A fallen star looks to get back on track after suffering the biggest loss of his long career, while a young up-and-comer looks to shine for the first time.UFC Fight Night 25 is just hours away and, although it is nowhere near the promotion’s most stack…
A fallen star looks to get back on track after suffering the biggest loss of his long career, while a young up-and-comer looks to shine for the first time.
UFC Fight Night 25 is just hours away and, although it is nowhere near the promotion’s most stacked card, the fights will be available for free on TV.
The main event of the evening will feature Jake Shields vs. Jake Ellenberger in a fight that will seriously influence the welterweight title picture.
Shields just fought for the title, losing decisively to current champion Georges St-Pierre and is looking to make his way back towards a title shot. Ellenberger is hoping to break into the upper echelon of his division by defeating the former title contender.
Also on the card, two Ultimate Fighter winners will be featured, as Court McGee and Jonathan Brookins make their returns to the Octagon.
Leading up to this event, Bleacher Report Featured Columnists Vince Carey, Matthew Saccaro and myself took some time to sit down and discuss various topics surrounding the event.
Make no mistake about it, former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson is looking to get his hands on some UFC gold.Less than a month ago, Henderson fought top lightweight contender Jim Miller and, using his more technical striking and superior grappl…
Make no mistake about it, former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson is looking to get his hands on some UFC gold.
Less than a month ago, Henderson fought top lightweight contender Jim Miller and, using his more technical striking and superior grappling abilities, was able to take the decision victory.
Even after beating him decisively, Henderson shows nothing but respect for Miller.
“Jim is a tough guy, my hat’s off to him. [There was] a lot of talk about him getting a title shot, [he was on] a seven fight win streak”, Henderson said. “I just went in there, I wanted to have fun and go make a statement.”
Henderson went on to elaborate on the statement he was trying to make.
“I wanted to say ‘Hey, I’m gonna get this UFC belt, I wanna get a [title] shot and this is me working for it.’ A lot of people forgot about me, but I’m here still.”
From there, MMA legend and former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten took the floor, complimenting Henderson on his performance against Miller and making particular note of his cardio.
“It was crazy. You didn’t even open your mouth,” Rutten said. “I mean, you’re in shape. There’s people who are in shape and there’s people who are in shape and you bring it to a whole new level. It’s a scary thought for any champion who sees that and he sees a guy who is totally dominating somebody and who doesn’t get tired.”
On the show, they revealed a poll MMAjunkie.com had put forth, asking which UFC lightweight contender most deserved a title shot right now—Gray Maynard was exempt from the poll because he is already getting the next title shot.
It was a close poll with Henderson taking 34 percent of the votes, just behind Clay Guida, who had 36 percent.
When the idea of Henderson fighting Guida for a No. 1 contender’s spot in the lightweight division was mentioned, Henderson seemed to like the idea.
“I’d love to get in there and see who has the better gas tank”, Henderson said of Guida, who is a fighter also known for his cardiovascular endurance.
Whether or not the UFC will make this fight remains to be seen, but the fight certainly makes sense and there seems to be a lot of people who want to see it happen.
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacherreport.com. For updates on what’s happening in the world of MMA, follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AndrewBarr8
Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama is moving to the welterweight division.Akiyama was recently in action at UFC 133, fighting against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort.He was knocked out in the first round by Belfort, marking his third straight loss …
Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama is moving to the welterweight division.
Akiyama was recently in action at UFC 133, fighting against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort.
He was knocked out in the first round by Belfort, marking his third straight loss in the UFC and moving his record with the organization to 1-3.
After UFC 133, UFC President Dana White revealed that, for some time, he had been wanting Akiyama to drop down to welterweight, claiming that he could easily make the cut.
According to Japanese news outlet Sponichi, Akiyama will be taking the UFC President’s advice and dropping from middleweight to welterweight.
In addition to the change in weight, Akiyama is also making a change in scenery. He has closed his gym in Japan and is planning on training in North America with Team Jackson, alongside UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Hopefully this career-reorientation will be what Akiyama needs to get back on track, as he is likely one loss away from being cut by the UFC.
Akiyama made his Octagon debut by defeating Alan Belcher by split-decision and since then has lost consecutively to Chris Leben, Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort.
When he will make his welterweight debut and who he will be fighting has not been announced, but the UFC is planning to hold an event in Japan in the near future. It’s very likely that Akiyama would be featured on that card.
Arguably the two biggest superstars fighting outside the UFC right now are Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem.Overeem is a former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and was recently stripped of his belt and released from the promotion.UFC President Dan…
Arguably the two biggest superstars fighting outside the UFC right now are Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem.
Overeem is a former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and was recently stripped of his belt and released from the promotion.
UFC President Dana White has gone on record saying that the UFC is in talks with Overeem right now and they are working on signing him.
Henderson is the current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, but isn’t contracted for any more fights with the promotion and has not yet signed a new contract.
White seems more uncertain about whether or not the UFC will sign Henderson given that they have had contract disputes in the past, but has made it known that Henderson is a fighter they would like to get back into the UFC.
Whether or not either of these fighters will sign with the UFC remains to be seen, but it would definitely be a smart move for both men.
Here’s 5 reasons why Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem should sign with the UFC…
From his epic war with Stephan Bonnar to winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Quinton Jackson, Forrest Griffin has had an amazing career in mixed martial arts.During his time with the UFC, Griffin has put on many memorable performances a…
From his epic war with Stephan Bonnar to winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Quinton Jackson, Forrest Griffin has had an amazing career in mixed martial arts.
During his time with the UFC, Griffin has put on many memorable performances and accumulated a larger fan following than most fighters could even dream of.
He has been such a consistent presence in the UFC for so long now, that picturing the promotion without him seems strange.
But, all good things must come to an end.
At UFC 134, Griffin was knocked out by Mauricio Rua in under two minutes, putting him at 2-3 in his past five fights.
Indeed, it’s been while since we’ve seen Griffin put on a performance like he gave against Jackson to win the light heavyweight strap and it seems like the former champ is on the decline.
Here’s six reasons Forrest Griffin should be considering retirement right now…
Top UFC lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard are set to throw down for a third time at UFC 136.The two met for the first time back in 2008 and Maynard was able to use his wrestling to control Edgar, earning a unanimous decision victory.Fast forw…
Top UFC lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard are set to throw down for a third time at UFC 136.
The two met for the first time back in 2008 and Maynard was able to use his wrestling to control Edgar, earning a unanimous decision victory.
Fast forward three years.
Edgar is the UFC lightweight champion, coming off his first successful title defense, and Maynard has just earned himself a title shot by defeating Kenny Florian.
Their second fight took place on January 1st, 2011 and they started off the year in fashion, putting on one of the most exciting fights in UFC history.
However, while it was an incredibly entertaining fight, the result was inconclusive; after five rounds of back and forth action, the fight was declared a draw.
In a little more than a month, Edgar and Maynard will finally settle the score.
Will Edgar retain his lightweight belt, or will Maynard become the new UFC lightweight champion?
Make no mistake about it, former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson is looking to get his hands on some UFC gold.