At 32 years old, it might be a little late for Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to make a run in the loaded UFC welterweight division.
But don’t tell him that.
The kickboxing phenom exhibits growth and evolution every time he steps into the cag…
At 32 years old, it might be a little late for Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to make a run in the loaded UFC welterweight division.
But don’t tell him that.
The kickboxing phenom exhibits growth and evolution every time he steps into the cage, and he’s earned a five-fight winning streak for his efforts.
His most recent win—a masterful knockout of Jake Ellenberger at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale Sunday in Las Vegas—was far and away his biggest and best victory yet.
Let’s make a check list.
Top-10 opponent? Check. Ellenberger was ranked No. 9 before this fight. Thompson’s winning streak was impressive heading into The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, but nobody on his hit list stacks up to Ellenberger in all-around skills and accomplishments.
Battled adversity? Check. Ellenberger, famously dangerous in a fight’s early going, starched Thompson with a shot from Hades, dropping his foe to the canvas and initiating a mad scramble for the finish. Thompson survived, reversed position and took control from there.
Grappling improvements? Check plus. After getting dropped, Thompson actually scored a takedown on Ellenberger, a man who has an 85 percent career-takedown defense rate. From there, he passed Ellenberger’s guard once as well. That’s a big step forward for Wonderboy.
X-factor? Check. Thompson’s striking—particularly, his kicking game—continues to spell doom for opponents inside the Octagon. A lifelong martial artist, Thompson’s skills in the stand-up department are simply more developed and more polished than other fighters’. That’s a problem for future foes.
Not bad, right? Even UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman agrees. He told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani that Thompson is a “serious problem” for the entire 170-pound division. Sure, there’s a little bias there, as the two train together and hang out beyond the mats, but Weidman is brilliant with his understanding of the fight game.
His head coach, Ray Longo, told Bleacher Report’s Duane Finley, “He’s (Weidman’s) got a fighting IQ that’s off the charts. If they had Mensa for fighters, he’s in Mensa. He’s a genius, man.”
So needless to say, Weidman gets it, and his opinion carries some weight. Thompson is indeed a problem for anybody with his stand-up skills and ever-evolving grappling attack.
In his second fight in the UFC, Thompson was defeated by current top-five welterweight Matt Brown, largely because he could not defend the takedown or do anything off his back. Now, he’s taking down lifelong wrestlers himself.
That’s impressive.
Fun fights aplenty await Thompson now that he’s proven his worth as a surefire top-15 UFC welterweight. The likes of Gunnar Nelson and Neil Magny feed near the bottom end of this upper tier, and farther up we have Carlos Condit, Tarec Saffiedine and maybe even a rematch with Brown.
Literally any of those fights is worth watching.
But I have to say, I worry about Thompson’s chances once we start talking about the Condits and the Browns at 170.
Yes, Thompson’s win Sunday was impressive. The finish was a work of art, artist’s signature stamped in blood.
Ellenberger, though, hasn’t been himself lately. It must be said. He’s been taken down in each of his last three fights, and he’s 1-2 during that stretch. Prior to that, he hadn’t been taken down since 2009, a stretch of 11 fights, largely contested against the division’s elite.
I have a feeling this Thompson vs. Ellenberger matchup says more about the latter fighter than it does about the former, and that’s a little sad. Thompson’s knockout deserves praise, but it also might be the signal of dark times a-comin’ for Ellenberger.
Like Rashad Evans’ knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 88, we’ll remember the finish itself, but we’ll also remember how that was the day one man’s fighting spirit died.
As Evans showed, though, that’s not a terrible thing for one party involved. He went on to capture the light heavyweight title in his next outing.
Thompson isn’t Evans, and the welterweight division today isn’t the light heavyweight division circa 2008. Wonderboy will continue to put on fun, engaging fights, and he’s can’t-miss television at this point in his career, but I just don’t see him overcoming the razor-sharp fight games of the division’s upper tier.
