Author: SethF

Matt Brown vs. Stephen Thompson Added to UFC 145


Thompson looks to stay undefeated against Matt Brown at UFC 145

We’re barely one week removed from UFC 143, yet two welterweights who were victorious on the card have been signed to fight at UFC 145. The UFC has announced that TUF 7 veteran Matt Brown has agreed to a bout with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Matt Brown managed to buy himself more time in the UFC with a second round TKO over Chris Cope at UFC 143, improving the UFC record of “The Immortal” to 6-5. On the other end of the spectrum, Stephen Thompson made an impressive first impression on viewers with his first round head kick knockout over Dan Stittgen. The victory improved his record to 6-0, and also earned him Knockout of the Night honors.


Thompson looks to stay undefeated against Matt Brown at UFC 145

We’re barely one week removed from UFC 143, yet two welterweights who were victorious on the card have been signed to fight at UFC 145. The UFC has announced that TUF 7 veteran Matt Brown has agreed to a bout with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Matt Brown managed to buy himself more time in the UFC with a second round TKO over Chris Cope at UFC 143, improving the UFC record of ”The Immortal” to 6-5. On the other end of the spectrum, Stephen Thompson made an impressive first impression on viewers with his first round head kick knockout over Dan Stittgen. The victory improved his record to 6-0, and also earned him Knockout of the Night honors.

Normally, I’d comment on how the short layover between fights may save the loser from the chopping block. But in this case, it seems redundant. “Wonderboy” is an exciting fighter facing his first step up in competition, while “The Immortal” has certainly lived up to his nickname in terms of not being cut from the UFC. Unless the loser misses weight, fails a drug test or runs away for three rounds, expect both fighters to stick around.

UFC 145 will go down on April 21, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring a light-heavyweight championship bout between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans.

Video Roundup: The Fights Worth Watching from ONE FC 2 and XFC 16

Felipe Enomoto vs. Ole Laursen. All videos in this post props to IronForgesIron.com

It would be a real shame if you only remembered ONE FC 2 for the freak show that was Bob Sapp vs. Rolles Gracie. As is too often the case when events only get remembered for the freak show fight(s) that they hosted, the rest of the card had some legitimately entertaining fights. Four out of five of the main card’s bouts ended in submission, with Felipe Enomoto, Bae Young Kwon and Gustavo Falciroli all securing rear-naked chokes against their opponents. While Enomoto vs. Laursen may have been the most entertaining of the three, Bae Young Kwon’s victory came the earliest, securing the choke only fifty six seconds into the fight. Likewise, Gustavo Falciroli picked up a quick submission against Soo Chul Kim, who curiously enough seemed hesitant to stand up with the BJJ blackbelt.

Bae Young Kwon vs. Honorio Banario


Felipe Enomoto vs. Ole Laursen. All videos in this post props to IronForgesIron.com

It would be a real shame if you only remembered ONE FC 2 for the freak show that was Bob Sapp vs. Rolles Gracie. As is too often the case when events only get remembered for the freak show fight(s) that they hosted, the rest of the card had some legitimately entertaining fights. Four out of five of the main card’s bouts ended in submission, with Felipe Enomoto, Bae Young Kwon and Gustavo Falciroli all securing rear-naked chokes against their opponents. While Enomoto vs. Laursen may have been the most entertaining of the three, Bae Young Kwon’s victory came the earliest, securing the choke only fifty six seconds into the fight. Likewise, Gustavo Falciroli picked up a quick submission against Soo Chul Kim, who curiously enough seemed hesitant to stand up with the BJJ blackbelt.

 
Bae Young Kwon vs. Honorio Banario

 
Gustavo Falciroli vs. Soo Chul Kim

When we last checked in on XFC, Jamie Varner wasted little time crushing local fighter “Ladies Love” Nate Jolly. This time around, at last night’s XFC 16, little had changed. Jamie Varner wasted little time crushing journeyman Drew Fickett, dropping him early and earning the stoppage only forty seconds into the fight. Time to bring in Fancy Pants.

