Besides the UFC’s return to Brazil this past weekend, Proelite ran their first show under their new management in Honolulu, Hawaii, and here is the video evidence for those of you who missed it (since the event began at 1 AM EST on Sunday morning). The event is actually entitled “Proelite: Arlovski VS Lopez”, but it seems most people are just calling it Proelite’s return show, and that’s what I will call it too.

First up is Andrei Arlovski taking on Ray Lopez in a heavyweight match. Arlovski toiled to finish Lopez and had his way with him, including using some double axehandles and even utilizing an illegal stomp at one point in the fight. In the main event of the evening, Kendall Grove had his just desserts with a quick submission finish of Joe Riggs in the very same arena where Riggs previously defeated him. In the women’s division, Sara McMann dominated Raquel Pa’aluhi through three rounds, finishing with a keylock late in the third. It was a good night for wrestlers all around, as Mark Ellis made a successful debut against Jake Heun, winning via a rear naked choke in the second round.

Proelite has planted a solid foundation for success with this show. If the rumors are true of the company coming to Jersey in November, I greatly looking forward to seeing who they bring with them, especially if they do their heavyweight grand prix. After the jump, check out a few other matches from the show!

Joe Riggs VS Kendall Grove

Reagan Penn vs. Paul Gardiner

Sara McMann VS Raquel Pa’Aluhi

Fight Videos via Sherdog

Taking place from the Waikiki Beach Sheraton in Honolulu, ProElite held a press conference for their upcoming event in August with Andrei Arlovski, Kendall Grove, Joe Riggs, Regan Penn (younger brother of B.J. Penn), Rich Chou, T Jay Tompson and CEO Paul Feller, as well as a few surprises.

Several announcements were made at this event by T Jay Thompson. Ray Lopez was officially confirmed as Andrei Arlovski’s opponent, along with a bearded Kendall Grove fighting Joe Riggs. Regan Penn was also announced to compete but no opponent was named.

The company also confirmed a women’s match, featuring US Olympiad Sara McMann, who is currently 2-0 and also competes for Titan FC, against Raquel Pa’aluhi, daughter of legendary Hawaiian MMA fighter Kawika Pa’aluhi, whose first pro fight on his record is from 1996. Tara Larosa was rumored to fight on this card (and confirmed it on Twitter) but unfortunately will not be competing here, but it does show that ProElite is seeking out some big women fighters and it could mean that Cris Cyborg might have a new option after all.

ProElite will return Aug. 27 event at the Blaisdell Arena in Hawaii, which will be streamed live on sherdog.com following UFC 134 in Rio.

In front of a packed house, Bellator Fighting Championships returned to the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma for Bellator 43, as Jay Hieron defeated Rick Hawn to become the winner of Season 4’s Welterweight Tournament and $100,000. Hieron earns a title shot against reigning Bellator Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren. However, Hieron’s shot at Bellator gold might not have been the best moment of the night.

In a Middleweight Special Feature Fight, inspirational Bellator veteran Bryan “The Beast” Baker impressed against tough UFC and Strikeforce veteran Joe Riggs. Both fighters started by feeling each other out, but Baker quickly found his rhythm, connecting with a devastating left hook in Round 2, which gave way to a TKO stoppage. One knockout lead to another as Baker got down on one knee inside the Bellator cage to propose to his girlfriend after the fight. The Beast leaves Newkirk with a tournament championship and a new fiancé, while MTV2 viewers and excited fans at the First Council Casino saw the first-ever post-fight engagement.

Also at the event, Former WEC Champion Chase Beebe outclassed Bellator Season 3 Bantamweight Semifinalist Jose Vega and earned a spot in next season’s Bellator Bantamweight Tournament with the victory. In a heavyweight feature attraction, Ron “The Monster” Sparks went toe-to-toe against Vince Lucero. Early in the first round, Sparks connected with a kick and punch that dropped Lucero. Sparks then dominated, proving he has a dangerous ground-game and earning the victory by means of submission.

