Ben Saunders was rocked, dropped, and stopped by Peter Sobotta. A bout between two veteran welterweights took place inside the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden for UFC Fight Night 109. Saunders and Sobotta shared the Octagon. An inside leg kick was there for Sobotta and he dropped Saunders with an overhand left. “Killa B” appeared […]
Ben Saunders was rocked, dropped, and stopped by Peter Sobotta.
A bout between two veteran welterweights took place inside the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden for UFC Fight Night 109. Saunders and Sobotta shared the Octagon.
An inside leg kick was there for Sobotta and he dropped Saunders with an overhand left. “Killa B” appeared to recover quickly. Sobotta didn’t have trouble letting leather fly. Blood trickled down the side of Saunders’ face. “Killa B” was dropped once again. Sobotta rained down some ground-and-pound, but was tied up. Saunders dropped some elbows, while threatening with a submission attempt. The horn sounded.
The second round began and Saunders wanted to find his range after getting dropped twice the previous round. A jab found the mark for Saunders. Sobotta caught the leg and rocked Saunders with a shot. “Killa B” was on wobbly legs. He buckled his opponent and put him away with a knee.
Once the adrenaline wore off, Sobotta tended to a hand injury. He told Dan Hardy that he broke his hand in the second round.
Final Result: Peter Sobotta def. Ben Saunders via TKO (Knee & Strikes) – R2, 2:29
Two more fights have been made official for the Octagon’s return to Sweden later this year, as Ben Saunders faces Peter Sobotta and Emil Meek meets Nordine Taleb at UFC Fight Night 109. Saunders (21-7-2) has scored eight wins over 12 Octagon fights, including a recent victory vs. Court McGee to improve to 5-1 in […]
Two more fights have been made official for the Octagon’s return to Sweden later this year, as Ben Saunders faces Peter Sobotta and Emil Meek meets Nordine Taleb at UFC Fight Night 109. Saunders (21-7-2) has scored eight wins over 12 Octagon fights, including a recent victory vs. Court McGee to improve to 5-1 in […]
UFC Fight Night 103 goes down in Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix this Sunday. Today’s weigh-ins feature the card’s main event headliners BJ Penn & Yair Rodriguez hitting the scales. After retiring in 2014 on the back of three straight losses, the former two-weight world champion looks to return with a win. Often hailed as
UFC Fight Night 103 goes down in Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix this Sunday. Today’s weigh-ins feature the card’s main event headliners BJ Penn & Yair Rodriguez hitting the scales. After retiring in 2014 on the back of three straight losses, the former two-weight world champion looks to return with a win. Often hailed as the greatest lightweight of all time, Penn will again compete as a featherweight. Looking to spoil ‘The Prodigy’s’ big comeback is red-hot prospect Yair Rodriguez, undefeated in his UFC career, and his last loss was five years ago.
Since winning The Ultimate Fighter Latin America, Rodriguez has compiled four straight wins. Victory against Penn would be a huge stepping stone, but if he’s motivated, who knows what the former champ will bring. Lightweight veteran Joe Lauzon battles Marcin Held in the evening’s co-main event, and Court McGee meets Ben Saunders.
Saturday’s early UFC Fight Night 103 fighter weigh-ins get started at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT/9 a.m. MT local time).
Watch the Fight Night Phoenix official weigh-in on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7pm/4pm ETPT live from the Talking Stick Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.
