Between previous stories of his older brother’s ‘tough love’ and the new ones pouring out, UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman sounds like he endured a childhood few would envy. Routinely hospitalized as his brother’s punching bag, Weidman credits his early struggles for shaping him into the champion he’s become.
“I grew up in a decently tough neighborhood,” says Weidman. “I grew up getting bullied and fighting a lot. My brother was probably one of the toughest kids from my neighborhood and he didn’t make it easy on me. He made sure I was getting beat up as much as possible growing up. If he wasn’t beating me up, he was making his friends beat me up. He threw a 10 pound weight on my head because I wouldn’t get him a cookie. Split my forehead open pretty good.”
Weidman, who suffered a torn labrum, torn rotator cuff and an AC joint separation preparing to face Tim Boetsch last November, still claims nothing compares to a day he flipped his bike attempting a jump back in the old neighborhood.
“Did a flip, landed on my shoulder, broke my collarbone totally clean. Clean off. My brother, he didn’t believe it was broken, so he made all of his friends line up and punch me in the arm and told me I’d be crying if it was truly broken. After I got punched by everybody, it was the worst thing I ever went through.”
“Those are just a few memories of what I’ve been through in my life, things I’ve had to get through. I think any type of setback you have, any tough time you’ve got, getting through it is what makes you who you are. It makes you a tougher person. I think whatever you’ve been through in your life makes you a tougher person. I’m very grateful for the background I have, every tough situation I’ve been through because it’s made me who I am.”
To hear a few more gruesome stories see the video below. Weidman will make the first defense of his title in a rematch to former champ Anderson Silva at UFC 168 on Dec. 28.
TUF drama.Ronda Rouseygoes off on her less than enjoyable coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter. “And I told Hallman, you really want to do this? You really want to fight? Give us your number, we’ll go meet somewhere in the desert. No cameras around.”
Not happening. Now confirmed as a publicity stunt to promote non-violence towards women, Shooto’s ‘man vs. woman’ fight won’t take place Friday night.
Kevin Lee is a compilation of rarities. At just 21 years old, he is one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster and the only one from Detroit, Michigan. Set to make his UFC debut on February 1st as part of the UFC 169 undercard, Lee is fully prepared to shake up one of the toughest and most talent-filled divisions in the world at 155 lbs. As you can image, Detroit isn’t exactly a hot-bed for MMA. Kevin Lee’s journey to the UFC was far from easy, and in speaking with Lee, we began to understand some of the obstacles he had to overcome along the way.
“The MMA scene in Detroit is practically nonexistent. There are gyms and events thrown in the greater Detroit area, but I am one of the very few professional MMA fighters that was born and raised in the city.”
Beyond MMA, Lee describes growing up in Detroit as ‘rough,’ but credits his parents for keeping him out of trouble and making sure he had the best education possible.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Between previous stories of his older brother’s ‘tough love’ and the new ones pouring out, UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman sounds like he endured a childhood few would envy. Routinely hospitalized as his brother’s punching bag, Weidman credits his early struggles for shaping him into the champion he’s become.
“I grew up in a decently tough neighborhood,” says Weidman. “I grew up getting bullied and fighting a lot. My brother was probably one of the toughest kids from my neighborhood and he didn’t make it easy on me. He made sure I was getting beat up as much as possible growing up. If he wasn’t beating me up, he was making his friends beat me up. He threw a 10 pound weight on my head because I wouldn’t get him a cookie. Split my forehead open pretty good.”
Weidman, who suffered a torn labrum, torn rotator cuff and an AC joint separation preparing to face Tim Boetsch last November, still claims nothing compares to a day he flipped his bike attempting a jump back in the old neighborhood.
“Did a flip, landed on my shoulder, broke my collarbone totally clean. Clean off. My brother, he didn’t believe it was broken, so he made all of his friends line up and punch me in the arm and told me I’d be crying if it was truly broken. After I got punched by everybody, it was the worst thing I ever went through.”
“Those are just a few memories of what I’ve been through in my life, things I’ve had to get through. I think any type of setback you have, any tough time you’ve got, getting through it is what makes you who you are. It makes you a tougher person. I think whatever you’ve been through in your life makes you a tougher person. I’m very grateful for the background I have, every tough situation I’ve been through because it’s made me who I am.”
To hear a few more gruesome stories see the video below. Weidman will make the first defense of his title in a rematch to former champ Anderson Silva at UFC 168 on Dec. 28.
TUF drama.Ronda Rouseygoes off on her less than enjoyable coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter. “And I told Hallman, you really want to do this? You really want to fight? Give us your number, we’ll go meet somewhere in the desert. No cameras around.”
