Author: Joseph Zucker

UFC 161 Results: Rashad Evans Must Ride Momentum From Win into Next Fight

Rashad Evans has a little bit of time to celebrate his win at UFC 161. He can’t rest on his laurels too long, though, because he needs to get back to training and continue to build upon this positive result.It wasn’t pretty, but Evans got the job done …

Rashad Evans has a little bit of time to celebrate his win at UFC 161. He can’t rest on his laurels too long, though, because he needs to get back to training and continue to build upon this positive result.

It wasn’t pretty, but Evans got the job done against Dan Henderson on Saturday night, winning a split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. UFC took to Twitter to congratulate Evans on his victory:

Regardless of the win, there are probably plenty of fans who would have scored the fight for Henderson. While it’s true that the bout was very evenly matched throughout, Evans was able to get the win with the strong way he finished the third round. Let’s take a look at the round-by-round breakdown.

(Note: SS=Signature Strikes and TS=Total Strikes)

Evans started slowly but finished strong. In the end, that turned out to be the difference.

In terms of rankings, this one is an upset. Henderson came in as the third-ranked light heavyweight while Evans came in sixth, and that should have major implications on who will be in line for a title fight. 

USA Today‘s Matt Erickson reported Dana White would all but eliminate the loser from title contention down the line:

“I mean, anything’s possible. You could lose this fight and then go on an eight-fight win streak,” White told USA TODAY Sports. “But I would say, statistically, it’d be tough to come back from this loss (and fight for a title someday).”

Rashad can feel a little safer knowing there’s still a shot at the light heavyweight title in the cards. Evans vs. Jon Jones could be an intriguing bout because the challenger was one of the few guys to actually take Jones the distance.

Bones is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and it’s logical pair him up with a fighter who gave him a run for his money last time.

The problem is, Evans looked far from convincing against Henderson. In terms of numbers and the overall narrative of the fight, he was the deserved winner. Unfortunately, he didn’t distance himself enough from Henderson over the three rounds to make you think he’s a vastly improved fighter from the one who lost to Jones and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Lyoto Machida and Alexander Gustafsson have done more to earn a shot against Jones at this point.

That’s why it’s vital that he look as impressive as possible in his next fight. At 33 years old, he still has plenty of time to work his way up the ladder with a couple of victories. Realistically, that’s only going to happen if he steps his game up from this win.

A split decision win isn’t enough to catapult Evans to the top of the rankings and set him up with a rematch against Jones. As a result, he needs to choose his next opponent wisely and make sure to leave no doubt in the fans’ minds as to whom the winner is.

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UFC 160 Results: Fighters Whose Stock Took the Biggest Hit on Saturday Night

Spare a thought for the fighters who were left on the mat at UFC 160?If there was any doubt Cain Velasquez was the best heavyweight fighter in UFC, he made sure to erase any questions following his first-round win over Antonio Silva.Velasquez was one o…

Spare a thought for the fighters who were left on the mat at UFC 160?

If there was any doubt Cain Velasquez was the best heavyweight fighter in UFC, he made sure to erase any questions following his first-round win over Antonio Silva.

Velasquez was one of the biggest winners of the night, but what about the losers?

Plenty of guys elevated their UFC careers, but there were just as many—if not more—whose careers were hurt after Saturday night.

Here are three fighters who received the biggest hit after UFC 160.

 

Gray Maynard

Gray Maynard came into the night ranked No. 3 in UFC’s lightweight rankings. The premise was pretty simple in his fight with T.J. Grant. If Maynard won, he’d be looking at a meeting with lightweight champion Benson Henderson. A loss would mean a tumble down the pecking order.

Unfortunately for Maynard, he suffered a first-round knockout, and as a result, it’s Grant getting the shot against Henderson (h/t Mike Johnston of Sportsnet.ca):

This is the second loss in three fights for Maynard and follows up what was a less-than-stellar outing against Clay Guida back in June.

