The UFC returned to Tampa, Florida, for UFC on Fox 19 on Saturday with a night full of fun and excitement.
In the main event, Glover Teixeira made quick work of former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. The fight lasted less than two minutes…
The UFC returned to Tampa, Florida, for UFC on Fox 19 on Saturday with a night full of fun and excitement.
In the main event, Glover Teixeira made quick work of former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. The fight lasted less than two minutes, and Evans’ face was left on the canvas. The win puts Teixeira right back in the thick of things at 205 pounds.
The co-main event was a strawweight contender’s dream rematch between Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres. Namajunas evened the series between the two, and it likely won’t be the last time we watch them compete against each other. The close decision victory could have Namajunas seeing gold soon.
Is that the fight to make? What about the other bouts on the card?
Bleacher Report is here to take you through the entire card and project which fights are on the horizon.
Here are the matches to make following UFC on Fox 19.
UFC on Fox 19 in Tampa, Florida, featured the return of “The Eagle” Khabib Nurmagomedov on Saturday.
This was originally supposed to be a main event title eliminator between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, but an injury to Ferguson threw those plans ou…
UFC on Fox 19 in Tampa, Florida, featured the return of “The Eagle” Khabib Nurmagomedov on Saturday.
This was originally supposed to be a main event title eliminator between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, but an injury to Ferguson threw those plans out of the window. Instead, Darrell Horcher signed a UFC contract to take the fight on short notice.
It was a tall order in Horcher’s Octagon debut. Nurmagomedov did what was expected and ran through Horcher like a hot knife through butter.
It took a couple of minutes into the first round, but soon Nurmagomedov put Horcher on the mat with a thud. A big slam got the fight right where he wanted it. Horcher couldn’t do anything off his back to threaten the Dagestani, and Nurmagomedov easily took the first round.
The second round wasn’t much different.
Nurmagomedov took Horcher down and put him on the receiving end of a beating. Eventually, the referee had seen enough and pulled Nurmagomedov off.
Horcher will earn himself another go-around in the UFC, and he’ll get a much fairer matchup than the undefeated title contender next time. This was not a fair fight on paper, and it was much too soon in his career to face The Eagle.
It was a complete mismatch.
If nothing else, Horcher got on national television against one of the best in the world. He could have done worse for his branding.
As for Nurmagomedov, this was perhaps the best-case scenario. He had not fought in the UFC in almost two years. This fight reintroduced him to the UFC fans who may have forgotten him, and it helped knock off some of the cage rust.
The difficulty for the UFC will come in deciding what is next for Nurmagomedov. He is undefeated, holds a win over the lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos and is the No. 2-ranked contender in the official UFC rankings. A title shot is not out of the question.
The issue with a title shot for Nurmagomedov is that in his absence, others have made their case against elite competition.
The UFC is justified no matter which way it goes in booking Nurmagomedov’s next fight. For fans, it’s just nice to have a healthy Eagle back in the company. Tampa welcomed him back with open arms, and Horcher provided the tuneup he needed for an emphatic return.
The UFC heads to Tampa this weekend for UFC on Fox 19, and after the shuffling of the deck following Lyoto Machida’s removal from the card there is a new co-main event. No. 3-ranked Tecia Torres meets No. 6-ranked Rose Namajunas in a rematch from…
The UFC heads to Tampa this weekend for UFC on Fox 19, and after the shuffling of the deck following Lyoto Machida’s removal from the card there is a new co-main event. No. 3-rankedTecia Torres meets No. 6-ranked Rose Namajunas in a rematch from 2013.
In the early days of Invicta FC, Namajunas and Torres were two of the brightest prospects of the organization. Torres was just 23 years old and Namajunas had just recently turned 21. The two strawweights are still young today, but watching them compete with just four professional bouts between them was watching two extraordinarily green talents compete against one another.
Torres would edge Namajunas on the scorecards. The final tabulations from the judges would read 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
How has each woman changed since their first meeting as raw talents?
Tecia Torres
Torres’ striking instantly made her one of the top, if not the top, prospects to watch at 115 pounds. The question about her development would be if she could put together a credible grappling game together to compete with the top end of the division.
She has worked tirelessly at American Top Team to round out her development, but she is not exceedingly more fine from her 2013 self. Is she better? Sure, but only marginally so.
On The Ultimate Fighter, she lost in her opening fight against Randa Markos. She was allowed back in the competition to fill in for an injured participant before losing in the quarterfinals to Carla Esparza. Those losses only went down as exhibitions so she has kept her record perfect.
But she hasn’t truly impressed in her UFC tenure.
Torres is still, largely, the same fighter we saw turn pro in 2012. That is slightly concerning, and especially so when matching her up against the growing list of fun, talented, 115-pound women making their way up the ranks.
Rose Namajunas
On the flip side of this is Namajunas. She showcased exciting grappling in her first two wins, but also solid striking. The loss to Torres was a setback but also a great learning experience.
Her performances on The Ultimate Fighter earned her the title shot in the finals. En route to that title bid, she upset Joanne Calderwood and Randa Markos, finishing all three of her fights via submission. The showing on The Ultimate Fighter put rose-colored glasses on the fans (pun fully intended). This was their introduction to most, if not all, of the women, and here was a young lady wrecking everyone. She was compared to the likes of Ronda Rousey.
