Author: Nick Caron

UFC 143 Results: Alex Caceres to Appeal Loss from 2-Point Deduction by Herb Dean

It appeared as if Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres was on his way to a decisive victory over his UFC 143 opponent Edwin Figueroa, but after two low blows, referee Herb Dean opted to do something that is practically unprecedented in MMA when he took, not one…

It appeared as if Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres was on his way to a decisive victory over his UFC 143 opponent Edwin Figueroa, but after two low blows, referee Herb Dean opted to do something that is practically unprecedented in MMA when he took, not one, but two points from Caceres.

In his post-fight interview, Caceres voiced his frustration with the outcome of the fight. 

“He didn’t really hit me and I felt like I dominated the fight on the ground as well as in the stand-up,” Caceres told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. “I took his back almost every frickin’ round.” 

Caceres did suffer a near-knockout early in the first round when Figueroa caught him with a surprise head-kick to the face, but the 23-year-old survived and was able to essentially dominate the rest of the bout. 

Unfortunately for him, Caceres would have needed to win every round on each judge’s scorecard to secure a unanimous decision victory, and even then it would’ve been only a 28-27 victory. Mathematically, in a three-round fight, a two-point deduction is almost impossible to recover from. 

“I never heard of a two-point deduction,” Caceres said. “And I mean, come on, we’re wearing cups.”

In the end, it was referee Herb Dean’s decision to take two points, and that was the difference in this bout. 

Bruce Leeroy also noted that he will be attempting to appeal Dean’s decision to take two points away by going to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and pleading his case.

“It is my record,” he said. “I came out and I did what I was supposed to do. I dominated the fight, I beat the guy, and just to lose because of a two-point deduction which I’ve never heard of before, it does kill me a little bit.” 

These types of decisions are not often overturned, but it’s also not often that a fighter has two points taken away for something in a fight that was not obviously intentional. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is from this controversial moment at UFC 143. 

 

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UFC 143 Results: Ed Herman Reflects on Victory, Desire to Fight Anderson Silva

It has been a long journey to the spotlight, but former The Ultimate Fighter competitor Ed Herman seems to be better than ever after an impressive submission victory over Clifford Starks at UFC 143. Herman’s submission victory was his third w…

It has been a long journey to the spotlight, but former The Ultimate Fighter competitor Ed Herman seems to be better than ever after an impressive submission victory over Clifford Starks at UFC 143.

Herman’s submission victory was his third win in the Octagon since suffering a string of injuries including two torn ACLs. These are the kind of injuries that can end a fighter’s career, but, for Ed Herman, it has just been a mere bump in the road.

“In a way [the time off] was good. You can look back on the mistakes you made and just appreciate what you had. Sometimes you don’t realize that until you almost lose it,” Herman told members of the media after the event. “It took a few shots to get me moving, but I felt good.” 

Taking a few shots would be somewhat of an understatement as Herman’s left eye was almost completely swollen shut during the fight and had only gotten worse by the time the media asked their questions. 

“It’s not too bad, it’s just a little swollen, I think,” Herman said. “I took about five big right hands, but luckily I don’t cut very easily, so it’s just swollen.” 

Herman continued to move forward in the fight despite taking some serious damage early in the first round. That intensity has become a trademark of “Short Fuse,” who later caught his less-experienced opponent with a trip that he used to secure a rear-naked choke. 

When asked who he wanted to fight next, Herman didn’t even have to think.

“Anderson Silva, he’s the champ,” he responded without hesitation, also adding that he would gladly accept a fight against another top contender in Michael Bisping. 

The final decision will be up to matchmaker Joe Silva, but Ed Herman is officially back and looking to take on all comers. 

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UFC 143 Results: Koscheck-Diaz Would Be Good, but Koscheck-Fitch Is Better

UFC 143 opened up some very intriguing matchup possibilities in numerous weight classes. But perhaps none was more surprising or more interesting than the the one that opened up when Josh Koscheck announced that he would be splitting from the American …

UFC 143 opened up some very intriguing matchup possibilities in numerous weight classes. But perhaps none was more surprising or more interesting than the the one that opened up when Josh Koscheck announced that he would be splitting from the American Kickboxing Academy.

