There’s no time to slow down now. Four events in November? No problem. This Saturday, MMA fans will be paddled past the halfway pole that is UFC Fight Night 32, going down from Goiania, Brazil.
We’re here to help you get your bearings. You know about t…
There’s no time to slow down now. Four events in November? No problem. This Saturday, MMA fans will be paddled past the halfway pole that is UFC Fight Night 32, going down from Goiania, Brazil.
We’re here to help you get your bearings. You know about the storylines surrounding the main and the co-main and all that stuff. But what if you turn over a few more rocks? You know, delve a little deeper? There’s drama to be had all over the place, including some people who may be fighting for their UFC lives.
Here are five fighters currently astride what we like to call the hot seat. They are presented in the order in which they appear on the card.
Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva will never fight.
I know, I know. It saddens me, too.
Despite the fact that both men are primarily counter strikers, this matchup represents a technical stand-up lover’s dream, as a knockout blow could prese…
Despite the fact that both men are primarily counter strikers, this matchup represents a technical stand-up lover’s dream, as a knockout blow could present itself at any time from any angle.
Now that Machida is officially a part of the UFC’s middleweight division, this fight had felt more possible than ever, but “The Dragon” put an end to any rumblings concerning a bout with his teammate during a Q&A session in Goiania, Brazil Wednesday.
MMAfighting.com translated Machida‘s responses regarding this situation:
He (Silva) said he would never fight me, that we are like brothers. Anderson told me he has other goals, that he was the champion for a long time and he’s focused on other goals now, like superfights. He said he would even leave the title to not fight me.
Did you catch that?
Despite the fact that Machida let us know that he and Silva would never square off inside the Octagon, he dropped another juicy tidbit during his delivery of the quote.
Anderson Silva is interested in superfights.
Silva currently has a rematch booked with middleweight champion Chris Weidman for Dec. 28 at UFC 168, but the former pound-for-pound king has long teased the idea of a superfight. He’s even dabbled in the light heavyweight division with stellar results, a fact which lingers every time these talks arise.
For now, nothing is certain, and Silva could very well recapture UFC gold at UFC 168. If that happens, where does that put Machida in the division?
The latest transfer to the promotion’s 185-pound class has a fight with GegardMousasi planned Feb. 8, and if The Dragon emerges victorious there, he will have to be considered a top contender for the middleweight strap.
If Silva holds the belt at that time, however, the UFC faces a serious issue, and we will get to see if Machida‘s claim that “The Spider” would vacate his title are true.
What do you make of this?
Will Machida fight Silva under any circumstance, or would Silva cough up his status as middleweight king in favor of superfights if Machida establishes himself as the No. 1 contender?
Every time fighters step into the cage, the possibility of a knockout is right there with them. Whether they’re the ones doing the settling or being the recipient of a shot that leaves them lying on their back looking up at the bright lights, their night can end in a moment’s notice. Athletes at the […]
Every time fighters step into the cage, the possibility of a knockout is right there with them. Whether they’re the ones doing the settling or being the recipient of a shot that leaves them lying on their back looking up at the bright lights, their night can end in a moment’s notice. Athletes at the […]
Back in mid-October, newly unemployed and still steamed about the UFC Fight Night 29 loss that cost him his job, Joey Beltran went out to lunch with an old friend.
In his younger days, Beltran used to DJ all around San Diego for a c…
Back in mid-October, newly unemployed and still steamed about the UFC Fight Night 29 loss that cost him his job, Joey Beltran went out to lunch with an old friend.
In his younger days, Beltran used to DJ all around San Diego for a company called Xtreme Fun. Birthdays, fundraisers, Bar Mitzvahs; you name it, Xtreme Fun handled it. And on this particular autumn afternoon, with his former Xtreme Fun boss sitting across from him, Beltran decided that he wanted back in the DJ game.
“I was pissed off and depressed about the fight, about the (Fabio) Maldonado decision. I was just like, ‘I don’t even want to do this anymore. This is bulls–t,'” Beltran admitted on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.
