To put it mildly, I’ve been skeptical about Bellator’s non-title fights in the past. They’ve all been total squash fights, and light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu actually managed to lose his against Travis Wiuff back at Bellator 55. Last night didn’t exactly make me a believer in non-title fights, but I won’t act like I wasn’t impressed with lightweight champion Michael Chandler after his performance against Akihiro Gono.

Chandler followed up his brilliant fourth round rear-naked choke over Eddie Alvarez back at Bellator 58 with a quick TKO over Akihiro Gono. After catching Gono early with a straight right, Chandler pounced on a stunned Gono and rained down punches until he earned the stoppage. Michael Chandler improves to 10-0 overall, with six fights ending in the first round.

At the post-fight press conference, Akihiro Gono announced his retirement from MMA. Gono has lost three fights in a row, and his record now stands at 32-18-7. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision over Diego Gonzalez at Sengoku 12 in March 2010. While it’s never easy to watch an icon of the sport retire, it’s even harder to watch him continue to lose. Thanks for the memories, Magic Man.

A middleweight bout between Canadian standout Cory MacDonald (12-2) and well-travelled veteran Brendan Seguin (23-17-1) and a welterweight scrap between former TFC champion Ryan Ford (17-4) and WEC veteran Luis Santos (50-7-1) have been added to Bellator’s May 4 Bellator 67 card, set for Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. CagePotato.com learned of the MacDonald-Seguin pairing and confirmed the rumored Ford-Santos bout today from sources close to both bouts.

(Bellator: Now with twice as much maple syrup and back bacon.)

Canadian MMA fans will get a double-dose of Bellator Fighting Championships in back-to-back months this Spring.

CagePotato.com has learned that the Chicago-based promotion has secured May 4 for its second Ontario event of 2012 and that the show will take place at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. As we announced last week, BFC will also be holding an April 6 event in Windsor.

The May show will be the third held at the native-run casino. Both Bellator 47 and 57 took place at the venue.

Windsor, Ontario MMA fans will likely only have to wait a few more months for their next live fight fix.

CagePotato.com has learned that Bellator Fighting Championships have penciled in an event for April 6 in Windsor, Ontario and that the event is likely to take place at Caesar’s Windsor Casino, just across the Ambassador bridge from Detroit.

“…and I also understand that he always takes a penny, and never leaves one. He once killed a puppy with a kitten. He wears black all the time. He’s a malefactor, a villain. I don’t really know him from Adam, but f*ck that guy.”

Mark Pavelich, the owner/CEO/Gran High Poo-bah of Maximum Fighting Championships, is not the kind of guy who holds back his feelings. He’s an expressive, gregarious type who uses Twitter like he was getting bonuses for followers, and describing him as “outspoken” would be like saying Amy Winehouse liked to get high.* And right now, he’s feeling pretty pissed off at the Son of Winnebago Man.

It seems that recent moves by Bellator, particularly acquiring top MFC talents Douglas Lima and Ryan Ford, has worked the Pav’s nerves to the point that he had to go on Twitter to air his grievances, and then follow that up with an interview so he make sure that everyone understood the words that were coming out of his mouth. Pavelich insists that Bellator has signed unspecified fighters that are currently under contract with MFC, and Bjorn is an idiot. Furthermore, Pavelich doesn’t even know who this Bjorn guy is.

(Ford will finally get his shot with a top three promotion.)

Canada’s number 5 ranked welterweight Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has signed on with his first major U.S. promotion. According to the Edmonton, Alberta fighter, he has come to terms with Bellator Fighting Championships and will make his debut with the Chicago-based promotion in October during season 5 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario against a yet-to-be determined opponent in a non-tournament bout and will then participate in next season’t welterweight bracket that begins in January 2012.

Ford posted the following on his Facebook page this afternoon:

“The Real Deal Will Be Keepin It GDUP For Bellator Fighting Championships. Debut In October @ Casino Rama Then The 170lb 100k Tournament In January 2012 Representing E-Town And Canada!!!!”

(He’s the Juggernaut, b*tch.)

Most of you (outside of Canada)  have probably never heard of Nick “The Juggernaut” Hinchliffe, but after his Aggression MMA bout with Ryan “The Real” Ford tonight, the 18-7  Nanaimo, BC welterweight, who at one time tipped the scales at 275 lbs when he played high school football, is confident you will know who he is afterwards.

We recently caught up with Hinchliffe to talk about his fight with Ford, his familiar role of underdog and how he handles having three full-time jobs.

Check out what he had to say after the jump.

We’ve been off for a few weeks mainly due to logistical reasons, but we’re finally back with another episode of Ben’s mom’s favorite MMA podcast.

