Author: MattSaccaro

Palhares-Gate Update: Bellator Doesn’t Want Him, Palhares Issues Half-Assed Apology


(Rousimar Palhares doing “God’s work.” / Photo via Getty Images)

Remember when we described serial knee-destroyer Rousimar Palhares as a “good-natured idiot-manchild“? Well, apparently Bellator has a similar opinion of the Brazilian.

At least that’s the impression we get from their recent decision not to sign him. Bjorn Rebney told TMZ the following about why he his Viacom puppet master decided to pass on Palhares:

“Risks already exist for the courageous, world class fighters who either enter the Bellator cage; without adding further unnecessary risks into the mix. Fighter safety is paramount to me and my team.”

That eliminates one destination for the recently disgraced Palhares — MMA’s version of Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Maybe he’ll go to World Series of Fighting, although Jon Fitch has already refused a hypothetical fight against him due to safety concerns. But it seems like Bellator missed a good catch here. Palhares is a talented fighter coming off a win. He had tons of heat, so the signing would’ve generated tons of press — for a Bellator signing, anyway — or at least more press than signing a UFC castaway whose career highlight is getting kicked in the face.

Palhares (or his people) sensed that he was becoming damaged goods. Consequently, he issued an explanation/apology yesterday that you can check out after the jump.


(Rousimar Palhares doing “God’s work.” / Photo via Getty Images)

Remember when we described serial knee-destroyer Rousimar Palhares as a “good-natured idiot-manchild“? Well, apparently Bellator has a similar opinion of the Brazilian.

At least that’s the impression we get from their recent decision not to sign him. Bjorn Rebney told TMZ the following about why he his Viacom puppet master decided to pass on Palhares:

“Risks already exist for the courageous, world class fighters who either enter the Bellator cage; without adding further unnecessary risks into the mix. Fighter safety is paramount to me and my team.”

That eliminates one destination for the recently disgraced Palhares — MMA’s version of Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Maybe he’ll go to World Series of Fighting, although Jon Fitch has already refused a hypothetical fight against him due to safety concerns. But it seems like Bellator missed a good catch here. Palhares is a talented fighter coming off a win. He had tons of heat, so the signing would’ve generated tons of press — for a Bellator signing, anyway — or at least more press than signing a UFC castaway whose career highlight is getting kicked in the face.

Palhares (or his people) sensed that he was becoming damaged goods. Consequently, he issued an explanation/apology yesterday:

In case you don’t feel like watching the whole thing, here’s the important part — Palhares’ explanation for holding in the submission against Mike Pierce too long:

When the referee took his hand off, it was precisely the time that I was turning to pick up the foot and the heel. When I finished spinning, the referee was able to take his hand off the grid and he fell. When he sat down, the referee had to go to the other side, and that transition took two seconds…the referee stepped in front, and he kept tapping on the back of the referee, not on me. I only saw that in the film, nor have I seen it at fight time. The only thing I saw was the referee coming down on me, understood?

You happy with that explanation? Pierce is still a little upset, especially off the back of a 180-day medical suspension. He told MMAFighting.com that he was still “really pissed off right now.” Pierce has yet to have an MRI to assess the extent of the damage to his knee and ankle.

But what’s going to happen with Palhares? That’s anyone’s guess. The highest rated comment on Palhares’ apology video was on the right track: “Have fun in Jungle Fights, you fucking psycho.”

Related: Ex-Coach Says Palhares Consistently Hurt Sparring Partners

—Matt Saccaro

Bellator 103 Recap: Patricio Freire and Wilcox 3:16 Advance to the Featherweight Tournament Finals

Bellator 103 is over — and judging by our front page poll, a significant portion of you don’t really care that much. But we love free MMA so, we watched the card. Here’s our recap:

The first fight of the night pitted old-school Bellator fighter (he fought at Bellator 20) and UFC washout Aaron Rosa against Russian Sambo expert Mikhail Zayats. The bout ended in 47 seconds. Clinch, takedown, kimura, tap. That was the whole fight.

In the second bout on the main card, David Rickels made one of the most innovative entrances in MMA when he drove to the cage in a replica of Fred Flintstone’s car. Thankfully for Rickels, his performance lived up to his entrance. He consistently beat JJ Ambrose to the punch, battering “Superman” throughout the fight, which was stopped in the third round when Ambrose couldn’t defend a tidal wave of body shots.

