Tag: bold statements

Bold Statement of the Day: Junior Dos Santos Could Beat Both Klitschkos — In Boxing! — With a Four-Month Camp


(Dos Santos went on to claim that Hayden Panettiere “could get it.” / Photo via Getty)

It’s no big mystery why MMA fighters from Anderson Silva to Quinton Jackson have voiced their desires to transition into boxing. For one thing, the potential paydays are bigger. (In theory at least, though not necessarily for guys like Silva and Rampage, who aren’t draws in boxing.) Also, there’s no chance that a half-feral Brazilian will tear your knee off in a boxing match. I’m not saying that boxing is easier than MMA, but you don’t have to worry about takedown defense, and nobody expects you to cut 25 pounds of water to be “competitive.” Sounds like a vacation compared to what MMA fighters have to go through.

But of course, boxing and MMA are completely different sports, being great at one doesn’t mean you’d be great at the other, blah blah blah, etc. I mean you’d have to be a total fucking moron to think you can just cross the combat sports Mason-Dixon line and start beating champions, right? Right?? Well somebody needs to send that memo to UFC heavyweight title contender Junior Dos Santos, who just threw down the gauntlet in facepalm-worthy fashion, claiming that he has the skills to beat Wladimir Klitschko and Vitali Klitschko at their own game.

“I think if they give me four months to get prepared, I can beat them,” Dos Santos said on The MMA Hour yesterday. “In the beginning of my all my camps, I do just boxing. I love to train boxing and I think I have enough skills in boxing. I know how to see a good fight. Four months, that’s what I need.”


(Dos Santos went on to claim that Hayden Panettiere “could get it.” / Photo via Getty)

It’s no big mystery why MMA fighters from Anderson Silva to Quinton Jackson have voiced their desires to transition into boxing. For one thing, the potential paydays are bigger. (In theory at least, though not necessarily for guys like Silva and Rampage, who aren’t draws in boxing.) Also, there’s no chance that a half-feral Brazilian will tear your knee off in a boxing match. I’m not saying that boxing is easier than MMA, but you don’t have to worry about takedown defense, and nobody expects you to cut 25 pounds of water to be “competitive.” Sounds like a vacation compared to what MMA fighters have to go through.

But of course, boxing and MMA are completely different sports, being great at one doesn’t mean you’d be great at the other, blah blah blah, etc. I mean you’d have to be a total fucking moron to think you can just cross the combat sports Mason-Dixon line and start beating champions, right? Right?? Well somebody needs to send that memo to UFC heavyweight title contender Junior Dos Santos, who just threw down the gauntlet in facepalm-worthy fashion, claiming that he has the skills to beat Wladimir Klitschko and Vitali Klitschko at their own game.

“I think if they give me four months to get prepared, I can beat them,” Dos Santos said on The MMA Hour yesterday. “In the beginning of my all my camps, I do just boxing. I love to train boxing and I think I have enough skills in boxing. I know how to see a good fight. Four months, that’s what I need.”

Dos Santos mentioned that he’s already mentioned this to Dana White, and plans on bringing up the subject to his boss again, because he’s serious about it. (“Now everybody is saying this, everybody wants to fight with boxing guys. It’s become not sincere. When I say that, I’m sincere.”)

As some of you may know, there’s a self-promoting heavyweight boxer out there named Tyson Fury who claims he can beat Cain Velasquez in an MMA fight. He’s full of shit. So is Junior Dos Santos if he really believes he can hang with boxing’s elite. At least Kimbo Slice has the right idea: Beat up some absolute nobodies for a while, and maybe, if things go right, you can one day set up a superfight against Butterbean. That’s a man who knows his limitations, and I respect him for it. Anybody else think JDS should just stick to what he’s good at?

Bold Statement of the Day: Miesha Tate Will Shoot Herself in the Face if Ronda Rousey Armbars Her Again


(What a tragedy. And she was such a pretty girl, too. / Miesha Tate ‘Body Issue’ photo by Ben Watts for ESPN The Magazine)

To say that Miesha Tate is still haunted by her gnarly armbar loss to Ronda Rousey last year would be an understatement. In a recent interview with MMAFightCorner (via BleacherReport), Tate explains that suffering a second armbar loss to Ronda at their rematch at UFC 168 in December would be a suicide-worthy scenario. Figuratively speaking. Maybe.

