Roger Gracie is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, but even he would have his work cut out for him against Chris Weidman.As a 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Gracie’s…
Roger Gracie is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, but even he would have his work cut out for him against Chris Weidman.
As a 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Gracie’s opinion is highly respected and valued in the MMA community, which is why his most recent comments regarding Weidman managed to steal headlines Sunday.
During an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com, he was asked to give a prediction on the upcoming UFC middleweight title bout between Weidman and Anderson Silva. Despite siding with the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Gracie was admittedly blown away by Weidman‘s grappling skills:
I think [Weidman] is very, very dangerous. His grappling is at a very high level. He can submit any world-class grappler. I think he’s really that good. He can tap anyone, even me. It’s just a matter of if he can put Anderson in those situations. I would still put my money on Anderson but I think Chris Weidman is dangerous and can surprise him.
Skeptics are bountiful leading up to the championship showdown at UFC 162.
Fans have generally been reluctant to seek greener pastures on the Weidman bandwagon; however, this doesn’t appear to be the case with most pros. World-class fighters like Gracie have continuously come forward and delivered gushing diatribes regarding Weidman‘s astonishing skills.
During a media scrum for UFC 161, UFC President Dana White revealed that every pro fighter he has spoken to believes Weidman will be the man to finally dethrone Silva.
Are they all wrong?
Silva has achieved every accolade possible in his UFC career and will likely go down as the greatest fighter in MMA history. Meanwhile, Weidman is still a fresh face in the sport.
There is something to be said about such a young fighter generating this much hype from his peers. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, we can all pretty much agree on one thing.
If there’s one thing mixed martial arts fans, fighters and pundits can agree on, it’s the fact that the refereeing and judging in the sport needs a lot of work. The latest talking point on the subject of refereeing has been the J…
If there’s one thing mixed martial arts fans, fighters and pundits can agree on, it’s the fact that the refereeing and judging in the sport needs a lot of work.
The latest talking point on the subject of refereeing has been the June 14 World Series of Fighting bout between Jon Fitch and Josh Burkman. The bout was refereed by one of the MMA communities “favorite” referees, Steve Mazzagatti.
In case you have not seen the fight, here’s what happened: Burkman dropped Fitch with a right hook and followed Fitch to the mat. Once on the ground, Burkman saw an opportunity for a guillotine choke. Burkman clamped on the choke, dropped to his back and cranked the hold. During this time, Mazzagatti was out of position, on the wrong side of the choke. Burkman, feeling Fitch go limp, rolled Fitch over, released the hold and got to his feet. At that point, Mazzagatti came in and waved off the fight.
I mean, he literally did nothing. Literally when (Fitch) goes limp, he goes limp, he’s out and then (Burkman) rolls him f—king over, lets his head f—king flop to the thing and then stands up over him. He’s literally like this, standing up over him before Mazzagatti even f—king gets in the picture.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission is going to keep this f—king guy around until he seriously hurt somebody. That guy is dangerous. He’s dangerous. It’s disgusting. At what point do you realize that this guy is an incompetent fool and he’s going to hurt somebody.
If you watch the action, it’s hard to argue with what White said. However, there is at least one man who feels that White is wrong with his assessment of the situation. That man is one of the most respected referees in the history of mixed martial arts: John McCarthy.
McCarthy appeared on a recent edition of “Inside MMA” and offered the following: “If you watch the tape, Burkman puts him out, he’s out for one second at most when he is releasing that choke and Burkman is being a sportsman.”
McCarthy continued saying that since Burkman released the choke so quickly after Fitch had gone out, “The safety of the fighter really wasn’t in jeopardy.”
Does McCarthy make a valid point? Maybe, but that point is only supported by the fact that Burkman released the hold. What if Burkman would have waited for Mazzagatti to step in? What if Burkman had not been a “sportsman” and kept the hold fully applied until the out-of-position Mazzagatti finally realized that Fitch was out cold and that the blood flow to his brain was compromised?
The fact is the only reason Fitch’s safety was not in jeopardy was due to Burkman letting the hold go. McCarthy is one of the greatest refs in the business, but in this case, I have to disagree with him, Mazzagatti did put Fitch in danger.
Tyrone Spong wants to be the best ever. He proved on Saturday night that he is among the elite in all of combat sports. By defeating the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4-ranked Glory light heavyweights in the same night, he won the Glory 9 Light Heavyweigh…
Tyrone Spongwants to be the best ever. He proved on Saturday night that he is among the elite in all of combat sports. By defeating the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4-ranked Glory light heavyweights in the same night, he won the Glory 9 Light Heavyweight Slam and earned $200,000 in the process.
