It’s been a while since Charles Rosa has stepped in the Octagon. His last UFC appearance came all the way back in April 2017, losing to Shane Burgos by knockout. A neck injury is the cause of the long absence of the Boston native. He is 2-3 in the Octagon coming into UFC Boston.

Manny Bermudez missed weight for his featherweight debut after missing weight in his last two bantamweight contests. He came into UFC Boston at 148 pounds for his third straight miss.  Bermudez is a submission specialist inside the cage, forcing his first three opponents in the Octagon to tap before Casey Kenney handed him his first career loss in his 15th fight. Of Bermudez’s 14 career wins, 11 are by submissions.

Charles Rosa ate a kick to the body early on and then Bermudez pushed him against the cage and took him down. Rosa threw his legs up for some submissions, but was eating plenty of punches from a compromised position. Rosa stayed strong and kept his legs up, eventually slipping them through for an armbar. It wasn’t very clear, but Bermudez verbally tapped to the submission and the ref pulled them apart. A huge first-round victory for “Boston Strong.”

He submits the submission specialist!@CharlesRosaMMA welcome back to the Octagon! Wow! #UFCBoston pic.twitter.com/xtxWU6vD5I

— UFC (@ufc) October 19, 2019

Rosa was obviously overjoyed to win in front of his home crowd after over two years on the shelf. He said the armbar is his best move, and certainly proved that at UFC Boston.

Charles Rosa def. Manny Bermudez by Submission (Armbar) in Round 1 (2:48)

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Boston, MA — It’s a hometown fight, and a new weight class for Boston’s Manny Bermudez Friday night. At UFC Boston (UFC on ESPN 6), Bermudez (14-1) will look to bounce back from the first loss of his career, back at UFC 241 against Casey Kenney.

The opponent this time out is Charles Rosa, returning to the octagon for the first time in a couple of years. Yet while it’s a fresh start, the story is the same — Bermudez missed weight at the scales for the third straight fight on Thursday.

Earlier in the week, however, Bermudez was more focused on the fight with Rosa than the scales. Speaking to reporters including Cageside Press at the UFC Boston media day, Bermudez said that despite he and Rosa sharing training partners, no one had given him any inside tips.

“Honestly not really. Everybody respects Charles, and I think I get a good amount of respect here locally too,” he explained. “And I think people have been very good about not stepping on toes or anything like that.”

“I haven’t really talked to Charles too much,” Bermudez added, “but he seems like a nice guy.”

While he wouldn’t mind a grudge match, it needs to be natrual. “I feel like every opponent I get matched up with, I want to make it a fight fight, but sometimes you see them, and like ‘alright, we’re friends, whatever.'” It’s not just local fighters showing respect, either. Bermudez alluded to a certain amount of showmanship within the fight game.

“I think it’s the UFC too. A lot of times, you see a lot these guys, like ‘oh these guys have beef, these guys have that’ but sometimes it’s like played out for the camera too,” he said.

One legit point of contention between Bermudez and Rosa, however, is the latter’s contention that Manny is a one-trick pony focused on the ground game. “I don’t think I’m a one-trick pony,” Bermudez said. “If he thinks that, there’s one way to find out, and I think we’re going to figure it out Friday.”

Watch the full UFC Boston media day press scrum with Manny Bermudez above! UFC Boston (UFC on ESPN 6) takes place Friday, October 18 at the TD Garden in Boston, MA.

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Following an initial report by MMA Junkie, Bermudez confirmed the breaking fight news, and change in weight class. In a statement posted via his official Instagram account, Bermudez, historically a bantamweight, wrote:

“Hope to catch all my friends down at the TD Garden in Boston October 18th! Wouldn’t be a comeback if we took someone easy so I’ll be fighting another tough opponent, 11-3 New England dude Charles Rosa (at featherweight stop asking🍔). Going to feel really good getting this one back, especially in my hometown!!”

