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Brandon Vera Pulls Out of Heated Rematch with Thiago Silva Due to Injury

Vera can’t stand to even look at that “Juice Monkey“. (Pic: MMAFighting.com)

The report we filed two days ago on the Brandon Vera-Thiago Silva grudge match is already woefully out of date. According to “The Truth”, he was so eager to ‘welcome’ Silva back to the Octagon that he jumped the gun and accepted the rematch before discussing the bout with his coaches or doctors. A consultation with his physician revealed that he wouldn’t be recovered from an injury in time for the May 15^th fight.

The bad blood stems back to their UFC 125 bout. Silva showed incredible disrespect toward Vera, bitch slapping him repeatedly before playing him like a pair of bloody bongos. The humiliating loss earned Vera his walking papers, at least until he was un-fired when Silva’s post-fight urine sample tested positive for steroids.

Silva eventually copped to ‘roiding and was himself slapped with a hefty fine and one-year suspension. The rematch with Vera, scheduled to go down on the UFC on FX 3 card, would have been his first fight back from that suspension. Following a successful nose transplant, Vera rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Eliott Marshall at UFC 137, but he’ll now spend a little more time on the sidelines. Zuffa is currently looking for an alternate dance partner for the Brazilian.

Vera can’t stand to even look at that “Juice Monkey“. (Pic: MMAFighting.com)

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Diaz vs Condit’ Episode 3

(Vid Props to YouTube/MixedMartialArts)

Last night marked the end of a great run for the Primetime series as it followed the two fighters headlining tonight’s pay per view card. We’ve learned a lot more about Carlos Condit, the wayward youth turned loving father and professional fighter, while playing armchair psychologist to Nick Diaz along the way. The crews shadowing these two 24/7 did the heavy lifting, so we’ll just pop the video up above and make our little jokes after the jump.

(Vid Props to YouTube/MixedMartialArts)

Condit’s watching plenty of footage of Nick Diaz, including his post-UFC 137 call-out of champion GSP (“Where you at, Georges? Where you at?”). Although he feels like he’s being overlooked and counted out, Condit takes the high road by not calling Diaz out for ending his sentence in a preposition.

“He tends to be training at weird hours, for sure. When you think about the fight, you can’t get it out of your head and you want to train and you know the other guy’s not doing it, that’s a big mental edge. I love the guy; if he needs help and wants to train at midnight, you know, let’s do this.” Diaz’s training partner Joe Schiling. If only poor Diaz could find some way to unwind?

“I figured that this is the better opponent than any of these other guys that are out there. You fight the way this guy fights and it’s a dangerous fight. I think I’ve gotten a taste of both worlds: guys trying to take your head off and guys trying to hold you, and I think this guy’s definitely more so trying to take your head off.” Diaz, fully expecting this battle to be contested under ‘Stockton Rules‘.

“I don’t really see anything in Carlos Condit’s game that is more dangerous than the things that we’ve been throwing at Nick throughout this training camp. I’ve hit Nick with some really hard shots, shots that I’ve dropped other people with, and not only does it not faze him, but it doesn’t move him back an inch, it doesn’t slow him down, he doesn’t seem to even care about it. He’s a fighter, and there’s not too many guys like Nick Diaz. You can’t stop crazy.” Joe Schiling. Add “getting punched” alongside “drug tests”, “smiling”, and “Ariel Helwani” on the ever-growing list of things Nick Diaz doesn’t care about.

“I would be happy with just going home without any missing teeth.” Diaz, maybe he does care about smiling after all?

“He’s been the underdog all his life, where people wanted to bully him when he was younger. They wanted to portray him as something he’s not. They want to write a script for his life, and that’s not the script that he wants and he’s fighting against that. And I think as fight time approaches all of that starts to merge. It’s a focused rage; it’s not chaotic anger. There’s a focused rage there.” Cesar Gracie, on what could be the greatest MMA movie to date. Get cracking, Hollywood.

“I’ve been the underdog my entire career. People have always counted me out. I don’t pay much mind to that. I’m ready. I’m ready for this shit.” Carlos Condit, trying to out-underdog Diaz. Jesus, people, can’t anyone come in as the favorite anymore?

“I think ol’ boy’s gonna try to take me down. What are his guard passes?” Condit speaking with Greg Jackson, predicting a very un-gangster-like strategy from his opponent.

