This is the UFC 182 live blog for Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, a light heavyweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday nightJones, who has won 11 straight fights, will face Cormier, who …
This is the UFC 182 live blog for Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, a light heavyweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night
Jones, who has won 11 straight fights, will face Cormier, who is 15-0 in his pro MMA career, in the main event.
Round 1: Herb Dean is the referee for this colossal title fight. They kept them well apart for the instructions; though they did touch gloves on Jones’ insistence. Here we go. Jones down in crouch comes out of corner. Tried ax kick that misses, and Cormier is trying for that single leg. Jones throwing shots, now elbows in close. Wow! Gast start. Tons of action. Cormier goes for kick, and Jones catches is and kicks out Cormier’s leg! He follows him to the ground, but Cormier right back up on fence. Clinch. Now they separate. Oblique kick from Jones. Cormier comes forward, and Jones from range throws an elbow. He tries for takedown, and Cormier stuffs him. Fast-paced fight. Crowd well into it. Left hand right down the boulevard for Jones lands. That backed Cormier up. They clinch in the middle, and Cormier eats a couple of shots. Now Jones is favoring his eye. He eats a right hand. Big body shot from Jones, a kick. Whoa. Superman punch for Jones, and Cormier returns fire. Left hand to the body from Jones, who is doing a bit of everything. He’s changing levels, and keeping Cormier off balance. Big time exchange in clinch, as Jones eats an uppercut but also lands a knee. Big shots from Cormier, backs Jones to fence! Flying knee attempt from Jones. Bell rings, and each man parts with big shots. Wow. What a round! MMA Fighting scores R1 for Jones, 10-9.
Round 2: Cormier to the middle, and Jones with a body kick. That lands. Another one, this one partially deflected by Cormier. Now Cormier tries a high kick, but can’t land — and another. Both guys throwing the kitchen sink. Cormier drops for a takedown, but he’s thwarted by the champ. Straight left lands from ones, who then drops Cormier momentarily with a body kick. He has been attacking the body regularly throughout. Jones pushes Cormier up against the fence, and that’s where they go to work. Jones with a shoulder strike. They break. Jones with a high kick, which catches Cormier. Now dirty boxing, and Cormier unloads. Jones circles back. They clinch, and Jones trying to deploy elbows in close. Cormier using his hulk to push Jones; clinch again, and Cormier with a couple of nice uppercuts. Leg kick from Jones. Body shots from Cormier, who is getting his in close. They are just battering each other in close. DC chant erupts in crowd. He plays Jones wrists, and now in close again lands some short uppercuts. He is finding success in there, but eating plenty of shots too. They roll into the fence, and it’s Jones using his heft. DC throws him off and lands a shot, and another. They are just swinging at every opportunity. How long can this pace keep up? Incredible. Again right at the end of the round they trade punches and Jones a knee to the body. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Cormier, 10-9 (19-19 overall) Round 3: Primal stuff those first two rounds. Oblique kick from Cormier. They trade at center. Big body kick from Cormier, who is still bringing it strong. A couple of low kicks from Jones, and now there’s Cormier in close landing uppercuts again. Jones face beginning to swell. Big left hand to the body from Jones. DC chant starts back up. Elbow from Jones, and Cormier walks right through it — but wait, he gets poked in the eye. Timeout. Hern Dean checks Cormier. This was a big point of contention coming in, Jones and eyepokes, and crowd roaring their disapproval. They touch gloves, and Jones slams a hard kick into Cormier’s midsections. Now Jones comes in and tries for takedown, and vice-versa — Cormier gets a single leg. Neither man will go down. So Cormier posts Jones up on fence and they go to work strength-to-strength. They break, and both guys throw big kicks. They clinch in the middle, with Jones playing the wrists, controlling Cormier’s hand. Cormier plows him forward and lands an uppercut. This fight is insane. Neither man can gain a clear advantage. Oblique kick and then a jab from Jones, and then clinch again, with Cormier getting an uppercut. Back to the fence they go. Knee to the body from Jones, and Jones again locking down Cormier’s wrists. They break and just throw down at each other the clear way across the cage. Clinch again, and Jones with an elbow. Cormier is relentless, though, and as Jones tries a flying knee (and misses), Cormier pushes forward and for the first time tonight takes Jones down! Wow. Hard round to score. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Cormier, 10-9 (29-28 overall for Cormier).
