It’s about damn time, ladies and gentlemen.The Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is going to fight a top-10 heavyweight.For years now, Alistair has been running through opponents and the hype surrounding him has been building. However, …
It’s about damn time, ladies and gentlemen.
The Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is going to fight a top-10 heavyweight.
For years now, Alistair has been running through opponents and the hype surrounding him has been building. However, while he has managed to topple some solid fighters, he has not yet faced off against an elite member of his division.
Werdum is considered by many to be a top-five heavyweight. He already owns a victory over Overeem, having defeated him by submission back in 2006.
Fabricio is also the first man to legitimately defeat Fedor Emelianenko and has a victory over the only other man to legitimately defeat Fedor, Antonio Silva.
This is a big test for Overeem, but if he passes it, he will finally prove to the world that he is an elite heavyweight.
Does Alistair have what it takes to avenge his loss to Fabricio?
UFC 131 was a night filled with emerging contenders.Mark Munoz edged out a decision over Demian Maia, putting him in the title mix at middleweight. Kenny Florian had a successful featherweight debut, defeating highly regarded contender Diego Nunes. Las…
UFC 131 was a night filled with emerging contenders.
Mark Munoz edged out a decision over Demian Maia, putting him in the title mix at middleweight. Kenny Florian had a successful featherweight debut, defeating highly regarded contender Diego Nunes. Lastly, Junior Dos Santos solidified his status as the No.1 contender in the heavyweight division with a dominant victory over Shane Carwin.
It became apparent early in the fight that Junior had the striking advantage. This is what many were expecting, given that Carwin is known as a power puncher, but is not a particularly technical striker. Dos Santos, on the other hand, is known for having the best boxing in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Junior was able to use his jab throughout the fight to keep Carwin off balance, while periodically throwing together combinations that busted up Shane’s face.
Cigano came very close to finishing the fight in the first round, but Shane was able to cover intelligently enough to keep the fight from being stopped. Not wanting to punch himself out, Junior relented and began to pace himself.
Dos Santos was able to win the next two rounds with relative ease, ultimately earning himself the unanimous decision victory.
However, the most significant factor in this fight was not Dos Santos’ ability to out-box Carwin, it was the evolution we saw within Junior’s game.
Dos Santos has been known for a while now as a specialist because he relies almost entirely on his boxing, but in the fight with Carwin it was clear that Junior is working to become a well rounded mixed martial artist.
Since Junior had never faced off against a wrestler of Carwin’s caliber, many were surprised by his ability to keep this fight standing. Shane was occasionally able to get a hold of Dos Santos and even took him down a couple times, but each time Junior showed impressive wrestling defense, getting back to his feet quickly and gaining distance.
It was also evident that Dos Santos has been working on incorporating more kicks into his already devastating striking arsenal. He scattered a few high kicks throughout the fight, one of which landed pretty cleanly to Shane’s head. If Carwin hadn’t managed to partially block the kick, it might have been enough to put him away.
Perhaps the most surprisingly part of Dos Santos’ performance was his wrestling offense. Junior very rarely looks to bring fights the the mat, but in the third round he showed us that he is capable of doing it if he so chooses. He scored two takedowns in that third round, both of which were more dominant than any of Carwin’s.
With this win, Cigano has earned himself a title shot against heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and so it’s great to see him working so hard on becoming a well rounded mixed martial artist. Cain is possibly the most well rounded heavyweight fighter in the world and Dos Santos will need all the tools he can muster if he wants to beat the champ.
MMA is a hell of a sport.In the early days of the sport, fans watched MMA in the hopes of seeing someone bludgeoned.Fast forwarding to modern day, MMA fans seem to have a much more comprehensive appreciation for the sport. They cheer for a knockout, bu…
In the early days of the sport, fans watched MMA in the hopes of seeing someone bludgeoned.
