Anthony “Rumble” Johnson seemed on his way towards the top of the UFC Welterweight food chain after a win over Charlie Brenneman, and had Johnson stayed at 170 pounds, there would be no telling who he might have drawn in his next bout.However, a consen…
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson seemed on his way towards the top of the UFC Welterweight food chain after a win over Charlie Brenneman, and had Johnson stayed at 170 pounds, there would be no telling who he might have drawn in his next bout.
However, a consensus-demanded move to middleweight found itself in the cards for Mr. Johnson, and the way he is being rewarded for the decision to jump to middleweight could not have been more instrumental in deciding his future potential as a fighter.
However, the reward in this instance comes with a risk: defeat for Johnson at UFC 142 in Brazil will not come with a release or a relegation to the Facebook prelims of a future card, but it will come with the misfortune of being just another highlight on Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort’s reel.
Disregard foolishly the accomplishments of Belfort if that is your choice, but never deny that Vitor Belfort still has vicious hand speed and power.
Even if the failure to unleash the beast led to famously getting a Curitiba curb-stomping from Anderson Silva on Super Bowl Weekend, it does not make this fight any less of a test for Johnson, who has the kind of wrestling needed to put Belfort in danger and the kind of knockout power that very few fighters have been able to unleash on Belfort.
The question is, will Johnson be ready for what Belfort will offer him in what might be the biggest test of his career?
Belfort has two hands that say he will not, and if that is so on fight night, Johnson will be in for a long night.
MMA is growing, whether people choose to accept it or not, and it’s shown for most of 2011 so far. We’ve seen knockouts come forth in stunning fashion, we’ve seen legends take hard shots while other legends gave hard shots, we’ve seen non-traditional s…
MMA is growing, whether people choose to accept it or not, and it’s shown for most of 2011 so far. We’ve seen knockouts come forth in stunning fashion, we’ve seen legends take hard shots while other legends gave hard shots, we’ve seen non-traditional submissions win fights, and of course, we’ve seen Jon Jones’ “Bonejitsu”. The current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is 3-0 in 2011 bouts, by the way.
The wild, crazy, insane, and unfathomable have all taken place in 2011, but we still have quite a ways to go before we’re done with the year, and as combat sports fans in some respect, we’re not just leaving it at MMA either—though, an entire section could be dedicated to what’s left in the boxing world in 2011. With all that being said, what exactly can we expect in the last few months of 2011?
Even before UFC 137, we all knew that somewhere down the line, there would come a time where no other opponent would make sense for Nick Diaz aside from Georges St-Pierre or the man who held the UFC welterweight title.Half of the MMA world didn’t think…
Even before UFC 137, we all knew that somewhere down the line, there would come a time where no other opponent would make sense for Nick Diaz aside from Georges St-Pierre or the man who held the UFC welterweight title.
Half of the MMA world didn’t think Diaz was in line for a shot at the title, even with a great performance against B.J. Penn tonight, and it’s questionable if those opponents would ever change their tune on Diaz and the great title shot debate.
Those proponents of Diaz, however, knew Diaz would make his shots count when he earned them, and those proponents believe that he’d leave no doubt that he earned them.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to like it, but Diaz did not get a B.J. Penn whose career was on life support.
Diaz got a B.J. Penn who came to fight, just as Diaz wanted, and the better fighter simply prevailed, giving us the fight that we all knew was going to happen eventually.
So, whether you think Diaz is ready or not ready, it is a true case of “now or never” for “The Stockton Bad Boy” and his fight with the best welterweight in the world.
As stated before, there comes a time when Diaz has to be given his credit, because while his attitude will not earn him too many supporters, his talent and his high-volume offense will not go away until the time finally comes for Diaz to retire.
His streak speaks for itself, and while it could have probably done with a fight against Jason “Mayhem” Miller instead of the fight with Evangelista Santos in the long run, the fact that he did not raise any doubts about his abilities in any of his fights.
Couple all of that in with the fact of his style, widely seen as the very style that many feel is perfect to combat the strengths of GSP’s more takedown-oriented offense, and there’s only a small amount of doubt as to why Diaz should get the bout that we all know he eventually has to deserve.
That, plus if you follow Dana White on Twitter, you know that St-Pierre is not shaking this off like he did the trash-talk Josh Koscheck gave him before UFC 124, and you know that Carlos Condit is actually stepping aside so that the champ can handle his business.
The hatred seems there, the talent is definitely there, the abilities and the dominance are definitely there and the willingness to give the fans what they want is there.
All that needs to happen is for the champion and new challenger to finish putting the bout in dried ink.
It’s the fight that was supposed to happen tonight, and now it’s the fight that is hopefully happening on Super Bowl weekend, but it’s like they say: better now than never.
Truer words could not adequately describe this epic encounter any better, because the simple fact is that it is better to have the bout happen now, allowing all that will transpire to transpire uninterrupted, than to wait until either man is one fight away from “past his prime” and wonder what would’ve happened if we would have just gotten behind the biggest UFC welterweight title super-fight while both men were able to give us what could have been their most immortal performance.
But of course, Nick Diaz isn’t and will never be ready for a Georges St-Pierre, right?
“The Prodigy” BJ Penn is an MMA legend, a former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion, and one of the greatest non-Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the history of the sport. His boxing is also second to none, due to the speed and …
“The Prodigy” BJ Penn is an MMA legend, a former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion, and one of the greatest non-Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the history of the sport. His boxing is also second to none, due to the speed and accuracy with which he comes forward.
In comparison, former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz is an equally revered practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the tutelage of Cesar Gracie. His striking is a high-volume version of what Penn’s style brings to the fight game.