Maynard could have used this fight as a major stepping stone. Instead, he’s taken a big step back and has a lot of work to do in order to establish himself as a title contender again.

 

Antonio Silva

Silva is an intimidating presence in the Octagon, but when the fight actually begins, he’s exposed in a big way. When he knocked out Alistair Overeem, Bigfoot made himself into a title contender. On Saturday night, Silva made fans remember the difference between the guy who’s next in line for a shot and the guy who can legitimately challenge the champion.

Two fights in a row Velasquez has made quick work of Silva, who had very little to offer in the way of offense (h/t Mike Chiappetta of MMAFighting.com):

When you combine the time of their two fights, you don’t even get a full round of action. It took Velasquez 3:36 at UFC 146 and 1:21 at UFC 160.

As long as either Velasquez or Junior dos Santos is on top in the heavyweight division, it’s hard to take Silva as a serious threat. He can be fun to watch and has some name recognition, but his limitations were on display at UFC 160.

 

Alistair Overeem

Poor Overeem. He didn’t even fight and yet he took a huge hit on Saturday night. The more you thought about Silva’s knockout, the more you kept thinking back to when Overeem was felled by Bigfoot at UFC 156.

Overeem was the heavy favorite going into the fight and was ahead before being knocked out in the third round.

Saturday night could have been when Overeem took on dos Santos to re-establish himself as a heavyweight title contender. Instead, he backed out and is now looking at a bout with Travis Browne in August.

Overeem has a lot to prove. The loss to Silva could be nothing more than a fluke, but he wasn’t helped by the way Bigfoot was outclassed by Velasquez.

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Jon Jones Toe Injury: Bones Must Be Patient During Rehab Process

Baby steps, Bones. Just take baby steps.In his first-round knockout of Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, Jon Jones suffered a gruesome toe dislocation on his left foot. He’s since had the toe repaired and sent a picture of it to his Twitter followers:With that …

Baby steps, Bones. Just take baby steps.

In his first-round knockout of Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, Jon Jones suffered a gruesome toe dislocation on his left foot. He’s since had the toe repaired and sent a picture of it to his Twitter followers:

With that out of the way, Jones now faces the hard part: rehab.

It’s not a question of whether or not Jones will do the work necessary in order to return just as good as he was, if not better, before the injury. The issue is when he will start to do that work.

As with any competitive athlete, the desire to get back to work will be great. Unfortunately for him, he has to do the one thing he’s trained himself to hardly ever do—sit at home and relax.

Jones is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He didn’t get there by sitting at home and occasionally showing up in the Octagon. The idea of being immobilized for weeks on end is an idea that’s completely foreign to him.

No matter how much Jones wants to return, he can’t afford to rush the rehab process. He’ll only do more damage to his toe.

A big toe is critical in something like mixed martial arts. That one little appendage carries massive importance for a fighter. Even someone with Jones’ talent will struggle with a big toe injury. You need to have it strong in order to be mobile and balanced around the Octagon and get the leverage necessary on attacking movements.

If Jones starts training before he’s ready, his big toe will not have enough time to properly heal. He could still remain a talented fighter simply because of how much better he is than the competition, but the gulf in class will begin to narrow. Jones would go from being a great fighter to just a good, maybe very good, fighter.

Coming back early would open him up for a loss in his return fight. Should that happen, he’ll be itching to get back. The toe will continue to be an issue as it won’t have a chance to strengthen.

Not to say that Jones should retire, but, at this point, there isn’t much for him to prove. He doesn’t have a loss to Sonnen or another fighter to avenge. There isn’t anyone claiming he doesn’t deserve to wear the UFC light heavyweight championship. And he’s only 25 years old. He still has plenty of years ahead of him.

There is no immediate need for Jones to return to the Octagon. He can wait months to start training again and working toward his next fight.

Fans can wish Jones a speedy recovery, but it’s more important that he has a healthy and full recovery than a quick one.

