With just one month until tickets go on sale for the highly anticipated UFC Fight Night Stockholm on 4th October at the Globe Arena, UFC today announced the first confirmed bout which sees Nico Musoke take on Amir Sadollah. The welterweight bout i…
With just one month until tickets go on sale for the highly anticipated UFC Fight Night Stockholm on 4th October at the Globe Arena, UFC today announced the first confirmed bout which sees Nico Musoke take on Amir Sadollah. The welterweight bout is an exciting first announcement to the fifth live event for UFC EMEA and will be greatly received by UFC fans all over the world with Swede Musoke taking on The Ultimate Fighter Series 7 champion Sadollah in his hometown.Musoke, from Botkyrka in the capital city of Stockholm, lost his last fight to Kelvin Gastelum in June but recorded two straig … Read the Full Article Here
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey continues to dominant her opponents, looking more unstoppable in each of her Octagon appearances. Her 16-second destruction of Alexis Davis was yet another example of the distance between the champio…
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey continues to dominant her opponents, looking more unstoppable in each of her Octagon appearances. Her 16-second destruction of Alexis Davis was yet another example of the distance between the champion and the rest of the division.
Just when it seemed she had cleared out most of the top contenders at 135 pounds, the UFC made moves to line up her next crop of opponents. It has finally come to terms with Holly Holm (subscription required), who is undefeated at 7-0 and has a professional boxing record of 33-2-3, and she will be debuting in the Octagon sometime this fall.
UFC President Dana White has also said recently that a Gina Carano signing is imminent and that Ronda will defend the title against Carano in December, should the deal get done. Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is going to make her first cut to bantamweight in December, and a successful weight cut and performance in the Invicta cage would seemingly signal her movement to the UFC and a potential superfight with Rousey.
Add in the fact that the rightful No. 1 contender for the title, Cat Zingano, is making her return to action against Amanda Nunes at UFC 178 on September 27, and Rousey’s dance card starts to fill up pretty quickly.
Gina Carano
Most likely, Rousey’s next fight will be against Gina Carano. The fight keeps getting mentioned for December, but according to Newsday’s Mark La Monica, Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort will be headlining UFC 181 on December 6. UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis said on The MMA Hour this week that his title defense against Gilbert Melendez would also take place on December 6 in Las Vegas, so a third title fight at UFC 181 is unlikely.
Whether Rousey faces Carano at UFC 181 or UFC 182, she will be heavily favored to beat the former Strikeforce champion, who hasn’t fought since her 2009 loss to Cyborg.
Cat Zingano
It’s easy to forget that Zingano is undefeated in this sport at 8-0 and was originally supposed to be the person absorbing all of Rousey’s hate as her opposing coach on the 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
She was also supposed to get a title shot after her April 2013 TKO over Miesha Tate. If Zingano can defeat Amanda Nunes, she will have established herself again as the No. 1 contender and should face Rousey sometime in the first half of 2015, barring any injuries to either party in their next fights.
Cyborg
So if Ronda dispatches Gina, she would most likely have the next contender lined up for an early-to-mid 2015 defense. Cyborg’s first opponent at 135 pounds hasn’t been determined yet, and it is possible that even if she walks through the poor soul who agrees to face her, she may need one fight in the UFC before she gets to face Rousey.
It’s also possible that she gets a championship fight for her UFC debut, which seems likely. We may very well see the much sought-after fight between the two best female mixed martial artists of all time, if Rousey and Cyborg both continue their winning ways until this time next year.
The reason why we watch fights to begin with is because they are intriguing. Rousey facing the current group of bantamweights on the UFC roster isn’t intriguing, as she’s vanquished them all with near impunity thus far. A fight with Cyborg has the intrigue that is lacking from the other potential matchups for Rousey.
It’s no safe bet that Rousey would be able to dominate Cyborg the way she has her opponents up until this point, and we truly won’t know what will happen until we see it. These two may even fight to a trilogy, if one doesn’t thoroughly dominate the other in one or two fights.
Holly Holm
The Preacher’s Daughter has perhaps the best striking acumen on the women’s side of the sport. She’s a former professional boxer and has kickboxed as well. She has lite up her opposition with an impressive arsenal of punches and kicks that would send even the most bricked-up female bantamweights to the mat.