Expect him to linger in the top-15 and perhaps even the top-10, but I think the train stops there.
For a fighter who got a late start in this little thing called MMA, that’s something special. It’s not a slight to say he won’t hoist gold.
With unsettled dust still floating around our ears and noses in the wake of Conor McGregor’s UFC 189 victory over Chad Mendes, we already look toward the Irish fighter’s future.
We’re anticipating his next step—a showdown with UFC featherwe…
With unsettled dust still floating around our ears and noses in the wake of ConorMcGregor‘s UFC 189 victory over Chad Mendes, we already look toward the Irish fighter’s future.
We’re anticipating his next step—a showdown with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, the fight he was originally scheduled for Saturday evening.
McGregor, now the interim UFC featherweight champ of the world, provides an obvious matchup for Aldo’s return. They’ve already hyped the fight and sparked a feud, and the unification of titles is a no-brainer from a business standpoint.
If you ask former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger ChaelSonnen, however, a McGregor vs. Aldo showdown isn’t so obvious.
In fact, it’s not happening next at all.
When asked when McGregor vs. Aldo would go down on an episode of SportsCenter which aired immediately after the UFC 189 main event, Sonnen provided a shocking response.
“I think this is a question that our president, Dana White, should answer and will very soon, but I’m going to go ahead and answer it for you anyway: That fight’s not going to happen,” Sonnen said. “It’s either going to be Urijah Faber or it is going to be Frankie Edgar. One of these two guys, in my prediction, will probably likely go through The Ultimate Fighter television series and then go into a fight with him (McGregor).”
That came out of nowhere.
According to Sonnen, the recent tussle between McGregor and Faber before the UFC 189 weigh-ins might get a sequel, this time inside the UFC Octagon. While that remains a possibility, Sonnen took it a step further, saying a McGregor vs. Edgar fight makes perhaps more sense for one key reason.
Sonnen added that “the UFC put out a pre-packaged promo immediately following the fight for Frankie Edgar, which leads me to believe—and he (Edgar) has kept his mouth very shut after being overlooked on this—I believe he’s got a backdoor deal, and his (McGregor’s) next opponent is Frankie Edgar.
“But I know the next opponent is not Jose Aldo. You can’t count on it (happening).”
On top of this, Edgar greeted McGregor inside the cage following Notorious’ UFC 189 victory, shaking hands with the night’s big winner and appearing to congratulate him.
After watching Mendes find success with his wrestling but ultimately succumb to McGregor‘s striking prowess, a fight with Edgar is intriguing. The former UFC lightweight champion has a limitless gas tank, incredible footwork and solid all-around skills built upon a wrestling base.
Mendes was a problem for McGregor in one department, but Edgar might pose a threat everywhere.
Still, it’s hard to imagine the UFC passing on the chance to set up Aldo vs. McGregor again. That fight was massively hyped and anticipated, and it feels like it must happen now.
If Sonnen‘s words are true, though, it’s not going down. Not any time soon, at least.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as news of McGregor‘s next opponent continues to develop.
UFC 189 is here.
It’s finally here.
After months of waiting patiently, anticipation mounting, UFC featherweight Conor McGregor steps back inside the eight-walled cage Saturday evening to take on his toughest challenge to date, former 145-po…
After months of waiting patiently, anticipation mounting, UFC featherweight ConorMcGregor steps back inside the eight-walled cage Saturday evening to take on his toughest challenge to date, former 145-pound title contender Chad “Money” Mendes.
While McGregor received the majority of the press and attention leading up to this fight card, the event is stacked from top to bottom.
Besides the Ireland vs. USA showdown for the interim featherweight title at the top of the card, the UFC welterweight strap is on the line at UFC 189, as champion Robbie Lawler faces challenger Rory MacDonald in a rematch of their UFC 167 affair in 2013 (which Lawler won via decision).
