Author: R. Cory Smith

Rousey vs. Davis: Rowdy Will Stay Perfect Against No. 2 Contender

After nine consecutive wins to start her MMA career, Ronda Rousey has earned her place as the best female fighter in the sport. With another title defense against Alexis Davis on Saturday night, the Women’s Bantamweight Champion is set to make waves ye…

After nine consecutive wins to start her MMA career, Ronda Rousey has earned her place as the best female fighter in the sport. With another title defense against Alexis Davis on Saturday night, the Women’s Bantamweight Champion is set to make waves yet again at UFC 175.

Despite her success in the ring, Rousey has also become one of the most polarizing figures in MMA. One thing fans can’t deny is that she’s been perfect up until this point. Rousey has turned away every competitor and done so in dominant fashion.

But overconfidence has rubbed some fans the wrong way, along with fellow fighters. Davis spoke about Rousey leading up to the match about her trash talking, per Marc Raimondi of Fox Sports:

It’s all karma. Karma is going to come right back at you. … That’s why I’m going to win the belt. Karma is going to come back to her.

… There’s some boundaries you have to have. But I can only imagine the pressure she feels in this situation. She’s brought it on herself, all this s*** talking, calling people out.

No, she might not always be the most likable character in the sport, but she has certainly staked her claim atop the women’s MMA landscape. Equipped with a 61 percent success rate on strikes and an elite ability to avoid strikes and takedowns, Rousey is unmatched in the octagon.

How big has Rousey now gotten in the world of MMA? She’s now drawing comparisons to one of the most dominant fighters of this generation by Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com, as the UFC official account notes:

As for Davis, she’s been a contender on a rise for a while now. On the cusp of making history with a five-match winning streak currently on her side, it’s difficult to see her matching up favorably in any sense against Rousey on Saturday night.

When it comes to common opponents, one that stands out is Sarah Kaufman. The 17-2-1 fighter has a 2-0 record against Davis—including her most recent loss in a majority decision—but was dismissed by Rousey in the all-too-familiar first-round armbar submission.

Still, Davis appears to be happy just to be a part of the fight on such a huge stage. The Ontario, Canada native spoke about the chance to simply take on Rousey, per Bleacher Report’s Duane Finley:

I’ve always looked to fight the best people possible because that is what I got in this for. That’s why I got into this sport. I don’t just want to fight anybody…I want to fight the best. I want to fight whoever is at the top, and I’m going to get that opportunity at UFC 175.

I’m so excited for this fight because she is exactly the type of fighter you want to face.

No disrespect to Davis, but this is simply not a fight Rowdy is going to let slip. She’s already said she plans to step away following the fight, and won’t be looking to go down with that lingering in her future.

As for the actual fight in the octagon, Rousey will use her grappling and striking abilities to wear Davis down in the first round. If the fight hasn’t already finished by the close of the first, the close will of course likely be another armbar for the reigning champion.

Though Davis might truly be the No. 2 contender in the women’s ranks, she won’t quite measure up to the brutal force of Rousey. On Saturday night, it will once again be Rousey hoisting the belt and continuing her undefeated streak.

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Weidman vs. Machida: How UFC Champion Will Silence Critics with Victory

Just one day before the one-year anniversary of Chris Weidman becoming the UFC middleweight champion, he is set for another middleweight bout with Lyoto Machida on Saturday night at UFC 175.
Despite earning the win outright and defeating Anderson …

Just one day before the one-year anniversary of Chris Weidman becoming the UFC middleweight champion, he is set for another middleweight bout with Lyoto Machida on Saturday night at UFC 175.

Despite earning the win outright and defeating Anderson Silva yet again just months later—albeit after an unfortunate injury for The Spider—Weidman has unfairly drawn tremendous criticism. Even fellow fighter Junior dos Santos chimed in with his two cents on the matter, per MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz:

Then there was Weidman getting bashed by Vitor Belfort, of all people. The Brazilian attempted to lessen the Fighter of the Year award that Weidman received, per Jared Jones of Fox Sports.

“Not that it should be me, but he wins because of just one fight? It was shameful,” Belfort said. “He won one fight. The other he haven’t won, it was an accident. The ceremony in Las Vegas was pretty cool, but the votes are from the fans, not always they are right.”

Standing at 11-0 and fighting his way up the ladder, Weidman more than deserves to be seen as the champion he is at this point. As for Machida, this will be his first attempt at challenging for a UFC title since losing to Jon “Bones” Jones after trying to regain the light heavyweight title in December 2011

While this may be Weidman’s first true title defense after Silva’s injury during the December bout, he has a chance to prove why he’s the champion on Saturday night.

But does he see an end to the criticism? He answered that question on CBS Radio’s The Morning Show.

“One thing I’ve kind of realized is no matter how many times I win, stay undefeated or who I beat, I’m always going to have critics and doubters out there,” Weidman said. “So my ultimate motivating factor can’t be to prove those guys wrong because they’ll never end.”

That brings us to Weidman’s fight at UFC 175 against Machida. Going against yet another strong Brazilian fighter, Weidman will have to use all the tricks in the bag yet again.

Machida’s strong defensive style will make it difficult for Weidman to earn a takedown, but he likely won’t be able to do the same to Weidman. Though he carries a 21-4 record into the match, Machida has gone 5-4 in his last nine bouts.

With his strength and attacking style, Weidman will find ways around Machida’s tactics to impose his will. As for the weaknesses of Machida, Weidman’s trainer Ray Longo provides his thoughts, via Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com:

I think he’s got a real weak chin, I think that’s his biggest hole. Weidman hits his guy, he’ll hurt him bad. [Machida] likes to control the pace of the fight, I don’t think he likes to be pushed.

… He’s going to get in that ring, he’s going to go forward, and he’s going to impose his will on Machida and he’s going to make Machida fight his game, and he’s probably just going to end up crushing the guy.

The 36-year-old has been much more susceptible recently to being worn down and losing a decision, which happened against Phil Davis last August. But with a deadly kicking arsenal that earned him Knockout of the Night against Mark Munoz, the former UFC light heavyweight champion is still deadly in the Octagon.

Weidman might not be as exciting as the former champion or quite as dominant—at this point—as Silva, but Saturday night can change all of that. A win against Machida might not take away all of the murmurs about a fluke title defense, but a decisive victory would certainly help.

Though fans are reluctant to celebrate Weidman’s success thus far, another clear-cut win against a fighter like Machida would silence some of those critics. Weidman might never reach the same level of stardom as Silva, but his rise is legit, and he’ll prove it on Saturday night.

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Dana White Claims Jon Jones Doesn’t Want to Fight Alex Gustafsson

Equipped with an 11-match winning streak and the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, Jon “Bones” Jones doesn’t appear to have anything to worry about in the world of MMA.
UFC president Dana White believes otherwise.    
White spok…

Equipped with an 11-match winning streak and the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, Jon “Bones” Jones doesn’t appear to have anything to worry about in the world of MMA.

UFC president Dana White believes otherwise.    

White spoke about the possibility of setting up a bout between Jones and Alex Gustafsson and mentioned whom Jones wants to fight in his upcoming match, per Matt Parrino of UFC.com:

Just to clear up a couple things, people think we’re in contract negotiations with Jon Jones – we’re not. Jon Jones still has five fights left on his contract. So what we’re doing right now is trying to get him to sign the bout agreement for Gustafsson. He doesn’t want to fight Gustafsson. … Lorenzo and I have a meeting with Jones on Thursday to get him to sign the bout agreement, and he’s asking to fight Cormier instead.

Jones and Gustafsson already squared off in the ring before in September 2013, with Bones coming out on top in a five-round unanimous-decision win. Rather than returning to the octagon with Gustafsson, Jones would rather fight an unfamiliar opponent in Daniel Cormier, who recently defeated Dan Henderson and moved to 15-0 overall.

With that match potentially on the back burner, Cormier discussed his interest in fighting Gustafsson, per Franklin McNeil of Sports World News:

I know this will probably be unpopular, but if [Jones] won’t sign, whether it be for money or a lack of wanting to fight the kid, I’ll fight Alexander Gustafsson. But it should be for the interim title…If they’re putting a belt on the line, I don’t care what date it is. It was never about Jones, I just want the title…Besides, it’ll work out better for [Jones]; he won’t have to fight both of us.

As for the reasoning behind Jones not giving Gustafsson a chance at the rematch, Elias Cepeda of Yahoo doesn’t believe it’s out of fear:

At the end of the day, it’s the responsibility of the promoter to make the fights happen. If a promoter wants a professional fighter to fight somebody, they have to pay him or her to fight.

With Jon Jones, the UFC seems to simply be stuck in negotiations with less leverage and less fighter complicity than they are used to. Clearly, Jones isn’t afraid to fight Gustafsson – he’s already done it once before.

Jones currently holds a 20-1 record and essentially sits at the top of the UFC throne, but this is clearly a fight MMA fans are crying out to see. Whether or not he thinks he’s above fighting Gustafsson a second time, it’s a match that is destined to happen again in the future.

Though Bones has made his way to the top of the UFC, denying a huge fight for the fans might not go over so well.

In the meantime, Jones might end up watching Gustafsson and Cormier fight it out rather than making it back to the octagon. If he denies Gustafsson his shot at the title, the two might just be dueling it out for the right to meet with him in an upcoming main event.

 

Follow R. Cory Smith on Twitter.

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Cain Velasquez Injury: Updates on UFC Star’s Hand and Recovery

Cain Velasquez will remain on the shelf for the foreseeable future with an injury to his left hand that has hindered his progress.   
UFC Tonight reported the news on Twitter:

The injury to his left hand could not only keep him out for …

Cain Velasquez will remain on the shelf for the foreseeable future with an injury to his left hand that has hindered his progress.   

UFC Tonight reported the news on Twitter:

The injury to his left hand could not only keep him out for the next few months, but also result in Velasquez sitting out the remainder of the year. While his shoulder has healed enough to return to training, his hand injury is the issue, as Ariel Helwani reported on UFC Tonight.

