Lightweight Prospect Washington to Sign with MFC

Robert Washington is poised to become the newest addition to the roster of Canadian promotion Maximum Fighting Championship.

Sherdog.com has learned from a source close to the lightweight prospect that MFC has offered Washington a four-fight contract. Though not yet official, the deal is expected to be finalized imminently.

The 27-year-old holds a record of 9-1, with one no-contest. Washington has spent the bulk of his career fighting on and around the island of Guam, where he was stationed with the United States Navy and trained at Melchor Manibusan’s Spike 22 gym. Having recently returned to his native Illinois, Washington has taken up training with Matt Hughes’ H.I.T. Squad.

Washington’s most recent trip inside the cage resulted in a unanimous decision win over Tony Parker on Dec. 10 at a local show in Lawrenceburg, Ind. The win capped off a 5-1 year and served as a rebound for Washington, who suffered the first defeat of his professional career when he was knocked out by Ronnie Borja at PXC 20 in July. Prior to that loss, “The Beast” had reeled off eight consecutive wins, including five by way of stoppage.

Despite competing at welterweight against Parker, Washington is expected to return to 155 pounds under the MFC banner.

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Mineiros Top Paulistas, Prospect Silva Slips at Brazil Fight 3

Sunday, November 28, 2010
by Guilherme Pinheiro (gpinheiro@sherdog.com) Igor Fernandes destroys Marcelo Azevedo: Marcelo Alonso | Sherdog.com

Brazil Fight has quickly become the premier MMA event in the state of Minas Gerais. Saturday night, at the Chevrolet Hall in Belo Horizonte, the in-state fighters triumphed 4-1 over their Sao Paulo foes in a five-fight interstate series.

In the most shocking outcome of the Minas Gerais vs. Sao Paulo series -- and the only loss for the Mineiro side -- touted lightweight prospect Thiago Michel Pereira Silva lasted just 70 seconds against unheralded Alessandro Zoio.

Silva, who has been dubbed “The Anderson Silva of Belo Horizonte” for his prodigious striking, slipped while going for his first kick of the fight. Zoio followed him to ground, quickly getting his back. Zoio slowly put his hooks in, got the body triangle and finally submitted Silva with a rear-naked choke at just 1:10 in the first round.

“He might be the best 155-pound fighter in Brazil, but he slipped and I was able to finish him,” an elated Zoio said following the fight.

Alessandro Zoio pulled off the upset.

In the most controversial bout of the evening, local Joaquim "Mamute" Ferreira took an unpopular split decision over Edson "Conterraneo" Franca in a heavyweight contest.

After a competitive first round where “Mamute” -- the only man to ever defeat UFC title contender Junior dos Santos -- showed his grappling and “Conterraneo” showed his striking, the pair exhaustedly grappled for the following 10 minutes. Ferreira held top control in the second round, and Franca -- who daylights as a bricklayer -- forced Ferreira to turtle for the entire third round, bloodying his face with punches.

After the split decision in Ferreira’s favor was announced, Franca’s coach Miguel Repanas began arguing with crowd members, yelling that his fighter was robbed.

“He is a warrior and you are correct to support him,” Franca said, taking the house microphone and addressing the partisan crown. “The sport needs this.”

In lightweight action, Cesar "Gordim" Augusto earned a first-round stoppage over Udi Lima. “Gordim” was stuck in a deep armbar and looked to be on the verge of defeat. However, the hometown fighter was able to slam his way out of it and pounce on a disoriented Lima with punches to get the stoppage at 3:22 of the first round.

At 205 pounds, Cristiano "Titi" Lazzarini forced Walter Luis da Silva to quit in the second round. After spending almost the entire first round mounted on da Silva, “Titi” got another takedown in the second stanza. As soon as the fighters touched the ground, da Silva signaled to referee Marlon Sandro that he wanted out, giving Lazzarini the win at 4:05 in round two.

Edson Franca bloodied "Mamute,"
but couldn't get the decision win.Marcio Nunes came out throwing haymakers against Gustavo Franca. However, “Coelho” kept his composure, got a takedown, took Nunes’ back, and finished the fight with a rear-naked choke at 3:24 of the first round.

At Brazil Fight 2 in August, Igor “Chatubinha” Fernandes needed only 96 seconds to tap out Marcelo "Uirapuru" Azevedo with his trademark anaconda choke. In Saturday night’s finale, he needed just 18 seconds to knock him out.

Just seconds into the fight, Fernandes hit Azevedo with a humongous overhand right to the jaw, which put “Uirapuru” flat on the mat, clearly unconscious. Without breaking stride, Fernandes finished the job, dropping hammerfists on the unconscious Azevedo until referee Felipe Lima could intervene.

After the fight, a very emotional “Chatubinha” -- a popular fighting exponent of Rio’s favelas -- made a personal and political plea.

“I just want ask for peace in my community, Vila Cruzeiro,” said the teary-eyed fighter, calling for an end to the violence in one of the main battlegrounds of Rio de Janeiro’s ongoing outbreak of violence.