The third fight of the night, a featherweight tournament semifinal, was the most lackluster. Jesus freak Justin Wilcox took on mullet-wearing Guam native Joe Taimanglo. Wilcox won a ho-hum unanimous decision. The highlight came after the fight when Wilcox referenced John 3:16. If you watched pro wrestling in the late 1990s, you’d know why that was a big deal. But yeah, Wilcox-Taimanglo was mainly takedowns and ineffective ground-and-pound. If you DVR’d the fights, you have our permission to skip this one.

In the night’s main event, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire met Fabricio Guerreiro in the second featherweight tournament semifinal. Freire, known as an aggressive striker, showed off his grappling abilities throughout the fight. He was constantly one step ahead of Guerreiro in the BJJ department, which earned “Pitbull” a unanimous decision victory. With the win, he became the first three-time tournament finalist in Bellator history. He will face Justin Wilcox in the finals.

The complete results for Bellator 103 are after the jump…

Bellator 103 is over — and judging by our front page poll, a significant portion of you don’t really care that much. But we love free MMA so, we watched the card. Here’s our recap:

The first fight of the night pitted old-school Bellator fighter (he fought at Bellator 20) and UFC washout Aaron Rosa against Russian Sambo expert Mikhail Zayats. The bout ended in 47 seconds. Clinch, takedown, kimura, tap. That was the whole fight.

In the second bout on the main card, David Rickels made one of the most innovative entrances in MMA when he drove to the cage in a replica of Fred Flintstone’s car. Thankfully for Rickels, his performance lived up to his entrance. He consistently beat JJ Ambrose to the punch, battering “Superman” throughout the fight, which was stopped in the third round when Ambrose couldn’t defend a tidal wave of body shots.

The third fight of the night, a featherweight tournament semifinal, was the most lackluster. Jesus freak Justin Wilcox took on mullet-wearing Guam native Joe Taimanglo. Wilcox won a ho-hum unanimous decision. The highlight came after the fight when Wilcox referenced John 3:16. If you watched pro wrestling in the late 1990s, you’d know why that was a big deal. But yeah, Wilcox-Taimanglo was mainly takedowns and ineffective ground-and-pound. If you DVR’d the fights, you have our permission to skip this one.

In the night’s main event, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire met Fabricio Guerreiro in the second featherweight tournament semifinal. Freire, known as an aggressive striker, showed off his grappling abilities throughout the fight. He was constantly one step ahead of Guerreiro in the BJJ department, which earned “Pitbull” a unanimous decision victory. With the win, he became the first three-time tournament finalist in Bellator history. He will face Justin Wilcox in the finals.

Here are the complete results…

Main Card
Patricio Freire def. Fabricio Guerreiro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Justin Wilcox def. Joe Taimanglo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
David Rickels def. J.J. Ambrose via TKO (punches), 2:37 of round 3
Mikhail Zayats def. Aaron Rosa via submission (kimura), 0:47 of round 1

Preliminary Card
Carlos Eduardo def. Wayman Carter via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:06 of round 1
Remy Bussieres def. Blake Pool via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Maurice Jackson def. Matt Uhde via TKO (doctor stoppage, cut), 0:52 of round 1
Donnie Bell def. Marcio Navarro via submission (neck crank), 2:06 of round 1
Jeimeson Saudino def. Jesse Thornton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ricky Musgrave def. Cody Carrilo via submission (kimura), 2:59 of round 1

—Matt Saccaro

Thiago Silva Misses Weight, Practically Guaranteeing He’ll Be Fired With a Loss


An overweight Thiago Silva keeps his shirt on for the stare down. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Remember when we remarked that Thiago Silva was the most likely fighter to win up in Bellator after UFC Fight Night 29 and then pointed out how Thiago Silva constantly shoots himself in the foot?

We hate being right. Thiago Silva missed the 205 pound mark by three pounds. Nevertheless, the fight will occur at a catchweight. Silva has to forfeit 25% of his show money to his opponent, Matt Hamill.

This fight was already do-or-die for Silva, who’s been one of the sport’s unluckiest fighters/drug users. He pissed hot for non-human urine (and likely used a fake dick) at UFC 125. Subsequently, his win over Brandon Vera was changed to a no contest. Silva’s UFC on FUEL TV 6 win over Stanislav Nedkov was also changed into a no contest after the Brazilian tested positive for marijuana.

Missing weight is likely the last straw for a guy with this kind of history.

Fortunately, all of the other fighters made weight. Catch the full weigh-in results after the jump.


An overweight Thiago Silva keeps his shirt on for the stare down. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Remember when we remarked that Thiago Silva was the most likely fighter to wind up in Bellator after UFC Fight Night 29 and then pointed out how Thiago Silva constantly shoots himself in the foot?

