As Vitor Belfort lie beneath Chris Weidman, beaten and battered from unanswered punches and elbows, Luke Rockhold sat cageside, enjoying every second of it. Every ounce of respect for the 38-year-old MMA legend is gone for Rockhold, who still believes …
As VitorBelfort lie beneath Chris Weidman, beaten and battered from unanswered punches and elbows, Luke Rockhold sat cageside, enjoying every second of it. Every ounce of respect for the 38-year-old MMA legend is gone for Rockhold, who still believes he was cheated out of a UFC title shot.
Belfort, a past prescribed user of testosterone replacement therapy, blasted Rockhold in the first round of their middleweight bout in May 2013. The highlight reel knockout has seen more play than a 90s Backstreet Boys video.
But for Rockhold, it serves as a cold reminder for what he believes was stolen from him.
The bout took place in a time where prescribed TRT treatment was allowed in MMA. When speaking with MMA Fighting‘s Ariel Helwani, it was obvious Rockhold still hasn’t let go of the past.
“As nice as it would be to fight Vitor and get my hands around his little chicken neck, I wish nothing good for him,” Rockhold said. “He deserved it. I wanted to see Vitor get beat up. I’m happy he got what he deserved.”
Belfort looked to have Weidman in all sorts of trouble early in the fight. In typical Phenom fashion, the former UFC light heavyweight champ sprinted after Weidman with a barrage of uppercuts and hooks. But like every great champion, Weidman triumphed in the face of adversity by weathering the early storm and securing a takedown.
The initial roller coaster ride was all downhill from there for Belfort, who looked like a shark on dry land. It was the inevitable outcome Rockhold expected.
“Weidman got rocked, that’s what I said before,” he said. “Vitor would come out with his initial steroid burst, and then the fight would be over.”
There was controversy at the UFC 187 weigh-ins a day before the fight. After stepping onto the scale, Weidman said his camp learned Belfort had a testosterone score of 1,200 heading into the bout. He claimed Belfort was “cheating,” and he was going to “make him pay.”
He elaborated on his comments a bit more at the post-fight press conference. According to Weidman, the report came from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. Rockhold didn’t need any confirmation of guilt to lay suspicion on Belfort.
“The test results doesn’t come out like that like they reported,” Rockhold said. “Testosterone doesn’t fluctuate like that for an older man like that. It’s not if he’s cheating—it’s how much is he cheating.”
The UFC has yet to officially name Rockhold the next No. 1 contender, but he is expected to be the next man in line to challenge Weidman for the middleweight title.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
For far too long, Chris Weidman has been treated like a placeholder atop the middleweight division. Being the successor of arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history will do that to you.
Professional wrestling great “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair&nb…
For far too long, Chris Weidman has been treated like a placeholder atop the middleweight division. Being the successor of arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history will do that to you.
Professional wrestling great “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair always said, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man”—a feat Weidman accomplished twice.
We all remember the lead up to UFC 162 in July 2013. Weidman was a sexy pick among MMA pundits, but the vast majority saw the NCAA Division I All-American wrestler as another nameless victim to add to Anderson Silva’s resume.
Opinions hardly changed after Weidman stunned the Las Vegas crowd with the left hook heard ’round the world, leaving Silva postured motionless in the Octagon. The talk around town predicated around “luck” and Silva’s boastful in-cage shenanigans.
Weidman was seen as a one-hit wonder, the Paula Abdul of the middleweight division. A refocused, rededicated Silva would prove it was all a fluke. Throw away all of the taunts and Michael Jackson dance moves.
There was no way in hell Silva could lose to Weidman twice, right?
Wrong.
Weidman left the MMA legend on his backside once again at UFC 168 in December 2013—this time holding a broken leg after going shin to knee on a blocked kick. But respect was still denied to the young lion. Rumblings of Silva being past his prime and over the hill clouded Weidman‘s Herculean feat.
If one Brazilian legend wasn’t enough, Weidman conquered two more in LyotoMachida and VitorBelfort. After defeating Belfort on Saturday UFC 187, he gave fight fans one final chance to join his team during his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan:
Hey, stop doubting me. It’s enough. Stop doubting me. You better join the team now. This is my last invitation. Join the team. I love you. I’m for real. I felt that after the Machida fight there was a good group of people that started following and there was believers. But with the time off, the haters just grew stronger and stronger, so I had to just come in here and do my thing again.