The card also showcases up-and-coming bantamweights Thomas Almeida and Cody Garbrandt and a fight that promises ultra-violence in Tim Means vs. Matt Brown.
You don’t want to miss this one.
Check back here at 10 p.m. ET for a live blog of all the action on the pay-per-view portion of this card as well as quick results from the night’s earlier action.
The full card from Las Vegas is as follows:
UFC 189 Main Card (PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
ConorMcGregor vs. Chad Mendes (for the interim UFC featherweight championship)
Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald (for the UFC welterweight championship)
Conor McGregor is confident ahead of his UFC 189 matchup against Chad Mendes on Saturday, July 11.
Confident to the tune of $3 million, in fact.
According to UFC President Dana White, McGregor made a bet with the promotion’s top executives,…
ConorMcGregor is confident ahead of his UFC 189 matchup against Chad Mendes on Saturday, July 11.
Confident to the tune of $3 million, in fact.
According to UFC President Dana White, McGregor made a bet with the promotion’s top executives, offering to put down $3 million on himself.
MMAFighting.com reporter Ariel Helwani relayed the quote via Twitter, which White dropped on a recent airing of The Jim Rome Show.
Before Mendes, however, McGregor has another opponent to battle: his weight.
A recent report from LowKickMMA.com revealed that McGregor will need to drop around 27 pounds before weighing in Friday before the fight. Some people spend years trying to lose that amount of weight, and McGregor will attempt to do the deed in around two weeks (and counting down).
The effects of this brutal weight cut are already visible, as indicated by a recent Instagram post from the Irish sensation.
McGregor certainly doesn’t look happy (and understandably so), but his confidence is fully intact if White’s words are true.
While betting with your bosses on a fight is perhaps unprofessional, there’s no doubt McGregor is dead serious about his prediction.
What do you think? Should McGregor lay down the cash, or would betting against Mendes send him toward bankruptcy?
Brian Stann’s list of accomplishments impresses even the harshest critics.
From his well-documented military career to his run as the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) light heavyweight champion to his stint as a successful UFC light heavyweight a…
Brian Stann’s list of accomplishments impresses even the harshest critics.
From his well-documented military career to his run as the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) light heavyweight champion to his stint as a successful UFC light heavyweight and middleweight to his current gig with the UFC and Fox Sports, Stann has excelled everywhere he went in his professional life.
Now, as he moves away from his fighting life and settles into his roles as analyst and commentator, Stann continues to immerse himself in the sport of MMA. Instead of getting kicked and punched, however, his challenges today are more mental than physical, giving him a well-rounded and unique perspective on the fight game as a whole.
Recently, Bleacher Report caught up with Stann to gain some of his insight and to hear his thoughts on the upcoming UFC Fight Night 70 card from Hollywood, Florida.
Throughout the half-hour chat, Stann shed light on the principle motivating factor for fighters, the cause of Octagon jitters, the UFC Fight Night 70 main event between Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero and much more.
Following is a transcript from the chat.
Bleacher Report: Hey, Brian, how is everything going, man?
Brian Stann: Hey, man, everything’s good. How are you?
B/R: I’m just wonderful. Thanks for asking. So you’re working as an analyst for this upcoming UFC Fight Night 70 card in Florida, and you’ve been involved with the UFC in several capacities since stepping down as a fighter, and I have to know…Does it give you the itch? How much different is it for you now stepping back and analyzing or commentating fights versus being directly involved in the fighting?
BS: Yeah, you know, the first year was really tough, especially when I’m at the live events. You get to be there, you get to hear it, you get to see guys walking out. That first year, there was part of me that didn’t really think I was done. I thought, OK, the things I’m discouraged with in this sport will get taken care of and maybe I’ll come back.
But the smarter side of me reminded me I made the right decision, and now I feel like I’m very fortunate to be able to do these things, to be involved with this sport. I love this sport, I love breaking it down, and more than anything I do on television, I really, really love calling live fights. I’ve done boxing, I’ve done college football and I’ve turned down a college football offer to call more fights. That’s how much I love it.
