International Fight Week came to a close Sunday night in Las Vegas with The Ultimate Fighter 21 finale.
Headlined by Stephen Thompson and Jake Ellenberger, the card was filled with youngsters and prospects looking to make a name for themselves. It als…
International Fight Week came to a close Sunday night in Las Vegas with The Ultimate Fighter 21 finale.
Headlined by Stephen Thompson and Jake Ellenberger, the card was filled with youngsters and prospects looking to make a name for themselves. It also featured the finals of the long-running reality show, pitting American Top Team’s Hayder Hassan vs. Blackzilian rep Kamaru Usman.
The card was pretty fun, though it couldn’t hold a candle to UFC 189. There were knockouts, submissions, hand shakes and spitting.
With that, let’s take a look at the real winners and losers from the card.
Sunday night, a rare UFC event took place, as The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale came live from Las Vegas. It was an event that came on the heels of UFC 189, a card that many consider the best UFC event of all time.
Though the main event soaked up most of …
Sunday night, a rare UFC event took place, as The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale came live from Las Vegas. It was an event that came on the heels of UFC 189, a card that many consider the best UFC event of all time.
Though the main event soaked up most of the spotlight and the finals bout of TUFtook center stage, the card did feature an exciting debut in the form of former InvictaAtomweight Champion Michelle Waterson.
The marketable Waterson faced Angela Magana in a fight that was to showcase a future contender at 115 pounds. In three rounds of action, Waterson dominated Magana, eventually offing her with a rear-naked choke.
So, where does the Karate Hottie go from here? Let’s take a look at three fights Waterson could take going forward.
Felice Herrig
Waterson is a karate practitioner. Felice Herrig is a muaythai practitioner.
Let’s see who can apply her striking art better.
Waterson is exciting, and Herrig, when put in there with an opponent who will entertain her advances, can be exciting as well. This could be a Fight of the Night contender on any card.
Also, we’d see how Herrig‘s ground game has improved. We know Waterson‘s is continually getting better, so we would see a potential contrast if the fight hit the mat.
Two popular fighters against one another? Sounds like a plan, man.
Paige VanZant-Alex Chambers winner
Let’s be real here. The UFC is banking on Michelle Waterson because she is an attractive female with a great personality, and she is a good fighter, which seems to be in the background.
The same can be said about Paige VanZant. That’s why a bout with Waterson should happen in the future, though VanZant first needs to get by Alex Chambers.
Honestly, either woman would be a great next match for Waterson. Chambers is a former atomweight like Waterson, while VanZant has a similar style to the new UFC employee.
UFC 191 will settle VanZant-Chambers. Waterson should keep a close eye on that event.
Jessica Penne
Waterson and Jessica Penne have fought once, and it was for the InvictaAtomweight Championship. In that bout, Waterson submitted Penne to take the title from her.
A rematch should be on the horizon, based on where both women are in their careers and how exciting the first bout was.
Penne is coming off a failed title bid against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Waterson is one fight removed from losing her Invicta title to HericaTiburcio.
Just based on excitement and potential animosity, this bout needs to be considered. Both women are without opponents right now and could benefit one another.
Ladies and gentleman, give it up for Conor McGregor. His victory against Chad Mendes on Saturday has ensured big business for the UFC in the future.
At UFC 189, McGregor answered questions about how he would fare against a wrestler by blitzing Men…
Ladies and gentleman, give it up for Conor McGregor. His victory against Chad Mendes on Saturday has ensured big business for the UFC in the future.
At UFC 189, McGregor answered questions about how he would fare against a wrestler by blitzing Mendes with a late second-round stoppage from strikes. It earned the Irishman, who fought in front of a Las Vegas crowd filled with feisty Irish fans, the interim featherweight title and seemingly brings him to the biggest fight of his career.
It may also be the biggest fight in the history of the UFC, let alone McGregor’s career.
