Author: J.Jones

The Worst Fight of 2015, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Konstantin Erokhin, Somehow Just Got Worse


(via Getty)

In our recap of the best, worst, and most insane moments that MMA had to offer in 2015, we bestowed the Potato Award for “Worst Fight of the Year” to Gabriel Gonzaga and Konstantin Erokhin’s scrap (if you could call it that) at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, writing:

For three endless, slogging rounds, Gonzaga and Erokhin circled, stared, circled, and stared at each other, seemingly too scared to engage while the 1,800 people in attendance showered (or perhaps sprinkled, considering how few of them there were) them with boos.

By the time the abysmal contest had wrapped up, the pair of heavyweights had combined for just 35 significant strikes in total, with Gonzaga’s 20 strikes (and 2 takedowns!) earning him the victory.

Truthfully, we cannot even begin to imagine how a fight could possibly be worse than the Gonzaga vs. Erokhin already was, but somehow, someway, recent developments have allowed us to downgrade it from “piss-poor” to “the absolute nadir of professional mixed martial arts.”

Details after the jump. 

The post The Worst Fight of 2015, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Konstantin Erokhin, Somehow Just Got Worse appeared first on Cagepotato.


(via Getty)

In our recap of the best, worst, and most insane moments that MMA had to offer in 2015, we bestowed the Potato Award for “Worst Fight of the Year” to Gabriel Gonzaga and Konstantin Erokhin’s scrap (if you could call it that) at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, writing:

For three endless, slogging rounds, Gonzaga and Erokhin circled, stared, circled, and stared at each other, seemingly too scared to engage while the 1,800 people in attendance showered (or perhaps sprinkled, considering how few of them there were) them with boos.

By the time the abysmal contest had wrapped up, the pair of heavyweights had combined for just 35 significant strikes in total, with Gonzaga’s 20 strikes (and 2 takedowns!) earning him the victory.

Truthfully, we cannot even begin to imagine how a fight could possibly be worse than the Gonzaga vs. Erokhin already was, but somehow, someway, recent developments have allowed us to downgrade it from “piss-poor” to “the absolute nadir of professional mixed martial arts.”

Details after the jump. 

That’s because Erokhin, as it turns out, was on performance enhancing drugs during the contest. To steal a line from BloodyElbow’s Zane Simon, “I suppose it makes you wonder what aspect of the performance was ‘enhanced.’” MMAFighting has the deets:

Now, Erokhin’s drug test from the TUF Finale has come back positive. Erokhin popped for the anabolic steroid drostanolone in a pre-fight, in-competition test, according to documents obtained by MMA Fighting through a public records request with the Nevada Athletic Commission. 

The Russian, who was removed from the UFC’s roster following the loss (his second straight since entering the promotion), will now be looking at a 9-month suspension from competition, at the minimum, as well as a fine that will almost surely negate whatever he received for the fight in the first place.

So in total, we have a terrible fight, a meaningless win, and another entry in our steroid bust timeline. What a shitshow.

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Ben Rothwell vs. Junior Dos Santos Booked For Fight Night 86 in Croatia


(No no no, Ben. You’re supposed to kick dirt *in* your opponent’s face, you silly goose. via Getty)

Ben Rothwell has been enjoying quite the little career resurgence in recent years. After starting his UFC career off a mediocre 2-2, “Big Ben” has been running roughshod over every heavyweight he’s faced in the past three years. Even more impressive than the wins themselves has been the ways in which Rothwell has been finishing his opponents, which include a knockout win over former K1 champion Alistair Overeem and most recently, a submission of the previously unsubmittable Josh Barnett at UFC on FOX 18.

What Rothwell has yet to capture, however, is that one big win that immediately places him in the title picture — a Johny Hendricks to his Wonderboy Thompson, if you will. With the heavyweight division being thrown into a constant state of chaos thanks to Cain Velasquez, the Wisconsinan’s options were limited to essentially two fighters: Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos.

As it just so happens, Rothwell was booked against one of those two guys late last night, so if you’re not the type of person who reads headlines, head after the jump to find out which.

The post Ben Rothwell vs. Junior Dos Santos Booked For Fight Night 86 in Croatia appeared first on Cagepotato.


