Diaz has earned his shot at the belt with three consecutive wins over Takanori Gomi (first-round armbar), Donald Cerrone (gangsterish unanimous decision), and Jim Miller (second-round guillotine choke). Meanwhile, Henderson is a perfect 5-0 in the UFC, and just beat Frankie Edgar for the second time last weekend at UFC 150. Will Diaz be the one to stop Bendo’s juggernaut-like momentum?
Diaz has earned his shot at the belt with three consecutive wins over Takanori Gomi (first-round armbar), Donald Cerrone (gangsterish unanimous decision), and Jim Miller (second-round guillotine choke). Meanwhile, Henderson is a perfect 5-0 in the UFC, and just beat Frankie Edgar for the second time last weekend at UFC 150. Will Diaz be the one to stop Bendo’s juggernaut-like momentum?
A fourth main-card fight is expected to be added to the FOX broadcast in the near future. For now, I’m gonna go with…Henderson by unanimous decision, MacDonald by second-round TKO, and Gustafsson by split decision. Your thoughts?
It’s good to know that we weren’t alone in our confusion when it was announced that the winner of either the Mauricio Rua/Brandon Vera or Lyoto Machida/Ryan Bader bouts, specifically the former, would be in line for the next title shot at 205 lbs. Given that current champion Jon Jones has walked through all four of those gentlemen before, we struggled to find the reasoning behind the alleged title shot that supposedly awaited the most impressive winner from this weekend’s UFC on FOX 4 event. Then again, Rich Franklin has decided to chase after middleweight gold and revenge for a third time (which totally wont end in his untimely death), so maybe we were too quick to write off these former champions, TUF winners, and hype machines. In either case, Bones took to his Twitter account to voice his frustration, sending out the above tweet yesterday which simply states “Scratching my head.”
But perhaps even more confounding than the UFC’s apparent apathy in regards to JBJ was the realization that the light heavyweight division, one of the most stacked and competitive divisions in the UFC for some time, has nearly been cleared out in a little over a year. If Jones gets past Dan Henderson at UFC 151, something he obviously feels he is going to do as evidenced by the above tweet, there will arguably be only two viable candidates left for him to face: Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira.
Dana White has teased that the man known by the Potato Nation as “Bjones” is “ready for a big fight now”, leading us to believe that a meeting with Rashad Evans could be on the horizon. A victory over the former champ would all but cement the Swede’s position atop the division. As for Teixeira, it’s simply too early to tell. He looked great in his debut victory over Kyle Kingsbury, but needs to face at least one of the upper echelon fighters before we are convinced he is ready for a title shot. But for the moment, it appears that the LHW division needs an H-bomb like Nick Diaz needs a clue.
In other, alcohol-related Jon Jones news…
It’s good to know that we weren’t alone in our confusion when it was announced that the winner of either the Mauricio Rua/Brandon Vera or Lyoto Machida/Ryan Bader bouts, specifically the former, would be in line for the next title shot at 205 lbs. Given that current champion Jon Jones has walked through all four of those gentlemen before, we struggled to find the reasoning behind the alleged title shot that supposedly awaited the most impressive winner from this weekend’s UFC on FOX 4 event. Then again, Rich Franklin has decided to chase after middleweight gold and revenge for a third time (which totally wont end in his untimely death), so maybe we were too quick to write off these former champions, TUF winners, and hype machines. In either case, Bones took to his Twitter account to voice his frustration, sending out the above tweet yesterday which simply states “Scratching my head.”
But perhaps even more confounding than the UFC’s apparent apathy in regards to JBJ was the realization that the light heavyweight division, one of the most stacked and competitive divisions in the UFC for some time, has nearly been cleared out in a little over a year. If Jones gets past Dan Henderson at UFC 151, something he obviously feels he is going to do as evidenced by the above tweet, there will arguably be only two viable candidates left for him to face: Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira.
