don't know, there's a certain part of me that thinks if circumstances were right, and I could keep doing what I'm trying to make my future into, that's an ideal world. If circumstances were right, you never know. I'm very open to it."
Carano isn't giving many details beyond that tease, for the moment, but it sounds like she's open to offers from the UFC.
"I feel like I can't say too much. I've got all this information that if I could just speak freely, this is actually what's going on," Carano went on.
"I wish I could open up my mind and tell you exactly the things that I've seen and the conversations that I've had, but I think to sum it up in a nice, safe way for me is if circumstances were right, and if it's a good enough circumstance [I would come back] because my first love is MMA."
No matter how fit she's stayed, five years without fighting will have dulled Carano's reflexes and skills. The Muay Thai fighter seemed to admit this when she explained that a comeback would require a great deal of focus and time from her.
"I would definitely take something like that extremely seriously," Carano said.
"I would dedicate myself to it, and need the time because you're taking somebody who hasn't fought in a while, that hasn't been in the fight camp-type environment; and it would have to be done in a time where there would be enough time for me to get ready for that and be able to support myself during that time because that's all I'd be doing is taking that seriously, and it would take me away from other projects or potential projects that I've been working this far in my life to get to."
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua added another war to his MMA record on Sunday night, and now he has to fix the damage.
Dan Henderson knocked out Shogun after taking two rounds of punishment at UFC Fight Night 38 in Natal, and the Brazilian will undergo surgery Wednesday in Maringa, Parana, to fix his broken nose.
"He will have surgery today," Rua's manager Eduardo Alonso told MMAFighting-com. "There’s no timetable (for his return to training) right now, he will take a week off to rest. He will be cleared to walk again then, and we’ll go from there."
According to Alonso, the only injury Shogun suffered with the knockout loss was the broken nose.
"Shogun didn’t suffer any injury besides the broken nose," he said. "The CT exam showed nothing. He had no neurological damage, loss of consciousness, nothing."
Following the loss, Shogun was suspended by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) for six months, but he can return earlier if cleared by his doctors after the nose surgery.
UPDATE: Alonso told MMAFighting-com that the surgery was a success and that Rua will be going home Wednesday.
Shogun Rua to undergo surgery for broken nose Wednesday - MMA Fighting
Combat sports don't register in the pecking order of geopolitical concerns amplified after Russian president Vladimir Putin moved to annex the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
But with relations between Russia and the West quickly approaching pre-Rocky IV levels, an emerging group of Kremlin-governed mixed martial artists may be caught up in the fray just as they’re poised to do big things in the U.S.
Should tensions rise, Richard Wilner, a California-based immigration lawyer familiar with MMA promoters and competitors, expects the current state of affairs in Russia, Ukraine and Crimea to effect visa processing, “not just for Russian athletes, but for all persons applying for visas through U.S. consulates in Russia.” U.S.-based MMA organizations such as UFC and Bellator “should anticipate encountering delays in the consular processing of visas for Russian fighters. And, that even if approved here, the delays and ‘issues’ overseas might, practically speaking, make a fighter unavailable.”
Any political outcome that stalls bouts like Khabib Nurmagomedov-Rafael dos Anjos, and Rustam Khabilov-Benson Henderson, is plainly undesirable for MMA fans, which, of course, includes the Russian president. Putin's government recognized MMA as a state sanctioned amateur sport in 2012, and has considered partnering with big-money professional events in the not-so-distant future. With some luck, Russian fighters can go about their business uninterrupted, and UFC, Bellator, or any Stateside promoter that wishes to will make matches for them. If so, rising international tensions could actually lead to a promotional opportunity: the jingoism of flag-draped marketing campaigns.
East vs. West. Drago versus Rocky. It’s nothing new.
For example: Bellator’s middleweight title fight Friday at the Maverick Center in West Valley City, Utah, pitting Russian champion Alexander Shlemenko and American challenger Brennan Ward. Quoted in a press release announcing the bout a month before Putin flexed his muscles in Crimea, Ward declared: “Simply put, I'm looking forward to bringing the heat and taking the belt away, Cold War style.”