Round 4: Cormier stalks forward, and Jones with an oblique kick to keep pressure at bay. Big head kick from Jones, and a spray of sweat comes flying off Cormier. They clinch, and again it’s a struggle, and Jones dumps Cormier on his back! Cormier able to stand right back up. Jones does it again! Cormier is on the mat, along the fence, trying to scoot back up. Jones keeping his weight on Cormier. Also flirting with a choke, but Cormier gets to his knees and he’s up. He eats an elbow just as he stands, and Jones presses into Cormier on fence. They are still on fence, and Jones now controlling Cormier better than he has previously. He fires off a couple of big shots in close, and is now kicking Cormier’s right knee. Elbow from Jones as they break. Cormier still comes forward. Leg kick from Cormier. They clinch again, and neither can slam his knee into the other. The round is going to end with Jones and Cormier on fence, as Jones dumps Cormier at the last moment. MMA Fighting scores R4 for Jones, 10-9 (38-38 overall)
Round 5: They come out swinging, and they clash in the middle. Cormier trying desperately for takedown, and nearly got it, but Jones able to keep propped with his left arm. Now he pushes Cormier into the fence. There he goes to work with his knees. Some dirty boxing, as Cormier gets off a couple of clean uppercuts as Jones lands some shots to the body. Right back to it. Jones pressing Cormier. Herb Dean letting them stay on fence for extended period, and Jones doing just enough. He’s landing knees (nothing big). Cormier turns Jones around, and the waltz continues. No room to work here, as Cormier bulldozes forward, only to be turned around as they hit the links. Action slowed and crowd lets it be known. Cormier fishing out a single leg, and slams Jones down! Wow! And Jones able to get back up, despite landing very awkwardly. That was crazy. Jones presses Cormier up on fence. He’s trying for one more takedown late. He can’t get it. A couple of shots after the bell. Herb Dean might have taken the brunt of it. Wow. Tough, tough round. MMA Fighting scores R5 for Jones, 10-9 (48-47 Jones overall).
UFC 182 official results: Jon Jones def. Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
This is the UFC 182 live blog for Donald Cerrone vs. Myles Jury, a lightweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday nightCerrone, who has won five straight fights, will face Jury, who is 1…
This is the UFC 182 live blog for Donald Cerrone vs. Myles Jury, a lightweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night
Cerrone, who has won five straight fights, will face Jury, who is 15-0 in his pro MMA career, in the co-main event.
This is the UFC 182 live blog for Hector Lombard vs. Josh Burkman, a welterweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday nightLombard, who has won three of his past five fights, will face Bu…
This is the UFC 182 live blog for Hector Lombard vs. Josh Burkman, a welterweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night
Lombard, who has won three of his past five fights, will face Burkman, who is making his UFC return, on the main card.
Round 1: John McCarthy is your referee, as UFC 182’s main card gets kicked off. Burkman circles as Lombard pursues. They exchange, and Burkman, lowest, lands the bigger parting show. Low kick from the heavy underdog Burkman. And another. Now he comes up high with a kick, but it’s errant. Burkman moves in with a flurry, and Lombard, holding his ground, clips with wit a right. Now Lombard gets a leg and twists Burkman down, but the Utah fighter bounces right back up. Another big exchange at the other post, this time Lombard landing the better shot. He pursues Burkman around the cage, and lands a right cross on the fence. Burkman circles away. A couple of leg kicks from Lombard, who is being very measured here. Burkman comes forward, covers up for the Lombard throws and counters with a looping left. A lot of misses so far from both, as they try and gauge space and timing. Lombard ducks out of the way of an overhand from Burkman. Burkman peddles around the cage, and finally Lombard catches up to him on fence; they exchange. Burkman with a superman punch off the fence, but I don’t think it landed clean. Front kick from Burkman, who is bleeding slighting from his nose. Lombard snaps off a right hand, and now a jab. Action slows at bell. MMA FIghting scores R1 for Lombard (10-9).
Round 2: Lombard drops to a knee to throw a left, but it doesn’t land. Body kick from Burkman is countered with a hard shot to the chest from Lombard. Again, Kombard in pursuit, an they have a big clash on fence, with both guys planting and throwing! Lombard may have wobbles Burkman on another exchange. He’s not right on his feet, as he back peddles to the fence. Big barrage from Lombard, who again crumples Burkman. But Burkman wheels around, and is still in it. His nose is bleeding. Lombard pursues, and it looks like Burkman is gassing here. He has his hands low, and Lombard comes in with a combo, finishing with an uppercut. Body kick from Burkman, and now he wheels out with his hands all the way down at his thighs. He is exhausted. Lombard, also huffing hard, coolly plods forward. A kick from Burkman and he smiles as it lands. Now he is waiting in casual pose for Lombard on fence, and crowd lets up a boo. Nice exchange at the other end, and Lombard is landing some heavy leather on those things. Big right hand. Slow little sally from Burkman, who might be trying to just survive the round now. Lombard not much better, though, as he has slowed down considerably. Again Burkman smiles at Lombard after a quick leg kick. Mostly one-off shots here as the round ends. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Lombard, 10-9 (20-18 overall)
In November, Marcus Brimage’s kick to knock out Jumabieke Tuerxun in Australia was loud enough — and apt enough — to have a boomerang effect. It reverberated back to the States where it hit Brimage himself in an idle moment of reflection.
