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The Ultimate Fighter Brazil Launches Casting Call

São Paulo – The UFC® will be hosting a casting call for the fourth season of its Brazilian reality TV show, The Ultimate Fightersup>®, airing on Globo, on Monday, October 27 at the Windsor Barra hotel in Rio de Janeiro. Tryouts will be open to bantamweights (61 kg) and lightweights (70 kg). This season’s coaches have not yet been announced.
All candidates for The Ultimate Fighter® Brazil should be between 18 and 35 years of age and have a minimum of three professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights – holding a winning record (with verifiable records). For … Read the Full Article Here

Jon Jones Has Been a Little Too Quiet of Late, Perhaps That’s a Good Thing?

Jon Jones has become a lightning rod within the world of mixed martial arts.
The man that once saved a woman from an attempted mugging hours before becoming the UFC light heavyweight champion has placed himself in a position to be hated. Every move he …

Jon Jones has become a lightning rod within the world of mixed martial arts.

The man that once saved a woman from an attempted mugging hours before becoming the UFC light heavyweight champion has placed himself in a position to be hated. Every move he makes in the public eye causes the situation to worsen. Everything from deleted Instagram posts and tweets to mentioning his championship reign as destiny has given off a bad impression to the fight community.

As the world awaits his eighth title defense against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182, it seems as if the champion has not had much to say, which is a very good thing at this point in time.

It is a fact that Jon Jones is an athletic force within the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has dominated the 205-pound weight class in a way that has never been done before. At just 27 years of age, he has shown flashes of the potential to go down in history as the greatest fighter of all time. Still, those points have not saved him from the ridicule that has become customary in recent years.

Unfortunately, Jones brings much of this situation on himself. The initial controversy started with his 2012 DUI arrest in New York, per MMA Fighting. From that point on it seemed as if the relationship between Jones and the fans began to sour.

“It seems oxy-moronic to say this, but the most well-sponsored man in the sport is one of the most disliked,” Dane Curley of Fan Rag wrote in 2013. “Jon Jones has been rubbing people the wrong way ever since he took home a DUI for crashing his Bentley with two female passengers inside.”

Compound this situation with the cancellation of UFC 151 and the issue involving contract negotiations to sign Alexander Gustafsson, and it seemed as if Jones further fell into the role of the bad guy. As fate would place him against Daniel Cormier for UFC 178, a fight that would be nixed due to Jones suffering a knee injury, his public persona would continue to suffer via his words and actions.

No one will forget the run-in that occurred during the lead-up to UFC 178. Many expected the media brawl with Cormier to have a negative backlash on the sport of MMA, according to MMA Fighting.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” UFC personality, Joe Rogan said during his podcast (via David St. Martin of MMA Fighting). “This can’t happen. You can’t do that. This is real bad for the sport. It’s real bad. It’s real bad for public perception. It’s a weapon to be used against MMA. It’s unfortunate.”

While Jones would go on to apologize for the situation, via MMA Weekly, footage of Cormier and Jones arguing after an ESPN segment would just make the situation worse. It seems true that these two men are not fond of each other in any way, but their actions in the public eye have not been positive at all.

Since then it seems as if Jon Jones has been relatively quiet. While he is still active with his social media profiles, he has not resorted to responding to fans in controversial fashion like he has in the past.

Perhaps this change is for the best to let the air settle after the way the UFC 178 promotion nearly got out of hand. Jones can benefit from this newfound silence to emerge as a “focused champion” before what may be his toughest title defense to date.

Whatever the reason may be for his growing public hatred, Jon Jones may be the best fighter in the sport today—and ever when his career is over. For all his skills in the cage, he hasn’t shown the ability to present himself in the same way to the public. This newfound silence may be a smart move for the time being, but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

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MMA’s ‘Fighter of the Year’ a 2-Man Race Between Cerrone and Lawler

As 2014 winds down, and we look to what the future might hold in 2015 for mixed martial arts, the pack starts to thin in the race for “Fighter of the Year,” and so far it’s down to two men: Robbie Lawler and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
U…

UFC champions have not been particularly active this year. Cain Velasquez will only have one fight in 2014, the same goes for Jon Jones, Chris Weidman and Anthony Pettis. Johny Hendricks, Jose Aldo and Demetrious Johnson will have each fought twice by the time the year is over, and bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw has fought three times.

You could make a case for Ronda Rousey as Fighter of the Year due to the dominance in her two victories in 2014, which took a total of 1:22. There have been a lot of fighters who have been more active than the current group of UFC champions over the past year, and two in particular have stood out from the rest.

Robbie Lawler’s first fight of 2014 was against Johny Hendricks for the vacant UFC welterweight title at UFC 171 in March. He rallied back from being down two rounds, and won the third and the fourth round on all three judges scorecards. It was tied going into the fifth and final round.