On this week’s episode weekend writer Seth Falvo joins us as we break down this weekend’s UFC 130 event and next weekend’s The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale. We also sit down with embattled former UFC welterweight contender Karo “The Heat” Parisyan, who talks about his heartbreaking loss to Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 last week in Canada, his haters, his thoughts on the media and his plans for the future.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMA Live/CagePotato)

The production company that filmed and produced the videos for last week’s MMA Live 1 event in London, Ontario, Canada are Cage Potato fans, and as such, they sent along the full video above of Thursday’s main event between Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford for us to post exclusively on the site.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CP)

Ahead of his MMA Live 1 main event bout with Canadian standout Ryan Ford, Karo Parisyan said he wanted to prove to himself and to his fans that he turned a corner in his personal and professional life.

In spite of the fact that message boards have been abuzz with how impressive the 28-year-old’s performance was Thursday night in London, Ontario, Canada, in spite of a disappointing doctor’s stoppage loss, after watching the fight Parisyan wants another crack at Ford.

“I did say I wanted a rematch. First and foremost going into the fight I felt great and everything was fine and I was controlling the fight until the last moment [when] I caught an unfortunate knee. Wherever they can put together this fight, hopefully he takes the rematch and I would love to take it and fight him again,” Parisyan told CagePotato.com Sunday. “And I will prove to everyone that Ryan Ford didn’t beat me and the knee and the cut didn’t beat me either. I’m so upset. Let Ryan come out and take a rematch. He told me he’d give me a rematch when I was getting into the back [after the fight]. I said, ‘Give me a rematch. You know you lost this fight. You were losing the fight and nothing was going to change.’ I’ve been in these wars all my life and I’ve always been able to pull out every freaking fight whether I was cut or tired or whatever it was or whether I was rocked. I wasn’t hurt and I wanted to keep fighting.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagePotato.com)

If there was any question as to whether or not Karo Parisyan has turned a corner from his highly publicized battle with anxiety and painkiller abuse, he answered it with his showing against Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario Canada last night.

Logging what was arguably his best performance of the past three years, Parisyan took the two opening rounds of the bout utilizing his flashy judo and ground control and was looking good in the opening minute of the third when Ford connected with a stiff knee to the crown of the Armenian judoka that opened up a nasty cut and left the mat soaked in blood. When Parisyan slipped in the puddle of blood, veteran referee Yves Lavigne called in the ringside physician who, after a few moments of deliberation, called the fight off, giving Ford the win via TKO at 1:26 of round 3.

(Jon Jones photobombs the staredown – Video courtesy of YouTube/MCLHEA)

All of the fighters scheduled to compete on Thursday night’s MMA Live 1 card set for the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada made their respective contracted weight limits except for two, who hit their marks the second time after an hour in the sauna.

Main event participants Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford (169.4) and Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (171) shared a private conversation during an intense staredown, which concluded with the two welterweights exchanging a pat on the back and a smile,  breaking the tension in the room.

(Parisyan says although his demons are behind him, they’ll always be chasing him. PicProps: Sherdog)

Karo Parisyan is ready to turn the page.

With the last chapter of his life and his career behind him, the 28-year-old who overcame a highly publicized battle with painkiller abuse and anxiety is hoping that the headlines about his personal and professional struggles the past three years will eventually become footnotes in his life story rather than the main subject.

“When I put my life story out about all of the sh*t I’ve been through and everything that’s happened to me, even my parents will be like, ‘Oh my God,’ when they read it. They don’t even know the half of it.”

Page one of the new chapter of Parisyan’s story starts Thursday night in London, Ontario when he squares off with highly regarded Canadian welterweight Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 and he says the main difference this time around is that he’s writing the story for himself and not for others like he’s been doing his whole life.

“I’ve been through hell and I’m still on the way back home. I hope people can understand and not judge me for the mistakes I made. I’m doing this for myself. I’m tired of worrying about this person or that person. My family always has my back, but I need to look after myself. I want to get out there and do this for me so I can feel good about myself again. I used to think a lot about what everybody thought about me and now I don’t care. I’ve been training since I was eight years old and competing as long as I can remember and I got burnt out,” Parisyan recalls. “I let the pressure get to me. I had the pressure of representing my friends, my family, Armenians, judo etc…etc. What I realize now is that except your age, what goes up must come down, so you need to not let every little thing get to you because that’s when the pressure will eat at you until you break.”

(Aurelio teaching Dunham to keep his hands up.)

Heading into his MMA Live 1 welterweight bout with Matt MacGrath on May 19, Marcus Aurelio says he has a lot to prove to a lot of people, most notably himself.

The seasoned 37-year-old PRIDE, DREAM and UFC vet who is 4-2 in his last six outings is unhappy with the two blemishes he incurred on his record and is looking to erase them from the minds of fans with an impressive showing against MacGrath.

