“I’m on my own chopping block. If I lose to him, I’m quitting! I don’t even deserve to be in there! There’s not an easy fight. In the UFC, there’s no easy fight. He doesn’t deserve to be in there with me, and I’ll prove it. I’ll prove it in under a round, because, we see…I tend to get tired in the second round. [laughs] We’re both in a similar spot in our career I guess. We’re both on the chopping block. That’s fine. I’m really happy with that.”
“I’m on my own chopping block. If I lose to him, I’m quitting! I don’t even deserve to be in there! There’s not an easy fight. In the UFC, there’s no easy fight. He doesn’t deserve to be in there with me, and I’ll prove it. I’ll prove it in under a round, because, we see…I tend to get tired in the second round. [laughs] We’re both in a similar spot in our career I guess. We’re both on the chopping block. That’s fine. I’m really happy with that.”
As we’ve seen recently in MMA, threats of retirement aren’t always written in stone (see: Pellegrino, Gonzaga), and sometimes it’s just a matter of being super-pissed-off at the time. The only guarantee is that if Mayhem gets his ass kicked at UFC 146, he’s going to get fired from the UFC, and at that point, he may as well be retired.
CB Dollaway has been knocked out in his last two fights by Mark Munoz and Jared Hamman, and carries an overall UFC record of 5-4; another bad loss would likely cost him his contract. But despite CB’s rough patch, is it fair for Mayhem to say that “he doesn’t deserve to be in there with me,” in light of the notoriously terrible performance that Miller turned in against Michael Bisping at the TUF 14 Finale? “Pride goeth before the fall,” homey.
LowKick.com photographer Scott Hirano was at Mark Munoz’s REIGN Training Center in Orange County, California, to deliver the following photo-report of Mayhem Miller’s preparations for Dollaway. Please make sure to follow Scott on Twitter @ScottHirano. Mayhem Monkeys can follow their leader @MayhemMiller.
LowKick.com photographer Scott Hirano was at Mark Munoz’s REIGN Training Center in Orange County, California, to deliver the following photo-report of Mayhem Miller’s preparations for Dollaway. Please make sure to follow Scott on Twitter @ScottHirano. Mayhem Monkeys can follow their leader @MayhemMiller.
Following his embarrassing loss to Michael Bisping at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, no one was sure what would become of Jason “Mayhem” Miller. There was speculation that his performance during his first appearance with the promotion since 2005, when he dropped a lopsided decision to Georges St. Pierre, was poor enough to get him fired. Immediately after the event, Dana White was hesitant to comment on Mayhem’s future with the UFC.
However, it appears that Dana has decided to give Mayhem Miller one more chance. Last night, the UFC confirmed that the charismatic middleweight has been booked to fight against C.B. Dollaway at UFC 146, which takes place on May 26 in Las Vegas.
We didn’t have C.B. Dollaway in mind when we wrote that Mayhem deserved a fight against a middleweight gatekeeper, but “The Doberman” certainly fits the description. After losing to Amir Sadollah during The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, Dollaway has gone 5-3 in the UFC. He is currently riding a two fight losing streak after being knocked out by Mark Munoz and Jared Hamman.
Following his embarrassing loss to Michael Bisping at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, no one was sure what would become of Jason “Mayhem” Miller. There was speculation that his performance during his first appearance with the promotion since 2005, when he dropped a lopsided decision to Georges St. Pierre, was poor enough to get him fired. Immediately after the event, Dana White was hesitant to comment on Mayhem’s future with the UFC.
However, it appears that Dana has decided to give Mayhem Miller one more chance. Last night, the UFC confirmed that the charismatic middleweight has been booked to fight against C.B. Dollaway at UFC 146, which takes place on May 26 in Las Vegas.
We didn’t have C.B. Dollaway in mind when we wrote that Mayhem deserved a fight against a middleweight gatekeeper, but “The Doberman” certainly fits the description. After losing to Amir Sadollah during The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, Dollaway has gone 5-3 in the UFC. He is currently riding a two fight losing streak after being knocked out by Mark Munoz and Jared Hamman.