(No no no, Ben. You’re supposed to kick dirt *in* your opponent’s face, you silly goose.via Getty)

Ben Rothwell has been enjoying quite the little career resurgence in recent years. After starting his UFC career off a mediocre 2-2, “Big Ben” has been running roughshod over every heavyweight he’s faced in the past three years. Even more impressive than the wins themselves has been the ways in which Rothwell has been finishing his opponents, which include a knockout win over former K1 champion Alistair Overeem and most recently, a submission of the previously unsubmittable Josh Barnett at UFC on FOX 18.

What Rothwell has yet to capture, however, is that one big win that immediately places him in the title picture — a Johny Hendricks to his Wonderboy Thompson, if you will. With the heavyweight division being thrown into a constant state of chaos thanks to Cain Velasquez, the Wisconsinan’s options were limited to essentially two fighters: Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos.

As it just so happens, Rothwell was booked against one of those two guys late last night, so if you’re not the type of person who reads headlines, head after the jump to find out which.

Unfortunately for Rothwell, Miocic is currently trapped in something of a title shot purgatory; the Cleveland native received a last-minute title shot against Werdum following Velasquez’s withdrawal from UFC 196 last month, only to have it ripped away from him when Werdum subsequently withdrew from the fight. Despite this, Miocic has been hinting at a potential fight with Werdum in May recently, dependent on how Velasquez recovers from his latest surgery.

So with Miocic off the table, a matchup with the former heavyweight champion was really all that was left for Rothwell, and for once, the UFC was able to give “Big Ben” exactly what he wanted. (via Rothwell’s Facebook):

Considering that Dos Santos is coming off a loss to Alistair Overeem, another recent victim of Rothwell’s, fans were quick to criticize this booking as “not making any sense.” Rothwell, on the other hand, was quick to dismiss these notions in an interview with MMAFighting.

“Look at it this way: waiting 10 months is really the [other] option,” said Rothwell. “No. Because, Alistair Overeem, even though we already fought, is a top guy. Top guys are top guys, and he’s injured or he’s dealing with things. He says it’s a shoulder. Andrei Arlovski, same thing. He said it’s a shoulder. Cain Velasquez, everybody knows. It’s documented. Cain, back injury.”

“Travis Browne was, I guess from everything I’m hearing, supposed to take this fight (against dos Santos). It was a lock. Then things were said, or something happened, and he said that his foot was too injured. So all four of the top guys [are out], and then the other two (Stipe Miocic and Fabricio Werdum), obviously common sense will say something is happening there. So, that leaves Junior.”

In a world where heavyweights are going down left and right, one cornfed, soft-shoeing sonofabitch stands alone, it would seem. On April 10th, the ultimate battle of good and evil will be held in Croatia, so start placing your bets, Nation.

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Jon Jones Just Cannot Stop Being an Idiot Behind the Wheel

Following Jon Jones‘ most recent traffic-related mishap — which saw “Bones” break a pregnant woman’s arm in a 3 car accident, flee the scene, get stripped of his belt, slapped with a 6-month suspension from the UFC and 18 months of probation — it seemed as if the troubled champion maybe, finally, had seen the err of […]

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Following Jon Jones‘ most recent traffic-related mishap — which saw “Bones” break a pregnant woman’s arm in a 3 car accident, flee the scene, get stripped of his belt, slapped with a 6-month suspension from the UFC and 18 months of probation — it seemed as if the troubled champion maybe, finally, had seen the err of his ways. He spoke with yoots about the dangers of…being a moron, I think, and attempted to explain himself in a lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani. He seemed remorseful…honest to God remorseful.

Or at least, that’s how it appeared. Cut to end of last month, when a clean and sober Jones still managed to find himself on the wrong end of the law do to, you guessed it, a vehicle-related offense.

Details after the jump.

Specifically, Jones was cited by a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Deputy for driving without a license, registration and insurance on Jan. 31. Albuquerque’s KRQE News 13 first broke the news late Sunday night, claiming that Jones would appear in traffic court on Wednesday.

Of course, with Jones’ return bout against Daniel Cormier having recently been made official, media members began to speculate whether or not his latest infraction would result in a violation of his aforementioned probation, once again landing “Bones” in hot water. Fortunately for Jones, it appears that it will not, as Jones’ rep told MMAJunkie that Jones was “fully licensed and insured.” Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa, followed up in an interview with The MMA Hour, stating that Jones’ violation was “not a big deal.”