 
Jamie Varner vs. Drew Fickett

While there were plenty of knockouts from XFC 16, Amaechi Oselukwue delivered the most impressive one. Unorthodox as it was, the straight right he landed after missing with a kick caught Gerardo Julio Gallegos completely by surprise, ending his night in one minute and twenty three seconds. Coincidentally, Nate Jolly was the referee for the fight.

 
Gerardo Julio Gallegos vs. Amaechi Oselukwue

Full results:

ONE FC 2 Main Card Results:
Felipe Enomoto def. Ole Laursen via submission (RNC) – R2, 3:49
Bae Young Kwon def. Honorio Banario via submission (RNC) – R1, 0:56
Rustam Khabilov def. Rodrigo Ribeiro via unanimous decision
Gustavo Falciroli def. Soo Chul Kim via submission (RNC) – R1, 1:12
Rolles Gracie def. Bob Sapp via submission (punches) – R1, 1:18

XFC 16 Main Card Results:
Jamie Varner def. Drew Fickett via submission (punches) – Round 1, 0:40
Josh Samman def. Mikey Gomez via TKO (punches) – R1, 3:37
Marianna Kheyfets def. Heather Clark via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – R1, 5:00
Chris Wright def. Len Cook via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Chase Gormley def. Brandon Sayles via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Amaechi Oselukwue def. Gerardo Julio Gallegos knockout (strikes) – R1, 1:23
Dustin West def. Stoney Hale via TKO (strikes) – R1, 1:23

Roger Gracie Called up to the UFC

Strikforce’s paper-thin light-heavyweight division just lost another one.

As GRACIEMAG first reported yesterday, Strikeforce light-heavyweight Roger Gracie has been called up to the UFC. While a date and an opponent have yet to be named for his UFC debut, Roger Gracie has hinted that he may enlist Anderson Silva to help him train for the bout. Roger Gracie is currently 4-1 in his career, with his last fight being a first round knockout loss to King Mo at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov.

On paper, it’s pretty strange to call up a guy with five professional fights who just lost to the big leagues. But it makes a little more sense when you actually look over Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight division. With King Mo on the shelves for a while, there really isn’t much to offer Gracie in Strikeforce. As the age old saying goes: If Gracie fights Ovince St. Preux or Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce and no one watches, does the fight even matter? At least I think that’s how that one went.

 

Strikforce’s paper-thin light-heavyweight division just lost another one.

As GRACIEMAG first reported yesterday, Strikeforce light-heavyweight Roger Gracie has been called up to the UFC. While a date and an opponent have yet to be named for his UFC debut, Roger Gracie has hinted that he may enlist Anderson Silva to help him train for the bout. Roger Gracie is currently 4-1 in his career, with his last fight being a first round knockout loss to King Mo at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov.

On paper, it’s pretty strange to call up a guy with five professional fights who just lost to the big leagues. But it makes a little more sense when you actually look over Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight division. With King Mo on the shelves for a while, there really isn’t much to offer Gracie in Strikeforce. As the age old saying goes: If Gracie fights Ovince St. Preux or Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce and no one watches, does the fight even matter? At least I think that’s how that one went.

So what say you, Potato Nation? Given Gracie’s past performances, who does the UFC match him up against? And who wins it?

Yep. Bob Sapp Still Sucks.

Props: IronForgesIron.com

When we announced that ONE FC’s second event would feature professional publicity stunt Bob Sapp fighting against UFC veteran (sigh) Rolles Gracie, we offered you a question about the fight: Bad idea, or worst idea? On paper, this meant pitting a one-dimensional, subpar kickboxer fighter impersonator against a one-dimensional grappler. Factor in the complete lack of cardiovascular endurance that both men have exhibited, and we were in for an ugly affair.

