Author: Nathan McCarter

UFC Fight Night 88: Sara McMann Controls Jessica Eye in Uneventful Affair

It wasn’t exciting, but it was a standard Sara McMann (9-3) performance. The Olympic silver medalist suffocated Jessica Eye (11-5, 1 NC) en route to a unanimous-decision victory.
The first round was lacking on offense. Both women entered desperat…

It wasn’t exciting, but it was a standard Sara McMann (9-3) performance. The Olympic silver medalist suffocated Jessica Eye (11-5, 1 NC) en route to a unanimous-decision victory.

The first round was lacking on offense. Both women entered desperately needing a victory, and pressure was visible in the opening five minutes. Neither athlete wanted to make a fight-altering mistake right out of the chute.

McMann landed some solid knees to the body when she had Eye backed to the cage, but that was essentially all that the first round had to offer. Referee John McCarthy told both fighters entering the second round that they needed to do more.

The crowd was getting restless as more of the same inactivity continued in the second. McMann tried to get something going with a shot from way outside, but it was easily defended. McMann pressured Eye to the fence and then completed the first takedown of the fight. McMann’s smothering top control allowed her to win the round.

Eye began the third with a bit more activity, but McMann was able to shoot in and take her to the mat. Once there, the fight was a lock. McMann was too solid from top position for Eye to do anything of note.

This was not a good fight for the fans, and it was a disastrous fight for Eye. For McMann, she at least walks away with a victory—her first since 2014. It just won’t be enough to make her a contender again.

Eye will be in danger of being cut, but given the right opponent she can be an exciting addition to the UFC’s bantamweight roster. Her fights against Sarah Kaufman and Leslie Smith were exciting. The right opponent for Eye’s next fight is Bethe Correia.

Correia (5’5″, 134 lbs)  is a smaller bantamweight like Eye (5’6″, 135 lbs), and is an aggressive striker as well. It’d be a fun tilt.

McMann doesn’t have too many options following Sunday’s fight as her possible opponents are booked. On the docket in the division is Holly Holm vs. Valentina Shevchenko and Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Pena. She will most likely fight the winner of one of those two fights. It will be up to the UFC to decide which route they want to take.

Eye and McMann had trained together in the past, and their familiarity with one another led to a lackluster affair. It is unfortunate to see with a top-10 level contest. McMann put herself back in position for a significant fight in the division, and now the attention turns to UFC 200 as bantamweight’s murky waters look to get a bit more clear.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 88 a Sneaky-Good Card, but with a Really Weird Setup

If Elton John thinks Saturday night’s alright for fighting, then wait until he gets a load of Sunday’s action. UFC Fight Night 88 heads to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Sunday for an action-packed evening.
As B/R’s own Scot…

If Elton John thinks Saturday night’s alright for fighting, then wait until he gets a load of Sunday’s action. UFC Fight Night 88 heads to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Sunday for an action-packed evening.

As B/R’s own Scott Harris put it: this card is dense. From top to bottom, it is filled with exciting and meaningful fights. It’s a can’t-miss event for fight fans.

But there is something strange with how the fight card is set up, and it has to do with the 135-pound division.

Headlining the event will be UFC’s No. 7-ranked undefeated phenom Thomas Almeida against the undefeated, but unranked, Cody Garbrandt. The stylistic matchup is sure to create fireworks, and in isolation, this seems like a fun main event. But down the card, in just the second fight of the evening, is No. 4-ranked Aljamain Sterling vs. the No. 8-ranked Bryan Caraway.

That’s weird. Why is Top 10-level bout with a possible title contender buried beneath two prospects?

It’s a curious decision. The biggest reason for Sterling vs. Caraway to be placed on UFC Fight Pass as its featured prelim is for the UFC to boost its streaming service with a top-notch contest. And they are getting behind the fight more than any other on the card from a production standpoint.

Almeida and Garbrandt do not have a longstanding rivalry, and neither is an exceptionally skilled trash-talker. It’s just an appealing fight based on their skills alone. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for the main event, it lacks the juice Sterling and Caraway bring.

Sterling has been calling out Caraway for a year, and he has referred to him as “Mr. Tate,” per Bloody Elbow, alluding to his world champion counterpart Miesha Tate. There’s a little heat between the two. It would play better to the television audience in promotional material.

The UFC recently released a short hype video with Sterling. But if the company was serious about highlighting Sterling as a future star of this division, would it not use its production and promotional muscles behind him in the main event on Fox Sports 1?

Undoubtedly, putting fights such as Sterling vs. Caraway on Fight Pass will draw fans to the service, but they would still be for the hardcore combat sports fans. The way to reach casual followers is to put them on the larger platforms. Since the UFC is a private company, we do not have any indication as to how many subscribers the $9.99 service boasts, but it is likely still only serving the aforementioned niche audience.

Fight Night events typically average around a million viewers, per MMAPayout.com.

By being on Fight Pass, Sterling vs. Caraway makes the cost of the monthly service well worth the price, but so would Almeida vs. Garbrandt. Either the UFC sees more stardom in those two or it is missing the boat on promoting a charismatic star who could be leading the division before we know it.

As fight fans, we win. We will still get to see both tilts. Casual fans might not get that chance, and they may be missing the next title contender as he performs on the brand’s streaming service.

