Wednesday presents a special day in the UFC, with The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale taking place in Quebec. Headlined by Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy, it promises to be a fun event with some entertaining bouts.
Not only will we crown two TUF …
Wednesday presents a special day in the UFC, with The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale taking place in Quebec. Headlined by Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy, it promises to be a fun event with some entertaining bouts.
Not only will we crown two TUF champions, but the coaches will square off. In addition, Bisping and Kennedy are set to make their beef physical after exchanging verbal volleys with one another.
Need five reasons to watch this fight card? This is the article for you. Here are some of the reasons you should watch.
The UFC is set to put on two events this week, the first of which goes down on Wednesday. It will be the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia.
The card is headlined by Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy, who have had a war of…
The UFC is set to put on two events this week, the first of which goes down on Wednesday. It will be the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia.
The card is headlined by Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy, who have had a war of words leading up to the bout. The card also features the finals of the reality show and the coaches bout between Patrick Cote and Kyle Noke.
Who will take home the bonuses when all is said and done? Let’s take a look.
Performance of the Night No. 1: Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping is one of the best middleweights in the world. He is also highly motivated to beat up and shut the mouth of Tim Kennedy.
Bisping has good counterwrestling and superior stand-up. That is a formula for beating Tim Kennedy, as we saw in his fight with Luke Rockhold.
The fight is also five rounds. That means Bisping can dissect Kennedy on the feet and finish him later in the bout.
The knockout will be solid, and it will earn “The Count” a few extra bucks.
Also in the running: NordineTaleb, Dustin Poirier
Performance of the Night No. 2: Mark Bocek
Mark Bocek was set to have a fun fight with Evan Dunham. Unfortunately, Dunham went down with an injury and was replaced by normal featherweight Mike de la Torre.
Bocek is a wizard on the ground and has submitted some tough guys. De la Torre has been submitted in the past and is fighting up a weight class, which gives Bocek a great advantage.
I don’t see many of these fights ending in submission. Therefore, Bocek could be in a short line for the submission bonus.
Also in the running: Mitch Gagnon
Fight of the Night: Sarah Kaufman-Leslie Smith
The first fight was amazing. The second bout promises to bring even more excitement.
Leslie Smith vs. Sarah Kaufman at Invicta FC 5 was a barn burner on the feet that went to a decision. It was an action-packed 15 minutes.
Kaufman won the fight, but it wasn’t without controversy. Smith is rarely in boring fights, so this one should be very interesting.
Both ladies will haul in some extra money in a great fight.
Also in the running: Patrick Cote-Kyle Noke, Sam Stout-KJ Noons, Dustin Poirier-Akira Corassani
UFC 175 was stacked the minute UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman was placed on the card opposite challenger Lyoto Machida. It now has been bolstered even more.
Dana White announced via Twitter Friday night that UFC women’s bantamweight champion R…
UFC 175 was stacked the minute UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman was placed on the card opposite challenger Lyoto Machida. It now has been bolstered even more.
Dana Whiteannounced via Twitter Friday night that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will fill in the co-main event slot to defend her belt against top contender Alexis Davis.
Rousey is undefeated at 9-0 and holds a 3-0 record in the UFC. She has defended her belt in all three UFC bouts, tapping out Liz Carmouche and Miesha Tate with her patented armbar, while putting away Sara McMann in her most recent scrap with strikes.
The armbar queen is also the former Strikeforce champion, where she beat Tate for the title and defended it once against Sarah Kaufman before migrating over to her current home.
As for Davis, the Canadian is also 3-0 in the UFC, which is a large reason why she earned the title shot. She debuted by decisioning Rosi Sexton, followed that up with a domination over Carmouche and took a close bout in her most recent fight against Jessica Eye.
There was much speculation that Rousey’s next fight would be against now-movie star Gina Carano, but that falls by by the wayside for now.
In looking at this matchup, this could be an interesting little bout. Rousey is known for her wicked grappling that has resulted in eight armbars in her pro career. Davis is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who prefers to grapple herself, so this could be a highly technical mat war.
However, Rousey used her hands in her last fight against McMann, showing that she may be more comfortable on the feet these days. She should be wary, though, as Davis is a good kicker with underrated striking of her own.
