Main event: Vinny Lopez vs. Ryan Peake in a 185 lb. professional fight. Peake landed first with kicks then he shot for a takedown. Lopez sprawled, came to standing, threatened with a guillotine then took it to the mat. From back/side control Lopez worked strong GNP until Peake spun in, leaving Lopez in side control. After pinning Peake against the cage Lopez flurried with forearms and knees to the body. Finally Lopez transitioned to a crucifix and landed solid forearms to his opponent’s head to get the TKO win at 4:16 of round one.

Patrick Vallée vs. Brandon Thatch (170lbs)
Rd. 1. The fight ended almost as soon as it started. Vallée with a flying knee attempt that was met by a right uppercut from Thatch. The American then followed it up with several more punches and the referee was forced to put an end to the fight when the Frenchman went limp.
Brandon Thatch wins by TKO in Round 1, 0:15

Justin Salas and Joe Ellenberger are seen by many as the two best 155-pound fighters not yet signed to a major mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. That may have changed for one of them last night (Oct. 14, 2011) at Victory Fighting Championship (VFC) 36 at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Salas earned a hard fought unanimous decision over Ellenberger in the main event of the evening. Both fighters knew that winning this fight could lead to more than the VFC title, which wasn’t lost on Salas during the post fight interview, during which he called for a chance to compete in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

When two fighters with such good wrestling backgrounds square off, it’s either a lay and pray snooze fest or non-stop action. This fight was definitely the latter. Both fighters showed what a true MMA fight looks like.

Salas and Ellenberger went from going for the knockout to ground-and-pound to submission attempts, with a good dose of “Holy Sh*t” moments thrown in on both sides. Whether it would be Salas’s big right hooks of Ellenberger’s flying knees, the crowd was on their feet for the entire five round affair.

In the end, Salas’s speed, footwork and, surprisingly, cardio seemed to get the best of Ellenberger.  He made a point of saying that Trevor Wittman, his coach at Grudge Training Center, put him through the hardest camp of his life for this fight, and it showed at the end of the fight when he looked like he could go five more rounds.

With both fighters saying they expect to eventually see the other in the UFC, this victory may have put Justin on the fast track. Only time will tell. But, these will both be names you will here in the future.

Submission of the Night – Alvin Robinson for his impressive display of crisp jiu jitsu, choking Adam Lorenz unconscious for the Featherweight Title.

Former UFC middleweight contenderNate Marquardt will be making his next appearance at BAMMA 8 in December, and he has his sights set solely on one opponent.

His name is Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley.

Following Marquardt’s release from the UFC, Daley, along with several other fighters, jumped on the bandwagon to attack the Colorado based competitor, and whether the charges they made were legitimate or not, Marquardt was definitely listening to them all.

Now with his debut set for December, Marquardt was set to call out Daley and make their fight a reality, but now he’s hearing that the Brit won’t be appearing on the card.

“I was hoping to fight Paul and I heard the same thing, I heard he put it on his website or something that he’s not going to be fighting in BAMMA in December, or at least he’s not going to be fighting me in December,” Marquardt said in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio.

“I don’t know what to think about that. I think it’s still a possibility.”

Daley released a statement via his website stating, “I’m sorry to announce that I will not be fighting on the BAMMA 8 card in Nottingham on 10th December. Details as to why I will not be appearing on this card will remain undisclosed.”

Marquardt isn’t letting up, however, because he wants to face Daley in the cage, but he’s not sure that Daley is up to the task.

“I don’t know if he’s scared that he can’t make weight or what. I don’t get it,” Marquardt stated. “Doesn’t make sense to me. I know he would be willing to fight me, but I just don’t know what his reason is for putting that. I don’t know what the deal is.”

BAMMA officials have remained mum regarding Daley’s statement or why he won’t be competing on the card. Daley is currently scheduled to fight in Montreal in October against American Top Team fighter Luigi Fioravant in the main event of Ringside MMA.

Marquardt says prior to last weekend’s BAMMA 7 card in England where he flew over to catch the event and do a media tour, he had never met Daley. The UFC veteran admits their meeting was cordial and he even wished Daley luck for his fight that weekend against Jordan Radev.