“[My old boss was] like, ‘I think you should give it some time, Joey. I don’t think you want to do that.’ So shout out to that guy for talking me out of it.”
That Beltran laughed as the words left his mouth, even less than a month after his UFC career came crashing down, explains just how drastic of a turnaround the fighter has undergone in a remarkably short time span.
Beltran was unemployed scarcely a few weeks before Bellator came calling, inked him to compete in February’s light heavyweight tournament, then bumped up that debut with an opportunity he couldn’t refuse. Now the 31-year-old is preparing for November 15, where he’ll fill in for an injured Tito Ortiz against one of Bellator’s most prized signings, former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
In Beltran’s eyes, not only is it a chance to redeem himself with a win over a name opponent, it’s also an opportunity to bring back the old Mexicutioner style which first endeared him to fans.
“Here’s the thing. Honestly, so much pressure is put on you — for me, at least. While fighting in the UFC, I just always kind of felt like, geez man, every fight I’m fighting for my career. Every fight, if I lose I’m going to get cut, so for the last couple fights, it’s been more on the side of, okay, let’s figure out a way that I can win these fights,” Beltran said.
“(But) this fight, I know what I’m being brought in there for. I don’t have that pressure. If anything, if there’s every been a fight where I’ve had zero pressure, it’s funny that it happens to be the most important fight of my life.
“I’m brought in purely for my entertainment value,” Beltran continued. “They haven’t said that, but I know that. And so I’m going to go out there and I’m going to deliver. I’ve already told my wife, she’s not coming to this fight. I told my family, listen, it could get pretty ugly because I’m going out there to do a job, and my job is to entertain.”
Beltran’s self-awareness is refreshing, as his assessment of the situation is probably more accurate than not. Bellator has marketed Jackson lavishly since the former champ inked a deal with Viacom, one which included reality television outlets and potential film ventures.
Nonetheless, Beltran wouldn’t quite go so far as to say he was brought in by Bellator officials to lose.
“The thing is, I have enough notoriety and enough fans, a little cult following if you will, that like what I do in the cage,” Beltran said.
“If I’m looking at it from a promoter’s standpoint. Yeah, Rampage already has an established name. But there’s a lot of people that are already kind of negative on him, saying he’s washed up or he’s Hollywood, stuff like that. So I come in, everybody loves an underdog story, and so if I were to win, they could totally market the s–t out of me.”
As Beltran readies for his Bellator debut, he does so with high hopes, and understandably so. The pair are expected to headline Bellator 108, even above a heavyweight title tilt between Alexander Volkov vs. Vitaly Minakov.
Bellator’s decision to promote Jackson’s non-title debut over a championship bout raised some eyebrows, but not more so than the revelation that the fight will be contested at a 210-pound catchweight.
“I was ready to go at 205. You can interpret that however you want,” Beltran said flatly. “They presented it to me like, since this is a short notice fight for Joey, we’ll do it at 215. And I said, ‘F–k no. Dude, I’ll make 205 just fine.’ So then we went back and forth and settled at 210.
“215 would’ve been a big deal, because I know if somebody only had to make 215, they’re probably gonna come in at fight time, 250. So I was pushing for that 205.”
It’s not a distant leap to assume the negotiation over weight meant that either Jackson, or someone within Jackson’s camp, feared a botched weight cut. Beltran, who’s already seen Jackson once at a media opportunity, says Jackson appeared “pretty big” in person, but added that he “didn’t look fat or anything.”
Ultimately, though, Beltran isn’t concerned by whatever issues may be in play. He’s a man who fought at heavyweight for seven years, and after facing the likes of Lavar Johnson and Matt Mitrione, size tends to lose it’s significance. The real question on Beltran’s mind is the same one weighing on the minds of many fans: does Jackson, a once ferocious competitor, still have anything left in the tank?
“Here’s the thing, I don’t really know,” Beltran finished. “I’m banking on the guy that powerbombed Ricardo Arona through the cage. The guy that knocked out Chuck Liddell twice. I’m banking on that guy showing up to fight. I’m not banking on some washed up 35-year-old has been, or anything like that by any means. I’m banking on a crazy, howling at the moon Rampage coming for my head.”
