Author: Tyler Brooke

Henderson vs. Thomson: Looking at What’s Next for Each Fighter

In what was a thrilling battle throughout, Benson Henderson was able to defeat Josh Thomson by split decision at UFC on Fox 10.
After losing his UFC Lightweight Championship title against Anthony Pettis back in August of last year, Henderson wanted to …

In what was a thrilling battle throughout, Benson Henderson was able to defeat Josh Thomson by split decision at UFC on Fox 10.

After losing his UFC Lightweight Championship title against Anthony Pettis back in August of last year, Henderson wanted to make sure to come out at Chicago’s United Center and turn things around. It might not have been as clean of a victory as he would have wanted, but it’s still a win he can add to his record.

With the fight now over, let’s take a look at what the future holds for both of these lightweight fighters.

 

Josh Thomson (20-6-0, 1NC)

At 35 years old, the retirement talks are starting to begin for Thomson. He’s been in 27 professional fights, losing three of his last five matches and four of his last eight.

But this isn’t the fight that Thomson should end his career on.

A split-decision loss was a tough one to swallow for Thomson, especially when some felt that he should have won the fight. He may be 35, but considering the fact that he nearly took down a recent lightweight champion, those talks of retirement should be held off, if only for a little bit longer.

Had Thomson won, he likely would have been the top contender to take on Pettis. Now, his window for a title shot appears to have nearly closed, but that doesn’t mean he’ll keep trying to fight to prove himself once again.

According to Damon Martin from Fox Sports, Thomson hinted that this might have been his last fight, but if he decides to stay, he’ll likely be fighting another lightweight contender.

 

Benson Henderson (20-3-0)

A bounce-back win after losing to Pettis was a big one for Henderson. It might have been a difficult one, but he’s still now 8-1 over his last nine fights.

But Pettis seems to be Henderson’s kryptonite. With the exception of Rocky Johnson back in 2007, Henderson has defeated everyone in his path except Pettis, who he has now lost to twice.

While Henderson has been winning fights, they haven’t always been pretty. He’s had to go the distance in each one of his wins since getting a first-round submission against Donald Cerrone back in April of 2010.

Still, Henderson is the clear No. 2 contender, and while there are a number of options for his next fight, the one that perhaps makes the most sense would be against Gilbert Melendez.

The two have met once before, back in April of 2013, and it was a close one. Henderson came away with the split-decision win to defend his lightweight title belt. Although Melendez has only fought in two UFC fights, he’s still coming off of a unanimous decision win over Diego Sanchez and is once again a contender for the title.

Again, there are other options for Henderson’s next fight, but a rematch against Melendez would be one a lot of people would enjoy watching.

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Hunt vs. Bigfoot Results: Majority Draw Doesn’t Overshadow Instant Classic

The main event at UFC Fight Night 33 on Friday night had all the makings of a slugfest between Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
It certainly didn’t disappoint, as it could very well be one of the greatest heavyweight fights in…

The main event at UFC Fight Night 33 on Friday night had all the makings of a slugfest between Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

It certainly didn’t disappoint, as it could very well be one of the greatest heavyweight fights in some time.  In the end, it was considered a majority draw in favor of Hunt, and it was fitting considering how much these men put into the fight.  Some may be upset with the result, but it doesn’t matter, because the fight was an instant classic.

Dana White, Fox Sports’ Ariel Helwani and the UFC Twitter account all gave their thoughts on the fight.

It took a while, but Hunt was the first one to go for the big shot, barely missing on a huge potential shot, but Bigfoot just avoided it.  After that, the two got into a quick exchange, with Silva landing a big right hand that put Hunt on the canvas.  The Super Samoan quickly recovered, however, and was able to get up without sustaining any major additional damage.

With a few more shots landed after that exchange, the first round definitely went to Silva.

Silva started the second round working with leg kicks to try to start wearing Hunt down, using his length to stay out of harm’s way.  However, Hunt kept closing in and landed a huge hook that stunned Silva, if only for a very brief moment.  Those kicks from Bigfoot clearly hurt Hunt’s lead leg, and he had to switch his stance because of it.

Hunt came out aggressive in the third, grabbing a surprise takedown early on, although the two quickly got up.  After that, Hunt landed a massive right hand that took Silva down, and he quickly got on top of Bigfoot and did considerable damage.  Silva looked helpless as Hunt just kept landing elbows until the round ended.  

Things didn’t start off well for Bigfoot in the fourth.  Although both fighters came out swinging, Hunt landed some considerable shots and did a good job fending off Silva’s takedown attempts, then getting a takedown of his own.

