UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is recovering after undergoing surgery to repair swelling in his left elbow.
According to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting,com, Dillashaw was dealing with a bout of bursitis and shouldn’t need more than five w…
UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is recovering after undergoing surgery to repair swelling in his left elbow.
According to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting,com, Dillashaw was dealing with a bout of bursitis and shouldn’t need more than five weeks of recovery time:
Dillashaw, who confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com, said he was suffering from bursitis, which, according to the National Library of Medicine, is the swelling and irritation of a bursa, a fluid-filled sac, that acts as a cushion between a muscles, tendons, and joints.
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Dillashaw, who characterized the surgery as “minor,” said he’ll be in a splint for three weeks. Recovery time is expected to be between three-to-five weeks total.
UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 178 post-fight press conference, via C.J. Tuttle of Sherdog, that Dominick Cruz will be Dillashaw‘s next opponent. A date for that bout has not been set, though Helwani noted February or March as the likely dates, and this surgery shouldn’t change those plans.
For the third time in August, UFC brought thrilling matchups to the masses with an overseas Fight Night event featuring one of the best middleweight main events of the year. Michael Bisping, looking for his first win in 16 months, took on Cung Le in Ma…
For the third time in August, UFC brought thrilling matchups to the masses with an overseas Fight Night event featuring one of the best middleweight main events of the year. Michael Bisping, looking for his first win in 16 months, took on Cung Le in Macau.
In addition to that main event featuring two heavy hitters, the undercard featured a welterweight clash between fighters always on the brink of becoming pay-per-view mainstays, TyronWoodley and Dong Hyun Kim.
Even in the midst of a busy summer in the Octagon, there was so much intrigue and potential for this card that it would have been hard to disappoint. We’ve got a recap of all the action, including results, scorecards and top stories coming out of China.
The main event was a showcase for Bisping, who dominated Le to the point where the 42-year-old had trouble seeing out of his eyes. The England native was landing heavy punches with effective kicks mixed in to pick apart Le’s face, specifically around his eyes.
Referee John Sharp stopped the action about halfway through Round 2 to check on Le’s eyes because there was a cut around one and the other was swelling up. Give credit to Le for showing his toughness and resilency, making it into the fourth round before Sharp finally stopped it.
Jon Anik of Fox Sports 1 noted that this was a huge win for Bisping, who has been trading wins and losses in his last five fights coming into this match:
Bisping is always a frustrating guy to watch fight. You see a performance like this, albeit against someone who hasn’t fought in nearly two years, and see why he’s been in the mix for a title shot at various times in the past.
Yet when the big moment comes and Bisping has to showcase all of his best attributes, the light in his brain turns off. That’s why he is just 3-3 in his last six fights and hasn’t been elevated past a certain point in his career.
It also wouldn’t be a Bisping fight if he wasn’t antagonizing someone. In this case, it was the fans in attendance who were giving him a hard time. After the fight, the former Ultimate Fighter winner had some choice words, via Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com (Caution: Contains language that is NSFW):
Early on in the card, it appeared like the fans in China weren’t going to have a lot to cheer about. The first two bouts on the undercard were slow, plodding fights that went to the judges table. It wouldn’t last, as the next three matches all ended in the first round.
Colby Covington got the action rolling, knocking out Wang Anying with just 10 seconds left in the first round. Jason Floyd of TheMMAReport.com tweeted out just how dominant Covington was in the punching department:
Considering this was Covington‘s first UFC fight and he is only 26 years old, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get a bump up the card next time he steps into the Octagon.
YutaSasaki seemed like a lock for quickest finish on the card when he submitted Roland Delorme 66 seconds into the fight. Helwani was gushing about the promotional debut for the 24-year-old:
However, Woodley would make a profound statement in his bout with Dong Hyun Kim. The Chosen One ended his fight in 61 seconds with a huge punch that dropped the South Korean star.
Woodley has always been on the periphery of a welterweight title fight, but once he gets into a No. 1 contender fight, the bottom drops out. It happened against Jake Shields at UFC 161 and Rory MacDonald at UFC 174.