Fast forwarding to modern day, MMA fans seem to have a much more comprehensive appreciation for the sport. They cheer for a knockout, but they also cheer when a fighter retains guard, or hits a sweep.
It’s a beautiful thing.
That being said, who among us doesn’t still love to watch a fight where one fighter straight up beats the crap of his opponent?
There’s something entertaining about being able to say, “Wow. That guy might actually die.”
I’m exaggerating a bit.
When we, the fans, watch a fight we surely don’t want to see another fighter die. But, it is interesting to see just how much punishment the human body can take.
With that philosophy in mind, let’s take a look at the most one-sided beatdowns in UFC history.
The fights on the list are in no particular order.
In Mixed Martial Arts, the submission game often goes unappreciated.The sport is still in it’s early stages. and with so many of the fans crossing over from boxing, stand-up fighters tend to be glamorized, while ground fighters don’t receive the …
In Mixed Martial Arts, the submission game often goes unappreciated.
The sport is still in it’s early stages. and with so many of the fans crossing over from boxing, stand-up fighters tend to be glamorized, while ground fighters don’t receive the same level attention.
It’s a shame, really.
The ground game isn’t as obviously entertaining as watching a stand-up fight, but once familiar with the subtleties of it, it can be just as enjoyable to watch.
Let’s take a look at the best submission fighters in MMA today; you don’t need to be a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner to appreciate there guys’ ground games.
Rick Story is making big waves in the UFC’s welterweight division.There has been hype surrounding Story for a while now and at UFC 130 he proved he could back the hype up.The young up-and-comer was considered an underdog going into his bout with perenn…
Rick Story is making big waves in the UFC’s welterweight division.
There has been hype surrounding Story for a while now and at UFC 130 he proved he could back the hype up.
The young up-and-comer was considered an underdog going into his bout with perennial top five welterweight Thiago Alves. Not to be counted out, Story came out at UFC 130 and fought the fight of his life.
Rick came into the fight with an excellent game plan. Using a strategy similar to Jon Fitch’s when he fought Alves for the second time, the young contender pressed forward, pinned Alves up against the cage and took him down. He kept Alves off balance and gave him little space to get comfortable striking.
The strategy proved effective for the first two rounds and that was enough to earn Story the biggest victory in his young career.
Shortly after his victory of Thiago Alves, Rick was presented with the a huge, albeit risky opportunity.
Rick Story was offered the chance to fight Nate Marquardt in less than a month after his victory over Alves; an opportunity that could skyrocket him to the top of the welterweight division—or completely halt the momentum he established with his recent victory.
Story accepted the fight with Marquardt, replacing an injured Anthony Johnson.
What I’m wondering is whether or not this was an intelligent move for Rick.
One big advantage is that taking this fight will get him on Dana White‘s good side, for sure. It’s no secret that Dana loves fighters who will fight anyone at any time. In the UFC’s stacked welterweight division, with so many guys vying for a shot at the title, being in White’s good graces is definitely a good thing.
Another obvious advantage is that a victory over Nate Marquardt would put Rick Story no more than one win away from a title shot. He might even get the next title shot, just based on beating Nate. Beating Marquart would put Story on a seven fight win streak, with his past two victories coming over top contenders. It would be hard to argue that anyone else deserves the shot more.
Now, let’s enter the disadvantages to Story taking this fight.
He does not have enough time for a proper training camp. Nate is arguably more dangerous than any opponent Rick has faced and certainly the most experienced. Marquardt has faced some of the best in the world; he is not a man you want to face on short notice.
Many people are surprised that Story was even able to take this fight, given the beating he took against Alves in the third round. The fight with Marquardt is in less than a month and so Story would need to receive the minimum medical suspension in order to partake in the bout. So, there is a reasonable chance that Story will still be feeling some of the effects of his fight with Alves when he goes into his fight with Nate.
