Author: Josh Martin

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans: Suga’s Mouth Proves Mightier Than His Fists

It’s now clear why “Suga” Rashad Evans spent so much time running his mouth prior to his UFC light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones at UFC 145 on Saturday night. It’s now clear why Evans put so much energy into calling out his former sparring par…

It’s now clear why “Suga” Rashad Evans spent so much time running his mouth prior to his UFC light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones at UFC 145 on Saturday night. It’s now clear why Evans put so much energy into calling out his former sparring partner, suggesting to anyone who would ask (and even some who didn’t) that his buddy “Bones” had betrayed him in pursuit of the title.

Because, well, there wasn’t much else he could do to slow down Jones, much less rip the title belt off his waist. Like Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida before him, Evans couldn’t quite handle Jones’ size, skill, agility and length in the Octagon.

Nor could Evans cope with Jones’ elbows, which the 24-year-old put to devastating effect, on top of a barrage of punches and kicks over five punishing rounds at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA.

It was as thorough a beatdown as Evans has ever encountered, though Jones still praised Evans for giving him the toughest fight of his career.

True, the result didn’t look all that difficult for Jones to achieve. He failed to knock Evans out, but that hardly precluded him from earning a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Then again, when has victory for Jones ever seemed easy to the naked eye? Of his previous 15 wins, only two had gone the distance.

And his one career defeat came by disqualification, for hammering Matt Hamill too viciously with those same elbows (or, an obscure rules violation) that did so much damage to Suga Rashad.

It’s tough to blame Evans, then, for trashing Jones as he did for so long. The only chance he ever had of breaking Bones’ stranglehold on the light heavyweight division was if he somehow found a way into his head.

Which is to say, Evans never had a chance. Though the credit to Jones should far outweigh any blame that might fall on Rashad’s slumped shoulders.

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Rousey vs. Tate: Arm Bar on Miesha Tate Makes Rowdy Ronda Deserving Champion

Ronda Rousey silenced her legions of doubters in the world of MMA with a rousing victory over Miesha Tate to secure the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title on Saturday.True, “Rowdy” Ronda came into the fight as the heavy favorite to take the belt fr…

Ronda Rousey silenced her legions of doubters in the world of MMA with a rousing victory over Miesha Tate to secure the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title on Saturday.

True, “Rowdy” Ronda came into the fight as the heavy favorite to take the belt from Tate, who’d retrieved it from Marloes Coenen in July of 2011. Rousey had been undefeated in four previous professional bouts, none of which lasted longer than 49 seconds.

However, the brevity of those bouts, combined with this being Rousey’s debut as a bantamweight, left room for folks to question whether she could handle herself against a top-quality combatant, someone capable of making Rousey “sing for her supper” for once.

It only took Rousey 4:27—or 2:09 longer than she’d spent in the arena during her four previous fights combined—to put those concerns to rest. Rousey was energetic, intense and intimidating from the get-go, though Tate did her best to get Rousey on her heels with some solid strikes at the start.

Still, Tate’s sturdy standup game wasn’t enough to prevent Rousey from scoring takedowns, the second of which resulted in the arm bar that dislocated Tate’s elbow.

As nauseating as Tate’s injury was, the real story here lies with Rousey’s use of her spectacular judo skills, including the throw that got Tate to the mat a second time. Rousey will likely face Sarah Kaufman in her first title defense after Kaufman topped Alexis Davis in Saturday’s undercard.

Until then, Rousey can enjoy her newly validated Strikeforce stardom, with a rather gruesome highlight to convince those few remaining haters that she, indeed, is a force to be reckoned with all her own.

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UFC Undisputed 3: New Game Pushes MMA Further into Pop Culture Relevance

Ladies, if you’re reading this and you’re still trying to figure out what to get your man for Valentine’s Day (assuming there’s to be any gift-giving reciprocity on this most Hallmarky of Hallmark holidays), then you may want to consider standing in li…

Ladies, if you’re reading this and you’re still trying to figure out what to get your man for Valentine’s Day (assuming there’s to be any gift-giving reciprocity on this most Hallmarky of Hallmark holidays), then you may want to consider standing in line at your local video game purveyor on Tuesday to grab a copy of UFC Undisputed 3.

