(Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz returns from a lengthy injury layoff once again next weekend, so let’s celebrate by watching him beat the tar out of Takeya Mizugaki.)
(Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz returns from a lengthy injury layoff once again next weekend, so let’s celebrate by watching him beat the tar out of Takeya Mizugaki.)
But then, things started to sort themselves out on Wednesday’s edition of when Dana White told the UFC Tonight gang that “If anyone can hold two belts, it’s Conor McGregor.” With that ringing endorsement now out there in the universe, it was pretty much a given that McGregor would challenge lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos next, which recent reports now indicate will be the case.
But then, things started to sort themselves out on Wednesday’s edition of when Dana White told the UFC Tonight gang that “If anyone can hold two belts, it’s Conor McGregor.” With that ringing endorsement now out there in the universe, it was pretty much a given that McGregor would challenge lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos next, which recent reports now indicate will be the case.
Details after the jump.
As first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter (citing multiple sources), McGregor will in fact be moving up to lightweight next to take on Dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 197 on March 5th in Las Vegas.
And not only that, but Botter also confirmed that Holly Holmwill be getting her wish to fight once more before rematching Ronda Rousey, squaring off against former title challenger Miesha Tate in UFC 197′s co-main event. Which, wow. It’s getting harder and harder to be a cynical, biased, UFC h8ing MMA blog these days when looking at the absolutely amazing run they’ve been on lately. (Luckily, there’s still their Nazi-esque outfitting policy to take shots at or we’d probably have to close up shop.)
It’s worth mentioning that Ariel Helwani hinted at “a couple of big fights” being looked at for March 5th back in December, only to be immediately shut down by Dana White for being “full of shit.” Here’s hoping that he has the balls to hit Dana with a zinger like this the next time they’re face-to-face.
Had we the wherewithal to include a “Greatest Hype *De*-flation” category in this year’s Potato Awards, it would’ve been hard not to bestow the (dis)honor to WWE superstar-cum-MMA fighter Phil Brooks aka CM Punk.
After being signed by the UFC just over a year ago, Brooks has all but dropped off the face of the earth thanks to an ill-timed shoulder injury which delayed his promotional debut indefinitely. Seriously, we haven’t heard a word from the guy, which, as smart as that probably is from his perspective, has all but killed the interest level in a fighter who had relatively little to offer MMA fans to begin with (other than, you know, those massive viewership numbers we care so much about).
Recently, however, it was revealed that Brooks’ debut opponent would be discovered via Dana White’s web series, Looking For a Fight, which premieres on Youtube next week. It was easily one of the more shameful promotional moves done by the UFC in recent memory — right up there with bringing in Conor McGregor to save The Ultimate Fighter — but one that seems to have ultimately worked, as a potential opponent for Punk’s debut has now made himself known.
Had we the wherewithal to include a “Greatest Hype *De*-flation” category in this year’s Potato Awards, it would’ve been hard not to bestow the (dis)honor to WWE superstar-cum-MMA fighter Phil Brooks aka CM Punk.
After being signed by the UFC just over a year ago, Brooks has all but dropped off the face of the earth thanks to an ill-timed shoulder injury which delayed his promotional debut indefinitely. Seriously, we haven’t heard a word from the guy, which, as smart as that probably is from his perspective, has all but killed the interest level in a fighter who had relatively little to offer MMA fans to begin with (other than, you know, those massive viewership numbers we care so much about).
Recently, however, it was revealed that Brooks’ debut opponent would be discovered via Dana White’s web series, Looking For a Fight, which premieres on Youtube next week. It was easily one of the more shameful promotional moves done by the UFC in recent memory — right up there with bringing in Conor McGregor to save The Ultimate Fighter – but one that seems to have ultimately worked, as a potential opponent for Punk’s debut has now made himself known.