MAIN CARD (FS1, 10 p.m. ET)
B.J. Penn (146) vs. Yair Rodriguez (145)
Marcin Held (156) vs. Joe Lauzon (155)
Court McGee (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
John Moraga (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (125)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)
Augusto Mendes (135) vs. Frankie Saenz (135)
Aleksei Oleinik (242) vs. Viktor Pesta (239)
Tony Martin (155) vs. Alex White (155)
Drakkar Klose (156) vs. Devin Powell (155)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET)
Nina Ansaroff (116) vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (115)
Walt Harris (254) vs. Chase Sherman (246)
Joachim Christensen (205) vs. Bojan Mihajlovic (205)
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight Ben Saunders will return to the Octagon next Sunday night (Jan. 15). His opponent will be The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 11 winner Court McGee…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdEL0SQc54o&t=87s
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight Ben Saunders will return to the Octagon next Sunday night (Jan. 15). His opponent will be The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 11 winner Court McGee. They will do battle inside the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
Early in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, Saunders was known for his stand-up game. For a while, “Killa B’s” background was Jeet Kune Do. Years later, Saunders has developed a reputation for having an effective guard and submission skills.
Luke Thomas recently had Saunders on his SiriusXM Rush show as a guest. “Killa B” revealed what made him decide to improve his guard:
“I knew that if I started as a striker and people take me down, I’m going to have to get a good defensive and offensive guard and jiu-jitsu game off my back. My ultimate goal was, ‘okay we’re gonna keep working on our striking, but they are going to try to take me down.’ I always felt that it was good, I felt my defense was probably the strongest.”
There was one fight above the rest that stood out to Saunders when it came to focusing on his guard. When he lost to Jon Fitch via unanimous decision, he knew he needed to rev things up off his back.
“One hundred percent after taking the Jon Fitch fight and then going that way, it was an absolute turning point in my career. Where not only do I need to excel at learning takedown defense more and wrestling, but I need to get more aggressive and more offensive off my back.”
“Killa B” is no stranger to the head honcho of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Bravo. Saunders has been doing training camps with the highly regarded jiu-jitsu specialist. As a result, Saunders has added more submissions to his game than ever before.
“Eddie Bravo’s system just worked so well into what I already had as my bases and my go-to that it was kind of a no-brainer. When it started working for me and I started working his system and then actually going out and training with him, it just brought things to a whole new level. There’s submissions that I have in my arsenal that have never been seen before, let alone the UFC.”
Longtime MMA veteran of both the UFC and Bellator MMA, Ben Saunders took to the popular “Underground” on Monday where he posted a lengthy entry explaining why he is no longer with the UFC.
Saunders (19-7-2), who was also a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter 6, won his first three fights in a row since returning to the UFC at UFC Fight Nightt 49 in August of 2014 after a two-plus year run in Bellator MMA, with wins over Chris Heatherly, Joe Riggs and Kenny Robertson.
“Killa B” last appeared in the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 81 back in January, where he lost the only fight of his most recent run in the UFC via second-round TKO to Patrick Cote.
Below is the full post Ben Saunders made on The Underground this week:
“First I want to thank all my fans, and all the MMA fighting enthusiasts who are interested in knowing what is going on. I am sure the whole story will eventually come out at the right time, but as of right now, the only thing I can really say is this is all a combination of “Unfortunate Circumstance” and for that reason I will just be a man and take all the fault. I did not get cut by the UFC.
A quick summary without getting into any details, I fought out my contract. I did not hold out looking for more money, in fact I didn’t even ask to hear what the UFC offered my management on the new contract they sent over to them. Truth is, I was going through a really hard time with practically every aspect of my life.
I was dealing with Training camp issues that came up which was unexpected, combined with management issues, and on top of that personal family issues. I had my grandfather pass away right before my last training camp, and then my grandmother passed away about 3 weeks before my last fight. Needless to say I was not in the right state of mind, and physically, and mentally had a too much going on, which I tried to fight through hoping it would help keep me sane and my emotions in check by staying busy.
Combine that with the fact that I was on a 3 fight win streak and the pressures of trying to make the last fight on my contract a memorable one. It all just was an unfortunate cluster fuck, with everyone and their mom, having different opinions and ideas of what should and should not happen. As stupid as it may sound, I felt lost and alone, which is an awful place to be in general, let alone while trying to compete at the highest level.