The 32-year-old has even acknowledged that it’s on him to put everything together, via E. Spencer Kyle of UFC.com, since the ability has always been there:
I think some people have the problem of not having the skill or the power or the athleticism or the work ethic or the conditioning or the coaches. I have everything. I was blessed with genuine gifts from God, I have a great mindset, and I also train hard and have a great work ethic, so all those things put together with a great circle, great people, I have all the tools to be the best.
Woodley‘s win over Kim could be a sign that’s he’s finally figured things out. It was his first legitimate knockout since defeating Josh Koscheck last November. He’s evolved from a pure wrestler into a strong all-around fighter, so there really is no ceiling for him.
All told, it was a great day for UFC. The top matches delivered exactly what they were supposed to, with the better fighters winning, and the card really picked up steam after starting out slowly. Bisping and Woodley are positioned to move up the rankings in their respective weight classes, though both will need to do more in order to get in the title mix.
Ronda Rousey’s journey from interesting novelty act to UFC superstar and champion has been meteoric. She’s put women’s mixed martial arts on the map, which is good news, but her level of dominance against everyone else isn’t doing anyone any favors any…
Ronda Rousey‘s journey from interesting novelty act to UFC superstar and champion has been meteoric. She’s put women’s mixed martial arts on the map, which is good news, but her level of dominance against everyone else isn’t doing anyone any favors anymore.
The UFC women’s bantamweight champion is a great marketing tool to have on late-night talk shows, SportsCenter, Fox Sports and other programs because she’s always good for a quote. She’s got movie roles to increase her celebrity, starting with the Expendables 3 and Fast & Furious 7, but what ultimately matters to fight fans is having compelling fights.
For instance, take a look at the buyrates for Rousey‘s first three UFC fights:
The obvious outlier in this group is UFC 168, which comes with two huge caveats. First, the main event of that show was a rematch between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight championship. Silva was also coming off his first loss in UFC.
Second, while Rousey does deserve some credit for helping that buyrate, it was also a product of her longstanding feud with Miesha Tate, which dated back to the Strikeforce event in March 2012 when Rousey defeated Tate to win her first major title in mixed martial arts.
So it’s impossible to include the UFC 168 buyrate in this group because of those factors. UFC 157 and 170 are better representations of Rousey‘s value to the company because she was the headliner on those shows.
Rousey‘s first match in UFC was going to do good business because it was the first women’s fight in company history. That show did exactly what it was supposed to do, with “Rowdy” Ronda winning the title and doing 450,000 pay-per-view buys.
However, sustaining that momentum with no other serious challenger in the division has proven to be difficult. Her most recent fight at UFC 170 did 110,000 fewer buys than her first fight.
Certainly the blame doesn’t go on Rousey but rather on the fact she was fighting an opponent in Sara McMann who is good at what she does but isn’t exciting to watch.
The point being Rousey, just like any other fighter, can only take UFC so far. To draw eyeballs, there has to be some kind of rivalry, storyline or even the hope that an opponent can defeat the champion.
Unfortunately, as Michael Huang of ESPNW.com wrote, that opponent hasn’t been around yet and doesn’t appear to be Rousey‘s UFC 175 opponent Alexis Davis.
Advanced metrics certainly bear out Rousey‘s dominance. According to Reed Kuhn, author of ‘Fightnomics: The Hidden Numbers and Science in Mixed Martial Arts,’ Rousey‘s average betting line thus far has been minus-584 (not including the odds for UFC 175). At minus-584 odds, that means she’s averaged an 85 percent win expectancy, far and away the highest of any female bantamweight.
As for UFC 175, at one point Rousey was a minus-1750 favorite. If that line stays there, she would be the biggest odds favorite in UFC history, with a remarkable win probability of 95 percent.
The biggest problem her opponents have, also noted by Huang, is trying to contain her ferocious ground game and submissions.
