The Weekly Wrap: June 13 - June 19

Odds and Ends

• Lyman Good, a 23-year-old Spanish Harlem native, became the first welterweight champion of the Bellator Fighting Championships on June 12, making short work of Dominican Omar de la Cruz by taking the fight to the ground and landing heavy blows from inside the guard for the TKO. Good joins featherweight Joe Soto as an inaugural Bellator titleholder. A lightweight champion (Eddie Alvarez vs. Toby Imada) and middleweight champion (Hector Lombard vs. Jared Hess) will be crowned on June 19 in Hollywood, Fla.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told Sherdog.com this past week that the promotion’s next season, which starts in the fall, will air on English language television. He could not yet name the station. Bellator fights currently air on a 24-hour tape delay on ESPN Deportes.

• Strikeforce announced this week that, in addition the Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos fight in August, the June 19 fight between Shayna Baszler and Sarah Kaufman will also be contested under five-minute rounds. The company announced in a press release titled "MMA Equality" that it had obtained clearance from the Washington and California state athletic commissions to break with what has been the perceived three-minute round norm for female fights. The release stated the abbreviated rounds are more on the books to accommodate less-experienced fighters than to create a gender distinction.

• Herb Dean has been assigned to referee the rematch between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir at UFC 100 on July 11. Steve Mazzagatti, who officiated the first match last February, drew criticism for halting the bout after Lesnar landed what looked to be incidental strikes to the back of Mir’s head.

• In an apparent signal of a forthcoming push into Japan, the UFC launched UFCJapan.jp, a distinct Japanese version of its website, this past week. A press release announcing the launch focused on fighters like the UFC’s Yoshihiro Akiyama, Yushin Okami, Caol Uno and WEC’s Takeya Mizugaki as contracted talent with appeal in the country.