I have found out the hard way in the past that sometimes the reality of life isn’t something that people can understand, so speaking about all the issues one might be going through, tends to just make things worse than better. So I preferred to keep silent and try to just work through everything myself in my own way. It’s been a non stop roller coaster ride, but one I have voluntarily committed to. So once again this is why I say it is a lot of unfortunate circumstances combined with decisions I made, so I take full responsibility for where I am now.
Needless to say, I had a lot of shit to figure out, fix, and resolve before getting back in that cage. As I feel I have much to make up to all the MMA fans out their for my terrible and lack luster performance last fight. I did not want to disappoint the fans or myself, by not being ready to give anything but a spectacular action packed performance which I want to be known for.
Fixing all of these aspects of my personal life and my career was not an easy task, but once I finally felt confident and had my mind right again, it was unfortunately too late. UFC had filled my spot on their limited roster, which I completely understood. Once again, they don’t know anything about any of this going on in my life, and I would imagine just considered my silence a form of resignation.
To UFC and Joe Silva’s defense as well, I tried to jump on the UFC 202 card as a short notice 2 week replacement. Joe Silva was all about it, as long as I could make weight and get medicals done in time. Which I could have and was on top of. Unfortunately after the Brock Lesnar fiasco with USADA. There is now apparently a 4 month minimum in which I would have to be under the USADA testing pool in order to be allowed to fight with them again I believe.
I don’t know the logistics, or all the details exactly, but if it is a ruling to keep our sport clean and safe, then I respect the decision 100%. But once again I am just forced to deal with another “Unfortunate Circumstance” in my life, and know that I need to not focus on what I can’t change or do, and just focus on what I can. Like the Dalai Lama says “The meaning of Life is Happiness” and I believe that completely. So I am just gonna keep doing me no matter what struggles life may throw at me. Trying my best to do what makes me Happy in life.
I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know and believe that when I am focused, and emotionally intact, in shape, and well prepared, I have the tools to beat anyone in the world at my weight class. I have a very unique and deadly skill set, that would give anyone in the top 10 fits with the right preparations.
I want to thank Joe Silva for really fighting for me while dealing with the USADA issue for UFC 202, as I know he fought hard to try and get me the green light to make my return. It sucks it didn’t happen, but it is what it is.
I also truly want to thank Eddie Bravo, all his 10th Planet Samurai and Antoni Hardonk and his team for all the help they gave me leading into my last fight. I tried to create a fight camp with them, and we all worked very hard. I was way more depressed about seeing all our/their hard work falter come fight night, but they really are amazing human beings who cared tremendously about me and my career. Without their help I probably would have just bowed out completely from taking that fight at the time. The 2 of them live on the complete opposite side of the country from me, yet they opened their doors for me, and I am forever grateful.
Thank you again to all my fans, and the whole MMA community for being AWESOME! You guys always make my day, and help this crazy life as a pro fighter way more enjoyable. Keep supporting the greatest sport in existence. As I know we have the best fan base of any sport ever in my opinion. 🙂
Longtime MMA veteran of both the UFC and Bellator MMA, Ben Saunders took to the popular “Underground” on Monday where he posted a lengthy entry explaining why he is no longer with the UFC.
Saunders (19-7-2), who was also a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter 6, won his first three fights in a row since returning to the UFC at UFC Fight Nightt 49 in August of 2014 after a two-plus year run in Bellator MMA, with wins over Chris Heatherly, Joe Riggs and Kenny Robertson.
“Killa B” last appeared in the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 81 back in January, where he lost the only fight of his most recent run in the UFC via second-round TKO to Patrick Cote.
Below is the full post Ben Saunders made on The Underground this week:
“First I want to thank all my fans, and all the MMA fighting enthusiasts who are interested in knowing what is going on. I am sure the whole story will eventually come out at the right time, but as of right now, the only thing I can really say is this is all a combination of “Unfortunate Circumstance” and for that reason I will just be a man and take all the fault. I did not get cut by the UFC.
A quick summary without getting into any details, I fought out my contract. I did not hold out looking for more money, in fact I didn’t even ask to hear what the UFC offered my management on the new contract they sent over to them. Truth is, I was going through a really hard time with practically every aspect of my life.