B/R: I’ve never called a fight like you do, but sometimes writers have to do a live blog where we “call” the action, and when I do that, I find that I don’t enjoy the fights as much. I’m so consumed by getting the details right and focusing on the finer points of the fight that I can’t step back and enjoy it for what it is. Do you find that to be true in your capacity as a commentator as well?
BS: Sometimes I have felt that way. I think the better I’m prepared, the less I get those feelings. I enjoy the concept of breaking down what’s happening and why for fans at home so that hopefully they can appreciate the sport more and they can appreciate the two athletes that are in there more. That’s my ultimate goal when I do it.
The parts that are not enjoyable live are that you’re never going to make everyone happy. It’s one of those positions where you just have to get used to a ton of criticism. You’re just going to receive it, and when it comes in the form of constructive criticism, I love it, because I can learn from it and improve.
When it’s the emotional ridiculousness that we see in the sea of insecurity that is Twitter, then obviously it’s just one of those things. It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t stop my desire or my love to call fights.
B/R: And to your credit and to Jon Anik’s credit, I think you’re one of the more loved broadcasting duos among fans from what I read and what I pick up on. You get a lot of love comparatively, and, while you made that transition from fighting to broadcasting seem pretty easy, I have a strong feeling there’s more to it than just the finished product we see. What were some difficulties you faced when you first went from fighter to broadcaster?
BS: There’s a way of preparing for those things that you’ve just never done before. There’s no class on it, there’s no book you can buy on what needs done. You have to go out and find people yourself who will take the time to talk to you about it and show you what needs to happen. I had some of those people, but I will say: The first year I did college football, I would literally call a game, and over the course of the next 24 hours, I would get critiqued by four different producers.
They would have individual calls with me and tell me this, this, this, X, Y and Z. It got to a point where I would get texts from one of the producers during the game if there was something he didn’t like. Through that process, I learned a tremendous amount about what my job is as a color analyst, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.
It was like going through a boot camp, and that’s when I realized the type of preparation it takes to do this job right and ultimately do it the way the athletes deserve. Because it’s about them. My job when I go out there is to represent them, get them as many fans as possible. They’re the stars of the show. It’s not about the UFC. It’s about these individual fighters—who they are, what’s their story, what’s compelling about their technique, what have they been working on, where are they failing, etc. All of those things keep people tuning in and wanting to watch those men and women fight.
I love being an ambassador for that, because I know how difficult the line of work is and the feeling of euphoria you get when you get your hand raised in the Octagon when you win.
B/R: How different are the roles themselves—on the mic, on the desk as an analyst—and how different is the preparation that goes into them?
BS: Oh, they’re totally different. When you call a fight, it’s massively more preparation. There’s no sporting event like mixed martial arts. When you call a football game, that’s a game that lasts about four hours. There’s halftime, there’s breaks in quarters, there’s commercial breaks, there’s food, you’re in a booth with all this stuff, I’ve got statisticians, I’ve got a spotter and a play-by-play person…This is fighting.
I’ve called cards that are seven hours, and you’re getting to the tail end of that, and those are the most important fights. You could be a little tired of talking. Maybe you said your little catchphrases 100 times already. It’s a totally different event.
When you do these desk shifts in the studio, I mean, in my opinion it’s the biggest scam in the world. It’s the easiest job I’ve ever had. You have 100 people there to help you be comfortable so you can do your job successfully. You’re in great air conditioning, there’s great people, there’s great food and drinks…I feel like the biggest chump in the world when I do these studio shows.
What I used to do for a living, you know, my concerns were ammo [and] how many grenades do I have? Now I’m worried about, ‘Oh, no! We have a tie clip. Where are my cuff links?’ I feel like a chump. *laughs*
B/R: That’s awesome, man. Just for some perspective on that, can you put a timeline on this preparation? When do you start preparing and how long does it take for you to get comfortable to call a card?
