The signing of flyweights finally continues, as MMAjunkie.com reports UFC has scooped up two 125ers before next weeks UFC Fight Night 27 in Indianapolis, Ind.
The UFC has inked Dustin Ortiz and Justin Scoggins, who will battle it out on the Facebook po…
The signing of flyweights finally continues, as MMAjunkie.com reports UFC has scooped up two 125ers before next weeks UFC Fight Night 27 in Indianapolis, Ind.
The UFC has inked Dustin Ortiz and Justin Scoggins, who will battle it out on the Facebook portion of the prelims next Wednesday. The card, of course, is headlined by a welterweight rematch between Martin Kampmann and Carlos Condit.
Nicknamed “Tank,” Scoggins is a 21-year-old fighter with an unblemished 5-0 record. Scoggins also went 1-0-1 as an amateur.
Ortiz is a Roufusport team member that finds himself on a three-fight surge. The 11-2 Ortiz boasts an afro, as well as wins over the likes of Josh Rave, Mike French and Aaron Ely. Of his two losses, one came at the hand of current contender Ian McCall back in 2011 under the Tachi Palace Fights banner.
In looking at this fight on paper, the matchup is extremely even. Ortiz has never been finished, and owns eight finishes in 11 wins (four knockouts, four submissions). Scoggins, obviously unblemished record-wise, has shown great knockout power in using punches, kicks and knees to win fights, but also has an armbar submission win to his name.
Flyweights are always in the running for Fight of the Night. Not only that, they are going to be the “pace car” of the event, as they will likely be the opener of the entire card.
With the flyweight division still having around just 20 fighters, an impressive win from either man could definitely put them in the title picture. Given how impressive both men’s resumes are could be an indication that we have a couple of future mainstays with exciting arsenals.
The UFC’s October outing to Brazil has gained some star power in the form of Rousimar Palhares.
The fan favorite from Brazil makes his welterweight debut against Mike Pierce, the underrated wrestler from America with Chael Sonnen-like callouts of Palha…
The UFC’s October outing to Brazil has gained some star power in the form of RousimarPalhares.
The fan favorite from Brazil makes his welterweight debut against Mike Pierce, the underrated wrestler from America with ChaelSonnen-like callouts of Palhares‘s home country. The fight takes place on Fox Sports 1 on October 9, though it has not been announced if this will be a main or preliminary card bout.
Palhares drops to 170 after falling in his last two outings at middleweight to Alan Belcher and Hector Lombard (both by knockout). The leglock specialist was once considered a contender at middleweight before his current losing streak, beating the likes of Dave Branch, Mike Massenzio and Dan Miller with ease.
As for Pierce, the Oregon-based fighter finds himself in the middle of a four-fight winning streak over the likes of Carlos Eduardo Rocha, Aaron Simpson, Seth Baczynski and David Mitchell. Many fans feel that his accomplishments have not been valued, seeing how successful he has been with the UFC and his placement being on the Facebook portion of cards.
This will be a wrestler vs. jiu-jitsu specialist fight. Both men’s striking has improved recently, especially Pierce, who has blasted Mitchell and Simpson with heavy knockout blows.
One would have to think that this is a do-or-die situation for Palhares, as the UFC has been cutting many fighters on losing streaks lately. Though he is popular and skilled, three straight losses would likely put his job and career in jeopardy.
As for Pierce, a win would definitely have to put him into contention. Palhares is the notable win he has been looking for, seeing as his only losses in the UFC have come to Josh Koscheck, Johny Hendricks and Jon Fitch.
Stay tuned with Bleacher Report for more updates on upcoming UFC cards.
Only two fights into his professional career Frank Mir joined the UFC at age 22, and it didn’t take him long to be noticed by heavyweights with a whole lot more experience.
Mir’s career trajectory didn’t take him directly to a title shot, but after a l…
Only two fights into his professional career Frank Mir joined the UFC at age 22, and it didn’t take him long to be noticed by heavyweights with a whole lot more experience.
Mir’s career trajectory didn’t take him directly to a title shot, but after a loss to Ian Freeman in his fifth pro fight, he learned a valuable lesson and came back a much better fighter.
Mir finally captured the UFC heavyweight title in 2004 when he literally snapped Tim Sylvia’s arm to win the belt in one of the most memorable stoppages in MMA history.
Since that moment, Mir has competed for either the UFC heavyweight title or the interim UFC heavyweight title a total of four more times. He captured the interim belt on one other occasion, but hasn’t been able to reach the top of the mountain again since his initial run back in 2004.
Now as he enters his bout against former UFC champion Josh Barnett at UFC 164, Mir will for the first time ever look to stop a two fight-losing streak, while maintaining his standing in the division.
Mir may have competed for the UFC heavyweight title just two fights ago, but as the losses mount and his inability to win the gold again haunts him, he’s entering the fight with Barnett facing a bit of uncertainty in his career.