Dana White has teased that the man known by the Potato Nation as “Bjones” is “ready for a big fight now”, leading us to believe that a meeting with Rashad Evans could be on the horizon. A victory over the former champ would all but cement the Swede’s position atop the division. As for Teixeira, it’s simply too early to tell. He looked great in his debut victory over Kyle Kingsbury, but needs to face at least one of the upper echelon fighters before we are convinced he is ready for a title shot. But for the moment, it appears that the LHW division needs an H-bomb like Nick Diaz needs a clue.
Adhering to its usual formula and taking a look back at the locker room footage from the previous event, the newest edition of UFC President Dana White’s infamous vlog features an up close and personal look at the poor bastards who came up short at UFC on FUEL: Gustafsson vs. Silva. And Brian Stann. He’s simply too nice to not be around at all times.
Adhering to its usual formula and taking a look back at the locker room footage from the previous event, the newest edition of UFC President Dana White’s infamous vlog features an up close and personal look at the poor bastards who came up short at UFC on FUEL: Gustafsson vs. Silva. And Brian Stann. He’s simply too nice to not be around at all times.
Although it was previously reported that Jackson would duke it out with Mauricio Rua in a rematch of their PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 fight, our fanboyish dreams were almost immediately squashed when Page was forced to undergo double knee surgery in the fallout of his UFC 144 decision loss to Ryan Bader. Not wanting to sit on the shelf for too long, Rua has opted to take another fight, possibly at UFC 147, to stay active.
Sources within FightersOnly have stated that the Zuffa brass were eyeing the winner of the Silva/Gustafsson bout before they even threw down at last weekend’s event. Silva and Rampage were originally supposed to square off at UFC 130, until Silva pissed hot following his UFC 125 scrap with Brandon Vera and was replaced by Matt Hamill. The fight that resulted was disappointing to say the least.
Jon Jones comparisons aside, Gustafsson has been on an absolute tear as of late, and a win over Rampage would do a lot for him in terms of drawing power and marketability. Granted Jackson is nowhere near the fighter he once was, at least not in his last performance, but a win over a former UFC champ would be a huge accomplishment for “The Mauler,” and could put him in line for a title shot in the very near future.
It has also been rumored that Jackson was offered a fight with Phil Davis previously, but turned it down due to his well known hatred of fighting anyone with a ground game whatsoever. This is a former MMA champion, ladies and gentlemen. Though Gustafsson possesses strong enough grappling abilities to give Rampage trouble, he is primarily a striker and could make for one hell of a fight for Jackson to go out on. Not as great as his fight with Shogun would likely have been, but satisfying to some degree.
Alexander Gustafsson: Rocking Thiago Silva early, Gustafsson was able to pick apart the aggressive Brazilian with an array of uber-accurate strikes to coast his way to a UD victory, and cement his position as a top-tier light-heavyweight. Can you say title eliminator? Gustafsson vs. Dan Henderson sounds good to me. I know Dan is waiting for his guaranteed title shot, but Jon Jones and Rashad Evans both have a history of post-fight injuries, and to assume that the winner will be healthy after their title fight might be unrealistic. So unless Hendo doesn’t mind a year-long break to challenge the title-holder, a battle against the Mauler could be the next best thing.
Thiago Silva: Silva’s suspension gave him a year off to think about what he’s done and rehab a plethora of injuries that have kept him performing at less than 100%. Judging by his performance on Saturday, his comeback still has a long way to go. Though Silva could use a fight against a UFC newcomer to rebound in the 205-pound division, I’d give him a good dose of reality and slate him against Phil Davis, who’s coming off his own loss to Rashad Evans. Two big, well-known scrappers with a lot to lose — promoting this one should be a no-brainer.
(Just call him Jon “Bjönes” Jones. / Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges)
Alexander Gustafsson: Rocking Thiago Silva early, Gustafsson was able to pick apart the aggressive Brazilian with an array of uber-accurate strikes to coast his way to a UD victory, and cement his position as a top-tier light-heavyweight. Can you say title eliminator? Gustafsson vs. Dan Henderson sounds good to me. I know Dan is waiting for his guaranteed title shot, but Jon Jones and Rashad Evans both have a history of post-fight injuries, and to assume that the winner will be healthy after their title fight might be unrealistic. So unless Hendo doesn’t mind a year-long break to challenge the title-holder, a battle against the Mauler could be the next best thing.