“Man, it was surreal,” he says. “It didn’t hit me until I got back home (boomerang) like the Thursday after. I was like, man, I knocked that dude out. People don’t know this but that was my first knockout ever. I’ve had TKOs, but that was my first knockout.”
Brimage, who fights again this Saturday at UFC 182 against Cody Garbrandt, could have used the $50,000 performance bonus for the wreckage of Tuerxun. Problem was, he picked the wrong card to make a statement. That was UFC Fight Night 55 in Sydney, where all 11 fights ended in dramatic finishes, including the main event between Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping.
Brimage, who kicked off the card (fully embracing the pun), was a casualty of too much remarkability. Which sucks for him, because for that camp and this one, he’s been splitting time living with his parents and his coach, Chris Connelly, in his native Alabama. Usually he trains at American Top Team in Florida, but for the holidays he’s a little strapped.
“I don’t have a car,” he says. “This old guy hit me right prior to my last fight, so that’s why I did both camps in Alabama, because I don’t have a car. I got to live with my parents. It’s like being in high school all over again. Borrowing the car. So I’m doing my camp in Alabama. Everybody is keeping me grounded. I’m not a celebrity here. My momma say take out the trash, I go take out the trash.
“That’s why I’m going to have to call out Dana White and say, hey, you overlooked my last knockout. You owe me 50 Gs.”
The silver lining is that Brimage came out of the Tuerxun fight unscathed, which allowed him to accept a quick-turnaround fight with Team Alpha Male’s upstart Garbrandt. As a bantamweight, Brimage isn’t taking the damage he was as a featherweight (and before then as a lightweight). And as a bantamweight, it’s possible for him to do other things that he hasn’t been able to do in the past.
Things like kick people’s heads.
“To be honest, I’ve always had the ability to do it,” he says. “It’s just that at 155 and 145 everyone was so much taller than me, I was never able to throw my leg up that high to get them. I was fighting dudes who were like six-foot tall, 5-foot-10. Man, I am 5-foot-4 inches. Being a bantamweight, people are my height.”
The good news is that Garbrandt is only 5-foot-7, the exact same height as Tuerxun. His head is just the right height for a sequel. And Brimage’s been on the Internet looking at that bobbing target in the lead-up to Saturday’s fight.
“[Garbrandt] puts everything out there on YouTube,” he says. “I can tell he’s got a pretty dangerous right hand. He loves do the body clinch. He’s pretty good at wrestling from what I understand, and he fights out of Team Alpha Male, so I got to watch out for that Alpha Male guillotine.”
Since competing on The Ultimate Fighter 14 as a featherweight, Brimage has made some important discoveries. He was able to win three fights out of the gate beginning in the finale against Stephen Bass, but that all led to a humbling encounter with Conor McGregor in April 2013, where he lasted only 67 seconds. Even 145 pounds was too big for him.
“Before I got to the Ultimate Fighter I didn’t understand much about weight-cutting,” he says. “I walked around at 158, but if you drop a good deuce? Maybe 155. And then when I went to American Top Team, they said, all the 155ers get on the mat, and I saw Gleison Tibau. I took a step, and I saw him take a step, and I said, just what in the hell? That day I was like, I am a 45er.”
Now he’s a 35er. His first fight as a banty came against Russell Doane at UFC 175, a tightly contested split decision loss that he thought he won.
“That motivated me a lot. Obviously, somebody don’t know how to do their job,” he says, hinting at the threesome with the official scorecards. “But we’re not going to talk about that. It shouldn’t be left in the judge’s hands. It’s a huge factor because we’ve seen crazy decisions before, so that’s my whole motivation now. To wipe people out. Just to wipe people out.”
That’s what he did to Tuerxun. He drew a big red X across the judge’s scorecards. And that’s what he says he wants to do against Garbrandt, too. Something spectacular enough that he can drive himself back to Florida.
In November, Marcus Brimage’s kick to knock out Jumabieke Tuerxun in Australia was loud enough — and apt enough — to have a boomerang effect. It reverberated back to the States where it hit Brimage himself in an idle moment of reflection.