Weidman did his thing all too well against Belfort, surviving the initial flurry before wrestling the future Hall of Famer to the ground. Once the fight hit the floor, the ending of the UFC 187 co-main event played out as predictable as a B-movie.
Weidman pummeled the 38-year-old legend into submission with punches and elbows, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in and to call a halt to the action at 2:53 of the first round.
For those late to the party, there is still enough room aboard the Weidman bandwagon.
Put your doubts to rest. Silva’s successor has arrived, and he is every bit as talented as we hoped he would be.
No, he isn’t living in the Matrix like Silva, who made a career out of pulling off techniques you’d only see in movies. But Weidman has the ability to do some very special things at 185 pounds.
No man walks away with victories over Silva, Machida and Belfort without a story to tell. Whether you jump on the bandwagon or spit on the notion of Team Weidman, we can all at least agree the man has earned his respect.
Historically, doubt has never toiled on a three-hit wonder.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
Daniel Cormier was one of the brightest collegiate wrestling prospects in the country, but he never won an NCAA Division I title. A rare opportunity for Olympic gold came calling in 2004, but once again, Cormier was denied in his bid to be a world cham…
Daniel Cormier was one of the brightest collegiate wrestling prospects in the country, but he never won an NCAA Division I title. A rare opportunity for Olympic gold came calling in 2004, but once again, Cormier was denied in his bid to be a world champion.
The 36-year-old native of Lafayette, Louisiana, never knew what it felt like to stand at the peak of the mountaintop—until now.
So much meaning can be taken from a leather strap plated in gold, with the letters U-F-C stamped across it.
Cormier’s entire life has been full of tragedy and shortcomings. At age seven, his father was shot and killed on Thanksgiving by the father of his second wife. Cormier’s daughter died in a tragic car accident in 2003.
But through everything, Cormier always managed to pick himself back up and continue moving forward.
Perhaps it was only fitting Anthony “Rumble” Johnson dropped him with a massive overhand right early in the first round of the vacant light heavyweight title fight at UFC 187 on Saturday. For a man accustomed to sinking or swimming, it only made sense for Cormier’s dreams to shine through in the face of adversity.
Johnson’s face is the last thing most people see before it all goes dark. But the “King of the Grind” went back to his wrestling roots to survive the initial flurry and keep the fight on his terms. With all of his power and might, Johnson came apart bit by bit before our very eyes.
The same reincarnated beast who slaughtered Alexander Gustafsson, among many others, looked human for the first time in over three years. Ultimately, the same sport that broke Cormier’s heart time and time again was the same one that made it whole.
As Johnson finally succumbed to the pressure in the third round, giving up his back, Cormier pushed his forearm across Johnson’s neck, wrapped his hand around his own tricep and squeezed with all of his might. It was a simple and poetic sequence of events that made the impossible into possible.
Johnson waved the white flag, changing a boy’s dream into a man’s reality.
Sitting onstage at the post-fight press conference Saturday night, Cormier recalled being stuck in a one-bedroom apartment with his fiancee, his son and an empty bank account:
We had nothing. Salina and I had nothing. She’s been with me since I had one fight. One time, we had our son, young baby. I was in Strikeforce, and I would barely fight. Salina and I had a 700-square foot apartment in San Jose, California—one bedroom—and we had no money. And my family has no money down in Louisiana. And I was so desperate because we had no gas, we had nothing.
We were on welfare. We called my parents, and they don’t have much. But my mom, my dad, my brothers and my sister—they pulled together whatever they had and they had $575, and they sent it to Salina and I. And it allowed us to actually get through the month until my next sponsorship check from Cage Fighter came. … It’s great to give this championship to my parents and my fiancee because now, we’re fine.
Much has been made about the legitimacy of Cormier’s title win. Jon Jones, the former light heavyweight champion, was stripped and suspended of the title in April after being arrested on a felony charge for a hit-and-run incident.
Undefeated and widely considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Jones was well on his way to achieving all-time greatness. Not to mention, he defeated Cormier in his final defense as champion at UFC 182 in January.
But as Cormier rightly reminded us at the post-fight presser, “You have to be a champion in all facets of life.”
Jones seemed to take being UFC champion for granted.
Having been on the brink of seeing his family suffer, Cormier is unlikely to make those same mistakes. If we can take anything from UFC 187, perhaps the biggest lesson is one in patience. Being a champion isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s a treacherous journey full of failures and missteps.