Her title tilt with Carla Esparza did not go as she would have hoped, but it may have just been too early in her career for that level of fight. She was stopped in the third round.
It was almost a year before she would fight again, but when she did she easily took care of Angela Hill. Then she came in on short notice against rising star Paige VanZant and gave her a ridiculous beating for more than four rounds.
The performance against PVZ truly announced her as a legitimate title contender.
What’s changed since 2013 for Torres and Namajunas is an education for fans in how difficult it is to project which talents will realize their potential. Torres has plateaued to a degree, but Namajunas has come into her own as a new, unique threat to anyone in the division.
Torres is now the underdog per the sportsbooks, and it is a result of her not developing at the same rate as Namajunas. Torres is still squeezing out decisions with a basic game plan while Namajunas is a destroyer of worlds.
After Saturday, fans can compare the fights against one another to see just how much each woman has grown. Can Torres replicate her 2013 win? Possibly, but this will be a much different fight because of Namajunas’ evolution.
The co-main event of UFC on Fox 19 is a showcase of two young fighters that have grown at exceptionally different rates.
The UFC is back on Fox this weekend, but unfortunately we will not get the lightweight title eliminator we had hoped to see.
An injury forced Tony Ferguson off the card, and Khabib Nurmagomedov will instead welcome Darrell Horcher to the UFC on th…
The UFC is back on Fox this weekend, but unfortunately we will not get the lightweight title eliminator we had hoped to see.
An injury forced Tony Ferguson off the card, and KhabibNurmagomedov will instead welcome Darrell Horcher to the UFC on the main card. The injury forced the organization to shuffle the deck a bit, elevating No. 4-ranked light heavyweight Glover Teixeira vs. No. 9-ranked Rashad Evans to the main event.
The new co-main event is a rematch between No. 5-ranked middleweight LyotoMachida and No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson.
The televised fight card still has significant implications in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions. That makes it worth taking a closer look at the top two billed bouts coming your way this Saturday.
Here is your head-to-toe breakdown of the main and co-main events at UFC on Fox 19.
UFC Fight Night 86 in Zagreb, Croatia wasn’t a jam-packed fight card that set the world on fire, but it did deliver on action and talking points.
The fight card was headlined by Junior dos Santos vs. Ben Rothwell, and the Brazilian picked Rothwell apar…
UFC Fight Night 86 in Zagreb, Croatia wasn’t a jam-packed fight card that set the world on fire, but it did deliver on action and talking points.
The fight card was headlined by Junior dos Santos vs. Ben Rothwell, and the Brazilian picked Rothwell apart en route to a decision victory. It sets him back on a path towards UFC gold and is a huge setback for the American.
The other two top bouts on the card also took place in the heavyweight division. Derrick Lewis obliterated Gabriel Gonzaga’s face, and Francis Ngannou shut Curtis Blaydes‘ eye after repeated punishment.
Also in action, MarynaMoroz got back in the win column against UFC newcomer Cristina Stanciu.
After all of the action, the question that comes first to mind is, “Who should everyone fight next?” It’s a natural question to ask, and we are here to give the best possible answer for the entire card. Winners and losers alike, Bleacher Report takes a look at what could be on the horizon.
Here are the fights to make following UFC Fight Night 86.
Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman were together on Wednesday morning on ESPN SportsCenter as they make the media rounds for their UFC 199 rematch.
Rockhold, now UFC middleweight champion, took the strap from Weidman at UFC 194 in Las Vegas. He earned a f…
Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman were together on Wednesday morning on ESPN SportsCenter as they make the media rounds for their UFC 199 rematch.
Rockhold, now UFC middleweight champion, took the strap from Weidman at UFC 194 in Las Vegas. He earned a fourth-round stoppage after viciously battering Weidman in the third round. The immediate rematch was made, and Weidman now has his shot at redemption.
The two rivals were mostly cordial in the interview, but the personality difference was most certainly noticeable.
Weidman was more reserved and honest about his shortcomings in the first meeting, whereas Rockhold was more relaxed and prodding with his comments.
The former champion mentioned he has changed up various aspects of his camp. The “All-American” said he switched to a 12-week camp for this fight so that they would have time to work around injuries should they arise and to focus on specific areas of weakness.
Rockhold was adamant this next fight would be stopped in the second round.
The newly minted champion called Weidman “emotional.” Perhaps the hardest barb to hit Weidman was when Rockhold said, “I’ve dedicated my life to this sport, you’ve dedicated your life to a family. You can’t push as hard. You can’t do what I do.” The line clearly got under the skin of Weidman.
Later in the interview, Rockhold said Weidman had no vision. Weidman pounced and quickly countered with, “This ‘vision’ he’s talking about, I don’t get it. He’s really obsessed with this vision. He sees it all. I don’t get it. You didn’t see Vitor (Belfort) knocking you out.”
There is definite tension between the two top middleweights, and it will all come to pass again in a little under two months.
The rematch for the gold takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California on June 4. Bleacher Report will keep you up-to-date with all the happenings surrounding the event.