“It could have something to do with the first time I met him. The first time I met him was over in England, and maybe he realized ‘holy crap, this guy is a lot bigger than me,’” Marquardt joked. “I really don’t know what the reason is, I still hope it happens though.”

Marquardt isn’t giving up however. He’s hoping that he gets to fight for the BAMMA welterweight title in December, and he wants it to be against the promotion’s last champion in Paul Daley.

“No matter what he says, I think there’s still a good chance,” Marquardt commented about facing Daley.

BAMMA 8 is set to go down in Nottingham, England on Dec. 10.

Duane “Bang” Ludwig is just coming off of a recent win over Amir Sadollah at UFC on Versus 5 in early August, but he’s been a busy man since outscoring Sadollah over the course of their three-round bout. He’s already had neck surgery, made much headway in getting his name in the UFC record books, and is amping up his action figure collection, among other things.

Ludwig recently took time out of his day at his gym, the 303 Training Center, to talk exclusively with Conner Cordova at MMAWeekly.com.

For those that don’t know, Ludwig stepped across the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 3 several years ago, immediately knocking out Jonathan Goulet… no feeling out process, no dancing around, no exchanges, just Bang! The official time didn’t stop until 11 seconds, which is how his victory was recorded. But numerous reviews of the fight footage show the referee waiving off the bout at around the four to five second mark, which would make it the fastest knockout in UFC history.

There’s been a recent push from others for Ludwig to take action, so he has. He started a Facebook petition and gather video and photographic evidence to present to the Nevada State Athletic Commission in an attempt to correct the time of knockout.

Ludwig talked with MMAWeekly.com about the progress he’s made to set the record straight, his fight with Sadollah, gave us an update on his neck surgery, and much, much more… including the safety of his collection of MMA action figures.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission is sympathetic to Duane “Bang” Ludwig’s claim to the UFC record for fastest knockout.

And it’s currently looking into what can be done.

NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer today contacted the Nevada Attorney General’s Office to see if there’s a legal basis for changing the result of Ludwig’s 11-second knockout of Jonathan Goulet, which took place in January 2006 at UFC Fight Night 3 (and by all indications ended around the four- or five-second mark).

“A lot of people, including me, would love to change Josh Barnett’s win over Randy Couture to a no-contest, or Tim Sylvia’s win over Gan McGee to a no-contest, but we don’t have that authority,” Kizer today told MMAjunkie.com(www.mmajunkie.com).

(Both fighters failed post-fight drug tests after their wins.)

Ludwig’s latest request actually is the second his camp has made to the NSAC about changing the result. The first occurred in mid-2006 after Kizer took office as the commission’s executive director. A similar inquiry to the state’s attorney general was unsuccessful.

“Back then, they said there’s nothing in the statute or the regulations that allows it to be changed, and that was pretty much the end of it,” Kizer said. “I don’t know if anything’s different now, but I want to see.

“Maybe there’s something the prior attorney general didn’t consider with this.”

Ludwig (21-11 MMA, 4-2 UFC) sent a packet to the NSAC in recent weeks that contained a video of the fight (obtained from the UFC), as well as a link to a Facebook petition to have the result changed. Additionally, there was a picture of him alongside official record-holder Todd Duffee, who was clocked at seven seconds for his KO of Tim Hague at UFC 102, smiling and holding up four fingers while Duffee held up seven.

Ludwig’s Facebook petition now has in excess of 5,600 “likes” on Facebook.

“Hopefully that gets locked down,” he told MMAjunkie.com Radio. “That would be cool.”

The Denver native’s next task is to get healthy. Ludwig today goes into surgery for a compressed disc in his neck that he suffered in camp for a fight with Amir Sadollah at UFC on Versus 5.

Although Ludwig dominated the fight en route to a decision victory, he did not prepare properly as a result of the injury.

“I literally sparred one time for [the] camp,” he said.

With highlight reel slams and a pedigree that includes three state championships and All-American status as a collegiate wrestler, expectations are high for Colorado lightweight Justin Gaethje.

“It feels real good,” said Gaethje. “It gives me inspiration to work hard and hopefully live up to the potential that they put up there.”

In eight total fights, Gaethje is undefeated, including a 61-second destruction of Kevin Croom at Ring of Fire 41 on Aug. 20.

