With some of the great fighters in the history of the sport such as Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture having recently retired, and others like Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko soon to follow, it is time for a new breed of MMA superstars to arise and …
With some of the great fighters in the history of the sport such as Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture having recently retired, and others like Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko soon to follow, it is time for a new breed of MMA superstars to arise and take the places of those legends.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has already reached the top of that mountain, but who else will follow Jones’ lead? Despite a recent setback against Jim Miller, Charles Oliveira appears to have the tools to become one of those fighters who will achieve greatness.
Let’s take a look at 24 other fighters who have the potential to do the same.
They say that second place is the first loser.However, there is some twisted logic contained within the expression. If you’ve ever had the honor of fighting for a UFC title, it’s unlikely you’d trade that in for mediocrity despite walking…
They say that second place is the first loser.
However, there is some twisted logic contained within the expression. If you’ve ever had the honor of fighting for a UFC title, it’s unlikely you’d trade that in for mediocrity despite walking away empty-handed.
Think of Kenny Florian, who will likely be fighting in his third title fight later this year, when he challenges Jose Aldo for the featherweight strap. Will another expression hold up in “the third time is the charm”?
Beyond fighters who have already challenged for a UFC title and came up short, there are fighters who were champions with other organizations, but that success failed to translate inside the Octagon. Lastly, fighters who have never competed for a title—and despite how good they are—will likely never challenge for a title for various reasons.
With Zuffa Inc. (parent company of the UFC) purchasing Strikeforce, relevant fighters from that organization who could eventually find their way over to the UFC will be included. While this list may seem unbecoming on the surface, think of it as deference to the best fighters that simply fell shy of a success that so few get to revel in. While some on the list may be obvious, it is always good to be comprehensive.
After more than a year on the shelf, Wanderlei Silva will return to the Octagon at UFC 132 on July 2nd. With every appearance Silva promises two things, an exciting fight and one of the most intimidating staredowns in the sport.Silva’s opponent at UFC …
After more than a year on the shelf, Wanderlei Silva will return to the Octagon at UFC 132 on July 2nd. With every appearance Silva promises two things, an exciting fight and one of the most intimidating staredowns in the sport.
Silva’s opponent at UFC 132, Chris Leben, is one of the few fighters in MMA who can match the intensity of “The Axe Murderer” inside the cage. Therefore, fans should expect nothing less than a slugfest and a fight of the year candidate.
In honor of Silva’s fear-inducing gaze, we present you with the 25 most intense MMA staredown videos on YouTube.
At UFC 132, Chris Leben will welcome Wanderlei Silva back to the Octagon after the Brazilian had been sitting out for well over one year due to injury. Leben will be looking to make a return of sorts as well, though, after suffering only the second kno…
At UFC 132, Chris Leben will welcome Wanderlei Silva back to the Octagon after the Brazilian had been sitting out for well over one year due to injury. Leben will be looking to make a return of sorts as well, though, after suffering only the second knockout loss of his career in his last fight against Brian Stann.
The fight between Leben and Silva will serve as the co-main event for UFC 132, which will take place on July 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Leading up to the event, Leben and Silva joined the main event competitors, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, on the UFC 132 media call. Here are some of Leben’s highlights from the call.
During your hours spent watching the replay of Dan Henderson’s brutal knock out against Michael Bisping from UFC 100, you likely wondered at some point who the striking coach behind that devastating overhand right was.Well, that man was Gustavo Puglies…
During your hours spent watching the replay of Dan Henderson’s brutal knock out against Michael Bisping from UFC 100, you likely wondered at some point who the striking coach behind that devastating overhand right was.
Well, that man was Gustavo Pugliese, who recently took some time to talk with Bleacher Report about Henderson’s upcoming fight with MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, which will take place on July 30, 2011.
Prior to becoming a striking coach at Henderson’s Team Quest, Pugliese was an All-American boxer and strength-and-conditioning coach at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. Eventually, Pugliese was introduced to Henderson by Henderson’s training partner, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.
“I used to train [Rameau] Thierry Sokoudjou before,” Pugliese said. “Thierry was working with Team Quest at the time. He came to me just to work technique for his fights back then. Dan [Henderson] was getting ready for his fight with [Rousimar] Palhares. That was his first fight back after he lost to Rampage. He didn’t have a striking coach at the time, so Sokoudjou talked to him about me and he set it up. I started working with Dan, not with Team Quest, just Dan. So I worked with him the entire camp. Then, after he fought Palhares, he offered me the position to be the boxing coach for Team Quest.”
