At UFC 130, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir is set to lock horns with former IFL champion and “TUF” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson. While this may be the first time these two have met inside a UFC octagon, it isn’t the first time they have competed …
At UFC 130, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir is set to lock horns with former IFL champion and “TUF” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson.
While this may be the first time these two have met inside a UFC octagon, it isn’t the first time they have competed against one another.
In the eight-man absolute tournament at Grappler’s Quest 2003, Nelson defeated Mir by points in a grappling match.
This video should serve as a reminder that Nelson shouldn’t be underestimated in the grappling department heading into his bout with Mir.
He may not look like your average professional athlete, but “Big Country” has the grappling chops and enough striking to hang with the best heavyweights in the world.
With that said, there shouldn’t be much made of a grappling match that took place eight years ago. Mir was just beginning his MMA career, and Nelson had yet to even take a professional fight. Besides, there are more aspects to MMA than only grappling.
It’s still fun to take a walk down memory lane and see where these guys were before they became the superstars they are today.
It’s rare to find a fighter with the talent, personality and charisma of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Over the years, Jackson has entertained fans with memorable interviews and highlight-worthy finishes. Unfortunatel…
It’s rare to find a fighter with the talent, personality and charisma of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Over the years, Jackson has entertained fans with memorable interviews and highlight-worthy finishes.
Unfortunately, critics love to linger on the dark parts of his career, but the darkness can’t overtake the light in such a radiant career like Jackson’s.
If he truly decides to hang up his gloves at age 35, Jackson will go down as one of MMA‘s all-time greats.
Thankfully, Jackson is only 32 years of age, and fans will get another two years of possibly seeing him howl over downed opponents.
Jackson is set to main event UFC 130 against Matt Hamill. In preparation for the upcoming showdown, we celebrate and remember the top 10 fight moments in the storied career of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
There is sure to be plenty of criticism about the upcoming UFC 130 fight card.With the lightweight title rubber match between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard scrapped due to injuries, the card doesn’t really have that standout fight worthy of headlining…
There is sure to be plenty of criticism about the upcoming UFC 130 fight card.
With the lightweight title rubber match between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard scrapped due to injuries, the card doesn’t really have that standout fight worthy of headlining a UFC pay-per-view.
With that said, this is still an incredible card full of exciting style match-ups.
Critics may down the card for not boasting a significant main event, but these are usually the kind of cards that end up being the most exciting. It’s extremely rare that stacked cards like UFC 129 lives up to the monumental hype that it did.
We are less than two weeks away from UFC 130, which takes place in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Here are five key questions heading into the event.
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre cemented his legacy as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time at UFC 129. There are some that would disagree with that statement, but St-Pierre’s extensive resume speaks for itself. Bare in mind, the Fr…
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre cemented his legacy as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time at UFC 129.
There are some that would disagree with that statement, but St-Pierre’s extensive resume speaks for itself.
Bare in mind, the French Canadian fought the majority of the bout with one eye, but all of the credit for that injury and a tough fight goes to pound-for-pound standout Jake Shields.
In the co-main event of UFC 129, featherweight champion Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC title for the first time against Mark Hominick.
Most expected Aldo to dominate and net the quick KO finish, but Hominick proved to be a formidable challenge for the Black House student in a bout that earned honors for fight of the night.
Lyoto Machida was also featured on the stacked card, and with one swift kick, he managed to retain his position as a top five light heavyweight.
These rankings rely heavily on quality of competition and defeating previously ranked opponents. They are not based on possibilities––such as fighter A would beat fighter B.
Brock Lesnar’s meteoric rise to MMA superstardom seems like something that happened overnight. The former WWE superstar transitioned immediately from the entertainment business to professional fighting. After an impressive victory in his MMA debut at D…
Brock Lesnar‘s meteoric rise to MMA superstardom seems like something that happened overnight.
The former WWE superstar transitioned immediately from the entertainment business to professional fighting.
After an impressive victory in his MMA debut at Dynamite!! USA against Min-Soo Kim, Lesnar quickly found himself in a UFC octagon staring across from former heavyweight champion Frank Mir.
The UFC is the pinnacle of MMA. Some fighters amass over 20 fights before ever seeing the big stage. Lesnar didn’t only see the big stage in a short amount of time, but his bout with Mir also served as the co-main event to the interim heavyweight championship bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia.
Mir walked out the fortunate victor in that fight, but two bouts later, Lesnar found himself competing for a world title against UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture.
How does a fighter ascend to the apex of his career in just four bouts?
After defeating Couture for the heavyweight title, Lesnar was successful in his first two defenses against Shane Carwin and Frank Mir, but he was thoroughly handled in October 2010 by undefeated American Kickboxing Academy standout Cain Velasquez.
A month away from his showdown with Junior Dos Santos, it’s interesting to ponder what Lesnar’s MMA career would’ve been like if things were approached differently.
Would we have seen a much better fighter?
Here’s how being fast-tracked to the title hurt Lesnar’s development.
The judging system in MMA has been a perennial topic of hot debate. Whether it’s due to inexperience or a lack of monitors, fans and fighters are fed up with controversial decisions. What if extra rounds were added to every fight? Just think about it. …
The judging system in MMA has been a perennial topic of hot debate.
Whether it’s due to inexperience or a lack of monitors, fans and fighters are fed up with controversial decisions.
What if extra rounds were added to every fight?
Just think about it. What if the first championship bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua went five more rounds? How about an extra two rounds in the grudge fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson? Machida versus Rampage?
UFC heavyweight contender Roy “Big Country” Nelson recently spoke to ESPN.com about the addition of three-minute rounds.
This would extend the rounds in every professional MMA bout to five, and championship bouts would be decided in 10 rounds.
“They want to add more championship rounds. That’s where I say switch everything to three minutes and go 10 rounds. Then you have a lot of ups and downs,” said Nelson.
The increase in momentum shifts would add to the general excitement for MMA fans. Also, fighters won’t have the luxury of eating time off the clock in an attempt to feel out an opponent. With three-minute rounds, it could encourage fighters to be more aggressive to avoid losing the shorter rounds.
“You’ll probably see a lot more action because you’re constantly trying to win the round,” Nelson said. “Guys wouldn’t be feeling out for two minutes. It’s boom, you’ve got to go right away.”
The ambiguity of MMA judging has definitely raised eyebrows over the years. A last-minute takedown could be the difference between winning and losing, even if you’ve edged out the majority of a round.
“I’d say judges lose sight. One guy will dominate for four minutes, the other guy dominates for a minute, and they give the round to the second guy,” said Nelson.
“I’ve watched fights where I actually take a stopwatch and say, ‘No, he won four minutes of that round, but the judges gave it to the other guy.’ They just remember that last minute. Three minutes is short enough that the whole round stays in your head.”
A controversial fight that many point to, including Nelson, is the UFC 123 light heavyweight tilt involving Machida and Jackson. The judges awarded the split decision to Jackson, who edged out the first couple of rounds. There wasn’t much action in the bout until Machida pounced on an opening in the final round and stunned Jackson with a combination of punches.
“Split that up and Machida wins, hands down,” stated Nelson. “The first two rounds could have been 10-10, because nothing happened. Then Machida dominated late.”
While intriguing, the sport could be a long way away from this kind of adjustment, but the chances of such a major change happening isn’t unrealistic. Even Keith Keizer, who is the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, sees logic in Nelson’s proposal.
“Three-minute rounds is less stuff to judge,” said Kizer. “It’s easier to run a mile than a marathon. Five minutes is a long time, and it does make judging difficult.”
At UFC 130, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir is set to lock horns with former IFL champion and “TUF” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson.