Vinny Magalhaes Upset With M-1 Global, Looking for Way Back to UFC

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Friday night's M-1 Challenge 27 bout didn't go as planned for Vinny Magalhaes. He was given a very tough fight by Mikhail Zayats where it appeared that his inability to get and keep the fight on the floor would be his undoing. Zayats was able to land solid combinations, using a stiff leg kick to either open or close the flurries. Eventually Vinny was able to land a head kick that dropped Zayats and follow up with a flurry of punches to get the stoppage to retain his M-1 light heavyweight championship.

A time of celebration for Vinny turned into a time of frustration upon rewatching the fight. He took to Facebook to vent:


After rewatching the whole fight, i just realized that everytime i fought for M-1 against a Russian fighter, i was the hand picked guy... i mean, i am assuming that after seeing one of the M-1 directors rooting for my opponent everytime he'd hit me, but not having any reaction when i'd hit him nor when dropped him. Thanks M-1, i appreciate your business, you can have your belt back.

Two things:

Vinny entered the cage as anywhere from a -400 to -500 favorite. He clearly wasn't "hand picked" for anything. He also was the favorite in his previous M-1 fight against Victor Nemkov. Some of his anger no doubt comes from M-1 acting as though he should train with Fedor Emelianenko for free.

But it is very bad form for a promoter to actively root for one fighter over another if they manage both men. I'm sure the Russian based M-1 wants a Russian guy to win their title, but they need to hide it a little at ringside. Their failure to do so has Vinny upset and looking to get out of their promotion:

@VinnyMMA
Vinny Magalhaes
Hey @danawhite, how many more wins do i need? @ufc in 2012 for me?
Oct 15 via Twitter for AndroidFavoriteRetweetReply
M-1's behavior upsetting what may be their only marketable and recognizable fighter (outside of Fedor) is but one of many problems facing the promotion

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Here's Vinny's most recent title defense:

That was the ugliest looking head kick I have ever seen..... except for maybe Josh Koscheck against Hazelett.

I think Vinny is a huge talent, especially for his age.
The recent win over Werdum in the ADCC World Championships
tourney is a feather in his cap for sure. Although he has fought in the UFC before and is a TUF alumni; I think he has grown and learned enough to be relevant in the LHW division if he were to come compete in the UFC.

Upset with M-1? Go figure.... Vinny's first stint in the UFC didnt go that well and I really dont see him moving anywhere real quick. I'd like to see him fight again but preparing for M-1 and preparing for UFC fights are two different things... I dont know if Vinny will be able to improve his training to compete in the big leagues.

I think Strikeforce is a good call for him. We can all see if he is ready there.

Eh fuck it- bring him back to the UFC. Why not? If he falls on his face again, then he will understand why he was let go in the first place. If he's ready this, then great. We got a great submission guy in the 205lb class to counter all the wrestlers.