Author: Matthew Roth

UFC on Fuel TV 3 Results: Grades for All Main Card Fighters

UFC on Fuel TV 3 is in the books and with it some big changes in the UFC landscape. Donald Cerrone rebounded from his fight with Nate Diaz with a fantastic performance against Jeremy Stephens and Chan Sung Jung secured a title shot with his win over Du…

UFC on Fuel TV 3 is in the books and with it some big changes in the UFC landscape. Donald Cerrone rebounded from his fight with Nate Diaz with a fantastic performance against Jeremy Stephens and Chan Sung Jung secured a title shot with his win over Dustin Poirier. 

With that being said, let’s grade the performances of all the main card fighters. 

A+

Chan Sung Jung: Seriously, did anyone think that Jung would look that good against Dustin Poirier? I didn’t. I thought that Poirier would truck him. Ooops…That was the best we’ve seen Jung look in the UFC as he was able to beat Poirier in every aspect of a fight. I still worry that he’s taking too many punches, since you can’t let Jose Aldo hit you too much. But tonight, he had the best fight of his career. 

Donald Cerrone: I worried that the loss to Nate Diaz would have “broken” him as a fighter. Not that he’d be tentative, but that he wouldn’t fight his fights and instead try and adopt a “safe” game plan. Nope! He looked the best he has ever looked and put on a muay thai clinic. He looked like he was having fun in the cage and he absolutely dominated Jeremy Stephens. I’d love to see him against the winner of Guida/Maynard.

A-

Tom Lawlor: Happy Birthday, Tom Lawlor. You picked up a much needed win and did it in dominant fashion. Solid wrestling and solid submissions. I feel like if you just focused 100 percent on the fight, you wouldn’t be half bad. Think about it. 

B+

Igor Pokrajac: He looked good on the ground and even better on his feet. He landed cleanly on Maldonado and had him hurt multiple times. It was a great performance and he picked up a nice win.  

Yves Jabouin: I’m surprised that he threw so many spinning combinations, but man did he have Hougland beat multiple times. In my eyes, if you kick someone in the stomach and they go down and don’t want to get up, that’s a win. 

B

Fabio Maldonado: I was very impressed by his boxing and the bodywork was gorgeous. The big problem for Maldonado is that he took a lot of damage and spent the majority of the first round on his back. Still, a solid performance, and hopefully judges will start recognizing his fighting style. 

C-

Jorge Lopez: I thought he won the fight. I wasn’t impressed by him or Amir. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. 

Amir Sadollah: Amir looked terrible tonight and super tentative. Those guillotines were nice but weren’t enough to keep the audience interested. Nice win, I guess?

C-

Dustin Poirier: I was surprised at Dustin’s performance tonight and thought he looked tentative. He let Jung land on him too much and didn’t fight his fight. I wish I knew why because I love watching him fight. Hopefully he rebounds and goes back to his old style. 

Jeremy Stephens: Dunno what was up with Jeremy Stephens, but he looked terrible. He never found his range and took a lot of damage from Donald Cerrone. Some of those body shots were good, I guess? I dunno what else to say, it was such a dominant performance by Cerrone. 

F: 

Jeff Hougland: Black belt in jiu-jitsu decides to kick box with a kick boxer? What was he thinking? Seriously, what? Awful, terrible, no good, very bad performance.

Jason MacDonald: Not the way I suspect he wanted to retire, but this was the worst he’s ever looked in the UFC. Good luck in retirement. 

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UFC on Fuel 3 Korean Zombie vs Dustin Poirier Live Results and Play by Play

Tonight the UFC returns to the DC metro area for UFC on Fuel TV 3 in what promises to be an action-packed night of fights. Headlined by an intriguing featherweight fight between Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier, the winner is likely fighting for a tit…

Tonight the UFC returns to the DC metro area for UFC on Fuel TV 3 in what promises to be an action-packed night of fights. Headlined by an intriguing featherweight fight between Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier, the winner is likely fighting for a title shot. 

The night kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on Facebook with six preliminary fights. Upon the conclusion, switch on your televisions and tune into Fuel TV at 8 p.m. ET for the main card. 

Official Fight Card

Facebook Prelims

Bantamweight – Alex Soto vs. Francisco Rivera 

Bantamweight – Jeff Curran vs. Johnny Eduardo

Lightweight – Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus

Lightweight – T.J. Grant vs. Carlo Prater

Middleweight – Brad Tavares vs. Dongi Yang

Lightweight – Cody McKenzie vs. Marcus LeVesseur

 

Main Card on Fuel TV 

Middleweight – Jason MacDonald vs. Tom Lawlor

Light Heavyweight – Igor Pokrajac vs. Fabio Maldonado

Bantamweight – Yves Jambouin vs. Jeff Hougland

Lightweight – Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens

Welterweight – Amir Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez

Featherweight – Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier

 

Be sure to join Bleacher Report at 5 p.m. for a live discussion and play-by-play for UFC on Fuel TV 3. 

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Bob Sapp Continues to Con Fans and Promoters with Fight Against Pudz

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before…Bob Sapp walks down an entrance ramp, does his Ric Flair shtick with the music and feathery robe, mean mugs a bit in the ring and then after 40 seconds of fighting before quitting, he’s collecting his $50,000 c…

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before…

Bob Sapp walks down an entrance ramp, does his Ric Flair shtick with the music and feathery robe, mean mugs a bit in the ring and then after 40 seconds of fighting before quitting, he’s collecting his $50,000 check. 

It’s a scene that MMA fans have become familiar with and one that is happening way too often. Bob Sapp is fantastic at hyping fights and because of who he is, he knows that people will always tune in. The problem isn’t Bob in my eyes, either—it’s the promoters who use him to put their name talent over.

We’re not watching because Bob’s a world beater and gets highlight reel knockouts. No, we’re tuning in because we want to see how Bob will throw another fight. And yes, that’s exactly what he’s doing. By not giving an honest effort and tapping out at the first sign of danger, he’s throwing the fight. Sure, they may not be money-changing hands or a prefight discussion regarding a fix, but without giving a real effort, he’s throwing the fight. 

And yesterday was just another example of the “Bob Sapp show.” At KSW 19 in Poland, Bob was across the ring from Mariusz Pudzianowski. KSW has been desperate to get Pudz wins so they can legitimize him as a draw. It doesn’t matter how they do it, either. At KSW 17, a “judging error” almost awarded Pudz a win in a fight where he looked absolutely atrocious. So why on earth should I not believe there was foul play at hand when the promoter has such a vested interest in their hometown fighter?

If Poland had an athletic commission they would have likely suspended him for 30 days no contact following the TKO, as well as a 60-day suspension for facial lacerations. However, since they do not, Bob will continue the “Bob Sapp tour” and the next stop is next week against Sao Palelei at CFC 21 in Sydney, Australia.

New South Wales has an athletic commission but I expect Sapp to put on his monthly performance on fight night. He’ll make a wacky YouTube video, say something cheesy at the weigh ins, and then lose within 40 seconds again. It’s what he does these days. He’s 1-9 in his last ten and you can expect that to drop to 1-10 after Palelei. And I’ll tune in. Because I want to see Bob Sapp perform. 

Basically, what I’m saying is that if we want to blame anyone, we have to look no further than ourselves. He’ll stop getting booked when we stop watching. And I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. 

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Nick Diaz Does Not Care About Charity People, No-Shows BJJ Match

Saturday evening, Nick Diaz was supposed to compete against Braulio Estima at the World Jiu Jitsu Expo. I say supposed to because Nick Diaz no-showed the event.Speculation is that Diaz was mad Estima missed weight yesterday and didn’t know that he made…

Saturday evening, Nick Diaz was supposed to compete against Braulio Estima at the World Jiu Jitsu Expo. I say supposed to because Nick Diaz no-showed the event.

Speculation is that Diaz was mad Estima missed weight yesterday and didn’t know that he made weight today. It’s believable if this were the first time that Nick Diaz did this. Unfortunately, Nick Diaz has a reputation of missing his commitments and no-showing events. 

This was the final match of a very entertaining online pay per view. The pay per view was priced at $10 and the big story leading into this super fight was that Nick Diaz was going to donate all of his winnings to charity. Seriously, this guy is supposed to compete for charity and doesn’t have the decency to inform the promoters and fans that he had no intention of grappling. 

The most absurd thing is that people are still apologizing for him. Some are his friends and others are just long time fans that hope he will one day be champion. They’re excusing his irresponsibility and using his medical issues as reason for skipping engagements. It’s totally absurd that after everything, people still think he cares about anyone but himself. 

If Nick doesn’t want to fight in MMA anymore, hey that’s totally fine. He doesn’t have to fight if he doesn’t want to. He’s made a ton of money in his career and probably could get by with just teaching seminars.

But this was his first chance to build up some goodwill with fans. He could have shown people he’s not interested in MMA while showing the BJJ community he cares. Hell, he could have shown that he’s an adult and willing to do what it takes to be an adult. 

But no. Not Nick Diaz. He doesn’t have to be the guy who is respectful because his idiot fans and friends are willing to just “yes” him to death and tell him what he wants to hear. Man up. Do what’s right and show you can be a functional adult. Get a note pad. Or a personal assistant whose only job is to make sure you show up when you’re supposed to.  

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Bellator 68 Live Results and Play by Play

Season Six of the Bellator tournament continues tonight with the Featherweight Tournament final. Marlon Sandro looks to beat Daniel Straus for an opportunity to face Pat Curran next year for the featherweight belt. Also on the card is Marius Zarom…

Season Six of the Bellator tournament continues tonight with the Featherweight Tournament final. Marlon Sandro looks to beat Daniel Straus for an opportunity to face Pat Curran next year for the featherweight belt. 

Also on the card is Marius Zaromskis making his Bellator debut against Strikeforce veteran Waachiim Spiritwolf. The fight is almost guaranteed to be exciting as both Zaromskis and Spiritwolf bring the fight every time they enter the cage. 

Prelims

Aung La Nsang def. Jesus Martinez via TKO at :36 in the first round.
Anthony Leone def. Claudio Ledesma via Split Decision (29-28 Ledesma, 30-27 Leone, 30-27 Leone)
Don Carlo-Clauss vs. Jacob Kirwan

Main Card

Marius Zaromskis vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf
Carmelo Marrero vs. Seth Petruzelli
Travis Marx vs. Marcos Galvão
Marlon Sandro vs. Daniel Straus 

Join Bleacher Report for a live discussion of the fights. 

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Floyd Mayweather Sr. on MMA and UFC President Dana White

There has long been a standing rivalry between MMA and boxing fans. MMA fans love to state how boxing is dead and MMA is far superior while boxing fans continue to carry on about how big their purses are while MMA fighters are paid a pittance.While nei…

There has long been a standing rivalry between MMA and boxing fans. MMA fans love to state how boxing is dead and MMA is far superior while boxing fans continue to carry on about how big their purses are while MMA fighters are paid a pittance.

While neither are entirely wrong, the fact that it’s impossible to be fans of both remains the most frustrating thing in combat sports.

Well, it seems as if Floyd Mayweather Sr. has joined the discussion on Twitter, and he had some choice words for Dana White and the sport of MMA. Floyd Mayweather Sr. is the father and former trainer of “Pretty Boy” Floyd and is credited with teaching his son defensive skills, including his patented shoulder roll.

First, Floyd Sr. took aim at MMA. Like many detractors, he focused on the grappling aspect of the sport. It’s one that even the most diehard of fans find boring at times and is the cause for many arguments regarding referee stand ups and cage breaks.  

Well Mr. Mayweather, I would disagree. I don’t think anyone consciously does anything you said in this tweet. Furthermore, if they did, I’m sure it was a necessary part of their game plan. It’s the new millennium, quit being so close-minded. 

After his compelling argument about MMA, Mr. Mayweather turned his attention to UFC president Dana White. Mind you, Dana White said nothing to Mayweather to cause such a reaction. 

Why the hostility?! It’s clear that Floyd Sr. has some unresolved issues with Dana, but what he’s saying is absolutely insane. Dana White is a fan of boxing and has done nothing to deserve such words from Mayweather. In fact, he congratulated Floyd Jr. on his purse and win this past week. 

It should be noted that Floyd Sr. has trained with BJ Penn in the past and even told the former-lightweight champion to not be so aggressive in his fights. Hopefully one day Mayweather can put his differences with MMA behind him and become a fan of the sport. It would be the first step in ending the silly rivalry. 

Disclaimer: While these come from an unverified account, it is believed that these are the words of Floyd Mayweather Sr. All curse words in tweets have been edited to keep this post safe for work. 

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