Bustamante came away with a Unanimous Decision win after nearly two years on the shelf, improving his overall record to 15-8-1 in the process. The result also marked the second time the former UFC middleweight champ has beaten Menne with the first coming at UFC 35 in 2002. Other notable instances of past success for the slick grappler include those over Ikuhisa Minowa and Matt Lindland.

A few other fighters with Zuffa ties also picked up victories at the event including Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Pete Spratt. The first two picked up finishes with “The Predator” knocking out Gustavo Machado in the opening round of their featured bout and Leites tapping Matt Horwich with an Arm-Triangle Choke, while Spratt won a hard-fought decision over Daniel Acacio.

Read below for a full list of AFC 2 results:

Luiz Fernando def. Pablo Javier Llampa via TKO (Strikes)
Rivaldo Junior def. Marcelo Rojo via Unanimous Decision
Emiliano Sordi def. Fabiano Capoani via TKO (Strikes)
Dileno Lopes def. Javier Ocampo via Submission
Ronys Torres def. Ferrid Kheder via TKO Round 1 (Strikes)
Pete Spratt def. Daniel Acacio via Unanimous Decision
Patrick Cote def. Gustavo Machado via Knockout Round 1 (Strikes)
Thales Leites def. Matt Horwich via Submission Round 2 (Arm-Triangle Choke)
Murio Bustamante def. Dave Menne via Unanimous Decision

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Rosholt’s fifth straight win came with the additional bonus of avenging his last loss, a November 2010 knockout to Matt Horwich. The 12-3 Texan fought off Horwich’s attack for fifteen minutes while getting the better of enough exchanges to earn a Unanimous Decision against the ever-unique master of the “multiverse”. The performance brought Rosholt’s record to 6-1 since parting ways with the UFC and was the first time he’d gone the distance in a fight with eleven finishes to his credit.

The heavyweight “Suave” on the card fared much better than his middleweight brother-in-nickname, as Rodriguez dispatched of opponent Doug Williams in prompt fashion with a Rear-Naked Choke a few minutes into the opening round of their match-up. The win was the twelfth in a row for Rodriguez who hasn’t tasted defeat in over two years.

Here is a full breakdown of Shark Fights 17 results:

Matt Hobar def. Jay Flores via Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)
Victor Hernandez def. Quaint Kempf via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Alan Jouban def. Andrew Goldthwaite via Knockout Round 3
Erik Perez def. Douglas Frey via Unanimous Decision
Emanuel Newton def. Ilir Latifi via Unanimous Decision
Ricco Rodriguez def. Doug Williams via Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)
Jake Rosholt def. Matt Horwich via Unanimous Decision

PHOTO CREDIT – SHARK FIGHTS

According to middleweight grappler Matt Horwich by way of Facebook, he will attempt to end 27-year old Brazilian Danillo Villefort‘s current three-fight win streak on the main card with the match-up being shown live as part of a HDNet broadcast.

The 26-17-1 Horwich is coming off a TKO win over highly-decorated amateur wrestler Jake Rosholt this past November. Prior to the strike-based success “Suave” had gone 1-1 with a split decision loss in Bellator to Eric Schambari and submission win over former UFC title-contender Thales Leites.

The fight will be Villefort’s second under the Shark Fights banner with a unanimous decision win over respected veteran Joey Villasenor last September at Shark Fights 13. The American Top Team product is 12-3 including eight wins in his last nine fights. He has yet to be tapped in his career while twenty of Horwich’s total victories have come by way of submission.

Five Ounces of Pain has confirmed the match-up with officials from the promotion as well as sources attached to the former IFL 185-pound champion’s camp.

Matching Horwich’s mastery on the mat, Santana has earned thirteen of his fifteen wins by way of tap-out including twelve armbars hence his nickname “The Arm Collector”. His only loss is the result of a split decision against Jamie Jara at a ShoXC event in 2008.

