Before you even ask, yes, Anthony Johnson did make weight, and he seemed about as excited to do so as any fighter I’ve ever seen. Joe Rogan informed us that the Struve/Barry fight is “the biggest height discrepancy for a fight ever,” which seems about right if you don’t consider half of Minowaman’s fight career. Either way, if there was a category for stare-down of the year, I’m pretty sure theirs would be the front runner.
All fighters made weight except for Byron Bloodworth, who weighed in at 138 lbs. and was originally given 2 hours to drop the necessary 2 pounds for his bout with Mike Easton. The decision was quickly reversed and Byron was allowed to keep the additional weight without penalty for coming in as such a late replacement. Check out the full weigh in results after the jump.
Before you even ask, yes, Anthony Johnson did make weight, and he seemed about as excited to do so as any fighter I’ve ever seen. Joe Rogan informed us that the Struve/Barry fight is “the biggest height discrepancy for a fight ever,” which seems about right if you don’t consider half of Minowaman’s fight career. Either way, if there was a category for stare-down of the year, I’m pretty sure theirs would be the front runner.
All fighters made weight except for Byron Bloodworth, who weighed in at 138 lbs. and was originally given 2 hours to drop the necessary 2 pounds for his bout with Mike Easton. The decision was quickly reversed and Byron was allowed to keep the additional weight without penalty for coming in as such a late replacement. Check out the full weigh in results after the jump.
-Danga
Main Bouts (On Versus): -Dominick Cruz (135) vs. Demetrious Johnson (135)
-Pat Barry (243) vs. Stefan Struve (261)
-Anthony Johnson (171) vs. Charlie Brenneman (171)
-Mac Danzig (155) vs. Matt Wiman (156)
Preliminary Bouts:
-Yves Edwards (155) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (155)
-Michael Johnson (156) vs. Paul Sass (155)
-Mike Easton (135) vs. Byron Bloodworth (138)*
-Shane Roller (156) vs. T.J. Grant (155)
-Josh Neer (171) vs. Keith Wisniewski (170)
-Walel Watson (134.5) vs. Joseph Sandoval (134)
Filed under: UFCWe’re just a few hours away from the UFC on Versus 6 event, and there are plenty of questions, concerns, and issues to sort through. Here, in no particular order, are a few of them.
I. Will this be the breakthrough fight Dominick Cruz …
We’re just a few hours away from the UFC on Versus 6 event, and there are plenty of questions, concerns, and issues to sort through. Here, in no particular order, are a few of them.
I. Will this be the breakthrough fight Dominick Cruz needs? He’s the UFC’s least celebrated champion, mostly because mainstream fans haven’t seen enough of him yet. The UFC seems to think he can’t sell pay-per-views without Urijah Faber’s help, so Cruz gets stuck on a cable TV fight card smack in between two pay-per-view event weekends. It’s not the best coming out party you could hope for, but a lot depends on what he can make of it. If Cruz can put on another of his frantic, indefatigable performances — and this time, maybe even finish his opponent — he might finally get the attention he deserves. If he simply dominates Demetrious Johnson for the full five rounds, well, it’s hard to make much of a highlight reel out of that.
II. This fight is more important for Pat Barry than it is for Stefan Struve. Both are coming off losses and could really use a rebound win, but they’re not exactly in the same boat. Barry is 32 years old — nine years older than Struve — and has yet to string two victories together in the UFC. Ever since his debut he’s followed a win one, lose one pattern, usually beating the lesser-knowns and then losing the big ones, which doesn’t exactly impress the bosses. To further up the stakes, he’s coming off his first ever knockout loss. Though he previously said it had helped remove his fear of the KO, that’s the kind of thing that has been known to mess with a man’s mind. Now that he knows what it’s like to be the one waking up on his back, will he still feel like wading into those striking exchanges with the much larger Struve? Not that either of them would like to lose two straight, but Barry’s career has much less time left on the clock. Maybe Struve can wait, but Barry needs to make it happen now.
III. Who hypes the hype-man? If the name Mike Easton sounds familiar, it might be because you know him as the guy who’s always standing over Dominick Cruz’s shoulder, reminding him and everyone within shouting distance who the champ is. I admit, the man’s enthusiasm is infectious. We could all use a guy like him to pump up our egos and get us through a tough day. But now that he’s on the same card as Cruz, and getting back into action for the first time since 2009, who’s going to do the shouting? Probably still Easton, actually. He’ll just get to do it from inside the cage this time.