For Cormier, it all started on a wrestling mat. Through a life’s worth of trials and tribulations, it culminated into him standing in the center of the Octagon, celebrating a moment that can never be taken away.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
Things are quiet on the middleweight front—perhaps a little too quiet. The eye of the storm hangs overhead, with distant rumbles of thunder periodically interrupting the spacious moments of silence.
Warm sunshine and endless skies of blue serve a…
Things are quiet on the middleweight front—perhaps a little too quiet. The eye of the storm hangs overhead, with distant rumbles of thunder periodically interrupting the spacious moments of silence.
Warm sunshine and endless skies of blue serve as a momentary utopia from the inevitable storm surging ahead.
VitorBelfort, an ageless lion, has sat quietly in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to turn back time. It has been more than a decade since he last hoisted UFC gold. On Saturday night, his legendary career will come full-circle when he steps into the cage with the new lion, undefeated middleweight champion Chris Weidman.
UFC 187, the biggest pay-per-view card so far this year, has mostly been predicated around Jon Jones’ legal situation and the vacant light heavyweight title fight between Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Daniel Cormier.
Occasionally, a question or two gets thrown Weidman’s way regarding future bouts against Luke Rockhold or Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Being snubbed by the media is nothing new for Belfort. With nearly two decades of professional fight experience, the man has seen it all. He is devoid of emotional attachments to media gatherings.
Rockhold and Souza won’t be the ones stepping into the Octagon this weekend, though. When the cage door closes, Belfort will have 25 minutes to write the future to his liking.
Perhaps MMA fans have forgotten the way he knocked out Rockhold and Dan Henderson. Maybe people are sleeping on the way he torched Michael Bisping. Belfort’s jaw-dropping, vintage performances against three world-class fighters should be respected.
Weidman is a golden child in the new era of MMA. He made a mortal out of Anderson Silva, the greatest fighter in UFC history. There is no beating around the bush in terms of Weidman’s overwhelming talent.
The guy is a prodigy in the making, capable of surpassing Silva as the greatest middleweight of all time. His skill set is flawlessly rounded from top to bottom.
However, Belfort’s rare combination of speed and power has the potential to shred any paper comparison to pieces. Some would say, “same dog, old tricks.” Fighting has evolved over the years, but there has never been a replacement for speed and knockout power. More of the same is exactly what’s expected, and it’s exactly what Belfort needs.
Blue will turn to gray, and the skies will open Saturday night. The storm is nearly here. With one emphatic blow, Belfort can force the world to remember.
JordyMcElroy is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
The UFC 182: The Moment preview video’s juxtaposition between a vibrant, young champion and an older, scarred lion can be more appreciated in hindsight. This moment for Jon Jones isn’t forced or rehearsed.
It’s a beautiful one that encapsulates what it…
The UFC 182: The Moment preview video‘s juxtaposition between a vibrant, young champion and an older, scarred lion can be more appreciated in hindsight. This moment for Jon Jones isn’t forced or rehearsed.
It’s a beautiful one that encapsulates what it truly means to reach up and grab the proverbial brass ring.
As the camera zooms in on the rugged features of older Jones’ face, he slowly looks away, cracking an efficacious smile. He then opens up about the moment that changed everything, when he defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to become the UFC light heavyweight champion in 2011.
The words trek from his heart, up through his chest and throat, before rolling off his tongue and sliding through his lips:
It was a feeling like everything I’d been through in life—the good and the bad—but mainly the bad, it was like it all led to that. I got to just channel all of the good and the bad and channel it into something that was beautiful. It was an awesome moment. I felt free. I felt better than what I was.
These were the naive thoughts of a 23-year-old from New York. But time changes us physically, and experience shapes us mentally. Jones quickly learned freedom, while being the best in the world, is a thought bound in irony.
When you’re on top, expectations and responsibilities are multiplied exponentially. People come out of the woodwork, feigning as your friend with luxurious gifts and worldly offers. The spotlight beams so brightly that it becomes hard to see the wolves standing two feet in front of you. Everything you say and do is dissected under a microscope and interpreted a million different ways.
One day, you wake up and realize you’re no longer a human being to most people. You’re just a piece of meat, a product to be consumed.
Jones has likely woken up by now at age 27, after being stripped of the title and indefinitely suspended from the UFC. A felony charge for an alleged hit-and-run put his fighting career on ice. As the light heavyweight king, he is now forced to sit on the sidelines and watch Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Daniel Cormier fight Saturday for the same throne he called home for the last four years.