Read below for a full rundown of the MMA portion of the 2/26 card:

Peter Baltimore vs. Hugo Sandoval
Adam Rothweilder vs. Thomas Casarez
Richard Schiller vs. Tyler Weathers
Aaron Wetherspoon vs. TBA
Brent Cooper vs. Hector Carillo
Christophe Saunders vs. Joe Nicholas*
Lorenz Larkin vs. Richard Hales*
Giva Santana vs. Matt Horwich*

* – Title Fight

Headlining the card was former All-American wrestler and Bellator Season 2 veteran Carey Vanier squaring off against battle-tested UFC veteran Rich “No Love” Clementi for a spot in the upcoming Bellator Lightweight Tournament. It was an opportunity for the up-and-coming Vanier to redeem himself following Season 2 Tournament Semi-Final defeat at the hands of “2009 Submission of the Year” winner Toby Imada and the former training partner of fellow Bellator lightweight Roger Huerta took full advantage of it. Vanier weathered the early storm from the seasoned Louisiana-based favorite, escaping several submission attempts, before taking the fight to Clementi in his own backyard, scoring multiple takedowns and landing several heavy knees that opened a nasty gash over the eye of the veteran of over fifty fights on his way to the split decision victory.*

Rounding out the main card was four-time All-American and NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion Eric Larkin, who made his Bellator debut against fellow undefeated prospect Marcus Andrusia. The decorated wrestler made his debut with the promotion count, as the former Arizona State Sun Devil landed a devastating head kick just seconds into the first round before ultimately utilizing his extensive wrestling background to lock up an air-tight guillotine choke submission early in the opening round to pick up his third professional victory in impressive fashion.

In 145-pound action, Season 2 Featherweight Semifinalist Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan took on hard-hitting WEC veteran Anthony Leone. Karakhanyan was the aggressor from the opening bell, scoring with a variety of strikes and takedowns to out-hustle Leone in a closely contested fight on his way to the split decision victory.

Fellow Season 2 Semi-Finalist Eric Schambari returned to the Bellator cage to face off with eccentric Bellator and UFC veteran Matt Horwich in a grueling middleweight battle. The powerful Schambari took control of the fight early, punishing Horwich with heavy leather often during the first two rounds while the relentless “fan of the multi-universe” continued to march forward, answering with strikes of his own before a late takedown from Schambari left little doubt to the result. When the dust had a chance to settle following three hard-fought rounds from both men, Schambari left the cage with the victory on his record via split decision.

A full list of results from the event are listed below:

Scott O’Shaughnessy def. Gabe Woods via submission (Armbar) – Round 3, 2:11
Charlie Rader def. Josh Rafferty via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1, 1:14
Jonathan Mackles def. Brock Kerry via Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Tony Roberts def. Kelvin Doss via Submission (Punches) – Round 1
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Anthony Leone via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30 27)
Eric Schambari def. Matt Horwich via Split Decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)
Eric Larkin def. Marcus Andrusia via Submission (Guillotine Choke) – Round 1, 2:46
Carey Vanier def. Rich Clementi via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

* – The knee opening up the cut on Clementi’s brow was illegally landed but did not result in a point-deduction

Bellator 28 headliner Carey Vanier registered in at 156 pounds for his bout against UFC veteran Rich Clementi, while the Louisiana native measured in at 155.6 pounds himself. Vanier made it as far as the semi-final round of Bellator’s Season 2 lightweight tournament before being submitted by Toby Imada, while Clementi will be making his promotional debut with notable wins in his career over Anthony Johnson, Terry Etim, and Sam Stout.

Also on the card, former IFL champ Matt Horwich came in at 185.6 pounds in hopes of stringing together a second consecutive win by beating another Bellator Season 2 Tournament Semi-Finalist, Eric Schambari. Horwich recently snapped a two-fight losing streak by submitting BJJ specialist Thales Leites on August 14th at PWP‘s “War on the Mainland” event.

His opponent, Schambari, is 12-2 as a professional and had won five fights in a row before being choked out by Bryan Baker last May at Bellator 20.

The full results of the weigh-ins are as follows:

Scott O’Shaughnessy (155.8 lbs.) vs. Gabe Woods (153.8 lbs.)
Josh Rafferty (169.2 lbs) vs. Charlie Rader (170.8 lbs)
Jonathan Mackles (135.6 lbs) vs. Brock Kerry (135.8 lbs)
Tony Roberts (229.6 lbs) vs. Kelvin Doss (232.8 lbs)
Tonny Canales (151.8 lbs) vs. J.C. Pennington (154.8 lbs)
Marcus Andrusia (155.4 lbs) vs. Eric Larkin (155.4 lbs)
Matt Horwich (185.6 lbs) vs. Eric Schambari (184.2 lbs)
Anthony Leone (146 lbs) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (145.4 lbs)
Carey Vanier (156 lbs) vs. Rich Clementi (155.6 lbs)

Headlining the card will be a lightweight battle between Season 2 Lightweight semifinalist Carey Vanier (9-3) and explosive UFC veteran Rich “No Love” Clementi (37-16-1).