Thiago Silva: Silva’s suspension gave him a year off to think about what he’s done and rehab a plethora of injuries that have kept him performing at less than 100%. Judging by his performance on Saturday, his comeback still has a long way to go. Though Silva could use a fight against a UFC newcomer to rebound in the 205-pound division, I’d give him a good dose of reality and slate him against Phil Davis, who’s coming off his own loss to Rashad Evans. Two big, well-known scrappers with a lot to lose — the fight promotes itself.
Brian Stann: All-American hero Brian Stann is one of the most electric middleweights in the UFC. In the first minute of his fight with Alessio Sakara he was able to showcase his highly developed Muay Thai with great leg kicks and clinch knees that would make Wanderlei Silva proud. Except for his setback against Chael Sonnen last fall, Stann has shit on all of his middleweight opponents. With most high-level 185′ers tied up in matchups, it might be a while before Stann gets a fight, but I’d love to see him face Mark Munoz in his return match.
Dennis Siver: Mr. Spinning Back Kick has found a new home in the featherweight division. The stocky striker went toe-to-toe with Diego “The Gun” Nunes and kept a fast pace that guided him to a unanimous decision win. Now that he’s made his cut to 145, I don’t think we need to wait another six months for his next fight. I’d slate him for a late July matchup against the winner of Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin next week at UFC 145.
Brad Pickett: Picking Brad Pickett and Damacio Page for Fight of the Night was a no-brainer. Pickett used his superior boxing to get the better of the standup exchanges, stunning Page with a slip and left hook and again with a right uppercut. Once he dropped Page it was easy to secure his rear-naked choke. After this win, Pickett deserves the chance to recapture his top-five bantamweight ranking. I could see him facing the winner of Miguel Torres and Michael McDonald, who fight next week at UFC 145, with the loser of that fight meeting Damacio Page.
Siyar Bahadurzada: Former Golden Glory badass Siyar Bahadurzada is a great stand-up fighter who has been praised by the likes of Alistair Overeem, Sergei Kharitonov, and Fabricio Werdum. Unknown to casual fans before this weekend, the Afghan welterweight’s UFC debut was a resounding success, as he scored a 42-second KO of Paulo Thiago via short uppercut. Bahadurzada should celebrate, but then get right back in the Octagon and KO another poor sucker to prove it wasn’t just a fluke. Two other victorious WW’s from the “Gustafsson vs. Silva” card — either long-limbed Norwegian Simeon Thoresen or American prospect James Head — would both make sense as the next body to throw against Bahadurzada as soon as possible.
John Maguire: John Maguire certainly should have earned his black belt in Gypsy Jitsu with his second-round armbar over the always exciting and goofy DaMarques Johnson. His kimura reversal was a thing of beauty that earned him Submission of the Night honors. This UFC welterweight newcomer has a lot of options for his next matchup. Give him a follow-up against a seasoned vet with a bigger name — Brian Ebersole and Dennis Hallman immediately come to mind — which should give us a better sense of where Maguire really falls in the 170-pound pecking order.
Handling play-by-play for the main card is Josh Hutchinson, a man I know very little about. Will he rise to the occasion, or blow his one shot at greatness? There’s just so much on the line today, folks. Round-by-round results from the FUEL TV broadcast, live from Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe Arena, will be piling up after the jump starting at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.
(Don’t worry — in case the staredown gets too intense, Joe Silva will step in and helplessly flail his little arms at them. / Photo via MMAJunkie)
Handling play-by-play for the main card is Josh Hutchinson, a man I know very little about. Will he rise to the occasion, or blow his one shot at greatness? There’s just so much on the line today, folks. Round-by-round results from the FUEL TV broadcast, live from Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe Arena, will be piling up after the jump starting at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.