The final two lists of fighters have been revealed! EA Sports has been releasing their roster of fighters each week for the past month, starting with their heavyweights like Fedor, Randy Couture, & Brett Rogers and light-heavyweights such as , followed by their middleweights including Cung Le, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and now concluding with the welterweights and lightweights!

Above is the official lightweight roster, which includes Lyle Beerbohm, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, Mizuto Hirota, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gesias Cavalcante, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, Eddie Alvarez, Shinya Aoki, Saturo Kitaoka, Hayata “Mach” Sakurai, Billy Evangelista, Kron Gracie and Joachim Hansen.

Rounding out the roster is the welterweights, which includes Joachim Hansen, Pat Miletich, Shinya Aoki, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Matt Lindland, Kazuo Misaki, Joe Riggs, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Jay Hieron, Mariuz Zaromskis, Lyman Good, Frank Trigg, Nick Thompson, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Tyron Woodley.

Now that we know the entire roster, plus the various exclusive downloadable characters you can get upon launch, who is this roster missing that you wanted to see?

Last week, EA unveiled their line-up of heavyweights and light-heavyweights for EA Sports MMA video game. This week, we now have the official list of middleweight characters you can play as!

Joining the previously announced fighters are Benji Radach, Lyman Good, Matt Lindland, Luke Rockhold, Frank Trigg, Joe Riggs, Kazuo Misaki, Scott Smith, Murilo Rua, Tim Kennedy, Pat Miletich, Jake Shields, Nick Thompson, Melvin Manhoef, Robbie Lawler, Dan Henderson, Gegard Mousasi, Jason Miller, Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Frank Shamrock, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

The big surprises this time around is definitely Lyman Good, since he is so far the only fighter representing Bellator FC in the game. In fact, I am more surprised by Lyman Good than I am by the addition of Luke Rockhold, no offense to the man. But, Good is an excellent fighter so I welcome him to the cast of characters. I assume he will be playable in the welterweight category as well. Lastly, Melvin Manhoef’s head is huge. HUGE!

Any middleweight fighters you wanted to see in the game that have not been put in?

Jay Hieron talks with The Fight Nerd about his current negotiating period with Strikeforce, possibilites with the UFC, his feelings on being skipped over for a title belt, how he mentally prepares for a fight and how a rematch with GSP would go down. This was filmed at Jamie Varner’s Combat Academy in Centereach, NY.

Over at the EA Sports Season Opener event in San Francisco last night, EA showed off some of their new sports games. One of the games just happened to be EA Sports MMA and with it, comes new screen shots!

The pics include images of Nick Diaz, Cung Le, Scott Smith, Bobby Lashley and Fedor, among others. We also get to see a few of the new venues, including a Brazilian cage and a Japanese looking ring.

EA Sports MMA will be out sometime this year, probably fourth quarter, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Info Via Destructoid.com

Check out a TON more pics after the jump!

Electronic Arts has announced Bobby Lashley as one of the next batch of fighters revealed for their upcoming MMA video game. Conveniently, it happens to be days before Lashley takes on Wes Sims in Strikeforce. Just kind of works out that way. “The Boss” looks pretty good in the screencaps, although the betters shots are where he is pictured with Jeff Monson (which you can see after the jump).

Also announced today were Nick Diaz, Marius Zaromskis, Joe Riggs and Melvin Manhoef, who are joining the ranks of Randy Couture, Fedor Emelianeko, Jay Hieron and many others who were previously announced for the nextgen video game.

More pics of Lashley after the jump!

The Fight Nerd caught up with the President of Strikeforce, Scott Coker, at the NYC Press Conference to hype the Aug. 15th card, headlined by Gina Carano vs Cris Cyborg. Coker talks about the main event, the condition of Overeem’s hand, Brock Lesnar and co-promoting with other companies.