Bermudez (14-1) recently had his undefeated streak brought to a screeching halt when he fell to Casey Kenney at UFC 241 in August. While a single loss might not normally be cause to jump up a weight class, Bermudez struggled to make weight for the fight. A Boston native, Bermudez was one of 13 fighters to exceed the CSAC’s 10% guideline at UFC 241, meaning the fighter gained more than 10% of his body weight back between weigh-in and fight night.

In fact, Bermudez gained a whopping 17.7% back by fight night at UFC 241. That led to a recommendation that he move up in weight.

He’ll do so against Charles Rosa (11-3), who has been trading wins and losses throughout his UFC tenure. Rosa has been out a while, however, not having competed since a 2017 loss to Shane Burgos at UFC 210.

Rosa was scheduled to return at UFC 220 in 2018, but was forced from the card due to a neck injury.

UFC Boston (UFC on ESPN 6) takes place on Friday, October 18, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, MA. Chris Weidman vs. Dominick Reyes serves as the main event for the show. Coincidentally, Weidman is also jumping up a division, making his light heavyweight debut on the night.

The post Manny Bermudez vs. Charles Rosa Added to UFC Boston appeared first on Cageside Press.

After a decision by the California State Athletic Commission, this contest will be fought at a catchweight of 140-pounds due to both fighters cutting a significant amount of weight the day before weigh-ins. Manny Bermudez comes into UFC 241 as a highly-touted bantamweight prospect at 14-0. Three of those wins have come in the Octagon, all by submission. Casey Kenney started his career at 11-1-1 when he signed with the UFC on short notice to take on veteran Ray Borg. Kenney upset Borg, winning by unanimous decision in a back-and-forth fight.

Kenney tried a jumping switch kick out of the gate but missed. He came in with a combination but couldn’t land cleanly, however, he followed with a leg kick. Kenney went high with a kick. Bermudez caught a spinning kick and took Kenney down. After a scramble, Bermudez established half guard, but Kenney worked his way up using the fence. He then threw Bermudez to the canvas into side control. Bermudez hooked one of his opponent’s legs with his own and forced a scramble to stand up. Kenney landed a left straight before the round ended.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Kenney

Scrambles highlighted the start of the second round, with Kenney eventually taking side control. Bermudez tried to sweep, but ended up giving up his back. Kenney was in control despite Bermudez’s crafty attempts at rolling out. Two rounds in and we could see Casey Kenney score another upset.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Kenney

Bermudez came out aggressive in the final round, landing hooks with consistency. Kenney eventually closed the distance and landed a trip takedown along the fence. However, Bermudez kicked off the cage to sweep Kenney and get top control. Bermudez slid to half guard and went for a guillotine from top half guard. Kenney attempted to sweep, but Bermudez clamped him down and landed in full mount. Kenney scooted to the fence as the round ended. It was a very close fight contested mainly on the ground.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Bermudez (29-28 Kenney)

Casey Kenney def. Manny Bermudez by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)

Check out all the results from UFC 241 here!

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Benito Lopez is an undefeated Team Alpha Male product, and will fight at UFC Phoenix after a year on the shelf due to an ankle injury. Lopez won a split decision on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in the Summer of 2017 and made his promotional debut four months later against Albert Morales, winning by unanimous decision. He was then scheduled to fight Ricky Simon, but the aforementioned ankle injury kept him from that fight.

Manny Bermudez is an undefeated submission specialist with a 13-0 record and 10 submission victories. He has submitted his last five opponents, including the two he’s faced in the UFC, Albert Morales and Davey Grant. This fight is one of the many that were rescheduled as a result of the cancellation of UFC 233.

Lopez opened with a high kick that missed, and a calf kick that did not. Bermudez, for his part, answered back with his hands. When the fight went tot he ground, however, Bermudez was quickly on the back of his opponent, thinking choke. The rear-naked choke didn’t take, but Bermudez wound up in guard. Lopez, however, escaped.  That was going to be key. As talented as Lopez was on the feet, he was outmatched on the ground.

