Author: Alex Ballentine

UFC Fight Night 41 Results: Winners, Scorecards and Analysis

UFC Fight Night 41 served as Part 1 of a two-event day for the UFC. After a slew of dominating performances from some rising contenders, it’s going to be tough for the main course to outdo the appetizer. 
Gegard Mousasi capped the card in Berlin, …

UFC Fight Night 41 served as Part 1 of a two-event day for the UFC. After a slew of dominating performances from some rising contenders, it’s going to be tough for the main course to outdo the appetizer. 

Gegard Mousasi capped the card in Berlin, Germany with a stunning first-round submission victory over fellow middleweight Mark Munoz. Although the card was a matinee affair for American fans, there was no mistaking a main event feel for the 185-pound showdown. 

Mousasi—sitting just outside the Top 10 in the division—made a big statement with the win. He dominated the bout in every facet until sinking in the rear-naked choke that ultimately drew the tap from his opponent. Even UFC President Dana White stood up and took notice:

The win should no doubt place Mousasi in the Top 10 moving forward, and it served as a nice rebound to his decision loss to Lyoto Machida. 

Mousasi wasn’t the only one to take a step forward in Berlin, though. The four-fight main card and six prelim bouts were highlighted by some impressive performances that are sure to drum up some momentum for several contenders.

 

CB Dollaway Outpoints Francis Carmont

Coming off a dominant first-round TKO victory over Cezar Ferreira at UFC Fight Night 38, CB Dollaway needed to keep the momentum rolling against 32-year-old Francis Carmont. 

It wasn’t always pretty, but he built his win streak to two. 

The former All-American wrestler grappled his way to dominant positions and into the history books, according to Michael Carroll of FightMetric:

Carmont was able to salvage some moments of the fight. He threatened with a kimura in the second round and shined in the stand-up department. However, it wasn’t enough in the eyes of the judges. Dollaway took the bout on all three scorecards.

 

Sean Strickland Earns a Controversial Decision

When Sean Strickland and Luke Barnatt met in the Octagon, one fighter had to experience his first loss. Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear who should have had that dubious distinction added to his record.

Strickland and Barnatt engaged in a back-and-forth bout that lacked the action that most fans would expect from two undefeated prospects. Strickland—who usually prefers to use his wrestling—took a rather tentative approach.

While the rangy Barnatt attempted to be aggressive, Strickland preferred to sit back and counter. Ultimately, the judges saw the bout in favor of Strickland, although it wasn’t without some confusion from Bleacher Report’s Scott Harris:

 

Niklas Backstrom Impresses with Rare Choke

UFC newcomer Niklas Backstrom may not be a well-known commodity to the casual fan yet. But he made “yet” a key word in that sentence with his performance in the main card’s first bout against Tom Niinimaki. 

The 24-year-old Swede whirlwind brought the fight to his opponent and didn’t stop until he got the finish. Jordan Breen of Sherdog summed up the stirring performance:

Backstrom‘s rear-naked choke came from a fairly rare position, as Carroll pointed out:

With his ability to finish fights aggressively, there’s no doubt that Backstrom emerged from this event as a prospect to keep an eye on as he progresses up the ladder at featherweight.

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Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira Results: Bones Proves True Contenders Are Rare

Jon Jones isn’t invincible after all. 
That’s what many were saying after Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson pushed the reigning champion to his limits in their title fight back at UFC 165 in 2013. 
After his five-round dismantlin…

Jon Jones isn’t invincible after all. 

That’s what many were saying after Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson pushed the reigning champion to his limits in their title fight back at UFC 165 in 2013. 

After his five-round dismantling of Glover Teixeira at UFC 172? Well, maybe that glimmer of mortality can only be seen by those tall enough to look Jones in the eye. 

In Jones’ first fight back since “The Mauler” made him look human, he looked decidedly inhuman once again. The champion utilized his range early on in the fight to open up a lead against the Brazilian challenger before closing the distance to bludgeon his opponent as the fight wore on. 

By the end of the bout, the lopsided numbers spoke for themselves—Bones once again looked like one of the most unbeatable champions in the UFC. 