Unless this fight wins Fight of the Night (don’t count on it), this one is a pretty clear “loser leaves town” matchup. Dollaway will have reached his third straight loss with the UFC, while a loss for Mayhem will all but officially make him a bust signing for the UFC. And frankly, the next fight for the winner of this fight will more than likely also be win or go home- especially if the winner is Mayhem.
Currently, this fight is the only fight that has been officially announced by the UFC for UFC 146. It is expected that this event will be headlined by a Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. We’ll keep you posted as more information is made available.
MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.
UFC on Versus 5 is the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin and takes place at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
The preliminary card features eight fights, including a middleweight bout between C.B. Dollaway and Jared Hamman and a bantamweight contest between former WEC champion Eddie Wineland and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez.
No glove touch, but we start anyway. Figueroa takes the center and Reinhardt circles to the right on the outside, then back left. Reinhardt is on his horse, not engaging, and grinning at Figueroa, now talking to him and clapping at him. The crowd is booing wildly. Figueroa finally catches him to throw a partially blocked kick. This has Kalib Starnes written all over it. Figueroa lands a right and drops Reinhardt, then locks in a standing guillotine. Reinhardt is trying to power out of it, and he eventually gets a little slam out of it and winds up on top. He transitions to Figueroa’s back and starts to work for a rear naked choke with a body triangle locked on. Figueroa gets out, though, and lands a shot from up top. They stand up, and when Figueroa engages, Reinhardt immediately drops to his back. They stand up again, and Reinhardt lands a decent right of his own. Back on the feet, Figueroa again lands a couple good shots and gets Reinhardt back on the ground, where he proceeds to land some pretty stiff shots from standing. Reinhardt does a somersault and rolls over. He has basically given up and is just laying there as the ref looks at him when the horn sounds. It’s a 10-8 round for Figueroa on our card thanks to Reinhardt’s running.
Round 2: We’re going to do a second round of this thing, and this time they touch gloves. Reinhardt again is on his horse, then shoots when Figueroa engages. There’s a scramble, and Figueroa ends up on top in full mount. Reinhardt rolls over and covers up and he’s not long for this fight. Pretty quickly, the ref steps in and it’s done. So, too, likely, is Reinhardt’s UFC career after the running in the first round.
Round 1: The legendary Mario Yamasaki gets things going. No glove touch. Volkmann shoots in early and they have a scramble in the clinch, but not much comes from it. They break apart and dance. Decent body kick from Castillo, who shortly thereafter misses a nice high kick. Then he lands an outside leg kick, followed by one on the inside. Volkmann shoots again and gets a soft takedown and looks to pass from half guard. He ties up Castillo’s right arm, then works for a side choke. But trying to hold on to that position costs him, as Castillo works his way out and gets top position. Volkmann settles back into guard, then nicely wall walks back to his feet as they clinch up. They separate around 1:50 and move back to the middle. After trading rights, Castillo lands one of the loudest body kicks in recorded history (we think) to Volkmann’s left ribcage. But Volkmann survives it and the two wind up in a scramble on the ground. It’s a tough first round to score, with each guy looking pretty effective. But MMA Fighting will give it, highly unofficially, to Castillo 10-9.
Round 2: After a few seconds of dancing, we clinch up along the fence. A few traded shots lead to Volkmann on his butt looking for a choke, and Castillo trying to work ground and pound. Yamasaki warns Castillo for holding Volkmann’s shorts and says he’ll take a point if he does it again. Volkmann wall walks back up, and then Castillo is warned for grabbing the fence, though it looked mild. A weird scramble leads to Volkmann on his back briefly, then on his knees, and he wrestles Castillo to his back and is in half guard. Then work for position, and Volkmann briefly has a choke that he can’t lock up as Castillo tries to reverse position. He works for it again, and it’s an arm-in modified guillotine. But Castillo will survive the round. Round 2 goes to Volkmann on our card, 10-9.