OK, so that isn’t likely to happen much, but wouldn’t it be interesting if it does?

A mixed martial arts video game serving as the jumping-off point for a seismic shift in America’s culture of consumption—that has to rank right up there among UFC president Dana White‘s most coveted fantasies, alongside Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao opting to settle their Cold War-style score in the Octagon and getting Carmen Electra and Marilyn Monroe to do the ringside walk.

That aside, the release of the latest UFC video game will serve as a noteworthy barometer of where MMA currently ranks in the nation’s collective sports conscience. The previous edition proved to be something of a boondoggle for developer THQ, which saw the game’s sales check in well below expectations.

Of course, much has changed since May of 2010, when the last UFC Undisputed was released in North America. The UFC has absorbed WEC and Strikeforce and has begun broadcasting some of its best bouts on FOX and the network’s cable television affiliates.

Big steps for the once-fledgling sport, to be sure. Now, if only the powers-that-be at the UFC headquarters could find a John Madden-like figure to serve as the face of its video-game franchise.

Hmmm…how about “Gracie UFC”?

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UFC on Fox 2 Results: Rashad Evans Tops Phil Davis to Earn Shot at Jon Jones

The main event at UFC on FOX 2, between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, was a classic case of master and understudy, a seasoned veteran matched against a promising upstart.Not surprisingly, the master took his pupil to school, earning a shot at the UFC Li…

The main event at UFC on FOX 2, between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, was a classic case of master and understudy, a seasoned veteran matched against a promising upstart.

Not surprisingly, the master took his pupil to school, earning a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight title against former teammate Jon Jones.

Albeit in less-than-impressive fashion.

Despite owning a three-inch edge in height and a four-inch advantage in reach on “Suga” Rashad, “Mr. Wonderful” struggled to sustain much of anything against the former champion.

Davis attempted to use his length to his advantage, but, more often than not, either failed to land any blows of consequence or found himself stymied when Evans closed the gap on him.

Evans had little trouble turning Davis’ kicks against him, too, as he scored takedowns on Davis by grabbing his leg to close each of the first two rounds.

Despite both combatants boasting strong wrestling pedigrees, it was Evans who truly separated himself on the ground. Davis struggled to get Evans down, and when he did, he had even more difficulty keeping Evans there.

On those occasions when Rashad didn’t turn the tables completely, he still managed to get up before Davis exacted much damage.

Davis kept things closer in the stand-up phases of the fight, though Evans still owned the evening when the fists came out.

That’s not to say that Suga Rashad necessarily dominated Phil Davis, or that Mr. Wonderful didn’t acquit himself well.

Quite the opposite, actually. As untouchable as Evans seemed at times, he struggled to put Davis away, allowing the 27-year-old with only 10 fights under his belt to hang around and show off the considerable potential that’s made him a top-10 Light Heavyweight.

Davis clearly has some work to do, but with time and the proper dedication, he will be a title contender in due time.

As for Evans, the form he displayed hardly suggested that he’d be able to hang in the Octagon with Jon “Bones” Jones.

Sure, Evans may know Jones’ strengths and weaknesses (if he has any) better than most, but if he can’t completely outclass a lesser opponent, how can he even hope to hang with a youngster who’s arguably the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the game today?

We’ll all have a better answer to that question when these two friends-turned-foes have the opportunity to settle their scores, once and for all, in April.

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UFC on Fox 2 Results: Chael Sonnen Slides Past Bisping to Earn Title Rematch

It wasn’t easy or pretty for Chael Sonnen, but in the end, the UFC Middleweight Division contender did just enough to earn a unanimous decision victory over Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2 and score a championship rematch with Anderson Silva.As is so o…

It wasn’t easy or pretty for Chael Sonnen, but in the end, the UFC Middleweight Division contender did just enough to earn a unanimous decision victory over Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2 and score a championship rematch with Anderson Silva.

