Author: Luke Thomas

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — UFC Hall of Fame entrant and MMA pioneer Ken Shamrock spoke to MMA Fighting on Wednesday at the Bellator 138 open workouts. The fighter spoke about facing Kimbo Slice, what went wrong in his career, how he corrected it, why ‘entitlements’ held him back for years and much more.

Bellator heavyweights Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock battle on Friday as the main event of Bellator 138 in St. Louis, Missouri. The two were supposed to meet in the main event of EliteXC: Heat on October 4, 2008, but Shamrock was forced out of the bout with a late injury. Slice would go on to fight and lose to Seth Petruzelli in the main event that evening. This preview special tells the story of this fight and how it was made.

The mixed martial arts world witnessed Fabricio Werdum defeat Cain Velasquez on Saturday at UFC 188 in Mexico City to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. That world naturally includes other top members of the UFC heavyweight division, many of whom had their futures radically adjusted – and arguably improved – with Werdum as the new heavyweight king.

One such man is Alistair Overeem, who just happens to be the last man to defeat Werdum, a bout that took place in Strikeforce roughly four years ago. The Dutch heavyweight saw what happened to Velasquez and while he has criticisms of his preparation, he’s also quick to acknowledge the Brazilian’s growth.

“First of all, big kudos to Werdum,” Overeem told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s The MMA Hour. “He’s made great development as a MMA fighter. He’s always been tricky, he’s always been persistent with his black belt and jiu-jitsu skills. But now, he truly is a stand-up warrior and he is an all-around MMA master. He’s shown great stuff and the heavyweight division is entirely wide open now.”

Overeem was able to defeat Werdum by unanimous decision at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum in June of 2011. It was an unusual fight with not a lot of action. It was also one where Werdum was reluctant to exchange with Overeem on the feet. Overeem believes Werdum has changed since then, but he’s also quick to note the context for Cain and why that mattered so greatly.

“I fought Werdum and had an excellent performance, but I also thought after that Cain did not have a good performance. Usually, cardio is Cain’s weapon. It looked like the high altitude was bothering him. Of course, the ring rust. He didn’t fight in two years. So, it was a little bit something you could expect.

“Werdum is coming off a win streak, he’s fighting every couple of months,” Overeem continued. “Cain did not fight in two years and I don’t think it’s clever thing to not understand the high altitude thing. Wrestlers in the U.S., they know about that stuff, so maybe they underestimated it. I don’t know.”

Overeem argued that consistency is key. All of the talk of Werdum’s guard or striking or clinch is well and good, but there’s just something to be said for activity. Because Velasquez lacked that, it was hard to expect an optimal performance from him.

“If you haven’t fought for two years and as a heavyweight champion as Cain was, there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on you. Especially, the last fight didn’t happen and then now it has to happen. I think that was a factor, too, to be honest.

“It’s two years not being in the Octagon, not dealing with the media, not dealing with the tests,” Overeem explained. “You’re a champion, but you need to get in there. As one of my old coaches said, you need to fight as much as possible because that’s where you grow, that’s where you maintain sharpness. That’s what they didn’t do.”

Still, even if one granted Velasquez looked less than himself, there’s also no denying Werdum’s abilities. Overeem is the first to concede whoever that was he faced in 2011 is not the exactly same guy.

“He’s the same guy, but he’s definitely evolved. I’ve evolved, too,” Overeem noted. “And to answer your next question if I think I can beat him, yes, I do think I can beat him. I have been following his progress throughout the years and I can say that I am very hungry to fight him. I definitely do see weaknesses with him. He’s a great athlete, he’s doing great at the moment, but he has weaknesses and I feel I am the guy that can expose those.”

Notably, though, Overeem isn’t exactly calling out Werdum. As he explained it, his job is to fight and he’s happy to fight whoever is next. That said, if the offer came along to face the current champion, he’d jump at the opportunity.

“It’s like this, I’m not the UFC. I’m not a matchmaker,” he said. “I’m the last guy who beat Werdum and I’m going to leave it up to the UFC to decide what they want to do next, but if the phone rings, I will be available. That’s that.”

The only thing Overeem knows for certain is that in addition to already having beaten Werdum, he’s the guy to do it again. He knows how to do it and proved it once. And based on what he observed on Saturday, doing it a second time is more than doable.

“Yeah, definitely,” Overeem responded when asked if Werdum has shortcomings that can be exploited. “I see several things.”

Kelvin Gastelum looked dominant in his win over Nate Marquardt at UFC 188 on Saturday night, but the future for The Ultimate Fighter winner is a bit uncertain.

Sure, he’s got a future in the UFC, but at what weight class? Gastelum defeated Marquardt in the middleweight division after being forced to compete there following a badly botched attempt to make welterweight against Tyron Woodley in January of this year. That marked the second time Gastelum has failed to make welterweight in his six welterweight UFC fights.

According to UFC President Dana White, Gastelum is well liked, but isn’t going back to welterweight any time soon.

“Well, you know, I love this kid. He’s such a great fighter,” White told the media at the UFC 188 post-fight press conference. “First of all, he goes in with a kid like Marquardt and stands right in the pocket with him and exchanges. His stand-up looked great tonight, but I don’t believe he can make 170. I honestly don’t believe he can make 170.

“He’s done nothing to prove he can make 170 pounds,” White continued. “And when he does make 170 pounds, a) it’s dangerous, and b) it screws a lot of things up around here. He’s going to have to get serious and get a nutritionist. He had to cut to make 185 and he came in right on the nose. I am the furthest from confident that he is capable of making 170. No matter how much I like him or how much he says he can do it, I don’t believe it.”

White didn’t say Gastelum can never go back to welterweight, but until he meaningfully proves he can to White’s satisfaction, Gastelum’s future resides at middleweight.

Besides, White noted, Gastelum performed very well in his UFC middleweight debut.

“He made 185 and he looked great at 185. He looked healthy. He didn’t look like he was going to die at the weigh-ins, and he fought great tonight. So, if you’re me or anybody who even remotely cares about the kid, where would you want him to fight? At 185,” White said. “I get it. He wants to be at 170, but he’s going to have to do something to get to 170 and just training and whatever he’s been doing hasn’t been cutting it.”

Gastelum seemed understanding and compliant. When asked for a response to White’s concerns, Gastelum said he shared them, but intended to prove he can do what White thinks — right now — that he can’t.

“Like he said, I haven’t done anything to prove it,” Gastelum admitted, “but actions speak louder than words. Now that he said I just need to prove it, I’m going to prove it. That’s fine.”

White followed Gastelum’s statement with a reminder of what the effects have been with the fighter’s failed weight cuts and why it can’t be risked again.

“He’s proven he can make it, but he looks like he’s about to die when he makes it,” White said. “And he’s gotta go back and try it one more time, you know what I mean, to come back and make the weight.

“It’s not healthy,” he said. “It’s not good for him and it’s definitely not good for us.”

This is the UFC 188 live blog for Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum, a heavyweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico.

Velasquez, who has won four of his past five fights, will face Werdum, who has won five straight fights, in the main event.

Check out the UFC 188 live blog below.

More Coverage: UFC 188 Results | UFC news

Round 1: They open trading in the pocket and both land rights, but Werdum slips and falls to his back. Velasquez doesn’t follow. Werdum stands and they clinch. Velasquez lands an overhand right, but they tie back up. Velasquez kneeing the legs of Werdum and Velasquez scores a takedown. Werdum rolls to his base and they separate. As they stand, Velasquez’s striking begins to take over. Werdum catches a kick and takes Velasquez down! Velasquez stands, but they clinch again. They separate and Werdum scores a good inside leg kick and Velasquez returns the favor. Now a nice jab from the Brazilian. Two right hands land for the Brazilian now. A right scores for Werdum, but Velasquez returns to the favor.

MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Velasquez

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

This is the UFC 188 live blog for Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez, a lightweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico.

Melendez, who has won three of his past five fights, will face Alvarez, who also has won three of his past five fights, on the main card.

Check out the UFC 188 live blog below.

More Coverage: UFC 188 Results | UFC news

Round 1: Alvarez takes center, but Melendez hasn’t ceded much territory. Melendez now with a series of jabs. Two hard overhand rights for Melendez rock Alvarez badly. Alvarez hangs on, although he eats a jab as well. Another right hand from Melendez finds the mark and Alvarez isn’t really throwing. Good outside leg kick from Alvarez, but he eats another jab for his efforts. Decent body kick now from Alvarez as well. As the round ends, Alvarez’s left eye is badly swollen.

MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Melendez

Round 2: Alvarez scores first in the second with a right hand, but his left eye is seemingly swollen shut. The replay from the first round showed it was an overhand elbow. Alvarez in on the takedown against the fence, but Melendez is digging underhooks. The fight is temporarily halted from a low blow, but is quickly restarted. Good outside leg kick from Alvarez lands again. Takedown attempt from Melendez goes nowhere. Melendez eats another and is in on a single, but Melendez stuffs it right away. Finally Alvarez gets him down, but Melendez gets to his base and then to his feet. Spinning back elbow lands on Melendez before the bell.

MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Alvarez

Round 3: Alvarez is in on the double and gets in, but Melendez stands. The two trade punches in the center with Alvarez eating a jab, but throwing an overhand right. Alvarez scores with an outside leg kick and attempts a double, but is stuffed against the fence. This time Alvarez gets the takedown and Melendez stands, but not quite as fast. They separate with about a minute left. Melendez is a little more active, but not hitting much. Spinning back elbow from Alvarez partially lands and Melendez is bleeding.

MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Alvarez and the fight 29-28 Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez def. Gilbert Melendez via split decision (29-28 Alvarez, 29-28 Melendez, 29-28 Alvarez)