KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Invicta FC atomweight champion Michelle Waterson looked every inch a superstar in the making, as she ripped apart teak-tough challenger Yasuko Tamada in the main event of Invicta FC 8 at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Invicta FC atomweight champion Michelle Waterson looked every inch a superstar in the making, as she ripped apart teak-tough challenger Yasuko Tamada in the main event of Invicta FC 8 at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The “Karate Hottie” scored a standing TKO in the final few seconds of the third round, showing no ring-rust despite over a year away from action.
The Greg Jackson trained 105lbs striker tore into her Japanese challenger from the opening bell, ripping Tamada with lead kicks to the face followed by three and four punch comb … Read the Full Article Here
The crowd was lively from the first fight of the night to the last at UFC Fight Night 50 at Foxwoods Casino on Friday Night. The UFC loaded the card with hard-hitting heavyweights and some entertaining submission grapplers, and each fight on the main c…
The crowd was lively from the first fight of the night to the last at UFC Fight Night 50 at Foxwoods Casino on Friday Night. The UFC loaded the card with hard-hitting heavyweights and some entertaining submission grapplers, and each fight on the main card delivered high quantities of violence. Aside from losing Oliveira vs. Lentz due to Oliveira’s illness throughout his weight cut, the show went off without a hitch.
This was a show that the UFC needed to hit out of the park, for a multitude of reasons. One of which was that Scott Coker was running a Bellator event featuring several former UFC fighters just eight miles down the road at Mohegan Sun.
Both shows were on cable television, going head-to-head for the same audience. The UFC couldn’t risk letting its biggest (yet still very far away) competitor look remotely like it was gaining any traction.
UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman was cageside for Fight Night 50, and no doubt he was paying a lot of attention to the outcome of the main event. Souza handed Mousasi his first submission loss in eight years when he sunk in a deep guillotine that had Mousasi tapping instantly.
The recent UFC cards have garnered a lot of criticism due to their lack of skilled and relevant fighters, but everything that was missing from some of them was on display in full force on Friday night. The UFC needed an event that would really remind MMA fans why it was that they watched the sport to begin with.
The smaller cage led to big finishes. Six out of the 10 bouts at Fight Night 50 didn’t see the judges’ scorecards. Lightweights Joe Lauzon and Michael Chiesa put on the Fight of the Night, and main event winner Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza snapped up a $50,000 performance bonus for his third-round guillotine-choke submission over Gegard Mousasi.
Here are some of the brighter spots from my viewpoint of UFC Fight Night 50.
Lauzon Sets Lightweight Finish Record
Joe Lauzon got a deafening crowd reaction when he walked to the cage for the opening bout of the main card against Michael Chiesa. The upper mezzanine was a sea of red Lauzon shirts, all standing in solidarity to support their local hero. Every pass, takedown attempt and reversal by Joe sent the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
Both guys brought it, and for as long as it went on, it was a back-and-forth affair. Lauzon gained some momentum in the second round, and as he attacked Chiesa with a knee to the forehead, Chiesa was cut right above the eye, and the blood was flowing immediately.
The cut over Chiesa’s right eye looked like Joe Riggs’ self-inflicted bullet wound. It was nasty, and it was right on his eyebrow, so when Herb Dean caught a glimpse of that he timed out the action and had the doctor come in and take a peek. The fight was waived off to the dismay of a very game Chiesa, but Lauzon took home his 10th finish in the lightweight division, passing BJ Penn (ninth), and setting the record.
Taking home the Fight of the Night bonus gave Lauzon another UFC record. He was previously tied with Anderson Silva at 12 post-fight bonus awards, and Fight Night 50 marked his 13th—not a terrible night for Lauzon.
Two Heavyweight KOs; Two Very Different Celebrations
Nothing is worse in fights than lumbering heavyweights gassing each other out against the fence trying to outmuscle one other for 15 minutes. Luckily, we didn’t have to travel down that rabbit hole on Friday at Foxwoods, as the two main card heavyweight fights both ended quickly and decisively.
Matt Mitrione broke a five-fight winning streak for Derrick Lewis when he cracked him with a short right hook and poured on a few more big shots, while Lewis was on the ground before the fight was called off after just 41 seconds.
Mitrione didn’t appreciate being called out by name by Lewis for the fight and stood over the unconscious fighter, bragging and tauting him as he regained his faculties.
In the co-main event of the evening, Alistair Overeem suffered another knockout loss, this time at the hands of “Big” Ben Rothwell. Rothwell caught Overeem with a grazing hook that dazed the new addition to Team Jackson-Winkeljohn midway through the first round, and Rothwell ran in and put The Reem away with a flurry of additional punches.
