Shawn Smith is a mixed martial arts journalist who has spent years writing about combat sports for a variety of publications and websites. On top of his work at MMAHQ, Shawn also is a writer for Undisputed Boxing Magazine, a columnist for The Fight Network, and a regular contributor to Cage Potato. You can email Shawn at swinfieldsmith@gmail.com, or follow his Twitter @shawn_w_smith.

If there is a good thing to be known for in the world of promoting mixed martial arts fights, it’s putting on entertaining and exciting fights. No mixed martial arts promotion in the world consistently does this like World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), and Wednesday night’s event was no exception to the rule. WEC 50, headlined [...]

In a recent interview with Tatame, DREAM featherweight champion Bibiano “Flash” Fernandes brought to light that he is yet to be paid for his DREAM 13 performance, a split decision victory over Joachim Hansen nearly five months ago. “Dream called me two days ago to offer me a fight at September 21 (at DREAM 16), [...]

a Daley knocking out Hazelett in impressive fashion at UFC 108 Following two straight one sided losses to Paul Daley and Rick Story at welterweight, Dustin “McLovin” Hazelett has decided to take his world class jiu-jitsu back down to lightweight for his next fight. In an interview with Heavy.com, Hazelett’s trainer Jorge Gurgel was quoted [...]

Although Joe Riggs and Louis Taylor may have been the main event for the evening, it was the women’s 135lb. tournament that was drawing all of the attention, and these women delivered. The night’s opening fight saw Maija Kujala (4-2) take on Meisha Tate (11-2). Although she was the least experienced member of the tournament, [...]

We are only a short time away from the much anticipated Bellator heavyweight tournament. The tournament has many interesting competitors and many interesting matchups. There are veterans of the sport who have been around nearly a decade and others who made their pro debut in 2010. There is talent from all over the world coming [...]

On Saturday August 7, 2010, there was a monumental change in the middleweight division of the UFC. No, Chael Sonnen did not defeat Anderson Silva and no, Sonnen did not take away the UFC Middleweight Championship. What he accomplished however, will have a lasting effect on the division. Heading into UFC 117, there were many [...]

UFC 117’s main event, and especially Chael Sonnen’s verbal bashing, have garnered all of the attention heading into Saturday’s huge pay per view, however; there are many other fights on the card that deserve their due. One in particular that is not getting any attention is the welterweight showdown between Renzo Gracie student Ricardo Almeida, [...]

Going into Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers card, I along with many others were confused by Strikeforce. We were puzzled by the company’s decision to not only have their women’s 135lb. champion defend her title on a Challengers Series card, but also to have it not be the main-event of the evening. Instead of writing a [...]

This is not going to be a list of every top free agent out there. I left those off the list who are known for their disruptive behaviour, whether it’s through steroids (Barnett), skipping fights at the last minute (Parisyan, Filho), or trying to punch their opponents after the bell (Daley). Strikeforce has enough trouble [...]

Friday afternoon I came home and sat down at the computer. I turned on the computer with the intention of seeing what was new in the mixed martial arts world. There are a few things I expected. I knew the DREAM 15 weigh-in results would be released by then. I figured there would be some [...]

Coming into Saturday nights Strikeforce Women’s Championship bout, few gave Jan Finney any chance. Finney, a natural 135lb. fighter, was stepping up in weight to take on the dominating muay thai striker Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos for the Strikeforce 145lb. Championship. “Cuddles” chances were slim. The fight went generally how many thought it would. Santos used [...]

Saturday night, June 26 2010, will be remembered as the end of an era in mixed martial arts. Long time number one ranked heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko entered the Strikeforce cage in what many believed would be an easy victory for the Russian champion. His opponent was former UFC and PRIDE fighter and multiple times [...]

Saturday night at UFC 115, PRIDE legend Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic returned to the UFC cage to take on former K-1 striker Pat Barry. Rumors swirled heading into the fight about what Filipovic had left in the tank and whether or not his heart was still in the fight game. With the fight against Barry being [...]

The season finale of the Ultimate fighter is finally here! The show begins with Dana White introducing the new head coach of Team Punishment (if they’re still called that?). Rich Franklin is introduced as the replacement and talks about how fun it is to be back in the UFC training centre. To compensate for the [...]

On Saturday night, the UFC will make its first venture into Western Canada as it visits the General Motors Place in Vancouver, B.C for UFC 115. The event is headlined by former light-heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and the UFC’s go-to guy Rich “Ace” Franklin. This article is not intended to argue that Saturday’s [...]