As is so often the case in the UFC, these two fiery adversaries weren’t supposed to fight each other on Saturday night in Chicago. Sonnen was originally scheduled to meet Mark Munoz in the Octagon, but Munoz pulled out earlier this month on account of an injury. With Munoz out, UFC president Dana White filled the opening with Bisping, who’d been expecting to face Demian Maia. 

Chris Weidman, Bisping’s replacement, defeated Maia by unanimous decision.

Bisping displayed some serious moxie throughout the match, grappling with Sonnen against the cage for much of the first two rounds. Sonnen attempted several times to take “The Count” down but found the Briton difficult to keep down on the mat.

The fight largely fluctuated between slow struggles along the fence and furious strike showdowns in the middle of the Octagon through Rounds 1 and 2.

It wasn’t until Round 3 that Sonnen found room to thrust his preferred style firmly on the fight. With the two combatants noticeably drained, Sonnen went straight for the takedown, keeping Bisping on the ground for the bulk of the frame.

Sonnen spent plenty of time on top of Bisping, engaged in full mount but found it difficult to get much of a sustained ground-and-pound going against Bisping’s expert defense. At one point, Sonnen resorted to lifting Bisping up slightly and slamming him into the mat.

Still, Bisping couldn’t quite weasel his way out of Sonnen’s control until the final minute of the fight. Bisping was ultimately able to get back to his feet and even score a takedown of his own on Sonnen, though it was abundantly clear by that point that Sonnen had forced the judges to make a tough decision.

In the end, the folks at ringside favored Sonnen, 30-27 29-28 29-28, though Bisping had nothing for which to be ashamed. He gave the No. 2 middleweight all he could handle through three grueling rounds, never allowing Sonnen to completely impose his will and getting in some rather surprising maneuvers of his own.

Even so, the night and the fight belonged to Sonnen, and deservedly so. Sonnen’s gritty effort earned him a rematch with Anderson Silva, whom he nearly upended back in August of 2010 before “The Spider” forced him into submission with a triangle arm bar at the 3:10 mark of the fifth round.

Now comes the really difficult part for Sonnen—improving upon that effort against the man who may well be the best mixed-martial artist in the world today.

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UFC on Fox 2 Results: Charles Oliveira Makes Quick Work of Eric Wisely

Welcome to the UFC, Eric Wisely.Your introduction? A bout with Charles Oliveira, a 22-year-old making a debut of his own in the Featherweight Division at UFC on Fox 2.It turns out, the Illinois native would need much more than the support of the local …

Welcome to the UFC, Eric Wisely.

Your introduction? A bout with Charles Oliveira, a 22-year-old making a debut of his own in the Featherweight Division at UFC on Fox 2.

It turns out, the Illinois native would need much more than the support of the local fans at the United Center in Chicago to fend off “Do Bronx” and earn his first UFC victory.

Oliveira looked the part of a former title belt contender in his first fight as a Featherweight, catching “Little Lee” with some sharp, exploratory kicks before grabbing Wisely’s leg on an attempted blow and throwing the American on his back.

Rather than go right to grappling, Oliveira used his vantage point to strike Wisely with some jarring fists from the top down.

That is, until the Brazilian decided to get down and dirty on the mat. Oliveira got a hold of Wisely’s heel, but Wisely was able to escape his grasp briefly, and only in part.

Oliveira still owned a lock on Wisely’s foot, which he promptly turned into a leg lock and, even more devastatingly, into a back lock when Wisely tried to free himself a second time.

With victory in sight, Oliveira cranked Wisely back, forcing him to tap out at the 1:23 mark of the first round. 

The win brought to an end a three-match winless streak for Oliveira that saw him drop disappointing results to Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone surrounding a no-contest with Nik Lentz.

Oliveira still has a ways to go to scale the heights of the Featherweight Division, but at just 22 years old, “Do Bronx” still has plenty of good combat left ahead of him and more than enough talent to fight his way into contention.

As for Wisely, it’s back to the drawing board for the 27-year-old veteran. He’ll need to improve dramatically in his next outing, lest he give UFC president Dana White any more reason to cut him loose.

 

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