Not happening. Now confirmed as a publicity stunt to promote non-violence towards women, Shooto’s ‘man vs. woman’ fight won’t take place Friday night.
Kevin Lee is a compilation of rarities. At just 21 years old, he is one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster and the only one from Detroit, Michigan. Set to make his UFC debut on February 1st as part of the UFC 169 undercard, Lee is fully prepared to shake up one of the toughest and most talent-filled divisions in the world at 155 lbs. As you can image, Detroit isn’t exactly a hot-bed for MMA. Kevin Lee’s journey to the UFC was far from easy, and in speaking with Lee, we began to understand some of the obstacles he had to overcome along the way.
“The MMA scene in Detroit is practically nonexistent. There are gyms and events thrown in the greater Detroit area, but I am one of the very few professional MMA fighters that was born and raised in the city.”
Beyond MMA, Lee describes growing up in Detroit as ‘rough,’ but credits his parents for keeping him out of trouble and making sure he had the best education possible.
In an interview with TSN’s Off the Record, host Michael Landsberg claimed to be ‘hearing a story’ that Sonnen underwent surgery to remove a section of his bowel just prior to his bout with Evans. Sidestepping Landsberg’s demand that he confirm or deny the story, Sonnen seemed caught off guard given his response.
“I don’t make excuses before fights or after fights,” said Sonnen. “If I had anything to deal with, I’ll deal with it. But when it’s time to fight I’ll walk out there and fight.”
Sonnen, who suffered a loss to Evans via first-round TKO, attributed his poor performance to being undersized at light heavyweight.
“It’s a little bit of a surprise that you had that information,” Sonnen continued. “Here’s the bottom line. When I sign a contract to fight I’m agreeing to fight a guy on a certain day and at a certain time and at a certain venue. It’s my job to feel good when I go out and do it. And if I don’t that may play a hand in the fight. But I don’t like these guy who come up with excuses, particularly after the fact, and I’m damn sure not one of them.”
At the time, Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director, Keith Kizer seemed as shocked as anyone upon hearing the story, telling Deadspin:
“We were never informed of any such surgery, if it even occurred,” said Keith Kizer, who runs the NSAC. “I just checked with [UFC vice-president] Marc Ratner, and he said he hadn’t heard of anything like that.
“It’s not uncommon,” he added, “for fighters to make excuses up after they get beat up in competition. I hope that’s what this is. I don’t know, I plan to find out.”
Later Wednesday evening, Kizer released a second statement to Deadspin:
I checked with the UFC. They verified with Chael and his team that he did not have any surgery prior to the Rashad Evans fight. According to Chael, the interviewer asked him a question and Chael, coyly, didn’t answer him directly as the article clearly states, and the interviewer inferred that the answer to his question was in the affirmative.
Now we’re simply left wondering why Sonnen didn’t deny the report and where Landsberg got it to begin with. We’ve heard of fighters omitting certain nagging injuries on commission medical screenings, but this would be something entirely unique. Strange to say the least.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Litigious Bigfoot.Antonio Silva says he plans to sue the doctor who signed off on the treatment that resulted in his suspension. “You go get help with a doctor, you do the right thing, and now this story tarnishes my professional career.”
1.8 rating. UFC on FOX 9 turned in a total of 2.8 million viewers, the lowest for a UFC on FOX event of those held during football season.
Chat wrap. Luke Thomas covers GSP’s semi-retirement, a UFC 168 preview, Bigfoot Silva and TRT, Glory 13 and more in this week’s live chat.
A whole new world. With Georges St-Pierre out of the picture, welterweights like Tarec Saffiedine see the division opening up. “The welterweight division is so stacked, so many great fighters, and all the Top 10 are really tough. It’s not easy to get a title shot, but I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
(In this documentary by film maker Stuart Cooper we follow rising MMA star “The Joe Ray” leading up to his fight against fan favorite Ole “Iron Fist’ Laursen in promotion DARE Fight Sports. The documentary follows Joe from his preparation at Tiger Muay Thai with Coaches Roger Huerta, Brian Ebersole and 4th Degree Black Belt Fernando Maccachero.)
2013. A hell of a year in MMA. It’s time for my annual recap! We’ll tackle submissions first. Enjoy, and if you do, tell a friend and share the love. Happy holidays!
Also, stay tuned for my KO’s and fights of the year pieces in the next week or so. Thanks for reading!
Good googly moogly. We’re here already? It never ceases to amaze me how quickly every year seems to end after Halloween. You’re back at the house, watching your little kids frolic in a sea of diabetes, and the next thing you know, you’re wrapping presents and wondering if there are any bars open on Christmas.
