Author: Kyle Symes

UFC 173 Results: What Happened to Jake Ellenberger?

Remember the days when Jake Ellenberger was one of the more feared fighters at 170 pounds? It appears Mr. Ellenberger himself has forgotten that as well.
The Nebraska native was thoroughly outclassed by his UFC 173 opponent, Robbie Lawler. There was ne…

Remember the days when Jake Ellenberger was one of the more feared fighters at 170 pounds? It appears Mr. Ellenberger himself has forgotten that as well.

The Nebraska native was thoroughly outclassed by his UFC 173 opponent, Robbie Lawler. There was never a moment when MMA fans could picture Ellenberger finding a way to have his hand raised after witnessing Lawler pick him apart.

The fight was similar to Ellenberger‘s last bout with Rory MacDonald. Both fights had quite a bit of build behind them, but in the end, Ellenberger simply froze.

It happened against MacDonald, and it happened again at UFC 173.

MacDonald also came in with a conservative game plan so Ellenberger didn’t look as bad as his strategy was that night. But at UFC 173, faced with the cool, calculating destruction machine Lawler, Ellenberger couldn’t make it to the final bell.

It was just a few short years ago that Ellenberger was everyone’s favorite dark-horse title contender. He blasted through Jake Shields to end 2011 and went 2-1 over the course of 2012. He also dropped Nate Marquardt inside the first round at UFC 158 which effectively put him “in the mix.”

For everything good Ellenberger did in the lead up to becoming a top-tier talent, he’s completely ruined that with his performances in big-time fights.

Against both MacDonald and Lawler, Ellenberger landed virtually no offense in the early goings. The seconds ticked by, then minutes went by without Ellenberger landing even a significant strike.

Maybe we’re seeing another Kenny Florian-like situation play out? Ellenberger is clearly game enough to feast on the mid-range welterweights, but he falters mightily when the bright lights of expectation turn on.

It’s one thing to be an elite fighter and simply have an off night, but Ellenberger isn’t an elite fighter right now. I’m not sure what the issue is, either. If he had been injured with a broken hand or rib that’s one thing, but it looks like Ellenberger has hit a mental wall with no way to get past it.

He’s not a young fighter anymore, so he should have the mental tools to work past that. Unfortunately for Ellenberger, those opportunities are coming against some of the best welterweights in the world.

Hopefully the UFC helps him out by giving him someone on the lower end of the welterweight spectrum to help get his confidence back. It’s been two bad nights at the office for Ellenberger, hopefully he doesn’t have a third or we may be talking about one of the biggest wastes of potential in recent UFC history.

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Dana White on Vitor Belfort’s Drug Test Results: ‘Absolutely Irrelevant’

The MMA world may be anxiously awaiting the day the results of Vitor Belfort’s random drug test from February are released, but don’t count Dana White among them.
The UFC president talked to the media for his usual pre-fight media scrum, an…

The MMA world may be anxiously awaiting the day the results of Vitor Belfort’s random drug test from February are released, but don’t count Dana White among them.

The UFC president talked to the media for his usual pre-fight media scrum, and when Belfort’s name came up, White carefully navigated through the questions. MMA Fighting has the video while Bloody Elbow provided the quotes.

White was initially asked if Belfort is getting a “bad rep” from MMA fans due to his secretive nature.

He’s not though, I mean, he’s not. I mean, when he showed up in Nevada, the thing that was bad about that is, he showed up and they’re like, ‘You’re on testosterone?’ ‘Yeah, I’m on testosterone. I mean everybody knew it.’ ‘You shouldn’t have come to Nevada until you were off it.’

If you’ll recall, Belfort was given a surprise test by the Nevada State Athletic Commission while attending the World MMA Awards back in February. Due to the timing of the test, the results were not made public and will not be made public unless Belfort himself chooses to do so.

Not only does Belfort’s attorney believe the results are irrelevant, so too does White.

It’s absolutely irrelevant, because I’m telling you right now, we tested the shit out of him before every fight he fought. I told you guys, I don’t remember at what point it was, I said ‘Believe me, we’re gonna put him through the ringer with the TRT thing.’ And we did.

The fact that Belfort has refused to release the results has only fueled the speculation surrounding his usage of testosterone replacement therapy. The Brazilian has enjoyed a career renaissance since his UFC 126 loss to Anderson Silva, which, coincidentally, is around the time he started using TRT.

Since the loss to Silva, Belfort hasn’t lost at 185 pounds, and his only loss came against UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.

It wasn’t the fact that Belfort was winning that raised a few eyeballs—it was in the way he won his fights. His last three fights have all ended by knockout, with all three winning Knockout of the Night awards.

There’s no doubt about it that TRT…I mean that’s what the stuff is designed to do. Stuff is designed to make a guy my age work like a guy Jon Jones’ age. That’s what TRT is for. And it worked, it definitely worked for Vitor.

