For one hot minute, it looked like the rematch between UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate was going to headline the UFC’s end-of-year pay-per-view event. That all changed late last week, when UFC president Dana W…
For one hot minute, it looked like the rematch between UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate was going to headline the UFC’s end-of-year pay-per-view event. That all changed late last week, when UFC president Dana White announced that the rematch between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva was going to be slotted in as the main event of UFC 168.
If you think that Rousey is going to grouse about being bumped to the co-main event status, you’d be wrong.
In fact, it seems that Rousey sees the change in the card’s lineup as a blessing in disguise. Rousey, speaking to John Morgan of USA Today, said, “I’m super stoked about being on the same card as Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. It’ll alleviate some of the promotional stress and pressure because there’ll be more of us working to promote this big card.”
With two marquee grudge matches at the top of the card, there will be high expectations. In fact, UFC president Dana White set the bar himself when he announced the Weidman versus Silva rematch to ESPN and said, “This will be the biggest fight in UFC history. This is the biggest fight out there.”
Weidman took the UFC middleweight title from Silva at UFC 162. After enduring the taunts and showboating of Silva, Weidman caught him on the chin with a left, dropping Silva to the mat, where he finished him with strikes on the ground. The loss was the first of Silva’s UFC career.
Rousey and Tate recently finished their coaching stint on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, and there’s no doubt that the tension between the two will be high heading into their rematch. The first time the two met in March 2012, Rousey submitted Tate by first-round armbar, capturing the Strikeforce women’s title in the process. That title morphed into the UFC title when the UFC shuttered Strikeforce.
Stacking UFC 168 with two heavily anticipated title fights will have fans and pundits keeping a close eye on the fight card. The promotion will obviously be looking to put up huge pay-per-view numbers with the December 28 fight card.
The biggest fight in UFC history? We’ll find out in a few months if the fans agree with White’s assessment.
UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub has expressed his frustration after losing his spot at UFC on Fox 8 later this month due to an injury to his opponent, Matt Mitrione.
The two former The Ultimate Fighter teammates were supposed to meet on July 27, but it …
UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub has expressed his frustration after losing his spot at UFC on Fox 8 later this month due to an injury to his opponent, Matt Mitrione.
The two former The Ultimate Fighter teammates were supposed to meet on July 27, but it was reported on Thursday that Mitrione was injured in training.
“I’m a sad panda right now, straight up… I just got done with camp. Matt Mitrione pulled out yesterday so, it’s a killer for me.”
Up until this year, the two heavyweights were struggling in the division, having lost two fights in a row with possible dismissals from the promotion looming. In February, Schaub arrested his losing streak with a win over Lavar Johnson at UFC 157. Mitrione did the same in April against Phil De Fries.
Since then, Mitrione has been waging a Twitter war against his opponent in an effort to drum up interest in the contest. But from Schaub’s comments, it seems the two are still firm friends.
“I don’t know what’s up with Matt. Hopefully he gets better,” said Schaub. “I hope it’s not serious. I hope he’s all right; he’s a buddy… I text him, make sure he’s all right, I heard from him.”
Nevertheless, Schaub doesn’t hide his frustration at losing the opportunity to fight his friend, especially due to the cost of his training camp. He told Fight Hub TV that he flew training partners and coaches in from all over the place in preparation for the contest.
Those training partners included LyotoMachida and ChaelSonnen. His one consolation is that he’s come out of the camp an improved fighter.
Schaub says that he’d like to fight Mitrione later in the year at UFC 165, which takes place in Toronto in September.
If he does make it to that card, he’ll be on below a Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson light heavyweight championship main event.
And, in the meantime, he can take some of that striking knowledge he’s accumulated from Machida to help the Ring of Champions Society in Manchester, who are currently looking to take young fighters the 2016 Olympics.
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar got back on track last weekend at UFC 162 when he dominated Charles Oliveira by unanimous decision.
As good as Edgar has been over the last few years, it was hard to imagine that he entered the night on a t…
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar got back on track last weekend at UFC 162 when he dominated Charles Oliveira by unanimous decision.
As good as Edgar has been over the last few years, it was hard to imagine that he entered the night on a three-fight losing streak—albeit all in title bouts.
Edgar came storming out of the gate and showed why he is constantly in the mix for title shots after easily handling a talented and hungry young fighter like Oliveira.
Now with a fight back in the win column of his record, Edgar is zeroing in on his next bout, which he hopes will get him that much closer to another shot at the belt. Edgar is still gunning for a second chance to face featherweight champion Jose Aldo after the two fought to a close decision earlier this year.
It’s never been in Edgar’s nature to call out any fighter during his career.
