Perhaps the hottest UFC card of the year went down on Saturday night in Las Vegas, as UFC 181 offered up a pair of title fights and a series of wild finishes beginning on the prelims and rolling into the pay-per-view portion of the evening.
The title f…
Perhaps the hottest UFC card of the year went down on Saturday night in Las Vegas, as UFC 181 offered up a pair of title fights and a series of wild finishes beginning on the prelims and rolling into the pay-per-view portion of the evening.
The title fights split for the champions, as Johny Hendricks lost his gold to Robbie Lawler in the main event, and Anthony Pettis bettered Gilbert Melendez only moments beforehand.
Overall, it was a solid night of action both on paper and in practice. Here are the grades for those who made it happen.
Like riding a bike.
For nearly seven minutes on Saturday, it appeared Anthony Pettis was going to have trouble shaking off the rust. Then—for just a few seconds—the returning lightweight champion was his old, brilliant self again, and the f…
Like riding a bike.
For nearly seven minutes on Saturday, it appeared Anthony Pettis was going to have trouble shaking off the rust. Then—for just a few seconds—the returning lightweight champion was his old, brilliant self again, and the fight was over.
Pettis became the first man ever to finish No. 1 contender Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181, snatching a guillotine choke from thin air and forcing Melendez to tap out a few ticks shy of two minutes into the second round. As they raised his hand and wrapped the title around his waist, it suddenly felt as though he’d never left.
“It’s been 15 months. A long layoff,” Pettis told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage moments later. “It was a tough last year, but I reminded everybody who I am. I’m the champ for a reason—king of the hottest division in the UFC.”
It was undoubtedly an excruciating year-and-a-half off for Pettis, as the UFC lightweight champion rehabbed and recuperated from knee surgery. Since coming to the UFC in 2011 as the last reigning WEC champion, he’s spent extended periods on the shelf.
This week, UFC president Dana White said he felt all Pettis would have to do to claim a spot among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world would be stay healthy. In his return to the cage, Pettis appeared fit as a fiddle—and looked every bit the part of the young, exciting superstar the fight company hopes he can become.
Early on, it seemed Melendez might succeed in making their co-main event bout a grinding, protracted affair. He clinched Pettis against the fence from the opening, nicking him with short knees and attempting to drag him to the mat.
Pettis periodically broke free and fired off some of his flashy offense—a spinning kick here, a running knee there—but for a time Melendez managed to corral him against the chain link when he wanted to do it.
In the second, though, Pettis edged free long enough to sting Melendez with a punch and force him into an ill-advised takedown attempt. As he stuffed it, Melendez tried to scramble, and Pettis locked up the choke with an abrupt, frightening quickness. He rolled to top position and Melendez—a longstanding black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Cesar Gracie—was forced to tap.
“He’s a fast, slick youngster, man,” Melendez told Rogan. “He made me feel a little old today with his speed. But he knocked me pretty good and I just took an ugly shot. There was a lot of chaos in there, and he capitalized.”
It was also Melendez’s first fight since October 2013. Ten months ago, he seemed on the verge of walking away from the UFC in favor of a contract offer from Bellator MMA. To get him to stay, it’s believed the UFC made him a handsome new offer, including a coaching gig opposite Pettis on Season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter as well as Saturday’s title shot.
Counting his controversial split-decision loss to Benson Henderson last April, Melendez’s has now twice come up short in recent championship opportunities. He’s also just 1-2 in the UFC so far. That could make his future path through the stacked 155-pound division unclear, though the terms of his new deal dictate he’ll be fighting mostly on pay-per-view and being handsomely compensated for it for the foreseeable future.
For Pettis, the win marked back-to-back submission victories over consensus Top Five lightweights, not to mention four consecutive stoppages. He took the title from old WEC foe Henderson in August 2013 before his latest injury forced him back to the injured reserve. Trent Reinsmith expressed optimism that if Pettis can “stay healthy,” his upside is “immeasurable”:
What’s next for him now remains to be seen. There is certainly no shortage of contenders for him at 155 pounds, though he was also recently linked to a superfight against featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
Now that he is healthy, it appears he may be on the verge of tapping into the considerable potential he’s flashed during six previous UFC appearances. So long as he’s able to avoid future delays, he’ll be a perfect fit for a starring role in the fight company’s important 2015 schedule.
“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler atoned for the past in a big way Saturday night as he defeated Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks via split decision at UFC 181 in a highly anticipated rematch.
MMAJunkie tweeted out the result:
From the very outset is was app…
“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler atoned for the past in a big way Saturday night as he defeated Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks via split decision at UFC 181 in a highly anticipated rematch.
MMAJunkie tweeted out the result:
From the very outset is was apparent that these two were looking to pick up right where they left off at UFC 171. Lawler’s frenetic pace to start the bout was matched by Hendrick’s combinations and wrestling as the round progressed.