And work it did. Just look at any number of side-by-side comparisons and it’s easy to see that Belfort is in perhaps the best shape of his life at 37 years of age.

Further adding speculation to the performance-enhancing drug discussion with Belfort is the fact that he’s competed primarily in Brazil, despite the fact White denies hiding him there.

White would continue his defense of Belfort and testing but only made the issue more problematic.

Here’s the thing: Lets say he came in to Nevada and his levels were off the charts. He wasn‘t fighting. Came in here to talk about getting licensed and the thing was, ‘Welcome to Nevada. You wanna be licensed here, you have to stop taking TRT.’ As a guy who’s not fighting, you can go around, do whatever the hell you want with TRT.

There are a number of ways fans could take that last line and run with it, but I’ll instead choose to focus on the timing of Belfort’s surprise test. Now as you can see, White has no issues with fighters doing whatever they want with TRT so long as they don’t have a fight coming up.

The only problem is, Belfort was tested on Feb. 7 and was still scheduled to fight at UFC 173. Belfort didn’t pull out of his UFC 173 contest with Chris Weidman until Feb. 28, the day after the NAC banned TRT use.

The bottom line is that all this talk of Belfort cheating and TRT abuse can all be put aside if Belfort released the results of his test. If he passed with flying colors, one would assume he’d want to prove it to the world.

Sure, he may not care what the average fan thinks, but it’s not only fans calling him out about TRT abuse.

If Belfort did pass his random test, it makes little sense for him to not reveal the results. He was and is still labeled a cheater by many MMA fans, and his secretive nature of those test results only allows those doubters to have a louder voice.

Fans and fighters will continue to speculate until the day Belfort either reveals those random test results or passes a test administered in the States.

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MMA: Kenny Monday Fired as BlackZilians Head Wrestling Coach

While the Blackzilians are seemingly on the rise as a team, one man who won’t be there to help any longer is Kenny Monday.
The former wrestling coach was let go this week by the team’s manager, Glenn Robinson (h/t Bloody Elbow). As is the case with mos…

While the Blackzilians are seemingly on the rise as a team, one man who won’t be there to help any longer is Kenny Monday.

The former wrestling coach was let go this week by the team’s manager, Glenn Robinson (h/t Bloody Elbow). As is the case with most firings, there are two sides to the story.

First there’s Monday’s point of view.

I was blindsided by [the release]. I really don’t know what his reason is. I don’t know if they are struggling financially, or what it is. I’m not sure what’s going on here. He wasn’t man enough to come talk to me himself. Life goes on (Cagewriter).

Indeed, it seemed as though the team had finally put its rough beginning behind them and were ready to turn the corner and become a true powerhouse of a MMA gym. Even though Monday acted as if he was blindsided with the news, former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans paints a different picture.

“It’s something that has been kind of brewing with things not working out with Kenny and the management,” Evans told MMAFighting. “It reached its limit. It became hard to work with him.”

BE’s wrestling guru, Mike Riordan, broke down the series of events and brings up some interesting points with Monday’s firing coinciding with the injury to Eddie Alvarez.

The Bellator champion explained on The MMA Hour that he suffered the concussion that knocked him out of his scheduled clash with Michael Chandler at Bellator 120 during a Monday wrestling practice.

Alvarez gave insight into how intense the wrestling practices were as well. One would assume that the practices were extremely tough if Alvarez, a world class level athlete, was left feeling exhausted and dizzy.

Monday is a former gold medalist in Olympic freestyle wrestling and has competed in three different Olympic Games. Monday also earned All-American honors to go with a national championship in three years at Oklahoma State University.

He’s also a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Odds are Monday won’t be out of work for long with those credentials unless some more dirty laundry comes out about his departure from the Blackzilians.

The Blackzilians struggled initially with coaches and training partners alike leaving the gym, but saw a number of guys succeed, most notably the career resurgence of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

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Daniel Cormier Believes ‘King Mo’ Lawal Is Going to End Quinton Jackson’s Career

Bellator is betting on a competitive grudge match between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal as the headliner for Bellator 120. One man who doesn’t think like that is UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel “DC” Cormier.
Cormier post…

Bellator is betting on a competitive grudge match between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal as the headliner for Bellator 120. One man who doesn’t think like that is UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel “DC” Cormier.

Cormier posted some words of encouragement to “King Mo” on his Instagram account. Apparently “DC” doesn’t just think Lawal will win, but will also put an end to Jackson’s MMA career.