The transition to successful MMA fighter from wrestler has been something Gaethje has been looking forward to as he finishes up his career at the University of Northern Colorado this year.

“I kind of look at MMA as a different sport; I have new goals that I want to do with that,” he said. “I wrestled for such a long time that I’m ready to move on to different things.

“I’ve been working on my boxing down at the Grudge (Training Center) and am trying to become an all-around fighter and take the fight wherever it goes.”

Working with the likes of UFC veterans Nate Marquardt, Duane “Bang” Ludwig, and Eliot Marshall, Gaethje has had no choice but quickly adapt or be left behind with the level of talent at Grudge.

“They don’t mess around down there,” said Gaethje. “They get after it, and if I’m not at the top of my game, they make me pay for it there.”

One area that’s understandably been the hardest for Gaethje to adapt to in MMA is the stand-up game.

“It’s actually really hard transitioning from wrestling to boxing because the stances are so much different and you have to keep your weight distributed differently,” he said. “It’s just really hard to get used to, and that’s my biggest problem.”

Still, Gaethje’s background allows him to get out of trouble when needed.

“I feel that my wrestling really helps me control a lot of positions,” he said. “Even when I’m not comfortable on my feet, I can get to the clinch and at least get comfortable enough to control the fight there.

“A lot of guys who have never worked the clinch don’t really know what to do with their hips. Being a wrestler, I just like to throw people.”

With an upcoming fight in October, and a return invitation to participate in Ring of Fire’s year end show, Gaethje is on the fast track towards big things, and he doesn’t plan on backing down any time soon.

“I just want to keep fighting and hopefully knocking people out,” he said. “I just love competing and whatever comes, comes. It doesn’t matter who they want me to fight, I’m always ready to fight and I’m you’re never going to get a dull fight from me.”

Former middleweight, Amir Sadollah, took on veteran lightweight, Duane Ludwig, in a welterweight fight tonight from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisc., which kicked off the UFC on Versus 5 broadcast.

Heading into the bout, it was a match up between two 170-pound Muay Thai-based fighters “toiling in obscurity.” Ludwig made it crystal clear that he intends to emerge from the division’s murky water … for now, anyway.

Both men came out doing what they do best, striking, exchanging punches, kicks and knees in a classic kickboxing clinic. Ludwig landed a big looping left midway through the first round, which hurt The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 winner bad. Sadollah never went down, however, even though “Bang” connected with several more shots.

Sadollah, in typical fashion, weathered the storm and made it to the second round. He wouldn’t fare much better in round two, getting beaten to the punch and rocked several times. Nonetheless, he once again hung tough and was able to see the start of the final frame.

He actually did more than just see it — he probably performed better in it than the two previous. Sadollah, fatigued, pushed the pace and landed several key (slow motion) strikes. But it was once again a case of too little, too late.

Ludwig went on to earn a unanimous decision victory, snapping Sadollah’s two fight win streak and extending his own to two.

One door opens, another closes.

In each division in the UFC, there is a pecking order. Sometimes it’s a bit muddled and unclear, but overall, it’s easy to see where each fighters fits in his respective weight class.

At UFC on Versus 5: “Hardy vs. Lytle” tonight (Aug. 14, 2011) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there are two welterweights who will go to war that are toiling away in obscurity. Both Amir Sadollah and Duane Ludwig are just trying to find their place at 170-pounds.

Sadollah ran through the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season seven against tough enough competition that his hype was considerable, the most for a TUF winner in years. However, a series of unfortunate events led to his first debut getting pushed back to over a year from the date he earned the glass trophy.

And then he lost, quickly, to the then unheralded Johny Hendricks. He recovered with solid wins over Phil Baroni and Brad Blackburn but couldn’t withstand the grappling prowess of Dong Hyun Kim and went back to square one.

Ludwig and his superior stand-up skills and widely regarded as a tough gamer.

Consider: the biggest wins in his career came against Jens Pulver and Genki Sudo back-to-back in 2003.

Of course, it’s never too late to turn it around and prove he’s more than just a curtain-jerker. And what better place to do it than Milwaukee, what better time on tonight at UFC on Versus 5.

Defeating Sadollah will not redeem him of his high profile losses, but it will go a long way in showing he’s more contender than attraction.

The same goes for Amir. It’s time to make a move and make it soon.