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Russians owns a valued place in MMA history.
Winning and surviving based on grit and the effectiveness of Sambo -- a martial art developed by the Soviet Red Army in the 1920s with a well deserved reputation as a leg-breaker -- Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov carved a name for himself inside the Octagon during the early days after Glastnost.
Ten years ago, during Putin’s first term as Russian president, Andrei Semenov and Amar Suloev arrived in the UFC showcasing a fun, wide-open style hampered by limited wrestling and the fact that they were undersized for the competition.
Despite failing to reach terms to fight for Zuffa, “The Last Emperor,” Fedor Emelianenko, retired as Putin’s ally and the stony face of Russian MMA. He currently heads the state-sponsored Russian Union of MMA, an emerging regional network for amateur competition and regulation.
In 2014, in the spirit of that lineage, the latest generation of Russians appear primed to leave a large mark. Especially back home.
"The maturation of mixed martial arts in Russia is similar to the maturation and timing of talent [in America] and in Brazil," said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, who’s seen Shlemenko, heavyweight Vitaly Minakov, and a spate of Russians rise through his promotion to win tournaments and titles. "It's a sport that over the last three to four years has really evolved. The question you have to ask yourself is what's the wrestling background like?"
Like a kid from Iowa who's predisposed to cauliflower ear, Dagestanis are born wrestling. That’s one significant advantage over their Russian Federation counterparts, and the reason they pose a serious threat to fighters from across the globe.
UFC’s current crew, a strong mix from autonomous Russian republics around the Caucasus Mountains, appear capable right now, for the first time really, of winning belts inside the Octagon. At 155 pounds, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Rustam Khabilov, brothers in arms back in Dagestan, are considered the cream of the crop.
"Having a chance to train with American and UFC fighters was certainly not something Taktarov and Semenov had the luxury of,” said Sam Kardan, a Russian expat living in New Jersey who represents many of his countrymen fighting in the Octagon. "This new generation of fighters can definitely be better in terms of experience, technique, and conditioning for the fight."
From Jackson’s MMA, to American Top Team, to American Kickboxing Academy, to a wide swath of gyms across the U.S., Russians are benefiting from America’s strong MMA infrastructure. Results have been exciting so far, both in terms of talent level and dynamic style.
If they can strike. If they can wrestle. If they can use submissions. If they’re in shape and competing at the appropriate weight, the belief among many informed MMA people is that Russians are set up to be well represented on Top 10 lists for a long time to come.
"I don't think there's any doubt they can be champions in the UFC,” said trainer Greg Jackson. “You're going to have kids coming from Dagestan, Chechnya and Russia."
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Competition among American promoters seeking quality Russian prospects has turned intriguing over the last couple years. Both UFC and Bellator MMA believe they signed athletes from that part of the world that can reach No. 1 status.
Compared to UFC, which has essentially no presence in Russia, Bellator, the Viacom-owned property, holds a solid footing on television alongside soccer and Formula-1 on sports-specific network Russia-2, one of 10 free Federal channels broadcast throughout the country.
Fights like Shlemenko-Ward are shown live early in the morning, then replayed multiple times across the country's nine time zones.
"We're in a really good place in Russia, and most of the top cont
About one-third of professional mixed martial arts matches end in knockout or technical knockout, indicating a higher incidence of brain trauma than boxing or other martial arts, according to a new study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
University of Toronto researchers examined records and videos from 844 Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts from 2006 to 2012 for the study published this month. They found that 108 matches or nearly 13 percent ended in knockouts. Another 179 matches, or 21 percent, ended in technical knockouts, usually after a combatant was hit in the head five to 10 times in the last 10 seconds before the fight was stopped.
"We're taking the premise with this that what you see on TV is one thing, but to kind of add scientific rigor to document it objectively," said Michael Hutchison, co-author and director of the concussion program at the university's MacIntosh Sports Medicine Clinic.
With the technical knockouts, or TKOs, they reviewed videos and found "an increasing number of repetitive strikes to the head" during the last 30 seconds of a match, he said.
