Tag: BrianStann

A Journey Into the Mind of Chael Sonnen

Filed under: UFCHOUSTON — I am supposed to write something about Chael Sonnen. I know this. I keep reminding myself of it. But nothing comes.

It is not writer’s block. I am simply confused by him. This is not a shocker. Sonnen is a bright guy, but he…

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Chael SonnenHOUSTON — I am supposed to write something about Chael Sonnen. I know this. I keep reminding myself of it. But nothing comes.

It is not writer’s block. I am simply confused by him. This is not a shocker. Sonnen is a bright guy, but he says lots of things, many of which are not compatible with others. He says things that are funny, if not always 100 percent true. But mostly, he says things with feeling. And feelings are hard to quantify in words.

This is a hard fight for him, you can tell.

First, there is a lot at stake. Sonnen has blood, sweat and tears invested into this matchup, not for what it is, but what it could be. He needs another chance to fight Anderson Silva, that much is obvious. And the only way to get there is by winning at UFC 136.

Second, he likes Brian Stann. For real. He was at Stann’s first fight back in 2006. Sonnen was the ringside announcer, and Stann fought his teammate Aaron Stark. Sonnen had trained with Stark long enough to know how good he was. And Stann ran through him. That memory stuck. Stann later came out to train with Sonnen and the Team Quest guys for a while. There is a tangible friendship there. When they got approached about the fight, Sonnen reached out to Stann. Let’s do it, they both decided.

Third, he’s been away. He got put in the corner. And training for the future isn’t the same as training for a fight, he says. He believes in ring rust, he says. He’s not excited about fighting, he says.

Chael Sonnen says these things and he sounds something we haven’t heard before. He sounds vulnerable.

This is crazy, I think to myself. I have been covering MMA for several years now, and yet somehow, I had never crossed paths with Sonnen in person before this week. Like most of you, I’ve seen him evolve into a soundbyte-machine, and I came to town expecting that Chael.

He didn’t disappoint, but the trademark brashness wasn’t there.

On Thursday, I asked Sonnen how he expects to be received by the crowd. And at first he gave a political answer.

“I only ask the crowd to do two things: be present and be loud,” he said.

But then, he went on.

“When I’m a fan, I show up to boo,” he said. “I don’t show up to cheer, I show up to heckle. So what comes around, goes around, and I fully expect it.”

OK, fair enough, but what about the fight? Well, Sonnen couldn’t even bring himself to say he would beat Stann on Saturday. This from the man who called Anderson Silva a “fraud” before facing him. This from the man who said he was going to “throw [Silva] on his back and beat a hole in his face.”

Here’s what he said this time around: “Brian can beat me, and I can beat him. I like those odds, 50-50, and it doesn’t matter either way. Either way, you’ve got to move forward.”

I didn’t know what to make of it. Sure, it’s an honest answer, but isn’t a fighter supposed to believe 100 percent he is going to win? I mean, this is Chael Sonnen?

Maybe it really is Sonnen being vulnerable, and at his most candid. There is no way you can tell for sure. But there is no way you can go through what he went through — problems that resulted in a suspension from his fight career and a legal conviction in his personal life — and walk away unscathed.

Sonnen admitted as much this week, saying that he did have doubts about this whole return.

“What fun would this be if you knew the outcome?” he said. “What fun would this be if it wasn’t all on the line? That’s how I want it. I love dealing with that adversity. I love going to the ring hurt or sick or tired and trying to figure out how to win anyway. That’s just the way it goes. I saw the ride and bought the ticket anyway. So I’m on board for it. I don’t care.”

This week, the brashness was muted and the honesty was turned up. That struck me. It’s almost like he was bracing himself. Or maybe the wound is still open. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it. But Sonnen has something to prove, and his mouth can’t do it.

Less than two years ago, Sonnen said that he wanted to be “king of the mountain,” otherwise, he said, he’d move on in life. He is 15 minutes away from another crack at Anderson SIlva. He is also 15 minutes away from sliding back down the mountain. And even for someone who is known for his wit and humor, that, my friends, is a heavy situation.

 

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Chris Leben’s Biggest Problem in Last Loss? Too Much Candy

Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — As Chris Leben pointed out this week, his fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 will be his 18th UFC bout. But that doesn’t mean he’s not still a work in progress, learning as he goes.