“It’s never too early to train and practice that gameplan over and over and over, I’m going to beat it into my skull if I have to,” Tate said. “Swear to God, she’s not going to armbar me if it’s the last thing I do. I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It can’t happen.”

Two things…

1) I wasn’t aware that fighters were allowed to bring guns into the Octagon, following the Diaz-Cerrone Peace Accords of 2011.

2) I have no problem with this.

Tate went on to give her own explanation of why she fell prey to Rousey’s signature move, and described the Rondabar in terms that make it even more mysterious and scary:


(What a tragedy. And she was such a pretty girl, too. / Miesha Tate ‘Body Issue’ photo by Ben Watts for ESPN The Magazine)

To say that Miesha Tate is still haunted by her gnarly armbar loss to Ronda Rousey last year would be an understatement. In a recent interview with MMAFightCorner (via BleacherReport), Tate explains that suffering a second armbar loss to Ronda at their rematch at UFC 168 in December would be a suicide-worthy scenario. Figuratively speaking. Maybe.

“It’s never too early to train and practice that gameplan over and over and over, I’m going to beat it into my skull if I have to,” Tate said. “Swear to God, she’s not going to armbar me if it’s the last thing I do. I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It can’t happen.”

Two things…

1) I wasn’t aware that fighters were allowed to bring guns into the Octagon, following the Diaz-Cerrone Peace Accords of 2011.

2) I have no problem with this.

Tate went on to give her own explanation of why she fell prey to Rousey’s signature move, and described the Rondabar in terms that make it even more mysterious and scary:

“For one, not being too emotional. I think that was the biggest problem last time was she got inside my head and she made me really, really angry,” Tate said. “I just don’t think I feed well off of negative energy. I’d rather just be positive about it and just be happy. I love the sport, I love fighting and that to me is definitely the key to victory. Other than that I think I possess all the skills to beat her, I think I just need to calm down a little bit and not go grabbing a hold of her and letting her just launch me into an armbar again. It was just really stupid.”

As far as the gameplan, Miesha explained that Rousey’s judo and trademark move that’s stopped all seven women that she’s faced requires special training. That’s something she’s planning on focusing in on right away.

“Everyone thinks it’s an armbar, it’s not. It’s like a move of it’s own,” said Tate.

“I also need to stop the judo. I mean that’s another part of it. If she goes out there and throws me and she can’t armbar me, that’s a big part of the fight too,” said Tate. “That’s what I’m going to do from now until December 28, it’s going to be an anti-judo camp.”

Stop the judo? Dang, why hasn’t anyone ever thought of that before!

Tate is clearly fired up for revenge, but there’s a reason why Rousey is nearly a 10-1 favorite in this rematch, which was only booked out of convenience. Are you guys seeing another first-round armbar victory for the champ?

Absurd Quote of the Day: Rashad Evans Is Aiming for 50 Takedowns Against Dan Henderson at UFC 161

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

“I know what I want to do to get the results that I want to get: Trust in myself and get it done. Takedown, ground and pound, roll up our sleeves and get dirty and go to work. I’m gonna try to get 50 takedowns this fight. 50…Let’s not confuse this whole situation. I’m not going to go in there and stand in front of him and try to bang it out and hope to God I don’t get hit with that big right hand. I’m going to be smart. He’s gonna want to knock me out. It’s not gonna happen. He’s not knocking me out.” — Rashad Evans

Let’s put this into context for those of you who weren’t paying attention last weekend. At UFC 160, Khabib Nurmagomedov set a UFC record for takedowns — in a three- or five-round fight — when he dragged Abel Trujillo to the mat 21 times. Evans plans to more than double that mark when he faces Dan Henderson in the three-round main event of UFC 161.

This would be like A-Rod guaranteeing 150 home-runs this season. The difference is, home-runs are exciting. Evans’s vow to shoot, shoot, and keep shooting rather than mess around with a slugfest may be wise from a strategic standpoint, but it suggests the kind of gameplan that might not be so much fun to see in action.

Our prediction: Rashad tries for 50 takedowns, converts about three or four of them, and spends at least two-thirds of the fight struggling with Hendo against the fence. Apologies in advance, Winnipeg.