For the biggest part of the last three years, he was a champion, so obviously he never had to call for any fight. He just had to face whomever the No. 1 contender was at the time.
At present, Edgar is back to playing the role of challenger instead of champion, so while he’s still not ready to call out other fighters trying to make a splash, there are a few names that seem to make the most sense to him for his next trip to the Octagon.
At the top of the list are Cub Swanson and Ricardo Lamas—two fighters sitting near the top of the rankings and currently without fights booked.
Swanson fought and won on the same night as Edgar’s fight at UFC 162, while Lamas was supposed to compete on the card as well before his opponent got yanked at the last minute and he was removed from the show.
“I think those are two guys that would have title implications involved,” Edgar answered when asked about Swanson and Lamas.
“They’re close to the top and it makes sense, either one of them. Really, whoever, there’s a couple of other guys too. I want to fight the fights that are going to get me to the title.”
Edgar and Swanson could end up being the perfect fight given the fact that they were almost matched up earlier this year for The Ultimate Fighter‘s Season 17 finale show. Unfortunately, Swanson was unable to take the bout due to a nagging injury after the fight was offered on short notice.
Edgar would still be more than happy to face Swanson with both fighters having a full training camp to prepare for one another.
“I think it makes sense,” Edgar said about Swanson. “There’s a possibility we could have done it beforehand. We were both on the same card, so if the timetable works I’m down.”
The timetable for Edgar’s return is unknown at this time.
He was feeling fine after a 15-minute fight against Oliveira at UFC 162, but Edgar still wants to give himself time to prepare and not rush into anything yet.
“I’d like to fight probably before the year is out, if I can before Christmas,” Edgar stated. “But I don’t know, I’m still fresh off this fight, I’m feeling pretty good.”
Looking at Edgar’s track record, even when he was a champion, he was pretty active so it’s hard to imagine him sitting out for any extended period of time.
It’s just a matter now of finding the right fight and the right card so Edgar can continue his pursuit of a featherweight title shot. Hopefully, that’s during the first part of 2014.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted
Over the last couple of years, UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald has gained a reputation for wearing custom-made suits and carrying an icy demeanor whenever he’s talking about a fight.
Rarely does MacDonald ever seem to crack a smile, and his steely gaze…
Over the last couple of years, UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald has gained a reputation for wearing custom-made suits and carrying an icy demeanor whenever he’s talking about a fight.
Rarely does MacDonald ever seem to crack a smile, and his steely gaze is something akin to a predator quietly tracking its prey.
It’s earned him comparisons in jest to fictional characters like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho or Dexter Morgan from the popular Showtime series Dexter. MacDonald isn’t playing a character, however, because being detached from his fights emotionally allows him to just focus on an opponent and not get drawn into some ugly verbal war with another fighter.
So when MacDonald’s latest opponent Jake Ellenberger took aim at him on Twitter, he did his best to ignore it and just keep his sights on the fight at hand.
MacDonald admits that he never really took Ellenberger for a trash talker, but nothing he’s said or will possibly say can rattle the young Canadian before they meet in the Octagon.
“I guess I didn’t really see it coming, but it doesn’t really bother me to tell you the truth,” MacDonald told Bleacher Report. “It’s just talk. People have been talking s—t about me my whole life so I’ve gotten pretty used to dealing with it. At the end of the day I usually come out on top so I’m not really worried about his talking. It doesn’t really bother me.”
At just 23 years old, MacDonald is five years younger than his next opponent, but when it comes to maturity he thinks he’s got the edge.
“I guess I shake my head sometimes. It comes across as kind of childish, and it just seems like there’s a lot of insecurities when people start talking like that or they’re just trying to get more fans or more attention on themselves, they’re trying to make themselves more confident. I really don’t know,” MacDonald said.
“I really just try to focus on myself and the martial arts side of things. It doesn’t really interest me, the whole s—t talking thing. When it happens I voice my opinion on it sometimes, but it’s very childish. I don’t really think it has a place in martial arts.
“It’s like the new model for promoting a fight in mixed martial arts. For me, I never understood it. It reminds me of high school sometimes. The way all the UFC fighters have been talking to each other, the way they have been very immature. The way people respond too has been on the most part immature as well. I think people need to learn how to keep it classy a little bit.”
MacDonald’s method of preparation doesn’t differ much based on anything an opponent says about or towards him leading up to a fight. It’s the cold, detached demeanor that MacDonald carries that earned him those notorious nicknames, but in a way they are quite fitting because that’s exactly the way he approaches a fight.
It’s not about what’s said before a fight that matters to MacDonald—only how he executes inside the cage.
“I don’t ever know the people I fight at all. I just know their name and I show up on the night, they show up, and we fight in a cage and we paid for it,” said MacDonald. “That’s what we like to do.