As long-time friends and training partners, Koscheck and Jon Fitch have utilized very similar techniques in many of their fights on their way to a combined UFC record that could make just about any other teammate duo look pathetic. It hasn’t always been flashy, and it has made some fans pretty angry to watch; but Koscheck and Jon Fitch just get the job done.

So, now that Koscheck and Fitch will no longer be training with one another, fans may finally be treated to the answer of one of MMA’s longest-running questions: “Who’s better—Josh Koscheck or Jon Fitch?”

Sure, a matchup between Koscheck and Diaz seemed to be the talk of the town following the fight, but that could happen down the road and still be just as intriguing. There’s no love or hate there; there’s no story.

But Koscheck versus Fitch has been built up in the minds of MMA fans for years!

Even UFC President Dana White has spoken out in the past about how he wants to see these guys go at it. He even wanted them to fight when they were teammates!

Now that the teammate card is gone from the deck, this fight makes all the sense in the world for numerous reasons.

With Koscheck coming off of back-to-back wins and Fitch coming off of a surprising loss to Johny Hendricks, these two are actually fairly close to one another in the rankings. Moreover, both of them needs a win against a top opponent to step up in the rankings given the tremendous amount of elite-level competitors who are currently vying for a title shot.

Fitch and Koscheck have lost a combined three fights to Georges St-Pierre. Fighting one another would be a show of good faith to the UFC, proving that they are willing to do anything that it takes to get another shot at the title.

The stylistic matchup between these two is very interesting, but even more intriguing would be seeing which one of these fighters has learned the weaknesses of the other more convincingly in training.  

It’s not like these guys can’t go back to being friends immediately after the fight, but it’s time to give the fans what they’ve been hoping to see for years. Hopefully we’ll see Joe Silva and Dana White come together to make this thing happen sometime in 2012. 

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UFC 143 Results: Why Nick Diaz Is Still a Threat to Be the Champion in 2012

Nick Diaz is the kind of fighter who is always going to be surrounded by a tremendous amount of controversy. So it’s not surprising that his UFC 143 fight against Carlos Condit is already the talk of the town on various social networks and MMA message …

Nick Diaz is the kind of fighter who is always going to be surrounded by a tremendous amount of controversy. So it’s not surprising that his UFC 143 fight against Carlos Condit is already the talk of the town on various social networks and MMA message boards.

Many people—this writer included—will criticize Diaz for his antics after the fight, but there is one thing that no one can deny: Nick Diaz is an animal and remains a threat to win each and every fight that he could possibly be put in.

Diaz’s technique may be unorthodox, and he may take damage by literally dropping his hands and allowing his opponents to throw undefended shots at his face. But the guy just never stops coming. It’s that non-stop intensity that had Carlos Condit in some trouble early in the fight.

The stalking nature of Diaz’s movement backed Condit into the cage, like it has so many of his opponents in the past, and the Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt unloaded with some punches that caused a cut under Condit’s right eye.

At this point, it looked like the fight was going to play out exactly the same way that so many of Diaz’s recent fights have, with him catching his opponent early and continuing to pepper them with shots until he finally breaks them in the later rounds.

Credit Condit, though, as his gameplan of chopping away at Diaz’s legs did seem to cause him to slow down a bit, particularly in the third and fourth rounds, which Condit won on all three judges’ scorecards. 

Using his quickness to escape danger countless times throughout the fight, Condit may have exposed a hole in Diaz’s technique. But Nick Diaz is not a fighter who will be content with what he currently does. He will learn from these mistakes, he will make adjustments and he will become a better fighter for the next poor sucker that has to step across the cage from him.

Tonight is Carlos Condit’s night, but Nick Diaz isn’t done yet. There is a possibility that this fight could warrant a rematch, and that could bode well for Diaz in his desire to become the undisputed UFC welterweight champion. 