Hendrick’s ability to put together combinations in the stand-up department wasn’t limited to just the first round, either. The former All-American wrestler continually strung together combinations while also utilizing more takedowns than his first effort against Lawler.
However, it was Lawler who was landing the more powerful blows. And that made all the difference.
Hendricks beat Lawler in a unanimous-decision classic at UFC 171 in March to win the UFC Welterweight title, but Lawler obviously learned from that loss, which resulted in him seizing UFC gold for the first time in his career.
The 31-year-old Hendricks fell to 16-3, while Lawler improved to 25-10. Lawler has been on a tear aside from his UFC 171 loss to Hendricks, and he entered Saturday’s bout with all the confidence in the world, according to UFC’s official Twitter account:
After losing to Hendricks at UFC 171, Lawler went on to beat both Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown in decisive fashion. Despite the fact that he fell to Hendricks previously, the 32-year-old veteran was of the belief that things would be much different at UFC 181, per Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.
I’m looking to make it one-sided, plain and simple. My coaches have done a good job of preparing me in a lot of situations that Johny is really good at. I feel powerful. I’m a better fighter than the last time. I’m stronger, I’m faster and I’m more technically sound. I’m looking to dominate. I’m not looking to go back-and-forth with Johny.
As seen in this video of their initial meeting nine months ago, courtesy of UFC United Kingdom, Hendricks had a game plan for defeating Lawler and managed to execute it:
Lawler was confident that he would be able to flip the script Saturday night, though, and it turns out that he was prophetic in that regard.
As sure as Lawler was that he would perform well at UFC 181, Hendricks felt the same about himself. During the lead up to Saturday’s clash, Hendricks discussed the notion that he was making strides with each passing fight, according to UFC on Twitter:
Unfortunately for Hendricks, that momentum came to a screeching halt. He was quickly developing into one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and while that may still be the case, Lawler certainly exposed some deficiencies.
Both Hendricks and Lawler are solid draws at this point, and there is little doubt that other fighters are lining up to face them. With that said, it is difficult to imagine Dana White and UFC passing up Hendricks vs. Lawler III.
They have already put on two exciting fights and proved to be evenly matched, so both Hendricks and Lawler deserve an opportunity to prove who the better fighter is once and for all.
There is no question that Lawler has knocked Hendricks from his perch for the time being, but this epic rivalry is just getting started.
Fights happened at UFC 181. Titles were defended. Blood spilled. But all that went down in a very large shadow—deposed WWE wrestling kingpin CM Punk is coming, per an announcement during the pay-per-view Saturday night, to the UFC Octagon.
P…
Fights happened at UFC 181. Titles were defended. Blood spilled. But all that went down in a very large shadow—deposed WWE wrestling kingpin CM Punk is coming, per an announcement during the pay-per-view Saturday night, to the UFC Octagon.
Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, left the WWE on bad terms in January. He’s been the subject of whispers ever since, rumors of his eventual signing with the UFC swirling around for months before the company finally pulled the trigger Saturday.
Brooks, who will compete as either a middleweight or a welterweight, appeared on the UFC 181 broadcast to discuss his multi-fight deal with announcer Joe Rogan.
“I have a background in kempo, and I’ve been doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a long time,” Brooks said. “This is my new career, 100 percent I’m going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it’s going to be fun.
“I have nothing but respect for everybody here at the UFC, everybody who steps in the Octagon to fight. And when it’s all said and done, when I’m finished, everybody’s going to have to respect me because I have come here to fight.”
It was a move that shocked the combat-sports world, me included. To be honest I never gave a potential Punk signing much thought. It simply seemed too far-fetched to warrant much brain power. Sure, Punk was a noted MMA fan who trains with Rener Gracie. And, yes, he’s expressed some interest in giving MMA a try.
But in the UFC? The Super Bowl of mixed martial arts?
It just didn’t seem feasible. After all, this is a man with no history of athletic success, no track record in martial arts competition and a laundry list of injuries than made continuing his career as a wrestling showman untenable.
Giving fighting a shot is Punk’s choice. Putting him in the Octagon, where ostensibly the best cage fighters in the world compete, is White’s. And it’s nothing more than a sideshow, the kind of hucksterism the UFC was supposedly escaping when it ran towards respectability and away from its early reputation as human cockfighting.
This is a publicity stunt and a naked cash grab. The UFC is eschewing sport for spectacle, walking the opposite path it followed to grow the “sport” to this point. But there’s no underestimating the levels Dana White and company will sink to in the name of American capitalism.
The UFC is struggling in the American market. Television numbers are down. Pay-per-view numbers are reportedly at the lowest levels since the dawn of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005. It’s, no doubt, pretty scary to ponder the future these days. They’ve bet it all, everything White and his partners have built over more than a decade, on successful foreign expansion.