Both men are the best at what they do, and while neither man has anything negative to say about the other, the two will come into the cage with bad intentions at UFC 137.
Matt Mitrione has taken some time to cook the “Meathead” of TUF 10 infamy, and the current result is an undefeated hulk who has looked dominant so far. His first real test comes against the man who might be responsible for “The Comeback of 2011,” French kickboxer Cheick Kongo, who has been on something of a tear as of late.
Finally, the incomparable Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has been up and down as of late, alternating between wins and losses. However, not since a UFC 115 bout with Pat Barry has anyone possessed the tools to truly end the legendary career of Cro Cop the way Roy Nelson does. “Big Country” could get the job done, knowing that his failure to do so means a possible release from the UFC.
All this, plus the debut of “The Iron Broom” Hatsu Hioki, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and hopefully a taste of Kenda Perez in live blog format—all right here, as this is UFC 137 on Bleacher Report MMA!
For, Rick “The Horror” Story, UFC 139 could not have worked out better for him without drawing the champion himself.Story took a UFC on Versus 4 bout with Nate Marquardt on short notice once Anthony Johnson pulled out, but issues pertaining to circumst…
For, Rick “The Horror” Story, UFC 139 could not have worked out better for him without drawing the champion himself.
Story took a UFC on Versus 4 bout with Nate Marquardt on short notice once Anthony Johnson pulled out, but issues pertaining to circumstances outside of Story’s control caused Marquardt to be released by the UFC and replaced by Charlie Brenneman.
Now, considering that all but the third round went to Brenneman, you would think that Story might get a noticeable step down in competition coming into UFC 139, but Joe Silva (and maybe Dana White) gave Story a real step up in competition when they contacted Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann with the offer to take on Story.
Some feel Story and Brenneman were stood up prematurely while Story was looking for a victory by Triangle Choke after two unsuccessful guillotine choke attempts, which is funny with the Kampmann fight approaching because almost all of the MMA World feels Kampmann beat Diego Sanchez at UFC on Versus 3.
Take the addition of this fight for what it’s worth, but never undermine what it means if Story hands Kampmann a serious loss in San Jose.
It might take Story a win or two to earn his status as a possible contender if he beats Kampmann, but taking the heavy hands and upper body strength into account against Kampmann’s evolving takedown offense, smooth submissions and diverse striking, why would any doubt exist as to whether Story is among the elite at what’s left of the UFC Welterweight division if he does what Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez visibly did not seem able to do, despite their decision wins over the Xtreme Couture standout and UFC veteran Kampmann?
Story has come this far because the fighters from the same cloth as Johny Hendricks and Thiago Alves were locked in as winners against Story before they ever fought Story, and Kampmann seems all but a lock for a certain winner as well, but Kampmann has the same chance to win that Hendricks and Alves did before Story defeated them.
At the end of the day, we are still referring to a fight, so whatever will happen is going to happen, and nothing is ruled out of the question.
Kampmann is a good fighter, but by signing this fight, he could be putting himself in front of the one prospect—besides a Rory MacDonald-type of fighter—who might just be able to solidly defeat him.
Yes, Story will have 15 minutes to earn his status as an elite welterweight against Kampmann, and the last time MMA fans checked, no 15-minute bout ever comes easy when a man draws Martin Kampmann, but Story never ducks fights and he never quits in fights.
Kampmann will make Story earn both the win and the elite label, but if anyone not named Georges St-Pierre, Nick Diaz or BJ Penn could do it without controversy against Kampmann, it would be Story.
Talk is cheap, though—we won’t know for sure before it happens, but we’ll know for sure come Novemebr 19th at UFC 139.
For good reason, Cheick Kongo’s UFC run up until now can only be comparable to a roller coaster.He’s racked up wins over the likes of Pat Barry, Paul Buentello and Mirko Cro Cop, losses to the likes of Frank Mir, and a draw with Travis Browne. However…
For good reason, Cheick Kongo‘s UFC run up until now can only be comparable to a roller coaster.
He’s racked up wins over the likes of Pat Barry, Paul Buentello and Mirko Cro Cop, losses to the likes of Frank Mir, and a draw with Travis Browne. However, he’s never been able to get over the hump.
It’s probably not helping matters that Matt Mitrione is on a tear at this very moment, nor is it soothing Kongo to realize that a win for Mitrione at UFC 137 next Saturday means that the undefeated Mitrione could find himself a win or two away from a bout with someone in the Top 3.
So knowing that Kongo came from behind to beat Barry at UFC on Versus 4 this past June, and given both his history in big fights and Mitrione’s rise, what is realistically the best to expect from Kongo on October 29th?
Given the win over Barry, we can expect a resilient and a very game Kongo to let the MMA world see exactly how Mitrione reacts when an established veteran takes it to him.
It won’t be the same as the test an Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett or even a Sergei Kharitonov would give to Mitrione, but Kongo is good enough to help us gauge where Mitrione is now and where he can go with a few more battles in the cage.
Let’s not forget that Kongo is the man who almost took the “0” away from UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 in what was arguably the most difficult fight of the champion’s career so far.
So Mitrione and his skill set will face a challenge next weekend and his performance against the wily veteran Kongo will answer plenty of questions about whether Mitrione is ready to be used in the same sentence as the champion’s name without provoking hysterical laughter.
The only question Kongo will have to answer is whether or not he can finally get over that gosh-darned hump and establish himself as a serious title contender.
And while he gained strong momentum from his win over Barry, it’ll be hard to buy him derailing Mitrione’s momentum train until we see him actually do it come fight night.
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson seemed on his way towards the top of the UFC Welterweight food chain after a win over Charlie Brenneman, and had Johnson stayed at 170 pounds, there would be no telling who he might have drawn in his next bout.