BS: I like to start two weeks in advance. That’s when I like to do it, and that doesn’t count the natural watching of all the fights that take place and the daily readings of MMA news sites. I’m not counting that. I would say you’re looking at no less than 15 hours of work per card. Fifteen solid hours of analysis, note taking, etc.
I will admit to over-preparing on some cards. Typically what I’ll do, when I put my daughters to bed around 8:30 at night, 9:00, that’s when I kind of go in the zone where I’m doing a lot of analysis…Me and Jon Anik, I know we’ll put in, easily an eight- to 10-hour day on Friday [before the fights] just finalization of our notes, talking about the fighters, stuff like that.
B/R: I think the preparation shows in your execution, but to build on that perspective another step, being a former fighter, you know what goes into that as well with training camps, dieting and everything else. This is obviously more mental than physical, but is it even a similar challenge? Does this even compare as far as how grueling it is overall?
BS: No, it’s totally different. When you’re a fighter, it’s incredible. The nicest thing about being retired is that you no longer have this portion of your mind that is solely and consistently dedicated to one aspect. I didn’t do a good job of illustrating that just now, but when I had a fight coming up, there’s a part of my brain that is always thinking about my opponent.
Even after I’m done training Saturday morning and now I can enjoy the rest of my Saturday and my Sunday off, I’m still going, ‘Wanderlei Silva. Wanderlei Silva. Wanderlei Silva.’ That’s going to be there.
In just a couple months or a couple weeks, you’re on national TV, and everyone you know will be watching. You get half the money if you lose and twice the money if you win. You’re fighting. So even when you’re supposed to be enjoying your life, it’s really difficult.
Then, when the fight’s over, you have this really small window where you can enjoy your life. I can do what I want. My mind is free. But then you get the call and you’re scheduled for another one, and you go right back in.
That’s difficult. And you don’t have that when you’re calling fights. This is much easier.
B/R: As the UFC roster continues to grow and expand, how much harder does that make your job? From firsthand experience, I know it gets tough, but how much harder is it when you have to know the ins and outs and then announce them on television?
BS: Ugh! I will say it’s way easier for me than it is for you. Because I get to work on certainty. I know today I’m talking about fighters on this card. If I don’t know about them, that’s my fault. I just didn’t do the right work. So it’s a lot easier for me than it is for you.
If I was doing an area radio show, it would be incredibly difficult, but I will tell you, Fight Pass is phenomenal to have. A lot of these guys on lower-level shows are making sure their fights are on YouTube, so when I need to research an individual, there are very few that I have a hard time finding some sort of information on or a way to find it.
The hardest part about it is the language barrier. When I have a fighter from Dagestan and I’m trying to talk to him or talk to his coach, now I have to talk to three different people and perhaps three different languages to talk to him. That’s really difficult.
B/R: I appreciate the insight there, and I definitely see where you’re coming from, but we have to keep this chugging along and talk about this fight card itself. We have a top-notch main event on Saturday, but you look at the rest of the card, and it leaves a little to be desired, even for hardcore fans.
What are you seeing, as an analyst, when you look at it from top to bottom?
BS: I see opportunity. I see opportunities for some guys like Lorenz Larkin and Hacran Dias. We have such a good main event that the card will still draw eyeballs, and they have to go get it. You have to go after it in this sport. No one will be a bigger advocate for you as a fighter than yourself, so this is an opportunity for some of these guys to break out a little bit.
Sometimes in this sport it’s not about the name value of a fight but the effort of the athletes. When you get guys who are letting it all hang loose and they’re getting after it, there’s no other sport like it. When you get a bunch of guys who have something to prove, that can manifest itself, and hopefully it does.