Helwani said, via Cage Potato:

I spoke to his wrestling coach and he told me that Cain’s doctor cleared him to use his right hand in training two weeks ago, but he’s not sure if Cain’s ready to use the left hand yet. He’s not sure if he’ll be ready by November. He said he won’t rush into the fight that’s targeted for then. He won’t fight until he’s 100 percent. There’s talk of Cain coaching The Ultimate Fighter Latin America, and the UFC has approached him about it, and they could film it in May in Las Vegas. It would be a likely scenario that he’d coach against Werdum now.

The last part of that report is likely another huge reason for Velasquez not rushing back into training for his next fight. With a potential deal to coach The Ultimate Fighter in Latin America, the 31-year-old has time to recover and stay around the sport.

An emerging UFC fan favorite who holds a 13-1 record in MMA, Velasquez is currently riding a four-match winning streak with a chance to break out. But with the injury hampering him, returning to the octagon when a fighter’s not at full health could break a career.

With that opportunity opening up, it makes sense for Velasquez to step away from the sport and make sure he’s fully recovered. In a sport where injuries can cost a fighter his or her career, making the smart decision isn’t always the most popular one.

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Carlos Condit Injury: Updates on UFC Star’s Knee and Recovery

In one of the most brutal sports in the world, injuries are to be expected for MMA fighters. And like any other sport, some of the brightest stars can go down and completely shake up the sport. 
On Saturday night, Carlos Condit lost to Tyron Woodl…

In one of the most brutal sports in the world, injuries are to be expected for MMA fighters. And like any other sport, some of the brightest stars can go down and completely shake up the sport. 

On Saturday night, Carlos Condit lost to Tyron Woodley after being forced to withdraw due to knee injury. It was later revealed that Condit may have suffered a torn ACL, according to MMA Junkie:

Mike Winkeljohn informed MMAjunkie of Condit’s initial diagnosis via text message following their visit to an area hospital following the fight, which took place at Dallas’ American Airlines Center.

Winkeljohn also notes that Condit will have more tests done to figure out the full extent of the injury.

Following the fight Woodley spoke on Condit’s injury, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports’ Elias Cepeda:

“He’s a really tough guy. I landed some really hard right hands earlier in the fight,” Woodley said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

“I heard him say ow when I took him down so I said I’m going to start chopping him down.”

Woodley also gave his thoughts on the victory and Condit as a fighter, per UFC on Fox:

Condit is not only a great fighter, but also a fan favorite. His loss to the sport is a huge hit, with his vicious finishing ability worth watching any time he hits the octagon.

Cole Miller added his thoughts on the situation late Saturday night on Twitter:

The loss was Condit’s third in his last four with the others coming against Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks before avenging an earlier loss in his career against Martin Kampmann.

While it’s unknown how long the injury could have Condit out, his next opponent might have been decided later on in the night when Johny Hendrick defeated Robbie Lawler. The welterweight fighter could have a match with Lawler on his slate whenever the fighter returns.

The 29-year-old fighter still has several years in the tank and should be back whenever his injury heals up. While the specifics like whether or not surgery is required have not been issued, any updates will be added to this story as they come through.

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Henderson vs. Thomson: Controversial Finish Leaves Questions About Scoring

Controversy is common for every sport. But when the outcome of a match in MMA is so widely disputed, it does a little more than raise some eyebrows about the scoring system itself.

The Benson Henderson vs. Josh Thomson headline fight in the UFC o…

Controversy is common for every sport. But when the outcome of a match in MMA is so widely disputed, it does a little more than raise some eyebrows about the scoring system itself.

The Benson Henderson vs. Josh Thomson headline fight in the UFC on Fox 10 finished after five close rounds with Henderson coming out on top by a final of 48-47, 47-48, 49-46. While some fans see the final as either a robbery for the former Strikeforce titleholder, others believed the match was simply closer than the final score would make some believe.

As for UFC president Dana White, he didn’t hold any punches about his thoughts on the scoring in an interview with Fox Sports:

Elias Cepeda of Yahoo! Sports provides some commentary on the finish:

Boos cascaded down into the Octagon as the decision was announced in the United Center. Josh Thomson shook Henderson’s hand immediately but then shook his head in disbelief as he walked out of the cage and back towards the locker room.

Whether fans stand on one side of the fence or the other, the results from the Saturday match leave a controversy that won’t soon go away for UFC.

Thomson looked like the better fighter in Rounds 1, 3 and 5, even after breaking his thumb early in the match, as he announced in the post-fight press conference. But the gritty performance wasn’t enough to pull out the win over Henderson.

Henderson’s win wasn’t the first controversial win for him in a close decision. In fact, he has a string of matches that have gone down to decisions, as ESPN Stats and Info points out:

The close wins are leading some to believe that he has another force helping him out, as the Twitter account Vendetta Fighter hinted at and was retweeted by Henderson:

The scoring system will never be perfect when it comes down to judges having to decide a victor, especially in a sport were so many factors have to be taken into account. But with the situation being what it is, Henderson might want to win a little more decisively if he plans to stay away from further debatable finishes.

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