And that is where the fight wound up. Bermudez was able to trap an arm, sink in a D’arce choke, and force the tap. A first round submission for Manny Bermudez, who earns a bit of redemption after missing weight for the fight.

Manny Bermudez def. Benito Lopez by submission (D’arce Choke), Round 1, 3:09

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The UFC had touched down in Hamburg, Germany on Sunday, with UFC Fight Night 134. The card was topped by a pair of light heavyweight battles: the Pride legend and former UFC 205lb champ Shogun Rua taking on Anthony Smith, and Glover Teixeira facing American Corey Anderson.

Earlier in the night (or morning for those in the west), UFC Fight Pass featured a three pack of preliminary bouts, topped by Davey Grant vs. Manny Bermudez at bantamweight.

Check back throughout the event for a recap and results from UFC Hamburg’s Fight Pass Prelims!

Damian Stasiak vs. Liu Pingyuan

Damian Stasiak stayed on the outside and opened with a leg kick in the opening bout of UFC Hamburg. Pingyuan pushed his opponent up against the fence. After separating, Pingyaun countered a leg kick with a left hand, knocking Stasiak down more by throwing him off balance than by actually hurting him. Stasiak would later change levels and get the fight to the ground. He went to work from guard, while Pingyuan stayed active from the bottom, and scooted back to the fence. That allowed him to wall walk up, but he put himself right into a guillotine. However, despite jumping for it and Pingyuan standing with his opponent’s weight, time in the round expired.

The second round featured an opening minute feeling out process, at the end of which Pingyuan backed Stasiak up against the fence. He then executed a picture perfect spinning back fist, connecting clean. Stasiak went into defensive mode, eating a few strikes before shooting for a takedown. Pingyuan wouldn’t stay down long, but Stasiak dragged the fight down again. However Pingyuan cinched in a guillotine, only for Stasiak to scramble free. Back on the feet he’d connected with a spinning back kick to the body. A grappling exchange led to Pingyuan pulling guard for a guillotine, but Stasiak pulled free. They’d finish the round on the mat, with Stasiak on top.

Thirty seconds into the third round, Stasiak had completed a takedown out in the open. But Pingyuan reversed, dropping some heavy blows from the top. He used smart head position to control Stasiak, driving his forehead into his opponent. However, the Chinese fighter opted to stand back up, clearly feeling his path to victory was on the feet. Stasiak in turn shot for a single leg, with Pingyuan displaying great balance as he remained standing. Pingyuan threw and elbow off the break, and the pair re-engaged out in the open. Stasiak landed a combination; Pingyuan fired off a leg kick then tried to close the distance with an overhand. Another spinning back fist by Pingyuan, but this time it missed. He followed that with another big overhand. Stasiak changed levels, but Pingyuan fought off the takedown. They’d come to the final minute, and Pingyuan would go on to claim the unanimous decision victory.

Liu Pingyuan  def. Damian Stasiak by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Jeremy Kimball vs. Darko Stošić

At light heavyweight, Jeremy Kimball worked in some leg kicks early, and the pair went through a brief feeling out process. Stosic held center, but it was Kimball who seemed to find his range first. Stosic looked to be waiting to throw a counter. Stosic’s early show of patience soon paid off. Kimball shot in for a takedown, but Stosc reversed and got on top. He dropped an elbow, causing Kimball to cover up, and soon the hammer fists were in flight. A couple of those, and that was it!

Slick reversal & nasty GnP! @darkostosic92 gets the TKO win in his debut at #UFCHamburg! pic.twitter.com/dlqOWDRZkk

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) July 22, 2018

Darko Stošić def. Jeremy Kimball by TKO, Round 1, 3:13

Davey Grant vs. Manny Bermudez

Early on in the featured fight pass prelim, Manny Bermudez dropped Davey Grant with a perfectly placed right hand. That allowed Bermudez to move in and try for an arm-bar, then cinch in a triangle. Grant tried to roll, scramble, pull free somehow, but Bermudez had the submission in tight! Grant went out, and it was over just under the one minute mark.