Helllloooo Potato Nation, and welcome back from the UFC’s
version of spring break. In breaking the drought of live fights, we today look
to Sweden’s inaugural UFC event (Fun Fact: this is the fastest selling European
event in UFC history, selling out in a mere three hours). That being said we
can look forward to a great night early afternoon of fights. To those of
you asking “who the hell is this guy?” Great question. I’ve been lurking the
Cage Potato site for a couple of years now, but stay out of the comments
section. This is also my first live blog, so feel free to be your usual
understanding and supportive selves in the comments (Note: I can’t seem to find
the sarcasm font), but enough of the buildup. Like a dude that hasn’t gotten
his rocks off in far too long, we are here to break a drought. So without
further adieu, LETS GET IT ON!!!
Prelim Results:
Jason Young defeats Eric Wisely via unanimous decision
Francis Carmont defeats Magnus Cedenblad via 2nd round submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Cyrille Diabate defeats Tom DeBlass via Split Decision
James Head defeats Papy Abedi via 1st round submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Time for the main card. Subtitles all around for our headliners in the pre fight hype videos.
We are Roganless, but get Kenny Florian in place for the announcing duties.
We start the…day (seems strange) with a bantamweight fight between Brad “One Punch” Pickett and Damacio “Angel of Death” Page.
So the UFC is claiming Jones and Evans to be the biggest rivalry in UFC history. Thoughts?
Damacio Page vs. Brad Pickett
Round 1
Both men come out swinging, with Page ending up on his back. After a short flurry on the ground both men stand up. Both guys throwing heavy punches. Page with a take-down, and works to side control before Pickett escapes back to his feet. Pickett with a take-down now and gets side control. Both men scrambling. Pickett lands a few heavy shots from Pages guard. Pickett staying busy in the guard with short elbows. Pickett lets him up after Page hints at a triangle. Pickett with another take down after a failed flying knee, but scrambles back up. Only to be taken down again in the final ten seconds.
Round 2
Page looking to shoot. Pickett with a nice slam off the fence, but doesn’t keep him down. In the standup Pickett drops Page with a left, and looks to swarm, but Page defends well. Alot of jockeying for position on the ground. Page sweeps Pickett into guard. They take it back to the feet where Pickett hits Page with some big shots. Page is rocked and Pickett shoots. After some jockeying on the ground Pickett secures a rear naked choke to cement his first UFC win.
Damarques “Darkness” Johnson Vs. John “The One” Maguire
Round 1
Both men in a feeling out process. Maguire eventually shoots for, and gets a takedown. Darkness with with a great display of attempted submissions and transitions, leaving Maguire needing to be defensive in his guard. Maguire to half guard, before securing side control. Maguire with some hammer fists starts a scramble that ends up with Maguire having Johnsons back at the end of the round.
Round 2
Round starts with Maguire landing a good left and looking for a takedown, but Johnson reverses and ends up on top. Maguire eventually gets up after eating some heavy shots. Back on the feet Maguire looks either hurt or bullshiting. Either way Johnson ties up, but Maguire ends up with the takedown in the end. A bit of stalling on the ground illicits some boos from the Swedish crowd. As if powered by it Maguire transitions quickly and secures a very tight armbar late in the 2nd.
John Maguire defeats Damarques Johnson via 2nd round submission (Arm Bar)
Seems to be a rather submission heavy night. So far though I would have to call that the leading runner for submission of the night.
Dennis Siver Vs. Diego “The Gun” Nunes
Siver making his featherweight debut here. After his trouble making weight yesterday, it will be interesting to see if it effects him at all.
Round 1
Both men trying to find their range. Siver throwing alot of kicks, most of them to no avail. Siver grabs a single leg, but can’t complete it. Nunes trys a spinning backfist, but it doesn’t land. Both men exchanging kicks. Nunes attempts a flying left head kick for some reason. Needless to say it doesn’t land. Both men seem to be looking for the big counter shot. Another spinning back kick attempt from Nunes. After a quick clinch the round ends with both men on their feet.
Round 2
Nunes comes out with another spinning head kick. Both fighters still appear to be finding their range. They trade some leg kicks. Nunes catches a kick to the pills, but gets right back into it. Siver trys a takedown, but fails. Siver now trying some spinning back kicks. A quick clinch sees Siver land a nice right hand upon the break. Both men still throwing at the bell takes us into round 3.
