One of the biggest criticisms surrounding UFC of late is that the company has added so many events to the schedule that it’s watered down the product. However, UFC 182 proved the company can still put on a great show every now and then.
In the main eve…
One of the biggest criticisms surrounding UFC of late is that the company has added so many events to the schedule that it’s watered down the product. However, UFC 182 proved the company can still put on a great show every now and then.
In the main event, Jon Jones retained his light heavyweight title, beating Daniel Cormier by unanimous decision.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey felt that Jones was a deserving winner:
The animosity between the two fighters often spilled over when they made public appearances leading up to UFC 182. They made it clear that they didn’t like one another. After his victory, Jones couldn’t help rubbing some salt in Cormier’s wounds, per MMAFighting.com:
The champ also paused to take some selfies with fans, per Bleacher Report MMA:
The bout started off really well, with Jones and Cormier arguably exchanging the advantage in the first two rounds. Most had the score even going into the third.
That’s when Jones asserted himself as the superior fighter on the night. From the third round on, he built more and more distance between himself and Cormier.
Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly didn’t think Cormier managed to match his effort level from his impressive second-round showing:
MMA Supremacy felt there was a long stretch in the middle rounds when the challenger failed to mount any sort of attack:
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole correctly posited that anything short of a knockout, submission or referee stoppage in the final round would mean a win for the champion:
ESPN’s Todd Grisham thought Cormier simply didn’t have enough left in the tank to finish off the fight and that the talent gap only exacerbated the problem:
With Jones having conquered another challenger, the focus will now shift to his next potential opponent. Some might clamor for a rematch with Cormier. ESPN’s Max Bretos argued against it, feeling that there isn’t any doubt about who is the superior fighter:
The next logical choice would be Alexander Gustafsson. After all, Gustafsson was set to fight Jones at UFC 178 before having to back out after suffering an injury in training.
The 27-year-old Swede pushed Jones to the limit back at UFC 165, and a rematch would almost certainly be among the most anticipated fights of the year.
It took a little over a decade, but Robbie Lawler finally reached the top of the mountain in UFC.
Lawler won the welterweight title off Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 on Saturday—the crowning achievement in what’s been a less than typical career arc….
It took a little over a decade, but Robbie Lawler finally reached the top of the mountain in UFC.
Lawler won the welterweight title off Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 on Saturday—the crowning achievement in what’s been a less than typical career arc.
The new champion was just one of many fighters to pick up victories inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. You can see the full fight card below.
The three fighters listed were among the biggest winners at UFC. They either won or retained gold and/or shocked the world.
Biggest Winners
Anthony Pettis
Ring rust is a concept completely foreign to Anthony Pettis. Prior to Saturday, the last time the 27-year-old saw the inside of the Octagon was Aug. 31, 2013 in a submission victory over Benson Henderson at UFC 164.
Despite that massive layoff, Pettis didn’t look the worse for wear, submitting Gilbert Melendez in the second round. It was the first submission defeat in Melendez’s career. Fox Sports’ Karyn Bryant praised Pettis‘ performance:
“I just showed the message right there,” Pettis said after the fight, per Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole. “The No. 1 guy in the world [and I finished him in] two rounds.”
The ease with which Pettis brushed Melendez aside was the most impressive aspect of the win. The submission didn’t come from out of nowhere. The champion landed some nice strikes on Melendez, and when the opportunity presented itself, he went in for the kill.
It’s hard see who can stop Pettis right now.
Robbie Lawler
What else needs to be said about Lawler‘s title win? Back in July 2012, the 32-year-old was fresh off his third loss in four fights, falling to Lorenz Larkin. Larkin went on to lose four of his next five to put that fight into perspective.
Lawler wasn’t exactly a long shot against Hendricks, but to witness how far he’s come and see him finally capture UFC gold, Saturday night was a special moment. Bleacher Report MMA called it “the greatest UFC comeback in history”:
Few can really argue with the result, either. Some may contend that Hendricks lost the fight more than Lawler won it, and that assessment might not be too wide off the mark. The former champion was a bit too tentative, and once it was clear the takedowns weren’t coming, Hendricks shouldn’t have shifted strategy. Instead, he seemed content to sit back.