Take, for instance, his loss to Brian…

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LAS VEGAS — As Chris Leben pointed out this week, his fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 will be his 18th UFC bout. But that doesn’t mean he’s not still a work in progress, learning as he goes.

Take, for instance, his loss to Brian Stann at UFC 125. Stann knocked him out in the first round, but Leben didn’t exactly help his own cause before the fight, he told reporters on Wednesday.

“I ate a bunch of candy, dude. I’m not lying,” said Leben, who, of course, also stressed that he didn’t want to take anything away from Stann’s victory.

“I didn’t eat sugar for like two months. Then after I made weight I went and bought gummy bears and chocolate and ice cream, and I ate that. My body hadn’t had sugar, so I was backstage puking, sh—ing and puking when I was on-deck for that fight. That’s not a lie; that’s the truth. And Brian Stann fought an amazing fight, but hindsight’s 20/20. No gummy bears for me this fight.”

That’s right: candy.

Leben, a nine-year veteran of MMA with over 30 pro fights, was undone by the highly questionable decision to feast on sweets right before fighting another human being in a cage for money.

But hey, at least now he knows not to do it again. Not that that’s a lesson many fighters have to learn the hard way, but still.

At 30 years old, there aren’t many secrets about Leben’s game. He comes forward, throws one looping bomb after another, and tries to bait every opponent into a street fight. Against Silva, the baiting process ought to be the easiest part, or at least that’s what most people are expecting.

For Leben, the fight with Silva is a chance to take on a personal hero, as well as a bit of an MMA role model.

“When I first starting fighting, I was watching Wanderlei and, in some ways, attempting to emulate some of the stuff that he did,” Leben said. “The guy’s been in dozens of legendary wars. You can’t go into 7-11 without seeing him next to the little Xyience things. He’s everywhere.”

At the same time, even with a win over the aging Silva, Leben isn’t likely to be a title contender any time soon — though UFC president Dana White did say that the winner would likely be “in the mix,” for what that’s worth.

But Leben seems to realize his own limitations, and has instead set his sights on being one of the most exciting fighters rather than winning at all costs. The belt, he said, is just a “superficial object.” Etching your name in people’s minds as a fan favorite isn’t something you can touch, but it does seem like a more attainable goal for Leben.

“There’s somebody that’s not in the UFC that’s better than me that can beat me right now,” Leben said. “I guarantee that. There’s a lot of people in this world. Where I’m at in my career, I just want to have epic fights. I want to have fights that go down in the history books. I want to put on a show. I want people to think, hey, Chris Leben’s on this card, I’m buying that pay-per-view.”

If that’s his goal, he seems to be most of the way there already. Leben has rarely been in a boring UFC fight, and the few he has had were almost universally his opponent’s doing rather than his. If things with Silva even live up to half of the hype, he should have another slugfest to add to his highlight clip very soon.

And later, when it’s over? Now that’s the type to break out the candy and celebrate. At least now he knows.

 

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MMA Top 10 Middleweights: Mark Munoz Rises

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, MiddleweightsCould Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question…

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Could Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva‘s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question.

After defeating Maia, Munoz is 6-1 since moving down to middleweight, with the only loss coming by split decision to Yushin Okami, the UFC‘s current No. 1 middleweight contender. Munoz is probably only one more win away from being the UFC’s best option to fight Silva, assuming Silva beats Okami.

Munoz would be a huge underdog to Silva, of course, but every middleweight is a huge underdog to Silva. And Munoz, a former NCAA champion wrestler, at least has the tools to threaten Silva where he’s weakest. Munoz and Silva are friends and training partners, and they might not wish to fight each other. But if both of them win their next fights, we could be heading toward a situation where fighting each other is what the UFC asks them to do.

See where I have Munoz ranked among the middleweights in MMA below.

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did middleweights are in parentheses.)

1. Anderson Silva (1): The last time Silva lost, it was by disqualification when he illegally kicked Okami in the head on the ground. Since then Silva is 14-0, with half of those wins coming by first round knockout or technical knockout.