As far as how well these two match up, things don’t look good for Story. Marquardt has beat better strikers than Rick, as well as better submission specialists. Nate may not have defeated a better wrestler than Story, but he was able to mostly neutralize the wrestling of Yushin Okami at UFC 122. Based on that, it’s not a stretch to think that Rick will have a tough time getting this fight to the ground.
His best chance will likely be to push the pace against Marquardt and try to wear him out. This is Nate’s first time fighting at welterweight and there is a good chance he’ll have a tough time with the weight cut.
This is the biggest fight in Story’s career. He will either shoot up to the top of the welterweight division, or destroy the momentum he’s worked so hard to build up.
Has Rick Story bitten off more than he can chew? Tune into Versus on June 26th and find out.
UFC 130 has just passed us by, and not everyone is happy with how the night went, UFC president Dana White included.Many fans were unimpressed with both the co-main event and the main event of the evening, finding them to be boring.White agreed with th…
UFC 130 has just passed us by, and not everyone is happy with how the night went, UFC president Dana White included.
Many fans were unimpressed with both the co-main event and the main event of the evening, finding them to be boring.
White agreed with this sentiment, particularly in reference to the co-main event of the evening, Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson.
White remarked that he was unimpressed with both fighters, calling it “an ugly heavyweight fight” and “borderline embarrassing.”
Criticism of Roy Nelson’s performance is understandable. He looked gassed after the first round, and by the end of the fight he was completely exhausted. It was the worst he’s looked so far in the UFC, and maybe the worst he has looked in his whole career.
However, the criticism of Mir’s performance is unwarranted. He won the fight decisively. Mir’s wrestling looked as good as it has ever looked inside the Octagon. Frank might not have been able to finish Nelson, but he landed a bunch of big shots throughout the fight, and anyone who saw Roy’s fight with Junior Dos Santos knows he is a hard man to finish.
White has been a part of MMA for a long time now. Dana knows that Mir had a pretty good showing last night. The reason White is criticizing Mir is because the casual fans didn’t like the fight; Dana is siding with the fans.
This is not the first time this has happened.
White is often critical of fighters who fail to please the fans.
It has been evident for quite some time that White is not a big fan of Jon Fitch, Fitch being a fighter who regularly fails to finish fights.
Here are a couple quotes from White, following Fitch’s fight with B.J. Penn:
“Fitch is one of these guys that goes, ‘Oh, I want my respect,'” White said. “He just fought a 155-pound guy and went to a draw with him, and in my opinion, he lost the first two rounds—and he’s crying for a title shot?”
“You’ve got to get in there and decisively beat people. You have to have fans clamoring for you to fight for the title.”
First off, White calling B.J. Penn a 155-pound guy is disrespectful because B.J. was a champ at welterweight before he was a champ at lightweight. Dana was clearly trying to make B.J. seem like a less threatening fighter than he actually is in an effort to make Fitch’s performance seem less impressive.
Also, Fitch “crying” for a title shot was understandable because he was promised one if he beat Thiago Alves at UFC 117, which he did decisively.
Having fans clamoring for you to get a title shot is clearly a criteria that White is only applying to Fitch. How many fans were clamoring for people like Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Brock Lesnar, Frankie Edgar or Dan Hardy to get title shots? I could drop more names, but I think the point is made.
White will turn on fighters at the drop of a hat, if the fans don’t like them.
Mir has been with the UFC for a decade. He has fought for the company 18 times and has been in a bunch of exciting fights.
After all that Mir has done for the UFC, you’d think he could count on White to have his back, but this is not the case.
Mir’s past two fights have been poorly received by the fans and, despite the fact that in both those fights the lack of excitement was more due to Mir’s opponents, White is already talking down about him.
MMA is still a young sport and so casual fans have trouble appreciating it’s subtleties.
Rather than obviously pandering to the fans by echoing their thoughts, White should be supporting his fighters and focusing on the positive aspects of their performances.
The casual fans are never going to be able to open their minds to all aspects of MMA if they keep seeing the President of the UFC parroting their close-mindedness.