His name is Mickey Gall, and his professional record currently resides at an unblemished 1-0. After finding out that White would be attending his bout against Ron Templeton at Dead Serious 17 back in November as part of his online series, Gall immediately decided that Punk was his best way of getting a shot in the UFC. (via MMAFighting)
“I found out [that White and company would be in attendance] a little bit less than a month before the fight. Frankie Perez, who owns that series, called me, and I was like, ‘Dude, listen.’ I already had an opponent fall through, so I was like, ‘Oh, s–t. What is it? What?’ He goes, ‘Listen, big news. Dana White’s going to be there.’ And my heart kind of, I got excited but also nervous as heck right away. I was like, ‘Alright, man, cool.’ He said, ‘This is a big opportunity, blah, blah, blah.’
“Then he gets on the phone with me, and I’m like, ‘Oh. I’m going to call out CM Punk for sure.’ It was so obvious to me. That’s the only guy in the UFC for me right now, you know? They needed to find a light record. He couldn’t fight some 9-1 guy. So I go in there, I got a win. He’s 0-0. I’m 1-0. That’s a light record. The commission will approve that. I can fight that dude and make the most of that opportunity.”
It’s hard not to agree with the kid’s line of logic here. Aside from being right in the skill range that White has stated he was looking for, Gall also happens to train with some legitimate gyms around the country – Miller Brothers MMA (founded by UFC vets Jim Miller and Dan Miller), Gracie New Jersey Jiu-Jitsu Academy, and American Top Team Allentown among them.
As for how he sees the fight going? Well — and you’re going to find this hard to believe — but Gall seems to be under the impression that Punk won’t like getting hit in the face very much and will inevitably wilt under the pressure of him hitting him in the face repeatedly.
“To be honest, I just think if I hit that dude in his face hard, I don’t think he’s going to react well with that,” said Gall. “I like to punch people in the face real hard. Sometimes I use my jiu-jitsu because that’s just where it happens to go, but I think I hit that dude, and he’s not going to like it. I really see myself banging with him a little bit.”
Expectedly, White has yet to commit to the idea of Gall as Punk’s debut opponent, but has admitted to being “interested” in the fight. One thing’s for sure, though: If this youngster wants to seal the deal on the biggest paycheck of his career, he’s gonna have to step his trash-talking game up beyond “I see myself banging with him.”
(It’ll look something like this, but with even less clothing.)
While Ronda Rousey has been remaining relatively quiet in the time since her loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, only popping up on Instagram every now and again to share a devastatingly sad quote, it’s what has been going on behind the scenes that has kept her in the limelight.
First, it was revealed that Rousey would be filming back-to-back movies (one of which being the Roadhouse reboot) before training for her rematch with Holm, which seemed…foreboding to say the least. Then, Dana White backtracked on his comments that Rousey would “definitely” be receiving an immediate rematch with Holm, stating that he had barely even spoken to her in the time since her loss.
And now, it seems that Rousey has a couple other upcoming obligations that one might consider distracting: an appearance in Sports Illustrated’s next Swimsuit issue and a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live at the end of the month.
But I suppose we should discuss the swimsuit thing first, eh? Well, a photo was recently posted by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition editor MJ Day seems to show Rousey’s bare end in a body painted suit and you’re not even reading this anymore, are you?
(It’ll look something like this, but with even less clothing.)
While Ronda Rousey has been remaining relatively quiet in the time since her loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, only popping up on Instagram every now and again to share a devastatingly sad quote, it’s what has been going on behind the scenes that has kept her in the limelight.
First, it was revealed that Rousey would be filming back-to-back movies (one of which being the Roadhouse reboot) before training for her rematch with Holm, which seemed…foreboding to say the least. Then, Dana White backtracked on his comments that Rousey would “definitely” be receiving an immediate rematch with Holm, stating that he had barely even spoken to her in the time since her loss.
And now, it seems that Rousey has a couple other upcoming obligations that one might consider distracting: an appearance in Sports Illustrated’s next Swimsuit issue and a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live at the end of the month.
