Author: Ben Fowlkes

An Older, Wiser Chris Horodecki Looks to Continue His Charge at WEC 51

Filed under: WECChris Horodecki turned 23 last week. It’s funny, he doesn’t necessarily feel 23. He isn’t even sure how 23 is supposed to feel, but he knows he doesn’t feel like the fresh-faced college grads who are only now confronting the problem o…

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Chris Horodecki turned 23 last week. It’s funny, he doesn’t necessarily feel 23. He isn’t even sure how 23 is supposed to feel, but he knows he doesn’t feel like the fresh-faced college grads who are only now confronting the problem of what to do with the rest of their lives.

Horodecki already knows, because he’s been doing it for the last five years.

“I’m young, but I’m no rookie in this sport,” he told MMA Fighting. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I feel great.”

Three years ago Horodecki was the IFL’s undefeated wunderkind. He won seven straight fights in the upstart organization, and yet couldn’t buy his own drinks at the post-fight celebrations.

Back then he was the poster boy for a national organization. Then the promotion went belly up in 2008, and Horodecki had to find a new home. He eventually found his way into the WEC’s lightweight division, where he was no longer a star, but merely another one of the guys trying to claw his way to the top.

Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 119

Filed under: UFCSometimes I feel like MMA fans, much like MMA judges, are afflicted with a disease that makes us place undue importance on whatever we saw last.

That would explain why a takedown in the final minute of the round is somehow enough to n…

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Sometimes I feel like MMA fans, much like MMA judges, are afflicted with a disease that makes us place undue importance on whatever we saw last.

That would explain why a takedown in the final minute of the round is somehow enough to negate all the punches a fighter took in the first minute, and also why many fans are talking about UFC 119 this morning as if it was the biggest waste of their money since “Waterworld.”

What we saw on Saturday night was an exciting undercard eclipsed by an anti-climactic main event. Whatever highs we may have been riding after watching guys like Sean Sherk and Evan Dunham go at it were obliterated by the time we got to round two of Frank Mir vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. And since that was the last thing we saw before turning off the TV and trudging angrily off to the bed or the bar, it understandably left some people feeling cheated.

The MMA Wrap-Up: Post-UFC 119 Edition

Filed under: UFC, VideosAfter a lackluster main event at UFC 119 this past weekend, the MMA Wrap-Up returns to explore whether a) the Frank Mir-Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic bout was truly as disappointing as it initially seemed, and b) where do both these…

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After a lackluster main event at UFC 119 this past weekend, the MMA Wrap-Up returns to explore whether a) the Frank Mir–Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic bout was truly as disappointing as it initially seemed, and b) where do both these men go from here?

At least one of those is a slightly more complicated question than it appears, but have no fear. The MMA Wrap-Up has absolutely no problem dispensing hasty career advice that will almost certainly not be heeded by anyone at any time. That’s just what we do.

Join me below for a full breakdown on what the future holds for Saturday night’s main eventers, all through the magic of video.

Mir and Cro Cop Could Learn a Thing or Two from Lytle and Serra

Filed under: UFCHere are two things we know about Chris Lytle: 1) he’s one of the only fighters in the UFC who will tell you straight-up that he isn’t necessarily trying to earn a title shot, and 2) he’s won more end of the night bonuses than any other…

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Here are two things we know about Chris Lytle: 1) he’s one of the only fighters in the UFC who will tell you straight-up that he isn’t necessarily trying to earn a title shot, and 2) he’s won more end of the night bonuses than any other fighter

After watching him in yet another slugfest against Matt Serra at UFC 119 on Saturday night, it’s hard not to think that those two points are related.

It’s not that Lytle is unambitious. It’s more that he just happens to have different ambitions these days, and those ambitions lead him into the kind of fights where a regard for his own body seems to be the last thing on his mind. In Serra, he found an opponent equally as willing to trade pain for applause, and the result was bloody, messy, and wonderful.

That’s why their fight might have been the perfect counterbalance to the night’s most disappointing bout, a three-round staring contest between Frank Mir and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic that came to a merciful end just a minute before the final horn.

UFC 119: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCOkay, so there’s no title on the line at UFC 119 in Indianapolis this weekend. There’s probably not even anyone who will emerge as a No. 1 contender in their division as a result of a win on Saturday night, at least not unless another m…

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Okay, so there’s no title on the line at UFC 119 in Indianapolis this weekend. There’s probably not even anyone who will emerge as a No. 1 contender in their division as a result of a win on Saturday night, at least not unless another major injury bug clears the path.

So where does that leave us? As far as the main event, we’re in ‘just for fun’ territory. Two former heavyweight greats with uncertain futures square off in a fight that is not terribly meaningful for the state of the division, but is still pretty interesting.

Is that worth your pay-per-view dollar? Depends on your perspective and your amount of disposable income. But if you’re on the fence about it, let me just remind you that Matt Serra and Chris Lytle are also on the card, and Serra didn’t bring a pair of big sunglasses to Indy with him for nothing.

Now let’s take a look at the betting odds for Saturday’s fights and make some hasty, financially ruinous decisions, shall we?

Wanderlei Silva Offers Chael Sonnen a Lesson in Respect, But Will It Take?

Filed under: UFC

If you’re like me, you’re instantly interested once you hear Wanderlei Silva start a sentence with, “In Brazil, we have a saying…” You add the fact that he happens to be speaking to Chael Sonnen when he says it, and you’ve got your…

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If you’re like me, you’re instantly interested once you hear Wanderlei Silva start a sentence with, “In Brazil, we have a saying…” You add the fact that he happens to be speaking to Chael Sonnen when he says it, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for something memorable.

Here’s the scene in a video put out by Silva’s Wand Fight Team this week: while in Austin, Texas to do some promo work surrounding UFC Fight Night 22 last Wednesday, Silva and Sonnen find themselves riding in the same UFC van. They talk about Sonnen’s next fight, which at the time was a scheduled rematch with middleweight champ Anderson Silva (this is before Sonnen got some bad news from the CSAC, remember) and it prompts Wanderlei to give Sonnen, who makes for an uncomfortably captive audience, a little unsolicited advice.