I think Holm is going to run roughshod over the division in a similar way that Rousey has with her Olympic-level judo and improving striking game. It’s a matter of when, not if, Holm fights for the title, and she will most likely have strung together enough wins to secure a title shot against Rousey or her usurper sometime toward the end of 2015.
The SAP Center in San Jose, California will play host to UFC on Fox 12 this Saturday night with an exciting fight card.
The headlining bout sees Matt Brown square off against Robbie Lawler in a five-round showdown, with the winner getting a shot at Joh…
The SAP Center in San Jose, California will play host to UFC on Fox 12 this Saturday night with an exciting fight card.
The headlining bout sees Matt Brown square off against Robbie Lawler in a five-round showdown, with the winner getting a shot at Johny Hendricks and the UFC Welterweight Championship.
With many other exciting fights scheduled, this is a stacked card that is not to be missed.
Check out our preview and predictions for the event right here.
The sports universe loves an underdog story, and Matt Brown is the UFC’s perfect rendition. One can look at Brown’s personal and athletic life to see multiple examples of how he has come back from near defeat.
The Immortal will step into th…
The sports universe loves an underdog story, and Matt Brown is the UFC’s perfect rendition. One can look at Brown’s personal and athletic life to see multiple examples of how he has come back from near defeat.
The Immortal will step into the cage this Saturday in San Jose, California, to face Robbie Lawler, and his story embodies what makes professional sports so enthralling. Even though he’s played the underdog throughout most of his career, he should not be overlooked in any fashion come main event time at UFC on Fox 12.
Brown brings a story that deserves recognition from all of the major outlets covering this event. Professionally, he was nearly out of the promotion back in 2010 when he dropped three fights in a row, all via second-round submission.
That struggle isn’t even the most difficult test that Brown has had to deal with in his life. Sherdog’s Joseph Santoliquito’s recent piece on Brown’s life chronicles the moments in which the UFC contender was clinically dead after a near-fatal overdose on heroin.
Many individuals have suffered from such demons in their personal life, but few truly make the best of their opportunities following such a downfall.
Brown’s rise to become an MMA fan favorite has been astounding and exciting to watch.
Brown is riding a seven-fight win streak as he prepares to face Lawler in what UFC President Dana White deemed a No. 1 contender’s contest for the UFC welterweight title, per UFC.com (via SB Nation). Even though Brown has crushed the opposition for the better part of the last two years, he is still widely considered the betting underdog coming into this fight.
Bestfightodds.com (via Cage Potato) has him currently listed at a +180 underdog as compared to a +260 favorite for Lawler.
While Lawler has had the more prolific second stanza to his MMA career, Brown should not be counted out of this bout. His will has kept him in other contests in which he’s been close to defeat, and that is what makes this fight much more appealing.
Erick Silva had Brown badly hurt very early in their bout at UFC Fight Night this past May. Jordan Mein also got off to a great start against the Immortal at UFC on Fox 7. However, Brown was able to hang on and win by stopping his opponents in the moments to follow.
Lawler has shown the ability to put fighters away, especially when he has them hurt. But the question is whether or not he will be able to do the same with Brown, who tends to hang on even when placed in dire straits.
This dynamic is what makes this fight so anticipated.
If Brown gets hurt early and finds a way to pull out a victory, he will certainly cross over from being a midcard fan favorite to becoming a star in this sport.
The underdog story will always capture the attention of sports fans. Brown embodies that persona for mixed martial arts, as he steps into a major career contest at UFC on Fox 12.
Lawler may be the man everyone is picking to win the bout, but the Immortal has hung on to snatch victory away from opponents in the past.
The fight world should not be surprised if he finds a way to do it again.
When Chris Weidman defeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 175, it was clear that his original foe, Vitor Belfort, was next in line for a shot at the middleweight championship.
For Weidman’s third defense, things aren’t as simple for the UFC as faxin…
When Chris Weidman defeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 175, it was clear that his original foe, Vitor Belfort, was next in line for a shot at the middleweight championship.
For Weidman’s third defense, things aren’t as simple for the UFC as faxing out a pair of bout agreements and picking an arena, as the Brazilian’s drug testing issues aren’t completely behind him.
Belfort tested positive for elevated testosterone levels in a random drug screening in Nevada back in February, and if the Nevada State Athletic Commission won’t license him, Luke Rockhold is the man who most deserves a title fight against Chris Weidman.
The question about whether or not Vitor Belfort will get a license is a valid one. The UFC would prefer to have Belfort’s next fight in Brazil, but UFC President Dana White has stated recently that he needs to be granted a license to fight by the NSAC before the UFC would book him again, in Nevada or otherwise.
As ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto wrote (via UFC-Buzz), Belfort’s case is unique in nature:
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has no precedence regarding certain details of Belfort’s application — nor is it likely to face these details again as they pertain to testosterone replacement therapy, which is now effectively banned in combat sports.
Belfort’s positive test-result indicated the presence of synthetic testosterone, a fact that wasn’t new. He was planning on filing for a therapeutic-use exemption with the NSAC for his fight with Weidman, which was planned for May.
After all the testing, and discussions of relevancy of ratios, and nanograms per-deciliters, and whether or not the NSAC handled the banning of testosterone-replacement therapy as well as they could have, the question remains: Will Vitor Belfort get licensed to fight in Nevada?
We don’t know.
If he does then he is free to face Weidman for the title wherever the UFC pleases, which will most likely be in Brazil. If he doesn’t get a fighter’s license, the next-best option is Luke Rockhold, whose only loss in the past six years has come against Belfort, who was on a straight tear through the middleweight division.
The former Strikeforce middleweight champion rebounded from that unsuccessful UFC debut by decimating Costas Philippou with a kick to the body in their January encounter, finishing him two minutes and 31 seconds into the first round.
He looked as impressive as ever with another first-round finish in his last outing, this time against Tim Boetsch, who tapped to a vicious reverse-triangle choke.
During his Strikeforce tenure, he notched wins against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Tim Kennedy, both of whom have gone 3-0 inside the Octagon since the Strikeforce merger and are nearing title contention themselves.
Rockhold hasn’t just beaten everyone aside from Belfort, but he’s shown growth in both his striking and grappling each time we’ve seen him in the cage.
A Weidman vs. Rockhold matchup would be interesting stylistically as well, as Weidman likes to close the distance and cut off the cage, while Rockhold likes to find his range and confuse you with his striking.
We’ve seen Weidman take Machida down, but Rockhold wouldn’t be as quick as Lyoto to try to get the fight back to the feet. Rockhold is not only comfortable in any position, but he’s also creative almost everywhere the fight goes.
Weidman is on a quest to establish himself as one of the most dominant UFC champions of all time. In order to do that he is going to need to defeat the current crop of middleweight contenders, which is as talent-rich as the division has ever seen.
Should Vitor Belfort not be able to sort out his commission troubles, Luke Rockhold is by far the clearest choice to challenge Chris Weidman next for the middleweight title. He’s outclassed highly ranked fighters and could even be Weidman’s most formidable foe.
In his first stint in the UFC, Anthony Johnson, who now walks around at 230 pounds, was competing as a welterweight. Though this never seemed like anything other than an act of defiance, Johnson didn’t exactly have a yogi’s gift of physical reduction; he struggled mightily to make 170-pound limit. He struggled to make 185 too. Sometimes he didn’t make it. Too often, in fact.
That’s where the trouble began. Four times he showed up to the scale heavy. The last miss on the scale led to Johnson’s dismissal from the UFC in January 2012. And yet it was in the self-imposed hell of those struggles … Read the Full Article Here
In his first stint in the UFC, Anthony Johnson, who now walks around at 230 pounds, was competing as a welterweight. Though this never seemed like anything other than an act of defiance, Johnson didn’t exactly have a yogi’s gift of physical reduction; he struggled mightily to make 170-pound limit. He struggled to make 185 too. Sometimes he didn’t make it. Too often, in fact.
That’s where the trouble began. Four times he showed up to the scale heavy. The last miss on the scale led to Johnson’s dismissal from the UFC in January 2012. And yet it was in the self-imposed hell of those struggles … Read the Full Article Here
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey continues to dominant her opponents, looking more unstoppable in each of her Octagon appearances. Her