Germany’s Dennis Siver faces the biggest fight of his career. After his victory against Charles Rosa at UFC Stockholm, the most successful German UFC fighter will meet Ireland’s Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston. It’s the…
Germany’s Dennis Siver faces the biggest fight of his career. After his victory against Charles Rosa at UFC Stockholm, the most successful German UFC fighter will meet Ireland’s Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston. It’s the first time that a German fighter is part of a UFC main event. We talked with Siver about his last and his upcoming fight.
What went through your mind when the UFC called and offered you the fight?That was surprising. Many have asked me whether I would fight him, but I did not think that it would happen that fast. I expected that I need to hav … Read the Full Article Here
In the main event of Bellator 131, Tito Ortiz narrowly defeated his latest nemesis, Stephan Bonnar, by split decision. The victory gives Ortiz his second straight, and there are only a few options that make sense for Tito’s next fight.
Bellator h…
In the main event of Bellator 131, Tito Ortiz narrowly defeated his latest nemesis, Stephan Bonnar, by split decision. The victory gives Ortiz his second straight, and there are only a few options that make sense for Tito’s next fight.
Bellator has announced the first three shows of 2015, and beyond those shows, they should book Tito Ortiz against either Quinton “Rampage” Jackson or “King” Mo Lawal. Either fight would register as significant with casual fans of mixed martial arts, and either would be worthy of headlining their first big “tent-pole” event of the new year.
The first reason Tito needs to fight one of these two is that there aren’t very many other fights that make sense. You could give Ortiz a title shot against the winner of Emanuel Newton vs. Liam McGeary, but he’d most likely get beat into a living death by either of them, as most people would anticipate, so beyond that fight he’d have little remaining value as a headliner once he were to lose.
Lawal has already lost to the champ twice, and he lost a close fight to Rampage earlier this year, so there aren’t a lot of valuable fights to him to take right now, either.
Per The MMA Report, at the Bellator 131 post-fight press conference, Lawal voiced his interest in fighting Ortiz, saying:
Now if you want some, you get some. I’m just saying. You fought Bonnar, no offense to Bonnar, but Bonnar has been gone for two years. That’s fine. I’ll Django your ass. Straight up, Django. I will bust your ass, straight up. I’m serious.
Although Lawal is confident that he’d beat the former UFC light heavyweight champion, he isn’t convinced that Ortiz will fight him, saying, “You ain’t going to fight me, I know that. You’re going to be, ‘My neck, my back, my knee.'”
The fight makes sense for both fighters, but if Tito is uncertain about getting in the cage with King Mo, he should fight the other former UFC light heavyweight champion on Bellator’s roster, Quinton Jackson.
Ortiz and Rampage were originally supposed to headline Bellator 106 before Tito had to pull out of the fight with a neck injury just a week before the event. The two then went on separate paths through the Bellator roster.
Rampage ran through Joey Beltran and Christian M’Pumbu and then won a narrow and controversial decision over Lawal in his three fights in the Bellator cage.
Ortiz came back from the neck injury and answered a challenge from then-middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 120, and put the Russian to sleep in the first round. Now that Bonnar is in his rear-view, the Rampage fight makes plenty of sense for Ortiz to take.
Since the departure of Bjorn Rebney from Bellator, Rampage Jackson’s fighting status has been up in the air. A recent Instagram post from Jackson indicated that he’s having problems with the new regime at Bellator but said he ultimately wasn’t done fighting. Regardless of what his qualms are, he originally signed with Bellator for a fight with Ortiz. He should have no problem facing Tito under Scott Coker’s new big lights and big entrance stage.
Even though Emanuel Newton is the champion and Liam McGeary is undefeated with every single victory coming by way of a stoppage, these three men are the biggest names in Bellator right now. It’s time for Ortiz to move away from the “freakshow” fights and the grudge matches, and face a legitimate challenge, which either Mo Lawal or Rampage Jackson could provide.
Kelvin Gastelum’s storybook ride from last pick of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen to top-10 welterweight became a stark reality on December 15. The TUF 17 winner submitted Jake Ellenberger at the end of their first round co-main …
Kelvin Gastelum‘s storybook ride from last pick of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen to top-10 welterweight became a stark reality on December 15. The TUF 17 winner submitted Jake Ellenberger at the end of their first round co-main event spot at UFC 180.
The No. 11 ranked Gastelum took on the seventh-ranked UFC welterweight in a fight that was set to prove one of two things. Either Gastelum was going to solidify himself as a top-10 welterweight contender, or Ellenberger was going to silence critics and put the breaks on the rising prospect. What happened was nothing short of astonishing. The 23-year-old Gastelumfinished The Juggernaut with a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds of the first frame, after a takedown and subsequent scramble.
Gastelum, a winner of four straight, was in trouble late, but brilliantly reversed the position and quickly took the back of the reeling Ellenberger. The Mexican fighter put on a great display of jiu-jitsu, but that wasn’t the only highlight. After it appeared that Ellenberger was getting the best of him striking-wise, Gastelum landed a critical takedown and was able to land a few powerful shots.
With the win over Ellenberger, Gastelum enters the top-10 of the 170-pound division and will require another elite test. Here are five potential opponents for the rising welterweight. For the purposes of this list, bouts were ranked based on their likelihood of occurring.
Kelvin Gastelum looked fantastic in his UFC 180 win over Jake Ellenberger on Saturday. After he weathered some big shots from The Juggernaut, a late first-round scramble allowed The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 winner to take his opponent’s back and end …
Kelvin Gastelum looked fantastic in his UFC 180 win over Jake Ellenberger on Saturday. After he weathered some big shots from The Juggernaut, a late first-round scramble allowed The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 winner to take his opponent’s back and end the bout with a rear-naked choke.