We hate being right. Thiago Silva missed the 205 pound mark by three pounds. Nevertheless, the fight will occur at a catchweight. Silva has to forfeit 25% of his show money to his opponent, Matt Hamill.

This fight was already do-or-die for Silva, who’s been one of the sport’s unluckiest fighters/drug users. He pissed hot for non-human urine (and likely used a fake dick) at UFC 125. Subsequently, his win over Brandon Vera was changed to a no contest. Silva’s UFC on FUEL TV 6 win over Stanislav Nedkov was also changed into a no contest after the Brazilian tested positive for marijuana.

Missing weight is likely the last straw for a guy with this kind of history.

Fortunately, all of the other fighters made weight. If you don’t feel like watching the entire weigh-in video, here are the full weigh-in results:

Main Card
Demian Maia (171) vs. Jake Shields (171)
Dong Hyun Kim (171) vs. Erick Silva (170)
Matt Hamill (205) vs. Thiago Silva (208)*
Joey Beltran (205) vs. Fabio Maldonado (204)
Mike Pierce (171) vs. Rousimar Palhares (171)
T.J. Dillashaw (136) vs. Raphael Assuncao (135)

Preliminary Card
Ildemar Alcantara (171) vs. Igor Araujo (171)
Yan Cabral (170) vs. David Mitchell (171)
Chris Cariaso (125) vs. Iliarde Santos (126)
Allan Patrick (155) vs. Garett Whiteley (156)
Chris Cariaso (125) vs. Iliarde Santos (126)
Allan Patrick (155) vs. Garett Whiteley (156)

The ‘FOX Boost’ Is a Myth: There’s No Formula to Create New UFC Stars


(Benson Henderson peers warily at the buyrate for UFC 164. / Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

By Matt Saccaro

Congratulations are in order for FOX and the UFC. They took a terrible draw in Benson Henderson and made him into merely a bad draw.

Henderson was partially responsible for one of the worst pay-per-view buyrates in recent UFC history — an estimated 190,000 buys for UFC 150 against fellow failure-to-move-the-needle Frankie Edgar. Henderson was so bad that the UFC kept him off PPV for an entire year after UFC 150, instead preferring to use their shows on FOX to build him up. After these shows, the UFC decided to put Henderson back in a PPV main event at UFC 164, presumably in order to see if FOX turned the ho-hum fighter into a star.

I noted the importance of UFC 164’s PPV performance in a previous article:

If UFC 164 can boast a decent buyrate, then the theory that the UFC can use FOX to create the next generation of stars will be proven true, and the UFC’s future will be a little more secure. But if UFC 164 fails as hard as UFC 150 did — if promoting a fighter TWO TIMES on one of the biggest networks on television failed to make that fighter a draw — then the UFC is in trouble. That would mean one champion who would be dead weight on a card, in addition to the champions from the lighter men’s weight classes who have all yet to establish themselves as major PPV draws.

UFC 164 didn’t perform as poorly as UFC 150. It drew an estimated 270,000 buys.

“That’s great! It’s about a 42% increase over last time,” you say? Yeah, that’s true, but let’s look at it another way.


(Benson Henderson peers warily at the buyrate for UFC 164. / Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

By Matt Saccaro

Congratulations are in order for FOX and the UFC. They took a terrible draw in Benson Henderson and made him into merely a bad draw.

Henderson was partially responsible for one of the worst pay-per-view buyrates in recent UFC history — an estimated 190,000 buys for UFC 150 against fellow failure-to-move-the-needle Frankie Edgar. Henderson was so bad that the UFC kept him off PPV for an entire year after UFC 150, instead preferring to use their shows on FOX to build him up. After these shows, the UFC decided to put Henderson back in a PPV main event at UFC 164, presumably in order to see if FOX turned the ho-hum fighter into a star.

I noted the importance of UFC 164’s PPV performance in a previous article:

If UFC 164 can boast a decent buyrate, then the theory that the UFC can use FOX to create the next generation of stars will be proven true, and the UFC’s future will be a little more secure. But if UFC 164 fails as hard as UFC 150 did — if promoting a fighter TWO TIMES on one of the biggest networks on television failed to make that fighter a draw — then the UFC is in trouble. That would mean one champion who would be dead weight on a card, in addition to the champions from the lighter men’s weight classes who have all yet to establish themselves as major PPV draws.

UFC 164 didn’t perform as poorly as UFC 150. It drew an estimated 270,000 buys.

“That’s great! It’s about a 42% increase over last time,” you say? Yeah, that’s true, but let’s look at it another way.