What a year 2013 has been. This was the year that officially made me feel like I don’t know anything anymore. There were several bad judges decisions that were universally seen as bad. But there were also a few that I thought were terrible and NOBODY agreed with me (with Kyung Ho Kang-Chico Camus and GSP-Hendricks being two that I can think of off the top of my head). The problem is, I didn’t have anyone to argue with, because none of my friends are into MMA anymore. So, why not spew my arguments out at the internet? Those were bad decisions, internet! Also, Anderson Silva got knocked the hell out. That, too.
In an interview with TSN’s Off the Record, host Michael Landsberg claimed to be ‘hearing a story’ that Sonnen underwent surgery to remove a section of his bowel just prior to his bout with Evans. Sidestepping Landsberg’s demand that he confirm or deny the story, Sonnen seemed caught off guard given his response.
“I don’t make excuses before fights or after fights,” said Sonnen. “If I had anything to deal with, I’ll deal with it. But when it’s time to fight I’ll walk out there and fight.”
Sonnen, who suffered a loss to Evans via first-round TKO, attributed his poor performance to being undersized at light heavyweight.
“It’s a little bit of a surprise that you had that information,” Sonnen continued. “Here’s the bottom line. When I sign a contract to fight I’m agreeing to fight a guy on a certain day and at a certain time and at a certain venue. It’s my job to feel good when I go out and do it. And if I don’t that may play a hand in the fight. But I don’t like these guy who come up with excuses, particularly after the fact, and I’m damn sure not one of them.”
At the time, Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director, Keith Kizer seemed as shocked as anyone upon hearing the story, telling Deadspin:
“We were never informed of any such surgery, if it even occurred,” said Keith Kizer, who runs the NSAC. “I just checked with [UFC vice-president] Marc Ratner, and he said he hadn’t heard of anything like that.
“It’s not uncommon,” he added, “for fighters to make excuses up after they get beat up in competition. I hope that’s what this is. I don’t know, I plan to find out.”
Later Wednesday evening, Kizer released a second statement to Deadspin:
I checked with the UFC. They verified with Chael and his team that he did not have any surgery prior to the Rashad Evans fight. According to Chael, the interviewer asked him a question and Chael, coyly, didn’t answer him directly as the article clearly states, and the interviewer inferred that the answer to his question was in the affirmative.
Now we’re simply left wondering why Sonnen didn’t deny the report and where Landsberg got it to begin with. We’ve heard of fighters omitting certain nagging injuries on commission medical screenings, but this would be something entirely unique. Strange to say the least.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Litigious Bigfoot.Antonio Silva says he plans to sue the doctor who signed off on the treatment that resulted in his suspension. “You go get help with a doctor, you do the right thing, and now this story tarnishes my professional career.”
1.8 rating. UFC on FOX 9 turned in a total of 2.8 million viewers, the lowest for a UFC on FOX event of those held during football season.
Chat wrap. Luke Thomas covers GSP’s semi-retirement, a UFC 168 preview, Bigfoot Silva and TRT, Glory 13 and more in this week’s live chat.
A whole new world. With Georges St-Pierre out of the picture, welterweights like Tarec Saffiedine see the division opening up. “The welterweight division is so stacked, so many great fighters, and all the Top 10 are really tough. It’s not easy to get a title shot, but I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
(In this documentary by film maker Stuart Cooper we follow rising MMA star “The Joe Ray” leading up to his fight against fan favorite Ole “Iron Fist’ Laursen in promotion DARE Fight Sports. The documentary follows Joe from his preparation at Tiger Muay Thai with Coaches Roger Huerta, Brian Ebersole and 4th Degree Black Belt Fernando Maccachero.)
2013. A hell of a year in MMA. It’s time for my annual recap! We’ll tackle submissions first. Enjoy, and if you do, tell a friend and share the love. Happy holidays!
Also, stay tuned for my KO’s and fights of the year pieces in the next week or so. Thanks for reading!
Good googly moogly. We’re here already? It never ceases to amaze me how quickly every year seems to end after Halloween. You’re back at the house, watching your little kids frolic in a sea of diabetes, and the next thing you know, you’re wrapping presents and wondering if there are any bars open on Christmas.
What a year 2013 has been. This was the year that officially made me feel like I don’t know anything anymore. There were several bad judges decisions that were universally seen as bad. But there were also a few that I thought were terrible and NOBODY agreed with me (with Kyung Ho Kang-Chico Camus and GSP-Hendricks being two that I can think of off the top of my head). The problem is, I didn’t have anyone to argue with, because none of my friends are into MMA anymore. So, why not spew my arguments out at the internet? Those were bad decisions, internet! Also, Anderson Silva got knocked the hell out. That, too.