This result is significant for Gastelum, who should expect some opportunities to face bigger names in the near future. These four men would serve as interesting opponents for his next showing in the Octagon.
These opponents provide a mix of experience, fighting styles and abilities that could truly test how far Gastelum has come in his young mixed martial arts career.
The UFC made its first trek to the high altitude of Mexico City on Saturday night for UFC 180, where Fabricio Werdum became the interim heavyweight champion in the night’s main event. In the co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum put in a star-making per…
The UFC made its first trek to the high altitude of Mexico City on Saturday night for UFC 180, where Fabricio Werdum became the interim heavyweight champion in the night’s main event. In the co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum put in a star-making performance when he submitted Jake Ellenberger in the final minute of the first round.
Gastelum came into the fight with an undefeated record of 9-0 and was going up against his toughest opponent to date. What did we learn from this welterweight clash?
Gastelum Is a Top 10 Welterweight
The biggest thing we learned is that Gastelum is legit. Ellenberger has had 12 prior UFC fights against some of the best welterweights in the world. None of them finished The Juggernaut as emphatically as Gastelum did. None put Ellenberger away in the first round.
Gastelum did it with ease.
Heading into this fight, we knew Gastelum was a very talented prospect, and at 23 years old, he has plenty of time to grow into a top-level mixed martial artist. At UFC 180 we learned that the speed of that growth continues to accelerate.
Ellenberger Won’t Be Fighting for the Title Anytime Soon
This was a must-win fight for Ellenberger. His lackluster decision loss to Rory MacDonald and third-round TKO loss to Robbie Lawler left him with his back against the wall. Now he’s on the dreaded three-fight losing streak. Though I don’t foresee him getting cut from the UFC altogether, he has a steep climb to get back to where he once was near the top of the welterweight division.
Gastelum Deserves Someone in the Top Five
Sometimes when young fighters get pushed too fast into fights against savvy veterans, even in victory, they show holes in their game, and their weaknesses become more glaring. Not the case with Gastelum. This was the stiffest test he’s faced in his career, and he passed it with flying colors. He was just as quick and light on his feet as Ellenberger, and he wasted no time going for the finish when he saw the opening.
He deserves an opponent in the Top Five, and a fight with the returning Carlos Condit or perhaps TyronWoodley would be great for Gastelum to quickly get in position for a title shot.
Muhammed Lawal’s career and legacy are in a very difficult place. With his upcoming bout against Joe Vedepo at Bellator 131, the former Strikeforce champion has his chance to gain his sixth win in the Bellator MMA cage since joining the promotion…
MuhammedLawal’s career and legacy are in a very difficult place. With his upcoming bout against Joe Vedepo at Bellator 131, the former Strikeforce champion has his chance to gain his sixth win in the BellatorMMA cage since joining the promotion in 2013. However, his legacy as an important name in mixed martial arts continues to be damaged because he is fighting what many would consider “lesser” opponents.
Outside of the fight with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 120, years have passed since Lawal has faced a ranked opponent. In fact, many would argue that “Rampage” is well beyond his prime and wasn’t a considerable threat at light heavyweight at the time of their fight. In an individual sport such as MMA, the value of Lawal’s overall legacy will be determined by the strength of whom he’s faced. At this point in time it would be tough to consider “King Mo” one of the best to compete at the 205-pound weight limit.
Yet, one must wonder if he should even care. Mixed martial arts is a sport based on prize-fighting—where athletes are competing for the chance to make the most money possible during their short time in action. Lawal understands this point and intends to make the most of it. He made his point in an August conversation with Sherdog.
“This was one of the easiest decisions I could have made,” Lawal said in reference to signing a long-term deal with Bellator once Scott Coker replaced Bjorn Rebney as president of the promotion. “This is where I want to be. I don’t care who I fight, when it is, or where it is. I get paid to fight, and that’s what I’m going to do for Bellator. That’s it.”
If this is the mentality that “King Mo” is taking for his MMA career, he should not feel threatened with the idea that his legacy is being hurt because of the men he is fighting. As long as he continues winning and earning paychecks then his job is done. But what will current fans and those of the future say about Lawal in comparison to his peers? That is where this conversation becomes interesting.
One constant in sports is that major athletes and their career accolades tend to be lowered as time passes. At one point they may be considered the greatest to ever play their sport. Years later more advanced athletes may recreate or surpass those same feats which will overshadow what was done in the past. This has occurred in mixed martial arts as the accolades of men such as Jon Jones and Georges St. Pierre continue to surpass early champions like Tito Ortiz and Frank Shamrock.
The same is going to happen to “King Mo” Lawal. At 13-4, Lawal has experienced much more success than failure in his six-year professional career. Unfortunately, many will question the value of that success based on the names he has competed against. While there are different levels of ability in MMA, the fact remains that fighters can fall at any moment in time. MMA Oddsbreakers was one of the many outlets that expected Lawal to defeat Emanuel Newton in their first meeting at Bellator 90, but that still stands as one of the best highlight-reel knockouts of 2013 (via MMA Mania).
Combat sports are a tough realm to judge a fighter against his peers. Fighters can only defeat the men and women that are placed in front of them. MuhammedLawal has done that for the majority of his career, which means he is successful as a prize fighter. While he may not receive the praise that comes to others, as long as he continues to win then he should consider his career a success.
In the main event of Bellator 131, Tito Ortiz