Professional mixed martial arts includes elements of wrestling, judo, boxing and kickboxing inside an enclosure with fighters wearing small, fingerless gloves and no headgear.
Officials from UFC, the sport's major brand, seeking approval to stage bouts in New York have argued that mixed martial arts has evolved over 20 years with many safety regulations to protect fighters, including mandatory suspensions after concussions. They say it's safer than boxing, where fighters tend to take repeated blows from padded gloves, with no history of deaths or traumatic brain injuries sustained in the ring.
Lawrence Epstein, chief operating officer of UFC, called the Toronto study "somewhat flawed" and said a forthcoming study by researchers who have enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters will provide better insight.
"By partnering with the Cleveland Clinic, one of the world's leading medical research institutions, on advanced studies aimed at not only preventing long-term brain injuries, but also identifying those predisposed to them, the UFC demonstrates true commitment to the safety of all professional athletes," Epstein said.
Preliminary results from the Cleveland studies found athletes with higher exposure to head trauma -- based on a formula including number of fights, years fighting and fights per year -- were likelier to score lower on cognitive testing. Researchers conducting the free, ongoing assessments of fighters' brain health are examining factors like genetics, lifestyle or head trauma exposure and susceptibility to injury.
The Toronto researchers, who examined UFC matches, found the time from a knockout blow -- often a punch to the jaw -- until matches were stopped averaged 3.5 seconds with losers on average getting hit 2.6 more times to the head. With TKOs, they found that in the last 30 seconds before a match was stopped the loser was hit on average 18.5 times, 92 percent of those to the head.
Hutchison acknowledged that unlike the knockouts, which meet the criteria for brain concussions, they can't definitively identify the particular injury from a TKO. Professional rules say that happens when a referee stops a fight because one competitor can no longer defend himself. "We can accurately suggest ... this can't be good for their health," he said.
Citing data from other research, the study said the mixed martial arts head trauma rate also outpaces football and hockey.
The researchers proposed introducing rules like in boxing where a fighter gets a 10-second count and evaluated after a knockdown. They also proposed more training to help referees to identify fighters who are defenseless or have lost consciousness so they can stop fights more quickly.
"Given that participation at amateur levels of the sport is growing rapidly, we expect to see high rates of traumatic brain injuries at more junior levels of amateur competition," the researchers wrote. "These points strongly argue for banning the sport in youth and for preventive strategies to reduce the burden of traumatic brain injuries in professional MMA fighters who elect to fight."
Hutchison wasn't saying whether mixed martial arts should be legal or not, only that adults should know the risks so they can make informed decisions. People are inherent risk takers, and some do it with drinking, smoking, skydiving or other activities, but they should be aware, he said.
Most states have legalized and regulated professional mixed martial arts although some are silent on the matter. New York is the only state that prohibits such fights and longstanding efforts to get it legalized recently stalled again for advocates hoping to gain access to Madison Square Garden and other New York venues.
The state Senate has passed the bill for several years and put it in a proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, but it has not cleared the state Assembly.
New York state Sen. Joseph Griffo sponsored legislation that would legalize the sport and subject amateur mixed martial arts to state oversight that would include more stringent rules and regulations like those employed by amateur boxing. Regulation would also help the state go after the underground fights with paying audiences that are occurring now, especially in New York City, he said.
"I think everybody would agree the objective is to be very sensitive and do everything possible with preventing trauma to the head," Griffo said. "I don't think in any way that should prevent the sport."
Study shows MMA brain injury risk higher than boxing - ESPN
As expected, former WSOF welterweight champion Steve Carl led the list of medical suspensions handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) in the wake of WSOF 9, which took place Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.
Carl became the latest in a long list of victims to the leglocks of Rousimar Palhares, tapping to a inverted heel hook in just 69 seconds to forfeit his title to the Brazilian in WSOF 9's main event.
The 29-year-old Carl limped into the post-fight press conference sporting a big bag of ice wrapped around his knee, and will now be required to undergo an x-ray on his right foot and ankle, as well as an MRI on his right knee before receiving clearance to fight, or be held out of competition until September 26.