I was dealing with Training camp issues that came up which was unexpected, combined with management issues, and on top of that personal family issues. I had my grandfather pass away right before my last training camp, and then my grandmother passed away about 3 weeks before my last fight. Needless to say I was not in the right state of mind, and physically, and mentally had a too much going on, which I tried to fight through hoping it would help keep me sane and my emotions in check by staying busy.
Combine that with the fact that I was on a 3 fight win streak and the pressures of trying to make the last fight on my contract a memorable one. It all just was an unfortunate cluster fuck, with everyone and their mom, having different opinions and ideas of what should and should not happen. As stupid as it may sound, I felt lost and alone, which is an awful place to be in general, let alone while trying to compete at the highest level.
I have found out the hard way in the past that sometimes the reality of life isn’t something that people can understand, so speaking about all the issues one might be going through, tends to just make things worse than better. So I preferred to keep silent and try to just work through everything myself in my own way. It’s been a non stop roller coaster ride, but one I have voluntarily committed to. So once again this is why I say it is a lot of unfortunate circumstances combined with decisions I made, so I take full responsibility for where I am now.
Needless to say, I had a lot of shit to figure out, fix, and resolve before getting back in that cage. As I feel I have much to make up to all the MMA fans out their for my terrible and lack luster performance last fight. I did not want to disappoint the fans or myself, by not being ready to give anything but a spectacular action packed performance which I want to be known for.
Fixing all of these aspects of my personal life and my career was not an easy task, but once I finally felt confident and had my mind right again, it was unfortunately too late. UFC had filled my spot on their limited roster, which I completely understood. Once again, they don’t know anything about any of this going on in my life, and I would imagine just considered my silence a form of resignation.
To UFC and Joe Silva’s defense as well, I tried to jump on the UFC 202 card as a short notice 2 week replacement. Joe Silva was all about it, as long as I could make weight and get medicals done in time. Which I could have and was on top of. Unfortunately after the Brock Lesnar fiasco with USADA. There is now apparently a 4 month minimum in which I would have to be under the USADA testing pool in order to be allowed to fight with them again I believe.
I don’t know the logistics, or all the details exactly, but if it is a ruling to keep our sport clean and safe, then I respect the decision 100%. But once again I am just forced to deal with another “Unfortunate Circumstance” in my life, and know that I need to not focus on what I can’t change or do, and just focus on what I can. Like the Dalai Lama says “The meaning of Life is Happiness” and I believe that completely. So I am just gonna keep doing me no matter what struggles life may throw at me. Trying my best to do what makes me Happy in life.
I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know and believe that when I am focused, and emotionally intact, in shape, and well prepared, I have the tools to beat anyone in the world at my weight class. I have a very unique and deadly skill set, that would give anyone in the top 10 fits with the right preparations.
I want to thank Joe Silva for really fighting for me while dealing with the USADA issue for UFC 202, as I know he fought hard to try and get me the green light to make my return. It sucks it didn’t happen, but it is what it is.
I also truly want to thank Eddie Bravo, all his 10th Planet Samurai and Antoni Hardonk and his team for all the help they gave me leading into my last fight. I tried to create a fight camp with them, and we all worked very hard. I was way more depressed about seeing all our/their hard work falter come fight night, but they really are amazing human beings who cared tremendously about me and my career. Without their help I probably would have just bowed out completely from taking that fight at the time. The 2 of them live on the complete opposite side of the country from me, yet they opened their doors for me, and I am forever grateful.
Thank you again to all my fans, and the whole MMA community for being AWESOME! You guys always make my day, and help this crazy life as a pro fighter way more enjoyable. Keep supporting the greatest sport in existence. As I know we have the best fan base of any sport ever in my opinion. 🙂
“You’re down two rounds. You have to finish him.”
Those were the words that came blasting from Ben Saunders’ corner as he floated in the moments just before the final frame of his bout against Kenny Robertson got underway at UFC on Fox 16.