IV. Does Charlie Brenneman have a “Rocky story” sequel in him? “The Spaniard” got to be the hero when he stepped up on short notice and derailed Rick Story’s hype train, but yesterday’s glory fades quickly in this business. The Anthony Johnson fight is tougher because a) Brenneman’s no longer in a situation where he has nothing to lose, and b) “Rumble” has the exact combination of wrestling skills and knockout power that could prove to be a nightmare for a fight like Brenneman. This one may not follow a movie script outline, but it’s no less important for his career.
V. The last time Josh Neer won a fight in the UFC was February 7, 2009. He submitted Mac Danzig, then lost two straight and went on a tour of the minor leagues. Now the journeyman is back as a welterweight, and facing fellow wanderer Keith Wisniewski, who lost a decision in his sole UFC appearance back in 2005. It’s a situation where, if Neer can’t beat Wisniewski, he probably doesn’t belong in the UFC. Then again, you could say the same thing from the other side just as easily.
VI. Barry’s best chance against Struve? Since getting eye-to-eye with the Dutchman requires a little outside help, Barry might have to target his legs, which are at least more within his range. Though certain judges remain convinced that leg kicks can’t end a fight, Barry actually has three career victories that way, including his brutal win over Dan Evensen in his UFC debut. I’m not sure I’d want to put all my faith into my ability to chop away at Struve’s thighs like a lumberjack going to work on an angry redwood, but what else can he do? Unless he gets a boost from the referee, reaching Struve’s chin won’t be so easy.
VII. Hey, remember that whole controversial stoppage thing from the first Mac Danzig-Matt Wiman fight? Yeah, well, now they’re meeting again to settle it, just shy of a year and a half later. Finally, you can stop losing sleep wondering how this match-up would have turned out. I know it was really eating at you.
VIII. Don’t forget about Paul Sass Not unless you want to get choked. The Brit has a nasty submissions game, and is particularly dangerous off his back. He’s also pretty creative about getting there, so it’s not simply a matter of deciding not to take him down. The youngster took a lot of people by surprise in his debut at UFC 120, so it should be interesting to see if Michael Johnson has done his homework on how to avoid getting entangled in that mess. You go to the mat with this man at your peril. And with the way he uses that triangle choke, you’re never truly safe from it until you’ve left the building.
Filed under: UFCUFC on Versus 6 goes down in Washington D.C. on Saturday night, and while the people there may not look too kindly on you betting on presidential races (don’t look now, but Ron Paul’s going off at +4500), you can still scour this fight …
UFC on Versus 6 goes down in Washington D.C. on Saturday night, and while the people there may not look too kindly on you betting on presidential races (don’t look now, but Ron Paul’s going off at +4500), you can still scour this fight card in search of a good deal.
So who do oddsmakers like on Saturday night, and who might they be overvaluing? I’m so glad you asked…
If there’s anybody in the 135-pound division who can out-quick Cruz, it just might be Johnson. Then again, that’s still a big if. Johnson’s problem is that his quickness is mostly limited to the takedown department. Granted, he can shoot in for a double-leg and have your back on the mat before you can say ‘sprawl,’ much less do it, but it’s fairly predictable. Cruz, on the other hand, is anything but. With the way he dips his head and lets his feet drift perilously close together in that peculiar little striking cha-cha of his, he’d be relatively easy to drop if only you had any way of knowing when he was going to do what. From the looks of it, he barely knows. Cruz dominates not simply because he’s fast, but because he disguises his attacks so well. Is he throwing the lead right or is he just distracting you with it en route to the takedown? You never know until it’s too late. My pick: Cruz. Compared to him, Johnson is a one-trick pony. If that trick were knockout power or even slick submissions, it might be worth the risk. But no way he holds the champ down for five rounds.
As much as I love Barry and hope he sticks around for a long time to entertain us in and out of the cage, I’m surprised to see him favored in this fight. Barry’s a great kickboxer, but he’s giving up so much size and reach to the 6’11” Struve. The smart play would be for Barry to attack his legs, if only because he can’t reach the Dutchman’s head without a trampoline. If Struve does even a mediocre job of using his length, he should be able to give Barry problems. If the fight moves in close, Struve could take it to the mat, where he has the better submissions game. The only thing he can’t do is spend a lot of time in the clinch or miss with big shots that let Barry get in and counter. And okay, he also probably shouldn’t let Barry do to his legs what he did to poor, poor Dan Evensen’s, but that goes without saying, right? My pick: Struve. In a stand-up comedy or personality contest, Barry wins easily. But here, with the underdog line plus all the checkmarks in Struve’s favor, he’s the smarter pick.
