Miesha Tate’s first title defense will come at UFC 200, as the reigning UFC female bantamweight champion takes on Amanda Nunes.
The bout was announced with Tate in attendance on Wednesday’s edition of “UFC Tonight.”
Tate vs. Nunes will join a lineup that includes Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title.
Tate (18-5) finds herself on a five-fight win streak, including her March victory over Holly Holm for the belt. The former Strikeforce champion scored a technical submission in the fifth round of their bout, joining a select few to hold titles in both promotions.
Her run includes decision victories over Jessica Eye, Sara McMann, Rin Nakai and Liz Carmouche.
The 27-year-old Nunes (12-4) has won three in a row since a 2014 loss to Cat Zingano. Overall, the Brazilian is 5-1 inside the Octagon, including victories over Valentina Shevchenko, McMann and Shayna Baszler.
It takes a certain type of person to date an MMA fighter, given the sacrifices they have to make on a daily basis, mentally, emotionally and physically in order to earn a living and compete at the highest level. With that in mind, who better to date than another fighter who understands what they are
It takes a certain type of person to date an MMA fighter, given the sacrifices they have to make on a daily basis, mentally, emotionally and physically in order to earn a living and compete at the highest level.
With that in mind, who better to date than another fighter who understands what they are going through, is accustomed to that lifestyle, and shares the same passion for the sport.
In this article we’ll take a look at several examples of male and female UFC stars who have dated each other, and indeed in some cases even found the partner that they intend to spend the rest of their lives with.
UFC 196’s main card began with a women’s bantamweight tilt between Amanda Nunes (12-4) and Valentina Shevchenko (12-2). The “Lioness” got the win, but “Bullet” almost made a comeback. The two bruisers were tentative in the beginning of the bout. Nunes connected with a leg kick. She went for a high kick, but got off
UFC 196’s main card began with a women’s bantamweight tilt between Amanda Nunes (12-4) and Valentina Shevchenko (12-2). The “Lioness” got the win, but “Bullet” almost made a comeback.
The two bruisers were tentative in the beginning of the bout. Nunes connected with a leg kick. She went for a high kick, but got off balance momentarily. Nunes landed a kick to the body and took down her opponent with over 30 seconds left in the opening frame. She landed a stiff elbow in full guard. Shevchenko got back up, but was dumped back to the canvas as the round came to a close.
Shevchenko caught a body kick, but wound up on her back again. “Lioness” rained down some punches and elbows to bloody her opponent. “Bullet” tried to return to her feet, but Nunes kept her grounded. Some nasty hammerfists found the mark for the Brazilian. Nunes moved to side control, and then took the back of her opponent. “Lioness” went for a rear naked choke, but Shevchenko reversed to get to full guard at the end of the second stanza.
Nunes ducked under a punch and went for a takedown, but ate a knee to the body and an elbow. “Bullet” earned a takedown of her own and went to side control. She went for an americana and landed a couple of elbows. “Lioness” pushed her opponent off and the fight resumed standing. “Bullet” kneed Nunes in the head and connected with some punches in a guillotine position. Shevchenko threw a superman punch to the body. It was clearly “Bullet’s” round, but it appeared to be a case of too little too late.
All three judges scoring the fight at Octagon side gave the bout to Nunes.
Final Result: Amanda Nunes def. Valentina Shevchenko via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Having dropped his past two contests two a couple of nobodies named Jon Jones and Phil Davis, it seemed as if the tide was turning against Glover Teixeira heading into his main event showdown with Ovince St. Preux last weekend. And at the end of first round, which saw Glover nearly finished compliments of a brutal liver kick, it seemed as if we might be right.
But then, the tide turned. Falling back on his underrated wrestling/Jiu-Jitsu game, Teixeira rallied and dominated OSP on the mat for the next two rounds before sinking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke that put St. Preux to sleep. Just like that, a former title challenger finds himself back in the title picture…and he’s already got his trash-talking game ON POINT.
But Teixeira — OSP wasn’t the only surprise we were treated to at Fight Night 73, so head after the jump for highlights and a complete list of results.
Having dropped his past two contests two a couple of nobodies named Jon Jones and Phil Davis, it seemed as if the tide was turning against Glover Teixeira heading into his main event showdown with Ovince St. Preux last weekend. And at the end of first round, which saw Glover nearly finished compliments of a brutal liver kick, it seemed as if we might be right.
But then, the tide turned. Falling back on his underrated wrestling/Jiu-Jitsu game, Teixeira rallied and dominated OSP on the mat for the next two rounds before sinking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke that put St. Preux to sleep. Just like that, a former title challenger finds himself back in the title picture…and he’s already got his trash-talking game ON POINT.
But Teixeira — OSP wasn’t the only surprise we were treated to at Fight Night 73, so head after the jump for highlights and a complete list of results.