This wasn’t a case of a fighter who didn’t deserve a shot at the belt getting his opportunity too soon, though. Teixeira was more than qualified to be involved in the five-round main event. His ability to finish fights has made him one of the most feared fighters in the division. 

With a winning streak that spanned nearly eight years and six fights in the Octagon, there wasn’t much more that Teixeira could do to earn a shot at the champion other than grow an additional two inches and spawn longer arms. 

For a man who boasts 13 knockout victories and six submissions, Teixeira did not look like a dangerous fighter on Saturday night. Jones dwarfed the challenger in the cage and often repelled his advances simply by placing his open hand on Teixeira’s forehead, like a schoolyard bully. 

The whole spectacle served to highlight the true problem that the UFC will have in creating interesting matchups for the champion. The realistic pool of contenders who can endanger the champion is short. 

As great as Teixeira is—and he is a great fighter—he never stood a chance against Jones. The way Bones is able to use his length ends many of his fights before they even start. 

All of this isn’t to say that Jones is unbeatable, though. There are still a few fighters that have the potential to end the champion’s reign, with the most obvious being the man who has already taken him to the limit: Gustafsson. 

Jones wasn’t willing to talk about the Swede in the post-fight press conference:

Fortunately for inquiring minds, Dana White was, and he stated that Gustafsson will fight Jones next and that the fight could take place in hostile territory for the champion:

Walking away from UFC 172, Jones took a step toward growing his legacy to the stature of Anderson Silva and George St-Pierre. He’s to the point where even the most qualified of contenders won’t have anything to offer him in the Octagon. 

But that doesn’t mean his title reign won’t be without exciting challenges, though. With Gustafsson on the horizon, beatdowns like the one Jones delivered against Teixeira aren’t likely to become the norm. 

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UFC 172 Results: Winners, Final Scorecards and Analysis

UFC 172 promised to deliver an intriguing batch of fights to a live audience at Baltimore Arena, and it did just that. 
From an impressive title defense from light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones to the emergence of a familiar face as a new…

UFC 172 promised to deliver an intriguing batch of fights to a live audience at Baltimore Arena, and it did just that. 

From an impressive title defense from light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones to the emergence of a familiar face as a new contender to that title, the card certainly delivered. 

Here’s a look at how each of the fights turned out on Saturday night and what to expect from the winners going forward. 

 

Jon Jones Defends Title Yet Again

The main event of the evening was everything fans of the champion thought it would be. Jones took advantage of his massive reach advantage from the outset of the fight and slowly broke down his latest challenger from there. 

The champion’s domination was so distinct that the judges awarded him all five rounds on their cards as he picked up the unanimous decision. 

He even made a little history, according to Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie:

There’s not much to take away from this fight that we didn’t already know. If Jones is paired against a fighter who can’t contend with his size advantage, that challenger doesn’t stand much of a chance. 

Glover Teixeira deserved to fight Jones. The UFC can only ignore what he did in the Octagon for so long. However, it only served to put off the fight that everyone wants to see, and that’s a rematch between Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. 

The lanky Swede took Jones to a close decision in their first bout, and there’s no doubt that fans will be pushing Dana White to make the fight again. 

 

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson Makes Statement in UFC Return

Gustafsson probably deserves the next shot at the light heavyweight title, but Anthony “Rumble” Johnson might be knocking at the door after UFC 172. He looked better than ever in his return to the UFC against Phil Davis in the night’s co-main event. 

Rumble proved that his six-fight win streak he accrued since being cut by the UFC is no fluke. He looked as comfortable as ever stalking down Davis in his first bout in the organization since moving to light heavyweight and also got the nod from all three judges:

Johnson’s emergence muddies the waters a bit in the light heavyweight division. Ranked just No. 14 heading into the fight, according to the UFC’s rankings, it’s clear that he belongs much higher on the list. The question now becomes who should be next for the suddenly rising contender. 

After watching Johnson struggle to find his natural weight class in his first run at the UFC, his emergence as a top fighter at 205 was among the top storylines of Saturday night. 