She has laid waste to the division, clamping down her patented armbar in eight of her nine professional wins, between the UFC and Strikeforce. Rousey‘s Submission Attempt Rate is 0.46 attempts per minute on the ground, the highest of any women’s bantamweight fighter (the UFC average is 0.14).
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And Rousey‘s submission success rate is an astounding 57 percent, with no one else in the women’s division even close. Only Tate has ever survived a Rousey submission attempt — once in their first fight, and twice in the second. All other Rousey opponents submitted on the first attempt.
Rousey‘s greatest accomplishment thus far is paving the way for women’s MMA to move into UFC, but in order for the division to sustain itself for years, new stars have to be made. The only way to make new stars is by beating the champion.
It’s a Catch-22 for UFC, which understands that Rousey is going to be the main drawing card in the division as long as she is around, but the gap between her and anyone else in the division is so wide you could put the Grand Canyon between them.
Things are so dire that Dana White was reportedly deep into negotiations with Gina Carano, who is a huge draw in her own right but hasn’t had an MMA fight since August 2009. The talks stalled at the end of June, however, according to Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight via MMAJunkie.com.
Making matters worse for women’s MMA in UFC is that Rousey is planning a break from fighting after her bout with Davis. She made the announcement during an appearance on the Great MMA Debate podcast, via Damon Martin of FoxSports.com.
I have been constantly on the go, charging it since 2010 it feels like. I work in quadrennials so it’s 2014 now, so I’ve gone through like a whole Olympic cycle and I’m ready to take a little bit of a break after this one.
Without Rousey around for however long her sabbatical lasts, what’s going to happen to the division? This is the danger for UFC with virtually all of its eggs in one basket.
No one is saying women’s MMA will go away because Rousey is destroying all of her opponents. This is still a division in its infancy with UFC—the first female fight in the Octagon took place on February 23, 2013—but right now it looks like the 2009-10 Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James leading the roster and Mo Williams as the No. 2 player.
Rousey is the entry point, but she can’t be everything or else those buyrates on shows she headlines will continue to drop, and her value to UFC will plummet.
Ronda Rousey is a woman possessed whenever she steps into the Octagon, which she will do for the third time in less than seven months at UFC 175 against Alexis Davis. She’s been the biggest female star in mixed martial arts for two years but has lacked…
Ronda Rousey is a woman possessed whenever she steps into the Octagon, which she will do for the third time in less than seven months at UFC 175 against Alexis Davis. She’s been the biggest female star in mixed martial arts for two years but has lacked a real challenge.
That’s why Rousey‘s matchup with Davis is so important for the future of women’s mixed martial arts, especially if Davis pulls off the upset.
Right now, the former Olympian is the only viable drawing card in that division to the point where she’s been the only female featured on the main card of a pay-per-view.
Davis fought Rosi Sexton on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 161, but that only came about because two of the feature bouts (RenanBarao vs. Eddie Wineland and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua) were called off due to injuries for Barao and Nogueira, respectively.
With no other female fighter stepping up to match Rousey in terms of buzz or popularity, the UFC has tried turning to Gina Carano for some spark. However, according to Ariel Helwani in an appearance on UFC Tonight, via MMAJunkie.com, the negotiations between the two sides fizzled out.
Signing Carano would be like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. It gives you buzz for that one moment, but how long would Carano really be around? She’s 32 years old and hasn’t fought in nearly five years after losing the Strikeforce women’s featherweight title to Cris Cyborg.
There is also the matter of getting Carano to fight at a smaller weight class, even if she signed, than she is used to, as Rousey is the bantamweight champion (135 pounds).
Within the same report from Helwani is a note that Holly Holm, who went from a professional boxing career to the current Legacy FC women’s bantamweight champion, is also negotiating with UFC.
Holm would be a worthy challenger for Rousey and a nice change of pace as a former professional boxer who has knocked out six of her seven opponents, but does UFC really want to throw her in the Octagon with the champion before winning a fight with the company?