“Man, it was surreal,” he says. “It didn’t hit me until I got back home (boomerang) like the Thursday after. I was like, man, I knocked that dude out. People don’t know this but that was my first knockout ever. I’ve had TKOs, but that was my first knockout.”
Brimage, who fights again this Saturday at UFC 182 against Cody Garbrandt, could have used the $50,000 performance bonus for the wreckage of Tuerxun. Problem was, he picked the wrong card to make a statement. That was UFC Fight Night 55 in Sydney, where all 11 fights ended in dramatic finishes, including the main event between Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping.
Brimage, who kicked off the card (fully embracing the pun), was a casualty of too much remarkability. Which sucks for him, because for that camp and this one, he’s been splitting time living with his parents and his coach, Chris Connelly, in his native Alabama. Usually he trains at American Top Team in Florida, but for the holidays he’s a little strapped.
“I don’t have a car,” he says. “This old guy hit me right prior to my last fight, so that’s why I did both camps in Alabama, because I don’t have a car. I got to live with my parents. It’s like being in high school all over again. Borrowing the car. So I’m doing my camp in Alabama. Everybody is keeping me grounded. I’m not a celebrity here. My momma say take out the trash, I go take out the trash.
“That’s why I’m going to have to call out Dana White and say, hey, you overlooked my last knockout. You owe me 50 Gs.”
The silver lining is that Brimage came out of the Tuerxun fight unscathed, which allowed him to accept a quick-turnaround fight with Team Alpha Male’s upstart Garbrandt. As a bantamweight, Brimage isn’t taking the damage he was as a featherweight (and before then as a lightweight). And as a bantamweight, it’s possible for him to do other things that he hasn’t been able to do in the past.
Things like kick people’s heads.
“To be honest, I’ve always had the ability to do it,” he says. “It’s just that at 155 and 145 everyone was so much taller than me, I was never able to throw my leg up that high to get them. I was fighting dudes who were like six-foot tall, 5-foot-10. Man, I am 5-foot-4 inches. Being a bantamweight, people are my height.”
The good news is that Garbrandt is only 5-foot-7, the exact same height as Tuerxun. His head is just the right height for a sequel. And Brimage’s been on the Internet looking at that bobbing target in the lead-up to Saturday’s fight.
“[Garbrandt] puts everything out there on YouTube,” he says. “I can tell he’s got a pretty dangerous right hand. He loves do the body clinch. He’s pretty good at wrestling from what I understand, and he fights out of Team Alpha Male, so I got to watch out for that Alpha Male guillotine.”
Since competing on The Ultimate Fighter 14 as a featherweight, Brimage has made some important discoveries. He was able to win three fights out of the gate beginning in the finale against Stephen Bass, but that all led to a humbling encounter with Conor McGregor in April 2013, where he lasted only 67 seconds. Even 145 pounds was too big for him.
“Before I got to the Ultimate Fighter I didn’t understand much about weight-cutting,” he says. “I walked around at 158, but if you drop a good deuce? Maybe 155. And then when I went to American Top Team, they said, all the 155ers get on the mat, and I saw Gleison Tibau. I took a step, and I saw him take a step, and I said, just what in the hell? That day I was like, I am a 45er.”
Now he’s a 35er. His first fight as a banty came against Russell Doane at UFC 175, a tightly contested split decision loss that he thought he won.
“That motivated me a lot. Obviously, somebody don’t know how to do their job,” he says, hinting at the threesome with the official scorecards. “But we’re not going to talk about that. It shouldn’t be left in the judge’s hands. It’s a huge factor because we’ve seen crazy decisions before, so that’s my whole motivation now. To wipe people out. Just to wipe people out.”
That’s what he did to Tuerxun. He drew a big red X across the judge’s scorecards. And that’s what he says he wants to do against Garbrandt, too. Something spectacular enough that he can drive himself back to Florida.
Now that it’s official that Roufusport in Milwaukee will be the new training grounds for Phil Brooks — more commonly known as former pro wrestler, CM Punk — as he ventures into MMA, we can move on to more traditional concerns. Things such as: Just how in the hell is he going to fare in the cutthroat world of the UFC?
Duke Roufus, who owns Roufusport and has champions Anthony Pettis (UFC) and Ben Askren (One FC) in his stable, thinks Brooks will do just fine. In fact, the more he hears people pooh-poohing the 36-year old Brooks’ chances of making a successful transition from ring choreography to the very literal realm of fighting in the UFC, the more it revs him up to prove some people wrong.