B/R: I definitely agree with you there that sometimes these cards end up being the best in application. On top of the fact that a lot of these guys get to be showcased on a national scale on television, there are quite a few fighters making their UFC debut on this card, which is a whole different layer in and of itself.
What will these debutants be feeling Saturday evening?
BS: Their nerves will be totally different, and I always say this: You rarely see the true skill set and abilities of a fighter in their UFC debut. It doesn’t matter even if they’ve fought for a long time. We’ve seen some guys from Strikeforce who stalled for a little bit then caught fire. We’ve seen it with fighters from over in Japan.
It’s a different level. It’s a different stage. It’s the best talent, and that plays a factor when they go in there. They focus so much on winning that they protect their lead on the scorecards, or other times they’re so focused on making a statement that they get overly aggressive and get caught.
Mistakes happen, and I think controlling your emotions and maintaining your composure are such important aspects for people making their debut, but it is much, much easier said than done.
B/R: Like you said, we see it time and time again, and being that you have firsthand experience here, what is it about the UFC that just causes fighters to freeze? What really causes those “Octagon jitters”?
BS: There are a lot of factors I could answer this question with, but it all funnels into one real answer: money. That’s it. This is the opportunity to make much more money than you’re going to make in any other show, and we fight on a 50 percent pay scale where if you win, you get twice the amount of money than if you lose. Nothing will give you more pressure than that.
The bottom line is, this is where guys come and they can make some real money, and that puts more pressure on them. When your pay is $25,000[to show]/$25,000[to win] or $50,000/$50,000, a win or loss with that kind of money can be the difference between paying your rent or mortgage for months.
When you lose, you can’t do all the things you want to do.
B/R: On top of that, the natural competitor in you just wants to win.
BS: Of course! Of course. But that’s something you’ll have in any organization. That’s just being a competitor. The reason the UFC is different is that all of a sudden there’s potential for much, much more.
If you’re fighting at Wild Bill’s Fight Night here in Atlanta and you’re fighting for $2,000 and $2,000—which is rare—you’re having a great night. You just don’t have the same kind of nerves fighting for $2,000 and $2,000 as you do when you’re making $10,000 and $10,000 but knowing there are fighters out there like Gilbert Melendez who make $200,000 just to show.
B/R: It’s surprising in retrospect, but you were actually one of the fighters who maybe succumbed to those pressures a little and came up short in his debut. You obviously had a long, prosperous career with the UFC still, but how did that loss affect you? How could things have been different for you if you started on a win?
BS: At that point in time, when I lost, I contemplated retirement right then and there. I knew how green I was. I knew I was starting in this sport late. I wasn’t making a whole lot of money, I had a full-time job already, I had a degree…What the hell was I doing?
The problem was, I was so competitive and I loved the sport and I knew I was capable of doing it. I just had to put in more time. Not every fighter has some of the benefits that I had. I had a lot of perspective and a lot of maturation coming in, but you can’t expect that from all these guys.
So that could have been where they cashed in and said, ‘No, I don’t want to do it anymore.’ Or it could have damaged their confidence permanently, which we’ve seen before. We’ve seen guys come in with a lot of hype, a lot of potential, and they fizzle out because they can never get that confidence back.
B/R: Absolutely, and now moving on to this main event, there are so many storylines with this one that it’s almost tough to decide where to start, but I’ll go here: Is this the right fight for Machida right now, at this stage in his career?
BS: I respect Lyoto Machida so much. He’s a true, all-class individual, and if I’m his manager? No, it’s not. If I’m the guy trying to manage his career, then no. But these guys are fighters. You can’t get that out of their blood. When the matchup against Yoel Romero was announced, when I got the call, I just couldn’t believe it, but fights like this are more exciting. That’s what’s special, and that’s why we love this sport.
So I wouldn’t want him taking that fight, specifically because of the turnaround. When you take that kind of damage, when you’re hurt so badly [as Machida was against Luke Rockhold at UFC on Fox 15], it takes longer to recover. He’s in the gym getting hit every single day, still taking cumulative shots that can degrade his ability to take damage going into a fight against a powerhouse like Romero.
