A 19-year-old beats a UFC vet, manager says former champ will return, Rampage is back (again), a Brit trash-talks a wrestler and two teams collide.
Each and every Friday, unless we miss one, we will bring you five stories that we found the most interesting from the world of mixed martial arts.
Five things that happened in MMA this week
1. Nate Quarry comes out of retirement to fight Jake Beckmann
Former UFC fighter Nate Quarry has been out of action for over five-years, but came out of retirement this past Saturday. It wasn’t with the UFC, but with Full Contact Fighting Federation’s Rumble at the Roseland event.
In a “super-fight exhibition” Quarry took on 19-year-old Jake Beckmann. The diehard MMA fan was born with Down syndrome, but that hasn’t forced him from training in his favorite sport.
Beckmann had asked his coach for a fight for some time and finally the exhibition match came to fruition. Late in the second round, the 19-year-old locked in a tight ankle lock to earn him the World Heavyweight Championship.
2. Georges St-Pierre’s manager Stephane Patry says he will fight one more time
The former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre will be back for one more fight… according to his manager. The Montreal native’s manager, Stephane Patry recently appeared on Ariel Helwani‘s The MMA Hour and eluded that St-Pierre is not done inside the cage.
“Georges is going to come back for one fight,” said Patry as transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMAFighting.com. “I can’t say he’s going to come back and go on a title run and do 10 fights, but I know for sure he’s going to come back for one fight.”
3. New Jersey courts let Rampage fight at UFC 186
Unfortunately for Steve Bosse, he will have to stay retired for a little bit longer. UFC officials have confirmed that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will in fact be able to compete at UFC 186 against Fabio Maldonado.
A court injunction that was placed earlier this month by the New Jersey State was lifted on Tuesday.
“We are happy with the decision from the New Jersey Court allowing Rampage to fight in Montreal this Saturday night,” UFC President Dana White said. “I am looking forward to seeing Rampage back in the Octagon.”
4. Michael Bisping says “This isn’t story time with mom and dad” when asked about CM Punk
Michael Bisping appeared on TSN’s Off The Record with Michael Landsberg and when asked about CM Punk joining the UFC ranks, he didn’t hold anything back.
5. TUF 21 Premiered
On Wednesday evening, the 21st season of The Ultimate Fighter premiered. The format of this season has changed and many fans feel it’s for the better. Two of the best teams in MMA, Blackzilians and American Top Team face off in a season like never before.
Coaches Glenn Robinson (Blackzilians) and Dan Lambert (ATT) do not care for each other. They have an ongoing dispute regarding the formation of the Blackzilians camp that escalated into a mutual personal hatred.
After ten years of the same thing, this change came as something necessary for TUF. I am very excited to see where it goes from here.
Catch it each and every Wednesday live on FOX Sports 1 (TSN in Canada.) If you missed the first episode you can catch our recap HERE.
