(No, Khabib, they’re starting to *forget* you. via Instagram)
You know, for a guy who transitioned into MMA from the much heralded bear wrestling circuit, Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem to hold up so well against members of his own species.
(No, Khabib, they’re starting to *forget* you. via Instagram)
You know, for a guy who transitioned into MMA from the much heralded bear wrestling circuit, Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem to hold up so well against members of his own species.
He may be undefeated in the octagon, but Nurmagomedov has spent the better part of the past year and a half injuring, then nursing, then re-injuring, then re-re-injuring himself and subsequently pulling out of every damn fight he’s been offered as a result. He’s the Russian, lightweight Dominick Cruz, if you will.
In fact, the closest thing Khabib’s even had to a legitimate fight since April of 2014 was that bench-clearing brawl he had with the Diaz brothers at WSOF 22. So it might not shock you to learn that, some six weeks out from his hotly-anticipated return bout against fellow top contender Tony Ferguson scheduled for the TUF 22 Finale, Nurmagomedov has gone down with a rib injury suffered in training. (via MMAFighting):
An injured rib has forced Nurmagomedov out of his highly-anticipated Dec. 11 fight against Tony Ferguson, sources confirmed with MMAFighting.com Thursday night.
This latest injury is particularly disheartening for the undefeated Russian because two serious knee injuries have sidelined him since his win over Rafael dos Anjos in April 2014. Despite his long layoff, the 22-0 lightweight, who by all accounts tried his best to fight through the injury but could not get cleared, is still considered one of the very best 155-pound fighters in the world.
With Nurmy now out, rumor has it the UFC is quickly rescheduling Ferguson against Edson Barboza, who has won three out of his past four fights. My guess is that Joe Silva had him on standby.
If his most recent performance against Jake Shields at WSOF 23 taught us anything, it’s that Rousimar Palhares is not just an asshole, but a willfully dense asshole who poses a consistent threat to his opponents that reaches far beyond what the rules of the sport allow. He was disciplined on two separate occasions during his time in the UFC for holding onto submissions too long — the second of which earned him his walking papers — and was stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely following the Shields incident in August.
The man is clearly a danger to himself and anyone around him, but mainly to anyone around him, is what we’re saying.
Enter the Nevada State Athletic Commission, a group of supposed authorities on the sport who have proved their incompetence at nearly every possible venue. Whether they are struggling to figure out how a conference call line works to hilarious effect or spending upwards of two hours questioning a fighter about Thai black market sex juice, NSAC has proved time and time again that they will never recover from the departure of Keith Kizer.
Having most recently incurred the wrath of MMA fans worldwide for their decision to suspend Nick Diaz for an unprecedented five years, few of us knew how the NSAC would treat a repeat offender of Palhares’ nature during today’s hearing (which was sadly not available on Fight Pass), especially once it was revealed that he had opted not to have a lawyer represent him. The answer, as it turns out, is typical of what you’d expect from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
If his most recent performance against Jake Shields at WSOF 23 taught us anything, it’s that Rousimar Palhares is not just an asshole, but a willfully dense asshole who poses a consistent threat to his opponents that reaches far beyond what the rules of the sport allow. He was disciplined on two separate occasions during his time in the UFC for holding onto submissions too long — the second of which earned him his walking papers – and was stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely following the Shields incident in August.
The man is clearly a danger to himself and anyone around him, but mainly to anyone around him, is what we’re saying.
Enter the Nevada State Athletic Commission, a group of supposed authorities on the sport who have proved their incompetence at nearly every possible venue. Whether they are struggling to figure out how a conference call line works to hilarious effect or spending upwards of two hours questioning a fighter about Thai black market sex juice, NSAC has proved time and time again that they will never recover from the departure of Keith Kizer.
Having most recently incurred the wrath of MMA fans worldwide for their decision to suspend Nick Diaz for an unprecedented five years, few of us knew how the NSAC would treat a repeat offender of Palhares’ nature during today’s hearing (which was sadly not available on Fight Pass), especially once it was revealed that he had opted not to have a lawyer represent him. The answer, as it turns out, is typical of what you’d expect from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
But before we get to that, let’s allow Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter — who was in attendance at today’s meeting and live-tweeting the entire thing — break down the absolute clusterfuck that Palhares’ defense was.
First off, referee Steve Mazzagatti was sworn in to provide his side of the story, having been the man who attempted in vain to pry Palhares off of Shields on the night in question.