Earlier today, Jones’ punishment was handed down for what has been labeled “failing to report police contact and tickets,” via MMAFighting. The punishment in question? Three days of community service.

Bernalillo County district attorney spokesperson Kayla Anderson, though, said that the DA would not pursue formal probation violation charges again Jones.

Anderson said that any sanctions on Jones would come from the Probation & Parole department, which falls under the New Mexico Corrections Department. That department did not seem Jones’ citations worthy of any additional punishment, adding the three community service days only because Jones failed to report his police contact and traffic tickets.

In case you’re wondering, the man himself doesn’t seem all that busted up about it. First, he took to Twitter to poke fun at us media types who might consider his repeated run-ins with the law “newsworthy.” You know, like a bunch of goofs.

Nest, he went on Instagram to further taunt us in an Allen Iverson-esque rant.

“I’m about to win a title in a few weeks and they’re talking about tickets.”

Let me stop you right there, Jon. On a surface level, you’re right, we’re probably devoting far too much thought to the fact that you were pulled over and cited for a minor (and common) infraction. What you seem to be misunderstanding, however, is that what seems to be driving this story is:

1) Your lengthy history of vehicle-related infractions
2) Your apparent lack of remorse for said infractions, and
3) Your complete inability to learn from them

You see, Jon, you’ve been establishing something of a pattern in recent years, which leads many of us to believe that it will only be a matter of time before you slip up again. For the sake of both yourself and the unknowing drivers you may harm during one of these slip-ups, we’d prefer to see you keep off the roads entirely, hence our concern when your name pops up in even the most minor of vehicle-related citations.

And look, I get it, we’re only covering your latest infraction to drive up (excuse the pun) hits on our websites, not because we actually care about the next person you might sideswipe. But at the same time, does Uber not exist in New Mexico? Lyft, maybe? Does a guy with as much money as you, and one with such a clear history of driving-related incidents, really need to drive everywhere he goes? It just seems like common sense at a certain point.

In any case, Jones’ rematch with light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will still go on as scheduled at UFC 197.

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Fight Night 82 Highlights/Results: Thompson Steamrolls Hendricks, Nelson Bests Rosholt, + More

So I guess it’s about time that we start taking Stephen Thompson seriously as a title contender, eh?

Matched up against former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks in the main of event of Saturday’s Fight Night 82, the general consensus seemed to be that “Wonderboy” would ultimately succumb to the wrestling prowess of “Bigg Rigg” as several more talented grapplers had before him. Of course, you can’t exactly outwrestle your opponent if you can’t touch him, and it appeared as if Stephen Thompson was fighting from the future.

Utilizing his trademark karate stance and a level of accuracy that rivaled Anderson Silva‘s UFC debut, Thompson not only tore through Hendricks, he did so almost effortlessly. He stuffed the former champ’s takedowns, beautifully managed his distance, and mixed up his attacks with almost machine-like precision, cracking one of the game’s most lauded chins in the process. Once you take away a man’s steakhouse, you take away his fire, I always say, and Hendricks looked like a man without fire on Saturday. The guy with a canon of a left hand just isn’t there anymore, it would seem, and a credit is due to “Wonderboy” for the ease with which he was able to nullify Hendricks.

Fight Night 82 also featured Roy Nelson’s return to the win column, a horrifically broken jaw, and an early contender for “Knockout of the Year,” so check out all the highlights and results after the jump.

The post Fight Night 82 Highlights/Results: Thompson Steamrolls Hendricks, Nelson Bests Rosholt, + More appeared first on Cagepotato.

So I guess it’s about time that we start taking Stephen Thompson seriously as a title contender, eh?

Matched up against former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks in the main of event of Saturday’s Fight Night 82, the general consensus seemed to be that “Wonderboy” would ultimately succumb to the wrestling prowess of “Bigg Rigg” as several more talented grapplers had before him. Of course, you can’t exactly outwrestle your opponent if you can’t touch him, and it appeared as if Stephen Thompson was fighting from the future.

Utilizing his trademark karate stance and a level of accuracy that rivaled Anderson Silva‘s UFC debut, Thompson not only tore through Hendricks, he did so almost effortlessly. He stuffed the former champ’s takedowns, beautifully managed his distance, and mixed up his attacks with almost machine-like precision, cracking one of the game’s most lauded chins in the process. Once you take away a man’s steakhouse, you take away his fire, I always say, and Hendricks looked like a man without fire on Saturday. The guy with a canon of a left hand just isn’t there anymore, it would seem, and a credit is due to “Wonderboy” for the ease with which he was able to nullify Hendricks.