2. Chael Sonnen (2): Sonnen still deserves to be ranked No. 2 because of his impressive win over Okami and his tough fight with Silva, but soon he’s going to start dropping because of inactivity. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for Sonnen’s problems getting an athletic commission to license him.

3. Vitor Belfort (3): Belfort’s 19-9 record really doesn’t do his career justice, as the nine losses are to a who’s who of great fighters: He’s lost to Randy Couture twice, Alistair Overeem twice and Kazushi Sakuraba, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva. Up next for Belfort is Yoshihiro Akiyama.

4. Yushin Okami (4): Although Okami does technically have a victory over Silva on his record, Silva was getting the better of Okami before he was disqualified for the illegal kick. If Okami can beat Silva in their August rematch in Rio, it would probably be the biggest upset of the year in MMA.

5. Mark Munoz (NR): Getting knocked cold by Matt Hamill might have been the best thing to ever happen to Munoz. That fight made him decide to move down from 205 pounds to 185, and he’s much more impressive at the lighter weight.

6. Demian Maia (5): The Maia-Munoz fight could have gone either way, and even in defeat Maia showed that his striking is continuing to improve. However, the fight also showed that Maia can’t just submit anyone he gets to the ground. In his first five UFC fights Maia submitted all five opponents, but in his last six fights he hasn’t submitted anyone.

7. Brian Stann (6): A matchup between Stann and Munoz would make a lot of sense as a next step for the UFC, and the winner would have a strong case for being the next No. 1 contender in the middleweight division.

8. Ronaldo Souza (7): Jacare, the Strikeforce middleweight champion, will defend his title against Luke Rockhold in September. Rockhold is 7-1, and all seven wins are by first-round stoppage, but he’s not on the same level as Jacare, who should be able to make Rockhold tap.

9. Wanderlei Silva (8): The soon-to-be 35-year-old Silva isn’t the fighter he once was, but his UFC 132 fight with Chris Leben promises to be an all-out war. And if he wins in spectacular fashion, it’s possible that the Axe Murderer could get the next shot at the middleweight belt.

10. Michael Bisping (10): With no UFC events in England this year, Bisping will not have any fights in his homeland for the first year since 2006, when he was an Ultimate Fighter contestant. Instead Bisping will coach on The Ultimate Fighter and take on Jason “Mayhem” Miller in December.

 

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MMA Top 10 Middleweights: Brian Stann Moving Up

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, MiddleweightsBrian Stann has always been a great story. What he’s showing now — in the year since he moved down to middleweight — is that he’s a great fighter.

Stann, a Naval Academy graduate who earned a Sil…

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Brian Stann has always been a great story. What he’s showing now — in the year since he moved down to middleweight — is that he’s a great fighter.

Stann, a Naval Academy graduate who earned a Silver Star for service in Iraq, was a decent fighter at light heavyweight. But we heard about him more for what he had done outside the cage than in it. But Stann has looked reborn at middleweight, going 3-0 at 185 pounds with three finishes, most recently knocking out Jorge Santiago at UFC 130.

Find out just how high Stann has moved up in the middleweight rankings below.

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did middleweights are in parentheses.)

1. Anderson Silva (1): The champion defends his belt against the last man to beat him, Yushin Okami, in August. Okami’s previous victory over Silva was by disqualification, and Silva is a heavy favorite to avenge his loss and improve his all-time best UFC record to 14-0.

2. Chael Sonnen (2): If Sonnen doesn’t get his licensing issues straightened out soon, he’ll start to drop down the rankings as a result of inactivity. But he’s still the man who gave Silva by far his toughest test in the Octagon, and the man who put a thorough beating on Okami. If he can return to the Octagon as the same fighter he was in 2010, Sonnen deserves to be considered the No. 2 middleweight in the world.

3. Yushin Okami (3): It’s not completely inconceivable that Okami could pull the upset against Silva, but anyone who saw their first bout knows that Silva was completely outclassing Okami in the stand-up department before getting disqualified for an illegal kick to the head on the ground. Okami will need to stick to Sonnen’s game plan and secure repeated takedowns in order to have any chance of beating Silva.

4. Vitor Belfort (4): Belfort is a tough middleweight to assess because he has fought so infrequently at 185 pounds, but I expect him to show against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133 that he’s still one of the hardest hitters in the sport.

