Even without an Ultimate Fighting Championship or Bellator MMA event during the weekend of June 15-17, there were pivotal matchups taking place across three continents. Here are five of the highlights:
CHOKE ARTIST … A new CES MMA bantamweight champion was crowed at CES 50 on June 15 in Lincoln, Rhode Island. The clash between southpaws Andre Ewell and Dinis Paiva was closely contested in the first and second rounds. Early in the third, Paiva shot unsuccessfully for a takedown. Ewell immediately seized a hold of his rival’s neck, applied a brabo choke and kept squeezing, forcing Paiva to tap 36 seconds into Round 3.