 

Luke Rockhold Proves He’s Still an Elite Middleweight

Speaking of fighters earning some redemption on Saturday night, Luke Rockhold looked superb in his second fight since losing his UFC debut to Vitor Belfort. He submitted longtime middleweight stalwart Tim Boetsch via inverted triangle kimura in the first round. 

As for what’s next for the former Strikeforce star? Well, he wasn’t shy about letting White and Co. know exactly who he’d like to see across the cage from him next time out. 

As long as he continues to deliver exciting finishes like the one he had against Boetsch, the UFC won’t have any issues in keeping Rockhold happy. His place as a legitimate threat to anyone in the middleweight division was sealed with this victory. 

 

Jim Miller Does What He Does Best—Submit Opponents

Jim Miller entered his bout with Yancy Medeiros with 12 submission victories to his name. So it wasn’t a stunner when the 30-year-old was able to lock in a guillotine just 3:18 into the first round. 

Especially for Miller, who explained that the submission is always something he’s looking for:

Miller didn’t waste any time letting UFC brass know who he wanted to see next either. He called out multiple fighters, and Donald Cerrone was one of them. 

With a historic knack for finishing fights on the ground, Miller managed to keep himself in the lightweight title picture for at least another fight. 

 

Max Holloway Opens the Night With a Submission

Max Holloway opened up the main card action with one of the best scraps of the night as he submitted Andre Fili via guillotine in the third round. As Brett Okamoto noted, the showing was really impressive from both fighters, though:

At just 22 years old, Holloway showed the tenacity and composure of a grizzled veteran as the small underdog against Fili. That’s what fighting the likes of Dustin Poirier, Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor before you’re 22 will do for you. 

While many young fighters will assume they are ahead on the cards in a close fight, Holloway admitted he thought he was behind and became more aggressive in the final frame to assure victory. 

With the featherweight division constantly in need of challengers this was a big win for Holloway. He now has a legitimate case to take on a top-15 fighter in his next bout and is well on his way to cashing in on the massive potential he’s shown to this point. 

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UFC 172: Last-Minute Odds, Preview and Prediction for Jones vs. Teixeira

UFC 172 features a full lineup of intriguing fights, but none has as much on the line as the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira. 
With Anderson Silva no longer the champion and Georges St-Pierre retired for now, Jo…

UFC 172 features a full lineup of intriguing fights, but none has as much on the line as the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira. 

With Anderson Silva no longer the champion and Georges St-Pierre retired for now, Jones has become the most recognizable champion in the sport. On Saturday night, he’ll attempt to extend his title reign to the proportions of those two legends with his seventh consecutive title defense. 

Standing in his way this time will be Teixeira. The 34-year-old Brazilian may not draw the most headlines, but he is one of the best 205-pounders on the planet on paper. 

A Chuck Liddell protege, he holds a 20-fight win streak that extends back to 2006, with five of those wins coming in the UFC. 

However, none of those wins has come against someone of Jones’ caliber because there is no light heavyweight like him. Here’s a look at the latest odds for the fight as well as a brief breakdown and prediction. 

 

Odds (via Odds Shark)

Jones: -480

Teixeira: +423

 

Preview

When you look at Teixeira’s track record, it feels like he’s being a bit undersold as a challenger. He has the ability to finish fights—he ended four of his five wins in the Octagon by some form of stoppage. With 13 of his 22 career victories coming by way of knockout, it’s the one thing that could make this an interesting night for the champion. 

Teixeira believes that he has the ability to end Jones’ night early if he can get to him:

However, the big question is if he can get to him. Sure, Teixeira is a vicious striker. But finding a way to get past Jones’ 84.5″ reach is easier said than done. 

Up until the champion’s recent tussle with Alexander Gustafsson, Jones had looked unbeatable in the Octagon. The 6’5″ Swede was the first fighter to match the champ’s incredible length, and it proved to be a difficult challenge for Jones. He took “Bones” the full five rounds before losing a razor-thin decision. 

At 6’2″ with a reach of 76″, Teixeira will be dwarfed by the 6’4″ Jones when the two step into the Octagon. This means he’ll to have to find ways to close the distance without taking damage and either taking the fight to the mat or landing some of his signature strikes. 