“Fight week I put on the game face. I just get ready to go do battle. Finally get to go in there and not hold back and just let it go. Really I just tell myself to keep my hands up and my chin down and go out there and bury this mother fucker.” Condit, all but promising to stand and bang. I want to believe they will, but I’ve been fooled too many times before.

Hold up. Diaz missed three flights in one day before finally making it to Vegas for one of the biggest fights of his career? Then he skips the UFC’s prearranged ride to take a cab? I know you’re a busy guy, Nick, but life is not this difficult.

“The exercise is easier [during fight week], but a lot of the other stuff is harder. You know, I’m not used to training to deal with everything that they’re asking of me. I’m not training for that all month, you know, all leading up, I’m just training to fight. A lot of that other stuff is kind of hard for me to deal with, but I am ready to do whatever we gotta to do.” Diaz, who is now officially untrained as a home buyer, travel agent, and conversationalist.

Media week is a stressful time for both men, but particularly Nick Diaz. Though he often comes across as guarded, he’s easily the most open and honest of all fighters. You may not relate to what he’s saying, but you know that he means every word of it.

“That would be crazy to start believing in myself and think, ‘Oh yeah, I’m the biggest part of the show’, and ‘oh happy me’, and ‘everyone loves me’, and ‘I’m the superstar’. That’s crazy. That’s some bullshit right there. That’s the last thing I want to believe. All I’m going to believe is that I’m coming to whoop some ass.” Diaz, keeping it Stockton.

“Who makes these questions up? These questions are bullshit. Seriously? This is not, like, what are these? These are all tricks. This is all like bullshit. I’m low on water, I’m low on calories, I’m low on food, I’m low on energy, and I’m more so than anything low on patience with anything that takes patience. If you ask me something stupid then I’m going to answer it with something stupid and if I hear myself talk something stupid and I’m really pissed off, depressed, and bent out of shape about, then I’m going to throw a fucking really serious fit for no fucking reason.” Diaz, perhaps the toughest man on Earth to threaten throwing a hissy fit.

– Chris Colemon

‘UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit’– Weigh-In Results & Video

Don’t blink- someone’s getting their ass motorboated tonight. (Video: YouTube/UFC)

Though reported to have gone down in Las Vegas, last night’s weigh-ins clearly took place in Bizarro World. How else could you explain a slim(mer) Roy Nelson, Josh Koscheck being the victim of bullying, and Nick Diaz comporting himself like a true gentleman?

We were denied a glimpse of “~~Big~~ Medium Country” at the memorable UFC 137 weigh-ins back in October, but last night he tipped the scales some fourteen pounds lighter than he did when squaring off against Frank Mir last May. Could it be he’s serious about that drop to light heavyweight?

Koscheck hasn’t had much to say about his foe—aside from having to look him up after the fight was signed—but Mike Pierce provoked him further by donning a pretty accurate wig during their staredown. Considering that Pierce called him out in the first place, he either knows something we don’t or is setting himself up for a lesson in humility this evening.

And as for Diaz, there’s not much to say beyond how civilized he looked. No, he didn’t bro hug ‘Conduit‘ after the face-off, but the ruffian we know and love was nowhere to be seen. First a handshake at the presser, and now no mean mug? Could it be that the ‘Pride of Stockton’ has failed to muster up the hatred for his opponent that usually fuels his fights, and if so, does it even matter?

Full weigh-in results, and a closer look at the Diaz-Condit stare-down after the jump.

Don’t blink- someone’s getting their ass motorboated tonight. (Video: YouTube/UFC)

Diaz-Condit stare-down, courtesy of YouTube/UFC.

Full Results: (via MMAJunkie.com)

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

Carlos Condit (169) vs. Nick Diaz (169)
Roy Nelson (246) vs. Fabricio Werdum (246)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Mike Pierce (170)
Renan Barao (136) vs. Scott Jorgensen (135)
Ed Herman (185) vs. Clifford Starks (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)

Max Holloway (144) vs. Dustin Poirier (146)
Alex Caceres (136) vs. Edwin Figueroa (135)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Chris Cope (171)
Henry Martinez (169) vs. Matt Riddle (170)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Rafael Natal (186) vs. Michael Kuiper (183)
Dan Stittgen (170) vs. Stephen Thompson (171)

A Country Boy Can Survive: Matt Hughes Wants Back in the Cage

(DO NOT run an unfiltered image search for ‘Matt Hughes’. EVER. This photo is nothing. Learn from my mistake, kids.)