Then chaos ensued.

The two fighters stood up and just started landing insane shots.  While Hunt originally was landing huge shots on Bigfoot, the tide quickly changed as Hunt let his guard down and Silva landed huge shots of his own, and the two essentially just fell to the canvas.  Silva was then able to get on top and completely bloody Hunt’s face.  

However, the Super Samoan was able to stay in the fight, but it didn’t look good at all.  It could have been stopped, but the two held on and stayed in the fight.

Somehow, Hunt came out in the final round and kept landing big punches, but Silva just wouldn’t go down, and the shots just kept coming from the Super Samoan.  Silva came back with shots of his own, and the two were just barely standing, completely bloodied, exhausted and still landing shots.

The entire fifth round was like that.  There was blood everywhere, and it seemed like the next shot would take either of the fighters out, but they just kept standing in there, continuing to land shots even while completely exhausted.

A majority draw may upset some, but it doesn’t matter.  We expected this fight to end early, but it was an absolute slugfest for five full rounds without either fighter going down.  After watching the whole fight, it just didn’t feel right to call anyone a loser, because both fighters gave 100 percent.

White seemed to agree that a draw was the ideal ending for this instant classic.

A fight like this will only help the reputation of both fighters, because UFC fans will remember this one for a very long time.

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Hunt vs. Bigfoot: Last-Minute Preview for UFC Fight Night 33

UFC Fight Night 33 will feature a lot of exciting names on Friday night, but there will be no bigger fight than the one between Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Two powerful heavyweights will be going head-to-head on Friday night, …

UFC Fight Night 33 will feature a lot of exciting names on Friday night, but there will be no bigger fight than the one between Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Two powerful heavyweights will be going head-to-head on Friday night, and with how we’ve seen Hunt and Silva fight, it’s highly unlikely this fight goes the distance.  While this fight isn’t for a title or championship belt, it will still be a very entertaining matchup with plenty of big shots landed.

Below is a last-minute preview for the fight, providing viewing information, a tale of the tape and a breakdown of both fighters.

 

Viewing Information

When: Friday, Dec. 6

Where: Brisbane, Australia

Time: Main Card Starts at 9 p.m. ET

TV: Fox Sports 1

 

Tale of the Tape

 

Mark Hunt

With four straight wins entering May, it looked like Hunt had a chance to be a legitimate title contender as he was climbing up the ranks once again.  However, at UFC 160, he quickly lost that chance after getting knocked out by Junior dos Santos thanks to a spinning heel kick in the third round.

Hunt has historically been a very streaky fighter, but he doesn’t want another big losing streak, making this fight a very important one for him.  He has a chance to prove that he can go head-to-head against top-tier talent at the heavyweight division, and considering he’s one of the most powerful fighters out there, he has a good chance.

With a ridiculously strong left hook, Hunt can essentially take down anyone.  His hook is so powerful that he broke Stefan Struve’s jaw back in March.  He also has a very strong chin, which could help quite a bit if this turns into a slugfest.

Despite having lots of power, Hunt seriously struggles on the ground, as he’s lost by submission in all but two of his losses.  That could be exploited in this fight, considering Silva has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but both fighters might want to stay upright and come out swinging.

 

Antonio Silva

Much like Hunt, Silva is coming off of a loss from back in May at UFC 160.  Unlike Hunt, Silva was fighting for the UFC heavyweight championship, but he lost early in the first round against Cain Velasquez.

Bigfoot is an intimidating fighter that loves to go for big shots, and he lands them pretty frequently.  At the same time, considering his black belt in jiu-jitsu, he has a very underrated ground game, grabbing three wins by submission in his career.

Three losses in his last five fights has to be frustrating for Silva.  This is a good bounce-back opportunity for him, and a win here could make him a title contender once again.

Silva may have to use that ground game to get Hunt off of his feet and putting him in a situation he isn’t comfortable with.  However, considering the strengths of both fighters, Bigfoot may still want to try his luck standing up since that’s how he typically fights, even if it’s not the best strategy.

This won’t be an easy fight in any way for Silva, but if he can find a way to take Hunt down, he could come away with a big win.

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UFC 167: Most Interesting Fighters to Watch on Main Card

Everyone wants to talk about the fights for UFC 167, but the individual fighters certainly have some very interesting backgrounds heading into Saturday night.
The main event will certainly be entertaining, as Georges St-Pierre looks to defend his welte…

Everyone wants to talk about the fights for UFC 167, but the individual fighters certainly have some very interesting backgrounds heading into Saturday night.

