Enough with the Men at Work lyrics. Time to get down to business in the land down under, where women— STOP, I SAID.
UFC Fight Night 121, which, in case you’re not a fan of fine music, happened Saturday in Sydney, Australia, received an extra…
Enough with the Men at Work lyrics. Time to get down to business in the land down under, where women— STOP, I SAID.
UFC Fight Night 121, which, in case you’re not a fan of fine music, happened Saturday in Sydney, Australia, received an extra helping of pain at the hands of the brutal injury fairy. Several fights became less appealing because an original competitor was forced to pull out. And if that wasn’t enough, no fewer than four fighters missed weight for the event, thus further dampening enthusiasm.
So, you know, on paper this was not a good card. Still, in the main event we had heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum taking on Pole Marcin Tybura just six weeks after a first-round dismantling of last-second fill-in Walt Harris. As you might imagine, Werdum was a heavy favorite.
Let’s see what happened on the 13-fight slate. Just because it looked bad on paper doesn’t mean the sparks didn’t fly. As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from UFC Sydney.
Jessica Rose-Clark got past Bec Rawlings. The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 121 featured women’s featherweight action. Clark took on Rawlings inside the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. Rawlings scored a takedown in the opening frame. She rained down some strikes. Some hammerfists and elbows to the body were there for Rawlings. Clark […]
The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 121 featured women’s featherweight action. Clark took on Rawlings inside the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Rawlings scored a takedown in the opening frame. She rained down some strikes. Some hammerfists and elbows to the body were there for Rawlings. Clark reversed the position. The action returned standing. A right hand was there for Clark. Another right hand landed for Clark.
Clark remained on her toes and moved around the Octagon in round two. The two engaged in a clinch battle. A knee to the body found the target for Clark. The two separated. A left hand landed for Clark. Rawlings continued to find trouble on the feet. Clark took down her opponent and went for the triangle choke. She eventually took the back of her opponent. Rawling returned to her back and Clark landed an elbow.
A body kick connected for Clark early in the final round. She followed it up with a leg kick. Rawlings continued to get tagged moving forward. They exchanged strikes. A solid right hand connected for Rawlings. Rawlings scored a takedown. Clark got control and landed some knees to the leg. She got her opponent down. Clark rained down strikes to finish the round and the fight.
In the end, Clark was awarded with a split decision victory.
Final Result: Jessica Rose-Clark def. Bec Rawlings via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
If you come from a land down under, where fighting men throw thunder, you better get ready to be torn asunder. You better run. You better take cover.
I spent three hours writing that.
But it’s the best lead I’ve ever written, so it’s time well spent. W…
If you come from a land down under, where fighting men throw thunder, you better get ready to be torn asunder. You better run. You better take cover.
I spent three hours writing that.
But it’s the best lead I’ve ever written, so it’s time well spent. What else will be time well spent? Your time, this Saturday, watching UFC Fight Night 121, going down from fair Sydney, the jewel of Australia.
Well, maybe. As you know, I’m not a spin doctor. And this is not a good card. Injuriesdancedtheir terrible dance and now we’re left with a depleted slate.
In the main event, heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum takes a short turnaround, facing Pole Marcin Tybura just six weeks after a first-round dismantling of last-second fill-in Walt Harris. As you might imagine, Werdum is a heavy favorite.
So that’s the main event. The rest of the card, well, it’s downhill from there. Not all is lost, though. Here are three fights you shouldn’t miss.
Welterweight
Tim Means (27-8-1) vs. Belal Muhammad (12-2)
Odds: Hill -215 Means
Airs on: Fox Sports 1
Unless your name is Matt Brown, you’re not going to win a brawl with Tim Means. Muhammad will try to push forward and pressure on lankier Means, but that’s a tall order.
If Muhammad can close the distance, he can land takedowns and make this a fight. If he charges too recklessly and into Means’ muay thai, he’s a done dada.
Either way, watching him try it could be the most interesting struggle of this card.
Lightweight
Will Brooks (18-3) vs. Nik Lentz (27-8-2)
Odds: Brooks -510
Airs on: Fox Sports 1
This is Will Brooks’ chance to re-establish himself in the lightweight division. Doing it against a long-running villain in Nik Lentz makes the opportunity that much sweeter.
Brooks has a unique game, throwing kicks from long range to set up double-leg takedowns. Lentz is a brawler who can make this fun but as a guy who spent a good amount of time at featherweight, he’ll be surrendering serious size. His game is also not nearly as well-rounded as Brooks. We’ll see if his outspoken internet trolling can help him against Brooks, a motivated competitor looking to regain the championship form he found in Bellator.