We learned last week that ONE FC lightweight champion Shinya Aoki would be competing at Inoki Genome Federation’s Tokyo New Year’s Eve show but now we have a confirmed opponent. Although Aoki recently made the move to featherweight, he’ll be returning to 155 pounds to face fellow Japanese veteran Toshikatsu Harada at IGF – Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013.
Harada (11-9-2) has bounced around the Japanese MMA scene since 2004, putting together an incredibly streaky resume along the way. While going just 3-7 to begin his career, Harada has gone 8-2-2 since turning it around in 2010. Likely earmarked as a layup for Aoki, Harada has been stopped in eight of his nine losses. Most recently, Harada was submitted via first-round armbar to the statistically unspectacular Isamu Sugiuchi at Gladiator 61 – Bushido on Sept. 29.
While traditionally more of a Japanese professional wresting organization, IGF have been known to scatter MMA bouts into their events. Last year’s NYE event saw Mirko CroCop armbar former Sumo wrestler Shinichi Suzukawa while Olympic gold medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii earned a decision nod over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
The rematch.Chris Weidman knows he needs another dominant performance against Anderson Silva to drop the stigma of being a ‘one punch wonder.’ “Like I said before, I need to win this fight to solidify me as champion, and to achieve my other long-term goals I need to win this fight.”
Hunt’s win. As a result of Silva’s failed test, Mark Hunt will take Silva’s 50K fight bonus. Hunt also had some interesting comments on the news.
Snowball’s chance. Brazilian promotion Shooto says it has booked a fight between a man and a woman for this Friday’s event, but regulators aren’t convinced it will actually happen.
Conor McGregor may not be the UFC Champion quite yet, but that’s not stopping him from acting like he has been for years. You’d be hard pressed to find a better combination of charisma, fashion sense, and a quick wit in all of mixed martial arts. Now add in the soon-to-be iconic stance, unparalleled technical skill, and unteachable toughness and grit, and you’ve got one of the most entertaining and promising prospects the UFC has ever had.
McGregor is truly one of a kind in every sense of the phrase. His microphone skills are among the best in the world, with the possible exception of Chael Sonnen, and he has talked his way into a war of words with nearly every fighter in the division (and even a few in other divisions as well). He’s being called out by guys ranked higher than him; South Africans are giving away cars for matching his number of twitter followers; he has been indefinitely sidelined and is still one of the most talked about fighters in the world. In less than a year, he has gone from Irish standout to international superstar and he’s yet to fight on a UFC main card. He even received the blackout treatment in just the second UFC fight of his career, an honor usually reserved exclusively for main eventers.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
We learned last week that ONE FC lightweight champion Shinya Aoki would be competing at Inoki Genome Federation’s Tokyo New Year’s Eve show but now we have a confirmed opponent. Although Aoki recently made the move to featherweight, he’ll be returning to 155 pounds to face fellow Japanese veteran Toshikatsu Harada at IGF – Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013.
Harada (11-9-2) has bounced around the Japanese MMA scene since 2004, putting together an incredibly streaky resume along the way. While going just 3-7 to begin his career, Harada has gone 8-2-2 since turning it around in 2010. Likely earmarked as a layup for Aoki, Harada has been stopped in eight of his nine losses. Most recently, Harada was submitted via first-round armbar to the statistically unspectacular Isamu Sugiuchi at Gladiator 61 – Bushido on Sept. 29.
While traditionally more of a Japanese professional wresting organization, IGF have been known to scatter MMA bouts into their events. Last year’s NYE event saw Mirko CroCop armbar former Sumo wrestler Shinichi Suzukawa while Olympic gold medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii earned a decision nod over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
The rematch.Chris Weidman knows he needs another dominant performance against Anderson Silva to drop the stigma of being a ‘one punch wonder.’ “Like I said before, I need to win this fight to solidify me as champion, and to achieve my other long-term goals I need to win this fight.”
Hunt’s win. As a result of Silva’s failed test, Mark Hunt will take Silva’s 50K fight bonus. Hunt also had some interesting comments on the news.
Snowball’s chance. Brazilian promotion Shooto says it has booked a fight between a man and a woman for this Friday’s event, but regulators aren’t convinced it will actually happen.
Conor McGregor may not be the UFC Champion quite yet, but that’s not stopping him from acting like he has been for years. You’d be hard pressed to find a better combination of charisma, fashion sense, and a quick wit in all of mixed martial arts. Now add in the soon-to-be iconic stance, unparalleled technical skill, and unteachable toughness and grit, and you’ve got one of the most entertaining and promising prospects the UFC has ever had.