Seven additional fighters received medical suspensions from the NSAC, including Ozzy Dugulubgov, who lost a controversial split decision to Johnny Nunez in the night's televised opener.
Dugulubgov will be required to undergo a CT scan of his brain and right orbital area prior to March 13, or otherwise be required to undergo an MRI of his brain and receive physician clearance on a potential right orbital fracture before returning to competition.
A complete list of WSOF 9 medical suspensions can be seen below.
Steve Carl: Requires right foot and right ankle x-ray to be cleared by orthopedic physician, also requires MRI of right knee or clearance by orthopedic physician, or no contest until 09/26/14
Ozzy Dugulubgov: Requires CT of brain and right orbital area; if not done before 04/13/14 then must have MRI of brain and clearance on possible right orbital fracture; minimum suspension until 05/29/14; no contact until 05/14/14
Tyler Stinson: Suspended until 05/14/14; no contact until 04/29/14
Josh Rettinghouse: Suspended until 04/29/14; no contact until 04/20/14
John Gunderson: Suspended until 04/29/14; no contact until 04/20/14
Sean Cantor: Suspended until 04/14/14; no contact until 04/06/14
Phil Dace: Suspended until 04/14/14; no contact until 04/06/14
Gilbert Guardado: Suspended until 04/13/14; no contact until 04/09/14
WSOF 9: Steve Carl receives potential six-month medical suspension - MMA Fighting
No one needed to see Marlon Moraes continue beating on Josh Rettinghouse. Moraes had outclassed his opponent in every facet of the game for 15 minutes, piling on abuse and bludgeoning his lead leg. Rettinghouse could barely support his own weight, let alone continue to defend himself, and as he hobbled back to his corner at the end of the third round, you could only hope that someone would stop this. As anyone watching Marlon Moraes fight Josh Rettinghouse on a World Series of Fighting card would know, though, that just wasn't going to happen.
Rettinghouse got off his stool and answered the bell for the fourth round. No one stopped him; he's a professional fighter, and like most others is probably far too tough for his own good. He fought for 10 more minutes, hopping and scooting and doing whatever he could to survive to the bell. The ringside doctor and the referee, supposedly there to protect the fighters, and the people in Rettinghouse's corner, who presumably know him and care about his well-being, all decided that this was OK. This was not OK.
Moraes, who seemingly could have turned up the pressure and put the fight away, seemed truly uncomfortable. He coasted through the final rounds, playing it safe and looking almost disconcerted. The announcers lauded Rettinghouse's Do You Want to Be a ************************ing Fighter Warrior Spirit. One of them may have even nominated a 50-44 mauling as a possible fight of the year contender.
What's more disturbing than the fact that this happened is that it happens all the time. This wasn't even all that bad, comparatively speaking. Fighters in similar situations are often even less able to defend themselves, and frequently take far more blows to the head.
Mixed martial arts has a problem, a fundamental defect for which doctors and referees, coaches and corners, promoters and announcers, and journalists and bloggers and fans are all responsible. It needs to change.
Fighting is inherently dangerous. We're obligated to mitigate that danger as much as possible. We're doing a piss poor job.
Last week, the American Journal of Sports Medicine published a study on head trauma in MMA. There were a lot of problems with it—knockouts don't work as proxies for brain injury nearly as well as the authors would like them to, they came to a totally unfounded conclusion about the relative safety of boxing and MMA, etc.—but as a descriptive document, it was unnerving.
On the basis of a review of fights on numbered UFC cards from 2007 through early 2012, they concluded that the average time between a knockout and a fight actually ending was 3.5 seconds. Fighters, on average, took an additional 2.6 strikes to the head after a knockout. Even worse, in its way, a corner or doctor stopped only seven fights—just a touch over one per year. This is a problem.
Due to the nature and rules of mixed martial arts—fights can end at any moment due to a submission, a knockout, an incapacitating shot to the body, a cut, an injury—everyone always has a chance in theory. (This does a lot to explain why referees, doctors, and corners allow cashed-out fighters to keep going.) In reality, that chance is often statistically insignificant. And even when a marginal chance does exist, someone is supposed to weigh it against the damage a fighter is taking. There are reasons why commissions have the power to veto lopsided mismatches, and why referees, medical professionals, and corner men all have the power to say, at any moment, "That's enough."