While some former champions are able to move forward and no longer focus on the belt, Mir just can’t become one of those guys.
“I don’t concede the fact of just trying to put on great fights,” Mir said during a UFC conference call on Tuesday. “Obviously the outcome of my drive is to work back towards the title. I don’t see it as a situation where that’s no longer within my grasp.”
Mir has consistently been ranked near the top of the heavyweight division for most of his UFC career, but his recent losses in title fights coupled with a growing division full of contenders pushes him further and further to the fringe.
No matter what the rest of the top 10 looks like, Mir isn’t ready to give up on the chance to fight for a belt again.
People have counted him out in the past, for instance when a motorcycle crash nearly ended his career and put Mir on the shelf for almost two years. When he returned, Mir lost two out of his next three fights, and it seemed he was no longer an elite fighter.
Mir didn’t give up, and was able to battle back, winning his next three fights in a row while taking home the interim UFC title along the way.
So if that was Mir version 2.0, consider this a third restart when everyone is counting him out after two straight losses. He’s not giving up on his dream of becoming champion again, and he refuses to believe it’s out of reach.
“The training I’m doing now, where I’m at in life, being only 34 years of age, I don’t really see it as an issue to concede to the fact that ‘oh I’m only going to fight to be an entertaining fight, just added onto a card’,” Mir said. “That’s just not where I’m at in my life.”
A win at UFC 164 over a fighter like Barnett will go a long way to proving Mir is still relevant in the heavyweight division title picture. A loss, however, would be devastating, marking three defeats in a row.
Mir’s real title fight might just be avoiding the label of gatekeeper, and he has the chance to do that next Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
UFC Fight Night no Combate in São Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 9 now officially has its headliner: Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields.
The No. 4 ranked, 170-pound contender Maia (18-4) will take on former Strikeforce champion Shields (28-6-1) in a five-round b…
UFC Fight Night no Combate in São Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 9 now officially has its headliner: Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields.
The No. 4 ranked, 170-pound contender Maia (18-4) will take on former Strikeforce champion Shields (28-6-1) in a five-round bout to cap off a night of fights that will air on FOX Sports 1 in the United States.
Maia, who is undefeated at welterweight, expressed his pride in representing his country on home soil in an article with UFC.com:
I am very happy and proud to be the main event. I’ve always wanted to fight for the UFC in São Paulo, were I was born and raised. I have a special connection with the Jose Correa arena in Barueri, where I had my first major MMA milestone in 2006. My big goal is to get a title shot and become world champion. I know Jake Shields is a great opponent, with wins over names such as Dan Henderson and Carlos Condit, and beating him is sure to get me within title contention.
In the same article, Shields also spoke on the quality of his opponent as well as Brazilian fans:
The Brazilian audience is intimidating and enthusiastic, and it makes for an excellent atmosphere. But once I get in the Octagon, I’ll be focused and ready. Fighting Demian on his home turf will not be an issue. His strengths are obvious: he’s the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial artist in my division. His weakness is his standup. I want to beat him at what he’s best at.
The co-main event of the night will pit two more welterweights contenders against each other, as Erick Silva (15-3) takes on South Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim (17-2-1).
Silva is coming off the Submission of the Night victory in his last outing. Kim has won three-of-four, with the loss coming at the hands of Maia when a freak injury during a scramble forced him to tap out.
Both the main and co-main events promise to be tactical smorgasbords. Maia and Shields are among the best at control grappling in MMA, while Kim has not found an opponent he can’t take down during his UFC stint.
The young Brazilian, Silva, has his own explosive ground game, with two of his three UFC victories coming by way of first-round submission.
By the time Josh Barnett steps into the Octagon at UFC 164, more than 10 years will have passed between appearances.
Barnett started out in the UFC heavyweight division in the dark days of MMA when the promotion was struggling to find a foothold after …
By the time Josh Barnett steps into the Octagon at UFC 164, more than 10 years will have passed between appearances.
Barnett started out in the UFC heavyweight division in the dark days of MMA when the promotion was struggling to find a foothold after being banned in several states, and removed from pay-per-view.
He stuck around long enough to see ZuffaLLC buy out the UFC, and made it all the way to the heavyweight title before leaving the organization in 2002. Barnett never got the chance to defend the belt because he was stripped of the title after testing positive for a banned substance after the fight, although he battled in an appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and maintains his innocence to this day.
Two years later the belt passed to a young gun named Frank Mir, and he was considered the new embodiment of grappling excellence in the UFC.
Because both fighters were known as submission artists, Barnett and Mir continued to be mentioned in the same circles over the better part of the next decade. Despite their apparent similarities, however, Barnett doesn’t buy into the idea that he and Mir were always on the same career path and just never happened to meet before now.
When Barnett left the UFC and ended up in Japan as part of Pride Fighting Championships, the heavyweight division there—not in the Octagon—was considered the real cream of the crop in MMA.