It’s never a good look when Steve freakin’ Mazzagatti is calling a guy out for his incompetence, but OK, we’ve established that Palhares had his hand held right up to the moment he decided to use it to main yet another fighter. Now let’s get to the man himself…
Why a man who has both a tenuous grasp on both the English language and the sport he is competing in would choose to represent himself is just one of the many mysteries of the man they call “Tree Stump” (also “He Who Ate My Children”).
At this point in the meeting, NSAC commissioner Pat Lundvall laid into Palhares with the fire of a thousand suns, telling “Toquinho” that “it didn’t matter what your opponent did, you were going to hold it” before calling in surprise witness Big John McCarthy to further bury Palhares for the no good dirty sumbitch that he is.
McCarthy went on record as saying that, though Palhares seemed to be a nice enough guy out of the cage, “disconnect somewhere concerning fight stoppages” and “a disregard for the safety of his opponents.”
“If Nick Diaz got 5 years for weed, Palhares is most definitely about to get hammered for life,” we collectively murmured on Twitter, and oh wouldn’t that be some life-affirming justice!!
Of course, you know by now that the NSAC is about anything but justice, which is why, despite calling in expert witnesses to lambast a repeat, violent offender who perjured himself on multiple occasions during his own testimony, the commission ultimately slapped Palhares with a two year suspension and a $40,000 fine (plus court fees).
I don’t even know where to begin. Any attempt at a hyperbolic rant would be null and void when compared to the actual facts, which seems to be that repeatedly smoking weed will get you a five year suspension, while repeatedly causing excessive physical harm to others will get you only two. Despite all her posturing and fervor aimed at Palhares, Lundvall wrapped things up by stating, and I quote, that “they [couldn’t] issue the most severe punishment because they’ve never done so before.” This is the kind of airtight logic that the governing body of the sport abides by, ladies and gentlemen.
We once again throw it over to Jeremy Botter for comment.
For those of you who thought we’d never see a more cartoonish, WWE-esque reaction to a knockout than Rolles Gracie’s Flair Flop at WSOF 5, boy oh boy do we have a treat for you.
Inside MMA have always been a great source for amatuer and local fight highlights across the globe, but they may have outdone themselves with this clip from last month’s VCFC: Danville Destruction 5 event in Virginia. In an amateur match between welterweights Chris Henderson and Chris Gardner, Henderson landed a knee from the clinch so vicious, so devastating, that it sent his opponent into a 360 degree tailspin complete with airplane arms before faceplanting him on the canvas. It was absolutely ridiculous, and even after some two dozen views, I’m still not convinced that the whole thing wasn’t a work.
For those of you who thought we’d never see a more cartoonish, WWE-esque reaction to a knockout than Rolles Gracie’s Flair Flop at WSOF 5, boy oh boy do we have a treat for you.
Inside MMA have always been a great source for amatuer and local fight highlights across the globe, but they may have outdone themselves with this clip from last month’s VCFC: Danville Destruction 5 event in Virginia. In an amateur match between welterweights Chris Henderson and Chris Gardner, Henderson landed a knee from the clinch so vicious, so devastating, that it sent his opponent into a 360 degree tailspin complete with airplane arms before faceplanting him on the canvas. It was absolutely ridiculous, and even after some two dozen views, I’m still not convinced that the whole thing wasn’t a work.
Video after the jump.
I mean, that has to be fake, right? Aside from the fact that Henderson’s knee didn’t even appear to land that flush, there’s just no way you can tell me that Gardner’s reaction to said knee was anywhere on the spectrum of normal. It’s even worse when you watch it in gif form:
Yep, these two were definitely in on it, most likely to score some free publicity. Goal achieved, gentlemen. Goal achieved.
The win improves Henderson to 3-0 as an ammy (with all finishes) and drops Gardner to 5-12. He may never be a champion or even a journeyman, but let’s hope that Gardner can rest assured knowing that he will forever be embedded in the cultural grain of MMA thanks to this gif. I can already see the memes…
While we all collectively shake our heads and roll our eyes whenever Dana White breaks out the old “fighting is in our DNA” mantra, a new study argues that The Baldfather might not be that far from the truth. Sort of.
David Carrier, a professor of biology and comparative physiologist at the University of Utah, has spent years studying the impacts of fighting on the evolution of the human hand. Back in 2012, he published a report in the Journal of Experimental Biology that attempted to prove his controversial theory that the human hand — which features a shorter palm, shorter fingers and a longer thumb than our primate ancestors — evolved to meet much more than increased dexterity needs.