The thing that he’s got to his advantage is that Romero—he fought Ronny Markes, he fought Tim Kennedy and there were these lapses. There were these times where they capitalized.
Tim Kennedy—in a different arena with a different referee—who knows? He could’ve won. That was a crazy situation. So I think Machida looks at this and sees a guy with mental lapses who loses focus sometimes, and if you lose focus against Machida, you pay a price.
B/R: And when I look at Romero, specifically, and this is just my personal take: His wrestling hasn’t looked as good as you expect it to with his accolades. He’s never broken out and just looked like this dominant, all-world wrestler inside the Octagon, but this could be the fight where he goes that route. Do you see this as his path to victory—going back to his roots and employing a wrestling-heavy attack against Machida?
BS: He has to. He’s capable of taking guys down with very little effort, and I don’t care who it is. When you talk to guys in the wrestling community at a world level about Yoel Romero, their eyes light up. He’s a legitimate world-class athlete, possibly the best athlete to ever compete in the UFC.
I’ve talked to people who have the credibility to make that kind of comment. But if you play Machida’s game and dance with him, you will pay. You may not get knocked out. You may not get submitted. But you’re surely not going to do a lot of damage to him, and it’s going to be one of those really close Machida-esque decisions again.
Romero’s gotta take Machida down multiple times. If he can control him—which isn’t an easy thing to do—then do it. And the wrestling can open up the striking of Romero. His striking isn’t at the level of Machida’s, but he’s powerful even though he’s lacking a little of the technique. So his wrestling is really the X-factor in this fight.
B/R: For Romero, if he beats Machida, that’s the biggest win of his UFC run by far. Would it be too soon for a title shot? Where would a win over the former light heavyweight champion put him?
BS: I certainly don’t think it’s too soon. You look at him and Chris Weidman, and that’s a really, really fun matchup to watch. I don’t think it’s too soon, it’s just that you have a guy like [Ronaldo] Jacare [Souza] out there, so Romero will either have to hope he gets the next shot or that he can catch Jacare and fight Jacare in a fight that’s scheduled before and jump the line.
I think, at his age, he has to keep the pedal to the metal. He came into the UFC as such a dominant athlete, so skilled in different areas, that I think he knows he wants a fast track to the title. Really, I think that path, now that we know Rockhold is fighting Weidman, I think that path goes through Jacare.
B/R: Brian, I really appreciate the time and insight, man. I’m really looking forward to this card, and I appreciate your thoughts on it.
BS: Hey, my pleasure, man. I had a blast talking to you, buddy.
Fighters who are participating on the Bellator 138 fight card will weigh in Thursday night at 6 p.m. ET at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Tune in here for live updates as the fighters step on the scale.
Bellator 138 goes down Friday, f…
Fighters who are participating on the Bellator 138 fight card will weigh in Thursday night at 6 p.m. ET at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Tune in here for live updates as the fighters step on the scale.
Bellator 138 goes down Friday, featuring a main event between heavyweights Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock. In addition, the card will showcase Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire as he takes on Daniel Weichel in an attempt to defend his strap for a second time.
Also on the card is former Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler, who is in desperate need of a victory. He’s lost three straight inside the cage—two to current 155-pound champ Will Brooks.
If Chandler hopes to reinsert himself into the title discussion, he needs a big win Friday in St. Louis over Derek Campos.
Per MMAJunkie.com, here is the full Bellator 138 fight card with the weigh-in results. Check back at 6 p.m. ET for updates.
Main card (Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET)
Kimbo Slice () vs. Ken Shamrock ()
(C) Patricio “Pitbull” Freire () vs. Daniel Weichel ()*for featherweight title
At 32 years old, it might be a little late for Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to make a run in the loaded UFC welterweight division.