Afterward, while Alistair was still down on the canvas, Rothwell busts out an eccentric two-step bouncing dance-move thingy that was actually pretty amazing.
In the case of Mitirone, his win over Lewis showed that he is no longer the heavy-handed newcomer to the sport who needs to get a few more fights under his belt; he has become somewhat of a savvy veteran of the Octagon.
He derailed the Lewis hype train and said at the post-fight press conference that whomever the UFC gives him next is who he deserves. I’d say he deserves someone with a number next to his name.
For Rothwell, he’s just notched his most impressive and most high-profile victory to-date. He seems to have a new approach to fighting since his third-round destruction of Brandon Vera. Rothwell’s post-fight speech was one for the ages, saying we’ve witnessed the most powerful force in the universe.
Believing!
He proved to himself that he can make a run for the title, but he still needs to prove it to the rest of us. He also could use a fight with someone within the Top 15. With Rothwell we now have two things to look forward to when he fights: his knockout power and wicked dance game.
Jacare Makes Case for Title Shot
Mousasi walks out to every fight with a sort of slumping, listless look to him. When Bruce Buffer is reaching the highest decibel levels possible while announcing his name, he usually just nods and remains planted right where he is, with no enthusiasm whatsoever.
After this fight, though, Mousasi actually acknowledged having less “fighting spirit” due to fighting so often and his fight getting rescheduled. He was on the defensive throughout the entirety of the bout and tapped to a guillotine in the third round.
With the win, Jacare moves to 4-0 in the UFC and has won seven straight. He avenged his 2008 loss from Dream 8 and has earned a shot at the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort.
Though UFC President Dana White said post-fight that Souza will probably have to fight again; he would be most likely be favored against anyone in the 185-pound division. Plus, Vitor Belfort is undergoing very stringent drug testing for his UFC 181 fight against Weidman, so should an issue arise, Jacare could be kept as a backup.
With all the fight-changing that we’ve had to endure over the past few months, keeping someone on standby doesn’t seem like the worst possible outcome.
All in all, UFC Fight Night 50 more than delivered. Even the fights that went to a decision had the crowd engaged. We got yet another reminder that Alistair Overeem was either over-hyped or isn’t the same fighter he once was.
Jacare Souza used his top-level grappling to slide his way into title contention, and Joe Lauzon electrified in front of his friends and family yet again, earning a few distinctions along the way. UFC Fight Night 50 was a shining example of what MMA and shows put on by the UFC can achieve and what MMA fans deserve.
Brock Lesnar took the MMA world by storm when he made his UFC debut back in 2008, managing to capture the Heavyweight belt in his 3rd fight. Lesnar left the organization just as quick as he entered it, leaving after just seven fights.
With the way Lesn…
Brock Lesnar took the MMA world by storm when he made his UFC debut back in 2008, managing to capture the Heavyweight belt in his 3rd fight. Lesnar left the organization just as quick as he entered it, leaving after just seven fights.
With the way Lesnar was able to achieve such success and with the freakish athleticism he possess, leaves us all asking the question. Could Brock return to the octagon and find success again?
Watch as Bleacher Report caught up with some UFC fighters to get their take on if the they think Lesnar could return and be successful.
Benson Henderson is one of the most polarizing individuals in the UFC’s lightweight division. The former champion seems to garner more hatred every time he steps into the cage. After suffering his second defeat eight days before the one-year anni…
Benson Henderson is one of the most polarizing individuals in the UFC’s lightweight division. The former champion seems to garner more hatred every time he steps into the cage. After suffering his second defeat eight days before the one-year anniversary of losing the belt to Anthony Pettis, one must wonder what is next for the man simply known as “Smooth.”
Henderson’s defeat at the hands of Rafael dos Anjos has pushed him down to No. 4 in the UFC’s official rankings. Unfortunately for Henderson, he might as well hold a ranking spot that is well out of the Top 10, because that defeat at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. dos Anjos has completely knocked him out of the immediate title picture. Names such as Donald Cerrone, Eddie Alvarez and Bobby Green can quickly leapfrog him if they put together an impressive performance before the end of 2014. So what does this mean for Henderson, and will he lose his motivation for the sport? Hopefully the answer is no.
When looking at this question the first step is to review Henderson’s comments about his plans to walk away from the sport of MMA. In a 2013 interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, the former champion discussed his thoughts on retirement.