Yes, you read that correctly. Aldo versus McGregor is the biggest fight in the history of the UFC. You take arguably the most dominant champion in the UFC in Aldo, who has not really been a great box office draw, and put him up against McGregor, a box office attraction with tons of heat behind him, mainstream appeal and the personality to make extra pay-per-view sales.
You may be disputing that this will be the biggest fight in UFC history, but take this walk with me. There are plenty of reasons why this will be.
First off, the UFC has already invested heavily into this match in terms of monetary output. The build up to this fight saw no expense spared, from a world tour to massive amounts of advertising.
The UFC knows this is an easy fight to promote because of the animosity and power of McGregor’s words. The Irishman is a star that is rapidly ascending into the mainstream.
Not only that, but Aldo’s exit from UFC 189 and his consequent replacement, Mendes, should have seen UFC take a major hit in terms of traffic and buys. However, live attendance was still incredible, and you can guarantee the number of buys on this card will be impressive.
And that is with Mendes, who is not as marketable as Aldo, especially when combined with McGregor.
That’s where the Aldo injury debacle comes in. It deprived us of the main event we truly desired and will undoubtedly be used in the buildup to the eventual throwdown.
There have been questions on the validity of the injury and whether Aldo could have fought. As negative as that can be perceived, it does add interest to the fight, which will obviously be used to build up the pay-per-view.
Then, there’s the issue of two belts right now. Aldo is the champion; McGregor is the interim champion. That makes this an even easier sell to the public.
Add to the insane fanbase in each man’s corner. McGregor has his Irish contingent, who we have seen are a rowdy bunch of people reminiscent of old-school soccer hooligans. It’s refreshing yet rambunctious.
Then you have Aldo, backed by the emotional and passionate Brazilian fans who are just as nuts as the Irish. The dueling chants, national anticipation and sheer insanity will make the main event even more successful.
This will be in Las Vegas. People will fly in from all over the world to spectate this matchup.
It will be built up, talked about and speculated on from now until it finally happens. That will lead to a massive gate, huge pay-per-view numbers and a spot in the history book as the biggest fight in UFC history.
On Saturday night, one of the biggest pay-per-views in UFC history went down in Las Vegas and featured one of the biggest stars in the UFC. That man is Conor McGregor.
McGregor, a showman with a penchant for pre-fight trash talk, in-cage antics and foc…
On Saturday night, one of the biggest pay-per-views in UFC history went down in Las Vegas and featured one of the biggest stars in the UFC. That man is ConorMcGregor.
McGregor, a showman with a penchant for pre-fight trash talk, in-cage antics and focused intensity, took on the biggest challenge of his career. That challenge came in the form of Chad Mendes.
Mendes, who filled in for UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, represented the one thing McGregor had not been tested by in the UFC: a wrestler.
Fans criticized the “tailor-made” matchups the UFC gave to McGregor by only having him take on strikers. After all, McGregor is a striker himself and a cash cow that the UFC wants to milk for all the money it can. So, what we got in UFC 189‘s main event was not only an interim featherweight belt up for grabs but a test of McGregor vs. his supposed weakness of wrestling.
What ensued was a mix that has left us even more confused, but one thing is certain: McGregor‘s body striking made the difference in taking home the victory and interim UFC Featherweight Championship.
Coming into this fight, Mendes—who only had about two weeks’ notice for the bout—held the perceived advantage because of his wrestling. Everyone knew, though, that if McGregor could weather the storm, Mendes could gas out.
Instead of going into deep waters, McGregor gassed out Mendes with force.
Throughout the two-round affair, McGregor constantly went to the body with kicks and punches. After a few shots to the ribs, chest and stomach in the first round, Mendes was visibly uncomfortable with what was transpiring.
That’s when he started looking for the takedown more often.
However, if he got McGregor down, the Irishman would eventually get back up and continue his body assault. The more he nailed Mendes with body shots, the slower and more plodding Mendes became.
Then came the end of the fight. Once McGregor escaped the mat war with Mendes, he got up. Mendes, exhausted from the excessive body work that McGregor put in, looked as if he just ran a marathon. That allowed McGregor to stun him with a punch and finish the gassed American before the bell could sound for Round 3.