Vanier TKO’d his way into the semi-finals in Season 2, but fell to submission specialist Toby Imada at Bellator 17. Vanier will be hungry for a win at Bellator 29, which marks his first fight back since the loss to Imada.

An eight year Navy veteran and eleven year, 54-fight MMA veteran, Clementi comes to Bellator Fighting Championships after spending the last decade fighting some of the toughest opponents MMA has to offer. Well known for stopping his opponents early, 20 of No Love’s 36 victories have come via submission with another nine being finished via KO or TKO.

Also on the card, will be a closely contested match-up between two powerful middleweights when Bellator Season 2 semifinalist Eric Schambari (12-2) takes on battle-tested UFC veteran Matt Horwich (25-15-1).

In featherweight action, hard-hitting Season 2 semifinalist Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (13-2-1) collides with dangerous WEC veteran Anthony Leone (8-1).

Karakhayan is understandably eager for a victory after dropping a unanimous decision to eventual Season 2 Featherweight Champion Joe Warren at Bellator 18.

The Fox Sports Net event will also feature an exciting lightweight fight between fast-rising NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion Eric Larkin and up-and-coming Louisiana native Marcus Andrusia.

“We’re happy to be headed o New Orleans,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “This event has some great fights scheduled and it should make for a great night of fights for New Orleans fans.”

Perhaps most notably, former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia officially measured in at 274 pounds. The number is actually thirty pounds down from his weight in his last bout, against Mariusz Pudzianowski at Moosin last May, and only twelve pounds heavier than he was in his final Octagon appearance against Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in February 2008.

“War on the Mainland” features Sylvia and Paul Buentello locking horns over the PWP Heavyweight Championship, as well as UFC veteran Jason Lambert fighting late replacement Tony Lopez for the light heavyweight belt and former IFL 185-pound champ Matt Horwich facing submission-specialist Thales Leites for the middleweight title.

Additionally, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver and hard-hitting journeyman Terry Martin are slated for action at the show. Pulver measured in at 155.4 pounds, meaning his recent run at featherweight appears to be over, while Martin came in at an even 170 pounds in preparation for his bout against 16-6-1 Jorge Ortiz.

The official results of the weigh-ins are as follows:

A.J. Matthews (168.8 lbs) vs. Sean Choice (169.4 lbs)
Todd Willingham (154.8 lbs) vs. Cleber Luciano (153.8 lbs)
Joao Silva (153.4 lbs) vs. Erin Beach (154.4 lbs)
Jorge Ortiz (169 lbs) vs. Terry Martin (170 lbs)
Gustavo Machado (185.8 lbs) vs. Rick Reeves (183 lbs)
Jens Pulver (155.4 lbs) vs. Diego Garijo (153.8 lbs)
Matt Horwich (185.4 lbs) vs. Thales Leites (184.6 lbs)
Jason Lambert (203.8 lbs) vs. Tony Lopez (204.6 lbs)
Tim Sylvia (274.4 lbs) vs. Paul Buentello (251.6 lbs)*

* – Bout is being contested with 275-pound maximum rather than the standard 265-pound limit for heavyweights

The 40-fight veteran faces his newest challenge this weekend, Thales Leites, at Powerhouse World Promotion’s upcoming “War on the Mainland” show in Irvine, California for the PWP Middleweight strap. Leites, who has won three consecutive bouts since parting ways with the UFC, is 17-3 as a professional and considered to be one of the better BJJ-based fighters in Mixed Martial Arts.

Five Ounces of Pain had a chance to speak to Horwich about the challenge Leites provides and how he’s approaching this weekend’s match-up. Though “Suave” considers the Brazilian to be on par with Ricardo Almeida in terms of the offering the best jiujitsu he’s faced in his career, he also didn’t hesitate to express his opinion the fight could also involve a decent amount of striking when asked whether or not he felt the action would focus on stand-up or be purely a ground war.

“I’m thinking both. We’re both well-rounded fighters by the Great Spirit’s grace!”

Horwich also stated he was approaching the five-round affair like any other bout, going so far as to say he prefers the potential for twenty-five minutes – even longer – as opposed to a non-title fifteen.

Said Horwich, “No, I like five rounds better. I think they should have special seven-round fights for guys like us.”

In closing, “Suave” parted with the humility and spirituality fans have come to expect from the 24-15-1 veteran.

“I want to give a big thanks and a shout out to Chris Reilly and my team at “Legends” – Eddy Bravo, everyone at 10th Planet, Melee Fight Wear…and everyone should see Wilmer Valderama’s new movie, “The Dry Land”. He’s one of the nicest famous dudes and part of our family at Legends…God Bless and have a beautiful day everyone! Every day is a new day of adventure and limitless possibilities by Jesus’ grace and surfing the infinitely exhilarating current of creativity!!!”

“War on the Mainland” takes place at the Bren Events Center on Saturday, August 14th, and will be available on cable/satellite PPV starting at 7:00PT/10:00ET. Beyond Horwich vs. Leities, the card also features title fights between UFC alumnus Jason Lambert and eight-time World BJJ champion Allan Goes, as well as the hard-hitting Paul Buentello vs. 2X UFC Heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia.

The news was first reported by MMA Weekly.

Miller last competed at UFC Fight Night 15, submitting Rob Kimmons via rear naked choke in the first round. He was also the last IFL middleweight champion before the promotion closed its doors. Coincidentally, Horwich was also the IFL middleweight champion at one point so this fight pits former IFL 185 lbs. champions against one another.

Horwich, who trains out of Team Quest, will be making his UFC debut. Horwich posted a 7-4 record in the IFL competing at both light heavyweight and middleweight and last competed at an IFL show in May of this year defeating Joey Guel via unanimous decision.

UFC 90 is set to feature a middleweight title matchup between Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote as well as a welterweight matchup between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves.

Horwich, a member of Matt Lindland’s Team Quest in Portland, Ore., is 23-10-1 overall in his MMA career. He posted a 7-4 record in the IFL with notable victories over Mike Pyle, Brian Foster, and Benji Radach.

With his win over Radach this past December during the league’s World Grand Prix finals, Horwich became the IFL’s first-ever middleweight champion. However, Horwich lost the title to Ryan McGivern in his first-ever defense this past February in Las Vegas.

The 30-year old last competed during the IFL’s last-ever show on May 16 in Connecticut, where he recorded a unanimous decision victory over former training partner Joey Guel.

Horwich is the latest in a long line of former IFL fighters to enlist with the UFC, a list that includes Rory Markham, Andre Gusmao, Brad Blackburn, Jim Miller, Dan Miller, Mike Massenzio, and Reese Andy.

Horwich’s opponent, Almeida, is 9-3 overall in an MMA career that dates back to 2000. A black belt under the legendary Renzo Gracie, Almeida operates his own school in New Jersey and has an extensive background as a competitive grappler.

He returned to competitive MMA after nearly a four-year absence this past February at UFC 81, where he needed just 1:08 of round 1 to submit Rob Yundt with a guillotine choke.

Almeida most recently fought on July 5 at UFC 86 in a featured bout vs. Patrick Cote in which the winner would earn a title shot against current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Following a split decision loss to Cote sis lifetime record in the UFC fell to 2-3. Prior to his return at UFC 81, Almeida had previously competed in the UFC between 2001-2002. He is also a veteran of PRIDE and Pancrase.

UFC 90 will take place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., located just outside of Chicago. The event is scheduled to be headlined by a title defense by Silva against Cote. A welterweight bout between Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez is also being advertised and the UFC has also officially announced a previously reported matchup between Thales Leites and Goran Reljic.

The news comes from EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw who was a recent guest on MMA Weekly radio.

From MMA Weekly:

“Obviously the back injury happened (to Shields) and the easiest thing to do was move him to Hawaii to fight Drew,” said Shaw in the interview with MMAWeekly Radio. “Unfortunately since then Drew Fickett has hurt his knee and he’s not going to be able to take that fight on June 14 and that will be rescheduled again.”

By “rescheduled again,” Shaw is referring to a scheduled March 29th bout between the two that didn’t go through due to Shields’ aforementioned back injury.

In addition to revealing Fickett’s injury, Shaw also announced five bouts for the June 14th show set to take place in Hawaii. The bouts are as follows:

• K.J. Noons vs. Yves Edwards (for EliteXC’s lightweight title)
• Nick Diaz vs. Muhsin Corbbrey
• Murilo Rua vs. Tony Bonello
• Wayne Cole vs. Rafael Feijao
• Dave Herman vs. Ron Waterman

Read more EliteXC content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

Remember back in the day when MTV used to spotlight new bands that they believed were about to break out? Well, my vision for “Bring the Pain” is similar.

My hope is that when you start hearing from these guys on a mainstream level that FiveOuncesOfPain.com and “Bring the Pain” will either be the first place you heard about the fighter or at least a place where you got to learn a lot more.

The first fighter I selected for this new feature is 30-year old heavyweight prospect Jon Murphy. Murphy is a bruiser from Minersville, PA that I initially became familiar with because of his ties to the local fight scene in the New Jersey area. I became aware of Jon while I trained at the MFS-affiliate in Philly when several guys from the school that were fighting on the same cards would come back raving about him.

Jon is unique for the heavyweight division in that he brings more athleticism than your typical heavyweight fighter. But you have to be a good athlete in order to go to Syracuse on a football scholarship as a middle linebacker.

Murphy utilized his outstanding strength, speed, quickness and agility to build a 3-0 record in his first three fights. His third win was especially impressive, as he defeated former UFC fighter Sherman Pendergarst and claimed the Extreme Challenge Northeast Heavyweight Title by recording a TKO at 2:16 of round one during EC 75 in Trenton, NJ this past March.

Soon after the win over Pendergarst, Murphy agreed to participate in a heavyweight tournament at Extreme Challenge 76. It was an eight day turnaround after the Pendergarst win but the promise of a Pride contract for the winner was too much to pass up. He ended up facing current UFC fighter Houston Alexander in the opening round and suffered the first loss of his amateur and pro MMA career following a knockout at 0:56 of round one.

Murphy then suffered his second loss on a King of the Cage card , losing a two round unanimous decision to Chase Gormley in April.

Coming off two consecutive losses, Murphy is poised for a comeback. Bouncing back successfully is nothing he hasn’t done before, as Murphy is ten months clean and sober after seeking treatment for alcoholism late last year.

He’ll look to get back to his winning ways on August 25 against undefeated heavyweight prospect Tony Bonello in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It will mark the first time Murphy has fought on live national television, as the card will be televised on Showtime as EliteXC’s second-ever ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series event.

Following a recent training session in Philadelphia in preparation for Bonello, Murphy took time out to do an interview with me…

Sam Caplan: You went to the University of Syracuse on a football scholarship. Were you there at the same time as Donovan McNabb?

Jon Murphy: Yes I was.

Q: Did you have a chance to get to know McNabb as a person?

JM: I got to know him reasonably well for the short period of time that I was at Syracuse. He’s a real personable guy and was very open, no matter who you were. Right away he was cool. He’s a prankster; he was always smiling. During the time I was there I didn’t notice a time when he wasn’t smiling. He’s a hard worker, a true gentleman, and a class act.

He was Mr. Syracuse when I was up there. Everybody was talking about Donovan McNabb, and not necessarily because of his athletic ability — which was a huge part of it — but just the fact that he’s a good person. He’s a fun person to be around and a very likable guy. From the moment I met him I knew he was a good person to be around.

Q: I know you’re from PA, are you an Eagles fan?

JM: I’m an Eagles fan. The fact that Donovan went there made me more of an Eagles fan. I was a fan during the days of Andre Waters, Randall Cunningham and Reggie White. I’m actually a Chicago Bears fan by heart but Donovan made me more of a fan of the Eagles. So I do follow the Eagles now more than I ever have.

Q: Have you kept in touch with him at all? Does he know what you’re up to these days?

JM: No, I haven’t. I would love to get to meet up again with him some time and just say “what’s up.” Once I left Syracuse that was the last contact I had with him. Would he know me if we met up again? I would venture to say that yeah, he would probably remember me and we’d probably be able to kick it off again and greet each other with a handshake and a smile.

Q: Is it true that you took a break from MMA to do some pro boxing?

JM: Yes, I did. I took a break from MMA and I had an injury a week out before my fight — actually nine days before my first professional fight was supposed to happen. I injured my back and it put me out. I was almost crippled as my back was all contorted and all out of place. I could barely stand up let alone throw a punch. That was back in 2005, my first fight was going to be in September of that year. So I took a little bit of a break and I had fought Golden Gloves prior to that and was 10-1 as an amateur.