5. Demian Maia (5): Maia’s upcoming UFC 131 fight with Mark Munoz should be a great opportunity for him to showcase his impressive Brazilian jiu jitsu skills. The middleweight division’s best grappler has looked a little tentative since his fight with Silva, winning a couple of easy decisions rather than going for the finish. That should change against Munoz.

6. Brian Stann (9): How high can Stann go at middleweight? It’s almost impossible to imagine him beating Silva, but then again it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone beating Silva at 185 pounds. Assuming Silva beats Okami, Stann will be the UFC’s highest-ranked middleweight who hasn’t already had a crack at the champion. Stann could be one more win away from a title shot.

7. Ronaldo Souza (7): Jacare, the Strikeforce middleweight champion, has expressed frustration at the slow pace of Strikeforce matchmaking. It would make a lot of sense to have Jacare follow the lead of Nick Diaz and enter the Octagon sooner rather than later.

8. Wanderlei Silva (8): His upcoming fight with Chris Leben at UFC 132 is a good chance for the Axe Murderer to get on his first winning streak since he beat Ricardo Arona and Kazuyuki Fujita back-to-back five years ago.

9. Jorge Santiago (6): In his return to the UFC, Santiago ran into a buzz saw in Stann, who took the fight to Santiago and never relented. I’m still optimistic that Santiago can be competitive in the UFC, but maybe not against truly elite middleweight competition.

10. Michael Bisping (10): Bisping will get a promotional push when he coaches against Jason “Mayhem” Miller on The Ultimate Fighter and then fights him in the Finale in December. Bisping has won three fights in a row, and if he makes it four, the UFC might be tempted to put him in a title fight against Anderson Silva in England in 2012.

 

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Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 130

Filed under: UFCPerhaps the best thing we can say about UFC 130 is that it’s over. It started out as the event that would finally put the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard saga to rest, and it ended up with “Rampage” Jackson in a main event bout that even he …

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Perhaps the best thing we can say about UFC 130 is that it’s over. It started out as the event that would finally put the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard saga to rest, and it ended up with “Rampage” Jackson in a main event bout that even he wasn’t terribly excited about.

But now that the dust has settled and the Octagon has been packed away one more time, let’s look back over Saturday night’s action to see whose stock soared and whose plummeted into the basement of the MGM Grand.

In the wake of UFC 130, here are your biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

Biggest Winner: Brian Stann
Sure, it makes for a great storyline to see the former Marine beat somebody up on Memorial Day weekend, but forget that for a minute. Stann took on the Sengoku middleweight champ in a fight that was supposed to be a serious test of his skills, and he practically breezed through it with the perfect mix of poise and aggression. He didn’t lose his cool when he had Santiago hurt early. He didn’t lay back too much and let good opportunities slip by. He did exactly what he needed to do, and he got perhaps the biggest win of his career. He also pocketed a Fight of the Night bonus, which is a nice way of reminding everyone that you were one of the few bright spots on an otherwise forgettable fight card. Plus, $70,000 buys a lot of hot dogs and apple pie.

Biggest Loser: Roy Nelson
There’s no questioning his toughness or his ability to take a shot. But his cardio? That’s a different story. You never want to end a round by immediately doubling over and putting your hands on your knees like an out-of-shape businessman who was forced to take the stairs for the first time in ten years. Let’s just say it sends the wrong message. Nelson got overpowered and outworked by Frank Mir, but the worst part is that by the end he just seemed grateful to get out of there and go home. We’ve seen him go the distance before without looking like he needed to have a defibrillator handy in his corner, so I’m not sure what accounts for this poor showing. Whatever it is, he’d better figure it out quick. The UFC seems less inclined to give Nelson the benefit of the doubt that it has extended to others.