McGregor is truly one of a kind in every sense of the phrase. His microphone skills are among the best in the world, with the possible exception of Chael Sonnen, and he has talked his way into a war of words with nearly every fighter in the division (and even a few in other divisions as well). He’s being called out by guys ranked higher than him; South Africans are giving away cars for matching his number of twitter followers; he has been indefinitely sidelined and is still one of the most talked about fighters in the world. In less than a year, he has gone from Irish standout to international superstar and he’s yet to fight on a UFC main card. He even received the blackout treatment in just the second UFC fight of his career, an honor usually reserved exclusively for main eventers.
It seems the UFC could still be looking for a city to hold light heavyweight champion Jon Jones‘ title defense to Glover Teixeira. Although UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira is tentatively expected to take place Apr. 12 from the Baltimore Arena in Maryland, it doesn’t seem any concrete plans are in place.
According to the Baltimore Business Journal, via a report from MMA Mania, Frank Remesch, general manager of the Baltimore Arena, says he ‘had a vague conversation’ with the UFC about holding the event in Baltimore but that no specific dates were mentioned. “It’s a great event that I’d love to have here, but it’s not on the books,” Remesch said Monday. Dave Sholler, the UFC’s senior director of public relations reportedly confirmed those sentiments.
Although Jones seemingly confirmed that he’d be fighting in Baltimore, he did admit he’s yet to sign a bout agreement with a specific date. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Friday, Jones voiced some frustrations on having his fight pushed back for a third time saying, “A lot of jumping the gun was going down, kind of making me look bad, but it happened.” Jones went on to explain that fighting in Baltimore was the perfect compromise to the scheduling issues.
“Me and Dana [White] came up with a way to salvage this whole thing and that was pushing me back one more time to fight in Baltimore. My brother’s a Raven so this is going to work out great for me. I think the marketing going into this will be phenomenal.”
UFC 172 was rumored to be earmarked for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico City, but those plans fell through when heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez opted for shoulder surgery earlier last week.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
All the pressure. Johny Hendricks can’t wait to have everyone gunning for him. “I want everybody to come after me. That’s been my goal since I started fighting. Is that I want the gold and I want everybody to sit there saying, ‘I want to beat that guy.'”
Like a new man. Firas Zahabi says Georges St-Pierre is settling into his new lifestyle, but believes he’ll eventually regain the hunger to compete in MMA. “Georges is right now the happiest I’ve ever seen him. His mood is better, he’s sleeping better, he’s gaining weight, muscular weight, not fat. The stress was making him weaker, miserable, he was suffering. He didn’t have peace. He had too much stress in his life. Now we’re doing jiu jitsu and wrestling for fun.”
Signal to noise. Luke Thomas hands out his post-fight awards for UFC on FOX 9.
I’ll be honest I’ve only been watching MMA for about 5 years. However, I’ve already seen how some fans can easily have an altered view of a fighters past. One of my favorite thing about other sports is the deep history they all have. I absolutely love looking back at records, and going “wow, that actually happened”. A Sherdog user dug up some fight odds and rankings from 2001-2004 just before the TUF boom/rebirth. I’ll be taking a look at them in this major MMA free week. Starting with 2004 (kay, I should have started with 2001, but whatever… it’ll go 2004, then 2001 – 2003)
All data is taken from Sherdog forum by user “IRS”. IRS said the website Archive.org was used to get this data. All data is compiled by “IRS”, inaccuracies may occur. Please say so in the comments if there are any
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
It seems the UFC could still be looking for a city to hold light heavyweight champion Jon Jones‘ title defense to Glover Teixeira. Although UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira is tentatively expected to take place Apr. 12 from the Baltimore Arena in Maryland, it doesn’t seem any concrete plans are in place.
According to the Baltimore Business Journal, via a report from MMA Mania, Frank Remesch, general manager of the Baltimore Arena, says he ‘had a vague conversation’ with the UFC about holding the event in Baltimore but that no specific dates were mentioned. “It’s a great event that I’d love to have here, but it’s not on the books,” Remesch said Monday. Dave Sholler, the UFC’s senior director of public relations reportedly confirmed those sentiments.
Although Jones seemingly confirmed that he’d be fighting in Baltimore, he did admit he’s yet to sign a bout agreement with a specific date. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Friday, Jones voiced some frustrations on having his fight pushed back for a third time saying, “A lot of jumping the gun was going down, kind of making me look bad, but it happened.” Jones went on to explain that fighting in Baltimore was the perfect compromise to the scheduling issues.