”If a fist posture does provide a performance advantage for punching, the proportions of our hands also may have evolved in response to selection for fighting ability, in addition to selection for dexterity,” said Carrier.
While we all collectively shake our heads and roll our eyes whenever Dana White breaks out the old “fighting is in our DNA” mantra, a new study argues that The Baldfather might not be that far from the truth. Sort of.
David Carrier, a professor of biology and comparative physiologist at the University of Utah, has spent years studying the impacts of fighting on the evolution of the human hand. Back in 2012, he published a report in the Journal of Experimental Biology that attempted to prove his controversial theory that the human hand — which features a shorter palm, shorter fingers and a longer thumb than our primate ancestors — evolved to meet much more than increased dexterity needs.
”If a fist posture does provide a performance advantage for punching, the proportions of our hands also may have evolved in response to selection for fighting ability, in addition to selection for dexterity,” said Carrier.
Carrier’s initial experiment was rather simple. Gathering a group of volunteers between 22-50 — all of whom had previous boxing or martial arts experience — Carrier asked them to hit a punching bag with a variety of strikes ranging from an open palm to a closed fist. Unsurprisingly, the closed fist strikes provided three times more force than an open palm strike on average, while “the buttressing provided by a clenched fist” increased the stiffness of the knuckles fourfold and doubled the ability of the fingers to deliver a punching force.
Carrier noted several other significant evolutionary sightings among primates to back his study — mainly, the difference in body size between the sexes (known as sexual dimorphism), which tends to be greater among primate groups where there is more competition between males. Basically, as the human hand was growing more delicate, it was forced to evolve from one based around open palm striking to the closed fist in order to inflict damage on opponents without damaging itself. The fact that no ape other than humans hits with a clenched fist seemed to support Carrier’s theory.
Likewise, Carrier additionally argued that the male human face may have developed a stronger and more prominent jaw, cheeks and brow to withstand more punches in these often ferocious competitions for mates. The anecdotal nature of the evidence gathered to support Carrier’s theory, however, led to it being challenged by a number of his colleagues across the scientific board.
One such challenger was Professor Frank Fish, a biomechanist at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, who argued that, just as the sperm whale’s bulging head had not developed for ramming other male whales to compete for females, the male fist had not evolved to do the same. “I can hit you in the face with this, but it did not evolve for that!” said Fish, suggesting that the effectiveness of the closed fist in combat was merely the result of the evolution of the human hand, not the impetus behind it.
Cut to last week, when Carrier published additional research in opposition to Fish’s claims. (via The Daily Utah Chronicle):
Carrier, with graduate student Joshua Horns, tested the force of three different hand positions when hitting a weight. They observed how much strain was put on the bones, proving that a full fist is better at protecting the hand when in combat.
Using cadaver arms, Horns removed the skin and attached fishing lines to different muscle groups in the arms. Guitar tuners were adjusted to change the tension of the hand and position it as an unclenched fist, a fully clenched fist and an open-palmed slap. The hands swung into a dumbbell and they measured the impact the force had on the bones.
According to the LA Times, the results were quite impressive, if not entirely conclusive.
“As expected, they found that the clenched fist, buttressed with the fingers tightly curled into the palm and the thumb providing reinforcement across the knuckles, reduced deformation in the metacarpals, thus lowering the risk of breakage.”
The main issue continues to be that, as Fish argues, many parts of the human body *can* be used in combat, but did not evolve specifically for that purpose.
One way to dig deeper, Fish said, would be to study fossils from our predecessors, including species in the genus Australopithecus, and see whether there have been changes through time that developed a better-buttressed fist.
Harvard University’s biological anthropologist, Richard Wrangham, also seems to believe that, in order to truly test Carrier’s theory, the evolution of primal female species should be studied as well. Carrier’s tests have thus far been composed using only male test subjects, and should he find a similarly significant evidence about the evolution of the female hand, it would more or less invalidate his “fighting as an evolutionary catalyst” claims.
It’s an interesting idea that Carrier is hypothesizing, to say the very least, and one that he feels has come under such fire because, if proven, could possibly align with those of us who use the “fighting is in our DNA” discourse to justify violence.
“The way I respond to that is by saying understanding is not justification,” said Carrier, who clearly has never painted JUST BLEED across his chest like the true savages among us.