“I think we’ve always kind of been in different places for both of our careers really,” Barnett said when speaking to MMA’s Great Debate Radio. “Even when he was fighting for titles, no one ever took my belt from me, so I don’t what belt they were putting around (his waist) but that wasn’t the UFC heavyweight title as far as I was concerned.
“I was in Pride fighting the universally recognized top dudes in the world at the time. I come back to the UFC, and the UFC is now the premiere place to be for mixed martial arts in the world, but at this point Frank’s best days have already occurred.”
Both Mir and Barnett have shared space in the MMA top-10 rankings for most of the last 10 years as well—a rare feat in this sport where fighters come and go quite often and don’t usually stick around at the top of a division for that long.
According to the current UFC rankings, Mir is listed at No. 6 while Barnett is slotted in at No. 10. Barnett has always done his best to avoid the entire discussion around rankings because ultimately it’s a subjective list, but deep down he can admit there is a fire that gets lit when he sees certain fighters put ahead of him.
“I don’t really care too much about rankings,” Barnett said. “I definitely didn’t get obsessed with it when I saw how biased they were, especially after being out of the UFC. There’s a little part when you see it that’s like ‘That idiot thinks that, really?’. It gives you that much more motivation when you’re in there and getting your workouts done.”
When it comes to his next opponent, Barnett believes that Mir’s constant standing in the rankings has come more from him being in the UFC than actually beating the best fighters in the world while still in their primes, but he’s excited to see just what he’s all about when they face off in the Octagon.
“I’ve got to be honest, a lot of Frank’s relevancy was based on being in the UFC,” Barnett said. “That’s the way I see it. I want to how much potential there really is there by fighting him.”
Barnett knows going into the fight that Mir’s best weapon is his devastating Brazilian jiu-jitsu game. Out of his 16 career wins, Mir has submitted nine past opponents, and was the first person to ever finish Pride legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by submission.
His record speaks for itself, but Barnett says for all the accomplishments that Mir has had, he’s never faced a fighter like him.
“I don’t think he’s going to be able to find any training partners that can grapple the way I do” Barnett said. “Even still, I believe when it does hit the ground I can shut down his offense and make him pay for being underneath.”
A win for Barnett would immediately put him into title discussion for a number of reasons beyond just beating a former UFC champion like Mir.
With Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos already matched up at UFC 166 to conclude their trilogy of fights, the division doesn’t have a clear cut contender sitting in the top spot for the next title shot.
Former Strikeforce fighter Fabricio Werdum seems like the most likely candidate, but the UFC has yet to guarantee him or anyone else for that matter as the next person in line for a shot at the belt. Travis Browne also entered the conversation with his win over Alistair Overeem last weekend at UFC Fight Night 26.
Still, Barnett’s history, record and pedigree make him an interesting entry into title discussions and while it’s virtually impossible to think he’d get a shot at the belt after a win over Mir, his name will be tossed into contention.
Once Barnett’s foot is in the door, it’s hard to keep him from kicking it down, and he’s looking forward to making his first UFC title defense. Yes, you read that correct—since Barnett never lost the UFC heavyweight title in a fight, he believes whoever he faces for the gold now will be competing for the real championship.
“For me if I’m issued a title shot, when I walk in the ring in my mind, I’m not fighting to win the UFC championship—I’m actually making my first title defense,” Barnett said. “That’s the way I see it.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Vitor Belfort is desperately holding out for a crack at the winner of the championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. If Silva has his way, though, Belfort is going to have to keep waiting for his next shot at the belt.
Speaking with…
VitorBelfort is desperately holding out for a crack at the winner of the championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. If Silva has his way, though, Belfort is going to have to keep waiting for his next shot at the belt.
Speaking with SporTV, Silva gave a matter-of-fact response to the idea of fighting Belfort.
“I don’t think so,” Silva said (as translated by MMAFighting). “What was supposed to be done was done. Of course, we are employees of the UFC, but I don’t like to fight against Brazilians. I don’t see that possibility.”
Weidman likely just gained at least one more fan.
Silva fought Belfort once before, back at UFC 126. That fight, which ended with a much-imitated front-kick knockout, remains one of the biggest highlights of Silva’s career and is one of the biggest highlights of modern UFC history. Even so, the statement from Silva sheds a little bit of light on past spotty performances.
Silva has fought Brazilians just three times in his UFC career. The first two fights, against Thales Leites and Demian Maia, drew massive levels of criticism for Silva’s reluctance to engage after establishing a lead in strikes. The third, against Belfort, was rife with pre-fight tension between the two.
In spite of Silva’s reluctance, Belfort has a very strong resume put together for a title shot. Since UFC 126, Belfort is 4-0 at middleweight (he had a one-and-done 205-pound fight with Jon Jones at UFC 152). All those victories, which came over YoshihiroAkiyama, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping, were finishes.
At the moment, there are few top Brazilian middleweights, which gives Silva plenty of options should he regain the belt.
Only two fights into his professional career