The main event will certainly be entertaining, as Georges St-Pierre looks to defend his welterweight title for the ninth consecutive time.  It will be no easy task, as he will be taking on his toughest test to date in Johny Hendricks.  

With five total fights and 10 fighters on the main card, let’s go ahead and take a look at a few of the event’s most interesting fighters to watch.

 

Rory “Ares” MacDonald

As one of the top welterweight contenders in the UFC, Rory MacDonald has a very important fight on Saturday against Robbie Lawler.

Ares is currently 15-1 in his MMA career, winning his last five fights.  His only loss came back in June of 2010, when he fell to Carlos Condit.  Of his 15 wins, six have come by knockout and another six by submission.

As an excellent striker and deceptive fighter on the ground, MacDonald is quite versatile.  According to FightMetric.com, he lands 4.13 strikes per minute and defends 86 percent of takedowns, making him a tough target to deal with when standing up.

With a win here, Ares could very well be the next fighter in line to contend for the welterweight title.  That means that he would be likely be facing the winner of the main event at UFC 167, giving either St-Pierre or Hendricks a preview of things to come.

 

Josh Koscheck

While MacDonald is looking to become the No. 1 welterweight contender, Josh Koscheck is trying to stay relevant in the division with a tough fight against Tyron Woodley.

It appears that Koscheck has passed his prime.  He was able to fight St-Pierre for the welterweight title back in 2010, but he lost and hasn’t looked the same since.  He has lost his last two fights, now sitting at 19-7, and his last win was a rather unconvincing split decision over Mike Pierce.

As a former NCAA wrestler, Koscheck does most of his work on the ground.  He focuses more on taking his opponents down and doing work from there, as he has six career submissions.

At 35 years old, Koscheck is now just trying to survive.  If he falls to Woodley, he will have three consecutive losses, and he will struggle to ever be relevant in the UFC again.  However, with a win, he can finally start turning things around and try to eventually end his career on a high note.

 

Georges “Rush” St-Pierre

Seriously, when it comes to the UFC welterweight division, there has never been a greater fighter than Georges St-Pierre.

With a 24-2 record, Rush hasn’t lost since 2007.  His eight consecutive title defenses are currently the most among all title defenders in the UFC and just two behind the all-time record held by Anderson Silva, who defended his middleweight title 10 times.

The reason that St-Pierre has had so much success over his career has been the fact that he’s capable of doing pretty much anything in the Octagon, helping him match up against all kinds of fighters.  He’s specifically good in the takedown department, successfully bringing his opponents down 76 percent of the time and defending against 86 percent of takedowns (h/t FightMetric.com).

With a win here, St-Pierre would continue to prove that he’s the greatest welterweight fighter in UFC history.  He would also be just one win away of Silva’s record for title defenses, putting him in position to break it in the near future.

However, this is going to be a tough battle, and we will see if the 32-year-old can take down Hendricks.

 

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Bellator 108: Last-Minute Predictions for Main Card Fights

After losing three straight fights in the UFC, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be making his Bellator debut on Friday night against Joey Beltran, who has returned to the league as well.
That won’t be the only fight to watch at Bellator 108, either. &nbs…

After losing three straight fights in the UFC, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be making his Bellator debut on Friday night against Joey Beltran, who has returned to the league as well.

That won’t be the only fight to watch at Bellator 108, either.  There are a number of interesting fights to watch between some great fighters, including a heavyweight title bout between Vitaly Minakov and Alexander Volkov.

Below is a quick look at where and when to catch Bellator 108, followed by some last-minute predictions for every main card fight.

 

Viewing Information

Date: Friday, Nov. 15

Venue: Revel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, N.J.

Main Card Start Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: Spike TV

 

 

Patricio Freire vs. Justin Wilcox

Is it finally time for Patricio Freire to take the featherweight title?  With how well he’s fought recently, there’s a very good chance he can finally take the belt.

Freire has been close before, but he’s never had the chance to take the title.  However, it appears he’s entering the prime of his career, breezing through the Season 9 featherweight tournament, which started by him knocking out Diego Nunes in the first round.

Meanwhile, Justin Wilcox is starting to slow down a bit.  He’s 34 years old and doesn’t have the aggressiveness that Freire has, which is very bad news for him.  Don’t expect this fight to last very long, as the Pitbull is on a mission.

Prediction: Freire wins by KO

 

 

Marcos Galvao vs. Tom McKenna

Perhaps the least well-known fighters in this event will be going head-to-head on Friday night, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be an entertaining fight.