“I am excited to work with him,” he told MMA Fighting. “There are a bunch naysayers out there. I love it. I’d been saying for years in the WEC that Anthony Pettis was going to be something special. Well look at him now. He just submitted two guys [Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez] that hadn’t been submitted before.
“I’m just that type of person, I believe in positive mental attitude. You work hard and dedicate yourself and magic things happen.”
After it was announced that he had signed a contract with the UFC on Dec. 6 — in spite of a virgin-pure 0-0 fight record — Brooks mentioned in a post-UFC 181 press conference that he was exploring every gym, with a preference to stay close to his native Chicago. Roufus’s gym is only 80 miles from Chicago.
And it was in Chicago that Roufus met Brooks, somewhat serendipitously, back in January 2013, when his star pupil Pettis was fighting on a FOX card.
“Yeah, it was when Anthony was fighting Donald Cerrone,” he says. “I met him the Thursday before the fight, and we hit it off right away. I know that he’s made his intentions to me that he’d been wanting to do this for a while. But we’d been in contact for a while that he’s been wanting to do it. Everything came together, so it’s going to happen.”
Roufus says he didn’t lobby to have Brooks join his team, like other gyms (such as American Top Team in Florida). And therefore he doesn’t feel like a sweepstakes winner so much as he does a guy who is pretty serious about molding some clay. Brooks and Roufus have maintained their relationship over the last couple of years, which makes it a good fit.
“It was a mutual coming together,” he says. “I’m sure everybody in the sport would love to work with him. He’s my friend first, and that’s what I enjoy about him. I like to be friendly and close with the fighters I work with because it makes it a lot easier. Everyone knows his wrestling persona; I know the real Phil. That’s why I’m excited to work with him.
As a coach, Roufus has churned out plenty of successful fighters to go along with Pettis and Askren, from Erik Koch to his “jiu-jitsu wizard” Marcin Held. Yet as a professional kickboxer, Roufus wasn’t as gifted as he was diligent. For that reason he feels like he’s just the right guy to coach somebody like Brooks.
“Honestly, for me, from a personal standpoint? I have an older brother who is an incredible force in the sport of kickboxing,” he says, referring to his Rick “The Jet” Roufus. “He was not just a natural athlete, but a natural fighter. Me? I was an overachiever, and that’s what’s helped me coach. I’m going to connect and find a way for Phil to be successful. That’s what I bring to the table.
“And I’m really excited about the challenge, honestly. There are so many naysayers, but I enjoy that.”
For examples of guys who attained their goals through the fight game’s old stand-by of work ethic and dedication, he points to none other than Pettis himself.
“Look at Anthony,” he says. “He’s not a natural, he’s a hard, hard worker. A lot of people think Anthony’s just a pretty boy, the Taekwondo kid. Honestly, he’s one of the hardest working people at our academy.
“And one thing I have heard about Phil and his personality is, I know he’s a hard worker. Anything’s possible when you have confidence and you have a great work ethic and a great attitude.”
Roufus says that Brooks will “get cracking” at Roufusport beginning on Monday.
Though he doesn’t have any professional fights under his belt, Brooks does have an polished professional aura from his pro-wrestling days, as well as a couple of years worth of cram jiu-jitsu lessons under Rener Gracie in California. Though he only coached him in pockets, Rener refers to Brooks as a “sponge” from his time on the mats with him.
That’s another trait that Roufus has picked up, and believes Brooks’ ability to learn and retain information will serve him well.
“For sure — I think what limits people in the beginning of their training is that they don’t have enough time to train, honestly,” he says. “That’s what made Anthony Pettis special. His brother [Sergio] let him take the backseat in their martial arts school, so Anthony could live at the academy when he started. Anthony used to take two classes in the morning and two classes in the evening when he first started training with me. That’s why he’s so darn good. So yeah, he’s a sponge, not unlike Phil. But you know what? If you don’t use a sponge you can’t clean up your kitchen, right?
“What made Phil successful in the WWE is going to make him do well in this as well. Wrestling is not an easy gig. They do 300 dates a year. Especially when you’re not a star. It’s not the stuff that people do when they’re a star that makes them special; it’s what they do when they’re not a star, the stuff you find out about them. Phil became a star and had to do those things, but he worked really hard on the indie circuit on his way up through the WWE ranks.”
Now Roufus is in the unique position to help Brooks up through the MMA ranks. It’s a challenge that his team welcomes, even with all the scrutiny that comes with it. When asked to take a stab at estimating when Brooks would be ready to step in the Octagon, he says it’s wait and see.
“Hopefully by fall, but I can’t really say,” he says. “I mean, it could be less or it could be more. The one thing that him and Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] talk about, they want him to be the real deal. I’m going to be committed to help him reach his goals.”
