It can’t be a coincidence that on the eve of the heavyweight weekend, the most notorious of all weight enthusiasts added another notch to his belt. For Anthony Johnson, what was supposed to be the first legitimate step at middleweight, fell back to the accommodating embrace of rumbleweight at the last second. If Johnson is looking to mount a crusade to get back into the UFC, this was probably not the greatest way to start.
Though at least it gives us a good segway for all the upcoming heavyweight brutality. While everyone’s excited about the potential for UFC 146 to be the shortest main card in history, the sneakier story of the weekend is the fact that the prelims could probably serve as their own UFC on FUEL show.
Just look at the line-up. Five-star violence aficionados (Edson Barboza and Diego Brandao), top names clinging to their livelihoods (Mayhem Miller and Dan Hardy), certified bangers (Jamie Varner and Duane Ludwig), beasts of prospects (Glover Teixeira and Paul Sass), a former featherweight champ (Mike Thomas Brown), and the single greatest post-fight speaker and unintentional comedy deliverer in the history of mixed martial arts (Jacob Volkmann).
Not half bad. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a good time to be a fight fan.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Dana White interview. Dana White talked to our own Ariel Helwani about Jon Jones’ DWI, UFC 146, his recent illness, his retirement plans, and the recent FOX ratings drama.
Anthony Johnson fight moved to catchweight. Exiled UFC veteran Anthony Johnson’s middleweight fight against Dave Branch at Titan Fighting 22 was shifted to a 195-pound catchweight bout, with Branch weighing 189.2 pounds and Johnson tipping the scales at 194.2 pounds. “Rumble” claimed he did not miss weight, although the fight was originally signed and marketed as a middleweight bout, as both Branch and Johnson confirmed in recent video interviews.
UFC 146 breakdowns. Preview Saturday night’s FX preliminary card and the opening heavyweight bout, Stipe Miocic vs. Shane Del Rosario, with comprehensive UFC 146 dissections.
B.J. Penn talks Frank Edgar rematch. Former lightweight champion B.J. Penn said Frankie Edgar shouldn’t have gotten a rematch with Benson Henderson, and Henderson fighting Nate Diaz makes more sense.
UFC 146 press conference. A slew of Saturday’s heavyweight competitors joined Jon Anik in Las Vegas for the official UFC 146 pre-fight press conference.
MEDIA STEW
“Look at his ears wiggle.” — Joe Rogan’s after seeing a 24-year-old Junior dos Santos remold Fabricio Werdum’s face minutes into his UFC debut.
It’s flying under the radar, but Mayhem Miller will probably be fighting for his livelihood on Saturday’s undercard. And don’t think he doesn’t know that.
We’re not saying it’s going to happen, but seriously guys, what happens to the heavyweight division if Frank Mir does something like this to JDS? (Click to see someone get put to sleep.)
Dave Herman couldn’t be boring even if he tried.
RUMBLEWEIGHT
@cypharMMA um so? Just cuz it wasn’t announced doesn’t mean anything. Doesn’t mean it has to be announced either. … tmi.me/qwzvq
— Anthony Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) May 25, 2012
@cypharMMA I weighed in with shorts on that’s why lol
— Anthony Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) May 25, 2012
@MiniKitson lol several ppl can say what they want. Doesn’t mean shit to me. David didn’t say it he was just Rt … tmi.me/qwMVb
— Anthony Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) May 25, 2012
@cypharMMA thinking about it honestly.
— Anthony Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) May 25, 2012
THE CHAMP
I’m going to do my last training before the fight now.We are almost there I hope you guys are as excited like as I am for this fight
— juniorcigano (@junior_cigano) May 25, 2012
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Thursday, May 24, 2012):
– UFC on FUEL 4: Damacio Page (15-7) vs. Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres (6-5)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day is another encyclopedic timesink by Sweet Scientist: MMA’s Cousins: Other Forms of Martial Arts Mixing Striking and Grappling
After fanposts on the different styles of kickboxing and on “traditional” striking arts, this fanpost will conclude this little series of post and will focus on forms of martial art mixing striking with grappling.
Kudo Daido Juku:
Kudo Daido Juku was created in 1981 by Kyokushin Karate and Judo black belt Takashi Azuma. K-1 great Semmy Schilt was a two time champion in Kudo and Minoki Ichihara fought at UFC 2 and lost to Royce Gracie which prompted Azuma to study BJJ and incorporate BJJ techniques to Kudo. Kudo also held events called WARS where Kudo fighters would take on fighters from other styles under the other style rules.
Rules: One interesting thing to note is that there is no “weight” classes in Kudo but “physical index” classes, one’s physical index being calculated by adding his height in centimeters to his weight in kilograms. Thus, a fighter who’s 180 cm tall and weights 70 kg has a physical index of 250, same as a fighter 170 cm tall and weighting 80 kg. Physical index classes are -230, -240, -250, -260, -270, +270 and absolute.
one three minutes round with possibility of 2 extra rounds. Punches, kicks, elbows, knees and headbutts allowed standing, clinching allowed for 10 seconds and ground fighting allowed for 30 seconds twice in every round, ground and pound allowed to the body, forbidden to the head for the fighter on top, but simulated ground and pound brings points. In the absolute class if there is a physical index difference of more than 20, groin strikes are allowed for the smaller man. Victory is possible by KO, submission, or judges decision.So, what does it look like?:
Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in Monday’s post.