Least Compelling Case for a Title Shot: “Rampage” Jackson
The hard part about fighting a guy who the current champ already demolished is that it provides an unavoidable counter-example that your performance will be measured against. Everyone will recall that Jon Jones straight-up assaulted Hamill, while Jackson carried him the distance. Not that the fight was close, mind you. Jackson stuffed all Hamill’s takedowns and put some leather on his face whenever he felt like it. Trouble is, he didn’t feel like it quite enough down the stretch. He’d explode with a combo, wait to see if Hamill was still standing, then catch his breath before trying it again. It’s a competent showing, sure, but not the kind that screams out for a shot at the belt. Jackson is undoubtedly one of the best light heavyweights around, but that means people are going to expect more out of him than what he showed on Saturday night. Whether he has any interest in giving it to them remains to be seen.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Miguel Torres
If nothing else, Torres proved once and for all that you just can’t win a decision off your back in MMA. If it was at all possible, he would have done it on Saturday night with his many, varied attempts at a finish against an opponent who was content to hold on and maintain top position. You could argue that a takedown is an effective way of controlling the fight and dictating the action, so Demetrious Johnson won it fair and square – and you’d probably be right. At the same time, it was Torres doing most of the work to actually end the fight and/or make something interesting happen. It didn’t get him the victory, but it does get him a tip of the cap, for whatever that’s worth.

Least Impressive in Victory: Frank Mir
We know “Big Country” is tough to put away. The Junior dos Santos fight proved that much. But it never looks good when you have an opponent who is almost too exhausted to stand and you let him hang around for the full three rounds with his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth. At times it seems like Mir takes an unfair amount of criticism, particularly from Dana White. But then you stop and ask yourself, even after two straight wins over two name heavyweights, would I really want to see Mir anywhere near a title fight? Not unless he bought a ticket.

Most Surprising: Rick Story
With a decision win over Thiago Alves in the UFC, Story joins a very exclusive club with some strict membership requirements. He did it with a game plan that played brilliantly to his own strengths while taking Alves’ mostly out of the equation, and he also proved that he can take a punch (or a knee) and keep right on coming. Alves is by far the best fighter Story has ever beaten, and he did it in a fight that really wasn’t even close on the scorecards. That’s six in a row for the young welterweight. He keeps this up, and things will get serious in his career very quickly.

Most Memorable: Travis Browne‘s KO
Whenever the 6’11” Struve gets knocked out it always makes for instant highlight reel material. Like a building being imploded, his collapse to the mat looks so awkward and takes so long that it makes a lasting impression on everyone who sees it. That’s bad news for Struve, but great news for Browne, who put himself on the map with a perfectly timed Superman punch. Even if he never does anything else with his MMA career, that knockout will live on in highlight packages for years. It should also instantly erase the bitter memory of Browne’s unimpressive draw with Cheick Kongo at UFC 120. Nothing like a crushing knockout to resurrect your reputation. Now let’s see what he can do with it.

Least Likely to Remain Employed: Kendall Grove
The decision loss to Boetsch marked his third defeat in four attempts. What’s worse, he was never really in the fight. It was takedown, top control, scramble to the feet, then rinse and repeat all night long. By the third round, everyone knew what Boetsch was going to do, yet Grove couldn’t even come close to stopping it. It made for a pretty boring fight, which didn’t do Boetsch any favors, but the only thing worse than winning a fight in that fashion is losing one the same way. Grove is now 7-6 in his UFC career. Most of the fighters he beat recently were later cut from the UFC, which tells you something. He’s been hovering over the chopping block for a while now. My guess is the ax is about to come down.

 

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Rampage Jackson Satisfied, Despite Not Finishing Matt Hamill

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LAS VEGAS – Matt Hamill said he planned on breaking the will of Rampage Jackson in their main event at UFC 130 on Saturday. But when Hamill took a knee after the final horn, Jackson had turned the table.

Jackson warded off all of Hamill’s takedown attempts – despite coming into the fight with a fractured hand, he revealed at the post-fight press conference – and cruised to a unanimous decision victory. The win is likely to put Jackson in line as the top contender for Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title later this fall, provided his hand heals on pace.

But the boo birds were out several times during the night, including most notably the main and co-main events. With just three finishes going into the co-main and main, the fans appeared to want some excitement – and many seemed certain they didn’t get it in the last two bouts.After the fight, Jackson said he was disappointed he wasn’t able to score a knockout, which the fans seemed to want even more than he, but said he wasn’t about to blame it on his hand injury – which he said came from a drunken mishap with a friend in Japan.