As we’ve come to learn with each passing event, judging an MMA contest is a surprise in and of itself, especially to those handing out the verdicts. Case in point: For the entirety of their three round co-main event, Michael Johnson outlanded, outworked, and generally outclassed Beneil Dariush on the feet while stuffing 100% of the 7 takedowns his opponent attempted. Yet, inexplicably, the judges gave the nod to Dariush in a move that even Dariush had trouble justifying.
It’s like we’ve said before: Split decisions have become the MMA equivalent of the shrug emoji. MMA judges either refuse to or are incapable of performing what limited duties they have been given, and we are powerless to do anything outside of complaining about it on Twitter.
In keeping with our “surprises” theme, can we talk about the absolute ass-whooping Amanda Nunes put on Sara McMann? The former Olympian/title challenger has now dropped three out of her last four bouts and has never looked as overwhelmed as she was last Saturday. Then again, you could argue that McMann is actually in a better position following the loss than Nunes, because at least she won’t have to face Ronda Rousey anytime soon. Poor, poor Amanda Nunes. She doesn’t even know what’s coming.
Complete results for Fight Night 73 are below.
Main card
Glover Teixeira def. Ovince Saint Preux via submission (rear-naked choke) (3rd, 3:10)
Beneil Dariush def. Michael Johnson via unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Derek Brunson def. Sam Alvey via first-round TKO (2:19)
Jared Rosholt def. Timothy Johnson via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Amanda Nunes def. Sara McMann via submission (rear-naked choke) (2:53)
Ray Borg def. Geane Herrera via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Undercard
Uriah Hall def. Oluwale Bamgbose via first-round TKO (2:32)
Chris Camozzi def. Tom Watson via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 29-27)
Dustin Ortiz def. Willie Gates via third-round TKO (punches) (2:58)
Frankie Saenz def. Sirwan Kakai via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Jonathan Wilson def. Chris Dempsey via first-round KO (:50)
Marlon Vera def. Roman Salazar via submission (triangle armbar) (R2, 2:15)
Scott Holtzman def. Anthony Christodoulou via sub (rear-naked choke) (R3, 2:40)
Fight Night 62 was one of those cards that, while appearing just abysmal on paper, actually turned out to be a rather entertaining affair. I mean, sure, the main card broadcast dragged along at it’s typical sloth-like pace — something that the UFC desperately needs to change but sadly never will — and the main event wasn’t exactly the kind of barnburner we’ve come to expect from a Demian Maia fight (sarcasm), but Fight Night 62 more than made up for its lack of name power with exciting finishes. It was also a card that signaled the (competitive) end of at least two MMA careers and the possible resurgence of another, so join us after the jump for a full breakdown of what went down in Rio over the weekend.
(Photo via Getty.)
Fight Night 62 was one of those cards that, while appearing just abysmal on paper, actually turned out to be a rather entertaining affair. I mean, sure, the main card broadcast dragged along at it’s typical sloth-like pace — something that the UFC desperately needs to change but sadly never will — and the main event wasn’t exactly the kind of barnburner we’ve come to expect from a Demian Maia fight (sarcasm), but Fight Night 62 more than made up for its lack of name power with exciting finishes. It was also a card that signaled the (competitive) end of at least two MMA careers and the possible resurgence of another, so join us after the jump for a full breakdown of what went down in Rio over the weekend.
Let’s start things off a little off the beaten path, by awarding our official GIF-Worthy Finish of the Night (GWFotN) to Fredy Serrano, who kicked off Fight Night 62 in style by absolutely starching Bentley Syler with an uppercut in the second round.
Really, the entire undercard was a veritable potpourri of violence and terrible reffing decisions, as we’ve come to expect more and more with each UFC card. Take for instance, the second fight of the night, in which Christos Giagos submitted Jorge de Oliveira with a rear-naked choke in the first round. Yet despite the fact that Oliveira CLEARLY tapped, I don’t know, 6 times? And despite the fact that referee Eduardo Hely was in no way obstructed from seeing this tap, he allowed Giagos to continue choking Oliveira for a few more completely unnecessary seconds. You can check out a gif of that absolute bullshit here.
Speaking of absolute bullshit and/or Eduardo Hely, I’m sure that you’ve already heard by now of the Drew Dober-Leandro Silva fight, which resulted in what might just be the worst stoppage in UFC history. I…I can’t even begin to explain what the Hell was going through Hely’s mind on this one, so let’s just watch the gif and angrily spit out leftover Chinese food on our computer monitors.
I swear to God, it’s like MMA refs are doing their damndest in recent weeks to make MMA judges look like the more competent of the two. For what it’s worth, Dober was given his win bonus that night, and Eduardo Hely will likely face no action of consequence for his horrendous night at bat.
Let’s move onto the main card, wherein Godofredo Pepey continued his improbable (and incredibly flashy) run of finishes with a slick flying triangle over the heavily-favored Andrey Fili. The Team Alpha Male stud was impressive early, peppering Pepey with quick shots and generally out moving him, but as soon as he entered the clinch game with the TUF Brazil runner-up, disaster struck. Pepey used the cage to leap into a flying triangle, which he then worked for next minute or so until Fili finally gave in. It marked the third straight highlight reel finish (and performance bonus) for Pepey, who is quickly rocketing up the featherweight rankings.
I suppose I could talk to you about Gilbert Burns’ hail mary armbar over late replacement opponent Alex Oliveira, or Leonardo Santos’ second round sub of Tony Martin, but really, I want to talk about two fighters who looked in need of a Joe Rogan Career Assessment: Josh Koscheck and Shayna Baszler.
The former faced a quick turnaround against Erick Silva on Saturday following his second round submission loss to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184. For those hoping a fight against a young gun would light a fire under the longtime UFC veteran’s keester, you were right. For about 30 seconds. Though he came out aggressive early, Koscheck — as he did against Ellenberger — went into retreat mode once he felt the power of his opponent. After eating a couple shots along the fence, you could practically see the confidence start to drain from the veteran as Silva took him down and locked in a fight-ending guillotine choke. Koscheck has now lost his past 5 fights in a row, and retirement seems imminent.
Baszler, on the other hand, has looked less and less effective with each passing fight. She has secured exactly 1 victory since 2010, and had less to offer Amanda Nunes than she did Bethe Correia or Julianna Pena in her only other UFC appearances (one of which was on TUF 18, but you get what I’m saying) before succumbing to a leg kick TKO in the first round. A pioneer of WMMA she may be, but Baszler’s time as a top-level fighter has clearly passed her by, and we just hope that either she or the UFC are able to recognize this.
Which brings us to the main event of the evening. In what was similarly being billed as a passing of the guard fight from Demian Maia to Ryan LaFlare, the former utterly dominated the latter with takedowns and top control for four straight rounds. Most noticeable during the fight was the 37 year old Maia’s much-improved wrestling and sweep skills, which left LaFlare looking like an overmatched grappling partner desperate searching for a lifeline. It was a fight that was supposed to announce LaFlare’s arrival into the welterweight top 10, yet ended up being one that Demian Maia proved that he’s still got something left in the gas tank (metaphorically speaking of course, as Maia was absolutely torched by the fifth round). How much exactly remains to be seen.
Full results for Fight Night 62 are below.
Main Card (on FOX Sports 1)
Demian Maia def. Ryan LaFlare by unanimous decision
Erick Silva def. Josh Koscheck by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:21, R1
Leonardo Santos def. Tony Martin by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:29, R2
Amanda Nunes def. Shayna Baszler by TKO (leg kicks) at 1:56, R1
Gilbert Burns def. Alex Oliveira by submission (arm bar) at 4:14, R3
Godofredo Pepey def. Andre Fili by submission (triangle choke) at 3:14, R1
Preliminary Card
Francisco Trinaldo def. Akbarh Arreola by unanimous decision
Kevin Souza def. Katsunori Kikuno by KO at 1:31, R1
Leandro “Buscape” Silva def. Drew Dober by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:45, R2
Leonardo Mafra Teixeira def. Cain Carrizosa by unanimous decision
Christos Giagos def. Jorge de Oliveira by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:12, R1
Fredy Serrano def. Bentley Syler by KO at 1:34, R3
Remember last week when we went apeshit over MMA sites purporting to have full-fight video highlights but not actually delivering?
In case you don’t remember, loads of site posted “full fight video highlights” of the fight between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson. The only problem was the highlights were missing the most important part: The knockout.
The highlight video above is much better. While it cuts away right before the fight is stopped, it shows just enough of Conor McGregor‘s first-round KO of Dustin Poirier for you to get the idea of how it went down.
And do you know what else is awesome? Pretty much all the other “full fight video highlights” from UFC 178 are the same. They actually show the parts you want to see. Chalk up another victory for the Potato Nation. It seems our irreverence is finally starting to make a difference in the world of MMA SEO clickbaiting.
Watch the other highlights after the jump, and be sure to enjoy your 40-seconds of violence and anodyne commentary!
Remember last week when we went apeshit over MMA sites purporting to have full-fight video highlights but not actually delivering?
In case you don’t remember, loads of sites posted “full fight video highlights” of the fight between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson. The only problem was the highlights were missing the most important part: The knockout.
The highlight video above is much better. While it cuts away right before the fight is stopped, it shows just enough of Conor McGregor‘s first-round KO of Dustin Poirier for you to get the idea of how it went down.
And do you know what else is awesome? Pretty much all the other “full fight video highlights” from UFC 178 are the same. They actually show the parts you want to see. Chalk up another victory for the Potato Nation. It seems our irreverence is finally starting to make a difference in the world of MMA SEO clickbaiting.
Here are some of the other highlights. Enjoy your 40-seconds of violence and anodyne commentary!
