Author: Sal DeRose

Silva vs. Sonnen 2 Results: Can Mike Easton Become a Contender at 135?

There were other fighters at UFC 148 besides Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.One specifically was Mike Easton, who defeated Ivan Menjivar by unanimous decision.Easton is now on a three-fight win streak in the UFC and on a e…

There were other fighters at UFC 148 besides Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.

One specifically was Mike Easton, who defeated Ivan Menjivar by unanimous decision.

Easton is now on a three-fight win streak in the UFC and on a eight-fight win streak in MMA. During that win streak, Easton has taken out some recognizable talent like John Dodson, Josh Ferguson, Ivan Menjivar and former WEC bantamweight champion, Chase Beebe.

Easton can become a contender at 135 pounds, and the Washington D.C. native is still improving.

Easton has what it takes to become a contender in the division. Easton has the striking—black belt in Taekwondo—and the necessary grappling credentials—black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu—to make a run at the belt.

So far he has impressed me in his three fights in the UFC. His first fight with Byron Bloodworth was awesome and he finished with a TKO. Bloodworth even missed weight and was still beaten by the smaller Easton.

Now Easton has tested himself against Menjivar who is a really good test for upcoming bantamweights. Beating Menjivar is no easy task.

Easton should get one more fight under his belt in the middle tier and then start getting the bigger name guys in the division.

His mixture of personality and skills help make him an easy fighter to push to the masses. 

The only thing that goes against Easton that I can see being trouble long term is his size. He isn’t exactly the biggest guy, but that isn’t any reason to stop him from going far in the division. He isn’t as small as Joseph Benavidez or Demetrious Johnson, yet those two guys made title runs themselves.

Easton is getting better and will become a contender eventually in the bantamweight division proving big things can come in small packages.

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Silva vs. Sonnen 2: Was Angering Silva Sonnen’s Ultimate Downfall?

It was an anti-climatic finish to the second fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 148.After a dominating first round that saw Silva charge immediately at Sonnen and then get double legged and held on the ground for five minutes, Silva p…

It was an anti-climatic finish to the second fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 148.

After a dominating first round that saw Silva charge immediately at Sonnen and then get double legged and held on the ground for five minutes, Silva pulled off a victory in convincing fashion.

Sonnen angered Silva to a whole new level going into this fight. It seemed like a bad idea to anger a man who can destroy you in just any way humanly possible. Though was this the ultimate downfall for Sonnen?

The answer is really simple: No.

See Sonnen‘s one mistake wasn’t angering Silva. The huge mistake was throwing a spinning backfist that led to him slipping. Sonnen couldn’t get the second round to go like the first round.

Sonnen took Silva down instantly in the first and with a lot of ease, but in the second round he couldn’t do it and seemed different from the first round. Now instead of Silva getting dominated, Sonnen was getting out-struck and didn’t have a good answer for the amount of strikes thrown his way.

The one key mistake was the spinning backfist. That’s a move that should be only be thrown under supreme confidence that you can land it—which if Sonnen did, I’m shocked. Silva’s the best fighter at avoiding strikes, and throwing something like that won’t surprise him. It will have trouble landing.

The anger might have played a sub-role to the spinning backfist. Sure, behind every punch Silva threw there was a little hate peppered on. Every punch meant something. One punch for disrespecting my family. Another for disrespecting my teammates. A knee to the body—yes it was to the body, people—for his home country.

Sonnen did the right thing in trying to hype up the fight and it worked. You can’t go wrong with the record breaking numbers UFC 148 did. But to say that angering Silva was the downfall is pointless. Sonnen made his mistake in the ring and not outside it.

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UFC 148: What We Learned from Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Tito Ortiz fought for the last time at UFC 148 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas tonight.Unfortunately for the Hall of Famer, though, he didn’t come out on top and lost by unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin.On a card that features the remat…

Tito Ortiz fought for the last time at UFC 148 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas tonight.

Unfortunately for the Hall of Famer, though, he didn’t come out on top and lost by unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin.

On a card that features the rematch of Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, Ortiz could very well walk away with “Fight of the Night” seeing as it is his last fight, and it could be kind of a ceremonial bonus. 

It was a good fight that saw Griffin win the stand up and Ortiz win the ground battle.

 

What We’ll Remember from This Fight

It was a pretty good fight, and of course, it was Ortiz’s last fight. Outside of that, Griffin walked out of the Octagon before the judge’s decision again. Reminiscent of his running out of the cage when he lost to Anderson Silva in 2009.

 

What We Learned about Tito Ortiz

He put his all into this fight and came close to winning the fight. Ortiz dominated the ground but couldn’t figure out the stand up. Congrats to Ortiz on induction into the Hall of Fame and a great career. 

 

What We Learned about Forrest Griffin

Griffin did well in the stand up but showed he still needs to work getting off his back as Ortiz was able to handle him on the ground. It isn’t a big concern though as he did do pretty well in this fight.

 

What’s Next for Tito Ortiz

It’s pretty obvious what’s next for Ortiz. This was Ortiz’s retirement fight, so most likely, he will go to running his Punishment brand and train other guys. Maybe, he gets an added role inside the UFC like Chuck Liddell.

 

What’s Next for Forrest Griffin

The next fight for Griffin is a tough one to call. Maybe, the UFC will give him Glover Teixeira next as a set up for Teixeira or to test him. Possibly a fight with Alexander Gustafsson? Tough call for Griffin.