Round 3
Both men come out throwing. Nunes still trying the spinning kicks. Very close standup battle between the two. Siver trying to find a home for his overhand right. Nunes still trying for a spinning kick of some sort. A cut opens under Siver’s eye, not sure what caused it though. Siver swarms with some heavy shots, and Nunes finally hits one of his attempted spinning attacks in the form of a kick to the mid-section. The final seconds of the fight sees both men standing and ready to throw.
We go to the judges, And the nod goes to Siver in a hard fought bout.
Denis Siver defeats Diego Nunes via decision
Paulo Thiago Vs. Siyar “The Great” Bahadurzada
Bahadurzada making his UFC debut against the Brazillian. Thats a whole lot of name that the newcomer has, so I’m just going to call him The Great.
Round 1
Both men seem hesitant. Finally Thiago rushes in with punches, but The Great dicknails him coming in with a quick right jab, and Thiago is out cold roughly 40 seconds into the fight. Ladies and gentlemen, We have our knockout of the night candidate.
Siyar “The Great” Bahadurzada defeats Paulo Thiago via 1st round KO
The Great claims to have had a broken hand going into the fight, which if is true…god damn, he’s one to watch.
“The All American” Brian Stann vs. Alessio ”Legionarius” Sakara
Stann looking to rebound from his recent loss to middleweight number 1 contender Chael Sonnen, whereas Sakara is also looking to get back to his winning ways after Chris Weidman snapped his 3 fight win streak.
Round 1
Stann with alot of bobbing and weaving, but Sakara does catch him with a good one. Both men start throwing, but after a couple knees from Stann, Sakara finds himself on his back. In Sakara’s guard, Stann connects with two lefts that puts Sakara out. Refusing to add insult to injury Stann looks to the ref to stop it, which thankfully he does.
Brian Stann defeats Alessio Sakara via 1st round KO
Since the last two fights resulted in KO’s Fuel viewers are now treated to a James Head vs. Papi Abedi replay, and what I’m sure to be a shit load more Rashad vs. Bones promos. The Head/Abedi fight was a good one, but we have already exposed that outcome, so on to the main event.
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Thiago Silva
Big night day here for both men, as Gustafsson trys his hand at a step up in competition, and Silva looks to rebound from a hot piss test and over a year off from fighting. Any final predictions Potato Nation? As is par for the course we get a traditional Buffer 180 in the announcements, and it’s time to fight.
Round 1
Both men come out swinging before deciding to step back and find thier range. The Swede lands a left that drops Silva, but they quickly go back to the feet. More big shots from Gustaffson and Silva is cut. Sweden really getting behind their hometown boy here, but he is getting the better of the standup. Gustaffson looking sharp in the standup, as he throws both punches and kicks aplenty. Silva doing some damage with leg kicks. Silva still smiling and taunting Gustaffson. Both men happy to end the round standing and trading.
Round 2
The round starts with Gustaffson getting a trip, but Silva gets right back up. Announcers making alot of Gustafsson to Jon Jones comparisons, for some reason. Gustaffson still getting the better of the standup with his long reach. Silva lands a nice right hook that puts Gustafsson on his heels, but not for long. Both men connecting sporadically. Gustafsson hits a spinning back kick to the midsection, rather impressive. A couple more shots by each men takes us to the 3rd.
Round 3
Gustaffson looking very loose on his feet. Gustafsson landing well with the uppercut, Silva not doing so bad with the over-hand right. Gustafsson looking to throw knees now. Silva still keeping it interesting though. Silva attacking with leg kicks. Silva starting to look rather winded at this point, but pressing on. Gustafsson still landing shots almost at will. Silva stalking in the final seconds, but can’t land much of anything, and thats the fight. Hmm. so no 5 round main event, again, but if we are all good Dana Claus might give it to us by December. In no ones surprise Gustafsson takes the nod.
Alexander Gustafsson defeats Thiago Silva via unanimous decision
Well Potato Nation, I’d say it was another great night day of action.Its been fun, that being said I’m far too sober after having watched live fights, and that needs to be remedied, So until next time, stay classy Potato Nation.