“Me and Dana [White] came up with a way to salvage this whole thing and that was pushing me back one more time to fight in Baltimore. My brother’s a Raven so this is going to work out great for me. I think the marketing going into this will be phenomenal.”
UFC 172 was rumored to be earmarked for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico City, but those plans fell through when heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez opted for shoulder surgery earlier last week.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
All the pressure. Johny Hendricks can’t wait to have everyone gunning for him. “I want everybody to come after me. That’s been my goal since I started fighting. Is that I want the gold and I want everybody to sit there saying, ‘I want to beat that guy.'”
Like a new man. Firas Zahabi says Georges St-Pierre is settling into his new lifestyle, but believes he’ll eventually regain the hunger to compete in MMA. “Georges is right now the happiest I’ve ever seen him. His mood is better, he’s sleeping better, he’s gaining weight, muscular weight, not fat. The stress was making him weaker, miserable, he was suffering. He didn’t have peace. He had too much stress in his life. Now we’re doing jiu jitsu and wrestling for fun.”
Signal to noise. Luke Thomas hands out his post-fight awards for UFC on FOX 9.
I’ll be honest I’ve only been watching MMA for about 5 years. However, I’ve already seen how some fans can easily have an altered view of a fighters past. One of my favorite thing about other sports is the deep history they all have. I absolutely love looking back at records, and going “wow, that actually happened”. A Sherdog user dug up some fight odds and rankings from 2001-2004 just before the TUF boom/rebirth. I’ll be taking a look at them in this major MMA free week. Starting with 2004 (kay, I should have started with 2001, but whatever… it’ll go 2004, then 2001 – 2003)
All data is taken from Sherdog forum by user “IRS”. IRS said the website Archive.org was used to get this data. All data is compiled by “IRS”, inaccuracies may occur. Please say so in the comments if there are any
With UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and lightweight champion Anthony Pettis both shelved with injuries, UFC president Dana White says he isn’t interested in creating interim titles for their respective divisions.
“We know when Cain’s coming back. We know when Pettis is coming back,” White told media following UFC on FOX 9 Saturday evening. “We do those when we don’t know when somebody’s coming back or what’s going on.”
Velasquez underwent surgery Dec. 10 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder after waiting nearly three months without improvement. Advised to completely rest the repaired shoulder for six months, Velasquez isn’t expected to return until at least fall 2014. This isn’t the first time Cain has tried avoiding surgery. He tore his right rotator cuff in his 2010 bout with Brock Lesnar, waiting two months to have it surgically repaired. He returned to action against Junior dos Santos nearly 13 months removed from the injury, earning his only career loss.
With multiple oft-injured champions sidelined and one walking away indefinitely, should the UFC reconsider its stance? With the promotion recently instituting time limits for injured champions, does a deadline lose its essence if it extends too long? At least in the case of now former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, it would seem uncertainly weighs heavier than a long layoff.
“Look at the Georges St-Pierre situation,” says White. “I didn’t tell Georges, ‘listen, you’re going to give up that title.’ He gave up the title because he knows it’s the right thing to do. One of the biggest moments in Georges’ career, when everyone started to love him, is when he dropped down to his knees and said, ‘please give me that belt. I want it so bad.’ Well, there’s a whole roster of guys that feel that way. To put that belt on hold until he came back, it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
An apprehension towards interim titles seems understandable, given their recent history in the UFC. For a period from February to November 2012, the promotion employed two such champions in Carlos Condit and Renan Barão, neither enjoying the status of top dog, while suddenly becoming the hunted. While St-Pierre put an end to Condit’s waiting at UFC 154 by regaining his welterweight title, Barão will have waited 18 months for his opportunity as Dominick Cruz returns to defend his bantamweight crown.
Overall I think that the UFC is happy with how the night went. They had a title fight that wasn’t epic (especially when you compare it to last weeks main event), but certainly had a definitive and entertaining ending. They had their poster boy for the lighter weight classes come out in what was his most dominating performance in the UFC. And though the card was overall decision heavy, there were a number of entertaining bouts that kept the audience engaged.
Lets establish the most notable thing though. Demetrious Johnson should not be looked at as the underdog going into any fight for a very long time. His KO of Joseph Benavidez was about the most unexpected result of the match. Who knew that Johnson could KO someone who has never been stopped before? He established his place as one of the most dominant champions in the company and seems to be improving with every fight. That is a very scary thought for any challengers in the flyweight division. Or if you simply aren’t a fan of Johnson. I may be going out on a limb as I say this, but talks of him facing the bantamweight champion in a superfight wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility in the near future. He knows how to neutralize his weaknesses to the point that it is difficult to pinpoint what they might be. At this point, expect Johnson to be the champion for a long, long time.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
With UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and lightweight champion Anthony Pettis both shelved with injuries, UFC president Dana White says he isn’t interested in creating interim titles for their respective divisions.
