Yael Grauer is a freelance writer who’s been working with independent media since 1996. She writes regularly for Sherdog, and her work has been featured in Ultimate MMA magazine, T-Nation, Experience Life, Bitch magazine, and the Performance Menu: Journal of Health and Athletic Excellence, where she also serves as the Managing Editor. Yael trains in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Find her on the web at yaelwrites.com

The June 2010 Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com. The members of the voting panel for the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are, in alphabetical order: Nicholas Bailey [...]

The final episode of The Ultimate Fighter takes a look back at the season, filling in with unaired footage and recapping the season. Here’s my own top five take-home points. 1. Tito is really annoying. He more than likely signed up for the season knowing he had an injury and would have to pull out. His coaching [...]

Widely regarded as the best female pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii scored her first TKO victory by defeating Sarah Schneider for Bellator XXI. Showcasing world-class grappling, Fujii advances to 20-0. A BJJ and judo black belt, Fujii has won thirteen fights in just one round and holds sixteen wins by submission. [...]

The June 2010 Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com. Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to [...]

The 10th episode of The Ultimate Fighter begins with a fight between Josh Bryant and Jamie Yager. There was a lot of back and forth in the first two rounds. In the first round, Yager landed some really great kicks, and Bryant seemed a bit tentative–probably due to Yager’s explosiveness. However, when Bryant lets his [...]

Two months ago, I quickly recapped what had been going on in the world of women’s MMA for that month. June is shaping up to be chock full of fight news, so here’s the skinny. Although Shayna “Queen of Spades” Baszler and Jan “Cuddles” Finney were set to compete in the finals of Freestyle Cage [...]

It’s only in hindsight that many athletes realize their actions do have consequences, but it was only a matter of time until the  Tennessee Athletic Commission would dole out suspensions and fines for the post-fight brawl which took place in the cage, during a live CBS Strikeforce broadcast on April 17th–the day that Mayhem Miller got in the cage [...]

This week’s episode of the Ultimate Fighter began with a fight between Kyle Noke and Kris McCray. Dana White seemed a bit too excited to make two friends fight each other, saying that in the UFC there are no friends. How very Machiavellian of him. Anyway, I thought Noke would pull out the W but [...]

Some great fights took place on May 21st in Massachusetts at Moosin: God of Martial Arts. You can watch the videos here. Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia took on Mariusz “Dominator” Pudzianowski Pudzianowski spent the better part of the 1st round working for a single leg, getting a takedown at one point which Sylvia quickly stood [...]

Former U.S. Olympian Ben Askren defeated UFC veteran Ryan Thomas for a second time at Bellator 19 on May 20th, but this time there was no controversy.  Although Askren didn’t manage to finish any submissions, the two-time collegiate wrestling champion put on a clinic, clearly dominating all three rounds. All three judges scored the bout 30-27 Askren. [...]

The May 2010 Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com. The members of the voting panel for the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are, in alphabetical order: Nicholas Bailey [...]

In last night’s episode of the Ultimate Fighter, the action began with Kyacey Uscola phoning home after the birth of his child. (That’s an understanding wife, right there.) He then gets a chance to go in and fight Kris McCray in the wildcard elimination match. In the first round, Uscola got a vicious kick in [...]

In less than two weeks, Danny Lauzon will be facing Efrain Escudero in the Octagon. Escudero (13-1), a tough fighter and highly skilled wrestler, was undefeated until his last fight when he got caught in an armbar to which he probably tapped a bit too late. Danny Lauzon (12-3) lost his last fight to Cole [...]

Although newer fans may not have heard of Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem until he handily defeated Brett “the Grim” Rogers on Saturday, the guy’s actually been fighting MMA since 1999. He began his career fighting for smaller promotions like Rings, 2H2H and It’s Showtime before debuting in M1 and PRIDE in 2002. His PRIDE record [...]

It was a somewhat uneventful episode of this week’s Ultimate Fighter, and though we always say we’d like the focus to be on the fights there’s really not a whole lot to wrap up. Seth Baczynski got to fight Joseph Henle, and after three rounds of wrestling Baczynsi was declared the winner by unanimous decision. How Joseph Henle [...]