Just four months after putting himself “on a shelf”–a euphemism for the dreaded ‘R-word‘–Matt Hughes is ready to glove up once again. After suffering back-to-back first round knockouts to BJ Penn and Josh Koscheck, the UFC Hall of Famer made a non-committal pledge to walk away from the sport, a move he’d pondered openly while winding down his career.

As we’ve seen time and time again, getting your head bashed in is surprisingly difficult to walk away from. Hughes has undoubtedly made enough money to retire comfortably, has plenty of hobbies to occupy his time, and with nine UFC titles to his name he has nothing left to prove. But Hughes didn’t start his MMA career in search of fame or fortune; the man simply loves to compete, and pounding his brother behind the barn just doesn’t cut it these days.

Ultimately, his fate lies in Dana White’s hands, not his own, and most certainly not his wife’s. During an interview on FUEL last night, Hughes established the pecking order in his household: “I think Dana could be the final decision maker. My wife’s a great lady, but she’s not going to tell me when Matt Hughes retires.” Well, I guess we know who’s cooking up the country breakfast this morning.

(DO NOT run an unfiltered image search for ‘Matt Hughes‘. EVER. This photo is nothing. Learn from my mistake, kids.)

‘UFC on FOX 2: Evans vs Davis’ Aftermath–The Cutting Room Floor

Totally illegal in NCAA competition. (Photo: UFC.com)

“It’s usually not like this.” With that text I found myself apologizing to a UFC-virgin for the first time in a long time. My friend had just told me that she was at home watching the the show on FOX, without any provocation from me mind you. “This is that fighting you like, right???”. I assured her that the event had yet to capture the energy and excitement indicative of the sport. “I’m going back and forth between this and figure skating,” she replied. I can’t really say I blame her, either.

While we expected plenty of grappling in the bouts themselves, the wrestling theme seemed to carry on throughout the production at large. The usually-charismatic Jon Jones wrestled with his notes, relying on them not just for in-depth fight analysis but for simple things like his thoughts on fighting Rashad. The opening act wrestled with fatigue, leading to a performance as exhausting for fans as it was for the competitors in the cage. And once again, FOX wrestled with an underwhelming broadcast that left the most exciting action behind in the prelims.

Enough belly aching about the show itself, let’s take a look at what made such a promising event so forgettable for the masses.

Totally illegal in NCAA competition. (Photo: UFC.com)

Enough belly aching about the show itself, let’s take a look at what made such a promising event so forgettable for the masses.

The first fight of the FOX broadcast was a dreadful match between Demian Maia and Chris Weidman. The All-American wrestler showed little fear of Maia’s proven BJJ, taking him down numerous times throughout the bout. Though he went down without much trouble, Maia impressively scrambled back to his feet more often than not. His striking, however, left much to be desired. The Brazilian showcased limited weapons in the stand-up, though neither man went for the kill, even when they had the stamina to do so. Weidman’s cardio woes are easily forgiven; he took this fight on eleven-days notice following Munoz’s departure from the card. Maia’s lethargy is a bit less understandable. The pair were beyond exhausted in round three, opting to forgo the opportunities they found themselves in simply because it was far less tiring to do nothing at all. Weidman took the split decision in a (hopefully) easily forgotten performance. As the lone lead-in for the co-main events, this bout really set the stage for a disappointing evening.

Perhaps it’s best that Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen had a scant eleven days to talk up their bout, as it didn’t live up to the hastened hype it received. It’s not their fault, really. They both fought their asses off, it’s just that each man made the other look bad. The opening seconds reflected what many expected from this bout, with Chael landing an instant takedown and going to work. A moment later, however, Bisping threw the script out of the Octagon and popped right back up to his feet. His defensive wrestling wasn’t limited to the ground, either. The Brit surprised ~~many~~ everyone by repeatedly circling off the fence, pinning Sonnen against the cage and controlling much of the action. Though not much happened in the clinch, he outworked “The American Gangster” in the center of the cage as well, finding a home for his hands. Round three was all Chael; the self-proclaimed Middleweight champion put “The Count” in peril while taking his back and mounting him. If Twitter is any indication, exactly 50% of you are outraged with Sonnen’s unanimous decision victory. If even industry experts can’t agree on who won and by what margin, what must new fans have thought of the outcome? A fist fight should be a relatively easy affair to judge, but a bout like this puts MMA’s nebulous scoring system in the spotlight. The UFC now has the momentous rematch with Anderson Silva that they’d hoped for, but Chael’s performance hardly commanded the second bite at the apple like his submission win over Stann did.