Now that it’s official that Roufusport in Milwaukee will be the new training grounds for Phil Brooks — more commonly known as former pro wrestler, CM Punk — as he ventures into MMA, we can move on to more traditional concerns. Things such as: Just how in the hell is he going to fare in the cutthroat world of the UFC?
Duke Roufus, who owns Roufusport and has champions Anthony Pettis (UFC) and Ben Askren (One FC) in his stable, thinks Brooks will do just fine. In fact, the more he hears people pooh-poohing the 36-year old Brooks’ chances of making a successful transition from ring choreography to the very literal realm of fighting in the UFC, the more it revs him up to prove some people wrong.
“I am excited to work with him,” he told MMA Fighting. “There are a bunch naysayers out there. I love it. I’d been saying for years in the WEC that Anthony Pettis was going to be something special. Well look at him now. He just submitted two guys [Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez] that hadn’t been submitted before.
“I’m just that type of person, I believe in positive mental attitude. You work hard and dedicate yourself and magic things happen.”
After it was announced that he had signed a contract with the UFC on Dec. 6 — in spite of a virgin-pure 0-0 fight record — Brooks mentioned in a post-UFC 181 press conference that he was exploring every gym, with a preference to stay close to his native Chicago. Roufus’s gym is only 80 miles from Chicago.
And it was in Chicago that Roufus met Brooks, somewhat serendipitously, back in January 2013, when his star pupil Pettis was fighting on a FOX card.
“Yeah, it was when Anthony was fighting Donald Cerrone,” he says. “I met him the Thursday before the fight, and we hit it off right away. I know that he’s made his intentions to me that he’d been wanting to do this for a while. But we’d been in contact for a while that he’s been wanting to do it. Everything came together, so it’s going to happen.”
Roufus says he didn’t lobby to have Brooks join his team, like other gyms (such as American Top Team in Florida). And therefore he doesn’t feel like a sweepstakes winner so much as he does a guy who is pretty serious about molding some clay. Brooks and Roufus have maintained their relationship over the last couple of years, which makes it a good fit.
“It was a mutual coming together,” he says. “I’m sure everybody in the sport would love to work with him. He’s my friend first, and that’s what I enjoy about him. I like to be friendly and close with the fighters I work with because it makes it a lot easier. Everyone knows his wrestling persona; I know the real Phil. That’s why I’m excited to work with him.
As a coach, Roufus has churned out plenty of successful fighters to go along with Pettis and Askren, from Erik Koch to his “jiu-jitsu wizard” Marcin Held. Yet as a professional kickboxer, Roufus wasn’t as gifted as he was diligent. For that reason he feels like he’s just the right guy to coach somebody like Brooks.
“Honestly, for me, from a personal standpoint? I have an older brother who is an incredible force in the sport of kickboxing,” he says, referring to his Rick “The Jet” Roufus. “He was not just a natural athlete, but a natural fighter. Me? I was an overachiever, and that’s what’s helped me coach. I’m going to connect and find a way for Phil to be successful. That’s what I bring to the table.
“And I’m really excited about the challenge, honestly. There are so many naysayers, but I enjoy that.”
For examples of guys who attained their goals through the fight game’s old stand-by of work ethic and dedication, he points to none other than Pettis himself.
“Look at Anthony,” he says. “He’s not a natural, he’s a hard, hard worker. A lot of people think Anthony’s just a pretty boy, the Taekwondo kid. Honestly, he’s one of the hardest working people at our academy.
“And one thing I have heard about Phil and his personality is, I know he’s a hard worker. Anything’s possible when you have confidence and you have a great work ethic and a great attitude.”
Roufus says that Brooks will “get cracking” at Roufusport beginning on Monday.
Though he doesn’t have any professional fights under his belt, Brooks does have an polished professional aura from his pro-wrestling days, as well as a couple of years worth of cram jiu-jitsu lessons under Rener Gracie in California. Though he only coached him in pockets, Rener refers to Brooks as a “sponge” from his time on the mats with him.
That’s another trait that Roufus has picked up, and believes Brooks’ ability to learn and retain information will serve him well.
“For sure — I think what limits people in the beginning of their training is that they don’t have enough time to train, honestly,” he says. “That’s what made Anthony Pettis special. His brother [Sergio] let him take the backseat in their martial arts school, so Anthony could live at the academy when he started. Anthony used to take two classes in the morning and two classes in the evening when he first started training with me. That’s why he’s so darn good. So yeah, he’s a sponge, not unlike Phil. But you know what? If you don’t use a sponge you can’t clean up your kitchen, right?
“What made Phil successful in the WWE is going to make him do well in this as well. Wrestling is not an easy gig. They do 300 dates a year. Especially when you’re not a star. It’s not the stuff that people do when they’re a star that makes them special; it’s what they do when they’re not a star, the stuff you find out about them. Phil became a star and had to do those things, but he worked really hard on the indie circuit on his way up through the WWE ranks.”
Now Roufus is in the unique position to help Brooks up through the MMA ranks. It’s a challenge that his team welcomes, even with all the scrutiny that comes with it. When asked to take a stab at estimating when Brooks would be ready to step in the Octagon, he says it’s wait and see.
“Hopefully by fall, but I can’t really say,” he says. “I mean, it could be less or it could be more. The one thing that him and Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] talk about, they want him to be the real deal. I’m going to be committed to help him reach his goals.”
Now that the thing is (finally) close at hand, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones have grown professionally tolerant of one another. When they appeared on a 30-minute media call on Monday to kick off Fight Week, neither was talking about spitting in the other’s face, or killing anybody, or falsely putting on airs (or telling the other that he was falsely putting on airs). It was just two guys pretty respectfully peeling their fingers back one-by-one in countdown to the day they can swing freely under sanctioned rules.
And at last, that day is near. Saturday night at UFC 182 in Las Vegas either Jones will solidify his spot atop the worldly charts, or Cormier will gleam like kryptonite as he tries his new belt on. In any case, this is the best, most anticipated fight in a long, long time. Three days into 2015 we will have an event that 2014 could never produce. Cormier, the condensed heavyweight who’s never been challenged, against Jones, the freakish athlete with the shadow climbing up the wall.
Fights like this rarely come together. As guest narrator Anthony Bourdain said in the “Bad Blood” lead-up show, “They’re now celestial bodies on a collision course, where extreme violence is the only absolute.” I would call it a superfight if I didn’t think that such abstractions might take away from how super it actually is. However, I will say this, because brother it’s been a long journey to get here: It’s okay to be excited.
People who don’t care for barefoot fighting at all care in moments such as these. People who follow the sport religiously find themselves downplaying the fight as a way to curb wild expectation. That kind of superstitious counter-jinxing comes with the psychology of big fights.
It’s okay to do that, too.
Back in summer, the idea of Jones and Cormier getting locked up together in a caged environment sort of felt too good to be true. As soon as UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta told ESPN that Jones’ next title defense would be a rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, Cormier — a Contender 1B who has been “consumed” by Jones since a disrespectful encounter many moons ago — appeared ready for the operating table to fix his knee. Jones was in a contract dispute of sorts, and was leveraging by/through demanding Cormier — which was bold, because Cormier, in the minds of many, was the one guy Jones wasn’t a slam-dunk to win against.
When Gustafsson got hurt, Cormier was in. His knee felt better instantly. Figuratively speaking, the partition came down for a big-time momentum clash between a Great Champion and a challenger capable of stealing both the adjective and the noun.
Then the partition came down literally in August when the two squared off for the radar press conference to mark the calendars for UFC 178.
By now you know what happened. Jones with the forehead, Cormier with the shove, and the UFC’s vice president of public relations Dave Sholler through the backdrop like a paper football through the uprights. Then came the chaos, the flying shoe and Jones’ atavistic howl…the pleasantries on SportsCenter…the hot mic with the death threats that fortuitously leaked…Jones injury and postponement to UFC 182…Nevada court hearings, disciplinary action, community service…Jon Jones emerging as real through the artificial wilderness…Daniel Cormier as hell-bent through the lessons of bullydom…contrition! (but not really!)…cameras, lights, anticipation.
It’s no wonder that as we hit Fight Week there’s a resigned civility to the proceedings; Jones and Cormier have already been through one glorious stretch of hell together. They have endured the long, twisting path to each other.
“The rivalry is still there, but Jon and I haven’t fought,” Cormier said during Monday’s press call. “We haven’t fought before. When I think of rivalries I think of fights or sporting events where you have people going back and forth. I think of the Lakers and Celtics, I think great trilogy fights, I think football teams that are rivals that are pretty equal. We haven’t fought.
“But in terms of the heat between us, I don’t think that’s going anywhere. I think that now you see two guys who are only six days away from fighting. What’s the point of us yelling and screaming at each other anymore? That’s done. Before it was all we could do to get to each other because we were so far away from the fight. The fight’s only [a few days away] now, there’s no point to that anymore. All that arguing, all the yelling, all the name-calling, it motivated me through my training, but it serves no more purpose.”