First, 270k buys for UFC 164 is still way below the 2013 average. Just because Henderson can draw flies to shit now, whereas before he couldn’t, doesn’t mean FOX is a star maker.

Second, Henderson main-evented two FOX shows: UFC on FOX 5 and UFC on FOX 7. The former drew 4.4 million average viewers and the latter garnered 3.7 million average viewers. Together, that’s 8.1 million people that saw Benson Henderson fight for free on FOX.  But the vast majority of these same people still refused to pay for a PPV headlined by Benson Henderson, a UFC “superstar” and world champion.

Again, there was a difference of 80,000 buys between UFC 150 — Bendo’s last PPV appearance before UFC 164 — and UFC 164 itself. And around 8 million people saw Bendo on free TV after UFC 150, but only 80,000 more people ordered UFC 164 than ordered UFC 150.

You know what that means?

It means that only 1% of the combined viewers of UFC on FOX 5 and UFC on FOX 7 were converted into PPV buyers.

That’s bad no matter how you spin it — unless you’re taking the “nearly 50% increase in buys!” angle which is the only way to look at the situation positively. Of course, the numbers given are estimates, so the actual percentages may be slightly higher or lower.

However, that doesn’t mean that the story the estimates convey is inaccurate. Placing a fighter on FOX doesn’t automatically make him or her a Brock Lesnar-level draw, or even an average-level draw. FOX can amplify a fighter’s reach and fan base but it can’t make viewers pay to see a fighter. FOX isn’t a panacea for a fighter that’s not selling PPVs. The only “stars” FOX will help make will be the ones who would’ve drawn well anyway due to their natural charisma or fighting style or simply because they have “it.”

So let’s put this talk of the vaunted FOX boost to rest, OK?

Sexy Miesha Tate GIFs, Old-School Nick Diaz Photos, And More Highlights From the CagePotato Tumblr


(Hey, is that a Timex?)

We’re celebrating something special today, Potato Nation: CagePotato’s Tumblr has surpassed 100 followers!

We’re very grateful that our fans and many members of Tumblr’s MMA community have followed us. If you haven’t yet, here are some of the highlights from our first few weeks that you missed — and that you’ll still be missing on a regular basis until you follow us right here.

– To start off, we have an excellent GIF set of Miesha Tate from this season of TUF. This, for obvious reasons, is our most successful post to date.

– There exists a statue of one kid armbarring another kid. It’s in Germany although I’d have expected something like that to be in Brazil instead (or even Japan because of their Judo connection).

– World champions Renan Barao and Jose Aldo in a sparring match. They’re likely not going 100%, but it’s still pretty cool to watch.

See what Conor McGregor was doing with his money, as well as some sick, old-school UFC artwork after the jump.


(Hey, is that a Timex?)

We’re celebrating something special today, Potato Nation: CagePotato’s Tumblr has surpassed 100 followers!

We’re very grateful that our fans and many members of Tumblr’s MMA community have followed us. If you haven’t yet, here are some of the highlights from our first few weeks that you missed — and that you’ll still be missing on a regular basis until you follow us right here.

– To start off, we have an excellent GIF set of Miesha Tate from this season of TUF. This, for obvious reasons, is our most successful post to date.

– There exists a statue of one kid armbarring another kid. It’s in Germany although I’d have expected something like that to be in Brazil instead (or even Japan because of their Judo connection).

– World champions Renan Barao and Jose Aldo in a sparring match. They’re likely not going 100%, but it’s still pretty cool to watch.

– Legendary video maker NickTheFace made an unbelievable trailer for UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 that puts the UFC’s recent video efforts to shame.

– Another fan-made piece of UFC 168 content, this time a poster, dwarfed the UFC’s official efforts. The poster was made by Dan Goland. The same artist made a truly epic poster for UFC 166. Yeah, “epic” gets thrown around a lot but the poster he made captures the gravity of Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez III.

– Conor McGregor shows off how much cash he has in his wallet. I think this is what he was using all that money for.

– Various members of the UG photoshopped the picture of Joe Rogan in Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s Cossack hat. We put together some of the better ones from the original thread.

– This is what Nick Diaz was doing instead of going to school so he could learn to buy houses.

– Remember that photo from UFC Magazine featuring Dana White mean-mugging as if he were a real fighter? So do we.

– Artist Chris Rini made woodwork pictures of the bout between Royce Gracie and Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 3. These are amazing. If you’re an MMA fan with loads of disposable income, pick these up.