The spotlight swallowed Jones the moment he stepped from the shadows, forever trapping him in the belly of the beast.
Georges St-Pierre, one of the most beloved fighters in UFC history, vacated his UFC title and walked away from fighting indefinitely at age 32. Admittedly, he became overwhelmed with the pressure and stress of being a world champion, among other things.
But Jones was nothing like St-Pierre in the public eye. He wasn’t the French-speaking, complimentary guy in front of the media. His confidence brimmed to a point where it came off as arrogance to some. It probably didn’t help that he began his title run by dominating beloved legends Shogun Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Some people wanted a reason to dislike Jones to rid themselves of the typical hater label. They eventually got their wish when Rashad Evans, Jones’ former teammate, entered the picture, and the word “fake” was permanently attached to Jones like a bad high school nickname.
Looking back on the entire situation, when speaking with MMAFighting.com in an article by Marc Raimondi, Evans touched on the harsh realities of youth and fame:
Even though Jon does amazing things inside the cage, Jon is still young. You give somebody so young so much power, so much freedom, they don’t always make the right decisions. He’s human and sometimes people think things never catch up with them. Sometimes they catch up with you at the wrong time.
… Looking back and seeing my whole role in the situation, I didn’t handle everything right. [Jon is] one of my favorite fighters to watch. Even when he fights, I kind of root for the guy.
The wrong time for Jones appears to be when he allegedly ran a red light and smashed his rental vehicle into a pregnant woman’s car, per Raimondi. Witnesses claimed he ran from the scene after grabbing a handful of cash from his vehicle. Marijuana was found inside the car.
Serious missteps in Jones’ personal life, including this one, a failed drug test for cocaine and a DUI charge have replaced the image of the young fighter fans once rallied behind. It’s easy to forget the fighter who came to the rescue of an “old Spanish couple” by chasing down and apprehending their mugger, mere hours before his first UFC title fight.
Listen to the room eat up every word as Jones rehashes the story that nearly gave UFC President Dana White a heart attack.
Whatever happened to this version of Jones? When did everything go sideways?
A new champion will be crowned at UFC 187 on Saturday, but there is no questioning Jones is still the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
You can take away his title, strip him of his accomplishments and remove him from the UFC rankings. Through it all, Jones will still be the best fighter in the world. He will still be king. But the throne belongs to the UFC, and as a business, the powers that be have a right to choose who they want as the face of the company.
Jones is the king without a throne. Until he returns or a more polarizing figure comes along, nothing in the world will ever change that.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
Alexander Emelianenko, the brother of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, could spend the next several years behind bars.
The Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported on Tuesday the former Pride heavyweight star was convicted of sexual assault, and …
Alexander Emelianenko, the brother of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, could spend the next several years behind bars.
The Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported on Tuesday the former Pride heavyweight star was convicted of sexual assault, and Moscow’s Simonovsky District Court sentenced him to serve 4.5 years in jail.
Emelianenko, 33, was found guilty on charges of raping his housekeeper, Polina Stepanova, on March 2, 2014, and seizing her passport. Prosecutors wanted five years in prison for the MMA fighter.
Emelianenko has pleaded not guilty and claimed the sex was consensual.
As the brother of Fedor, who is widely recognized as the greatest heavyweight in MMA history, a long shadow was cast over Alexander in the fight community. He still managed to carve his own spot in the sport with wins over Sergei Kharitonov, James Thompson, Bob Sapp and Eric Pele.
His last fight was in January 2014 at Coliseum FC: New History 2 in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Dmitry Sosnowski. Like Fedor, he is also a highly decorated men’s combat Sambo fighter, having won several world titles.
This isn’t Alexander’s first run-in with the law. He was previously “charged with assaulting a retired person at a Moscow cafe,” according to the RAPSI report. However, a settlement was reached outside the court system, and the charges were dropped.
A little over a year ago, Alexander denied that Fedor’s success put pressure on him in an interview with Fightland. He said his brother was “just lucky here and there” in his MMA career:
I wrestle him down easily with my arms. Everyone stands out in his own way. I am also not remaining in the shadow. He was just lucky here and there. I can’t say anything bad about my brother because Fedor helped me a lot; he brought me into MMA.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
As Vitor Belfort lie beneath Chris Weidman, beaten and battered from unanswered punches and elbows, Luke Rockhold sat cageside, enjoying every second of it. Every ounce of respect for the 38-year-old MMA legend is gone for Rockhold, who still believes he was cheated out of a UFC title shot.