Round 3: Castillo lands a nice right hand 10 seconds in. Forty seconds later, the next action is a nice inside leg kick from him. They hit the ground briefly, but Volkmann has the edge there before Castillo scrambles quickly out and back to his feet. The crowd cheers the cat-and-mouse game. A short exchange in the middle leads to Volkmann again taking top position on the ground, controlling Castillo’s head and neck from half guard. He looks for some short elbows, but mainly this is a control game with Castillo’s right arm locked up. Volkmann isn’t doing much with the position, and it doesn’t look like it’s a choke he can lock down from where he’s at. Castillo wiggles out, but Volkmann gets to side control and looks for more elbows and again traps an arm and controls Castillo’s head. Castillo throws right knees from the ground, but that’s all he can do. The crowd is booing what it deems a stalling game by Volkmann. Castillo rolls over, and Volkmann works for his back. But nothing will happen. It’s a 10-9 third for Volkmann, and MMA Fighting scores the fight for him 29-28. No doubt some judges will have it 30-27 for him.
Result: Jacob Volkmann def. Danny Castillo, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1: They touch gloves, surprising given yesterday’s heated moment at the weigh-ins. These guys are both tall. Not Stefan Struve tall, but tall. We dance for 30 seconds, looking for position. Both throw a few kicks and rights that miss. Miller blocks a high kick and pushes forward, but O’Brien just misses a big uppercut right that has the crowd making one giant “Ooooooh!” sound. O’Brien lands a nice body shot that has Miller thinking that wasn’t very nice. And O’Brien then comes forward with a nice combination. He blocks some of Miller’s combos a short time later, then checks an outside leg kick. With 90 seconds left, Miller lands a big right, then just misses another but follows it with an outside leg kick. He lands a pair of stiff left jabs, then a third. O’Brien blocks a high Miller kick, then comes forward with a body shot. It’s a pretty close first round, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller – though it could go either way.
Round 2: We trade leg kicks and look for openings to start the first minute of Round 2. Miller then backpedals to re-set. O’Brien comes forward and has Miller backing up just for a second, but Miller drops him with a left and starts to work kicks from up top while O’Brien lays on his back. But a really nice scramble by O’Brien has him to his feet – but just for a second. Miller dives back in and cranks on a guillotine, and he’s got it good. Though O’Brien is trying to get out, he can’t and he has to tap.
Result: Cole Miller def. T.J. O’Brien, submission (guillotine), 2:38 Round 2
MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.
UFC on Versus 5 is the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin and takes place at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
The preliminary card features eight fights, including a middleweight bout between C.B. Dollaway and Jared Hamman and a bantamweight contest between former WEC champion Eddie Wineland and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez.
No glove touch, but we start anyway. Figueroa takes the center and Reinhardt circles to the right on the outside, then back left. Reinhardt is on his horse, not engaging, and grinning at Figueroa, now talking to him and clapping at him. The crowd is booing wildly. Figueroa finally catches him to throw a partially blocked kick. This has Kalib Starnes written all over it. Figueroa lands a right and drops Reinhardt, then locks in a standing guillotine. Reinhardt is trying to power out of it, and he eventually gets a little slam out of it and winds up on top. He transitions to Figueroa’s back and starts to work for a rear naked choke with a body triangle locked on. Figueroa gets out, though, and lands a shot from up top. They stand up, and when Figueroa engages, Reinhardt immediately drops to his back. They stand up again, and Reinhardt lands a decent right of his own. Back on the feet, Figueroa again lands a couple good shots and gets Reinhardt back on the ground, where he proceeds to land some pretty stiff shots from standing. Reinhardt does a somersault and rolls over. He has basically given up and is just laying there as the ref looks at him when the horn sounds. It’s a 10-8 round for Figueroa on our card thanks to Reinhardt’s running.
Round 2: We’re going to do a second round of this thing, and this time they touch gloves. Reinhardt again is on his horse, then shoots when Figueroa engages. There’s a scramble, and Figueroa ends up on top in full mount. Reinhardt rolls over and covers up and he’s not long for this fight. Pretty quickly, the ref steps in and it’s done. So, too, likely, is Reinhardt’s UFC career after the running in the first round.