Check out some more of Carrier’s findings over at EurekaAlert.
(“What? WHAT? I’m not the guy who booked this fight!” via Getty.)
I’ll be honest, Nation; due to a number of extenuating circumstances including an increased workload at other websites and an ever-growing apathy for the sport of MMA aroused by the increasingly poor decision making of the UFC (not to mention, the dissolution of this website), last weekend’s Fight Night 76 was actually the first UFC card I was able to catch live in some 3 months. Being that it also happened to be the UFC’s first card following an unprecedented 3 week break, fan expectations were high in general to say the least.
But then, it lost its co-main event. Then, it lost its *main* event. What was once a solid night (afternoon) of fights quickly dissolved into one of the worst cards on paper in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Yet still, I retained hope. Weak cards on paper are just that, right? Some of the UFC’s worst looking cards ended up being some of the most exciting cards of them all, RIGHT? Fight Night 65, anyone? How about Fight Night 68, or Fight Night 55, or the injury-plagued UFC 178?
(“What? WHAT? I’m not the guy who booked this fight!” via Getty.)
I’ll be honest, Nation; due to a number of extenuating circumstances including an increased workload at other websites and an ever-growing apathy for the sport of MMA aroused by the increasingly poor decision making of the UFC (not to mention, the dissolution of this website), last weekend’s Fight Night 76 was actually the first UFC card I was able to catch live in some 3 months. Being that it also happened to be the UFC’s first card following an unprecedented 3 week break, fan expectations were high in general to say the least.
But then, it lost its co-main event. Then, it lost its *main* event. What was once a solid night (afternoon) of fights quickly dissolved into one of the worst cards on paper in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Yet still, I retained hope. Weak cards on paper are just that, right? Some of the UFC’s worst looking cards ended up being some of the most exciting cards of them all, RIGHT? Fight Night 65, anyone? How about Fight Night 68, or Fight Night 55, or the injury-plagued UFC 178?
Sadly, UFC Dublin was not one of those nights.
While the last-minute main event between hometown favorite Paddy Holohan and Hawaiian actual betting favorite Louis Smolka made for a sublimely entertaining fight — with Holohan opening strong but eventually succumbing to a rear-naked choke in the second round — the majority of Fight Night 76 was thoroughly underwhelming, not to mention inconsequential in the broad scheme of things.
In the co-main event of the evening, TUF Smashes alum Norman Parke defeated Reza Madadi by unanimous decision, and in doing so, helped prove that “grudge match” fights fail to deliver in the cage more often than not. Oh, were you not aware that this was supposedly a grudge match, Potato Nation? That must be because you missed Friday’s weigh-ins, wherein Parke decided to mock his opponent’s criminal past by throwing a handbag at him. Even more confounding than Parke’s Carrot Top-inspired trash talk was the UFC’s decision to shamelessly promote the fact that it is employing a man who had just spent the past year and a half behind bars for aggravated robbery, which, given how quick the UFC brass were to formally reinstate Jon Jones, shouldn’t be all that big of a suprise, I guess.
In any case, Parke employed his typically lackadaisical style of throwing two punches and clinching on every exchange (I believe the experts call it “grinding”), which worked nicely for him when Madadi was himself not throwing two punches and clinching on every exchange. “Mad Dog” looked very much like a man who had spent two years away from the sport, to put it plainly, but let’s hope that he was paid enough for his efforts to avoid falling back on old habits.
The evening’s “Fight of the Night” was awarded to Darren Till vs. Nicolas Dalby, in a match that saw the former go from increasingly arrogant striker in the first two rounds to increasingly gassed punching bag by the third. A 10-8 scored by Dalby in the third round led judges to rightfully declare the fight a draw, keeping both fighters’ undefeated records in tact. Movin on…
Not to be outdone, the always entertaining Neil Seery did not disappoint in Fight Night Dublin’s main card opener, securing his first UFC finish with a surprising submission via arm-in guillotine over John Delos Reyes in the second round. Despite telling reporters that he would be hunting for the knockout in the days before the fight, Seery nearly finished Delos Reyes on a couple occasions with the guillotine, as the Brazilian repeatedly overcommitted on his takedowns when forced to trade with the Irishman on the feet. Though he was able to escape Seery’s guillotine early in the fight, a takedown late in the second left his neck exposed for the taking and Seery would not be denied.