“By the time I hit 33 I intend on retiring. I’m done after that,” Henderson told Helwani during the conversation. “Fighting is hard, fighting is tough. You get beat up in the body. It’s hard; it takes a toll on your body.”
Henderson made those comments in April 2013 before he was able to defeat Gilbert Melendez for his third defense of the title. His fortunes have not been so great since that interview, and now he finds himself in a perplexing position within the lightweight division. However, that does not mean he should lose his motivation for both this weight class and beyond.
First, if Henderson can put together a string of 3-4 wins within the next year, he may find himself in a position in which the UFC will need him. Henderson has a track record of staying pretty active in the cage, and that can play to his advantage. Recent developments have seen the UFC deal with injury issues in multiple main events in 2014.
If Benson can win some bouts and do so in a highlight-reel fashion, he can place himself on the short list of fighters the UFC calls if it needs a late replacement. He isn’t really in the position to turn down any opportunities that may come via injury as this may be the only route for him to leap to the top of the lightweight heap.
The second option for Henderson is a potential move to welterweight. This conversation is not a new talking point in reference to the former title holder. Comments dating back to 2011 have referenced Henderson moving up to 170 pounds. An interview with Geno Mrosko of Bloody Elbow revealed that Benson has made preparations to make the eventual move.
“As I get older, I eat healthier, try to eat the right things, make all these little sacrifices that it takes to be a champion,” Henderson said to Mrosko. “Hopefully, eventually my technique catches up where I can hang with guys that are freaking 20 pounds heavier than me, and use more of my speed when they are bigger and slower, and my technique makes up for them being stronger than me.”
These are two very interesting opportunities that await Henderson when he does return to fighting. While he may not have been the most popular of fighters and earned some heat for controversial wins, the truth remains that he is a very tough foil for any athlete placed opposite the Octagon. Whatever Henderson decides to do going forward will be worth watching out for by anyone who could be an eventual opponent.
UFC Sr. Director of Public Relations Dave Sholler was joined on stage by Jacare Souza, Gegard Mousasi, Matt Mitrione, Joe Lauzon, and John Moraga at the Fight Night Foxwoods Post Fight Press Conference.
Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Chiesa was named as the f…
UFC Sr. Director of Public Relations Dave Sholler was joined on stage by Jacare Souza, Gegard Mousasi, Matt Mitrione, Joe Lauzon, and John Moraga at the Fight Night Foxwoods Post Fight Press Conference.
Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Chiesa was named as the fight of the night. Ben Rothwell earned a performance bonus for his KO win against Alistair Overeem, and Jacare won a performance bonus after his win, as well. All four fighters will receive an extra $50k.
Lauzon earned his UFC record 13th performance bonus, passing UFC legend Anderson Silva.
The reported attendance was a complete sellout c … Read the Full Article Here
The fight that could have been was just three weeks away from today.
If not for an unfortunate knee injury to the champion, we’d all be three weeks away from the best pay-per-view card of the year. Alas, the injury did happen, and the best thing …
The fight that could have been was just three weeks away from today.
If not for an unfortunate knee injury to the champion, we’d all be three weeks away from the best pay-per-view card of the year. Alas, the injury did happen, and the best thing we can all do is accept it and wait for the champion and challenger to heal up nicely.
Two weeks removed from surgery to repair his injured knee, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is back in the gym.
Jones posted a video on his Instagram profile earlier captioned “Two weeks after knee surgery..Phil4:13.” The video shows Jones land two kicks and one low-flying knee.
Jones’ light heavyweight title tilt with Daniel Cormier was rescheduled for Jan. 3 after the champion hurt his knee while wrestling with Jackson’s MMA teammate Alistair Overeem last month.
“It’s part of the game, it wasn’t like … somebody went for a flying kick and dislocated [something],” Jones’ coach Greg Jackson told Sherdog.com. “Somebody went for a takedown, [Jones] stepped the wrong way, twisted the wrong way and down he went. He was fighting it, and he just twisted it. And then it just popped.”
The injury came as terrible news to the MMA community, most of which was already accounting for UFC 178 in monthly budgets. This was a fight most wanted to see, save for the Alexander Gustafsson faithful.
Seeing Jones back in the gym while he kicks the bag in a relatively gingerly manner is reason enough to be excited for January bout—Jones will be ready, Cormier will be ready, and, rest assured, fans will be ready.
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.
The crowd was lively from the first fight of the night to the last at UFC Fight Night 50 at Foxwoods Casino on Friday Night. The UFC loaded the card with hard-hitting heavyweights and some entertaining submission grapplers, and each fight on the main card delivered high quantities of violence. Aside from