Round 1: The legendary Mario Yamasaki gets things going. No glove touch. Volkmann shoots in early and they have a scramble in the clinch, but not much comes from it. They break apart and dance. Decent body kick from Castillo, who shortly thereafter misses a nice high kick. Then he lands an outside leg kick, followed by one on the inside. Volkmann shoots again and gets a soft takedown and looks to pass from half guard. He ties up Castillo’s right arm, then works for a side choke. But trying to hold on to that position costs him, as Castillo works his way out and gets top position. Volkmann settles back into guard, then nicely wall walks back to his feet as they clinch up. They separate around 1:50 and move back to the middle. After trading rights, Castillo lands one of the loudest body kicks in recorded history (we think) to Volkmann’s left ribcage. But Volkmann survives it and the two wind up in a scramble on the ground. It’s a tough first round to score, with each guy looking pretty effective. But MMA Fighting will give it, highly unofficially, to Castillo 10-9.
Round 2: After a few seconds of dancing, we clinch up along the fence. A few traded shots lead to Volkmann on his butt looking for a choke, and Castillo trying to work ground and pound. Yamasaki warns Castillo for holding Volkmann’s shorts and says he’ll take a point if he does it again. Volkmann wall walks back up, and then Castillo is warned for grabbing the fence, though it looked mild. A weird scramble leads to Volkmann on his back briefly, then on his knees, and he wrestles Castillo to his back and is in half guard. Then work for position, and Volkmann briefly has a choke that he can’t lock up as Castillo tries to reverse position. He works for it again, and it’s an arm-in modified guillotine. But Castillo will survive the round. Round 2 goes to Volkmann on our card, 10-9.
Round 3: Castillo lands a nice right hand 10 seconds in. Forty seconds later, the next action is a nice inside leg kick from him. They hit the ground briefly, but Volkmann has the edge there before Castillo scrambles quickly out and back to his feet. The crowd cheers the cat-and-mouse game. A short exchange in the middle leads to Volkmann again taking top position on the ground, controlling Castillo’s head and neck from half guard. He looks for some short elbows, but mainly this is a control game with Castillo’s right arm locked up. Volkmann isn’t doing much with the position, and it doesn’t look like it’s a choke he can lock down from where he’s at. Castillo wiggles out, but Volkmann gets to side control and looks for more elbows and again traps an arm and controls Castillo’s head. Castillo throws right knees from the ground, but that’s all he can do. The crowd is booing what it deems a stalling game by Volkmann. Castillo rolls over, and Volkmann works for his back. But nothing will happen. It’s a 10-9 third for Volkmann, and MMA Fighting scores the fight for him 29-28. No doubt some judges will have it 30-27 for him.
Result: Jacob Volkmann def. Danny Castillo, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1: They touch gloves, surprising given yesterday’s heated moment at the weigh-ins. These guys are both tall. Not Stefan Struve tall, but tall. We dance for 30 seconds, looking for position. Both throw a few kicks and rights that miss. Miller blocks a high kick and pushes forward, but O’Brien just misses a big uppercut right that has the crowd making one giant “Ooooooh!” sound. O’Brien lands a nice body shot that has Miller thinking that wasn’t very nice. And O’Brien then comes forward with a nice combination. He blocks some of Miller’s combos a short time later, then checks an outside leg kick. With 90 seconds left, Miller lands a big right, then just misses another but follows it with an outside leg kick. He lands a pair of stiff left jabs, then a third. O’Brien blocks a high Miller kick, then comes forward with a body shot. It’s a pretty close first round, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller – though it could go either way.
Round 2: We trade leg kicks and look for openings to start the first minute of Round 2. Miller then backpedals to re-set. O’Brien comes forward and has Miller backing up just for a second, but Miller drops him with a left and starts to work kicks from up top while O’Brien lays on his back. But a really nice scramble by O’Brien has him to his feet – but just for a second. Miller dives back in and cranks on a guillotine, and he’s got it good. Though O’Brien is trying to get out, he can’t and he has to tap.