But I suppose we should discuss the swimsuit thing first, eh? Well, a photo was recently posted by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition editor MJ Day seems to show Rousey’s bare end in a body painted suit and you’re not even reading this anymore, are you?
Given the kodokan flower adorning this faceless model’s right wrist and the octagon adorning the other, Reddit’s private team of investigators was able to determine that this photo does appear to be of the former bantamweight champion’s behind, and Sports Illustrated seems to be playing along:
Thanks to a few inconspicuous tattoos, it looks like our next body-painted beauty may be the one and only Ronda Rousey. We can neither confirm nor deny these rumors, but isn’t the idea of Ronda donning nothing but paint enough to tie you over until the issue comes out in February?
Ronda is coming off a shocking loss to Holly Holm for the UFC women’s bantamweight title and has largely remained out of the public eye since then. A body-painted spread in SI Swimsuit would truly be a comeback for the ages!
So yeah, that’s Rousey’s ass. Annnnyway, it was also revealed by NBC earlier today that Rousey will also be hosting the January 23rd episode of Saturday Night Live with musical guest Selena Gomez. This is kind of a big deal, as the gig will make Rousey just the 3rd combat sports fighter to ever grace the SNL stage (joining such illustrious company as Marvin Hagler and George Foreman).
Overall, it looks like things aren’t as grim for Rousey’s future as she (and many of us) have been suggesting. That being said, let’s hope that Kate McKinnon knows how to hold pads, because Rousey should be using every last minute of her spare time to sharpen her skills if she ever wants to get that title back. (For what it’s worth, I happen to think that Holm might even have the edge when it comes to comedic timing.)
2015 was a tough year for the Potato Nation…Nation. We lost our commanding officer, saw our budget slashed to ribbons, and suffered damn near every setback a mid-level MMA blog could suffer. There were times when it seemed that CagePotato would be forced to close its doors for good, or even worse, sell out and start writing “credible” “unbiased” and “truthful” stories rather than 500-700 word fart jokes masquerading as journalism.
But we’re still here, dammit, and while our prospects for 2016 may not be the brightest they’ve ever been, our continued existence will serve as a proud Stockton Heybuddy to everyone who’s been saying for years that we died the minute Old Dad left. So to kick off another year of hastily-researched shenanigans, we figured there would be no more appropriate a celebration than to deliver our year-end awards list, THE POTATO AWARDS, just one business week too late.
Use the page links below to scroll through our list of the greatest knockouts, the slickest submissions, and the most bizarre, f*cked up MMA moments that 2015 had to offer. A huge thanks goes out to all the contributors who made this possible, as well as those of you who have continued to stick with us through these tough times. To 2016!!!!!!!!!!
Page 1: Comeback Fight of the Year, The Steve Nelmark “Is He Dead?” Award, MMA Screen-Cap of the Year
Page 2: Worst Performance in a Drug Test, The Minowaman Freak Show Hall of Fame Award, Worst Event, Submission of the Year
Page 3: MMA GIF of the Year, Most Satisfying Beatdown, Worst Fight of the Year, Most Embarrassing Knockout
Page 4: Greatest Unsanctioned Fight of the Year, The Krazy Horse Bennett Arrest of the Year, Worst Use of Social Media, Greatest Fight Cancelled Due to Injury, Knockout of the Year
Page 5: WTF?!! Moment of the Year, Most Awkward Interview, The Cecil Peoples Shittiest Decision Award, MMA Fail of the Year, Greatest Hype Inflation
Page 6: Photo of the Year, Best Event of the Year, Fight of the Year
2015 was a tough year for the Potato Nation…Nation. We lost our commanding officer, saw our budget slashed to ribbons, and suffered damn near every setback a mid-level MMA blog could suffer. There were times when it seemed that CagePotato would be forced to close its doors for good, or even worse, sell out and start writing “credible” “unbiased” and “truthful” stories rather than 500-700 word fart jokes masquerading as journalism.
