Come Saturday night, UFC will host one of its most explosive fights of the year when No. 1 contender “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler squares off against Matt “The Immortal” Brown.
A lot is riding on this fight, as the winner goes on to…
Come Saturday night, UFC will host one of its most explosive fights of the year when No. 1 contender “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler squares off against Matt “The Immortal” Brown.
A lot is riding on this fight, as the winner goes on to face the champ, Johny Hendricks, for the welterweight belt.
Bleacher Report got the chance to chat with Lawler and Brown to hear them weigh in on what we can expect from Fight Night on Saturday.
Daniel Cormier is getting the title shot that he’s coveted for so long. The former Olympian will step in to face current light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, at UFC 178.
Jones was set to face Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of their 2013 bout…
Daniel Cormier is getting the title shot that he’s coveted for so long. The former Olympian will step in to face current light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, at UFC 178.
Jones was set to face Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of their 2013 bout, but the Swedish fighter was forced off of the card due to an injury. The UFC reported that Alexander suffered an injury to the meniscus in his right knee. This incident has created the opportunity for Cormier to step into the main event of the September 27 showcase.
The changing of the main event creates an interesting dynamic within the light heavyweight division. The rematch between Jones and Gustafsson was one of the most anticipated fights in 2014. Gustafsson nearly defeated Jones at UFC 165, and many fans still believe he should have had his hand raised in victory.
His victory over JimiManuwa in March placed him in the position to face Jones once again. However, to the dismay of MMA fans, Jones created a controversy by stating that he would rather face Cormier than Gustafsson (via ESPN). After a quick back and forth, the UFC was finally able to get the fight between Jones and Gustafsson booked for UFC 178 in Las Vegas.
The injury bug has struck once again, though, and changed a fight that the UFC needed to create a strong event. Unlike UFC 176, which was recently cancelled due to Jose Aldo’s injury, UFC 178 will be able to go on since the light heavyweight division has the depth needed at a time like this.
With his experience in wrestling, many believe that he has the tools to defeat Jones if they ever face off. The fight community is now just two months away from seeing if that prediction will come to fruition.
Cormier has been able to dominate bigger men with his wrestling abilities. As a light heavyweight, he’s continued that trend within the Octagon. When he defeated Dan Henderson, a fellow Olympian, Cormier was able to take him down repeatedly without much restraint from the former two-division champion.
According to statistics provided by Fight Metric, Gustafsson became the first opponent to take Jones down in his professional career. This creates an interesting question as to whether or not Jones will be able to defend Cormier’s takedowns.
Cormier has effectively saved UFC 178 by replacing Gustafsson in the main event of the show. With the main event now reading Jones vs. Cormier, fight fans can stay excited about the upcoming event.
Alistair Overeem avoided a three-fight losing streak at UFC 169 in February when he pounded on Frank Mir for 15 minutes en route to a unanimous-decision victory. As “The Reem” looks to get back in the title conversation in the heavyweight division and …
Alistair Overeem avoided a three-fight losing streak at UFC 169 in February when he pounded on Frank Mir for 15 minutes en route to a unanimous-decision victory. As “The Reem” looks to get back in the title conversation in the heavyweight division and pick up some momentum, his Fight Night 50 opponent, Ben Rothwell, is an ideal adversary.
Overeem came into the UFC with much fanfare and finished Brock Lesnar in the first round of his UFC debut at UFC 141 in December 2011. He earned a title shot with then-champ Junior dos Santos, but it never came to fruition, due to a positive drug test for Overeem ahead of their planned May 2012 fight.
He served a nine-month suspension handed down by the NSAC and returned with back-to-back knockout losses to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Travis Browne.
Overeem gassed out in the third round of the Bigfoot fight, and the giant pulverized him when he dropped his hands.
Against Browne, Overeem nearly finished the fight with a barrage of punches and knees to the body, landing shots that were very close to putting Browne away. The Hawaiian somehow endured the punishment and knocked out Overeem with a front kick after Overeem had zapped himself of all energy trying to finish Browne earlier in the fight.
Overeem has lost some big fights, and he needs to rack up a few wins before he can fight the best heavyweights in the division. His win over Mir set him on the right path, but he’s going to have to beat back some of the guys from the middle of the pack. Enter Ben Rothwell.
The Kenosha, Wisconsin, native is coming off a win over Brandon Vera last August at UFC 164. Rothwell received a therapeutic-use exemption from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services and was on TRT for the Vera fight.
When he tested positive for elevated testosterone levels, the commission opted to give him a warning, while the UFC suspended him for nine months.
The fact that he wasn’t punished by the commission means his win wasn’t overturned. He’s alternated wins and losses since his UFC debut against Cain Velasquez in October 2009. Both Rothwell and Overeem have won and lost half of their UFC fights.
Rothwell needs to prove a few things in his fight against Overeem. The first thing he needs is a second win in a row to show he is more than just a “win one, lose one” heavyweight on the roster.
The next thing we need to see is whether Rothwell can fight off of TRT. We’ve seen mixed results when fighters stop taking steroids, and that will be a factor when Rothwell and Overeem throw down at Foxwoods.
Rothwell is going to move forward and try to knock out Overeem, and he doesn’t have the best cardio. Overeem will have a clear striking advantage, and as long as he doesn’t punch himself out, he should be able to pick apart Rothwell. He came in pretty lean for the Mir fight, relatively speaking, and he was landing hard shots until the very end of the fight.
It might finally be time for Overeem to go on a run in the UFC that sees him challenge for the title. He’s got to get past Rothwell if he wants title-eliminator fights, and Big Ben is undoubtedly going to be looking to be the latest heavyweight to send Overeem careening toward the canvas.
It’s a great fight between two hard-hitting heavyweights, and it is the perfect opportunity for Overeem to showcase his skills against a formidable foe.
He’s the No. 1 Contender
All TRT discussions aside, Vitor Belfort has been on a colossal tear as of late—leaving his last three opponents with foggy memories of blitzing hand strikes and concussive head kicks.
He first took out the UFC’s …
He’s the No. 1 Contender
All TRT discussions aside, VitorBelfort has been on a colossal tear as of late—leaving his last three opponents with foggy memories of blitzing hand strikes and concussive head kicks.
He first took out the UFC’s No. 8-ranked middleweight Michael Bisping in the second round of their fight. He then went after the division’s fifth-ranked fighter in Luke Rockhold before placing him on the bad end of a highlight-reel knockout. Next came a light heavyweight matchup with Dan Henderson—the sequel to their first bout in 2006. A solid shin to the head left Henderson on the wrong end of a knockout for the first time in his storied career.
Turns out 2013 was a good year for Belfort.
This year was supposed to be a good year for him, too—he was set to take on UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. A positive test for elevated testosterone levels took away his title shot, but it didn’t take away his status as the division’s No. 1 contender.
It Would Further Validate Weidman as the Man to Beat
Weidman‘s first victory over the reigning middleweight king left enough questions to warrant an immediate rematch. His second victory against Anderson Silva left them wanting even more. As far as we knew it, we would never know what have happened had Silva not clowned in his first outing or broken his leg in the second.
Either way, he’d bested the greatest fighter of all time twice and we needed to move on.
In comes LyotoMachida as the new champion’s second challenger. Akin to Silva, Machida was another elusive Brazilian counter-striker that was supposed to give Weidman fits in the standup department. But, akin to Silva, he didn’t.
Weidman stalked Machida around the Octagon, effectively cutting off the cage and preventing The Dragon from ever really setting up his strikes enough to warrant a five-round nod. He was unafraid of striking with another striker and wrestled when he needed to.
Though he couldn’t find a way to finish the former UFC light heavyweight champion, he proved he was the better fighter.
Unlike his bouts with Silva, there were no questions here.
Sure, Machida could’ve gotten started a little earlier to give himself enough time to win a five-round decision, but that’s not how The Dragon rolls.
Belfort, on the other hand, is literally the opposite. Consider him the antithetical Machida here—he wants to strike first and win fast. A win over Belfort would only prove Weidman capable of handling the best strikers that any division has to offer.
Weidman Could Close the TRT Saga
Belfort wasn’t the only UFC fighter to use testosterone-replacement therapy to help prepare for a bout, but he was certainly the most scrutinized one.
Unlike ChaelSonnen and Henderson—two other popular fighters who were synonymous with the controversial treatment—Belfort was succeeding. Sonnen lost three of his last four bouts by TKO before retiring from the sport, while Henderson has seen similar statistics—leaving many wishing he’d walk away from the sport as well.
TRT couldn’t save Sonnen or Henderson.
It’d be tough to argue the same for Belfort, though.
Without a doubt, this is the best version of Belfort that we have ever seen. He’s running through top-tier opponents in dramatic fashion. But he’s doing it as a muscular 37-year-old man, and that has to raise some questions.
He’s got the wisdom of a seasoned fighter and the physical capabilities of a younger version of himself. It shouldn’t matter now, though, because Belfort won’t be on the controversial substance anymore.
Meanwhile, Weidman is moving full steam ahead to prove that Belfort is not the same fighter and the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the UFC made the right call by banning TRT.
From a purely competitive standpoint, this is a fight that most of us are dying to see. Taking all of the context into consideration should make most of us think twice, though.
He Could Fool Us Again
Most MMA fans want to remember Belfort as the man who was able to run Wanderlei Silva across the cage with a blurry barrage of punches before leaving him with nobody but John McCarthy to keep him company.
Few want to remember him as the man who tested positive for anabolic steroids after his loss to Henderson at Pride 32: The Real Deal (Yes, the irony kills me as well).
Whether you chose to forgive or forget Belfort‘s mistake is up to you. Chances are you probably don’t care as much about his first positive test anymore because you were too busy watching him demolish pretty much everybody not named Anderson Silva or Jon Jones in his latest stint with the UFC.
Belfort‘s a mere eight years removed and all but recovered from his first positive test. He’s only two months removed from his second and still has a ways to go.
We wanted to believe that old Vitor was merely using TRT to supplement the hormonal gaps that young Vitor‘s mistakes created. We wanted to believe that whatever possible advantages TRT could create for any fighter were irrelevant because Belfort wasn’t abusing the treatment to reach such peaks. We wanted to believe that he’d learned his lesson.
We were wrong.
Yet, here we are—just five months away from watching Belfort challenge for his third UFC title in four years.
With TRT now banned in the UFC and the eyes of the NSAC constantly upon him, it’s unlikely Belfort gets a third opportunity to further damage his already fragile reputation.
Be that as it may, it’s probably best to proceed with caution.
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
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.
Daniel