Well, that fight went down today in Jakarta, Indonesia. And it was everything that you expected it to be.

After going 0-7 in kickboxing and MMA in 2011, Bob Sapp decided that he needed to change his traditional game plan of “start out strong, get tired, get knocked out”. This time around, Bob Sapp attempted to start the fight early during yesterday’s weigh ins. Like the obese guy who orders medium fries with his twenty piece nuggets and large milkshake instead of large fries, we guess we can applaud him for at least changing something.


Props: IronForgesIron.com

When we announced that ONE FC’s second event would feature professional publicity stunt Bob Sapp fighting against UFC veteran (sigh) Rolles Gracie, we offered you a question about the fight: Bad idea, or worst idea? On paper, this meant pitting a one-dimensional, subpar kickboxer fighter impersonator against a one-dimensional grappler. Factor in the complete lack of cardiovascular endurance that both men have exhibited, and we were in for an ugly affair.

Well, that fight went down today in Jakarta, Indonesia. And it was everything that you expected it to be.

After going 0-7 in kickboxing and MMA in 2011, Bob Sapp decided that he needed to change his traditional game plan of “start out strong, get tired, get knocked out”. This time around, Bob Sapp attempted to start the fight early during yesterday’s weigh ins. Like the obese guy who orders medium fries with his twenty piece nuggets and large milkshake instead of large fries, we guess we can applaud him for at least changing something.

From that point on, it’s a typical Bob Sapp fight: He manages to do absolutely nothing before Rolles Gracie transparently attempts a takedown that almost immediately puts Sapp on his back. To his credit, “The Beast” managed to get out of an ankle lock in the opening minute. Of course, it would have been far more impressive if he managed to do something other than give up after eating three, maybe four punches from Rolles Gracie. But did you really expect this fight to end differently?

Congratulations, Rolles Gracie: You’ve improved to 6-1 in your MMA career, with all victories coming by first round submission. Likewise, congratulations, Bob Sapp: You’re still getting paid for a job you don’t even pretend to take seriously. We should all be so lucky.

What the Stats Say About Last Night’s Close Decisions


“Where I come from, people who lose close fights retire.” Props: UFC.com

While watching UFC 143 from the comfort of my favorite dive bar last night, I knew that MMA fans would be waging war on the internet over the fights that went the distance. Between the two point deduction that cost “Bruce Leroy” his fight against Edwin Figueroa and Josh Koscheck’s close fight with the “undeserving” Mike Pierce, I knew that I could expect a long-winded, philosophical debate over what constitutes a fight and what doesn’t- whether abstract concepts like “control” and “aggression” mean more than punches thrown, and whether takedowns earned and stuffed negate an inferior striking display. Naturally, this debate would include a lot of ad hominems and off topic ranting, because that’s just par for the course online.

And that was before the main event of the evening, which saw Carlos Condit earn a close decision over Nick Diaz. Carlos Condit used backward and lateral footwork while outstriking Nick Diaz, yet many fans felt that Nick Diaz should have won the fight. Before the fight even ended, the debate already began on whether “Octagon control” necessarily means “the guy moving forward”, and whether counter-punchers should automatically be considered less aggressive than their opponents. Judging from the comments sections of today’s articles, that debate won’t be ending any time soon.

Benjamin Disraeli once said that there are three types of lies: Lies, damned lies and statistics. For the time being, let’s move our arguments about last night’s fights past the first two. Let’s now turn our focus towards the statistics from last night’s close decisions. FightMetric’s breakdowns of Riddle vs. Martinez, Figueroa vs. Caceres, Koscheck vs. Pierce and, of course, Diaz vs. Condit have been published, and are available after the jump.