Marcos Galvao hasn’t had a lot of national exposure in his fighting career.  Not a lot of people have heard about him, but those who have remember him most for his knockout loss against bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas.  

Still, Galvao has a good stand-up game with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, so he loves to work with his legs.  Meanwhile, Tom McKenna is more of a wrestler that doesn’t have the most developed game standing up, as he’s patient and tends to try to eat leg kicks.  

That could be a real problem for McKenna as the fight wears on, which is why Galvao should be able to come up with a nice win.

Prediction: Galvao wins by decision

 

 

Alexander Volkov vs. Vitaly Minakov

If you like heavyweight fighters that love to brawl, then you will love the fight between Volkov and Minakov.

The two Russian heavyweights excel in ending fights early.  Minakov has gone 12-0 in his career, only having to go the distance once with seven knockouts and four submissions.  Meanwhile, Volkov is 19-3 with 14 knockouts, and he hasn’t lost a fight since December of 2010.  Minakov earned the opportunity to take on Volkov after destroying the competition in the 2013 summer tournament.

The big difference in this fight is going to be size, as Volkov is five inches taller than Minakov.  I expect that to be too much for Minakov, leaving Volkov to retain his heavyweight title.

Prediction: Volkov wins by TKO

 

Joey Beltran vs. Quinton Jackson

The main event will certainly be interesting, to say the least.

Both fighters are currently on a bit of a slide.  Beltran is just 1-4-1 over his last six fights, while Rampage has lost his last three, forcing him out of the UFC and into Bellator.

Honestly, this fight would have been a lot more exciting a few years ago, but now both of these guys will be fighting with nothing really on the line except a win or a loss.  

At the same time, this is an opportunity for one of them to turn it around.  Based off of their fighting styles, this could be a fight with a lot of punches thrown while standing up.  If that’s the case, there actually could be some big blows and plenty of action.

If the fight turns out this way, I think Jackson can end his losing streak.  He is the more athletic fighter of the two, and that should show on Friday night.

Prediction: Jackson wins by KO

 

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Jon Jones Will Cement Himself as Greatest Light Heavyweight Ever at UFC 165

Not only will Jon Jones defeat Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Saturday night, he will also cement himself as the greatest light heavyweight in UFC history.
Jones is entering this fight as the Light Heavyweight champion in the UFC. He took the belt …

Not only will Jon Jones defeat Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Saturday night, he will also cement himself as the greatest light heavyweight in UFC history.

Jones is entering this fight as the Light Heavyweight champion in the UFC. He took the belt away from Mauricio Rua back in March of 2011 and has held it ever since. He’s taken down five fighters while defending the title: Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort and most recently Chael Sonnen back in April.

Having defended his title five times, Jones is tied for the record for most times holding off opponents with Tito Ortiz, who defended his five times and held his belt for 1,260 days.

At the moment, Jones has held his belt for just over 900 days, so he has a while to go in regards to that record, but he can break the other this Saturday by taking down The Mauler.

Entering his 20th career fight, Jones is already 18-1-0 with nine wins by way of knockout. He has also won six fights by submission and three by decision.

What makes Jones such a great fighter is his incredible reach.  At 6’4”, Jones has a reach of 84.5 inches and almost always has a significant advantage in that regard. Gustafsson, who is 6’5”, might be one of the few fighters that’s nearly eliminated that advantage, but his reach is still shorter at 81.5 inches.

The statistics on Jones are as impressive as his prestigious career. According to FightMetric.com, Jones lands 53 percent of his significant strikes and defends 67 percent of his opponents’ strikes.  Even more impressive, he has never been taken down in his career, with a perfect takedown defense of 100 percent.

To put things in perspective, Gustafsson, who is considered the top contender in the light heavyweight division, has landed 36 percent of his significant strikes and defended against 56 percent of them (via FightMetric.com). His takendown defense is impressive at 84 percent, but it’s still not where Jones is.

With a career record of 18-1, Jones has already defeated five world champions in his career.  He was the youngest fighter ever to win a title at just 23 years old, and he’s continued to hold that title since.  

The only loss Jones has had in his career came in an unusual way against Matt Hamill back in 2010.  Jones dominated Hamill in the first round, taking him to the ground and hitting him with repeated elbows to the face.

Unfortunately, the referee declared that the final elbow shot was illegal, and Jones loss due to disqualification.

With such an incredible resume built up, Jones has a chance to make history this Saturday and hold his title belt once again.  He will win, and he will be considered the greatest UFC Light Heavyweight of all-time.

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