Result: Cole Miller def. T.J. O’Brien, submission (guillotine), 2:38 Round 2
Filed under: UFCThe UFC is back on Versus Sunday night with a five-fight televised card that will answer some big questions: Can Dan Hardy snap his losing streak and save his job in the UFC? Can Jim Miller prove that he’s worthy of a lightweight title …
The UFC is back on Versus Sunday night with a five-fight televised card that will answer some big questions: Can Dan Hardy snap his losing streak and save his job in the UFC? Can Jim Miller prove that he’s worthy of a lightweight title shot? Can Charles Oliveira get back on track and show that he’s one of the sport’s most promising young fighters? We’ll weigh in with some answers below.
What: UFC Live on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle
When: Sunday, the Facebook fights begin at 5:45 PM ET and the Versus fights start at 9.
Where: Milwaukee
Predictions on the four televised fights and the top two Facebook fights below.
Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle Hardly anything has gone right for Hardy in the nearly two years since he beat Mike Swick to earn a shot at the welterweight title. He was completely outclassed by Georges St. Pierre, knocked out by Carlos Condit and then controlled for 15 minutes by Anthony Johnson. Now Hardy says he’s shaking up his training and getting back into form, and he better be, if he wants to keep his spot on the UFC roster: Fighters rarely keep their jobs if they lose four in a row.
The good news for Hardy is that Lytle is liable to play right into his strengths and turn it into a slugfest. The 36-year-old Lytle is always exciting, but he has looked like he’s slowing down in his last couple fights, and Hardy should be able to out-slug him and win what should be an entertaining fight. Pick: Hardy
Jim Miller vs. Ben Henderson Although Hardy vs. Lytle is officially the main event, Miller vs. Henderson is the best fight on the card. Miller has a great resume: He’s 20-2, and the losses are to the two best lightweights in the world, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. If he wins this one, you have to think he’s next in line for a shot at the winner of the upcoming Edgar-Maynard fight.
But Henderson, the former WEC lightweight champion, is an opponent who could give Miller some problems. Henderson isn’t as good on the ground as Miller, but he’s savvy enough to avoid getting tapped and maybe even put Miller in some trouble on the ground. And Henderson is a good enough striker that if he’s willing to take some chances and let his hands go, he could put Miller in some trouble on his feet.
However, that’s looking at the best-case scenario for Henderson if things go right. More likely, Miller takes Henderson down repeatedly, controls him on the ground, and grinds out a decision for his eighth consecutive win — the third-longest active winning streak in the UFC, behind only Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. Pick: Miller
Charles Oliveira vs. Donald Cerrone A year ago, Oliveira burst onto the scene in his UFC debut, forcing Darren Elkins to tap to an armbar and winning the Submission of the Night award. At the time, he was 20 years old and 13-0 in his MMA career, and things were looking great. But 2011 hasn’t been as kind to Oliveira: He suffered the first loss of his career, against Jim Miller, and then had his victory over Nik Lentz turned into a no-contest because he used an illegal knee strike.
Now Oliveira gets another tough draw in Donald Cerrone, who’s riding high on a four-fight winning streak. These are two of the best jiu jitsu practitioners in the lightweight division, and I expect 15 minutes of fast-paced action on the ground. Cerrone winning wouldn’t surprise me, but I think Oliveira’s relentless style will be impressive enough to the judges for him to earn the decision. Pick: Oliveira
Amir Sadollah vs. Duane Ludwig Sadollah was extremely inexperienced when he won Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter, and as a result the UFC has brought him on carefully, picking just the right opponents. Ludwig is another example of that: A name fans know because he’s been around for years, but not a fighter who at this stage in his career is just barely fighting at a UFC level. Sadollah should be able to beat Ludwig comfortably. Pick: Sadollah
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jared Hamman Dollaway is the guy Sadollah beat to win The Ultimate Fighter, and he, like Sadollah, has progressed in fits and starts. Mark Munoz made short work of Dollaway in his last fight, knocking him out in less than a minute, and that could mean trouble for Dollaway, as Hamman has knockout power, too. But I think Dollaway’s superior wrestling will rule the day, and he’ll win a decision. Pick: Dollaway
Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland
This fight really ought to be on the Versus card instead of Sadollah vs. Ludwig, but you can think of it as a nice reward for the hard-core fans who seek out the Facebook preliminaries. Wineland was the WEC’s first bantamweight champion, and he put up a good fight against Urijah Faber in his UFC debut in March. Benavidez, however, should be able to frustrate Wineland by coming at him at unusual angles and win a decision. Pick: Benavidez
Filed under: UFCIt’s hard for a UFC fighter not to feel a little conflicted when he gets a Fight of the Night bonus for a fight that he lost. On one hand, losing sucks. On the other hand, getting handed a wad of extra money doesn’t.