There are myriad possibilities for why Sterling vs. Caraway sits way down the billing while Almeida vs. Garbrandt headlines, but it still looks and feels weird. Very weird.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC and ‘DWTS’ Star Paige VanZant Wants to Pose for SI, See Rousey vs. Cyborg

Mixed martial artist and current Dancing With The Stars finalist Paige VanZant, unsurprisingly, has thrown her support behind the hypothetical Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg fight.
TMZ Sports caught PVZ out and about, and prodded her with questions regar…

Mixed martial artist and current Dancing With The Stars finalist Paige VanZant, unsurprisingly, has thrown her support behind the hypothetical Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg fight.

TMZ Sports caught PVZ out and about, and prodded her with questions regarding Rousey. It began with the Rousey vs. Cyborg tilt, which VanZant is fully in favor of seeing. The strawweight said that she “would love to see that,” but did not offer an opinion on who would win.

Sports Illustrated was the next topic at hand, and PVZ exclaimed that she would “love to” pose for the publication. The TMZ reporter then asked if VanZant would “be better than Ronda,” which VanZant answered with a smile and said, “Do you really think I would answer that?”

If the prodding seems curious to you, it is perhaps due the story of Rousey cursing out VanZant earlier this year. The story, confirmed by VanZant and Miesha Tate, alleges that Rousey was displeased that the budding star congratulated Holly Holm following her knockout win over the former champion.

The confrontation, VanZant, said was “shocking and totally unnecessary.”

PVZ is wise to the paparazzi game and would not give them much to work with, but it’s probably pretty clear who she would be rooting for in a Cyborg vs. Rousey meeting.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

New UFC HW Champ Stipe Miocic Hits Homer at Cleveland Indians Batting Practice

The new UFC heavyweight champion is back home, and he’s still knocking it out of the park.
Pun fully intended.
Stipe Miocic took in some batting practice with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday afternoon, and in his last at-bat the newly crowned he…

The new UFC heavyweight champion is back home, and he’s still knocking it out of the park.

Pun fully intended.

Stipe Miocic took in some batting practice with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday afternoon, and in his last at-bat the newly crowned heavyweight king hit a home run.

Cleveland.com writer Zack Meisel caught the dinger on tape.

It has been all sunshine and butterflies for the Ohioan in 2016. Miocic began the year by knocking out Andrei Arlovski to claim the title shot and made good on the opportunity by putting Fabricio Werdum to sleep as well. The win broke the championship drought for the city, and he is reaping the rewards.

He’s a hometown hero.

Miocic will also be at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference Finals game on Tuesday evening. The Cavs extended an invitation to the champ following Miocic’s video telling them to keep it (championship victories) going.

Are things finally turning around in Cleveland? Miocic seems to think so, and is no one is likely to tell him otherwise.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Tyron Woodley Challenges Robbie Lawler for the Welterweight Title at UFC 201

Buckle up, Atlanta. UFC 201 is coming to the Peach State with a welterweight title showdown.
No. 1-ranked champion Robbie Lawler (26-10) defends his title against No. 4-ranked Tyron Woodley (15-3).
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed the main ev…

Buckle up, Atlanta. UFC 201 is coming to the Peach State with a welterweight title showdown.

No. 1-ranked champion Robbie Lawler (26-10) defends his title against No. 4-ranked Tyron Woodley (15-3).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed the main event on Tuesday afternoon. The fight had been linked to the event after UFC President Dana White said that it was “more than likely” on AXS TV (h/t MMA Fighting).

Woodley has not fought since January 2015 but gets the title shot coming off back-to-back victories over Dong Hyun Kim and Kelvin Gastelum. Woodley was scheduled for a title eliminator against former champion Johny Hendricks last October, but Hendricks could not make weight for the event.

Lawler has been thoroughly phenomenal since his return to the UFC. Lawler is sporting a five-fight win streak that includes two title defenses.

Woodley has been active on the movie screen with appearances in Olympus Has Fallen and Straight Outta Compton during his time away from the cage and has been featured on the Fox Sports 1 desk during UFC coverage.

Both men are members of American Top Team, but Woodley fights out of his own branch in St. Louis.

The two welterweights have extraordinary power in their hands and are not afraid to sling leather. It should make for a fun five-round main event to determine the best welterweight in MMA.

UFC 201 takes place at Philips Arena on July 30 in Atlanta. Bleacher Report will keep you up to date on all the news surrounding the event as the UFC builds the card.

 

Rankings are based upon the Bleacher Report MMA rankings for May.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 198 Results: Matches to Make for the Winners and Losers

And new.
That’s what UFC announcer Bruce Buffer had the privilege of saying at the end of UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil. Stipe Miocic caught an oncoming Fabricio Werdum with a clean shot that would have floored King Kong himself. And now there is a new k…

And new.

That’s what UFC announcer Bruce Buffer had the privilege of saying at the end of UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil. Stipe Miocic caught an oncoming Fabricio Werdum with a clean shot that would have floored King Kong himself. And now there is a new king on top of the heavyweight division’s Empire State Building.

While the heavyweights brought it in the main event, there were plenty of other significant results coming out of Brazil this weekend.

The question now turns to what is next for the winners and losers of UFC 198’s bouts. UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby have plenty of options at their table. What will they choose? We attempt to help clear the waters and offer sound advice for what fights to make as 2016 rolls forward.

Let’s look at what comes next with the matches to make following UFC 198.

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