 

Prediction

Teixeira must be respected. His record speaks for itself, and he’s a tough challenge for anyone in the light heavyweight division. However, his versatility and power are likely to come up short against the length and creativity of Jones. 

The fact of the matter is that the champ is not only a brilliant offensive fighter who can use his length to land a wide assortment of strikes, but he’s also a highly skilled defensive fighter. He only absorbs 1.89 strikes per minute and has defended 96 percent of the takedowns he’s seen as a UFC fighter. 

The only man to take down Jones was Gustafsson. Once again, that was a product of the challenger’s ability to match Jones’ use of distance in the striking game, which led to an opportunity for the takedown. 

Those opportunities will be much more difficult for Teixeira to find. Jones should be able to stand just outside of the challenger’s range and remind everyone that he has some stopping power of his own after the tough decision win against Gustafsson. 

Jones via Round 3 TKO. 

 

All statistics and measurements via FightMetric unless otherwise noted.

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Travis Browne Injury: Updates on UFC Star’s Hand, Rib and Return

Updates from Monday, April 21
Ricky Lundell, one of Travis Browne’s coaches, updated his status via his Twitter account:
Original Text
There wasn’t a whole lot that went right for heavyweight Travis Browne at UFC on Fox 11. 
Not only did the conte…

Updates from Monday, April 21

Ricky Lundell, one of Travis Browne‘s coaches, updated his status via his Twitter account:

Original Text

There wasn’t a whole lot that went right for heavyweight Travis Browne at UFC on Fox 11. 

Not only did the contender lose a unanimous decision to Fabricio Werdum, but he could potentially have two injuries to overcome, according to UFC:

Although it’s unclear when the injury took place during the fight, it could be an explanation for a poor performance from the 6’7″ 31-year-old.

Coming off of a three-fight win streak that included knockout wins over Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett, Browne was just one win away from claiming a title shot against Cain Velasquez.

Unfortunately for him, a very game Fabricio Werdum turned out to be the one ready to capitalize on the No. 1 contender bout and effectively battered Browne for five rounds. The unanimous decision loss will now not only send Browne back to the drawing board, but also on the road to rehab.  

At the rate that Velasquez has been going through challengers, Browne will want to recover quickly. It shouldn’t take him very long to get back to the top of the line with a win in his return. 

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Carmouche vs. Tate Results: Winner, Scorecard and Analysis

Miesha Tate picked up a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Liz Carmouche in the UFC on Fox 11 co-main event from the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

The fight wasn’t the most exciting bout in UFC history, but Tate was able to do enough in the …

Miesha Tate picked up a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Liz Carmouche in the UFC on Fox 11 co-main event from the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

The fight wasn’t the most exciting bout in UFC history, but Tate was able to do enough in the eyes of the judges to pick up a momentous victory for her moving forward. 

Round 1 turned out to be one in which Carmouche established herself as the physically stronger fighter. While Tate never panicked, Girlrilla was able to consistently get to the positions she wanted to in the clinch and on the mat. 

The second round was a much more even affair, as both fighters went back to the grappling game to score the round in the judges’ eyes. While Carmouche‘s strength carried the day in Round 1, Tate’s aggressiveness in the submission game was enough to make the round a true toss-up. 

Jeremy Botter of Bleacher Report scored the round for Tate:

The third round was by far the most dominant round turned in by either fighter as Tate came very close to ending the fight with a rear-naked choke attempt late in the third round:

This win vaults Tate right back into relevance in the women’s bantamweight division. Her rivalry with Ronda Rousey has made her one of the most recognizable fighters in the sport of Women’s MMA, but her results in the Octagon were certainly putting that distinction into question. 

She headed into this bout just 1-3 in her last four bouts. With two of those losses coming to Rousey herself, there’s still an argument to be made that she’s one of the division’s elite. 

For Carmouche, this is another disappointing step toward irrelevance. She also became a notable fighter on the coattails of Rousey. Her title fight with the reigning champion was the first to headline a UFC event. 

Unfortunately, this loss now makes her the loser in three of her last four fights and on the outside looking in when it comes to the top contenders in the division. 

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