It’s hard for a UFC fighter not to feel a little conflicted when he gets a Fight of the Night bonus for a fight that he lost. On one hand, losing sucks. On the other hand, getting handed a wad of extra money doesn’t.
Just ask Jared Hamman, who’s pocketed the bonus cash in each of his last two UFC fights, though he only won one of them.
“Any time you get a big, fat paycheck like that, you’re like, thank you Lord,” Hamman told MMA Fighting. “But I would take the win over the Fight of the Night money any day.”
Perhaps what’s most remarkable about Hamman’s recent streak of bonuses is that both came in prelim bouts. The Fight of the Night check is more often handed out to main eventers, or least main card fighters, but his performances against Rodney Wallace and Kyle Kingsbury so impressed his boss that Hamman went home with the extra cash anyway.
Maybe that’s good news, considering that he’s booked for a bout with C.B. Dollaway on the prelim portion of Sunday night’s UFC Live event in Milwaukee.
The bout will be Hamman’s first since moving down to 185 pounds following the decision loss to Kingsbury at light heavyweight. The former Division III college football standout said he was motivated to make the drop after seeing how much size he was giving up to guys like Kingsbury, who typically walk around 25 or 30 pounds heavier than he does.
“When I got started in MMA, it was a hobby,” said Hamman. “I just fought at the weight I was at. Being a football player, I always tried to gain weight. Even in my fight camps I would try to maintain this weight gain, because I could always cut it really easily. But after this last fight with Kyle, man, he was humongous. I started looking around at these other 205-[pound]ers and they’re all huge. That’s when I started thinking about going down to 185.”
It helped that he was forced to take some time off to deal with an injury, Hamman said. It allowed him to do a practice cut to see how his body would respond, during which he tried to simulate the UFC experience as closely as possible.
“Weigh-ins are at four o’clock, you have so much time spent traveling to the event, all that, so I did that and I weighed in at four p.m. at 186 [pounds]. Then the next day, on Saturday, I did a fight scenario. I did three five-minute rounds, and I felt great. From there I just decided to go for it.”
Now Hamman — who usually clocks in at around 215 pounds — will move down in weight to face Dollaway, who’s coming off a knockout loss to Mark Munoz in March. And while a lot gets made of Dollaway’s history as an All-American wrestler, Hamman said he isn’t particularly worried that the bout will turn into a slow grind where no one has the potential to scoop up any bonus cash.
“Even though he has a wrestling background, I think the guy likes to fight. He likes to stand and throw punches and kicks and everything. He obviously also likes to do submissions and wrestling, but I think he’s a fighter. I like to fight guys who aren’t boring, who will come forward and fight me, and the UFC has done a good job of matching me up with guys who like to fight, and I enjoy that. I think this will be another one.”
For Hamman, the move down in weight was less about looking for easier prey, he said, than taking the next step toward being a total professional. Cutting weight, adhering to a strict diet — it’s all part of finding out just how far he can go with his career inside the cage, he explained.
“This was just a hobby before. I love to scrap, to get in there and fight. And to me, I’m grateful that I get to do it at this level. But some things put it in perspective. Like my wife got into a car accident the other week — and she’s fine, not hurt or anything — but it could have gone a lot worse. It reminded me, you’re not always guaranteed to get that next heartbeat. You’re not guaranteed to get that next fight. I’ve tried to hold that in my mind. It makes me take every fight and just go for it.”
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