Again, though, we are talking about outside forces needing to challenge Rousey because no one currently in UFC has been able to match the champion. She’s the best fighter in the world and will be difficult to beat, but surely there is someone out there to give a challenge.
That’s where Davis and her importance comes into play. She’s got the right style to compete with Rousey as a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and strong ground game, which is where the champion has overwhelmed all of her opponents.
Davis winning would give the UFC so much to build around in the future. She becomes a big star by defeating the champion on one of the biggest shows this year during the Fourth of July weekend. There’s an obvious rematch that Dana White can put together, or even give Davis a chance to fly on her own the way Rousey has.
Rousey has talked about taking time off after this fight, so there’s a real possibility that an interim title would need to be created anyway. Davis winning would give the UFC a new star to work with, something it desperately needs in the division to avoid investing in a fighter who hasn’t been in the cage since 2009.
No one will be shocked if Rousey wins at UFC 175, but it’s in the best interest of the sport if someone new is wearing the belt.
The UFC is going to make history on Saturday with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defending the title against Ali Bagautinov in the first-ever 125-pound pay-per-view main event fight. Before we get to that epic confrontation, the spotlight is on …
The UFC is going to make history on Saturday with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defending the title against Ali Bagautinov in the first-ever 125-pound pay-per-view main event fight. Before we get to that epic confrontation, the spotlight is on the preliminary card.
For the first time since UFC 163 in August 2013, the prelims will be airing on FX instead of Fox Sports 1. That’s good news for both the company and fighters on the card, as they will get more national exposure on Fox’s main cable network.
As far as what fans can expect to see, Dana White and Joe Silva have done a masterful job of providing a little something for everyone. The top four prelim fights come from four different weight classes, including a women’s bantamweight bout.
Here we have a look at the preliminary card, where to watch, how to watch, when to watch and all the notes you need to prepare for UFC’s big event.
Undercard Fight to Watch: Valerie Letourneau vs. Elizabeth Phillips
An unfortunate reality of women’s MMA right now is that few fans pay attention unless Ronda Rousey is involved. It’s understandable because she’s the biggest star on the female side, but that also dismisses the many talented women who are still fighting for respect in this sport.
Valerie Letourneau and Elizabeth Phillips have to earn their stripes in the UFC—both are making their debut with the company—but they have the kind of pedigree to become stars in the bantamweight division.
As Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com wrote in a preview for this event, Letourneau comes from the right gym to have a long, successful career in the UFC: “Montreal’s Tristar gym has, of course, helped produce several UFC standouts and one all-time great in former champ Georges St-Pierre.”
While St-Pierre is a lofty standard for any fighter to meet, Tristar has also been the home to Kenny Florian, Rory MacDonald and Miguel Torres. Letourneau is 5-3 in her career and has a very potent punch, with four victories via knockout.
On the other side, Phillips has proved to be more diverse in her career with two wins via knockout and one each via submission and decision. Her lone loss came via knockout, which plays into Letourneau’s hands.
Both fighters are also testing their stamina by coming off bouts within the last month. Letourneau didn’t exert much energy in a May 16 win over Jordan Moore, scoring a 34-second knockout, but Phillips took a three-round decision on May 30.
Fighter in Desperate Need of a Win: Daniel Sarafian
Expectations were high for Daniel Sarafian following his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. The 31-year-old won both of his fights in the house by finishing his opponents (via rear-naked choke and flying knee) and was poised to become a fixture on the roster in the finals at UFC 147.
Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in training days before the event and had to pull out of the fight. His debut came at the UFC on Fox event in January 2013, losing to C.B. Dollaway by decision.
Sarafian did get back on track against Eddie Mendez, who played the role of sacrificial lamb at a UFC on Fuel event in June 2013, but Sarafian couldn’t sustain the momentum, losing to Cezar Ferreira five months later.
Likely hoping to salvage his career with the UFC, Sarafian is dropping down to welterweight for his UFC 174 bout with Kiichi Kunimoto. It’s clear the company wants this guy to succeed because he was so fun and exciting to watch on TUF, but this is also a harsh business. A third loss in four fights wouldn’t bode well for his long-term prospects.