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

“I know what I want to do to get the results that I want to get: Trust in myself and get it done. Takedown, ground and pound, roll up our sleeves and get dirty and go to work. I’m gonna try to get 50 takedowns this fight. 50…Let’s not confuse this whole situation. I’m not going to go in there and stand in front of him and try to bang it out and hope to God I don’t get hit with that big right hand. I’m going to be smart. He’s gonna want to knock me out. It’s not gonna happen. He’s not knocking me out.” — Rashad Evans

Let’s put this into context for those of you who weren’t paying attention last weekend. At UFC 160, Khabib Nurmagomedov set a UFC record for takedowns — in a three- or five-round fight — when he dragged Abel Trujillo to the mat 21 times. Evans plans to more than double that mark when he faces Dan Henderson in the three-round main event of UFC 161.

This would be like A-Rod guaranteeing 150 home-runs this season. The difference is, home-runs are exciting. Evans’s vow to shoot, shoot, and keep shooting rather than mess around with a slugfest may be wise from a strategic standpoint, but it suggests the kind of gameplan that might not be so much fun to see in action.

Our prediction: Rashad tries for 50 takedowns, converts about three or four of them, and spends at least two-thirds of the fight struggling with Hendo against the fence. Apologies in advance, Winnipeg.

Bold Statement of the Day: Stefan Struve Knows ‘For a Fact’ That He Has a ‘Really Good Chin’


(Knocks you out in 54 seconds. Calls you “tough as hell” in the post-fight interview.)

During his three-and-a-half-year UFC career, Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve has become known for three things, and three things only:

1) Being so tall that he makes small men look like children, and small women look like toddlers. (Megan! Get off that chair this minute!)

2) Clowning one-dimensional sluggers with his knotty ground-game.

3) Eating overhand rights, then collapsing into a heap, lawn-chair style.

In fact, the combination of Struve’s aggressive grappling, underrated knockout power, and tendency to lose consciousness during fights has made him one of the least decision-prone fighters on the UFC roster; his 8-3 record in the promotion includes only one fight that went the distance, which came in his December 2009 squeaker over Paul Buentello.

But it’s impossible to ignore that the three losses on his record all came from brutal, lights-out, first-round knockouts. Does that worry Struve, who will be entering the cage this Saturday against the heavy-handed (and heavier-elbowed) Stipe Miocic at UFC on FUEL 5 in Nottingham? No, because Struve actually has a great chin, if you think about it. Allow him to explain:


(Knocks you out in 54 seconds. Calls you “tough as hell” in the post-fight interview.)

During his three-and-a-half-year UFC career, Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve has become known for three things, and three things only:

1) Being so tall that he makes small men look like children, and small women look like toddlers. (Megan! Get off that chair this minute!)

2) Clowning one-dimensional sluggers with his knotty ground-game.

3) Eating overhand rights, then collapsing into a heap, lawn-chair style.

In fact, the combination of Struve’s aggressive grappling, underrated knockout power, and tendency to lose consciousness during fights has made him one of the least decision-prone fighters on the UFC roster; his 8-3 record in the promotion includes only one fight that went the distance, which came in his December 2009 squeaker over Paul Buentello.

But it’s impossible to ignore that the three losses on his record all came from brutal, lights-out, first-round knockouts. Does that worry Struve, who will be entering the cage this Saturday against the heavy-handed (and heavier-elbowed) Stipe Miocic at UFC on FUEL 5 in Nottingham? No, because Struve actually has a great chin, if you think about it. Allow him to explain:

“I know for a fact that I’ve got a really good chin,” Struve told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I showed that in multiple fights…The shots that I got hit with by Browne and Nelson would have taken anybody down,” he said. “So that’s not something I really worry about.”

I think that when Struve says he “knows for a fact” that he’s got a strong chin, he doesn’t so much know it as believe it despite a lack of physical evidence. Because to believe otherwise would force him to seriously consider his limitations in a way that might affect his confidence on fight night. It’s a little trick that fighters do to keep the nightmares away.

Then again, when Struve says, “The shots that I got hit with by Browne and Nelson would have taken anybody down,” there’s some truth to that, obviously. The 57% knockout ratio in the heavyweight division is no coincidence — most human brains simply aren’t equipped to handle a haymaker from an angry XXXL fist without going into hibernation mode. It’s just that compared to other UFC heavyweights, Struve’s chin doesn’t seem to be any better than the next guy’s.

I mean, we’re not talking about Mark Hunt, here. We’re talking about Stefan Struve — just another big man fighting other big men, who’s already suffered a good deal of scary head trauma in his fight career. So maybe getting his brain turned off in future fights is something he should be worrying about.