This guy insisted that I fight. This guys called me when I was at my lowest point everyday. This guy paid my mortgage when I was broke. Hes my brother and I can’t wait until he competes this weekend in his 1st ppv main event. You don’t meet many people like Muhammad Lawal in one lifetime and I am lucky to have this guy. Watch him put an end to rampage career. Mo you a champion my brother and good luck. You won’t need it. #brother #teamthirsty #okstate #worldteam my brother. Kick his ass MO! @kingmofh

Cormier and Lawal were roommates while they were attending Oklahoma State University, and Cormier has detailed how Lawal has helped him through some very tragic events.

For Lawal, it certainly paints a different picture of “King Mo.” The image most fans are shown of the Bellator light heavyweight is one of confidence/arrogance and a certain level of flash. He does wear a crown to the cage after all.

Lawal will face “Rampage” in the main event of Bellator 120, the first time the promotion will put on a pay-per-view event. The winner will be crowned Season 10 light heavyweight tournament winner and receive a title shot down the line.

“King Mo” has a litany of amateur wrestling credentials, along with a Strikeforce title on his mantle. He will be looking for his third title opportunity after getting bounced in the Season 8 semifinals by Emanuel Newton and losing to Newton once again in a rematch at Bellator 106.

Jackson, meanwhile, has yet to taste defeat inside the Bellator cage. He’s one of the most recognizable names in the sport of MMA and recently knocked out former Bellator light heavyweight champ Christian M’Pumbu in the first round.

“Rampage” will undoubtedly be looking to add another knockout to his resume, as his punching power is among the best in MMA. Meanwhile, it will be something of a question mark as to what “King Mo” will use as a game plan. He has the wrestling credentials but has been looking to show off his improved striking game in recent fights.

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Pat Barry Breaks Silence on KO Loss as Only Pat Barry Can

Pat Barry became a popular figure in MMA due to his fun personality. It looks like he still has a good attitude despite a recent run of bad luck in the fight game.
Barry posted a video on his Instagram account poking fun at all the concussion and retir…

Pat Barry became a popular figure in MMA due to his fun personality. It looks like he still has a good attitude despite a recent run of bad luck in the fight game.

Barry posted a video on his Instagram account poking fun at all the concussion and retirement talk surrounding him.

Zack Mwekassa defeated Barry by vicious knockout at Glory 16 in front of a hometown crowd for Barry. The loss was Barry’s third straight in combat sports after he ended his UFC career on a two-fight losing skid.

Worse yet, Barry has been knocked out in all three of his recent losses. All in all, Barry has lost by knockout six times throughout his combat sports career.

The string of losses even prompted former training partner and WWE star Brock Lesnar to ask for UFC president Dana White‘s help in getting Barry to retire.

It’d be one thing if Barry was losing with guys unloading punches as he turtled up to block them, but that’s not the case with his recent MMA losses and his loss in Glory. There was no doubt in any of those that the lights went out for Barry.

Although Barry’s brain cells have undoubtedly been scrambled too much recently, it’s nice to see he still hasn’t lost his sense of comedy. I don’t know Barry’s financial situation and if he’s fighting to live or simply lives to fight at this point in his career, but I do know Barry has suffered some bad knockout losses.

At least he can still make fans happy with laughter even if the results in the cage/ring aren’t what he wants.

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Soa Palelei vs. Jared Rosholt Added to UFC Fight Night 43

Soa “The Hulk” Palelei isn’t wasting any time with signing up for his next fight in the Octagon.
According to MMA Junkie (h/t The New Zealand Herald), Palelei is set to square off against former three-time All-American wrestler Jared Rosholt.
Pale…

Soa “The Hulk” Palelei isn’t wasting any time with signing up for his next fight in the Octagon.

According to MMA Junkie (h/t The New Zealand Herald), Palelei is set to square off against former three-time All-American wrestler Jared Rosholt.

Palelei is making a quick turnaround after a decisive knockout win over Ruan Potts at UFC Fight Night 40. He took virtually no damage and ended the contest in just over two minutes. The victory marked Palelei’s third straight win since returning to the UFC in 2013.

All of Palelei’s wins in his UFC return have come via KO/TKO as well. Overall, Palelei hasn’t lost an MMA bout since 2010.

Rosholt, meanwhile, is also on an impressive winning streak. He has six consecutive wins to his credit, with his last two coming inside the Octagon. Rosholt has some of the best wrestling credentials in MMA but has struggled to translate that into his UFC game. His victories over Walt Harris and Daniel Omielanczuk were less than spectacular.

UFC Fight Night 43 taking place in New Zealand no doubt intrigued “The Hulk,” as he’ll undoubtedly be the fan favorite in this matchup. Palelei will also likely be the betting favorite given how impressive he’s looked in his UFC return while Rosholt has struggled despite his success.

UFC Fight Night 43 is scheduled to be headlined by a middleweight contest between Nate Marquardt and James Te Huna. The card takes place on June 28 and will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass in the United States.

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