Everyone in attendance at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City witnessed Spong make kickboxing history, even if a couple of his chapters ended quickly. A semifinal unanimous-decision victory was bookended by two first-round knockouts that totaled 47 seconds.
The “King of the Ring” improved to 89-5-0 with 59 career knockouts. However, Spong’s night was almost over before it began. In the opening seconds of his first fight, Michael Duut caught the veteran kickboxer off guard with a right cross, dropping him immediately.
The punch must have angered him. After getting up and regaining his wits, he finished off the Dutchman with a wicked right hand, ending Duut’s night just 31 seconds into the first round and bringing the Manhattan crowd to its feet.
“I was pissed off,” Spong admitted to Bleacher Report after the fight’s conclusion. “I wasn’t hurt bad, it was more of a slip, but he caught me with a good shot, no doubt about it. I was still sleeping a little bit in the first round. He gave me a wake-up call.”
The Blackzilians team member faced his toughest challenge in the semifinal round against Filip Verlinden. Spong had the advantage of ending his first fight in less than a minute, while the Belgian fighter had to earn a hard-fought majority-decision win over Steve McKinnon.
The 27-year-old Spong showed his ring smarts and patience in this fight. Verlinden was a game opponent and fought valiantly, but Spong controlled the action. He was never in significant danger, landed more effective strikes and won by 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards for a unanimous-decision win.
Spong complimented Verlinden. “He’s a smart fighter, very intelligent. He saw in the first fight that it was dangerous to stand or to try to trade with me. He did a good job. I had to fight smart too and technical to get the W, so I did.”
In the opposing bracket, DanyoIlunga—a protégé of Remy Bonjasky—defeated Tunisian standout MouradBouzidi by majority decision in his quarterfinal matchup. The four-time world champion from Germany punched his ticket to the finals by winning a unanimous decision over Road to Glory USA tournament winner Dustin Jacoby in the semifinals.
Spong knocked out Bonjasky at Glory 5 in London in March, so the student Ilunga could have been looking for revenge in this tournament final, but the “King of the Ring” put a quick stop to that story, winning by TKO in just 16 seconds.
The ending didn’t come without controversy, as many in attendance thought referee MinitelIzoGaudi had prematurely stopped the contest. Spong connected with a big right hand that wobbled Ilunga. When he followed up with two left hooks and a left to the body, the referee jumped in to intervene, waving off the contest.
“I think it was a smart stoppage,” Spong stated. “The referee is here to protect the fighters.”
Bleacher Report spoke with some of the Glory officials after the controversial stoppage and learned that there is no “standing eight count” in their promotion. Therefore, the referee could only step in to stop the fight—he couldn’t start a count on Ilunga as if it were a knockdown.
He must have seen something in Ilunga’s body language to make him halt the bout to prevent the fighter from taking further damage.
The fans most likely didn‘t know about the rule, as they booed and complained about the early stoppage, leaving the only blemish on an otherwise solid night of fights. Spong was empathetic toward the crowd’s reaction:
“I can understand that the fans want to see more, but I could’ve knocked him out badly and caused some serious damage. I think it was a fair stoppage. If he didn’t stop it he was going to get knocked out.”
Winning the tournament on the first night he has ever fought in America—let alone New York City—meant a lot to Spong.
“I’m real happy. It’s a childhood dream coming true. I’m a big boxing fan, all the big fights happen here in New York. For this small guy who grew up in Amsterdam and who was born in Suriname, I’m just real happy to be able to be part of this first event here and win in an impressive way. And just make a statement, and promote the sport here in America. I hope it continues to go like this and get even bigger.”
While Spong may have won the light heavyweight slam, he is the No. 4 heavyweight in Glory. What weight class will he contend at next?
“I’ll fight money weight,” Spong stated, perhaps coining a new weight class all to his own. “I’ll fight every weight, light heavyweight, heavyweight, super heavyweight, I don’t care.”
The Dutch-Surinamese fighter’s next bout will be in MMA at World Series of Fighting 4 in August. His goal on Saturday was to win three fights. He revealed that his next goal is to fight in three different combat sports.
“After the MMA fight, we are going for a boxing fight.”
Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto is set to return from a 16-month hiatus, which will be extended to 19 months by the time the Japanese bantamweight meets Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165 on Sept. 21.The matchup was originally reported by Nancy Audet of TVA Sports and l…
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto is set to return from a 16-month hiatus, which will be extended to 19 months by the time the Japanese bantamweight meets Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165 on Sept. 21.
Despite losing five of his past six bouts and going winless inside the Octagon, Yamamoto will be meeting a top-10 bantamweight in Menjivar. With losses to Urijah Faber and Mike Easton in his past three appearances, Menjivar is currently hanging onto the No. 10 spot in the official UFC bantamweight rankings, but he’s much closer to the top of the division than Yamamoto.
At 36 years old, Yamamoto is declining, but he still has the knockout power to worry many potential 135-pound opponents. In his most recent outing, Yamamoto rocked Vaughan Lee before getting caught in a submission.
In most cases, a fighter who suffered four straight losses after being signed to the UFC roster would have no chance of being retained by the promotion. However, in this situation, it would appear Yamamoto is safe in the short term.
Had the UFC been looking to part ways with Yamamoto, it easily could have done so following his loss to Lee, but it instead gave him a step up in competition. For that reason, Yamamoto should have at least a couple of more UFC appearances in him unless he is looking at this bout as one last chance to win a big fight before retiring.
Headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, UFC 165 will be held at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. A bout between TUFalumni Ramsey Nijem and Mike Ricci has also been announced for the fight card.
Sean Smith is a Featured MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has also had work promoted on UFC.com and TheMMACorner.com. Follow on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, Urijah Faber always seems to take things in stride. The fighter known as “The California Kid” has always been one of the more positive figures in mixed martial arts. That attitude has earned …
From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, Urijah Faber always seems to take things in stride. The fighter known as “The California Kid” has always been one of the more positive figures in mixed martial arts. That attitude has earned him a large fanbase, as well as respect from his employers with the UFC.
That’s not to say that everyone is a fan of the former WEC featherweight champion. Despite his ever-present smile and upbeat personality, Faber has gained his fair share of detractors. Chief among that group is the current UFC bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz.
Cruz and Faber have had their issues dating back to the WEC days, and those issues have followed them to the UFC. Faber recently discussed the beef between the two, saying he’s “just chillin”, while Cruz “has a chip on his shoulder” when it comes to Faber.
Other topics that Faber discussed when he recently spoke to Fight! Magazine were his upcoming bout with Yuri Alcantara, creating stars in the bantamweight division, and perhaps, most interesting of all was the upcoming MMA combine that Faber will be associated with.
Faber will host the first MMA combine very soon. That event will take place at the UFC Fan Expo on July 6 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Assisting Faber during the combine, which will be run much like the draft combine in other sports, will be various UFC fighters, including Phil Davis and some of Faber’s teammates from Team Alpha Male.
Check out the video to get caught up with the goings on in the world of Faber.
Following his second consecutive NBA championship, the UFC has invited NBA Finals MVP LeBron James to watch Anderson Silva defend his middleweight strap at UFC 162.
Congrats @miamiheat! How about your champ @kingjames come and watch our champ @Sp…
Following his second consecutive NBA championship, the UFC has invited NBA Finals MVP LeBron James to watch Anderson Silva defend his middleweight strap at UFC 162.
Prior to his second title reign, James’ name was a hot topic among all sports fans after three-time UFC title challenger ChaelSonnen called out the basketball superstar in an interview with Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter.
“The American Gangster” really raised some eyebrows when he was asked how a potential fight with James inside the cage would go down:
“He’d run away faster than his hairline. His hair went North, his talents went South and his mother went West … No challenge. It’s happening. Next time I see him, he will shake that little boy’s hand, even if I have to break his arm off and take it to the boy.”
Sonnen is referring to a rumor that James’ former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Delonte West slept with his mother, Gloria James, during the 2010 playoffs, a rumor that West later denied (via Global Grind).
In the same interview, Sonnen also alleges that James snubbed a handicapped fan the opportunity for a photo when he was approached in the crowd at UFC 148.
Right after the fight, James tweeted “Congrats from one Champ to another!” and posted some photos of the two meeting backstage, including this one:
Silva was, of course, one of Sonnen‘s biggest rivals since 2010, though after his second loss to the dominant middleweight titleholder, “Uncle Chael” let the feud die.
James has not responded to any of Sonnen‘s remarks, though that is unlikely to deter whatever the Team Quest standout wants to say next.
UFC 162 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 6, headlined by Silva defending his belt against undefeated prospect Chris Weidman.
JohnHeinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.
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