The problem is that no one likes to see "premature" stoppages, like those in Renan Barão's and Ronda Rousey's recent title defenses. No one wants to be responsible for depriving a fighter a of chance at victory, which can impact their money short-term and their entire career long-term. No one wants to disappoint a raucous crowd demanding carnage and screaming, "Let them fight!" It needs to be done regardless. This may be a difficult thing, a responsibility few would want, but it's what you sign up for when you become a ring doctor, referee, or corner. Most of these people seem to have forgotten that this responsibility even exists.
Josh Rettinghouse was a massive underdog. He never legitimately threatened his opponent through three rounds, and was beaten soundly in each one. Crushing legkicks rendered him unable to walk. He may have had a puncher's chance, but it was vanishingly small. He was done. His sport needs to embrace the fact that there was no reason for this fight, or any fight like it, to continue.
While other combat sports face similar issues, and deal with them poorly, they tend to display some vague awareness that violence has consequences. (Boxing people, especially, know that their sport has been and continues to be a goddamned tragedy.) From top to bottom, though, many people involved in MMA don't.
In June, UFC champion Ronda Rousey will appear in the film adaption of Entourage. It is one of Rousey’s many mainstream incursions, which also recently included a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Her bosses at UFC, as you might guess, are overjoyed by the attention. Ronda Rousey’s profile only improves their business (and she is estimated to make $3m a year in sponsorship alone). After closing a $100m-a-year deal with Fox Sports and an agreement with Reebok to uniform fighters, the UFC is with Rousey’s help poised to vault mixed martial arts into the public eye as never before.
Read more: Ronda Rousey makes $3m a year but most UFC fighters don't get what they deserve | Sport | The Guardian
The world's former No. 1-rated female boxer-turned-mixed martial arts fighter is headed to the big screen.
Holly Holm is scheduled to appear with fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter and Tacoma, Washington, native Miesha Tate in an upcoming film called "Fight Valley," promoter Lenny Fresquez told the Albuquerque Journal in a story Monday.
Fresquez, Holm's longtime Albuquerque promoter, says filming will begin in August.
Michael Lucas, director of photography for the project, described "Fight Valley" in an email as a female version of the 1999 Brad Pitt film "Fight Club."
"Fight Valley" is basically about an underground fighting circuit where women go to settle their differences, he said.
Read more: MMA fighter Holly Holm heading to the big screen | Fox News
After 15 years in the fight game, Brian Ebersole had decided to call it a career.
"Bad Boy" came to the decision after he injured his knee during last night's (Sat., June 6, 2015) UFC Fight Night 68 welterweight scrap against Omari Akhmedov. At the end of round one (results), Brian informed his corner that he could not continue.
Via a release courtesy of UFC, Ebersole released a statement announcing his retirement and the reasoning behind it.
Check out out: Brian Ebersole retires from MMA following TKO loss at UFC Fight Night 68 - MMAmania-com
Eighteen months before the world visited Sochi for a slushy Olympic march inside the ring of steel, the Russian president joined friends at the seaside resort for a sports festival featuring one of his favorites: mixed martial arts.
The longtime judo player, a black belt who penned a book and starred in a DVD touting the grappling art, Putin is said to be especially enamored with combat sports because of what they reveal about people.
In recent years, Putin famously sat ringside in Moscow and Saint Petersburg paying respects to ethnic Russian heavyweight icon Fedor Emelianenko. Neither of those bouts, however, provided the former KGB officer a chance to see the mettle of a man. Ruiz's status, of course, can’t touch Emelianenko's, though he has earned a reputation during his 50-fight journey. Before meeting Alexander Shlemenko in Russia two summers ago, Ruiz competed exclusively in his home state of California for basically any MMA promoter operating there not named “UFC.”
If you saw him fight, you quickly realized he didn’t mind taking a beating. In Sochi, at the age of 34, for a $6,000 purse, Ruiz, of Coarsegold, Calif., endured his worst one yet.