“Nothing changes, it’s a fight. It is a bigger scale fight I guess, but I don’t really pay too much attention to it. I just focus on the fight part of it and the rest of it will take care of itself. I kind of felt like my career has been that way. I’ve moved up the ranks pretty fast because of the way I’ve performed. I don’t think I need to change anything.”
Whether Jake Ellenberger decides to continue his charge at MacDonald via Twitter or in interviews remains to be seen. MacDonald promises that no matter which way he swings, it won’t matter once they are locked in the Octagon together.
What’s most important to MacDonald isn’t what Ellenberger says, but how he performs. He’s got that part of the game locked down to a science.
“I think he’s a good fighter. He’s got a lot of good tools, but I think he’s got a lot of weaknesses as well,” MacDonald said of Ellenberger. “I think I’ll be able to exploit them quite well and I’m very confident that I’ll have a dominant victory.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
The clowning worked, and then it didn’t.
Over time, we have become accustomed to Anderson Silva’s taunting ways. Almost all of Silva’s fights seem to follow the same pattern. He spends the first minute or so calculating time, distance…
The clowning worked, and then it didn’t.
Over time, we have become accustomed to Anderson Silva’s taunting ways. Almost all of Silva’s fights seem to follow the same pattern. He spends the first minute or so calculating time, distance and whatever else he needs to analyze, and then he goes to work. His hands drop, the jawing starts and his movement increases. Fans essentially know that at that point the fight is over. At that point Silva has decided he is going to win, and his opponents, whether they know it or not, agree with him.
Then he met Chris Weidman at UFC 162.
After getting taken down early in the fight, Silva dug deep into his bag of tricks and laid things on thicker than ever before. Silva put his back to the cage and waved Weidman in. He put his hands on his hips and waited for Weidman to wade in. He stuck his chin out and dared Weidman to try and hit him. He urged Weidman to try kicks. When the round ended, Silva patted Weidman on the side of the head and kissed him on the cheek.
Don’t think the over-the-top antics didn’t serve a purpose. Weidman was, without a doubt, the most confident opponent Silva had ever faced. Weidman had convinced himself, along with many fighters and fans, that Silva would not get into his head, that Silva would not be able to defeat him mentally with his antics. Silva had to know that, and in order to break the will of Weidman, he ramped things up to the next level.
The reasons for Silva’s behavior in the cage are twofold. First, it serves to put doubts into the mind of his opponent; second, it tends to make his opponents reckless, serving to set up Silva’s powerful and effective counter-striking game.
Some call Silva’s style disrespectful, but Silva disagrees with that talk. Speaking to GloboTv (h/t MMAFighting.com), Silva said, “If Muhammad Ali came up saying I wasn’t humble, then I’d think if I was humble or not. There was no lack of respect. I respect everybody. All the provocation, hands down…It should continue, it’s part of the show.”
Silva’s words also seem to indicate that he has no plan to change his style when he faces Weidman on December 28 in the main event of UFC 168. Then again, it’s always hard to tell what goes on in the mind of Anderson Silva. Who’s to say the former champ isn’t already playing mind games with the current champ?
A light heavyweight bout between Anthony Johnson and Mike Kyle will serve as the main event for WSOF 5, officials confirmed in a press release earlier today.
WSOF 5 will take place on Sept. 14 at the Revel in Atlantic City, N.J.—making that the s…
A light heavyweight bout between Anthony Johnson and Mike Kyle will serve as the main event for WSOF 5, officials confirmed in a press release earlier today.
WSOF 5 will take place on Sept. 14 at the Revel in Atlantic City, N.J.—making that the second trip to the Garden State for the upstart promotion.
Johnson has won his first two fights for WSOF and his last five overall. In his most recent victory, the Blackzilian team member moved up to heavyweight and won a unanimous decision victory over Andrei Arlovski at WSOF 2 in March.
The one-time welterweight won his last fight at 205 by knocking out D.J. Linderman at WSOF 1 last November.
Kyle—who also has experience fighting at heavyweight—picked up his most recent victory at CFA 11 on May 24 by knocking out Travis Wiuff in just 21 seconds.
That was a return to the win column for the AKA fighter after losing by rear-naked choke to Gegard Mousasi in his final fight for Strikeforce. Kyle is 2-2 with 1 no-contest in his last five contests.
Between the two fighters, they have over 20 knockouts in 36 career wins.
WSOF will feature a five-fight main card, with other matchups being announced in the coming weeks.
The event will again be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network, beginning at 9 p.m. ET. The prelims will stream live and free on the WSOF website WSOF.com beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Former UFC lightweight champion