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Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Title Fight Will Fail to Live Up to the Hype

As poets laureate Public Enemy espoused back in the 1980s, don’t believe the hype.The Light Heavyweight Title fight between Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 is going to be nothing more than a one-sided pummeling. Jones is one of the best pound-for…

As poets laureate Public Enemy espoused back in the 1980s, don’t believe the hype.

The Light Heavyweight Title fight between Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 is going to be nothing more than a one-sided pummeling. Jones is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and Sonnen is an overmatched challenger who’s used his mouth to get to the top.

If you haven’t read Tim Marchman’s wonderful takedown of Sonnen, do yourself a favor and check it out.

There’s nothing admirable about the way Sonnen has gotten to the top. He’s won fights, but without his mouth, Sonnen wouldn’t be anywhere near the title picture. Sure, he’s played the pro wrestling heel and managed to create a reaction. That doesn’t give him a free pass to say whatever he wants.

Sonnen has almost turned into a caricature of the kind of boxers Muhammad Ali would face off against back in the 60s and 70s. They would make disparaging, often racist remarks toward Ali in an effort to try and throw the champ off his game.

All of Sonnen‘s talk belies his actual talent in the Octagon, especially compared to his opponent. The champion summed up the situation perfectly back in November (h/t John Morgan of USA Today):

“Chael definitely doesn’t deserve to fight me, and everybody sees that,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “As long as people see that at the end of the day, I’m happy with that. But at the same time, a lot of people have said, ‘Why not be the guy to shut him up once and for all? Why not be the guy to make his words very irrelevant once and for all—put a stamp on what Anderson did to him.’ That’s what I’m going to try to do.”

While vastly overrated by his die-hard fans, Sonnen is a fighter with skill. He took Anderson Silva to the limit in their first fight, and that can’t be discounted.

But look at what happened in the rematch.

Silva took some blows, but none of them seemed to have much of an impact. The champion waited for an opportunity and found it with a knee that ended the fight in the second round.

Sonnen is a good fighter, but he’s simply nowhere near Jones’ quality. Jones is one of the best fighters in the world and may turn out to become one of the best light heavyweights in UFC history. There’s something staggering about the almost effortless way in which he’s won some of his fights.

The fans who will tune into UFC 159 for Sonnen vs. Jones likely fall into one of two categories. There’s the Sonnen fans who want and expect to see him beat the champion. Then there’s the other side, which—rather than being pro-Jones—is anti-Sonnen and want to see him knocked out or submitted, thus revealing him as the fraud he is.

Fans expecting the former are in for a big disappointment.

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Uriah Hall vs. Kelvin Gastelum: Prime Time Must Have Strong Display in UFC Debut

If Prime Time wants to be a star, he’s going to need to make the most of his prime-time debut in UFC.While it would be a huge upset and enjoyable to see Kelvin Gastelum win The Ultimate Fighter 17, most want to see Uriah Hall continue the dominant run …

If Prime Time wants to be a star, he’s going to need to make the most of his prime-time debut in UFC.

While it would be a huge upset and enjoyable to see Kelvin Gastelum win The Ultimate Fighter 17, most want to see Uriah Hall continue the dominant run he started early in the show.

Talented fighters are popular no matter their style. It’s the knockout artists who cause the greatest stir. There’s a different way you watch their fights. You know that it could all end on one punch, which is of course the case in any fight. But there’s a different level of excitement when seeing someone like Hall in the Octagon.

He’s won his last three fights on the show all by knockout. Rarely has a fighter created the kind of buzz that Hall has as a result of his performance on The Ultimate Fighter.

The 28-year-old looks destined for a huge rise, and that has to start on Saturday night.

Perhaps the hype train has gotten a little out of hand. It’s easy to look strong on TUF fighting guys who are a step below from what you see in UFC on each pay-per-view. Talk about a fight with Anderson Silva or having him contend for the title is ludicrous.

