Author: Ryan Phillips

UFC on Fox 4: Brandon Vera Shows He Can Still Compete with Best Despite Loss

Brandon Vera had a 1-2 record with one no-contest in the four fights leading up to his bout with Mauricio Rua on Saturday night. And while Vera suffered a TKO loss to “Shogun,” he showed tremendous heart and ability during the fight and definitely uppe…

Brandon Vera had a 1-2 record with one no-contest in the four fights leading up to his bout with Mauricio Rua on Saturday night. And while Vera suffered a TKO loss to “Shogun,” he showed tremendous heart and ability during the fight and definitely upped his stock in the UFC. 

Vera went toe-to-toe with Rua in one of the more entertaining fights of the year. It was a back-and-forth battle in which both guys were landing bombs and taking huge shots to do so. Vera could have wilted under a furious early barrage by Rua, but instead he stood tall and fought back. 

Though Vera clearly lost the opening round, he bounced back to take the second, landing a series of punishing kicks, knees and hooks. He was rocked early in the round, but came back and put together some outstanding combinations and really took it to Shogun for the majority of the round. 

Though I had the third as a 10-10 round, it could have easily gone either way. Again, both guys landed some spectacular shots while standing up. I was shocked they were able to stay on their feet that long.

In the fourth round, Rua finally got the better of Vera, flooring him with a devastating two-punch combination that no one could have recovered from.

Both fighters looked fatigued from the second round onward, but that was likely due to the amount of strikes being thrown. 

Vera had long been criticized for a lack of focus after his meteoric rise was derailed by a series of disappointing losses. While his record fell to 12-6 (with one no-contest) Saturday night, he earned the respect of anyone watching.

We’re likely to see Vera get another top-level fight in his next bout, thanks to his performance Saturday night.

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Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: Sonnen’s Loss Proves He Isn’t in Silva’s League

Chael Sonnen talked a lot about Anderson Silva in the buildup to their rematch Saturday, but in the end his loss proved that the mouthy middleweight isn’t in Silva’s league as a fighter. Sonnen shocked the world when he dominated Silva for four-an…

Chael Sonnen talked a lot about Anderson Silva in the buildup to their rematch Saturday, but in the end his loss proved that the mouthy middleweight isn’t in Silva’s league as a fighter. 

Sonnen shocked the world when he dominated Silva for four-and-a-half rounds back in August of 2010. While he lost that fight after getting caught in a triangle armbar, the message sent was that Silva could be beaten. 

For the better part of the last two years Sonnen has crowed about how he deserved to win that fight and had absolutely dominated Silva. In a way, he was right. He had proven that “The Spider” was vulnerable.

On Saturday night at UFC 148 Sonnen jumped on Silva to open the first round of their rematch, and kept the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter on his back for almost all of the first five minutes. It looked like the Oregon native was going to do exactly what he had done in their first fight. 

Then at the beginning of the second round, Silva showed why he has long been the best fighter in the world. Rather than panic after an awful showing in the opening round, the Brazilian patiently waited for Sonnen to make a mistake. And he did.

Sonnen attempted a wild spinning back fist, Silva ducked, and the man who might be the greatest trash talker in sports tumbled to the ground. Then Silva pounced.

He leveled Sonnen with a knee to the chest, before landing several hard punches that forced the referee to step in and call a halt to the bout at 1:55 of the second round.

What Silva showed was how smart you have to be to become a champion. He never panicked, he was patient and he waited for Sonnen to do something stupid. And the challenger obliged.

Sonnen may in fact be the world’s second-best middleweight, but he’s nowhere near the fighter that Silva is. 

At 37 years old, Silva continues to sit atop the mixed martial arts world, while Sonnen must now go back to the drawing board and try to work his way back into contention.

He got his second shot at Silva and couldn’t capitalize. Maybe he learned a valuable lesson about being smarter and more patient in the octagon.

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Silva vs. Sonnen 2: Spider’s Win Proves He Is the World’s Best Fighter

Anderson Silva came out on top again Saturday night, earning a TKO victory over nemesis Chael Sonnen for his 16th straight win. The triumph proved, once again, that Silva is the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter.Silva looked like he was in serious t…

Anderson Silva came out on top again Saturday night, earning a TKO victory over nemesis Chael Sonnen for his 16th straight win. The triumph proved, once again, that Silva is the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter.

Silva looked like he was in serious trouble against Sonnen again. Sonnen dominated the first round, taking Silva down and keeping him there for the fight’s first five minutes. As the second round opened, Sonnen approached Silva with confidence when everything changed in the blink of an eye. 

Sonnen‘s confidence was extremely high after that first round and he tried for a spinning back fist that missed badly. He ended up on the ground and Silva hit him with a vicious knee to the body. That started a series of punches that led to a stoppage at 1:55 of Round 2. 