The win earned “2 Tap” a $50,000 performance bonus and likely earned Delos Reyes his walking papers in light of recent events.
There’s not much else worth discussing from Fight Night Dublin, unfortunately, unless you happen to be one of the people who takes endless enjoyment in seeing Cathal Pendred get annihilated, which he was, compliments of Englishman Tom Breese. Let’s hope that November’s Fight Night 77 headlined by the completion of the wholly unnecessary Belfort-Hendo trilogy can deliver a bit more to chew on.
Full results for Fight Night 76 are below.
Main card
Louis Smolka def. Patrick Holohan via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:09 of round 2
Norman Parke def. Reza Madadi via unanimous decision
Darren Till and Nicolas Dalby ends in a majority draw
Neil Seery def. Jon Delos Reyes via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:12 of round 2
Undercard
Stevie Ray def. Mickael Lebout via unanimous decision
Aisling Daly def. Ericka Almeida via unanimous decision
Krzysztof Jotko def. Scott Askham via split decision
Tom Breese def. Cathal Pendred via TKO (punches) at 4:37 of round 1
Darren Elkins def. Robert Whiteford via unanimous decision
Garreth McLellan def. Bubba Bush via TKO (punches) at 4:58 of round 3
But Jon Jones does happen to be a GREAT fighter, and that’s all the UFC really cares about. I don’t mean to say that as if they shouldn’t. Here’s an organization that re-hired Thiago Silva after he battered his wife and had an armed standoff with police, glossed over the facts of Anthony Johnson‘s domestic abuse case(s), and unflinchingly booked Reza Madadi a fight the moment he was released from prison for his role in an aggravated burglary. If Charles Barkley doesn’t have to be a role model to play basketball, then Jon Jones sure as Hell doesn’t have to pass basic decency standards to bash someone’s head in.
As such, the UFC has decided in their infinite wisdom that today, just 6 months after Jones was involved in said hit-and-run and just a third of the way into the 18-month probation he was sentenced to, would be a great day to officially end his suspension.
But Jon Jones does happen to be a GREAT fighter, and that’s all the UFC really cares about. I don’t mean to say that as if they shouldn’t. Here’s an organization that re-hired Thiago Silva after he battered his wife and had an armed standoff with police, glossed over the facts of Anthony Johnson‘s domestic abuse case(s), and unflinchingly booked Reza Madadi a fight the moment he was released from prison for his role in an aggravated burglary. If Charles Barkley doesn’t have to be a role model to play basketball, then Jon Jones sure as Hell doesn’t have to pass basic decency standards to bash someone’s head in.
As such, the UFC has decided in their infinite wisdom that today, just 6 months after Jones was involved in said hit-and-run and just a third of the way into the 18-month probation he was sentenced to, would be a great day to officially end his suspension.
Details after the jump.
“We’ve made it clear to Jon that this new opportunity to compete in UFC is a privilege and not a right, and that there are significant expectations we have regarding his conduct moving forward,” said Lorenzo Fertitta. “We’re happy to read and see reports that he has embraced the terms of his plea agreement and is using this experience to grow and develop as a person.”
I mean, what was the UFC brass supposed to do, book new champ Daniel Cormier against Ryan Bader?!! Ew, you guys. Just ew. The 205 pound division needs its champion, weneed its champion, and we don’t give a sh*t how many times he commits a heinous act, or whether or not the victims of his heinous acts are still nursing their wounds. HE IS A GREAT FIGHTER, and thusly, he deserves to fight for our entertainment at any cost.
It’s called separating the person from the professional, which is why Woody Allen gets to keep making as many films as he wants no matter how many children he diddles. Or why we’ve all grown so fond of convicted rapist Mike Tyson. Grow up, you guys. Any attempts to call Jones out for being a reprehensible asshole who has screwed up too many times to receive forgiveness/UFC employment will be met with a firm noogie.
Glad that’s settled. Now let’s hear what the champ has to say (via Jones’ Facebook):
I am grateful for the opportunity to resume my career and I am excited to show how much I’ve grown as a person outside of the octagon. It took me losing almost everything I had worked for to realize how much I had. I am blessed and humbled by the continued support of the MMA community and I can’t thank my fans enough for their unwavering support through my ups and downs. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life and my career and let me assure you, the best is yet to come.
“The best is yet to come.”
Oh my God, you guys. Jon Jones is going to KILL SOMEONE the next time he gets behind the wheel.