And that’s a bet that will be slow paying off—if it does at all. In the meantime, with it’s top stars either in decline like Anderson Silva, pondering a movie career like Ronda Rousey or in an extended public spat with the promotion over drug testing and other issues like George St-Pierre, the UFC is desperate for something to click with their fans.
Enter CM Punk.
The UFC has seen the potential power of a professional wrestler at the box office before. When former (and current) WWE champion Brock Lesnar signed with the company in 2008, it lit a fire that burned hot and fast. The promotion broke box-office records behind Lesnar, riding his success to unthinkable heights.
It’s tempting to compare the two men because of their WWE backgrounds. But Lesnar was an athletic marvel, a former NCAA champion wrestler who once tried out for the Minnesota Vikings on a whim and impressed even NFL scouts with his raw ability.
Comparing Punk to Lesnar rings hollow. At best it’s naive. At worst it’s manipulative and dishonest. Punk has no athletic credentials. He never even played sports in high school. And, while he’s had some training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he’s never competed at a high level in that art either. He’s a complete unknown.
If he wants to fight—fine. But putting him in the hallowed UFC Octagon, once meant only for the best of the best, turns a sport into a carnival show, especially if he’s fighting in a high-profile bout. Is this athletics? Or is it celebrity fantasy camp?
Even worse, from a moral standpoint, is Punk’s age and history of injuries. The 36-year-old entertainer, though not a sportsman, did travel the world with the WWE, sacrificing his health and well-being in thousands of televised wrestling collisions and slams.
They took their toll. In a revealing podcast interview, Punk said not only had he torn his meniscus, PCL, MCL and injured his ACL, he also had serious troubles with his elbow. Worse still, he had suffered more than a dozen concussions in his career, and it was affecting him nightly (transcribed by Cageside Seats):
I worked Luke Harper in a match and I got hit with something and it f——g rung my bell and I got a concussion. But we were leaving for Europe the next day. So Doc was leaning on me going ‘do you want me to… do you have a concussion or can you go to Europe’ kind of thing. And I was just like ‘you f—–g… you pigs.
I’ll go to Europe. Whatever.’ That’s on me. That’s my fault. I probably shouldn’t have.
After the European tour, the whole European tour, I’m dry heaving after every match. I mean, luckily I was in tags.
It was me and Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatts and they were awesome, and they were fun — the parts I remember — but I’m on all fours after every match and I’m either puking for real or I’m just dry heaving because I don’t have anything in my stomach. I have no appetite. I don’t know what is up and what is down. I can’t sleep. I can’t f—–g train. It’s like a bus, a hotel, a cold building.
This doesn’t sound like a man who needs to be competing in a brutal sport like mixed martial arts. This sounds like a man who should be taking measures to protect his brain for what will hopefully be a long and productive life.
It will ultimately be an athletic commission’s job to decide whether Punk is fit to fight. Of course athletic commissions let Muhammad Ali fight into the 1980s, long after it was clear he was doing himself irreparable harm. If there’s money to be made with CM Punk, the UFC will find a way to get him in the cage.
Will CM Punk make the UFC money? In the short term, I have no doubt. While he wasn’t a great box-office PPV attraction for WWE, no one was giving up on him, which is how they ended up creating the WWE Network, he is a significant star to an audience of several million wrestling fans.
People will watch CM Punk, at least once or twice. The question, then, is whether his signing will further degrade MMA’s standing in the broader sports mainstream.
No other sport would even consider signing a celebrity to compete at the highest level or try to pass one off as an equal to their hardworking professionals. Even Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest athlete of his era, was forced to give baseball a try in the minor leagues, not for the Chicago White Sox.
Jordan, famously, failed. So, too, will this. The UFC will cash in on Punk at the cost of their hard-earned credibility.
The UFC 181 post-fight press conference is the last piece of business to take care of after the action is over in the Octagon, and we have the live video below at MMAFighting.com.UFC president Dana White will announce the winners of the Fight of th…
The UFC 181 post-fight press conference is the last piece of business to take care of after the action is over in the Octagon, and we have the live video below at MMAFighting.com.
UFC president Dana White will announce the winners of the Fight of the Night and the Performance of the Night bonuses, and winning fighters will meet the media after their fights.
The UFC 181 post-fight press conference takes place about 30 minutes after the main event ends, meaning it will start around 1:30 a.m. ET. The video is above.
Travis “Hapa” Browne took care of Brendan “Big Brown” Schaub at UFC 181 Saturday evening, and it didn’t even look difficult for him. After a feeling-out process early, Browne uncorked a right uppercut as Schaub lunged forward, catching his foe on the chin and sending the fighter hurtling to the canvas. From there, Browne continued […]
Travis “Hapa” Browne took care of Brendan “Big Brown” Schaub at UFC 181 Saturday evening, and it didn’t even look difficult for him. After a feeling-out process early, Browne uncorked a right uppercut as Schaub lunged forward, catching his foe on the chin and sending the fighter hurtling to the canvas. From there, Browne continued […]
Like riding a bike.