Sonnen clearly had a smart game plan for how to attack Silva. He attacked the same way he did during their first fight and put him on his back. That worked beautifully in the first round, but he couldn’t manage to take Silva down in the second, and his confidence led him to make a huge mistake in going for that back fist.

After the first round most fighters would have panicked and tried to attack relentlessly to open the second. Silva didn’t do that. He waited for Sonnen to make a mistake and pounced on him. It was a brilliant piece of fighting that only adds to the legacy “The Spider” has already built up.

At 37 years old, Silva is still as good as anyone in mixed martial arts. In fact, he’s the best. He may be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. After Saturday’s win we will probably have to start thinking of him in that context.

I don’t know what’s next for Silva, but after a phenomenal win over Sonnen there really isn’t much more out there for him to accomplish.

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Jason Miller: Dana White Makes the Right Call by Firing Mayhem

Jason “Mayhem” Miller was fired from the UFC after a second straight dreadful performance in the octagon on Saturday. The 31-year-old veteran’s release from the company was long overdue, and his actions before and after the fight may have as much …

Jason “Mayhem” Miller was fired from the UFC after a second straight dreadful performance in the octagon on Saturday. The 31-year-old veteran’s release from the company was long overdue, and his actions before and after the fight may have as much to do with it as his awful in-ring performance. UFC boss, Dana White, made the right call to oust him.

Miller became a star during a stint in Japan, because of his crazy ring entrances and wacky antics. But back then he was also winning fights. During lopsided losses to Michael Bisping in December and to C.B. Dollaway at UFC 146, Mayhem looked completely outclassed. 

Miller’s career record now stands at 23-9, and at just 31 years old, he looks completely done. He has lost all three of his UFC fights and hasn’t looked good in any of his fights with the organization. 

Mayhem is an interesting personality and certainly has gotten attention for the sport with his MTV reality show “Bully Beatdown.” Winning, or at least looking competitive in the ring, is the most important thing, but Miller didn’t look like he had a clue while in the UFC ring.

By firing Mayhem, White is sending a message that substance is far more important than style. Fighters, who try and stand out by showing on at press conferences, weigh-ins or during their entrances, must also do something once they get in the ring. A guy with Miller’s track record for actually winning fights should have been concentrating on actually getting better in the ring than plotting his out-of-ring antics. 

I’m sure he’ll catch on with another organization, where his antics and the fact that he has a recognizable name will make him popular. But as for his time in the UFC, it’s safe to say Miller will never get another chance in the octagon. 

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Nick Diaz: What MMA Star Must Do to Repair His Image Following No-Show

Once again, UFC star Nick Diaz showed he can’t be trusted to fulfill his obligations on Saturday, as he failed to show up for the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach, California. After another huge disappointment, Diaz must repair his image and right th…

Once again, UFC star Nick Diaz showed he can’t be trusted to fulfill his obligations on Saturday, as he failed to show up for the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach, California. After another huge disappointment, Diaz must repair his image and right the wrong from this weekend quickly.

Diaz was scheduled to face multiple world champion Braulio Estima in what was a highly-anticipated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu match as the main attraction of the event. But he failed to show up, leaving Estima standing on the mat with no opponent. 

Originally, there were concerns that Estima might not make the 180-pound weight limit, but he apparently did. Nick’s brother Nate took to Twitter to make a vague complaint about the weigh-in, but that didn’t really clear anything up.

Diaz was reportedly going to give his purse to charity, but now, that appears to be off the table as well thanks to the no-show.

The native of Stockton, California has a lot of explaining to do, as this is his second high-profile no-show. He was removed from the main event of UFC 137—which was supposed to be a welterweight title showdown with Georges St. Pierre—because he missed multiple flights for press events to hype the fight. 

He eventually got his shot at Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title at UFC 143, but he lost a unanimous decision before testing positive for marijuana in a post-fight drug test. 

All of those black marks against him mean that Diaz has a lot of work to do if he wants to regain the trust of his fans. But there is a way he can do it.

First, he should donate whatever money he would have earned by fighting Estima to charity. Then, he needs to issue a public apology to anyone who attended this weekend’s expo and all those who paid $10 to stream it live on the Internet. He also needs to apologize to Estima for not showing up and fighting him. 

Then Diaz needs to assure both the UFC and his fans that he won’t let anything like this happen again. He should take whatever fight Dana White wants to put him in next and not complain. He should just shut up and focus on training. 

This was another big letdown for people who have defended the Diaz brothers and their actions for a long time. It’s time for Nick to grow up and accept responsibility for his actions instead of making excuses or blaming others. 

Admitting his mistakes and making good on his promises will be the first steps in earning back the fans he has lost over the last year.

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