Fight Night 82 also featured Roy Nelson’s return to the win column, a horrifically broken jaw, and an early contender for “Knockout of the Year,” so check out all the highlights and results after the jump.

In the evening’s co-main event, Roy Nelson defeated Jared Rosholt by unanimous decision. That is the most objectively positive thing you can say about the fight, as well as the only real thing you could take away from it. Roy Nelson continues to be Roy Nelson, in that his fights suck if he doesn’t land an overhand right in the first 7 or so minutes, and Jared Rosholt continues to be the least entertaining fighter in the division.

In fact, Nelson would prefer if we stopped referring to Rosholt as a “fighter” altogether, telling Megan Olivi that “I try to give the fans exactly what they (want). An explosion, a fun fight to watch. It’s just, I didn’t think he was going to run the whole time. I mean, Jared is a great athlete, but he’s not a fighter. And tonight I think I showed that to the UFC world, that he’s a great athlete, but man, when you’ve got a fight, you have to fight.”

Nelson went on to call Rosholt “a track star,” so let’s hope that Joe Silva does the right thing and books Rosholt vs. Starnes in the main event of an upcoming Fight Pass card. Put it in one of those weird Eastern European countries, like Estonia or Latvia — they’ll just be happy to be out of the house.

Over at Uproxx, I sometimes like to try my hand at the fight-picking game. I went 107-56-1 last year and am off to a rough 6-6 start this year thanks to Johny Hendricks and pretty much every undercard fight that happened at Fight Night 82. When making my predictions for the Misha Cirkunov vs. Alex Nicholson, however, I made the following observation:

It’s great that Nicholson made the most out of the weigh-ins for this event, because his octagon debut is going to be both incredibly brief and unmemorable, in that the only thing he will remember from it will be the ride to the hospital.

With that out there, I’d like to now apologize to Alex Nicholson for what in hindsight . Nicholson *will* be able to remember his UFC debut, he’ll be able to remember it well, because Alex Nicholson was not lucky enough to merely be separated from his conscious like most of Cirkunov’s past opponents. No, he had his jaw cranked until it broke.

While he was awake.

So again, my apologies Alex. Let’s hope that proving me wrong served as some solace to you…on your ride to the hospital.

The ease with which Cirkunov fractured his opponent’s jaw served as a doppelganger of sorts to the finish of Diego Rivas vs. Noad Lahat earlier in the night, in that the force with which Rivas flying knee’d Lahat should have broken his jaw in no less than 4 places. Was that too complicated a way of putting that? Who cares, just watch this already.

Main card
Stephen Thompson def. Johny Hendricks via first-round TKO (3:31)
Roy Nelson def. Jared Rosholt via unanimous decision
Ovince St. Preux def. Rafael Cavalcante via unanimous decision
Joseph Benavidez def. Zach Makovsky via unanimous decision
Misha Cirkunov def. Alex Nicholson via rear-naked choke (R2, 1:28)
Mike Pyle def. Sean Spencer via third-round TKO (4:25)

Undercard
Josh Burkman def. K.J. Noons via unanimous decision
Derrick Lewis def. Damian Grabowski via first-round TKO (2:17)
Justin Scoggins def. Ray Borg via unanimous decision
Diego Rivas def. Noad Lahat via second-round KO (0:23)
Mickey Gall def. Mike Jackson via rear-naked choke (R1, 0:45)
Alex White def. Artem Lobov via unanimous decision

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Friday Link Dump: Penn Gets Potential Opponent, Thug Rose Gets a Rematch, Short Films to Watch ASAP + More

(Fight Night 82 weigh-ins, kicking off at 7 p.m. EST)

BJ Penn ‘Guarantees’ He’s Fighting at UFC 196; Dennis Siver Leading the Pack (FOX Sports)

How Elvis, Family and Beating Up a Girl Helped Forge UFC Star Stephen Thompson (Jonathan Snowden)

Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres Rematch Set for UFC on Fox 19 (BloodyElbow)

The post Friday Link Dump: Penn Gets Potential Opponent, Thug Rose Gets a Rematch, Short Films to Watch ASAP + More appeared first on Cagepotato.


(Fight Night 82 weigh-ins, kicking off at 7 p.m. EST)

BJ Penn ‘Guarantees’ He’s Fighting at UFC 196; Dennis Siver Leading the Pack (FOX Sports)

How Elvis, Family and Beating Up a Girl Helped Forge UFC Star Stephen Thompson (Jonathan Snowden)

Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres Rematch Set for UFC on Fox 19 (BloodyElbow)

For Retired UFC Vet Chris Cariaso, a Venue – Not Opponent – Proved Biggest Nemesis (MMAJunkie)

8 Short Films You Should Watch Immediately (Escapist)

What’s The Best Coen Brothers Movie? (ScreenJunkies)

Most-Watched 2016 Super Bowl Ads So Far (EveryJoe)

Crane Collapses in Lower Manhattan And The Video is Crazy (Radass)

The Stars Of Super Bowl 50 With ‘Bowl’ Haircuts (WorldWideInterweb)

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Tim Means Hit With USADA Violation, “Cowboy” vs. “Cowboy” Now Headlines Fight Night 83


(Means puts the stamp on John Howard. via Getty)

Welterweight Tim Means might be best known for once getting KO’d by a sauna, but it turns out that he’s actually a pretty talented fighter in his own right (and boasts one of the best nicknames in the game to boot). Since returning to the UFC in 2014, “The Dirty Bird” has put together a respectable 5-2 record, with wins over TUF 19 finalist Dhiego Lima and George Sullivan among others.

Fresh off a second round starching of John Howard at Fight Night 80 in December, Means was set to welcome Donald Cerrone to the welterweight division at Fight Night 83 later this month in a fight that had “fireworks” written all over it. Unfortunately for us, Means’ recent out-of-competition test happened to have FAILURE written all over it as well, resulting in “The Dirty Bird” being pulled from the card and yet another main event being placed in jeopardy.

The post Tim Means Hit With USADA Violation, “Cowboy” vs. “Cowboy” Now Headlines Fight Night 83 appeared first on Cagepotato.


(Means puts the stamp on John Howard. via Getty)

Welterweight Tim Means might be best known for once getting KO’d by a sauna, but it turns out that he’s actually a pretty talented fighter in his own right (and boasts one of the best nicknames in the game to boot). Since returning to the UFC in 2014, “The Dirty Bird” has put together a respectable 5-2 record, with wins over TUF 19 finalist Dhiego Lima and George Sullivan among others.

Fresh off a second round starching of John Howard at Fight Night 80 in December, Means was set to welcome Donald Cerrone to the welterweight division at Fight Night 83 later this month in a fight that had “fireworks” written all over it. Unfortunately for us, Means’ recent out-of-competition test happened to have FAILURE written all over it as well, resulting in “The Dirty Bird” being pulled from the card and yet another main event being placed in jeopardy.

The news of Means’ positive test broke earlier today, and as is usually the case, the man himself seemed more caught off guard by the results than anyone else, tweeting, “Fucccck that came out of left field! @usantidoping. Never even heard of ostarine! Look at my physic (sic). Do I look like a steroid user! Lol.”

Well, at least he’s not that broken up about it, although his classic “physique test” defense has been disproven about a million times over by now.

The UFC released a statement on Means’ failure earlier today via their website, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Tim Means of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection.

USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. However, because Means was scheduled to compete against Donald Cerrone on February 21 in Pittsburgh, there is insufficient time for a full review and proper promotion before the scheduled bout. As a result, UFC will announce shortly a replacement opponent for Cerrone on the UFC Fight Night card in Pittsburgh.

Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.

But before you go throwing your hands in the air and cursing the MMA Gods for reducing another UFC card to rubble, there is hope.

According to Ariel Helwani, the UFC has booked a quick replacement for the February 28th-scheduled event in the form of Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira. Currently 3-1 in the UFC, Oliveira has scored wins over the likes of KJ Noons and Piotr Hallman, suffering his only setback to highly-touted prospect Gilbert Burns in his promotional debut.

The fight will still be contested at welterweight, according to those in the know, and should serve as an interesting for Cerrone, who will be attempting to rebound from a devastating first round loss to lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 17. In any case, it seems another disaster has been avoided for now, at least.

Predictions, please.

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