Author: Ben Fowlkes

The Unsolicited Advisor: Making Michael Bisping’s Punishment Fit the Crime

Filed under: UFCWhen you think about it, it’s almost comical that in a job that rewards him for bludgeoning other humans with his appendages, it would be something as childish as spitting that lands Michael Bisping in hot water.

Break a man’s jaw? He…

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When you think about it, it’s almost comical that in a job that rewards him for bludgeoning other humans with his appendages, it would be something as childish as spitting that lands Michael Bisping in hot water.

Break a man’s jaw? Here’s your bonus check. Get a little too careless with your saliva? Now we’ve got a problem.

But even though Bisping threw what was an illegal and, depending on your perspective, possibly intentional blow in his bout with Jorge Rivera at UFC 127 in Sydney, it’s his decision to spit in the general direction of Rivera’s cornermen that seems to have provoked the ire of both the UFC and MMA fans.

Jorge Rivera Says ‘Classless’ Bisping Hit Him With Intentional Illegal Knee

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveThere are moments from his UFC 127 bout with Michael Bisping in Sydney, Australia that are still fuzzy to Jorge Rivera, but there is at least one thing he knows for sure.

The illegal knee that Bisping hit him with i…

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There are moments from his UFC 127 bout with Michael Bisping in Sydney, Australia that are still fuzzy to Jorge Rivera, but there is at least one thing he knows for sure.

The illegal knee that Bisping hit him with in the first round? No matter what Bisping said later, that was no accident, Rivera told MMA Fighting on Sunday.

“That knee was deliberate, and I’ll tell you exactly how I know this,” Rivera said.

Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 127

Filed under: UFCUFC 127 was supposed to be the event that put an internet rivalry to bed and established once and for all the next top contender in the UFC’s welterweight division.

Maybe it was a bad idea to hold such an event Down Under, because in …

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UFC 127 was supposed to be the event that put an internet rivalry to bed and established once and for all the next top contender in the UFC’s welterweight division.

Maybe it was a bad idea to hold such an event Down Under, because in the end neither of those things happened as planned.

It was truly a night of surprises in Sydney – some of them good, others just weird – and there’s nothing left to do now but sift through the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

The MMA Wrap-Up: Post-UFC 127 Edition

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The original plan for this edition of the MMA Wrap-Up was to focus on the main event of UFC 127, perhaps even tackling complex issues like scoring in MMA and what to do about questionable decisions in number one contender bouts. As you’ll see below, it didn’t quite work out that way. Maybe it’s all for the best, but you can be the judge of that. I know you’ll at least give it a shot.

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The original plan for this edition of the MMA Wrap-Up was to focus on the main event of UFC 127, perhaps even tackling complex issues like scoring in MMA and what to do about questionable decisions in number one contender bouts. As you’ll see below, it didn’t quite work out that way. Maybe it’s all for the best, but you can be the judge of that. I know you’ll at least give it a shot.

Fighter vs. Writer: UFC 127 Predictions With Jason Brilz

Filed under: UFCLast time on Fighter vs. Writer, Kenny Florian and I battled to an unsatisfying tie at UFC 126. Since I lost so many of these prediction contests early on, I’ve been pretty happy to get ties lately, but now that feeling is wearing off. …

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Last time on Fighter vs. Writer, Kenny Florian and I battled to an unsatisfying tie at UFC 126. Since I lost so many of these prediction contests early on, I’ve been pretty happy to get ties lately, but now that feeling is wearing off. It might be time to institute a tie-breaker question, possibly one involving state capitals since that was a strength of mine in elementary school (Pierre, South Dakota, stand up!).

It won’t be a problem this time around, as I go head-to-head with UFC light heavyweight Jason Brilz for UFC 127 predictions and we find plenty to disagree on.

Eleven Ways of Looking at UFC 127

Filed under: UFCFrom pithy observations to useless trivia to possibly unanswerable questions, there are any number of angles one can observe UFC 127 from. Here are eleven of them.

I. There’s more at stake for B.J. Penn than the No. 1 contender spot. F…

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From pithy observations to useless trivia to possibly unanswerable questions, there are any number of angles one can observe UFC 127 from. Here are eleven of them.

I. There’s more at stake for B.J. Penn than the No. 1 contender spot. For the sake of argument, let’s say Penn loses on Saturday, as most experts expect him to. What then? At 32 years old, he’s a former champion who got more or less bounced out of his natural weight class by consecutive losses to the same opponent, and if he can’t beat Fitch, it probably signals that he has no bright future at welterweight either. He has a loyal enough fan base that he could hang around and fight hand-picked opponents for a little while, but it’s been hard enough at times for Penn to get motivated for the big fights. He needs a win if he’s to stay relevant in the UFC, and he has to know that. If he gets in the cage mumbling to himself like a madman again, look out. If he shows up looking soft and disinterested, look away.