Beyond the Octagon pt. 2: UFC vets, JMMA old guard, and Rousey training partner Shafir

And now, Part 2 of this week's double-sized Beyond the Octagon.

In Cage Fury FC out of Atlantic City, the undefeated Jonavin Webb (7-0-0) put UFC vet Dan Stittgen (9-5-0) away with strikes in the closing seconds of the third round, capturing the organization's welterweight title in the process. Stittgen went 0-2 in the UFC, first falling to Stephen Thompson by knockout and then losing a closely contested split-decision to Marcelo Guimaraes. He's 2-2 since his release two years ago. As for Webb, he made his professional debut in April 2012, with five of his seven victories coming by submission or (T)KO.

Also on the card was long-time Bellator featherweight Alexandre Bezerra (17-3, 7-2 Bellator), who handed Levan Makasvhvili (5-1-0) the first loss of his young career. The win came by majority decision, making it two in a row for Bezerra since he last fought in Bellator (a 2013 loss to Mike Richman).

Two-time Ultimate Fighter contestant Tim Williams (9-1-0) fought for the first time since his latest reality show stint, putting Dervin Lopez (7-2-0) away with a rear-naked choke early in the second. Williams, who lost to eventual TUF finalist Dhiego Lima by submission after nearly nailing the finish himself, has won two in a row. As for Lopez, this loss stops his win streak at five straight victories.

Williams vs. Lopez can be seen here. Fight begins at about 3:00. Bear in mind that it's being recorded off of a television screen.

Further action out of California last Sunday, with UFC vet Chase Gormley squaring off with MMA iron man Tony Lopez in the co-main event of Chaos at the Casino 5. Gormley, who went 0-2 in the UFC, took the TKO victory after a knee injury prevented Lopez from continuing. Gormley, now 10-4-0 (1NC) overall, is 4-2 since he was released from the UFC in early 2010, and he's now won three in a row. Lopez's record falls to 34-15-0. He's is 2-5 since 2013.

Also on the card was Marina Shafir, close training partner of Ronda Rousey. Much like Rousey, Shafir's record is rich with victories via armbar, including four of her five amateur bouts. She made a successful pro debut last April (again by armbar), but was shocked this weekend by heavy underdog Amanda Bell. A lunging left hook from Bell badly stunned Shafir, with follow-up rights leaving Shafir dazed on her back. Bell pursued Shafir to the mat, where a pair of well-placed punches to the jaw knocked her out. Bell improves to 2-2-0 with the win, while Shafir falls to 1-1-0.

Bell vs. Shafir can be seen here.

And at the very Russian sounding Plotforma S-70 5 out of Sochi, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (24-2, 1-1 Bellator) took on Maiquel Falcao (32-7, 3-1 Bellator, 1-0 UFC). It was a rematch of their 2012 bout in the Bellator middleweight semifinals, which Falcao won by unanimous decision. On Saturday, Vasilevsky evened the score, flooring Falcao with a glancing 1-2 and following up with ground and pound for a tidy TKO finish.

Vasilevsky vs. Falcao is here.

Also on the card was Bellator standout Alexander Sarnavskiy. The Alexander Shlemenko protege went 5-2 in Bellator, with his last fight in the organization being a one-sided unanimous decision loss to current champion Will Brooks. Last Saturday, in his third bout since then, he faced surging American Drew Brokenshire, who was riding a six-fight win streak into their contest. Sarnavskiy would prove to be the better grappler, working a steady game plan of takedowns and top control before eliciting the tap by rear-naked choke late in the second round. Sarnavskiy is now 3-0 since his leaving Bellator, and improves to 28-2-0 overall, while Brokenshire drops to 13-4-0.

Sarnavskiy vs. Brokenshire is here. Action starts at 1:45.

Further action from Bellator veterans on the card, as Jordan Smith (18-7-1, 0-3 Bellator) took on Anatoly Tokov (16-1-0). After three rounds, both Tokov and Smith showed signs of punishment around their eyes, but Tokov was given the judges' nod. Smith started out his career with a 14-0-1 mark, with all but one of those victories coming by way of submission or TKO. However, a split-decision loss to Josh Burkman in 2010 seemed to initiate a sea change in Smith's career--as of that loss, Smith has gone 4-7, and is 1-5 since 2012. An interesting if distressing turn. Tokov, for his part, has won nine straight.

Tokov vs. Smith can be found here.

And earlier that night, Alexey Butorin (8-0-0) kept his pristine record intact by stopping Strikeforce veteran Anthony Ruiz (34-19, 1-4 Strikeforce) in the closing seconds of their three-round fight after a series of knees badly split the American's brow. Ruiz, who endeared himself to at least one very important Russian fan with a gutsy 2012 effort against Alexander Shlemenko, is now 4-1 since 2013, and is probably the best win so far of Butorin's developing career.

Butorin vs. Ruiz is here. Fight starts at 2:00, finish at about 19:30.

Finally, out of Tokyo, Japan, we have Sunday's Pancrase 260. Early in the evening, long-time journeyman Shungo Oyama (14-18-0) squared off with Ikkei Nagamura (11-5-0). Oyama's career stretches back to 2001, when he made his debut in King of the Cage, of all places. He would soon find himself fighting in PRIDE, where he went 1-5. After a pair of hellacious TKO losses to Dan Henderson and Mirko Filipovic, Oyama would make the jump to K-1 Hero's, where he would manage fair 5-3 mark. Against Nagamura this weekend, however, all of his experience would be for nought, as Oyama was knocked out with a punch early in the Round 2. It is the 14th (T)KO loss of his career, and the fourth in his last six outings.

And last but certainly not least, Yuki Kondo made it three wins in a row with his opening-minute TKO of Eiji Ishikawa (26-20-3). The 39-year-old Kondo made his MMA debut in 1996. Since then, he's fought for the UFC, where he went 1-2 and challenged for Tito Ortiz's light-heavyweight title, and PRIDE, where he went 1-6 and fought the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Igor Vovchanchyn. Despite his underwhelming marks in those promotions, Kondo's actually beaten his fair share of name fighters, including Mario Sperry, Akihiro Gono, and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. With his win last Sunday, Kondo's record improves to 58-28-9.