WOW!!! What a performance from @_MannyBermudez at #UFCHamburg! pic.twitter.com/fqizS49vwn

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) July 22, 2018

Manny Bermudez def. Davey Grant by submission (triangle), Round 1, 0:59

UFC Hamburg Fight Pass Preliminary Card Results

Manny Bermudez def. Davey Grant by submission (triangle), Round 1, 0:59
Darko Stošić def. Jeremy Kimball by TKO, Round 1, 3:13
Liu Pingyuan  def. Damian Stasiak by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Hamburg Fight Pass Preliminary Results and Recap appeared first on Cageside Press.

The injury bug is not adverse to claiming a fight from cheery ol’ England. Putting a damper on the UFC Liverpool parade, Davey Grant has been forced from the card. A staph infection appears to be the culprit, leaving Grant’s opponent Manny Bermudez without a dance partner. This close to the event, no replacement is likely to be found. The card goes down Sunday, with weigh-ins set for Saturday.

News of the withdrawal was first reported by MMANYTT.

England’s Grant (10-3) was hoping to bounce back from a loss to Damian Stasiak at UFC 204 that dropped him to 1-2 in his UFC career. The Brit has struggled to make it to the cage consistently, fighting just twice since 2013. Both those bouts came in 2016, with a win over Marlon Vera in addition to the Stasiak loss.

Grant was a finalist for The Ultimate Fighter 18 bantamweight tournament, losing to Chris Holdsworth at the finale. Holdsworth himself has not fought since 2014, after reportedly suffering concussions during training. Making the TUF 18 finale something of a cursed affair.

Manny Bermudez (11-0), meanwhile, was looking to follow up his debut win against Albert Morales at UFC Orlando (UFC on FOX 28) with a win over Grant. That will have to wait, at least for the time being.

UFC Fight Night 130, as UFC Liverpool is properly known, takes place Sunday, with prelims kicking off at 10AM EST for those of us in North America.

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The UFC returned to action in Orlando, Florida on Friday, bringing with it one of the better FOX cards in recent memory. Top to bottom, UFC Orlando (or UFC on FOX 28) held promise. In the main event, breakout featherweight Josh Emmett was fresh off his big win over Ricardo Lamas, and looked to continue his roll against veteran Jeremy Stephens. Co-main event action, meanwhile, had strawweight title implications Tecia Torres took on Jessica Andrade. And with Mike Perry opening the card against Max ‘Pain’ Griffin, you could expect the violence to come early and often.

Prior to all that, however, the UFC served up a four pack on UFC Fight Pass. UFC Orlando’s fight pass prelims were capped off by the popular Smile’n Sam Alvey, venturing up to light heavyweight to meet promotional newcomer and ONE Championship veteran Marcin Pracnio.

A pair of bantamweight scraps also decorated the UFC Fight Pass prelim card for UFC on FOX 28. In the first, Albert Morales was set to face Manny Burmudez. Later in the evening, both Russell Doane and Brazil’s Rani Yahya looked to make it two wins in a row when they clashed.

The final UFC Fight Pass prelim, meanwhile, featured Eric Shelton and Alex Perez, a scheduled flyweight bout moved to a 126.5lb catchweight when Perez missed weight.

Albert Morales vs. Manny Bermudez

Morales held the center of the cage early, and connected connected first with a right hand. Bermudez, wobbled, shot for a takedown. That allowed him to gain top control, but Morales reversed. The reversal, however, allowed Bermudez to work for a triangle. Though he wasn’t able to secure it, Bermudez showed some solid ground skills throughout round one, threatening with submissions on several occasions. When they did go back to the feet, Morales opted to take Bermudez down despite the close calls earlier in the round.

Morales unleashed the big right hand again in round two. Under fire, Bermudez attempted some sloppy takedowns, which were easily stuffed. However, later in the round, a beautiful level change by Bermudez led to a mounted takedown, with Morales tapping shortly thereafter.