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UFC on FOX 2 Results: Michael Bisping on Controversial Loss to Chael Sonnen

Following a highly controversial decision loss to Chael Sonnen in the semi-main event of UFC on FOX 2, a very humble Michael Bisping spoke candidly about the judges’ decision to award the fight to his opponent.”First of all, I want say ‘congratulations…

Following a highly controversial decision loss to Chael Sonnen in the semi-main event of UFC on FOX 2, a very humble Michael Bisping spoke candidly about the judges’ decision to award the fight to his opponent.

“First of all, I want say ‘congratulations’ to Chael Sonnen. He obviously did enough in the judges’ eyes to win the fight,” he told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “Personally, I think I won the first two rounds. I think there’s no question he got the third round, although if I had another round, I probably would’ve stopped him.”

There were certainly some questions going into this bout as many believed this would be a one-sided beatdown with Sonnen dominating from bell to bell. It certainly did not turn out that way and Bisping believes he may have finally earned some respect from some of his detractors.

“You’ve always got supporters, you’ve always got haters,” Bisping said. “But that’s not what concerns me. What concerns me is going out there and putting on great fights and providing for my wife and children.”

“I wanted to win tonight, but I obviously didn’t do enough. I feel I won the fight, but obviously Chael’s walking away the victor.” 

Though he is disappointed in not having his hand raised, Bisping is not making any excuses. He did have a change in opponent on short notice as he was originally set to fight Demian Maia, but an opportunity arose for him to get a chance to fight in the main event against Sonnen when Mark Munoz got hurt and he jumped all over it.

Some believe that this change in opponent, particularly the change in style from a primarily jiu-jitsu opponent to a primarily wrestling opponent, but the Englishman didn’t believe that was it.

“I don’t think that’s the issue. I pretty much had a full training camp. I was training for a different fight, but my cardio was there,” he said. “I’ve only got myself to blame.”

As for what he could have done differently, Bisping believes that it all had to do with how much time he spent on his back in the third round. Had that round turned out differently, perhaps the entire fight would’ve been different.

“At the end of the third round, I got to my feet, I took him down and I started landing some nice elbows,” he explained. “If I had maybe pushed for that earlier…as opposed to—I don’t know what I was doing—I was being [too] careful.”

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UFC on FOX 2 Results: Dana White Confirms Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen in Brazil

Despite some disappointment by fans on the Internet, UFC President Dana White was happy with how the promotion’s first full fight card on FOX went as Rashad Evans, Chael Sonnen and Chris Weidman were all winners on the biggest stage of their careers.”I…

Despite some disappointment by fans on the Internet, UFC President Dana White was happy with how the promotion’s first full fight card on FOX went as Rashad Evans, Chael Sonnen and Chris Weidman were all winners on the biggest stage of their careers.

“It was a great night,” White told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani immediately following the event. “The fights that were on Fuel were fantastic and yes, I’m happy.” 

The main event saw Rashad Evans earn a decision victory over the previously undefeated top light heavyweight contender Phil Davis. Though White was impressed with what Rashad did in defeating Davis, he is not sure that the Evans was completely healthy coming out of the fight. 

“I don’t know if there was something wrong with Rashad’s right hand. Usually he puts together combinations,” White said of the former light heavyweight champion.

Instead Evans used impressive takedown defense to control the fight and even put Davis in a very dangerous mounted crucifix on two separate occasions during the contest. 

“There was some debate at the press conference about the wrestling,” White continued. “But it’s pretty obvious who got the better of the wrestling tonight.”

Some said that the former national champion wrestler from Penn State simply did not appear to be himself tonight and that perhaps he was not ready for this opportunity, but White disagrees. 

“I would say that Davis did fine tonight and he was ready for this,” he said.

While the main event was very one-sided, the semi-main event had a decision which will likely be talked about for quite some time as Chael Sonnen narrowly edged out Michael Bisping to win a unanimous judges’ decision. 

“I had Bisping two rounds to one,” White told Helwani. 

Still, the victory will now sets the table for the highly anticipated Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch in June in Brazil. The exact venue has not yet been declared, but it could very well be one of the biggest events in UFC history. 

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