“We know when Cain’s coming back. We know when Pettis is coming back,” White told media following UFC on FOX 9 Saturday evening. “We do those when we don’t know when somebody’s coming back or what’s going on.”
Velasquez underwent surgery Dec. 10 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder after waiting nearly three months without improvement. Advised to completely rest the repaired shoulder for six months, Velasquez isn’t expected to return until at least fall 2014. This isn’t the first time Cain has tried avoiding surgery. He tore his right rotator cuff in his 2010 bout with Brock Lesnar, waiting two months to have it surgically repaired. He returned to action against Junior dos Santos nearly 13 months removed from the injury, earning his only career loss.
With multiple oft-injured champions sidelined and one walking away indefinitely, should the UFC reconsider its stance? With the promotion recently instituting time limits for injured champions, does a deadline lose its essence if it extends too long? At least in the case of now former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, it would seem uncertainly weighs heavier than a long layoff.
“Look at the Georges St-Pierre situation,” says White. “I didn’t tell Georges, ‘listen, you’re going to give up that title.’ He gave up the title because he knows it’s the right thing to do. One of the biggest moments in Georges’ career, when everyone started to love him, is when he dropped down to his knees and said, ‘please give me that belt. I want it so bad.’ Well, there’s a whole roster of guys that feel that way. To put that belt on hold until he came back, it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
An apprehension towards interim titles seems understandable, given their recent history in the UFC. For a period from February to November 2012, the promotion employed two such champions in Carlos Condit and Renan Barão, neither enjoying the status of top dog, while suddenly becoming the hunted. While St-Pierre put an end to Condit’s waiting at UFC 154 by regaining his welterweight title, Barão will have waited 18 months for his opportunity as Dominick Cruz returns to defend his bantamweight crown.
Overall I think that the UFC is happy with how the night went. They had a title fight that wasn’t epic (especially when you compare it to last weeks main event), but certainly had a definitive and entertaining ending. They had their poster boy for the lighter weight classes come out in what was his most dominating performance in the UFC. And though the card was overall decision heavy, there were a number of entertaining bouts that kept the audience engaged.
Lets establish the most notable thing though. Demetrious Johnson should not be looked at as the underdog going into any fight for a very long time. His KO of Joseph Benavidez was about the most unexpected result of the match. Who knew that Johnson could KO someone who has never been stopped before? He established his place as one of the most dominant champions in the company and seems to be improving with every fight. That is a very scary thought for any challengers in the flyweight division. Or if you simply aren’t a fan of Johnson. I may be going out on a limb as I say this, but talks of him facing the bantamweight champion in a superfight wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility in the near future. He knows how to neutralize his weaknesses to the point that it is difficult to pinpoint what they might be. At this point, expect Johnson to be the champion for a long, long time.
New UFC strawweight Bec Hyatt has never been one to shy away from the spotlight. In just over two years of fighting as a professional (5-3 overall), Hyatt has cultivated one of the more loyal, rabid fanbases in women’s MMA. Speaking with SiriusXM Fight Club Thursday, Hyatt admits that sex appeal plays a large role in gaining exposure in women’s MMA, but believes the same could be said of every other sport.
“I think it plays a big part in women’s MMA and any sport, really,” says Hyatt. “People try to think that it doesn’t but, really, we all judge people. We’re all looking at that one guy going, ‘he’s hot.’ So I think it does play a huge role. I try to let my fighting do the talking. I don’t like showing my butt and getting my boobs out and stuff like that. I do not sell myself like that, but I’m sure I’ve got a few fans because they like the way I look. I don’t know. Yea, I like to let the fighting do the talking but if people follow me because they like that I have tattoos or crazy hair then so be it. It doesn’t worry me why people follow me. As long as I stay true to myself. I always say I’ll never sell my soul. I’ll never do a naked shoot or anything like that, but each to their own.”
As one might expect, Hyatt is particularly excited about being introduced to larger audiences through ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’
“I welcome it. I love the exposure. As you know, they call me the marketing genius. I think it’s awesome. The exposure us girls are going to get is going to be amazing. Just like the 135ers. It’s really helped women’s MMA take off. There’s nothing bad that can come out of this. Nothing at all.”
While several UFC women’s bantamweights have stated an interest in coaching the series’ next installment, Hyatt wouldn’t mind training with a pair of the top flyweights.