Three days before the bout, ignorant of Russian people, promoters and customs, the man known as “A Train” arrived in a place seemingly incompatible with winter sports.
None of Ruiz's training partners or coaches owned a passport, so he brought along a friend who did. They navigated around town as best as they could, essentially succumbing to charades to communicate with the locals. When Ruiz wanted to find a place to swim, he took his nose between a couple of fingers and pretended to jump into the deep end of a pool. Another time, craving a steak, he actually stooped to mooing.
Ruiz eventually found a workable translation app for his phone that helped with the basics, yet on fight night it proved less than useful. As the only English speaker on the card he felt uncomfortable, in part, because of concerns about the rules. Ruiz had grown accustomed to competing under California State Athletic Commission regulation.
There wasn’t anything similar in Sochi, he said.
The American middleweight could have wrapped his hands however he wanted, he thought. Or used whatever drugs he wished—which in a way made sense considering the venue’s makeshift backstage, with its large beds and lounge chairs, seemed suited for that sort of thing.
The area along the coast of the Black Sea was muggy. Tropical even. It was damp enough so grass appeared green without being watered.
"Almost somewhere I'd take my wife," Ruiz said. "It was pretty bad ass."
To his chagrin, so was Shelmenko, who "hit me probably a thousand times," tallied Ruiz. "My nose was broken all the way to the side in the last round. It was brutal."
Alexei Zhernakov, Shlemenko's manager and matchmaker for the evening’s promoter, League S-70, described Ruiz's night like this: "He got the crap beat out of him."
The outgunned American was put down on several occasions, the first just three minutes after the opening bell. Said Shlemenko: “There were a couple times when I knocked him down and could have kept pounding him, but I didn't do it. I allowed him to stand. I didn't take advantage of it.
“Putin was right to tell me I fought nobly—I didn't want to kill Ruiz in the ring."
Shlemenko called Ruiz's multiple recoveries a "mystery."
Putin thought enough of the American's resilience and courage to offer a standing ovation, kind words and significantly more.
Immediately after the fight, with the tone of one friend telling another they have food stuck between their teeth, the Russian president offered this advice in English.
Said Putin: “You need to fix your nose.”
Inside the ring, minus the fun of charades, Ruiz clasped his nose between his fingers and rearranged tangled cartilage from a chicane to a straightaway. Just one more battle along the way, he thought.
Two weeks after returning home, mostly recovered by then, Ruiz’s phone rang. The voice on the other end spoke English, although it was obvious this was an intermediary for a Russian party who could be overheard in the background.
Ruiz was asked about his health.
Did he need anything?
He was fine, he said.
Then he was asked for a SWIFT code—the standard format for transferring money between banks, especially internationally. Ruiz didn't have a clue. He visited his bank to inquire why anyone would want to know such a thing.
Two days later, after deciding to play along, $50,000 was wired into his account from the Russian Federation.
Understandably, Ruiz freaked out. He checked with his financial institution and was told, indeed, it’s real money and, better yet, his to keep.
"I couldn't believe it," he recalled. "Then the next day, boom, another $50,000."
For all Ruiz knew, a third wire transfer, also to the tune of $50,000, represented the number of times Shlemenko buried him in Sochi.
“The bank was telling me there's some people who aren't all that straight doing transfers and stuff like that,” he said. “I also knew it was coming from Putin, and he's one of the wealthiest persons in the world. So, really, $150,000 ain't that much to him. That's what I'm telling myself to justify it. Sure enough, I kept it in there and left it alone. It was real. It really happened.”
He couldn’t be blamed for pulling up his balance from bed at 6 a.m. the next morning, but that was it, the transfers ended, leaving the middleweight’s family and friends ecstatic, in disbelief and frightened.
When they asked how in the world this could happen, Ruiz answered as best as he could: “Well, I offered my life. I was there. I was willing to die. And it showed on film."
He’s never been rich, or close to rich. So a hundred-fifty grand in three days thanks to Vladimir Putin? This was life-alterin