With 15 submission wins between them, there is no way that a ground battle could be anything but marvelous. Time will tell how this fight goes down, though, as game-planning and actual cage work will show us how each lady would like to fight.
With two titles on the line at UFC 175 now, it has become a must-buy for any fan of MMA.
It has seemed like an eternity, but the UFC is back this weekend with a card from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Headlined by Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the 10-bout card has a mixture of veterans and prospects that should make for…
It has seemed like an eternity, but the UFC is back this weekend with a card from AbuDhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Headlined by Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the 10-bout card has a mixture of veterans and prospects that should make for an interesting fight night.
The prelims have newcomers and familiar faces alike. Staples like Chris Camozzi and Thales Leites are joined by new employees like Jim Alers and Alan Omer to make a nice mix on the undercard for UFC fans to watch.
Our last set of prelim picks saw the bad come with the good. We stayed just above .500, but I’m certain the scrapped Diego Brandao-Will Chope fight only would have benefited my record.
Without further ado, here are the prelim picks for UFC Fight Night 39.
Note: All quotes and material were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report through a one-on-one between Luke Harris and Bleacher Report’s Riley Kontek.
Well, this season has been a wild ride. Thank you for reading. Here is my final blog for TUF Na…
Note: All quotes and material were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report through a one-on-one between Luke Harris and Bleacher Report’s Riley Kontek.
Well, this season has been a wild ride. Thank you for reading. Here is my final blog for TUF Nations: Canada vs. Australia.
This episode starts out with a recap of last weeks’ where Olivier Aubin-Mercier defeated Richard Walsh by way of a first-round rear-naked choke. Richard replays the fight in his head as we all do when we lose. Understanding why you lost and working on those deficiencies are what make you a better fighter. It is so weird seeing Richard without his beard. He looks like a different person.
Olivier will now face Chad Laprise in the finals. I am really not looking forward to that fight. Both those guys are very good friends of mine and I hate to see either of them lose.
In this episode, Georges St-Pierre visits the house. It was pretty cool seeing him so soon after his fight with Johny Hendricks. Georges was one of my first training partners when I began Brazilian jiu-jitsu several years ago in Montreal. He was a purple belt at the time.
Of course, we all had a lot of questions about the fight. Georges felt he won, but it was very close. He also discussed retirement, as there were lots of personal issues in his life that he had been neglecting. He couldn’t remember how many times he had defended his title with his personal life put on hold. He said that fighting wasn’t in his heart anymore and if it returns, he would continue to fight.
For now, he plans to go on vacation and think about it. He talked about fighting “safe” and longevity in the sport. He has a very interesting perspective on sparring and training smart. There’s a reason he’s been at the top for so long. Cung Le had similar things to say about hard sparring, specifically that it’s not smart.
When asked about a fight with Anderson Silva, Georges said that it would be easier for him to move to 155 then 185 pounds. The fight was never something he seriously considered. It was great speaking with him. He’s a great ambassador of the sport and a true role model. It’s pretty cool that we heard about his retirement before the media or anyone else.
Things were starting to wind down around the house, so Patrick Cote spiced them up a bit by dressing like Sasquatch. It was pretty funny, but he almost got his head taken off when everyone attacked him. There was also an epic food fight which Matt DesRoches took the brunt of. Sorry about the Dijon mustard and protein-powder pie to the face, Matt.
This week’s fight is Vik Grujic vs. Sheldon Westcott. It was just my impression, but it seemed like Vik was looking past this fight a bit. It was not surprising considering how many distractions were going on. I’m not sure if it was really the case or if it just appeared that way.
Heading into the fight, I didn’t like Vik’s chances. The element of surprise wasn’t there anymore and Vik didn’t have the grappling to deal with Sheldon when the fight hit the ground.
The fight started and Vik came out and kicked Sheldon’s leg. They tied up and Sheldon pushed him to the cage and secured a double-leg takedown. He carried Vik to our corner and put him on his back. From bottom half guard, Vik held on to a wrong-side guillotine choke, which gave Sheldon the Von Flue choke. The Von Flue is really a counter choke, as your opponent has to be out of position in order for you to get it. Like all submissions, it’s been done before under a different name. Sheldon did well to recognize Vik’s mistake and finish the fight. I’m pretty sure that should get him the $25,000 submission bonus, and more importantly, it should get another Canadian into the finals. Sheldon will face Elias Theodorou on the finale.