The round itself was a microcosm of the larger fight as a whole, as it was super close with Hendricks just barely pulling away with a takedown at the end of the round that he was able to use to keep Lawler down just long enough to win the decision.

After the close fight with Hendricks, Lawler rebounded with a third-round TKO win over Jake Ellenberger in May, where he outstruck Ellenberger for the first two rounds, and late in the third a devastating knee to the body of Ellenberger and a left hook from Lawler put him away.

He followed that up with his five-round battle with the hard-nosed Matt Brown in the main event of UFC on Fox 12. Two impressive victories and a close loss in a title fight might be enough to declare “Ruthless” the Fighter of the Year, but the fact that he has earned a second title fight that will also be taking place before the year is up is even more impressive.

If Lawler takes the title from Hendricks on December 6, a new UFC welterweight champion would be hard to argue as the Fighter of the Year.

We don’t know exactly what the end of 2014 will look like for Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone just yet. He has been insisting since January that he wants to fight six times this year. He could wait and potentially fight for the lightweight title or in a top-contender fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov when he returns in early 2015. But Cerrone has said that he wants to stay active and fight again ASAP.

His 2014 offensive on the UFC 155-pound weight-class has been remarkable thus far. He kicked the year off with a first-round head-kick knockout of Adriano Martins at UFC on Fox in January.

Three months later he returned to action, where he engaged in a two-minute Muay Thai battle with Edson Barboza before jumping on his back and choking him out.

He finished Jim Miller twice in July. In the main event of UFC Fight Night Atlantic City, Cerrone caught Miller with a shot to the body that had Miller looking to the ref to save him. Mistaking it for a low blow, referee Dan Miragliotta briefly haulted the action and the resumed it. Cerrone then officially put Miller away with a head kick and some punches.

Two months after that, Cerrone had the daunting task of welcoming Eddie Alvarez to the UFC. Alvarez was thought to be one of the very best lightweights in the world, and would finally have a chance to prove it in the UFC. Cerrone defeated Alvarez by unanimous decision.

Four wins, three finishes, and the intention of fighting again within the next two months. Cerrone has set the bar pretty high for the fighter of 2014.

If Robbie Lawler starts off 2015 holding the UFC welterweight title, then he will be the year’s fightingest fighter, but if not, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will reign supreme.

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The UFC Needs New Blood at the Top of These 3 Divisions

There are some divisions in the UFC where the talent pool seems endless. Classes like lightweight, featherweight, and welterweight have always had a constant stream of contenders rising up through the ranks. Not every weight class has had this luxury r…

The 155-pound class has always been known for its depth, and the recent addition of Eddie Alvarez to the fray makes it an even deeper tank of sharks.

Middleweight has seen a resurgence lately as well, with an influx of talent from Strikeforce, like Rockhold, Kennedy and “Jacare” Souza, along with an exodus of a few fighters from the light heavyweight division, like Machida and Mousasi.

The UFC’s newest and fastest rising star, Conor McGregor, is bringing the featherweight division to prominence, and the sky is the limit on the potential fights for the 26-year-old Irishman.

Not all divisions are experiencing a youth movement, however. Heavyweight is going through a renaissance of aging fighters who have been around since MMA’s earlier days. The UFC’s most recent male weight addition, 125 pounds, has seen it’s champion rise to pound-for-pound dominance and nearly clean out the division.

The light heavyweight division has always been the UFC’s marquee weight class. The longtime home to greats like Liddell, Rua and Couture, the 205-pound division currently houses the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.

Along his path to pound-for-pound greatness, he’s beaten half of the current Top 10 at light heavyweight, and there aren’t a lot of 205-pounders storming their way through the division to get to Jones.

Let’s take a look at the weight classes where the UFC most needs some fresh faces.

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Conor McGregor vs. the Top Featherweights: How Does He Match Up vs. Aldo & Co.?

Conor McGregor stepped into the Octagon against Marcus Brimage as one of the best but unknown European prospects the UFC could find.
It took him just one minute and seven seconds to justify the signing. It took him just a few minutes in…

Conor McGregor stepped into the Octagon against Marcus Brimage as one of the best but unknown European prospects the UFC could find.

It took him just one minute and seven seconds to justify the signing. It took him just a few minutes into the post-fight press conference to make the rest of us want to watch him fight again, giving birth to the hype that took the MMA community by storm.

He kept the hype alive with victories against Max Holloway and Diego Brandao.

At that point, most of us were intrigued, and about half of us were convinced—it was time to put this brash Irish featherweight in the cage with a worthy opponent.