Every time fighters step into the cage, the possibility of a knockout is right there with them. Whether they’re the ones doing the settling or being the recipient of a shot that leaves them lying on their back looking up at the bright lights, their nig…
Every time fighters step into the cage, the possibility of a knockout is right there with them. Whether they’re the ones doing the settling or being the recipient of a shot that leaves them lying on their back looking up at the bright lights, their night can end in a moment’s notice.
Athletes at the highest level of MMA have all the tools necessary to deal with the opposition. While some fighters may carry more pop in their punches than others, the limited padding of a 4-oz. glove is the great equalizer, making all fighters susceptible to having their lights shut off.
Fighters who aren’t named Roy Nelson, that is.
Yet, while small gloves make every clean shot risky business, some fighters carry such a nasty wallop in the business they throw that they give their opponents nightmares.
That said, mixed martial arts is a complex game with many different facets, and just being able to launch heavy leather isn’t enough to land a fighter on top of the sport. But while knockout ability may not guarantee championships, the home run hitters of MMA certainly provide entertainment for their passionate fanbase.
These fighters are cut from a different mold. They possess a natural ability to hit with bad intentions—even in the typically safe environment of the gym. Whether on the grand stage of the UFC or behind closed doors of a training session, these fighters just can’t help their brick-heavy hands.
Bleacher Report caught up with a collection of UFC fighters to get their take on whom they believe is the hardest hitter in MMA.
Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis’ unanimous-decision victory over Liz “Girlrilla” Carmouche at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 on Wednesday held extra incentive because it effectively represented a pendulum swing for the fighters.
The victor would be just a…
Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis’ unanimous-decision victory over Liz “Girlrilla” Carmouche at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 on Wednesday held extra incentive because it effectively represented a pendulum swing for the fighters.
The victor would be just a step away from potentially challenging the winner of the Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate match at UFC 168 for the women’s bantamweight championship. Meanwhile, the loser would be in need of a few wins just to vault back into serious contention for the belt.
Indeed, Davis’ decisive victory now propels her up the challenger hierarchy, while Carmouche plummets in the opposite direction. If you missed it, this tweet from the UFC summed up the fight:
Here are the consequences we can expect for both fighters going forward.
Back to Square One
Carmouche’s inability to ward of Davis’ inside leg kicks was the catalyst for her defeat. Despite opening up a huge gash over her opponent’s eye in the second frame, Carmouche was on the defensive nearly the entire fight, taking strikes and being driven backward even after landing the big right hand.
She will probably have to take a step back with her next opponent, perhaps someone like Amanda Nunes. Nunes is a powerful 25-year-old fighter whom Davis defeated back in 2011 via second-round TKO. Given the problems that Carmouche had with Davis’ relentless aggression, Nunes might be a handful for her.
Regardless, Carmouche is now 1-2 in the UFC and 9-4 in professional MMA. The 29-year-old is looking at an uphill, though not impossible, climb back toward the top.
A Title Bout?
Davis, on the other hand, has set herself up for a juicy bout, possibly against titleholder Ronda Rousey. As alluded to above, though, Rousey still has to defeat Tate on Dec. 28 before that bout can happen.
If her next opponent is Rousey, Davis’ reputation as a submission artist could give her a chance in a quick bout against Rousey’s deadly armbar assault. The 26-year-old Rousey is still undefeated at 7-0, so Davis would be a significant underdog in the fight.
If Tate can pull off the upset, Davis would be facing an opponent who is similarly suited to submission wrestling. Such a potential strength-on-strength matchup might be more conducive to Davis’ chances of winning the women’s bantamweight title.
At the very least, her immediate future is not in question—a fate that her defeated opponent Carmouche cannot claim.
Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis’ unanimous-decision victory over Liz “Girlrilla” Carmouche at UFC Fight for the Troops 3 on Wednesday held extra incentive because it effectively represented a pendulum swing for the fighters.