Although a hard-fought split decision loss to top tier UFC prospect Evan Dunham at UFC 102 back in 2009 left him with a bad taste in his mouth and without a job, his last loss against Shinya Aoki at DREAM 16 last September upset him more.

Aoki refused to engage on the feet and seemed content to take the decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt down and hold him there before washing, rinsing and repeating the process the whenever Aurelio would get back up. Although he relishes the opportunity to avenge both losses, he says that he would rather do so in North America.

“I want to fight Evan Dunham again. I respect that kid a lot. The fight was so close. I almost had him in a choke. If I held it a little bit more, I would have had him. At the end of the fight, they gave him the decision and I respect that and I respect him a lot, but I definitely want to fight him again for sure. The fight with Aoki was frustrating. He got me in a good position and he stole the fight. He never tried to strike or exchange jiu-jitsu with me. I only had one chance in the fight when he shot and I sprawled and I almost took his back and after that I almost got his arm. The rest of the fight was boring,” Aurelio points out. “I hope I can fight him again and maybe we can do a better fight. The way I see it, if the fight was in America like in the UFC, after a minute [of stalling on the ground] they would say, ‘Okay guys, time to stand up.’ They should have stood us up, but in Japan Aoki is the big kid and they would never do that. He’s the biggest name in Japan so they wouldn’t risk him losing on the feet where he is the weakest. He was avoiding striking with me. The rules and the referees over there are always going to help him for sure.”

(MacGrath could raise his stock immensely with a win over a veteran like Aurelio.)

Cory MacDonald was hoping that his fight at MMA Live 1 against Marcus Aurelio would be his coming out party of sorts that would propel the highly-touted Kingston, Ontario native up the Canadian welterweight rankings. Unfortunately for MacDonald, he will have to wait for his opportunity to open the eyes of fans, pundits and possibly the powers that be at the UFC, as he has been forced to pull out of the May 19 London, Ontario show for undisclosed medical reasons.

Stepping in for McDonald on just over one week’s notice to face Aurelio (20-9) will be always game Halifax, Nova Scotia native Matt MacGrath (10-5). Although he is just 2-3 in his last five outings, each of his losses in that span came against UFC veterans in Kalib Starnes, Jonathan Goulet and Claude Patrick. MacGrath defeated TUF 9 quarter finalist Dean Amasinger at MMA: The Reckoning in Orillia, Ontario April 2.

(Tattoo advantage: Ford)

A welterweight bout between UFC vet Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Canadian prospect Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has been submitted to the Ontario Athletic Commission for approval for MMA Live’s inaugural card May 19 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada.

(Ford when he found out he was ripped off again.)

Ryan Ford has had it up to here with dishonest people in MMA.

Having split from Mark Pavelich, his manager and the promoter of the Canadian MFC organization where he fought the lion’s share of his fights in 2009 because of a contract dispute, “The Real Deal” moved on to Edmonton, Alberta promotion “The Fight Club” only to have TFC cancel a planned bout with Carlo Prater. Going against his better judgment, Ford, who now had a young baby to feed besides supporting himself and his girlfriend re-signed with the MFC.

Two fights later the brash Canadian welterweight fell out with Pavelich for the second time in as many years. This time the dispute wasn’t over contract terms, per se. It was regarding money Ford says he was owed nearly $2,700 by Pavelich for selling close to $22,000 in tickets to MFC shows since he returned to fight for the organization. The case is currently in litigation, but Ford is confident that he will win just like the last time the MFC boss tried to sue him.

“Mark came out and said that I was going to claim racism against him. I was like, ‘What is this guy talking about?’ I did an interview and the interviewer asked me about it and I said, ‘Number one, I have no idea what he’s talking about and number two, if he did say something racist about me we wouldn’t be settling it in the media. I would confront him to his face and we’d settle it personally.’ I don’t know what he eats for breakfast but that was pretty far out there,” Ford says. “He’s crazy. He didn’t pay for the lawyer’s bill from the last time he took [TFC] to court. He breached my contract, plain and simple and I moved on. I shouldn’t have been back with the MFC in the first place, but oh well. You live, you learn.”

By request, and courtesy of HDNet Fights, here’s the MFC 15 match between UFC vet Pete Spratt and top MFC welterweight contender Ryan Ford (who was slated to fight Drew Fickett for MFC’s vacant welterweight title this month before everything turned to shit). Ford gets rocked near the end of the first round, but answers back by nailing Spratt a good five seconds after the round ends — no point deducted by Herb Dean there, but you’d better believe he takes a point later for shorts-pulling. The still-undefeated Ford mobs the muddled Spratt in the second frame, and eventually secures the flying rear-naked choke. Freakin’ Fickett…him and Ford would have been good together.

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