 
“Where I come from, people who lose close fights retire.” Props: UFC.com 

While watching UFC 143 from the comfort of my favorite dive bar last night, I knew that MMA fans would be waging war on the internet over the fights that went the distance. Between the two point deduction that cost “Bruce Leroy” his fight against Edwin Figueroa and Josh Koscheck’s close fight with the “undeserving” Mike Pierce, I knew that I could expect a long-winded, philosophical debate over what constitutes a fight and what doesn’t- whether abstract concepts like “control” and “aggression” mean more than punches thrown, and whether takedowns earned and stuffed negate an inferior striking display. Naturally, this debate would include a lot of ad hominems and off topic ranting, because that’s just par for the course online.

And that was before the main event of the evening, which saw Carlos Condit earn a close decision over Nick Diaz. Carlos Condit used backward and lateral footwork while outstriking Nick Diaz, yet many fans felt that Nick Diaz should have won the fight. Before the fight even ended, the debate already began on whether “Octagon control” necessarily means “the guy moving forward”, and whether counter-punchers should automatically be considered less aggressive than their opponents. Judging from the comments sections of today’s articles, that debate won’t be ending any time soon.

Benjamin Disraeli once said that there are three types of lies: Lies, damned lies and statistics. For the time being, let’s move our arguments about last night’s fights past the first two. Let’s now turn our focus towards the statistics from last night’s close decisions. FightMetric’s breakdowns of Riddle vs. Martinez, Figueroa vs. Caceres, Koscheck vs. Pierce and, of course, Diaz vs. Condit have been published, and are available after the jump.

Click on images for full size versions.

Riddle vs. Martinez

Figueroa vs. Caceres

Koscheck vs. Pierce

Diaz vs. Condit

And one more from Diaz vs Condit, for good measure.

Keep in mind that according to FightMetric, Werdum should have won his fight against Overeem. Statistics don’t always tell the whole story, but they at least deserve some consideration. Have they supported your argument that the right/wrong people won last night, or do they just demonstrate the flaws in MMA judging? Let the battle continue.

Just try not to hurt anyone’s feelings, okay?

–@SethFalvo

Last Second Video Hype: NFL Players Make Their Predictions for Diaz vs. Condit

Props: Youtube.com/UFC

With only a few hours until the main card of UFC 142, and only one day until Super Bowl XLVI, we’re killing two birds with one stone with this video of current (and former) NFL players making their predictions for tonight’s main event. In yet another example of how far our sport has come towards gaining mainstream acceptance, the seven players interviewed genuinely seem to be fans of mixed martial arts as they pick Nick Diaz over Carlos Condit, five votes to two.

Obviously, FOX Football Analyst Michael Strahan seems to deliver the most informed, thought out opinion on the fight as he explains his reasoning behind picking Nick Diaz to win. However, the rest of those interviewed aren’t too far behind him. Well, maybe not Eli Manning- though his stoic, soft spoken personality makes him hard to figure out.


Props: Youtube.com/UFC

With only a few hours until the main card of UFC 143, and only one day until Super Bowl XLVI, we’re killing two birds with one stone with this video of current (and former) NFL players making their predictions for tonight’s main event. In yet another example of how far our sport has come towards gaining mainstream acceptance, the seven players interviewed genuinely seem to be fans of mixed martial arts as they pick Nick Diaz over Carlos Condit, five votes to two.  

Obviously, FOX Football Analyst Michael Strahan seems to deliver the most informed, thought out opinion on the fight as he explains his reasoning behind picking Nick Diaz to win. However, the rest of those interviewed aren’t too far behind him. Well, maybe not Eli Manning- though his stoic, soft spoken personality makes him hard to figure out.

There’s just one complaint that we’re sure sports fans everywhere will have with this video: At the fifty seven second mark, former NFL defensive great Warren Sapp instructs Nick Diaz to “do what [he] does to the quarterback, kill him!”. Come on, bro. If Frank Mir taught us anything, an athlete wishing death on an opponent is a sign that football is immoral and should be banned in this country. Expect Bob Reilly, who is not an oblivious hypocrite, to start a campaign to make football illegal in New York.