The main event pitted perennial #1 contender Rashad Evans against the undefeated Phil Davis. Evans insisted that he would out-wrestle “Mr. Wonderful” convincingly, collegiate pedigrees be damned, and was confident that the rising star would fade under the bright lights of a high-stakes bout. As the final seconds of round one ticked away, and he stared up at those bright lights with his back against the canvas and his arms pinned in a crucifix, Davis must have heard Rashad’s claims echoing in his mind. Davis’ stand-up, though vastly improved, was still too sluggish for Rashad’s fast hands, and he repeatedly found himself in compromising positions on the ground throughout the bout. At times Davis looked disillusioned, but he never stopped fighting, he never allowed Rashad to put him away. He’ll benefit from this loss and has ample time to develop his skills and grow as a fighter. Evans will find no such respite. Following his unanimous decision win, the UFC has once again dangled the Jon Jones carrot in front of him. Fortunately he has little time to question if the fight will actually take place. The former training partners and friends are slated to dance at UFC 145 in Atlanta, Georgia. Assuming Evans picked up no injuries in his five round battle, this gives him just enough time to recover and get in a full training camp for the April 21^st bout.

You need look no further than last night’s bonus checks for proof that the best of last night’s tussles were left on the cutting room floor. Lavar Johnson hurt Joey Beltran early with body shots, but it was a torrent of brutal uppercuts that dropped “The Mexicutioner” late in first round. Johnson picked up $65k for the evening’s “Knock out of the Night” and the first win for a Strikeforce heavyweight since their formal assimilation into the Octagon. Eric Wisely’s UFC debut was short lived. Charles Oliveira welcomed the rookie to the cage with some hard leg kicks before taking him to the ground and raining down shots. The Brazilian quickly transitioned from leg lock to leg lock before catching a rare calf-slicer and drawing the tap in just 1:43 of the first round. A terrific debut at Featherweight for “Do Bronx” was made all the sweeter with a check for the “Submission of the Night”. In the evening’s “Fight of the Night”, Evan Dunham and Nick Lentz swung away early and often. There was little feeling out process as the two traded shots in close quarters throughout the first frame. Both fighters slowed in round two, but their assaults were just as spirited. Dunham battered Lentz on the ground, swelling and cutting the fighter just below his eye. The damage was serious enough to limit his vision and force cage-side physicians to halt the bout between the second and third frames.

Full results: (via MMAWeekly.com )

Main Bouts (on Fox at 8 p.m. ET on Fox):
-Rashad Evans def. Phil Davis by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45), R5
-Chael Sonnen def. Michael Bisping by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28), R3
-Chris Weidman def. Demian Maia by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), R3

Preliminary Bouts (on Fuel TV at 5 p.m. ET on Fuel TV):
-Evan Dunham def. Nick Lentz by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00, R2.
-Mike Russow def. Jon Olav Einemo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
-Cub Swanson def. George Roop by TKO (punches) at 2:22, R2
-Charles Oliveira def. Eric Wisely via submission at 1:43, R1
-Michael Johnson def. Shane Roller by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
-Lavar Johnson def. Joey Beltran by knockout (punches) at 4:24, R1
-Chris Camozzi def. Dustin Jacoby by submission (front choke) at 1:08, R3

– Chris Colemon

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Diaz vs Condit’ Episode 2

Part II after the jump (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)

We’ll be treated to a free night of exciting fights on FOX in just a few hours, but there’s still plenty of time to discuss next weekend’s battle for the interim Welterweight title. The second episode of ‘UFC Primetime: Diaz vs Condit‘ hit the air last night. As if the video wasn’t enough, we’ve got your breakdown of the show just after the jump.

Part II after the jump (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)

Part II (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)
“Nick would take on anybody, anything, at any time. If he didn’t get the best of you, tomorrow you’d better be ready to do it again. He had some behavior problems, and also he had some gang problems. Gangs were trying to recruit him because he had a reputation of being tough and the gangs wanted to have him join up.” Tom Domench, Diaz’s 7^th grade teacher. Sure, Tom, gang violence is a serious obstacle to overcome, but is it “fire alarm” serious?