Lawler wasn’t electrifying, but he did more than enough offensively to prove himself the better fighter. The only question was whether Hendricks would receive the proverbial champion’s advantage, which was the only way the judges could have scored the bout in his favor.
CM Punk
Technically, this guy didn’t fight, but he’s the biggest winner of the night for landing what’s almost certainly a multi-million dollar contract in UFC despite being 36 years old and having no mixed martial arts career to speak of.
Arguably the most notable event to come out of UFC 181 was UFC’s announcement that it signed CM Punk:
The UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is one of those clamoring to see Punk’s UFC debut:
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden was one of the more vocal critics of the move on social media:
It’s hard to view UFC signing Punk as anything more than an attention-grabbing acquisition in an effort to produce short-term buzz. While Punk has a long and storied professional wrestling career, working in a WWE ring and UFC Octagon are quite different beasts.
Brock Lesnar made the transition from WWE, but that was in large part because he was an NCAA wrestling champion at Minnesota years prior and an athletic marvel. Lesnar‘s the exception to the rule.
Before the signing of Punk was made official, UFC President Dana White went on the Jim Rome Show to talk about the possibility of Punk working for the company, via MMAJunkie.com’s Mike Bohn:
He’s not a guy that we would do what we did with Brock; we threw Brock right to the wolves. Brock started fighting all the top heavyweights in the world because of his wrestling background. CM Punk, we would bring him in just like any regular fighter, and he would fight a guy with a similar record to his, which is 0-0.
Again, Punk is 36 with tons of wear and tear on his body from traveling the globe and wrestling nearly every night.
As somebody who’s followed Punk’s exploits in WWE for years, it’s hard to see how this ends well for either party in the long term.
Leslie Smith demonstrated the dangers of fighting when suffering from cauliflower ear during her loss to Jessica Eye at UFC 180 on Saturday night.
Eye caught Smith with a right hand that caused Smith’s left ear to quite literally explode. Fight photogr…
Leslie Smith demonstrated the dangers of fighting when suffering from cauliflower ear during her loss to Jessica Eye at UFC 180 on Saturday night.
Eye caught Smith with a right hand that caused Smith’s left ear to quite literally explode. Fight photographer Ed Mulholland snapped a photo at the moment of impact. (WARNING: Photo is very graphic in nature.):
You can view the video of the punch here. (WARNING: Video is very graphic in nature.)
The judges took the night off on Friday at UFC Fight Night 55. All 11 fights on the card ended by way of knockout, TKO or submission.According to UFC President Dana White, the event broke the company record for most finishes:UFC has come under fire rec…
The judges took the night off on Friday at UFC Fight Night 55. All 11 fights on the card ended by way of knockout, TKO or submission.
According to UFC President Dana White, the event broke the company record for most finishes:
UFC has come under fire recently for possibly over-saturating the market, which as in turn watered down card and left fans disappointing; however, nobody could’ve watched UFC Fight Night 55 and wanted more. Few cards have been as exciting from top to bottom.
UFC Fight Night 55 Results
Main Card Recap
Soa Palelei def. Walt Harris
Walt Harris likely felt good about how the fight was unfolding after the first round. He deflected most of Soa Palelei’s biggest blows while managing to land a couple of punches and kicks to Palelei’s gut.
Once the bell for Round 2 sounded, things slowly but surely went downhill for Harris.
Most of the round was rather innocuous, with neither fighter gaining much of an edge. Then, as the round was nearing its conclusion, Palelei landed a takedown and mount on Harris before unleashing with a flurry of blows.
None of Palelei’s punches looked devastating, but Harris failed to put up any sort of a defense and the referee called it.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden was particularly critical of Harris’ offensive execution:
The bout wasn’t particularly pretty, but Palelei picked up a nice victory.
Robert Whittaker def. Clint Hester
Whereas the first fight on the main card was back and forth, Robert Whittaker’s victory over Clint Hester came with relative ease. The 23-year-old New Zealand native outclassed Hester in the Octagon.