But we’re still here, dammit, and while our prospects for 2016 may not be the brightest they’ve ever been, our continued existence will serve as a proud Stockton Heybuddy to everyone who’s been saying for years that we died the minute Old Dad left. So to kick off another year of hastily-researched shenanigans, we figured there would be no more appropriate a celebration than to deliver our year-end awards list, THE POTATO AWARDS, just one business week too late.
Use the page links below to scroll through our list of the greatest knockouts, the slickest submissions, and the most bizarre, f*cked up MMA moments that 2015 had to offer. A huge thanks goes out to all the contributors who made this possible, as well as those of you who have continued to stick with us through these tough times. To 2016!!!!!!!!!!
Page 1: Comeback Fight of the Year, The Steve Nelmark “Is He Dead?” Award, MMA Screen-Cap of the Year
Page 2: Worst Performance in a Drug Test, The Minowaman Freak Show Hall of Fame Award, Worst Event, Submission of the Year
Page 3: MMA GIF of the Year, Most Satisfying Beatdown, Worst Fight of the Year, Most Embarrassing Knockout
Page 4: Greatest Unsanctioned Fight of the Year, The Krazy Horse Bennett Arrest of the Year, Worst Use of Social Media, Greatest Fight Cancelled Due to Injury, Knockout of the Year
Page 5: WTF?!! Moment of the Year, Most Awkward Interview, The Cecil Peoples Shittiest Decision Award, MMA Fail of the Year, Greatest Hype Inflation
Page 6: Photo of the Year, Best Event of the Year, Fight of the Year
Comeback Fight of the Year: Patricio Freire vs. Daniel Weichel at Bellator 138
It’s a scenario we’ve seen a thousand times before — Fighter A rocks Fighter B with a punch/kick/knee, gets overconfident, and walks right into a fight-ending knockout shot from his wobbled opponent — and yet it is NEVER NOT INCREDIBLE.
And this (last) year’s award for the Comeback Fight of the Year (aka the Kongo vs. Barry award)? It would be hard not to give it to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, who went from nearly knocked out to knocking his opponent out in a span of roughly 30 seconds.
In the co-main event of Bellator 138, Freire was looking to defend the featherweight title that had long eluded him for a second time against Daniel Weichel, who was fresh off a career-defining win over former champion Pat Curran in the Bellator season 10 featherweight tournament final. Though he was mostly known for his grappling prowess, Weichel surprised everyone by flooring Pitbull with a hellacious combination in the closing seconds of the first round.
Sensing that his opponent was still on queer street, Weichel came out aggressive in the second round, pressing Freire to the cage and looking for the one shot to end it all. Unfortunately, aggression can come at a price when facing a knockout artist like Pitbull, and boy did it ever in the form of a short left hook. It was a dicknailing of epic proportions and a triumphant comeback for Freire, who would sadly lose his title to Daniel Straus later in the year.
The Steve Nelmark “Is He Dead?” Award: Thomas Almeida vs. Anthony Birchak at Fight Night 77
Thomas Almeida had a more violent year in 2015 than Joseph Stalin had in 1937. Save a brief hiccup against Brad Pickett, the Brazilian prospect was damn near flawless over the course of three fights, all of which ended via (T)KO inside of two rounds. He battered Yves Jabouin, butchered Brad Pickett, and topped off the year with a knockout of Anthony Birchak that was basically a shot-for-shot remake of the fight to which this category owes its name.
Seriously, take a look for yourself. The similarities are STRIKING.
MMA Screen-Cap of the Year: The “Flexibilty” of Reebok Fight Kits
Even if you’re not one for superstitions, it would be hard to look at Reebok’s hilarious, depressing #FightKit unveiling ceremony as an ominous sign of things to come. Between the obnoxious, overbearing, trying-so-hard-to-be-hip dubstep soundtrack and the awkward segues and fighter introductions delivered by Corrina Werkle, it looked like Reebok had maybe, just maybe rushed into this whole MMA thing a little quickly.
Of course, adding to this theory was the fact that the creative geniuses at Reebok had apparently neglected to run their presentation through spellcheck, resulting in the absolute nexus of stupidity pictured above.
We can debate the decision that capped off UFC 195’s welterweight title fight between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit all we want. We can take to Twitter to vent our frustrations with an (admittedly) outdated judging system until the cows come home. In fact, we have been for years, but with no change in sight, it’s probably best that we just focus on the latest in what has been an incredible series of title fights for the UFC, and that’s exactly what Lawler vs. Condit was.
We can debate the decision that capped off UFC 195′s welterweight title fight between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit all we want. We can take to Twitter to vent our frustrations with an (admittedly) outdated judging system until the cows come home. In fact, we have been for years, but with no change in sight, it’s probably best that we just focus on the latest in what has been an incredible series of title fights for the UFC, and that’s exactly what Lawler vs. Condit was.
Results and highlights after the jump.
While the numbers might paint UFC 195′s main event as an incredibly one-sided affair in Condit’s favor — “The Natural Born Killer” outstruck “Ruthless” nearly two to one — it was Lawler’s time-tested power that must have swayed the judges. Despite looking a step behind the challenger in most of the exchanges and relying on an offense that consisted almost solely of wide, looping hooks, Lawler was able to land the most significant strikes of the fight, dropping Condit in the second round and nearly finishing him in the closing moments of the fifth. If one were to base their opinion of the winner solely on how each fighter looked when all was said and done, Lawler would have almost undoubtedly been declared the winner across the board.
That’s not to say that Condit didn’t get his, though. Condit dropped the champ in the first, had him wobbled in the third, and landed his own onslaught of punches in the fifth as well. It was that ever-important third round that most of the debate seems to stem from, but again, there’s really no point to all the discussion with no proposed way of improving MMA judging currently on the table.
Of course, the easiest way to avoid another judging debacle — if you’re Stipe Miocic, at least — is to quickly and violently shut your opponents lights out, which is exactly what he did against Andrei Arlovski.
The story of Arlovski’s comeback from suicidal falling star to title contender has been an inspiring and much-lauded one, but just as quickly as it came, it ended against the Ohio native on Saturday night. Miocic clipped Arlovski early with a short right behind the ear and swarmed the former heavyweight champion before he could recover, bringing an end to his title hopes in a manner that would be hard to declare as anything but anticlimactic.
But with 5 wins in his last 6 fights (and the only loss being a decision to Junior Dos Santos that may or may not have been BS, if we complained about that sort of thing), it looks like Miocic will finally get his shot at the winner of the Werdum-Velasquez rematch…and he only had to scare Dana White shitless to get it.
Elsewhere on the UFC 195 card, Brian Ortega put on a Jiu Jitsu clinic over Diego Brandao, Abel Trujillo snagged a rare submission victory over Tony Sims, Joe Duffy and Dustin Poirier went to war, and Michael McDonald scored one of the most insane submission reversals you will ever see in his UFC return, so head below for all the highlights and results from UFC 195.
Lorenz Larkin vs. Albert Tumenov
Brian Ortega vs. Diego Brandao
Michael McDonald vs. Masanori Kanehara
UFC 195 Results:
Main Card
Robbie Lawler def. Carlos Condit via split decision
Stipe Miocic def. Andrei Arlovski via first-round TKO (0:54)
Albert Tumenov def. Lorenz Larkin via split decision
Brian Ortega def. Diego Brandao via submission (triangle) (R3, 1:37)
Abel Trujillo def. Tony Sims via submission (guillotine) (R1, 3:18)
Undercard
Michael McDonald def. Masanori Kanehara via sub (RNC) (R2, 2:09)
Alex Morono def. Kyle Noke via split decision
Justine Kish def. Nina Ansaroff via unanimous decision
Drew Dober def. Scott Holtzman via unanimous decision
Dustin Poirier def. Joseph Duffy via unanimous decision
Michinori Tanaka def. Joe Soto via split decision
Sheldon Westcott def. Edgar Garcia via first-round TKO (3:12)
