Triller’s coming back with Triad Combat 2, now scheduled for June, while Jorge Masvidal’s assault trial is set for August. That and a wee bit more in the latest edition of your Sunday MMA Quick Hits!
Watch As Fan at UFC 274 Gets Smoked by Security After Trying to Rush Cage
You are a fan at a UFC event, several beers deep into your night. Suddenly, your favorite fighter loses. Do you a) drown your sorrows in another beer, b) heckle the winning fighter, even though they put on a hell of a performance that you could only hope to pull off in a video came, or c) rush the cage in the hopes of getting your ass humiliated on social media?
Someone at UFC 274 chose C.
In a clip making the rounds on TikTok (h/t MMA Mania), a comely young lady with questionable decision making skills hops the barrier, runs to the cage, makes it onto the apron — then gets violently shoved off by a security guard swatting her like a buzzing fly.
Dear TikTok generation: stop. The desperate need for attention will backfire every time.
Everyone, do not try rushing the cage at a UFC event pic.twitter.com/dCwfTVKdZk
— MMA mania (@mmamania) May 9, 2022
Raise your hand if Namajunas-Esparza put you to sleep
If that was you, you weren’t the only one. Even middleweight champ Israel Adesanya was dozing off during the UFC 274 women’s strawweight title fight. Jedrzejczyk vs. Zhang 2 can’t come soon enough.
Triad Combat Returns
Triad Combat was sort of a guilty pleasure event when it debuted last year. The concept — a hybrid spot combining MMA and boxing in a triangular ring — was hokey, and was more boxing than MMA. But the MMA fighters won the night, and a few of the bouts were decent.
After a false start earlier this year which was to have been headlined by Kubrat Pulev and Junior Dos Santos, Triad Combat 2 will now go down on June 11, 2022 at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California, once against streaming via FITE.tv.
The main event? Andre Ewell vs. Francisco Rivera. A pair of UFC veterans, but certainly a downgrade from JDS-Pulev. Rivera, at 40, just lost to John Dodson on an XMMA card. Ewell lost his last three fights in the UFC, leading to the former CES MMA bantamweight champ being handed his walking papers.
As is stands, the following match-ups are attached to June’s Triad Combat 2 card:
- Andre Ewell vs. Francisco Rivera
- Curtis Millender vs. Sidiah Parker
- Billy Elekana vs. Moses Murrietta
- Jack May vs. Jason Walraven
- Demarcus Brown vs. Mike Segura
- Steve Mora vs. Vincent Colonel
- Alexander Vargas vs. Gabriel Hernandez
- Troy Rallings vs. TBA
- Andy Simental vs. TBA
A few of those names should stand out. Jack May had a rough go in the UFC back in 2014, posting an 0-2 record against Shawn Jordan and Derrick Lewis before being shown the door. He’s put his time in under the Bellator MMA and PFL banners, and this year is 3-0 as a boxer.
Curtis Millender had his own UFC run cut short early. Also a veteran of Bellator MMA and the PFL, he went 3-0 to start his run inside the octagon, dropped back-to-back fights and was cut. In hindsight, a bit questionable given he lost to Belal Muhammad, a current top contender at welterweight, and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Since exiting the promotion, he has floundered, going 1-1 with Bellator and 0-2 with the PFL.
Trial Date Set for Jorge Masvidal
August 29 will be the trial date for Jorge Masvidal, regarding the battery case against him following an alleged sneak attack on rival and UFC 272 opponent Colby Covington.
The judge in the case has also granted a defense request to examine Covington’s Rolex watch, which he claims sustained considerable damage. The defense contends the watch is a “Frankenstein” Rolex composed of legitimate and counterfeit parts.
A pre-trial hearing has been set for August 17, 2022. MMA Junkie has the details. If convicted, “Gamebred” faces up to 15 years in prison on the aggravated battery charge, a second-degree felony.
Scott Coker Questions Judging Following Bellator 281 Main Event
Bellator President Scott Coker had some sharp words for judges who worked the Bellator 281 main event on Friday.
Coker, generally as easy-going as they come in the fight game, had to contend with a dull five-round affair between Logan Storley and Michael “Venom” Page. While MVP had a few bright spots on the feet, particularly in the fourth round, much of the fight saw Storley falling back on good ‘ol lay and pray, though to his credit, he was seen trying to advance position fairly often. He just wasn’t achieving his goal, or doing any damage.
Storley was warned for the lack of action more than once in the point, though the ref opted not to take his position away from him at any point.
Following the fight, which saw Storley win a split decision, Coker questioned the result.
“Honestly, I thought that ‘MVP’ won that fight,” Coker said following the event, speaking to media outlets in person and online including Cageside Press. “And the reason why I say that, to me, it’s like, I was talking to my guys back home and they go, ‘Look, it’s close but we think MVP won.’ And I said, ‘Well, why do you say that?’ And they said, ‘Because half the round, he was striking. The other half, you can’t just lay on somebody.’ You’re not doing any damage. You’re not getting closer to a submission. You’re not creating any threat. You’re just laying on somebody— and to me, that’s not MMA.”
Turns out, if you’re a judge in London, it just might be MMA.
Oliver Enkamp Trained with Steven Seagal Ahead of Bellator 281
Former UFC fighter Oliver Enkamp improved to 4-1 in Bellator MMA on Friday, and did it in style with a rarely seen Buggy choke.
He also spent some time ahead of his fight against Mark Lemminger training with Steven Seagal. It was all documented by Enkamp’s brother Jesse, who has a killer Karate-themed Youtube channel.
We actually did cover this story earlier this week, but the video itself and its sequel are well worth checking out. Regardless of your opinion of Seagal, there’s some interesting stuff here.