Manny Bermudez def. Albert Morales by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 2:33

Eric Shelton vs. Alex Perez

Perez opened the affair with a leg kick as things got underway in second fight of UFC Orlando. Shelton came back with a right hand, and landed another off an outside kick by Perez. Perez was showing solid forward pressure, walking Shelton down and firing a right hand of his own. Shelton answered by changing levels and shooting for a takedown; Perez sprawled and wound up in Shelton’s guard. Perez was able to control a good chunk of the early action; back on the feet he continued to attack his opponent’s legs, and closed out the round with a final takedown.

Shelton looked a little more active to start round two, but it was a Perez right hand that was the first significant strike of the round. Perez added a kick moments later, and kept chopping away at his opponent’s legs. He’d later overpower Shelton to put him on his back. Shelton worked his way back to the fence, while Shelton controlled his legs to stay in top control. Shelton spun out and tried to explode to his feet only to be dragged back down by Perez. By the end of the second, Perez was in full control, though he hadn’t managed to do much in the way of damage.

In round three, it was more of the same. While the pair stayed standing a little bit longer to open the round, before long, Perez had the fight to the ground. Any time Eric Shelton managed to work his way up, Perez would put his weight on him, controlling him from all angles. When Shelton finally did escape, he was not able to land enough to put Perez in real danger. Shelton would land a right with just under two minutes remaining, but Perez would later score one last takedown. In the end it would go to the scorecards, with the end result being no surprise whatsoever.

Alex Perez def. Eric Shelton by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Rani Yahya vs. Russell Doane

In the second bantamweight fight of UFC on FOX 28, Rani Yahya had Russell Doane to the ground almost immediately. He would spend nearly the entirety of the right round in top control, at times looking to work in a choke from the top. By the end of the round, Yahya passed to side control, scoring some knees to the cheat, but the action was stopped and the fighters stood up after an illegal knee to the spine by Yahya.

Round two saw more dominance on the ground by Yahya. This time, he managed to take the back and lock in a body triangle. That allowed him to soften Doane up; Doane would eventually manage to stand up with Yahya on his back, an impressive display of strength. Still, he was completely dominated throughout.

Doane was again forced to fight off a takedown attempt in round three, and this time, he found success. Doane wound up on top, although that was no doubt still to Yahya’s advantage. Mercifully, Yahya was able to finish Doane off in the round, putting a finish to the one-sided affair.

Rani Yahya def. Russell Doane by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 3, 2:32

Sam Alvey vs. Marcin Prachnio

Prachnio took the outside early, throwing a number of leg kicks. He then threw a spinning kick that Alvey caught, taking him down. Prachnio powered right back up, landing a body shot whilst Sam Alvey maintained a headlock. The newcomer tried grinding him up against the cage, throwing knees to the thigh while Alvey held on to the headlock. They finally broke; Alvey would later fire a head kick that was blocked, while Prachnio would go to the body. The pair then traded blows by the fence; Alvey began working in some leg kicks that nearly knocked his opponent off his feet. The finish came in the final minute: Alvey caught Prachnio with a counter right that dropped him. Prachnio, hurt, regained his feet and pressed on. That was a mistake, as he walked right into another Alvey punch. Prachnio was out on his feet, and rather than beat on a wounded opponent, Alvey backed off to allow the ref to call it, which he did. Big win for Smile’n Sam!

Sam Alvey def. Marcin Prachnio by TKO (punch), Round 1, 4:23

The action kicks off just past 4PM ET; check back come fight time for a full recap and results from the action UFC Orlando action!

UFC on FOX 28 Fight Pass Preliminary Results:

Sam Alvey def. Marcin Prachnio by TKO (punch), Round 1, 4:23
Rani Yahya def. Russell Doane by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 3, 2:32
Alex Perez def. Eric Shelton by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Manny Bermudez def. Albert Morales by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 2:33

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