Body shots have become a lost art, especially in MMA. Fighters who do utilize body work oftentimes are successful, as body shots undoubtedly mount punishment and start moving the opponent’s needle more toward the empty side of the gas tank.
BasRutten was a master of this. There was a gigantic target on his opponent’s liver and he had no problem gunning for it whenever he pleased.
If I have said this once, I have said it a thousand times in conversing about fights: I would rather get punched in the head than take a socking to the liver or stomach. It’s that simple. It simply hurts so much more to have your body rattled.
And that’s what happened to Mendes. He was constantly punched and kicked in the body, which brought pain and fatigue.
Body work was quite possibly the difference between McGregor finishing the bout in Round 2 or potentially taking more punishment on the ground for the rest of the fight.
If you watched the build-up to UFC 189, you would have thought the only fight on the card was Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes. It was undoubtedly, the biggest fight on the card, and it attracted droves of fans.
The co-main event was a welterweight title…
If you watched the build-up to UFC 189, you would have thought the only fight on the card was ConorMcGregor vs. Chad Mendes. It was undoubtedly, the biggest fight on the card, and it attracted droves of fans.
The co-main event was a welterweight title defense. Despite the magnitude of the title fight, it still played second fiddle to McGregor-Mendes.
When it came to excitement and the quality of the fight, though, Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald was second to none.
Lawler and MacDonald went to war in their five-round affair, taking home a $50,000 bonus for putting on the Fight of the Night. In a night filled with great affairs, Lawler and MacDonald’s efforts earned them a paycheck for being the best.
In fact, one could assert that the co-main event of UFC 189 was the Fight of the Year.
Not only was it a five-round fight, but the finish came in the final round. The judges were not needed to decide the paper-thin decision, Lawler took the bout with a pinpoint punch that exploded the nose of a dazed MacDonald, ending the bloody affair as violently as it started.
What’s funny about the fight is that it started off in mild fashion. The first round was nothing to write home about, but once both men came out for the second round, things changed drastically.
Over the next four rounds, it turned into a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots fight that saw blood, sweat and tears aplenty.
MacDonald rocked Lawler. Lawler rocked MacDonald.
Both men were dropped. When all was said and done, both looked like the survivors of a slasher film and wore it proudly on their faces.
What’s even more impressive about it being the best fight of the year thus far is that the bout that preceded it, Jeremy Stephens vs. Dennis Bermudez, looked like a lock for Fight of the Night and a contender for Fight of the Year.
That’s how impressive Lawler-MacDonald was.
Consider the other top contenders for Fight of the Year right now, and Lawler-MacDonald blows all of them out of the water.
Andrei Arlovski-Travis Browne was amazing and highly entertaining, but it only lasted one round before Arlovski ended it. It will easily win Round of the Year.
Then there’s Brian Ortega-Thiago Tavares, which was also an absolute gem. However, as good as it was, it can’t hold a candle to MacDonald-Lawler.
An amazing UFC 189 was made 100 times better by this incredible showing from two warriors. Although MacDonald was the loser in the record books, nobody really lost in retrospect.
UFC 189 was touted as the biggest card in the history of the UFC by President Dana White. It was one that was resting on the intense, brash shoulders of Conor McGregor, who not only drew droves of crowds and views but also the intrigue of hardcore and …
UFC 189 was touted as the biggest card in the history of the UFC by President Dana White. It was one that was resting on the intense, brash shoulders of ConorMcGregor, who not only drew droves of crowds and views but also the intrigue of hardcore and casual MMA fans alike.
When it was all said and done Saturday night and the dust settled, UFC 189 went down as the greatest main card of all time in the company’s history.
This is a big assertion, but consider everything that went down pre-fight and when the combatants actually mixed it up. Everything went right, leading to an excess of fun and suspense.