“It’s an interesting connundrum that Nick is in, cause he truly doesn’t enjoy hurting people. He doesn’t want to be the guy that’s beating up other people. He doesn’t think it’s fun, but he does know that that’s his job, to win fights.” Cesar Gracie. We’ve heard from Diaz’s teachers, now where the fuck is his guidance counselor? It just sounds like he went into this whole ‘professional fighter’ gig without all of the relevant facts.

“I got fucking pinned. First by some dude with his older brothers were there. They were like, pinned me real quick. You know what I mean? His brothers were there, they were like, ‘Man, you animal!’ I was like, crying or something. I was like, not there, but I had to take a walk. I was angry. Wrestling was not working out well for me. I mean, I liked wrestling, I wanted to be good at it, I just was having a hard time learning.” Nick Diaz on the genesis of “Stockton Rules”. Rule #1: Wrestling is bullshit.

Diaz dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue an career in the face-punching biz. It looks like things worked out well for him, but what about the high school Math Team he left behind?

“If you go to his gym, you’re going to see him showing techniques to little kids. And you’ll never even think that he is that bad boy that people want to portray him [as].” Diaz trainer Val Ignatov, highlighting the need for parents to pay more attention to who is mentoring their children.

“People don’t understand, when it comes to mixed martial arts, Nick Diaz is a genius. They call BJ Penn “The Prodigy”; they call Vitor Belfort “The Phenom”. Those guys have off buttons. Nick Diaz doesn’t have an off switch.” Steve Heath, Diaz’s first MMA coach, explaining what countless hospital staff already know.

“The thing that hinders Nick Diaz in fighting is time limits. Stick Nick Diaz and GSP in a dark alley and see who comes out. We all know the answer. The only way you’re going to beat Nick Diaz is you’d better bring a gun in the ring.” Steve Heath, expounding upon Stockton Rules #2: Time limits are for pussies.

“I’ve been shooting probably since I was about maybe 15 or so. I learned to shoot from a friend of mine who’s an instructor with the National Guard. If I wasn’t a fighter I think I would be in the military. I’m a warrior; that’s what I am, and I always knew I was.” Carlos Condit, firing an arsenal of weapons in open defiance of the UFC’s new firearms ban.

“Early in Carlos’s career, after making the decision that he wanted to pursue Mixed Martial Arts as a profession, I was skeptical. But when I saw him living on the floor of the gym where he worked out, I knew that this guy had the determination to get somewhere.” Condit’s dad, artfully spinning the story of a penny-pinching father allowing his son to go homeless into a hero’s tale of hard-taught lessons in devotion and passion.

“As Carlos gets closer to fight time, when he’s working like a sled dog, the nice and friendly and easygoing Carlos you still see but less and less. And the focus and this place that he only goes to starts to emerge.” Condit’s dad, simultaneously describing his son’s transformation into the “Natural Born Killer” and how creepy we get when we start drinking again.

Please tell me that’s a bottle of apple juice that Nate’s carrying when he gets out of the driver’s seat of his car.

“Stockton got voted the ‘Most Miserable City’ in the United States. And, despite that, these guys are saying ‘we’re not miserable’. A lot of people in this area, when they make it, they leave, and they end up leaving here and they never look back cause it’s a tough town out here. These guys I can’t get them to move out of here. I’ve tried, and they just say, ‘no, we’re going to live where we’re from’. Despite all the hardships, they’re here to give back, and that’s the most impressive thing.” Cesar Gracie. Nick has been guilty of missing pre-fight media events, but this statement makes it clear that Cesar has skipped a few of the post-fight pressers himself.

“I go to him for advice on anything, you know. Sometimes he don’t even know I’m there for advice, [but] I’m standing there getting it out of him. He’s put me on paths and directions that I didn’t even know that he was putting me on, you know. Straight up, like I got a boxing coach and a jiu-jitsu coach, but Nick is my MMA-Life coach, straight up.” Nate Diaz, confirming that neither brother has a clue as to what the other is doing or saying.

“In order to love fighting, I have to hate it. There is no love in this, without hate. You have to love it so you want it so bad that you’re pushing yourself to those limits to where you just simply hate it. And if you’re not there to where you hate it, then good luck trying to love this shit.” Nick Diaz, with some of the most poignant MMA philosophy since “The InnerMe‘.

“A guy like him should not be champion. He’s going to be champion for a few months if he wins the fight, but as soon as I get back I’m going to be back, I’m going to to put my hands on him and he’s going to be done.” GSP, displaying some rare animosity toward an opponent.

– Chris Colemon