“I was OK with my performance, (but) I wanted to do a little more,” Jackson said. “I knew I could stay on my feet. He had a great game plan, and I could tell he was setting me up to take me down. He had some great low leg kicks, and it made me not do what I wanted to do. I’m a little bit disappointed. I wanted a knockout. Matt’s never been knocked out before, and I took it as a personal challenge.”


Jackson said he fractured his hand last December in Japan, “drunken fooling around fighting my friend in the hallway.” And during training, he said he aggravated the injury. But he said even without the fracture, he doesn’t believe he would have been able to knock Hamill out.

“That guy’s got a hard head,” Jackson said. “I think Matt’s got a long future in this sport. I take nothing away from Matt – fractured hand or not, I still wouldn’t have knocked him out tonight. I think I needed a hammer. That guy can take a punch. I hit him with everything but the toilet.”

Hamill, who saw his five-fight winning streak snapped, said he thought he would be able to use his wrestling to take Jackson down. Hamill was a three-time Division III national champion wrestler.

“I was very surprised,” Hamill said. “My takedowns could have been better, but it was a good fight. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow. I wasn’t really happy with my performance. I’ll go back and try to learn from my mistakes. I gave 100 percent, and did all I could. But Rampage is a pretty good fighter.”
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In the co-main, heavyweights Frank Mir and Roy Nelson put on an exciting first round before Nelson gassed in the second, with Mir not far behind. Mir dominated his fellow Las Vegas resident en route to a unanimous decision. And though he landed quite a few big shots, including knees to Nelson’s head, the fight often stalled out, eliciting stronger boos from the crowd as it went deeper.

The Jackson-Hamill fight also heard a few boos, especially as Hamill’s takedown attempts appeared to get slower and his striking attempts as he tired late in the fight were light.

But UFC president Dana White said after the post-fight press conference he didn’t have any problems with the card in general – though he maintained he continues to be unhappy with Mir’s performances.

“Was I thrilled with the main event and co-main? No,” White said. “But everything can’t be a knockout or submission. I think considering the time off Rampage has had, he looked good. He dominated, he gassed – but that’s all part of staying active and busy. I think people’s expectations are unreasonable sometimes. Guys will be fighting a great fight and you’ll hear people booing – it’s like they expect guys to get in a football stance and run across at each other. There’s skill, technique, game plans – there’s a lot of things involved.”

If White was disappointed in the two main fights, his spirits were likely lifted by the performance by Brian Stann in the pay-per-view’s opening bout. Stann delivered a TKO against Top 10 middleweight Jorge Santiago, getting the night’s loudest ovation on an emotional Memorial Day weekend for the military hero, a Silver Star winner.

“He’s on his way to becoming a superstar,” White said of Stann. “Chuck (Liddell) said, ‘When (Stann) fought in the WEC, I never thought he’d get to this level.’ But not only are his skills getting better, everything that comes out of his mouth is a home run. This guy’s going to be a superstar.”

UFC 130 was not without injuries, some of them perhaps significant in the scheme of future matchups – most importantly, Jackson’s fractured hand. Stann was at the post-fight press conference with a broken right thumb. White said Mir went to the hospital with a fractured jaw and rib, though Mir’s wife said on Twitter early Sunday morning Mir’s jaw was not broken but had complained about his bite after the fight. And Stefan Struve, Santiago, Michael McDonald and Rafaello Oliveira hospital all went to the hospital after their fights.

UFC 130 had a reported attendance of 12,816 fans for a $2.57 million gate. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend card, also at the MGM Grand, drew 14,996 fans with a $3.895 million gate and more than 1 million pay-per-view buys. That main event featured a grudge match between Jackson and Rashad Evans. The original main event of UFC 130 was to be a trilogy lightweight title rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, who fought to a draw at UFC 125. But both fighters were injured in training earlier this month and the fight was scratched.

 

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LAS VEGAS – Matt Hamill said he planned on breaking the will of Rampage Jackson in their main event at UFC 130 on Saturday. But when Hamill took a knee after the final horn, Jackson had turned the table.

Jackson warded off all of Hamill’s takedown attempts – despite coming into the fight with a fractured hand, he revealed at the post-fight press conference – and cruised to a unanimous decision victory. The win is likely to put Jackson in line as the top contender for Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title later this fall, provided his hand heals on pace.