In stepped Dustin Poirier to be that worthy opponent. He was supposed to help most of us decide whether the flashy, confident McGregor was the real deal. As it turns out, he is—and it didn’t even take him two minutes to prove it.

Even after seeing his hand raised as the dominant victor over a top-five opponent, some still question how high a ceiling McGregor has. We’ll find out soon, especially considering Dana White‘s already pegged him as the next in line for a shot at featherweight gold.

“Here’s the thing: If you go down the list, every one of those guys has fought Jose Aldo already. Conor (McGregor) hasn’t,” White told UFC.com‘s Matt Parrino. “So who do you line up next for the champ other than Conor (McGregor)? Everybody else has fought him.”

Win or lose in the fight for the title, he’ll likely find himself sharing the Octagon with other top-five featherweights. How will he fare? Scroll on as we speculate.

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What a Win Could Mean for Gunnar Nelson at UFC Fight Night 53

Undefeated Gunnar Nelson looks to make the leap into the Top 10 of the welterweight division when he meets Rick “The Horror” Story in the main event of UFC Fight Night 53 this Saturday.
Nelson (13-0-1), who is currently ranked 12th in …

Undefeated Gunnar Nelson looks to make the leap into the Top 10 of the welterweight division when he meets Rick “The Horror” Story in the main event of UFC Fight Night 53 this Saturday.

Nelson (13-0-1), who is currently ranked 12th in the division, takes on former top contender Story (17-8) in a five-round fight. Story, who is 4-3 in his last seven fights, is a former collegiate wrestler who has beaten the likes of current welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and Thiago Alves. Of his three recent losses, two have been controversial split decisions.

While Story looks to reclaim his relevance once again, he will be tested by the submission specialist Nelson. A win over Story could mean a top quality opponent for the Icelandic fighter in his next outing.

Nelson is relatively inexperienced compared to the 30-year-old Story. However, don’t count that as a weakness. Story would be seriously troubled to doubt Nelson’s skill set. A 2009 multi-gold medalist in the IBJJF Pan American Championship, Nelson has won three of his four UFC fights by submission, including two in the first round. There’s more to offer, however, than Nelson’s record indicates.

“He was a karate competitor as a youth. He switches stances frequently and his straight punches from either stance are lightning-fast and powerful,” wrote Sherdog.com’s Patrick Wyman in his preview of the matchup.

Without any formal wrestling training, Nelson is still able to take fights to the ground and has avoided 100 percent of the takedowns coming his way. That number is something Story should be very afraid of. Nelson has taken each UFC opponent down at least once, making multiple passes in their guard while he is there.

On the feet, he possesses excellent striking accuracy, landing 60 percent of his strikes, although nearly half of those strikes have come on the ground.

His opponent, Story, is well-rounded and isn’t performing as badly as his record indicates. He has traded leather with some of the UFC’s heaviest hitters in the past. Story first made waves in the UFC when he defeated Hendricks and Alves while riding a six-fight win streak, but he was beaten at his own game by Charlie Brenneman and outclassed by Martin Kampmann.

Nelson and Story have familiar approaches to their fights, but there is one distinct difference. Story, the wrestler, prefers to control his opponent—which critics have called ugly—as opposed to looking for the finish. His game plan has evolved, though. In two of his last three victories, Story has one knockout and one submission victory. If his game does have a weakness, it’s against high-level jiu-jitsu artists.

“I can use any of my skills. I can use my distance to catch him and pinpoint him, or I could pressure him and get him down to the floor and finish him that way,” Nelson told the UFC’s Caroline Pierce.

The last time Story faced an accomplished grappler, it was Demian Maia, who submitted him in the first round at UFC 153. With two fighters so well-versed on the ground, they would appear to cancel each other out. Who gets the advantage on the feet, then, will be determined by who lands first. It’s a classic matchup of the volume puncher versus the technical striker.

Nelson picks his spots and switches stances, thus keeping opposing fighters guessing. Story uses his combinations in order to set up a takedown or when engaging in the clinch. However, neither fighter has ever shown an interest in brawling or possesses one-punch knockout power. Story would appear to have an advantage standing up simply due to his experience.

For Story, a win over an undefeated and dangerous prospect could be the boost of confidence he needs to show other welterweights he’s still a formidable threat. For Nelson, it could mean embarking on the path to a title shot. A loss against the veteran would be a serious setback, and it’s obvious the UFC has high hopes for Icelander.

Regardless of how he wins, Nelson will draw a Top 10 opponent. With a potential fight against Maia out of reach due to his bone infection, he could draw the winner of Jake Ellenberger vs. Kelvin Gastelum.

If Nelson is the real deal, he will steamroll through Story; if not, then it would show that he needs more weapons outside of his ground game to accompany him in his next fight.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com