He’s right, too. The arguing, the yelling, the name-calling, the feud, the brawl, the leaked footage — all of that belongs to the past. The great thing about the build-up in this sport is that it leads to a fight, the most satisfactory resolution yet invented for those with extreme and literal tastes. Everything that went into building Daniel Cormier and everything that went into building Jon Jones will come out this weekend. Saturday night in Vegas is the definitive place and time to resolve things.
And for that, hey, it’s okay to be excited.
Now that the thing is (finally) close at hand, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones have grown professionally tolerant of one another. When they appeared on a 30-minute media call on Monday to kick off Fight Week, neither was talking about spitting in the other’s face, or killing anybody, or falsely putting on airs (or telling the other that he was falsely putting on airs). It was just two guys pretty respectfully peeling their fingers back one-by-one in countdown to the day they can swing freely under sanctioned rules.
And at last, that day is near. Saturday night at UFC 182 in Las Vegas either Jones will solidify his spot atop the worldly charts, or Cormier will gleam like kryptonite as he tries his new belt on. In any case, this is the best, most anticipated fight in a long, long time. Three days into 2015 we will have an event that 2014 could never produce. Cormier, the condensed heavyweight who’s never been challenged, against Jones, the freakish athlete with the shadow climbing up the wall.
Fights like this rarely come together. As guest narrator Anthony Bourdain said in the “Bad Blood” lead-up show, “They’re now celestial bodies on a collision course, where extreme violence is the only absolute.” I would call it a superfight if I didn’t think that such abstractions might take away from how super it actually is. However, I will say this, because brother it’s been a long journey to get here: It’s okay to be excited.
People who don’t care for barefoot fighting at all care in moments such as these. People who follow the sport religiously find themselves downplaying the fight as a way to curb wild expectation. That kind of superstitious counter-jinxing comes with the psychology of big fights.
It’s okay to do that, too.
Back in summer, the idea of Jones and Cormier getting locked up together in a caged environment sort of felt too good to be true. As soon as UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta told ESPN that Jones’ next title defense would be a rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, Cormier — a Contender 1B who has been “consumed” by Jones since a disrespectful encounter many moons ago — appeared ready for the operating table to fix his knee. Jones was in a contract dispute of sorts, and was leveraging by/through demanding Cormier — which was bold, because Cormier, in the minds of many, was the one guy Jones wasn’t a slam-dunk to win against.
When Gustafsson got hurt, Cormier was in. His knee felt better instantly. Figuratively speaking, the partition came down for a big-time momentum clash between a Great Champion and a challenger capable of stealing both the adjective and the noun.
Then the partition came down literally in August when the two squared off for the radar press conference to mark the calendars for UFC 178.
By now you know what happened. Jones with the forehead, Cormier with the shove, and the UFC’s vice president of public relations Dave Sholler through the backdrop like a paper football through the uprights. Then came the chaos, the flying shoe and Jones’ atavistic howl…the pleasantries on SportsCenter…the hot mic with the death threats that fortuitously leaked…Jones injury and postponement to UFC 182…Nevada court hearings, disciplinary action, community service…Jon Jones emerging as real through the artificial wilderness…Daniel Cormier as hell-bent through the lessons of bullydom…contrition! (but not really!)…cameras, lights, anticipation.
It’s no wonder that as we hit Fight Week there’s a resigned civility to the proceedings; Jones and Cormier have already been through one glorious stretch of hell together. They have endured the long, twisting path to each other.
“The rivalry is still there, but Jon and I haven’t fought,” Cormier said during Monday’s press call. “We haven’t fought before. When I think of rivalries I think of fights or sporting events where you have people going back and forth. I think of the Lakers and Celtics, I think great trilogy fights, I think football teams that are rivals that are pretty equal. We haven’t fought.
“But in terms of the heat between us, I don’t think that’s going anywhere. I think that now you see two guys who are only six days away from fighting. What’s the point of us yelling and screaming at each other anymore? That’s done. Before it was all we could do to get to each other because we were so far away from the fight. The fight’s only [a few days away] now, there’s no point to that anymore. All that arguing, all the yelling, all the name-calling, it motivated me through my training, but it serves no more purpose.”
He’s right, too. The arguing, the yelling, the name-calling, the feud, the brawl, the leaked footage — all of that belongs to the past. The great thing about the build-up in this sport is that it leads to a fight, the most satisfactory resolution yet invented for those with extreme and literal tastes. Everything that went into building Daniel Cormier and everything that went into building Jon Jones will come out this weekend. Saturday night in Vegas is the definitive place and time to resolve things.