But the boo birds were out several times during the night, including most notably the main and co-main events. With just three finishes going into the co-main and main, the fans appeared to want some excitement – and many seemed certain they didn’t get it in the last two bouts.After the fight, Jackson said he was disappointed he wasn’t able to score a knockout, which the fans seemed to want even more than he, but said he wasn’t about to blame it on his hand injury – which he said came from a drunken mishap with a friend in Japan.

“I was OK with my performance, (but) I wanted to do a little more,” Jackson said. “I knew I could stay on my feet. He had a great game plan, and I could tell he was setting me up to take me down. He had some great low leg kicks, and it made me not do what I wanted to do. I’m a little bit disappointed. I wanted a knockout. Matt’s never been knocked out before, and I took it as a personal challenge.”


Jackson said he fractured his hand last December in Japan, “drunken fooling around fighting my friend in the hallway.” And during training, he said he aggravated the injury. But he said even without the fracture, he doesn’t believe he would have been able to knock Hamill out.

“That guy’s got a hard head,” Jackson said. “I think Matt’s got a long future in this sport. I take nothing away from Matt – fractured hand or not, I still wouldn’t have knocked him out tonight. I think I needed a hammer. That guy can take a punch. I hit him with everything but the toilet.”

Hamill, who saw his five-fight winning streak snapped, said he thought he would be able to use his wrestling to take Jackson down. Hamill was a three-time Division III national champion wrestler.

“I was very surprised,” Hamill said. “My takedowns could have been better, but it was a good fight. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow. I wasn’t really happy with my performance. I’ll go back and try to learn from my mistakes. I gave 100 percent, and did all I could. But Rampage is a pretty good fighter.”
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In the co-main, heavyweights Frank Mir and Roy Nelson put on an exciting first round before Nelson gassed in the second, with Mir not far behind. Mir dominated his fellow Las Vegas resident en route to a unanimous decision. And though he landed quite a few big shots, including knees to Nelson’s head, the fight often stalled out, eliciting stronger boos from the crowd as it went deeper.

The Jackson-Hamill fight also heard a few boos, especially as Hamill’s takedown attempts appeared to get slower and his striking attempts as he tired late in the fight were light.

But UFC president Dana White said after the post-fight press conference he didn’t have any problems with the card in general – though he maintained he continues to be unhappy with Mir’s performances.

“Was I thrilled with the main event and co-main? No,” White said. “But everything can’t be a knockout or submission. I think considering the time off Rampage has had, he looked good. He dominated, he gassed – but that’s all part of staying active and busy. I think people’s expectations are unreasonable sometimes. Guys will be fighting a great fight and you’ll hear people booing – it’s like they expect guys to get in a football stance and run across at each other. There’s skill, technique, game plans – there’s a lot of things involved.”

If White was disappointed in the two main fights, his spirits were likely lifted by the performance by Brian Stann in the pay-per-view’s opening bout. Stann delivered a TKO against Top 10 middleweight Jorge Santiago, getting the night’s loudest ovation on an emotional Memorial Day weekend for the military hero, a Silver Star winner.

“He’s on his way to becoming a superstar,” White said of Stann. “Chuck (Liddell) said, ‘When (Stann) fought in the WEC, I never thought he’d get to this level.’ But not only are his skills getting better, everything that comes out of his mouth is a home run. This guy’s going to be a superstar.”

UFC 130 was not without injuries, some of them perhaps significant in the scheme of future matchups – most importantly, Jackson’s fractured hand. Stann was at the post-fight press conference with a broken right thumb. White said Mir went to the hospital with a fractured jaw and rib, though Mir’s wife said on Twitter early Sunday morning Mir’s jaw was not broken but had complained about his bite after the fight. And Stefan Struve, Santiago, Michael McDonald and Rafaello Oliveira hospital all went to the hospital after their fights.

UFC 130 had a reported attendance of 12,816 fans for a $2.57 million gate. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend card, also at the MGM Grand, drew 14,996 fans with a $3.895 million gate and more than 1 million pay-per-view buys. That main event featured a grudge match between Jackson and Rashad Evans. The original main event of UFC 130 was to be a trilogy lightweight title rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, who fought to a draw at UFC 125. But both fighters were injured in training earlier this month and the fight was scratched.

 

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