Bleacher Report MMA felt that Whittaker’s more nuanced approach left his opponent with no chance:
After the fight, Whittaker admitted that he didn’t plan on ending the fight early, but he couldn’t help himself, per Dave Doyle of Yahoo Sports:
Hester wasn’t completely hapless. He and Whittaker put on a thrilling display of striking at times, with their blows very audible through the microphones surrounding the cage:
Their offensive show impressed White:
In the end, one only needs to look at the numbers to understand whom was the superior fighter. According to UFC.com, Whittaker landed 62 significant strikes to Hester’s 28. Whittaker also landed nearly 60 percent of his punches, compared to 44 percent for Hester.
Al Iaquinta def. Ross Pearson
Ross Pearson went on the offensive right from the opening bell, and that proved to be his ultimate undoing.
The strategy proved fruitful in the first round, which Pearson arguably won. He kept Al Iaquinta on the back foot and continued pressuring the 27-year-old.
Then, in the second round, Iaquinta blocked an attempted high kick from Pearson and landed a vicious right hand. Sensing the opportunity, Iaquinta went in for the kill and sent Pearson to the canvas for a second time. With that, the fight was over.
Fox Sports’ Marc Raimondi felt that the win will be a major boost to Iaquinta’s going forward:
Iaquinta likely won over even more fans with his post-match interview, during which he channeled former pro wrestler The Iron Sheik. B/R’s Jeremy Botter was one of many who was beside himself with joy:
With such a resounding win, Iaquinta will be a fighter to follow in the coming months.
Luke Rockhold def. Michael Bisping
Luke Rockhold made it a perfect 4-for-4 in terms of second-round finishes with his submission victory over Michael Bisping.
After a hotly contested first round, Rockhold made quick work of Bisping in the second, sending Bisping to the mat with a head kick and eventually locking in a guillotine. Bisping had no choice other than tapping out.
The sequence leading to the submission was brilliant from Rockhold. There were no wasted motions between the leg kick and subsequent headlock that led to the guillotine.
Following the fight, Rockhold needed little time before looking ahead to his future. He alluded to a potential rematch with Ronaldo Souza, per Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com:
Helwani believes that that fight would be the way to go:
MMA writer Josh Gross feels that Rockhold’s success will only allow the middleweight division to remain captivating throughout:
A rematch between Rockhold and Souza might be the low-hanging fruit, but many fans would agree that it’s the fight that needs to happen.
Few fans inside the Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix could walk away disappointed from Bellator 126 on Friday night. From top to bottom the card had about everything you of which you could possibly ask: knockouts, surprises, great fights and do…
Few fans inside the Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix could walk away disappointed from Bellator 126 on Friday night. From top to bottom the card had about everything you of which you could possibly ask: knockouts, surprises, great fights and dominating performances.
The event was headlined by middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko putting his belt on the line against Bellator Season 10 tournament winner Brandon Halsey. Although Shlemenko was coming off a loss to Tito Ortiz, that came in a different weight class. Since arriving in Bellator, the Russian was unbeaten in four fights as a middleweight.
The co-main event was Marcin Held and PatrickyFreire‘s battle for the Bellator Season 10 lightweight championship.
Both the main and preliminary cards were loaded with great matchups as well. Below is a brief recap for each of the four main-card fights.
Bellator 126 Fight Card Results
Mike Richman def. Ed West
It’s a good thing Mike Richman doesn’t get paid by the second. On Friday night, he made quick work of Ed West.
With the first round nearing its conclusion, Richman connected with a vicious right hook and followed up with a left that caught West flush. The 30-year-old slumped to the canvas, and that was all she wrote. Richman picked up his first victory in nearly a year, per Jason Floyd of TheMMAReport.com:
The technical knockout win is the eighth TKO/KO victory in Richman‘s career, which places him third in Bellator:
The 29-year-old moved down a weight class from featherweight to bantamweight for Friday’s fight. Cutting weight to hop down like that can sometimes result in a loss of power, but Richman didn’t appear to be any worse for wear.
Bubba Jenkins def. ThiagoMeller
Bubba Jenkins earned a fairly comfortable unanimous decision win over ThiagoMeller on the main card’s second fight. The judges scored it 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, per MMAjunkie:
Meller tried desperately to lock in submissions throughout the fight, but any time he had a slight opening, Jenkins was quick to react and get himself out of danger. That was largely the overarching narrative of the bout.