Those are just a few of the highlights from CagePotato’s nascent tumbls, or tumblerings, or what have you. Thanks to all our readers that follow us, and a pox on all of our readers who don’t!

— Matt Saccaro

Bellator 101 Recap: Joe Warren Scores Submission Win, UFC Washouts Davis, Alessio, and Clementi All Come Up Short


(Spoiler alert: The guys you heard of are the ones who lost).

By Matt Saccaro

Bellator’s 101st show is over…and the majority of MMA fans are probably still unaware that Bellator has entered the triple digits, sadly. But CagePotato will always have you covered with Bellator recaps and highlights.

The main takeaway from the prelims was highly-regarded Polish prospect Marcin Held running through Ryan Healy worse than Khabib Nurmagomedov ran through Ryan’s brother Pat Healy back at UFC 165. I guess the Healy brothers have a weakness against fighters from Eastern Europe or something.

To start off the main card — which featured the Season 9 Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals — Saad Awad submitted an overmatched Martin Stapleton. In the next fight, long-time veteran John Alessio faced up-and-comer Will Brooks. It wasn’t pretty. Brooks dominated the fight from bell to bell. One judge even scored the fight 30-25 in Brooks’ favor. In the last round of the fight, Brooks opened up a nasty gash on Alessio’s cheek. It wasn’t “goat’s vagina” bad, but it was close.

The other UFC vets on the card didn’t fare well. Rich Clementi lost a decision to Ricardo Tirloni, and Marcus Davis lost to Russian prospect Alexander Sarnavskiy by submission. The fight only lasted 1:40, and it still felt like Davis was in there too long. If your hairline is starting to go grey, MMA might not be the best sport for you.

In the night’s main event, the Bellator-sponsored Joe Warren defeated the unheralded Nick Kirk via armbar in a Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal bout. Warren won the fight, but took more punches than were necessary; “defense” might not be in his vocabulary.

Complete results from the event — as well as videos of the Warren/Kirk and Sarnavskiy/Davis fights — are after the jump.


(Spoiler alert: The guys you heard of are the ones who lost).

By Matt Saccaro

Bellator’s 101st show is over…and the majority of MMA fans are probably still unaware that Bellator has entered the triple digits, sadly. But CagePotato will always have you covered with Bellator recaps and highlights.

The main takeaway from the prelims was highly-regarded Polish prospect Marcin Held running through Ryan Healy worse than Khabib Nurmagomedov ran through Ryan’s brother Pat Healy back at UFC 165. I guess the Healy brothers have a weakness against fighters from Eastern Europe or something.

To start off the main card — which featured the Season 9 Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals — Saad Awad submitted an overmatched Martin Stapleton. In the next fight, long-time veteran John Alessio faced up-and-comer Will Brooks. It wasn’t pretty. Brooks dominated the fight from bell to bell. One judge even scored the fight 30-25 in Brooks’ favor. In the last round of the fight, Brooks opened up a nasty gash on Alessio’s cheek. It wasn’t “goat’s vagina” bad, but it was close.

The other UFC vets on the card didn’t fare well. Rich Clementi lost a decision to Ricardo Tirloni, and Marcus Davis lost to Russian prospect Alexander Sarnavskiy by submission. The fight only lasted 1:40, and it still felt like Davis was in there too long. If your hairline is starting to go grey, MMA might not be the best sport for you.

In the night’s main event, the Bellator-sponsored Joe Warren defeated the unheralded Nick Kirk via armbar in a Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal bout. Warren won the fight, but took more punches than were necessary; “defense” might not be in his vocabulary.

Complete results from the event — as well as videos of the Warren/Kirk and Sarnavskiy/Davis fights — are after the jump.

Main Card
Joe Warren def. Nick Kirk via submission (armbar), Round 2
Alexander Sarnavskiy def. Marcus Davis via submission (rear naked choke), Round 1, 1:40
Ricardo Tirloni def. Rich Clementi via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Will Brooks def. John Alessio via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-25)
Saad Awad def. Martin Stapleton via submission (rear naked choke), Round 1, 3:46

Preliminary Card
Nathan Coy def. Andy Uhrich via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marcin Held def. Ryah Healy via KO (punches), Round 1, 1:12
Dave Vitkay def. Tyson Jeffries via submission (rear naked choke), Round 3, 3:07
Brent Primus def. Scott Thometz via submission (rear naked choke), Round 1, 3:48
Austin Springer def. Zack Skinner via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)
Peter Aspenwal def. Jeremiah Riggs via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)


(Joe Warren vs. Nick Kirk)


(Alexander Sarnavskiy vs. Marcus Davis)