There was a ton of intrigue when the card was first announced. Two title fights headlined the proceedings, with the top billing going to the ultimate grudge match between UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and popular challenger ConorMcGregor.
The UFC built the fight up and invested money into it that it really hasn’t ever done before. This was done with Aldo, who has not been the biggest box0office success as UFC champion, and McGregor, a rapidly rising star who had begun to build a following with his finishing ability and memorable trash talk.
Anticipation built, and fans eagerly awaited the card. The problem? Aldo dropped out with an injury, seemingly killing all the steam the UFC had built up for the event.
Enter Chad Mendes.
The biggest question mark on McGregor was his wrestling ability, and many fans were quick to assert that the UFC was protecting the Irishman from the many wrestlers in the featherweight division. They would finally get their wish when White announced Mendes as McGregor‘s new opponent in the main event.
Basically, the show must go on. It did, and boy, are we lucky that UFC 189 stayed the course, because it became the best main card ever done by the UFC.
Things started off rocky in terms of excitement on the undercard. Every prelim, minus Matt Brown vs. Tim Means, went to decisions, and most of the fights were not exactly barnburners.
For example, CathalPendred vs. John Howard made a Ben AskrenBellator performance look like Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua I.
It just seemed like a bad way to build momentum toward the main card. Luckily, Brown vs. Means was the final undercard bout, and it was exciting, featured a finish and brought back steam going into the main card.
So what did the main card feature? Well, in examining it, it featured a Knockout of the Year, two Fight of the Year candidates and the coronation of a new champion.
The card kicked off with Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett. It represented the young blood vs. the old guard, and it was a slobberknocker all the way till the finish.
Pickett wrecked Almeida early, and the Brazilian wrecked the Brit in response. The second round was young in this fun bout when Almeida scored a possible Knockout of the Year, landing one of the cleanest flying knee knockouts in the history of MMA.
That was a great start for the main card.
Continuing the trend of finishes, two welterweights with bright futures looked to steal some spotlight for themselves, and when it was all said and done, Gunnar Nelson took back a ton of the hype he had lost.
Considered the lesser of the two strikers against Brandon Thatch, Nelson dropped his opponent with a two-punch combination and slickly made short work of Thatch on the ground, choking him out in quick fashion.
Continuing on, the featherweights fought, and although it was at a catchweight because Jeremy Stephens failed to hit his mark on the scale against Dennis Bermudez, it didn’t affect the quality of the fight.
It was a back-and-forth slugfest. Bermudez hammered Stephens and looked to secure takedowns. Stephens defended those shots well and tapped Bermudez‘s chin with extreme prejudice.
It was on its way to being Fight of the Year and was capped off with a brutal knockout. Stephens landed a flush flying knee and finished Bermudez on the mat with punches in an intense finish.
It was Fight of the Year for all of one fight, because Rory MacDonald and Robbie Lawler stole the show.
After a lackluster first round, these two warriors fought four rounds of raucous, violent, bloody combat that had fans in awe and most of them at the edge of their seat. Both men almost finished each other multiple times and likely took years off their careers in an attempt to be considered the best welterweight in the world.
Then the main course came around. The production value was amazing, with live performances by Sinead O’Connor and Aaron Lewis, as well as insane graphics and wild fans cheering their hero and booing his counterpart.
The cage door closed, and it was on. McGregor tagged Mendes early. Money responded with powerful takedowns.
For a while, it appeared the American wrestler would expose the UFC’s cash cow, who was repeatedly taken down.
That changed with a scramble, some fatigue and some pinpoint strikes that beat the buzzer.
McGregor proved too much for Mendes on the feet, and at the end of Round 2, the Irishman got off his back and finished Mendes before the bell.
One of the top stars in the UFC had proved himself and silenced detractors who believed he couldn’t hang with a wrestler. It was truly the best way to cap off the best, most exciting main card in UFC history. It will bring in more money for the company, which can now book the anticipated McGregor-Aldo matchup.
Sunday night, a rare UFC event took place, as The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale came live from