Cesar "Gordim" survived a nasty
armbar from Udi Lima.In a clash of 205-pound prospects, Natal native Ronny Markes halted Fernando Silva with strikes at 3:08 of the first round.

“Lageano” came out striking against his northeastern foe, but Markes surprised him by ending every exchange with a successful takedown. After Silva was able to get back up for a third time, Markes clipped him with a thunderous overhand right. Markes seized the opportunity and pounced on Lageano, finishing him with punches.

The win gets the 22-year-old Markes back in the win column, following his surprising first career loss on Oct. 7 to Paulo Rodrigues at Iron Man Championship 7.

Two-time Rio Heroes champion William Vianna won a razor-thin split decision over notorious local Mauricio Antonio "Faccao" Santos Jr., avenging his loss from Brazil Fight’s first edition this past March. The bout was mostly a bad display of poor striking, in which both fighters spent the contest hitting air. However, after 15 minutes, Vianna had landed the majority of hard blows, especially unchecked low kicks, and earned the split nod.

In Brazil Fight’s first-ever female fight, virtual unknown Juliana Carneiro earned split decision over Aline Serio in a lackluster affair. The two women spent the majority of the fight against the fence, with Serio stuffing Carneiro’s takedowns. However, Carneiro was able to land just enough offense with punches and knees to eke out the close decision.

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Sherdog Prospect Watch: Chris Lozano

Chris Lozano (Pictured) has been a professional mixed martial arts fighter for a little more than a year, but what a difference a year makes.

Sixteen months after making his professional debut with a 37-second knockout of Marcus Kuck at a North American Allied Fight Series even in Cleveland, Ohio, Lozano remains undefeated, with six stoppages -- all knockouts -- in as many fights. Those six wins include victories over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 semi-finalist Jason Dent and UFC veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

“I think he’s made unbelievable progress, but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg,” said Marcus Marinelli, Lozano’s coach at Strong Style MMA in Independence, Ohio. “Chris is really well-rounded. People have seen a lot of his stand-up game, but his wrestling is good. He’s a hard worker and has good fighting sense. He’s able to just flow with things as the fight goes along.”

A wrestler since the fifth grade, Lozano’s background also includes boxing -- he owns a 0-1 mark as a professional boxer -- and tae kwon do, a discipline in which he earned his red belt by the age of 17. He also holds a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Pablo Castro and hopes to test for his purple belt soon in front of Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros, Castro’s mentor and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar’s current BJJ coach.

“I love [Brazilian jiu-jitsu],” said Lozano. “I’ve got to go to Chicago to test. All of the wrestling, boxing and tae kwon do gave me a good base for MMA.”

Marinelli thinks Lozano’s all-around game has improved since he turned pro and expects Lozano to only get better with time.

“The strong point for Chris is his striking, but the other aspects of his game have improved by leaps and bounds,” said Marinelli. “He’s not just a striker. We want to continue making him better in everything and take the next step each day he’s in the gym. He’s already made a lot of progress, so there’s no need to change what we’re doing. We just have to keep making everything better.”

Lozano is coming off the most significant win of his career -- a stoppage of Yoshida at Bellator 31 in September. Yoshida took down Lozano in the first round, but he returned to his feet and soon took control of the bout with his striking, including a pair of spinning elbows. In the second round, Lozano used his jiu-jitsu to control where the fight took place and utilized ground-and-pound to close Yoshida’s right eye. After the second round, Yoshida’s corner stopped the fight.

“I had a long camp [going into the Yoshida fight],” said the 28-year-old Lozano. “I was in camp for 12 weeks because I had a fight scheduled with [UFC veteran] Chad Reiner for the end of August that fell out, and I got a call from Bellator right after that, so I just kept my camp going for four more weeks. It was a blessing to get that call from Bellator, and I know I’m doing the right things because I’m starting to fight guys with bigger names. I’ve always been motivated by doing the right things, and one of those is wanting to fight better and better guys.”

With the win over Yoshida, Lozano punched his ticket for Bellator’s Season 4 welterweight tournament. Along with Lozano, the draw already includes Dan Hornbuckle, Steve Carl and Brent Weedman. Undefeated Olympic judoka Rick Hawn appears to be another likely participant.

Lozano does not have a preference as to whom he faces in the tournament, but he wants to steer clear of Hornbuckle, if possible, for personal reasons.

“I’ll face anybody in the tournament,” said Lozano. “There’s not any one fighter that I don’t want to see, but one I definitely would rather not see until later in the tournament is [Hornbuckle]. We’ve traveled and trained together some and become friends during that time.”

Before the tournament starts, Lozano wants to stay busy, both in the gym and possibly by getting in another MMA fight or boxing match.

“I’m already back in the gym doing BJJ,” said Lozano. “I’m focused, and people don’t know and won’t know how focused I am until they see the results in my fights. People got a glimpse of what I can do in my last fight, but that’s just the beginning of what I can do.”

Photo courtesy of Bellator Fighting Championships.

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