“I think it’d be really cool to have men coaches. Just to change it up a bit. Like the last season was women coaches so give two guys a spot. I was thinking of Demetrius Johnson or someone like that, the little guys. Little midget for entertainment.”
GSP’s future.The UFC will hold a media call with both St-Pierre and Dana White Friday afternoon at 2:20 p.m. ET to cover “stuff that people want to hear” according to White.
11 strawweights extracted from Invicta for TUF in the summer, 5 more girls will be chosen by open try-outs, the 11 strawweights were given 32 thousand up front. Esparza got 40 thousand for being the Invicta Champ.
I have a plethora of copious, abundant, surplus thoughts for this news. And I don’t really know where to start so here goes.
First off, I wrote a couple hundred words about how I loved that TUF would get the girls maximum exposure, but also how I hated that it would be taped and not live. It was painful to write, so I’m just gonna sum it up.
I never followed the male TUF at all through any social media, so I never knew what was going to happen (it was like watching it live), but I had an added interest in the women this past season, seeing as I “cover” it and what not, so I was on Twitter, checking out what was being said. The girls and coaches (Mostly Miesha, since Ronda was filming) gave so much and there not exactly spoilers, but definitely “indication” of what was happening. I don’t wanna know it’s gonna be a great fight. I don’t wanna know it’s must-see. And when I see a girl promoting the hell out of her fight (Tweeting, doing interviews etc), i.e. Julianna Pena, I can’t help but think this girl ain’t losing. And this proved true. It took out the suspense and some unpredictability of many fights.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
New UFC strawweight Bec Hyatt has never been one to shy away from the spotlight. In just over two years of fighting as a professional (5-3 overall), Hyatt has cultivated one of the more loyal, rabid fanbases in women’s MMA. Speaking with SiriusXM Fight Club Thursday, Hyatt admits that sex appeal plays a large role in gaining exposure in women’s MMA, but believes the same could be said of every other sport.
“I think it plays a big part in women’s MMA and any sport, really,” says Hyatt. “People try to think that it doesn’t but, really, we all judge people. We’re all looking at that one guy going, ‘he’s hot.’ So I think it does play a huge role. I try to let my fighting do the talking. I don’t like showing my butt and getting my boobs out and stuff like that. I do not sell myself like that, but I’m sure I’ve got a few fans because they like the way I look. I don’t know. Yea, I like to let the fighting do the talking but if people follow me because they like that I have tattoos or crazy hair then so be it. It doesn’t worry me why people follow me. As long as I stay true to myself. I always say I’ll never sell my soul. I’ll never do a naked shoot or anything like that, but each to their own.”
As one might expect, Hyatt is particularly excited about being introduced to larger audiences through ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’
“I welcome it. I love the exposure. As you know, they call me the marketing genius. I think it’s awesome. The exposure us girls are going to get is going to be amazing. Just like the 135ers. It’s really helped women’s MMA take off. There’s nothing bad that can come out of this. Nothing at all.”
While several UFC women’s bantamweights have stated an interest in coaching the series’ next installment, Hyatt wouldn’t mind training with a pair of the top flyweights.
“I think it’d be really cool to have men coaches. Just to change it up a bit. Like the last season was women coaches so give two guys a spot. I was thinking of Demetrius Johnson or someone like that, the little guys. Little midget for entertainment.”
GSP’s future.The UFC will hold a media call with both St-Pierre and Dana White Friday afternoon at 2:20 p.m. ET to cover “stuff that people want to hear” according to White.
11 strawweights extracted from Invicta for TUF in the summer, 5 more girls will be chosen by open try-outs, the 11 strawweights were given 32 thousand up front. Esparza got 40 thousand for being the Invicta Champ.
I have a plethora of copious, abundant, surplus thoughts for this news. And I don’t really know where to start so here goes.
First off, I wrote a couple hundred words about how I loved that TUF would get the girls maximum exposure, but also how I hated that it would be taped and not live. It was painful to write, so I’m just gonna sum it up.
I never followed the male TUF at all through any social media, so I never knew what was going to happen (it was like watching it live), but I had an added interest in the women this past season, seeing as I “cover” it and what not, so I was on Twitter, checking out what was being said. The girls and coaches (Mostly Miesha, since Ronda was filming) gave so much and there not exactly spoilers, but definitely “indication” of what was happening. I don’t wanna know it’s gonna be a great fight. I don’t wanna know it’s must-see. And when I see a girl promoting the hell out of her fight (Tweeting, doing interviews etc), i.e. Julianna Pena, I can’t help but think this girl ain’t losing. And this proved true. It took out the suspense and some unpredictability of many fights.