Remember when Brenneman was, according to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission’s Greg Sirb, a real-life “Rocky story” for stepping up in Nate Marquardt’s place and beating Rick Story? Well, a) someone should remind Sirb that it’s his job to regulate fights, not sell them like he’s Don freaking King, and b) as a thank you from the UFC, now Brenneman gets has to fight Johnson, which just reminds us all what a tough way to make a living this sport can be. Johnson has proved himself to be a pretty solid wrestler when he needs to be, but here he’ll likely use that to keep the fight standing and exploit Brenneman’s inexperience in the striking game. And that can be done, let’s not forget. Johny Hendricks had him on ice skates after landing a few good shots, and he’s nowhere near the striker Johnson is. As long as “Rumble” can make weight without killing himself, he has the tools to keep this fight where he wants it and take advantage of some holes in Brenneman’s game. But then, that scale has proved to be a nemesis in the past… My pick: Johnson. He’s faced tougher competition in his UFC run than Brenneman, and a diverse set of skills has helped him tremendously. Brenneman does one thing very well, but that will only get you so far. Mac Danzig (+165) vs. Matt Wiman (-205)
Ah, yes. The fight that ended early, then was supposed to happen again, then got put off by injuries and other match-ups until we all forgot what was weird about the first meeting. Quick version: Wiman had Danzig in a not-quite-tight-enough guillotine choke, but the ref freaked out and stopped it anyway, thinking Danzig was in trouble. Now they meet again to settle that old score, only this time it’s Wiman who’s more recently feeling the sting of injustice, having just lost a close decision to Dennis Siver in July. The first meeting between these two was so brief, it was tough to tell who had the edge. But that Siver fight gave Wiman a chance to really show what he could do, and he was impressive in it. The fight was still a close one and could have gone either way, but Wiman showed how far he’s come in recent years by hanging with someone of Siver’s caliber and nearly putting him away. Danzig? He knocked out Joe Stevenson last December, but that doesn’t exactly mean what it used to. My pick: Wiman. He’s come a long way in the last couple years. Danzig is still mostly the same guy who won TUF.
Quick Picks:
– Yves Edwards (-165) over Rafaello Oliveira (+135). Oliveira isn’t fighting guys like “Wigman Big Big” anymore, and he’s lost to nearly every name fighter he’s faced.
– Paul Sass (+150) over Michael Johnson (-180). With the exception of his decision loss to Jonathan Brookins in the TUF finale, all of Johnson’s other losses have come via submission. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Sass has some nasty ones.
The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Cruz + A. Johnson + Wiman + Edwards.
Filed under: UFCWill Dominick Cruz continue his reign of dominance over the bantamweight division, or will Demetrious Johnson become the new UFC 135-pound champion? Will Stefan Struve capitalize on his enormous reach advantage, or will Pat Barry get in…
Will Dominick Cruz continue his reign of dominance over the bantamweight division, or will Demetrious Johnson become the new UFC 135-pound champion? Will Stefan Struve capitalize on his enormous reach advantage, or will Pat Barry get inside and test Struve’s chin? Can Charlie Brenneman knock off Anthony Johnson and improve to 3-0 in 2011? We’ll attempt to answer those questions as we predict the winners on Saturday night’s fight card.
What: UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
When: Saturday, the Facebook preliminary card starts at 6 PM ET and the Versus televised card begins at 9.
Predictions on the four Versus fights below.
Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson Johnson, nicknamed “Mighty Mouse,” is small even for the 135-pound weight class, and he’s going to have a very, very difficult time against the tall and lanky Cruz, who is as good as anyone in the sport at using his reach advantage to prevent his opponents from getting near him. Johnson would love to get inside and take Cruz down repeatedly, as he did in winning decisions over Kid Yamamoto and Miguel Torres to get this title fight, but that’s a very tall order against Cruz.
For Cruz, the path to victory looks a lot like what he’s been doing throughout his title reign: He needs to use his awkward movement and high-volume striking to keep Johnson on the outside and keep him frustrated. Although Johnson’s quickness may be something Cruz hasn’t seen before, Johnson looks like an opponent Cruz should be able to handle standing up for 25 minutes.
And so I like Cruz to do what he usually does: Win by unanimous decision. Pick: Cruz
Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve The enormous height difference between Struve (the UFC’s tallest fighter) and Barry (the UFC’s shortest heavyweight) makes this fight interesting visually, but what makes it especially interesting is that neither one of these guys fights the way you’d expect someone his height to fight: Struve often fails to take advantage of his reach and instead lets his opponents get inside and test his chin, while Barry doesn’t let his short, stocky legs prevent him from throwing plenty of kicks.
Barry probably has an advantage if the fight stays standing, but I think this fight will eventually go to the ground, and Struve will have an enormous advantage on the canvas — even if he has to get knocked down to get there. Look for Barry to leave himself exposed on the ground and Struve to capitalize and win by submission. Pick: Struve
Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman Johnson returned after more than a year away and put a one-sided beating on Dan Hardy in March, and he’ll look to do it again when he takes on Brenneman, who’s coming off a big win over Rick Story. I think the savvy Brenneman is going to give Johnson a lot more trouble on the ground than most people expect, and win a decision. Pick: Brenneman
Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig Some unfinished business between these two is finally about to get resolved: At UFC 115 in June of 2010, Wiman won when referee Yves Lavigne wrongly thought Danzig had passed out while in a guillotine choke. (In reality, Danzig was alert and defending himself.) The UFC tried to book them in an immediate rematch, but injuries got in the way. Now they’re finally ready to meet again, and I like Wiman to win legitimately this time, taking a decision. Pick: Wiman
As the dust settles from UFC 135, some of us out there must be itching to bet on fights that will not make us look like fools if we are wrong. Lucky for us, redemption lies around the corner, because this Saturday UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down, and the odds are a hell of a lot closer than what we’re used to. Check out the fight odds below, then see if you can stomach our suggestions.
Main Card (courtesy of Best Fight Odds)
Dominick Cruz (-440) vs. Demetrious Johnson (+350)
Anthony Johnson (-180) vs. Charlie Brenneman (+158)
Matt Wiman (-210) vs. Mac Danzig (+175)
Pat Barry (-185) vs. Stefan Struve (+160)
Undercard (Courtesy of MMAValor)
Yves Edwards (-120) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (-120)
Michael Johnson (-240) vs. Paul Sass (+180)
Mike Easton (-130) vs. Jeff Hougland (even)
Shane Roller (-130) vs. T.J. Grant (even)
Josh Neer (-120) vs. Keith Wisniewski (-120)
Joseph Sandoval (-150) vs. Walel Watson (+120)
As the dust settles from UFC 135, some of us out there must be itching to bet on fights that will not make us look like fools if we are wrong. Lucky for us, redemption lies around the corner, because this Saturday UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down, and the odds are a hell of a lot closer than what we’re used to. Check out the fight odds below, then see if you can stomach our suggestions.
Main Card (courtesy of Best Fight Odds)
Dominick Cruz (-440) vs. Demetrious Johnson (+350)
Anthony Johnson (-180) vs. Charlie Brenneman (+158)
Matt Wiman (-210) vs. Mac Danzig (+175)
Pat Barry (-185) vs. Stefan Struve (+160)
Undercard (Courtesy of MMAValor)
Yves Edwards (-120) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (-120)
Michael Johnson (-240) vs. Paul Sass (+180)
Mike Easton (-130) vs. Jeff Hougland (even)
Shane Roller (-130) vs. T.J. Grant (even)
Josh Neer (-120) vs. Keith Wisniewski (-120)
Joseph Sandoval (-150) vs. Walel Watson (+120)
The Main Event: There is no denying the speed and agility of Dominick Cruz’s striking game, but look, judges love takedowns, and if there’s one thing “Mighty Mouse” can do, it’s take the fight to the ground. The champ has a penchant for letting his fights go the distance, and that only increases the likelihood that we will see an upset here, whether deserved or not. I wasn’t convinced; however, by Johnson’s victory over Miguel Torres. He showed excellent submission defense against Torres’ onslaught of attempts, but not much else that proves he can handle someone of “The Dominator’s” caliber. That said, a small bet with those odds won’t bankrupt you if there’s no return.
The Good ‘Dog: Considering most of the undercard fights are a pick ‘em at this point, I’d say your best bet is Charlie Brenneman, who’s recent routing of Rick Story showed that once he gets you down, you stay down. There’s no denying he can’t handle Johnson on the feet, but wrestling based fighters like Josh Koscheck and even the much smaller Rich Clementi were able to take “Rumble” down, so a bet on Brenneman seems pretty solid.
Some of you may be picking Struve for the upset due to Barry’s complete lack of ground game, but the real question here is whether or not Struve will be smart enough to take the fight to the ground. You’d think after his devastating knockout loss to Travis Browne he’d be in a hurry to do so, but if Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson haven’t taught him that lesson already, I don’t know if it can be taught.
Steer Clear: Both Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig have been struggling with consistency as of late. Danzig’s only win of relevance since winning the Ultimate Fighter 6 was his most recent knockout of recent UFC castaway Joe Stevenson. Wiman, on the other hand, has notched a couple impressive victories over Cole Miller and Thiago Tavares but is coming off a close decision loss to Dennis Siver back at UFC 132. Their first fight doesn’t add a ton to the mix, as it was Yves Lavigne’s screw up that ended it in the first place. I’d expect Wiman to take it, but I’m just gunna stay outta this one.
