With scary knockout power and incredible speed in his hands, Junior Dos Santos has shown that he is one of the top heavyweights in the world during his time spent inside the UFC. No one in the division has finished as many high-caliber opponents than D…
With scary knockout power and incredible speed in his hands, Junior Dos Santos has shown that he is one of the top heavyweights in the world during his time spent inside the UFC.
No one in the division has finished as many high-caliber opponents than Dos Santos the last few years, as he’s taken out 5 of his 6 UFC opponents, and most of them didn’t even get out of the first round.
After a promised title fight with Cain Velasquez fell through, Dos Santos is in his second straight No. 1 contender’s bout, but now he has some marketability to go with his talent after appearing on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Dos Santos will take on Shane Carwin in the main event of UFC 131 this weekend.
While most of the hype around UFC 131 is centered on the main event between Junior Dos Santos and Shane Carwin, there is another fighter who is likely a win away from a title shot this Sunday. Kenny Florian is making his featherweight debut against Die…
While most of the hype around UFC 131 is centered on the main event between Junior Dos Santos and Shane Carwin, there is another fighter who is likely a win away from a title shot this Sunday.
Kenny Florian is making his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes this weekend, and due to fortunate circumstances and marketability alone, he’ll likely get a title shot with a win.
But does he deserve it?
Florian has already gotten two shots at UFC gold and came up short both times, getting dominated by Sean Sherk and looking sluggish before being submitted by BJ Penn back at UFC 101.
Florian worked his way back into the title picture by August of last year, but was controlled by Gray Maynard at UFC 118, losing a shot at the title in front of his hometown crowd.
After the loss to Maynard, Florian decided to make the cut to 145.
Due to Chad Mendes passing on a title shot with Jose Aldo in favor of staying active and fighting Rani Yahya in August, there is no clear contender for the featherweight belt when Aldo returns, which is likely to happen in the Fall.
With the most recognizable name in the division and the ability to finish a fight both standing and on the feet, Florian is an attractive option for the UFC to throw into the fire against Aldo.
While Mendes is clearly the second-best guy at 145, and Florian will own just one win in the division if he beats Nunes, he still might be the most qualified fighter available to fight Aldo this fall.
You can train your boxing, you can work on your wrestling, you can become a wizard at hitting submissions off your back, but the one thing that you can’t learn is the ability to land an explosive right hand and stop any fighter in the world in th…
You can train your boxing, you can work on your wrestling, you can become a wizard at hitting submissions off your back, but the one thing that you can’t learn is the ability to land an explosive right hand and stop any fighter in the world in their tracks.
There are ways to improve power, but the guys who can put anyone out by throwing one solid shot to the chin are a different breed of being. The raw power that these seven fighters have is something they’re just born with, and no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to replicate.
On Saturday night, Clay Guida executed his game plan to perfection, took down a superior striker in Anthony Pettis and held him off long enough to win a decision. Some fans called it lay and pray and said it made a promising fight extremely boring.Othe…
On Saturday night, Clay Guida executed his game plan to perfection, took down a superior striker in Anthony Pettis and held him off long enough to win a decision.
Some fans called it lay and pray and said it made a promising fight extremely boring.
Others said it was the perfect way to shut down a fighter like Pettis, and that the constant submission attempts from Pettis on the bottom made it impossible for Guida to try and mount any offense of his own.
Obviously, there are two sides to every argument, but the one thing that tonight showed us is that Guida has become a serious contender for UFC gold.
Dana White has constantly told us that styles make fights, and if we believe him, then you have to believe that Guida’s style makes him a tough matchup for anyone in the division.
The dream skill set for Guida, a wrestler who likes to grind out opponents, comes down to three things.
Relentless pressure and cardio.
The ability to stifle submissions from the fighter on bottom.
An iron chin to prevent you from getting caught on the way in for a takedown.
Guida exhibited once again that he has the best cardio in the sport, going full speed at Pettis for 15 minutes and showing his submission defense has improved dramatically since joining Greg Jackson’s camp in late 2009.
On top of that, Guida’s chin has never come into question as he has never been knocked out in 40 career bouts and has very rarely been rocked. His insane recovery after being kicked in the face by Diego Sanchez comes to mind when you think about how awesome his chin is.
The bottom line is that while Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard are both wrestlers who sit at the top of the division, Guida is a real threat to whichever one of them wins their title fight later this year.
Edgar was able to stuff a few of Maynard’s takedowns back at UFC 125, but he lost his only fight to Maynard back in 2008 by being held on his back for three rounds.
You have to wonder if Guida’s relentless pressure would eventually get to him in a five-round title fight, as it is unlikely that Edgar could finish Clay.
On the other side, Maynard has one of the best wrestling pedigrees in the sport but he showed that his cardio is a bit lacking when he tired out against Edgar back on New Year’s Day.
If Guida was able to avoid the big shot and put the pressure on Maynard for the first couple rounds, he could possibly steal a decision in the later rounds.
A few years ago, it would have been laughable to even suggest that Guida would even be able to get a title shot in the UFC, never mind actually wear the belt.
But it seems like Greg Jackson has turned Guida into a focused, energy driven machine, and it is quite possible that the TUF 13 finale was the beginning of the ‘Era of the Carpenter.’
Earlier this week the UFC announced that the latest title in their video game series, UFC Undisputed 3, would be released in January 2012. Several new features were announced to get fans excited, including the additions of the featherweight and bantamw…
Earlier this week the UFC announced that the latest title in their video game series, UFC Undisputed 3, would be released in January 2012.
Several new features were announced to get fans excited, including the additions of the featherweight and bantamweight fighters (duh!), the new PRIDE Mode, which lets you use the old PRIDE FC rules (sweet!) and entrances for fighters.
But as a video game fan and more importantly, a UFC Undisputed fan, there are a few things I would like added to the game that would hopefully make it a bit more fun.
I’m going to propose five changes to make UFC Undisputed 3 the best game possible. If you have something to add, let me know in the comments section!
Fans have been talking about the matchup between Clay Guida and Anthony Pettis since the day it was announced, saying it has the potential to be another Fight of the Year to take place at an Ultimate Fighter finale. The event that follows every season …
Fans have been talking about the matchup between Clay Guida and Anthony Pettis since the day it was announced, saying it has the potential to be another Fight of the Year to take place at an Ultimate Fighter finale.
The event that follows every season of the reality show has had some of the best fights in UFC history take place there, and hopefully another classic can be added to this list after Saturday night.