Despite his …
“You’re down two rounds. You have to finish him.”
Those were the words that came blasting from Ben Saunders‘ corner as he floated in the moments just before the final frame of his bout against Kenny Robertson got underway at UFC on Fox 16.
Despite his best efforts, Killa B had found himself on the business end of a few heavy exchanges with the former teacher-turned-UFC welterweight throughout the initial two stanzas, and time to turn things around was running thin.
Only five minutes remained, and the American Top Team representative’s coaches were doing all they could to tell their fighter whatever energy and power he had left in the tanks needed to be expended with ill intentions toward Robertson. Saunders looked across the cage toward his opponent, and after a brief nod and a subtle smile to show the first 10 minutes had been a good time, it was time to let the urgency of moment take hold.
“I knew they wanted me to come out strong in that third round,” Saunders told Bleacher Report. “I definitely came out there looking to finish the fight, but at the same time, I was kind of questioning the first round. I remember having a pretty good opening round. He did get the knockdown, but I immediately went to work off my back. I had him in trouble and almost in the triangle position at the end of the first, so I thought that was a round that I may have taken.
“Nonetheless, I listen to my corner and I agree with them. You never know how the judges may have seen things, and I went into the final round thinking I had to finish the fight to win.”
The third and final round between Saunders and Robertson started with more exchanges on the feet until the Peoria-based fighter shot in for a takedown and brought the action to the canvas. Just as Robertson postured up to work his top game, Saunders set his high guard and threw up his legs to attempt a triangle choke.
Rather than catching one of Robertson’s arms to lock in the submission, the South Florida native trapped both of his opponent’s arms with his legs. Once the hold was secure, Saunders then began to pepper Robertson’s head with an endless stream of elbows that opened a nasty cut that turned the remaining minutes into a bloody affair.
“I had both of his arms trapped and had a lot of options from that position,” Saunders recalled. “I could go for the choke from there. I could go for armbars or omoplatas on either side. I could work different triangle variations or kimuras and different sweeps.
“There is a bunch of things that could be done from there, but I’m a big fan of reading off the energy someone is giving me. If I sit there and beat you up, you are going to give me some form of energy, and I’d rather go with the flow than force something to happen.
“Everyone is different with their reactions,” he added. “Sometimes they try to buck out, and it gets slippery later in a fight. That was especially the case here because of all the blood. You have to be intelligent in that position, and I believe I was. We knew he was going to be a tough dude and I was going to be working a ton of submissions in the fight.”
While Saunders was obviously in control of the round, the previous two frames left questions as to whether he had done enough to tip the balance. Being the finisher that he is, Saunders began looking for his window to lock in a fight-ending submission as the clock ticked down, and in the waning moments of the fight, he went for it.
Nevertheless, Robertson was able to escape, and the final bell sounded as he regained top position.
That meant the final outcome of the bout was going to play out on the judges’ scorecards where Saunders would emerge victorious via a razor-thin split decision. Even though he wasn’t able to put Robertson away, picking up his third straight win since returning the UFC last year is something the 32-year-old Orlando-based fighter gladly accepted.
Going into the fight, he knew Robertson was going to be a game opponent, but Saunders sees his gritty performance at UFC on Fox 16 as just another example of his overall mission to be a versatile and dangerous fighter anywhere the action takes place.
“I’m dangerous everywhere,” Saunders said. “I’ll pull guard on a dude or try flying submissions…you name it. I’m game to attack from everywhere, even in places where there doesn’t appear to be anything there. Boxing has the rope-a-dope, and I’ll do the cage-a-dope with squared-stance striking. It’s more of a flow with me. I make myself very technical and I have a lot of different aspects to my game.
“It makes you question where the fight will come from or where you may want to take it, but at the same time, I’m comfortable everywhere. May the best man win, and I’m going to do my best to continue staying on point.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
“You’re down two rounds. You have to finish him.”