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Official B/R Rankings for July: The Top 10 Lightweights in MMA

After a little lightweight action this past June that featured Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, our lightweight rankings have been shaken up just a tiny bit.With the big lightweight action not happening until August at UFC 150 when Benson Henderson tries t…

After a little lightweight action this past June that featured Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, our lightweight rankings have been shaken up just a tiny bit.

With the big lightweight action not happening until August at UFC 150 when Benson Henderson tries to defend his title against Frankie Edgar, it seems our rankings have met an impasse that won’t be cleared until the two lightweight juggernauts meet.

Ten fighters grace our rankings for July. Some are prospects, some are veterans and heck, there is even a cowboy on our list.

So which lightweights are a part of Bleacher Report’s official lightweight rankings?

These rankings are the combined efforts of some of Bleacher Report MMA‘s best writers, as we continue to try and provide you with the best content on the web.

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Strikeforce’s Scott Coker Says Rousey Going to Have Her Hands Full with Kaufman

Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has earned her title with her judo skill set coupled with her distinct trash-talking ways to hype the fight.Rousey will yet again try and take women’s MMA further when she faces Sarah Kaufman on A…

Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has earned her title with her judo skill set coupled with her distinct trash-talking ways to hype the fight.

Rousey will yet again try and take women’s MMA further when she faces Sarah Kaufman on August 18th in what will be her second consecutive main card headlining fight. This time though, Rousey will be the champion looking to defend her title for the first time.

Since the beginning of the year Rousey’s fame has skyrocketed, and in addition to the two headlining fights she will also be featured in ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue” later this month. How does one understand her sudden rise to fame?

“Don’t let the looks fool you, because this girl is a dangerous fighter,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMA Junkie. “She’s not just beautiful, but she’s actually funny, witty, sharp and always has a good comeback. Ronda is definitely a superstar in this sport.” 

Rousey fought and talked her way past Kaufman to get a shot against Miesha Tate in March. Kaufman was originally thought to be the No. 1 contender, but things changed and now she gets to be Rousey’s first title challenger.

“I know Sarah has some bad feelings because she felt she should have gotten the fight with Miesha instead of Ronda,” Coker said. “But it all worked out. Sarah will have her opportunity to show why she feels the way she feels.” 

Kaufman has hard hands and will look to do exactly what Coker said—show her feelings and use her hands to show why exactly she deserved to be the top contender over Rousey.

Of course, that means Kaufman will have to avoid getting submitted via armbar like the rest of Rousey’s opponents. Coker thinks Kaufman can do exactly that.

“Ronda is going to have her hands full,” Coker said. “Sarah is an amazing striker, has the ability to keep the fight standing up [and has] great takedown defense.” 

Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman goes down on August 18th in San Diego and will air live on Showtime.

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Bibiano Fernandes Says Fighting in the UFC Is Not His Dream

The last month has been crazy for Bibiano Fernandes, who became a free agent after the collapse of Dream.Fernandes was linked to a possible debut in the UFC at UFC 149 in Calgary, but the news came too soon, as Fernandes did not sign a contract with th…

The last month has been crazy for Bibiano Fernandes, who became a free agent after the collapse of Dream.

Fernandes was linked to a possible debut in the UFC at UFC 149 in Calgary, but the news came too soon, as Fernandes did not sign a contract with the biggest MMA organization. Fernandes was originally linked to former Ultimate Fighter contestant, Roland Delorme.

Instead, he signed on with the newest in Asian MMA promotion, One FC. Fernandes was one of many stars in the Asian market that was signed by One FC. The promotion also signed Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri to help bolster it’s roster to one day become a giant in Asia and compete with the UFC.

Now, Fernandes is slotted to fight on August 31st for One FC.

Recently, the bantamweight fighter sat down with Tatame.com to discuss everything from his next fight to fighting in the UFC.

“I’ve fought all my life in Japan. Most of my fans live there. I guess One FC is just an extension of Dream,” Fernandes told Tatame.com about his upcoming fight with One FC. “It’s not Dream, but the guys there have been helping one another at One FC. If you really look at it, you’ll see the guys that used to work on Dream here.”

Then came the talk about whether or not One FC would be successful, unlike the rest of its Asian counterparts that have started off great and then floundered in the Asian market:

It’s an event that needs to be watched, needs to grow too because that way the competition comes. UFC’s going to win it all. There’s no competition, none whatsoever. Even at my weight class, and I hope they hire good fighters in other classes too, but in all light divisions so things are balanced.

Fernandes mentions the UFC and something that separates him from some other fighters—that fighting in the UFC isn’t a big deal to him:

Apart from family, it’d be a great opportunity for Bibiano, but when you put the family in the picture it’s not worth it. I don’t fight for me. I have people who rely on me. I’ve built what I had to build in MMA. It can be many people’s dream to fight in the UFC, but it ain’t mine. It’s all business to me.

I’ve dreamed about being a champion, I earned three belts: one in Canada and two in Japan. If you have a dream, keep dreaming. If you want to fight, keep on trying. But this I’ll tell you: worship yourself otherwise nobody else will. And it’s not only on the fighting business, but in everything in life. People use you, use you, use you and them through you away like garbage.

Fernandes fights on August 31st for One FC against an opponent to be announced later. This will be his first fight since winning the Dream bantamweight title in December. Fernandes beat Rodolfo Marques and Antonio Banuelos to win the bantamweight tournament.

On August 31st, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt will start his journey to add more hardware to his trophy case that already includes the aforementioned Dream bantamweight title and the Dream featherweight title.

Fernandes’ key wins are over Joachim Hansen, UFC vet, Antonio Banuelos and former Bellator champion, Joe Warren.

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