Daniel Torres became the new KSW featherweight champion on Saturday, when he stopped Salahdine Parnasse less than two minutes into the first round.

Torres’ (12-4) awkward right hook caught Parnasse (14-1-1) on the top of the head and put him down to spell an end to the contest, forcing a change of ownership with the 145-pound belt at the 1:49 mark of Round 1 in the KSW 58 main event.

KSW 58 took place at an undisclosed venue in Lodz, Poland and streamed via online pay-per-view.

🇧🇷🇦🇹 Daniel Torres shocks the world with this knockout over Saladhine Parnasse!!! #KSW58 pic.twitter.com/cOpPUvOOjd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 30, 2021

After exchanging some blows early in the fight, Parnasse got slightly too aggressive coming in on Torres with a combination, and it cost him.

Torres looked to counter with a right hook, and as Parnasse ducked, the lower part of Torres’ bicep caught him on the side of the head and dropped Parnasse face-first to the canvas.

Parnasse, despite not being out cold, was unquestionably hurt by the glancing blow, and it was enough for the referee to jump in and stop the fight.

With that, Torres, who closed as a high as a +500 betting underdog, was deemed the new KSW featherweight champ, while Parnasse was stunned after taking his first career loss.

Complete KSW 58 results included:

• Daniel Torres def. Salahdine Parnasse via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:49 – to win featherweight title
• Szymon Kolecki def. Martin Zawada via unanimous decision
• Michal Michalski def. Aleksandar Rakas via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:35
• Shamil Musaev def. Uros Jurisic via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Michal Andryszak def. Guto Inocente via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:07
• Pawel Politylo def. David Martinik via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Robert Ruchala def. Daniel Bazant via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 3:37
• Francisco Albano Barrio def. Bartlomiej Kopera via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ksw-58-results-daniel-torres-upset-salahdine-parnasse-knockout-featherweight-title

Mahmoud Sebie has arrived.

On Saturday, Sebie (1-0) partook in an athletic competition for the first time since a 2018 wrestling grand prix in Bulgaria. This time, it was in MMA instead of wrestling.

Sebie finished Jarell Murry (0-2) with ground-and-pound from the mount at 1:52 of Round 1. The fight took place on the prelims of XMMA in Palm Beach, Fla.

From the opening bell, Sebie came out aggressive. He tossed Murry to the mat on multiple occasions, displaying his suplex abilities. From there, Sebie moved to the mount and resorted to a flurry of punches to finish the fight.

The performance was flawless for a professional debutant, but his post-fight celebrations will need work. When stomping the mat after his victory, Sebie appeared to injure his left knee.

Mahmoud Sebie TKO’s Jarell Murry #XMMA1 pic.twitter.com/UCHCDcUZy8

— Streetfight Banned-cho (@streetfitebncho) January 31, 2021

The 28-year-old Egyptian Olympian enters mixed martial arts with a decorated wrestling background including participation in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the honors of being a four-time Arab wrestling champion, a five-time African wrestling champion, and earning a handful of other medals in international tournaments.

Following a viral video he posted on Facebook, in which he called out corruption in the Egyptian wrestling program, Sebie moved to the U.S. After deciding to end his pursuit of representing the U.S. in the next summer Olympics, he began training MMA in late 2020 at MMA Masters in Miami.

XMMA took place Saturday at the Palm Beach Convention Center. The event streamed on the promotion’s website.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/mma-video-news-olympian-mahmoud-sebie-egypt-wins-mma-debut

At this point in his career, Kamaru Usman has clearly established himself as the top welterweight on the planet, but the reigning UFC champion says he’s no less driven to keep proving his doubters wrong.

“It’s funny, actually – I’ve still got that chip on my shoulder,” Usman told MMA Junkie. “It’s actually almost even bigger now, and it’s because even with all of that, for some reason, people still don’t want to give you the respect that you deserve because of maybe their personal preference. But it is what it is.”

Usman’s rise to the top of the UFC’s 170-pound division wasn’t a quick one. After serving as the winning fighter in the finals of the team-based “The Ultimate Fighter 21,” Usman would have to earn another eight consecutive victories before getting a crack at the title. While his win streak was impressive, his grinding, wrestling-based style didn’t necessarily make Usman a fan-favorite.

But even the most cynical of critics would certainly struggle to find fault in any of his recent wins over the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley, Rafael dos Anjos and Demian Maia – many of which were rather one-sided affairs.

But “The Nigerian Nightmare” said even he becomes a the most loved athlete in the game, he’s always going to have a little edge.

“That chip is still on my shoulder because when I got into this, it wasn’t for legacy,” Usman said. “It wasn’t for fame or money or anything of that nature. It was just simply to compete and prove that I am the best, that I can be the best at my time. And so that was my mindset, and it’s still my mindset. That’s the biggest thing that drives me, is competition. So as long as there’s competition out there, and as long as I’m – and that’s the biggest thing: I have to be honest with myself. As long as I’m honest with myself, and still capable and able to do it, I want to be the best. So that chip is still heavy on my shoulder.”

Usman has already earned two successful defenses of his title, and he’ll get a chance at a third at UFC 258, which takes place Feb. 13 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) faces former training partner Gilbert Burns (19-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the night’s main event. Stylistically, it’s an intriguing matchup, with “Durinho” providing power on the feet but also very dangerous jiu-jitsu that could prove problematic for a grappling-heavy attack.

But Usman has found a way to absolutely shut down opponents in recent years, and he believes his mental strength has fueled that success and can do it again.

“My mind is better than all these guys in the division right now, to where it depends on him,” Usman said. “Those guys dictate how this thing is going to go. If they’ve done their homework the appropriate way and they come prepared, then they might be able to pull out a different fight out of me, like you saw in the Covington fight. He came prepared, and he pulled out that kind of fight from me. But if you don’t come prepared, it’s going to be one-sided, like every last one of my fights. It’s going to be a one-sided beating, so I’ll leave that up to him.

“We haven’t trained together in quite some time, so I’ve added some new wrinkles to my game that I’m pretty sure they don’t see coming, so we’ll see how it goes, but I’m sitting at the top.”

Check out the full interview with Usman in the video below.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/kamaru-usman-that-chip-is-still-heavy-on-my-shoulder-ufc-258

Bill Goldberg is probably the most famous athlete known for mixed martial arts that has never fought in mixed martial arts. A longtime fan of the sport, Goldberg adopted a mixed martial arts persona for his character when he became a professional wrestler.

The schtick stuck and led to him becoming one of the most popular wrestlers the sport has ever known. He still performs occasionally, and will be wrestling on Sunday’s mega-event the WWE Royal Rumble.

Throughout his career as a wrestler, Goldberg has been a constant at mixed martial arts shows, frequently attending events, and has even commentated on several, including for the WEC alongside MMAWeekly.com founder Ryan Bennett.

Goldberg recently did an interview with TMZ Sports in the lead-up to Sunday’s Royal Rumble, where he addressed Dustin Poirier and his recent victory over Conor McGregor, as well as a social media post that showed him working Muay Thai techniques with Poirier in 2015.

TRENDING Video: YouTube boxer Jake Paul training with Jorge Masvidal to knock out Ben Askren

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/wrestling-superstar-bill-goldberg-praises-dustin-poirier-ahead-of-wwe-royal-rumble

It might be an understatement to say the UFC has some questionable rankings.  You would expect rankings to be questionable as they are subjective; however, in this column, I will point out rankings that I think are glaring mistakes.

Editorial Commentary by Peter Parsons

I always find it interesting when there is a change in the rankings and the fighters that moved places have not had recent fights.  This was the case when the UFC rankings came out last week with Casey Kenney and Alexa Grasso appearing at No. 15 in their weight divisions, replacing Marlon Vera and Montana De La Rosa, respectively.

Marlon Vera – Unranked at Bantamweight

Marlon Vera was replaced by Casey Kenney, who entered the bantamweight rankings at No. 15 last week, even though Kenney has not competed since October.  Vera also did not have a recent fight to justify a change in ranking.

In just over a year, from August of 2018 to October of 2019, “Chito” Vera racked up five straight victories, all of which were finishes, in the UFC bantamweight division.  This was quite the strength of schedule and finishing streak which made Vera one of the top bantamweight prospects to watch out for.

Vera’s winning streak came to an end after losing a controversial decision to ranked bantamweight Song Yadong in a short-notice fight at featherweight in May of 2020.  Vera then extended his finishing streak at bantamweight to six with a win over then No. 15 ranked Sean O’Malley to enter the rankings himself.

Vera had his six-fight finishing streak at bantamweight snapped when he lost a decision to former featherweight champ and top 10 ranked bantamweight Jose Aldo in December.  The loss to Aldo rightfully did not drop Vera from the rankings at the time.

Casey Kenney had an active 2020, having fought four times.  He started off the year in February with a unanimous decision loss to then unranked Merab Dvalishvili, who is now ranked No. 12.

He has since won three straight fights with his most notable victory in his last outing in October, a unanimous decision victory over British prospect Nathaniel Wood.  The win over Wood was Kenney’s second fight in October, having won a unanimous decision over Heili Aletang earlier in the month on UFC Fight Island.

In my opinion, Vera is more deserving of the ranking considering he had a six-fight finishing streak at bantamweight including his last win against a previously ranked fighter in Sean O’Malley, who was on a streak of his own.  Kenney has looked really good in his last three fights, but he has yet to beat a ranked fighter.  Vera lost his last fight, but it was a decision loss against recent title challenger and the current No. 6 ranked bantamweight in Jose Aldo.

Kenney has a big opportunity coming up in his next fight against the current No. 11 ranked bantamweight and former champion Dominick Cruz, on the stacked UFC 259 card in March.  A victory, over the man who many consider to be the greatest bantamweight of all time, would certainly move Kenney up the rankings.

Alexa Grasso – Ranked No. 15 at Flyweight

Much like Kenney and Vera, Alexa Grasso replaced Montana de la Rosa at No. 15 in the women’s flyweight division with both fighters not having recently fought, to create the change in rankings.

Grasso has only had one fight at flyweight.  She looked impressive in her last fight, which was her flyweight debut against Ji Yeon Kim back in August.  Grasso was ranked at strawweight, however, she had lost three of her last five at strawweight, albeit to the top ranked competition.  I do not feel like beating an unranked fighter in her only fight so far in her new division warrants a number beside her name.

De la Rosa is coming off a loss against the current No. 7 ranked Viviane Araujo.  Going into the Araujo fight De La Rosa was ranked No. 11, having won four out of her last five with her most recent win against Mara Romero Borella, who was ranked No. 13 at the time.  Her other loss at flyweight was against the current No. 11 ranked Andrea Lee.

Besides De La Rosa, there are a few fighters who are more deserving than Grasso of a ranking at flyweight.  Gillian Robertson, Mollly McCann, and Sabina Mazo are three fighters who stand out to me.

Gillian Robertson was recently bounced from the rankings after losing to the current No. 13 ranked Taila Santos.  Robertson is tied for the most wins in the women’s flyweight division history, with Valentina Shevchenko and Katlyn Chookagian, at six victories.  The Canadian has the most submissions and finishes in division history with four.  Her notable victories include submission victories over Courtney Casey and Molly McCann.

After losing to the aforementioned Robertson in her UFC debut, Molly McCann rallied off three straight victories which earned her a ranking in the flyweight division.  The British veteran lost her ranking after a unanimous decision loss in her last fight to the current 17-1 Taila Santos.

Sabina Mazo looked very impressive in her last outing in September against Justine Kish.  The 23-year-old Colombian showed great striking for the better part of three rounds before securing a rear naked choke late in the third.  This was Mazo’s third straight victory in the UFC flyweight division.

There are a number of big fights in February for the above female flyweight fighters which include:

• Molly McCann vs. Lara Procópio, February 6
• (10) Maycee Barber vs. (15) Alexa Grasso, February 13
• Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick, February 13
• Sabina Mazo vs. (12) Alexis Davis, February 27
• Montana De La Rosa vs. Mayra Bueno Silva, February 27

Rankings Conclusion

It does not make sense for rankings to change between two fighters when neither fighter have had a fight since the previous week’s rankings.  Does it have anything to do with the fact that Kenney and Grasso have fights lined up against ranked fighters?

Chimaev got the No. 15 welterweight ranking around the time he was first scheduled to fight Leon Edwards.  I am not suggesting a conspiracy theory, I am simply suggesting that perhaps these fighters become more top of mind to the voters when big fights are announced.  Or is it because there has been a change in the voting panellists?  Either way, I don’t think it’s a good look from a sporting and consistency perspective.

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My rankings would look different than any other writer or fan who follows the sport closely.  This is to be expected, as rankings are subjective.  However, the above examples are rankings I strongly disagree with.  Rankings should be based primarily on results and not perceived potential or popularity.

Some people think rankings do not matter.  Rankings do matter.  They matter when it comes to matchmaking.  They matter when it comes to contract negotiations.

Let’s keep the rankings conversation going.  Do you agree or disagree that the above examples are glaring ranking mistakes? Which UFC rankings do you strongly disagree with? Express your thoughts in the comments below.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/rankings-review-what-happened-to-marlon-vera-and-montana-de-la-rosa