An encouraging sign is the way Hall himself has largely dismissed any sort of quick ascension to the top of the mountain and Chael Sonnen’s assertion that he could handle Silva (h/t Matt Erickson and John Morgan of MMAjunkie.com):

I was shocked. I was like, ‘Give me time.’ But sometimes as a coach, he’ll see things in you that you don’t see. I guess as my coach, in that time, he saw that potential. Maybe down the line, one day it’ll happen. But it’s not something I’m pushing. I feel, personally, the guy’s a walking legend. If I ever get the opportunity one day, that’ll be great. But I’d rather work my way toward it like the rest of the guys.

That’s a very humble response from Hall, and you can only hope that any success won’t go to his head. He would do himself no favors by calling out Silva and demanding a title shot right now.

Clearly, Hall has a lot of work to do if he is to earn a shot for the UFC middleweight championship. He has a wealth of potential, but he would be far from the first fighter to have looked great early in their careers, only to then flame out and fade from the title spotlight.

Getting a dominant win against Gastelum will be a great step for Hall in establishing himself as a bona fide star. People who haven’t been paying attention to The Ultimate Fighter would be forced to stand up and take notice of Hall.

A loss would make the criticism of the fighter only grow louder and knock him down the pecking order.

If Hall wants to be a monster in the UFC, he needs to start on Saturday night.

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Nick Diaz: Time Away from the Octagon Is Best Thing for Beleaguered Fighter

Nick Diaz needs to step away from the UFC and evaluate his career.Diaz’s last appearance in the Octagon resulted in a one-sided loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158. Losing to GSP isn’t a bad thing considering he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fight…

Nick Diaz needs to step away from the UFC and evaluate his career.

Diaz‘s last appearance in the Octagon resulted in a one-sided loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158. Losing to GSP isn’t a bad thing considering he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The way in which Diaz lost, though, was troubling. He was clearly the inferior fighter and never looked close to winning at any point in the fight.

Following the loss, Diaz openly contemplated retirement (h/t MMA Weekly):

“I have to decide if I even want to do this anymore,” he said. “To be honest, I don’t know if I really got any more.

“I don’t make excuses; I think I’m done with mixed martial arts. I’m tired of getting banged up like this.”

Then came the news that Diaz has apparently never paid taxes (per ESPN.com). If the United States government was able to get Al Capone on tax evasion, nailing Diaz should be no problem at all. That is, of course, if the U.S. strongly pursues charges on the fighter.

Few UFC fans actually buy Diaz at his word when he says he might be done with mixed martial arts. What many should agree on is that Diaz‘s best option at this point is to take a break and sort his life out.

It’s hard to downgrade exactly how serious it is not to pay your taxes. Unlike other possible scenarios, you can’t run away from your tax record no matter how much money you pay your attorneys. Diaz has a good chance of spending at least some time in jail.

He and his lawyers need to sort that out immediately to lessen whatever punishment Diaz will likely receive. It’s not going to look good in the eyes of the government if Diaz just goes right back to training and appears blasé about the situation.

Then there’s the question of Diaz‘s desire.

At only 30 years old, Diaz would be foolish to end his career. He’s not embarrassing himself in the Octagon and has a few years of fighting ahead. That doesn’t mean anything, though, if Diaz is questioning his motivation for fighting in the first place.

That’s why it’s important for Diaz to regain his desire to fight. He doesn’t seem like the mercenary type who’s only motivated by money. He has a passion for the sport; otherwise he wouldn’t have lasted this long. Over time, he’ll find that passion again.

Diaz‘s post-fight thoughts could have been the result of nothing more than frustration. You wouldn’t expect him to take a fight in which he had been outclassed by St-Pierre very well. He just needs to get back on the horse and pick up a victory against somebody like Carlos Condit. Winning can cure many woes.

Diaz needs to get his career back on track. But more importantly, he needs to get his life on track.

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