I’m a licensed professional boxer in the state of Pennsylvania but I’ve never had a pro fight. I’d still like to box professionally and I’ll probably do so later this year if contractual obligations will allow it.

Q: Your next fight will be for Showtime on Aug. 25 against Tony Bonello in Vicksburg, Miss. Have you signed a contract with Pro Elite?

JM: Yes I have. I’ve signed a contract with Pro Elite/EliteXC.

Q: Is it a multi-fight deal?

JM: Yes, it’s a three fight deal.

Q: Do you have other fights already lined up for after ShoXC?

JM: I’ve had two opponents pull out on me so I don’t know who my opponent is but I’ll be fighting September 14 in Mexico City for Extreme Combat in the Cage, a promotion run by Ed Hsu and another group. First and foremost though I’m looking forward to the fight with Bonello.

Q: My understanding is that you’ve spent some time recently at the Fight Factory in Philly where Eddie Alvarez trains and at the MFS Philly affiliate where guys like Aaron Miesner and Matt Makowski train. Are you looking at changing camps?

JM: I’m just looking for extra training right now. I have a great camp with the Anthracite Combat Club. I have a camp where more than just the physical side of training is stressed. I have a lot of friends at Anthracite and guys that I’m close enough to that I consider them brothers. I don’t plan on leaving them but it’s also understood that we’re in an area where heavyweights aren’t that prevalent. We’re a rare breed up there (Minersville, PA) and my trainer understands that I need to go other places.

Q: For the benefit of novice fans out there who might not be familiar with you, can you name a fighter whose style you feel is similar to yours?

JM: I think my style is unique but there are some fighters out there I might be comparable to. Andrei Arlovski comes to mind but I’m not going to play the dance and boxing game. I mean, I do like to box but I’m not going to go in there and dance for three rounds. If I see an opportunity to take the fight to the ground then I’ll try to go to the ground and finish my opponent there. So I feel that there are some similarities as far as the athletic ability and the speed and quickness but I like to think I’m going to push — and I’m not saying that he doesn’t — Andrei is a great fighter but it seems like he’s changed his gameplan the last few fights and his aggressiveness is not there. I would like to say that I’m like Andrei Arlovski with a lot more aggression.

Q: You hold a win over UFC veteran Sherman Pendergarst. Is that your most satisfying win to date?

JM: Actually my most satisfying win — and that was a great win — but my most satisfying win to date is my fight December 9 of last year against Carlos Cline. Carlos basically beat the snot out of me for three rounds on the ground. I had spurts on the feet where I opened up and laid into him. At the time of the fight I had been away at rehab from October 18 to November 20 and I wasn’t going to take the fight because I had gone away to take care of that and the main objective up there was to get myself well. I came out of there (rehab) on a new spiritual level and when I came out of there I felt that the next thing I needed to do was get in the cage and take that fight.

I took that fight maybe on two weeks training and I pulled off a rolling kneebar about mid way through the third round and tapped Carlos out. So that was really a satisfying win because I felt like a changed person and the win was evidence of that. I had changed, and not that I couldn’t have beaten him before but I did it on two weeks training.

Q: During this interview you’ve alluded to some of the substance abuse problems in the past, which you’ve been open about in other interviews. Was there anything instrumental in helping you overcome those hurdles?

JM: First and foremost would be god. I think god works through people and I really believe that the people put around me, my mother and my father, they saw the degradation that was going on in front them. Their son was struggling and chopping himself down, and for what? They saw all this potential with intelligence and athletic ability and I was just wasting it. They pretty much steered me in the right direction.

Making that decision (to get help) is something that you have to do but god surrounded me with good people. They loved me and love can move mountains and I saw that love. But to see the hurt and pain in their eyes that was pretty much all the steering I needed.

Q: Where would you like to be a year from now in MMA?

JM: A year from now in MMA? I’d like to be the EliteXC heavyweight champion. From what I’ve seen this is a top organization and this is an organization I want to fight for. They run a show from what I’ve seen to be very professional and they treat fighters well. I trained with Frank Shamrock at one point and I know him well and I saw him fight Baroni and it seemed like a great organization to fight for.

If you’re interested in sponsoring Jon for his next fight, you can request more information by sending an e-mail to: ecfights@gmail.com