Coming into the night, you knew Meller would look to make Jenkins tap out. According to Sherdog, 13 of his 19 wins have come via submission. As long as Jenkins could land some takedowns and not leave his guard down, the fight would be his.
Jenkins gained the upper hand in the second round, and once the third rolled around, the outcome was all but decided. He continued barraging Meller with blows, and the Brazilian had no response.
At one point, Jenkins nearly landed a WWE move on Meller, per Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden:
Former NCAA wrestling champion Anthony Robles congratulated his former Arizona State teammate for a job well done:
Marcin Held def. PatrickyFreire
Held took home the Bellator Season 10 lightweight tournament championship with a unanimous decision victory over Freire. The judges had it 29-28, 30-27, 30-26:
The bout featured a nice clash of approaches, as Held’s a more scientific, submission-based fighter, while Freire relies more on his power game and looks to end the fight with a knockout.
Held took control almost right from the opening bell. He kept the pace of the fight slow, which allowed him to pick his spots and prevent things from devolving into a slugfest. Held also did a great job of attacking Freire. That served the dual purpose of softening the limbs up for a potential submission and weakening some of Freire‘s punching power.
Of course, Freire rarely had a chance to land a blow as he was pinned down to the mat for the majority of the night. His frustration only grew as the fight went on, but he could do little to negate Held’s advantage.
Held has a bright future ahead. As Anthony Mazzuca, Bellator‘s director of communications tweeted out, the Polish star is only in his early 20s:
If he’s this good now, think where he’ll be in a few years.
Brandon Halsey def. Alexander Shlemenko
Shlemenko no longer casts a shadow over the Bellator middleweight division.
Coming into the fight, the challenger said that he was “expecting (Shlemenko) to bring his best.”
Halsey didn’t exactly get the “best Alexander Shlemenko,” but he’s probably not going to complain after locking in a rear-naked choke and winning the middleweight title in 35 seconds.
Snowden couldn’t believe what he had witnessed:
Bellator tweeted out a photo of the victorious Halsey atop the Bellator cage:
Shlemenko made a massive miscalculation, leaving his back wide open for Halsey early in the first round. That allowed the 28-year-old American to go for the choke, and when he got his arm underneath Shlemenko, the end was nigh. The Russian attempted to get out of the hold, but it was to no avail. He passed out, and referee John McCarthy stopped the fight.
The obvious question now is, where does this fight put Halsey? Is he a flash in the pan, or is Friday night a sign of things to come from the new champion?
USA Today‘s Mike Bohn isn’t doubting Halsey, calling him “the real deal”:
After Friday night, Halsey’s star is as bright as it’s ever been, and now he’s gonna find how what every champion before him has come to realize: reaching the top of the mountain is easy; the hard part is staying there.
Talk about a Pyrrhic victory. Ben Rothwell scored an upset win over Alistair Overeem at UFC Fight Night on Friday, but he hurt his arm in the process.
The 32-year-old revealed the extent to which he initially believed his arm was damaged on Fox Sports …
Talk about a Pyrrhic victory. Ben Rothwell scored an upset win over Alistair Overeem at UFC Fight Night on Friday, but he hurt his arm in the process.
The 32-year-old revealed the extent to which he initially believed his arm was damaged on Fox Sports Live after the win, via MMAFighting.com:
Steve Marrocco of MMA Junkie provides an update on the severity of the injury:
Before dropping the ex-Strikeforce champ in the UFC Fight Night 50 co-headliner, Rothwell suffered severe swelling and nerve damage in his right arm when he blocked a kick from Alistair Overeem, his manager Monte Cox told MMAjunkie.
[…]
Rothwell initially told FOX Sports that he broke his right arm, but Cox said a visit to an area hospital downgraded the severity of the injury.
Rothwell explained that the injury came when he attempted to block a kick from Overeem. He also mentioned that had the fight gone beyond the first round, he’d have been in serious trouble, per Heidi Fang Fox Sports 670 AM in Las Vegas:
At least Rothwell has the win to help ease the pain. That arm would probably be hurting a lot more if it had been injured in a loss.
One of the biggest criticisms surrounding UFC of late is that the company has added so many events to the schedule that it’s watered down the product. However, UFC 182 proved the company can still put on a great show every now and then.