Official CagePotato Parlay: Barry + Brenneman + Edwards + Johnson.
20 bucks will get you a return of $186.46.
MILWAUKEE – Like his U.K. brethren The Who, Dan Hardy says he won’t get fooled again.
Hardy’s three-fight losing skid going into his main event against Chris Lytle at UFC on Versus 5 is why he’s in desperate need of a win. But the former welterweight title challenger knows two things for sure going into Sunday.
He won’t get “punked” again – not the way Anthony Johnson did him in March. And regardless of his 0-4 record in the United States, he doesn’t take location into account too much for his fights – he knows a good fight will win him fans no matter where it’s at.
“I don’t think the location makes a difference,” Hardy told MMA Fighting on Friday after a workout at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. “I’m constantly winning in the gym when I’m over here, and I met my girlfriend over here – and that’s pretty successful so far. So I’m not going to hold it against the country. I think you pick up fans regardless of where you are. It’s the style of the fight that’s going to win the fans, regardless of where you are.”
Hardy said his four losses on U.S. soil are more a matter of fluke and odd circumstance than anything gone awry on his part.
Against Pat Healy, who would go on to fight in the UFC, WEC, IFL, and was a winner on Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers card to improve to 3-1 in that promotion, Hardy was in just his fourth pro fight.
“I took it on a day’s notice – stepped in for a guy at the American Top Team,” Hardy said. “I was out there training for a month, and I had (won) two fights. I came in undersized, got caught in a guillotine and ran out of gas. I put that one to bed – it was about experience.”
Hardy then went back to his native England for his next 11 fights – and went 9-1 with a no contest sprinkled in. He returned to the States for a fight against Forrest Petz.
“I’ve never seen a video of it, but I beat the (crap) out of that guy,” Hardy said. “I went to the afterparty, and he went to the hospital with a broken nose and stitches. I was fighting in his home town on a show his manager had promoted, and the next thing, he’s got a contract with the UFC. So I kinda feel like I got stitched up a little there.”
Hardy’s two UFC losses came after he went 4-0 in the promotion. He got a shot at Georges St-Pierre‘s welterweight title in Newark last year, and suffered the same fate as many others since and before him – a dominant unanimous decision GSP victory. And against Johnson in March, he was simply outwrestled for three rounds – he was “punked,” as he says.
“I think every one of the fights has its own circumstance and I don’t tend to dwell on the location of it,” Hardy said.
Against Lytle on Sunday, Hardy doesn’t believe a second punking is in the offing. The loss to Johnson left him aggravated because he was under the impression Johnson wanted to stand and trade for a three-round slugfest. Instead, Hardy spent the majority of the fight on his back thanks to Johnson’s takedowns, and a fight everyone thought would be an old-fashioned slobberknocker turned into a reason for the crowd to let Johnson know what it thought of him.
But Hardy blames himself, in part, for not being better prepared for Johnson’s takedowns. And he also blames a little of the ol’ what-goes-around-comes-around.
“I was annoyed, but I was annoyed with myself,” Hardy said. “A few years ago when I was fighting on the Cage Warriors show, I did the same thing to somebody else. I guess it’s karma. If he had been saying it to the media, but not saying anything to me, I wouldn’t have bought into it. But it was the private messages between us, like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to steal the show. It’s going to be a great fight.’ But it was a smart game plan, and he outsmarted me, unfortunately. I only have myself to blame for that.”
Lytle has said he’s not out to “pull an Anthony Johnson” against Hardy, which ought to give the Brit some measure of relief. But with the three straight setbacks – GSP and Johnson, and a knockout loss to Carlos Condit in between – staring him in the face, a fourth could be deadly, and he knows it. Not many fighters stay in the big show with four straight losses.
“It’s concerning because I love my job and I love being a part of the UFC,” Hardy said. “But there’s not much I can do with it. I’m three losses down. I can’t take those back. I can only learn from them. I’m at the mindset where as long as I leave the Octagon on Sunday night knowing I gave it everything I’ve got, what more can I do? But for right now, I’m confident Sunday’s going to be a good day. I know that Chris is a very beatable guy for me.”
Hardy and Lytle fight in the main event of UFC on Versus 5 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The main card airs live on Versus at 9 p.m. Eastern and also features a co-main event lightweight fight between Jim Miller and former WEC champ Ben Henderson.
We’re just a few hours away from the 
Will 
MILWAUKEE – Like his U.K. brethren The Who,