Lightweight
Frank Camacho (20-5) vs. Damien Brown (17-10)
Odds: Camacho -130
Airs on: Fox Sports 1
Brown is 2-2 in the UFC but has looked pretty good in each contest. Brown is dogged and determined, as evidenced by his 2016 out-grinding of Jon Tuck. He’s always working, always reaching for the finish and always seeming to withstand the other guy’s toughest shot.
He’ll need to do it again vs. Camacho, a former Pacific Xtreme Combat champ with 15 knockouts to his name. His hands are heavy, but his gas tank may be shallow. If he can find the early knockout, that would likely be ideal. Easier said than done.
A pair of UFC strawweights who pushed for the creation of a flyweight division will square off at UFC Fight Night 121, as Joanne Calderwood meets Bec Rawlings. Calderwood (11-3), who was a top contender for the inaugural title when she appeared on The Ultimate Fighter, has dropped back-to-back fights. The 30-year-old was bested by […]
A pair of UFC strawweights who pushed for the creation of a flyweight division will square off at UFC Fight Night 121, as Joanne Calderwood meets Bec Rawlings. Calderwood (11-3), who was a top contender for the inaugural title when she appeared on The Ultimate Fighter, has dropped back-to-back fights. The 30-year-old was bested by […]
Cris Cyborg is doing more than enough to stay in the public eye and earn a high-profile UFC bout. The former Invicta FC featherweight champion, who is far and away the best 145-pound female fighter in the sport and arguably the most dominant pound-for-pound woman in MMA overall, reportedly took offense to some incredibly personal tweets […]
Cris Cyborg is doing more than enough to stay in the public eye and earn a high-profile UFC bout.
The former Invicta FC featherweight champion, who is far and away the best 145-pound female fighter in the sport and arguably the most dominant pound-for-pound woman in MMA overall, reportedly took offense to some incredibly personal tweets from The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) competitor and UFC women’s strawweight Angela Magana.
And according to a report from Ariel Helwani, when Cyborg ran into “Her Majesty” at this weekend’s UFC fighter retreat in Las Vegas, she had enough of the abuse and confronted Magana. Things escalated from there and Cyborg ended up punching Magana:
Cris Cyborg & Angela Magana just got into an altercation at the retreat. Words exchanged, tempers flared and Cyborg punched Magana.
But Magana’s close friend and fellow UFC women’s strawweight Bec Rawlings replied to explain that Magana wasn’t rocked and took the punch well despite having a busted lip:
@arielhelwani Magana was not rocked ???????? she took it like a G, but does have a busted lip.
Long feared as the most dangerous knockout striker to ever fight in women’s MMA, Cyborg has had trouble finding opponents who are even close to her size or skill level, leading to the suggestions that she has never had legitimate competition in the cage.
She’s currently campaigning for a bout with current Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson in an effort to show everyone she can defeat an elite fighter her size (well, in her weight class), but today, it seems she’s still taking it to women who are quite a bit smaller than she is.
But hey, it’s easy to see why Justino lost her cool after all the shaming social media posts she made about Cyborg over the past few years.
2016 is coming to a close, and another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) competition will soon be in the books. This year has given us some great memories in fighting; some historic, some spectacular, and some just plain amazing. One of the most exciting parts of MMA are the vicious knockouts fans tune in to
2016 is coming to a close, and another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) competition will soon be in the books. This year has given us some great memories in fighting; some historic, some spectacular, and some just plain amazing.
One of the most exciting parts of MMA are the vicious knockouts fans tune in to see every week, and 2016 has presented plenty highlight reel KOs that we’ll never forget.
To commemorate those bouts, we’ve compiled a list of the best knockouts that we’ve seen this year, so let’s dive into LowKick’s top 10 MMA knockouts of 2016….
12. Paige VanZant vs. Bec Rawlings
Following her fifth-round submission loss to Rose Namajunas in December of last year, Paige VanZant took a little break from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition to compete in the 22nd season of Dancing With The Stars.
After finishing the competition as the runner-up, VanZant made her return to fighting action against Bec Rawlings, who was coming in off of a two-fight win streak that included a submission win over Lisa Ellis.
VanZant opened up the second round of her bout with Rawlings with a flashy maneuver that would land and send the Vancouver crowed into a frenzy, as the Team Alpha Male star landed a flush jumping head kick on Rawlings and finished her off with a few punches.
The jaw-dropping knockout earned VanZant her seventh professional win of her MMA career, and No. 12 on our list of top knockouts of 2016.
If you come from a land down under, where fighting men throw thunder, you better get ready to be torn asunder. You better run. You better take cover.
12. Paige VanZant vs. Bec Rawlings