The anticipation for the UFC 158 main event between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz was so high that anything short of being the best fight in the history of the sport would not be able to match it. While it wasn’t the best fight in the history of…
The anticipation for the UFC 158 main event between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz was so high that anything short of being the best fight in the history of the sport would not be able to match it.
While it wasn’t the best fight in the history of mixed martial arts, it was just the latest showcase for the seemingly unstoppable force that is Georges St-Pierre. The welterweight champion has now tied Matt Hughes for the most wins in UFC history (18), and he did it with five fewer fights on his resume.
As we start to look ahead for what St-Pierre and Diaz are going to do, here are our biggest takeaways from the UFC 158 main event.
St-Pierre is the best all-around fighter in the sport
As great as Anderson Silva and Jon Jones are, they do have obvious weaknesses that can be exploited. Silva is so fast that he can hide his deficiencies; then, when he strikes, you are going to go down hard. Jones is the best pure athlete the sport of mixed martial arts has ever seen.
What makes St-Pierre so dangerous, aside from his natural athletic talents, is the way he has made a point to evolve as a fighter. This sport is constantly changing, with new and inventive styles that change everything you have to do in order to be successful.
St-Pierre has taken to all of them and now uses them to his advantage. He can take control a fight if he wants to, or, if his opponent is strong in one area, St-Pierre will take that away by using that to his advantage.
Josh Koscheck wanted to box with St-Pierre in their second fight, so St-Pierre just jabbed Koscheck‘s eye until he broke it. Diaz wanted to work the fight on the ground, so St-Pierre went down there and dominated.
Any way you try to defeat St-Pierre, he is going to figure it out and turn it into a strength for himself. No other fighter in the world can match his all-around skills.
Nick Diaz isn’t in the elite category of welterweight fighters
Even though Diaz was brought on board to sell a big-money fight with St-Pierre and was able to do just that after two years of headaches he caused Dana White, it has been made abundantly clear that the welterweight division in UFC has passed him by.
This isn’t all about Diaz losing to St-Pierre, because it’s not like he is the first person to lose to the champion in dominating fashion. But when you look at his performance here, combined with what he did against Carlos Condit last February, Diaz is in the tier below the top contenders.
In fact, you look at Diaz‘s resume, and it is hard to come up with the last time he had a really great win. He defeated B.J. Penn in his return to UFC, but Penn is clearly not the fighter he once was.
Going back to his time in Strikeforce, you would have to go back to October 2010, when Diaz defeated K.J. Noons, to find the last really good win on his resume. After that he defeated Cyborg Santos and Paul Daley before moving to UFC.
It has become clear that St-Pierre, Condit and Johny Hendricks are far superior in talent to Diaz at this stage of their respective careers.
Don’t try to sell a rematch
Dana White said that the winner of the Condit-Hendricks fight at UFC 158 would be the No. 1 contender for St-Pierre’s title.
Hendricks wound up winning a terrific, exciting fight. White held true to his word, saying at the post-fight press conference (h/t UFC on Twitter) that Hendricks was getting the next title shot, no questions asked.
However, at the same press conference, Diaz tried to say that the only way he was going to fight again would be if he got a fight against St-Pierre.
From a financial standpoint, it is understandable why Diaz would want to fight St-Pierre again. You are going to make more money in the main event of a show headlined by the biggest drawing card the company has than against anyone else.
But Diaz has done nothing to warrant another title shot for a long, long time. St-Pierre thoroughly beat him down over the course of five rounds. It wasn’t like the fight was so great that you need to see it happen again.
UFC is smart enough to know that there is no money in a rematch, but even if Diaz were to win his next fight or two, putting him back in the title picture would be a big waste of time. It also doesn’t help that St-Pierre and Diaz were hugging and acting friendly after the match.
This was supposed to be a serious blood feud. But when you are saying nice things about each other after it is over, you have just told the world not to believe anything you might say about the other person moving forward.
For the third time in August, UFC brought thrilling