So, that’s it. Four Canadians are in the finals. Although I couldn’t wait to get out of that house, I really made some great friends. We’ve all become close over the past seven weeks.
TUF was challenging. The hardest part for me was not communicating with my family, the lack of privacy and starving myself for seven weeks. We were treated very well by the UFC and the producers, Those Canadians. I just want to take the opportunity to thank Joe Silva, Dana White, the Fertittas, Dan Farmer, Danny McNair, Don Young, Dave Bigelow, Mike Wetmore and all the rest of the staff at Those Canadians. And I can’t leave out Pepper!
Finally, thank you to my beautiful wife Amy, Jeff Montemurro and Tyler Edworthy, who ran the gym and my classes while I was away. It’s amazing to have great people who you can depend on.
What’s next for me?
I’m not sure yet. If you really want to know, come talk to me at Hayabusa Training Center and follow @HayabusaHarris on Twitter.
Thank you to the Bleacher Report, which was gracious enough to host my blog!
*Tune in on Wednesday, April 16 to watch the TUF Nations finale live on Fox Sports 1. The card is headlined by middleweight rivals Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy. The card also hosts the coaches fight between Canada’s Patrick Cote and Australia’s Kyle Noke. Finally, check it out to see who wins the finale in their respective weight divisions. Canadian teammates Chad Laprise and Olivier Aubin-Mercier battle it out for the welterweight contract, while fellow Canadians Elias Theodorou and Sheldon Westcott meet for the middleweight contract.
The UFC ventures its way back to Abu Dhabi for the first time since UFC 112, as UFC Fight Night 39 touches down in the Middle East. The card is available Friday morning/afternoon on Fight Pass, the UFC’s digital network.
Fight Night 39 is headlined by …
The UFC ventures its way back to AbuDhabi for the first time since UFC 112, as UFC Fight Night 39 touches down in the Middle East. The card is available Friday morning/afternoon on Fight Pass, the UFC’s digital network.
Fight Night 39 is headlined by Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Both men are heavy-hitting heavyweights that will likely put on a fun fight for those in attendance, along with those watching around the world.
Here are the predictions for the fight night bonuses. The performance bonuses will be treated as knockout and submission of the night bonuses.
Performance of the Night No. 1: Roy Nelson
If there’s one thing Roy Nelson is known for, it’s his one-punch knockout power. Or his granite chin. Or his rat tail and beard. Or his protruding belly. Or his interesting personality.
Okay, he’s known for a few things. The most important is one-punch knockout power.
Nelson looks like a truck driver and hits like a semi. His opponent, Nogueira, used to be able to take a beating, but his chin has slowly withered away.
That will leave Nelson with a nice opportunity to land a clean, massive shot. That knockout punch will net him an extra $50,000 he can spend at the local buffet (hopefully not in one sitdown).
Also in the Running: BeneilDariush, Jared Rosholt
Performance of the Night No. 2: Rani Yahya
There are jiu-jitsu fighters and there are world-class jiu-jitsu fighters. Rani Yahya happens to fall into the second category.
Watching Yahya on the ground is like watching Picasso in the middle of a painting. You are watching a work of art in progress with his systematic breakdown of opponents.
Johnny Bedford has good wrestling, but has shown his submission defense to be suspect in the past. Expect Yahya to close the distance and ground Bedford, scoring a tapout and a bonus check for his troubles.
Also in the Running: TatsuyaKawajiri, Jim Alers
Fight of the Night: Chris Camozzi vs. Andrew Craig
When the UFC announced Andrew Craig vs. Chris Camozzi, I was like a kid on Christmas because this fight is a gift.
Many people are probably overlooking this fight, but expect to see two tough guys banging it out on their feet and refusing to go down. While Camozzi is the more technical fighter, Craig is always moving forward and looking for a wild brawl.
This fight could be something special if it lasts as long as I think it will last. Both men will be able to hold their heads high, as they are compensated for their awesome effort.
Also in the Running: TatsuyaKawajiri-Clay Guida, John Howard-Ryan LaFlare
The UFC is set to put on two events this week, the first of which goes down on Wednesday. It will be the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia.