Weekend Rundown: Filho Pounds Heavyweight in 2010 Debut

Former World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Paulo Filho struck Chilean heavyweight Daniel Gabriel into first-round submission under the Memorial Fight banner on Friday at Engineer Jose Reboucas Square in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Filho, a black belt in judo in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, was once considered one of the top two middleweights in the world. The 32-year-old Brazilian has rattled off four consecutive victories since his bizarre unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at WEC 36 in November 2008. Filho missed weight for the bout and looked disengaged throughout the 15-minute encounter. The performance earned the mercurial 2006 Pride Fighting Championships welterweight grand prix finalist his walking papers from Zuffa LLC brass.

Meanwhile, Fabio Maldonado was also victorious at the Memorial Fight show, as he submitted Jackson Mora with a first-round guillotine choke. The 30-year-old Maldonado -- who trains with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira -- has won nine consecutive fights, eight of them finishes.

Kitaoka Outpoints Rodrigues at ‘Passion Tour 5’

One-time Sengoku lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka put the brakes on a two-fight losing streak, as he earned a unanimous decision over Jorge Rodrigues at Pancrase “Passion Tour 5” on Saturday at the Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo. All three judges scored it 30-29 in Kitaoka’s favor.

Kitaoka set the tone for the bout in the first round, when he scored with a takedown and threatened Rodrigues with a guillotine choke, kimura and Achilles lock. After a rather uneventful round two, Rodrigues produced his best round in the third. Still, it was not enough to sway the judges. The 30-year-old Kitaoka has now gone the distance 19 times in 45 professional bouts.

Meanwhile, Kengo Ura defeated Keiichiro Yamamiya by split decision to capture the vacant welterweight King of Pancrase crown. All three judges scored the bout a 30-30 draw but granted Ura the victory via “must” decision. A WEC veteran, Ura has won back-to-back fights.

Finally, the Masaya Takita-Shigeyuki Uchiyama match ended in a gruesome stoppage, when a part of Uchiyama’s right ear was torn off. The doctor called a halt to the bout 2:57 into round two.

Albert, Allen Take Ring of Fire Titles

Cathilee Albert stopped Ivana Coleman on first-round punches to capture the women’s 125-pound championship in the Ring of Fire 38 “Ascension” headliner on Saturday at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo.

The end came 1:54 into round one, as Albert put away a bloodied Coleman with strikes on the ground. Based at Zigano Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Albert, a two-time collegiate national wrestling champion, remains perfect through four professional appearances.

In the first of two championship bouts, Christian Allen won the Ring of Fire bantamweight crown, as he submitted Skylar Holman with an anaconda choke in just 54 seconds.

Holman scored with an early takedown but found himself locked in the submission and was ultimately choked unconscious. Anchored at the Grude Training Center, alongside former middleweight King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt and current interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin, Allen has secured six of his seven victories by submission. In 10 bouts, he has yet to go the distance.

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Quick Hits

Rick Hawn, a 2004 Olympian in judo, stopped Dennis Olson on second-round punches at Triumph Promotions “Inferno” on Saturday at the Hampshire Dome in Milford, N.H. The 33-year-old judoka improved to 7-0 … Pride Fighting Championships veteran Seichi Ikemoto won a majority decision over Naoki Matsushita in the Deep “Cage Impact 2010” main event on Saturday at Zepp Osaka in Osaka, Japan. The victory snapped a three-fight losing streak for Ikemoto …Sengoku veteran Jim York halted a two-fight skid, as he struck Strikeforce castaway Brandon Cash into first-round submission at Cage Fighting Championships 14 on Saturday at Big Top Stadium at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia … EliteXC veteran Julie Kedzie won a unanimous decision from Malissa Sherwood at Jackson’s MMA Series 1 on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Albuquerque, N.M. Kedzie has won two in a row … UFC, WEC and Sengoku veteran Joe Doerksen posted his seventh consecutive victory, as he stopped Shawn Marchand on first-round strikes at Canadian Fighting Championship 5 on Friday at the Winnipeg Convention Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The well-traveled Doerksen submitted Tom Lawlor at UFC 113 in May … British MMA pioneer Paul Cahoon coaxed a tapout from Andrius Juska with an opening-round heel hook in an Olympian MMA Championships 5 “Showdown” featured bout on Saturday at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England.