Obviously, there are several differences between striking technique in boxing and striking technique in MMA. As a former boxing coach, Pugliese was forced to make some alterations in his teaching approach when he began exclusively training MMA fighters.
“The fundamentals are the same,” Pugliese said. “Whether you are a boxer or an MMA fighter coming from whatever background, the fundamentals are the same. The difference between MMA is the distance is a little longer range because you have to worry about kicks, you have to worry about takedowns. I put a lot of focus on footwork in MMA and working the fundamentals as sharp as they can.
“In MMA, when you’re in close range, you’re working clinch, elbows and all that. So for me to teach an MMA fighter the way to fight inside the way I teach a boxer, that’s not realistic.”
Henderson was landing his patented overhand right long before Pugliese joined his training camp, but Pugliese has worked with Henderson on setting up that go-to strike. While most fans see Henderson as a one-trick pony when it comes to striking, Pugliese says Henderson brings much more to the table on his feet.
“It’s funny when people say how to train Dan is just hold the mitts for his right hand,” Pugliese said. “People just don’t understand that in order to land his right hand there are so many things that come first. Dan is an extremely intelligent fighter, very aware of how to trade, how to throw punches. In order to throw the right hand, you have to set it up. If you watch the way he’s been knocking people out, he’s doing so many things before he throws the right hand. He knows when he can land it. He’s just not going to waste it.
“If you watch Dan at the beginning of his career and you watch is last 5-6 fights, you’ll see he’s a little more conservative. He’s more patient. He’s studying the opponent a lot more.”
Having competed in MMA for more than a decade, Henderson has seen just about anything a fighter cane see in the sport. However, Pugliese believes there is still room for the 40-year-old Henderson to make small improvements in his striking.
“I always say that there’s always room for improvement,” Pugliese said. “Of course, he’s been doing this for a long time now. You can perfect some things and add a little bit more finesse. Dan, it is what it is, he’s not going to be the most beautiful technician. If you watch him, he’s not the kind of guy that has beautiful technique because of how he fights and his body type. But there’s many different things he does that make his strikes look sharp. The way he throws his right hand, the way he puts his body into it, his shoulder coming behind the punch, turning his gloves over and finding his range. Those are other things that he can always work on.”
Because Henderson’s overhand right has become such a dangerous weapon in so many of his fights, all of his opponents are now prepared to defend it. For that reason, Pugliese needs to work diligently to find new set-ups for the overhand right for each of Henderson’s opponent.
“For each fight, the camp is going to change a little bit,” Pugliese said. “We can do certain things that can catch the opponent in a different way. Everybody knows how Dan fights. Everybody expects that he’s going to throw the right hand. Now, we are going to have to change how we set it up. We gotta keep the opponents guessing.”
Emelianenko now has three losses on his record after losing back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, but the Russian heavyweight has never been knocked out. Pugliese plans on preparing Henderson to be the first fighter to do just that when the two legends of the sport finally meet.
“If Dan wants to fight someone, it’s because he knows he can beat the person,” Pugliese said. “Even though it’s a big challenge, deep inside he knows he has a chance to beat the guy. Dan wants to beat him. He wants to be the first guy to knock Fedor out.
“Everybody’s excited, all the teammates and coaches. This is probably the biggest fight for Dan and the biggest fight for everyone involved. We can’t wait. A month and a half from now, it’s going to be a very explosive fight for sure.”
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter here.
After his lackluster win over Fabricio Werdum at Strikefroce: Dallas, Alistair Overeem has moved on to the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, where he will meet Antonio Silva. Silva earned his spot in the semifinals with an upset vic…
After his lackluster win over Fabricio Werdum at Strikefroce: Dallas, Alistair Overeem has moved on to the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, where he will meet Antonio Silva.
Silva earned his spot in the semifinals with an upset victory over MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. The victory catapulted Silva into the mix as a top-10 heavyweight in the world and earned him long-overdue recognition from MMA fans around the world.
The winner of this fight between Overeem and Silva will move onto the tournament finals, where they will meet the winner of another semifinal matchup between Josh Barnett and Sergei Kharitonov.
Without further delay, let’s take a look at how these two heavyweight behemoths match up against one another.
