Shawn Tompkins death ruled a heart attack. Tompkins’ manager, Gary Ibarra reveals family’s history of heart disease. Jon Fitch expected back in the cage at UFC 139 in San Jose, rumored opponent is Johny Hendricks..
Shawn Tompkins death ruled a heart attack. Tompkins’ manager, Gary Ibarra reveals family’s history of heart disease.
Jon Fitch expected back in the cage at UFC 139 in San Jose, rumored opponent is Johny Hendricks.
UFC on Versus 5 produces 6 indefinite medically suspended fighters including: Jim Miller, Amir Saddolah, Duane Ludwig, C.B. Dollaway, Kyle Noke, and T.J Obrien. Full breakdown of all 12 suspensions: here.
UFC on Versus 5 salaries and bonuses released. Chris Lytle highest paid at $200,000. More here.
UFC on Versus 6 to feature Fabricio Maldonado vs. Aaron Rosa.
With ESPN unwilling to cough up a few extra quid to show UFC shows outside of their regular contract, it was Premier Sports who stepped in so British fans could watch Chris Lytle’s final fight against Dan Hardy in the early hours of this past Mon…
With ESPN unwilling to cough up a few extra quid to show UFC shows outside of their regular contract, it was Premier Sports who stepped in so British fans could watch Chris Lytle’s final fight against Dan Hardy in the early hours of this past Monday morning.
The broadcast began in the welterweight division as Amir Sadollah faced Duane Ludwig.
This proved to be an intriguing three-round encounter. Ludwig did a great job in the striking department in the first two rounds, his big left hook rocking Sadollah a number of times. When Sadollah went for the takedown, Ludwig was able to escape quite easily.
Although Sadollah upped his game a little in the third, he still looked a step behind Ludwig. He scored with a couple of good kicks, but his punches looked slow and sluggish. The fight ended with Ludwig scoring a takedown.
So with the fight going the distance, it was over to the judges. All three gave the fight to Ludwig. Awesome performance.
It was down to the lightweight division for the next fight, as Charles Oliveira took on Donald Cerrone.
A short feeling-out period at the beginning of this one saw both men testing the waters with punches and kicks. There was a brief pause following Cerrone’s inadvertent kick south of the border, but when the action began, the striking just got better and better.
The end came when Cerrone scored with a hook to the body. Oliveira went down, and Cerrone went in for the kill with the ground and pound. The referee stepped in to give Cerrone the impressive TKO win.
The lightweight action continued with Jim Miller against Ben Henderson.
Henderson put in a tremendous performance here. For the first two rounds, Miller went for a variety of submission attempts—from chokes to leg locks to arm locks—but Henderson managed to escape each and every time, coming back with some wicked-looking ground and pound. He busted Miller open with an elbow in the second round.
Miller dropped his man in the third, but Henderson looked even better than he had in the first two rounds, controlling the fight on the ground and almost getting the win with a rear naked choke, as well as unleashing more awesome strikes.
Once again the judges were called into action, with all three giving the fight to Henderson. Surely the former WEC champion is ready for a UFC title shot now!
The main event featured welterweight action as Hardy faced Lytle in Lytle’s last ever fight.
This proved to be a great main event. For nearly 15 minutes Hardy and Lytle engaged in a tremendous striking battle. Hardy tried a kick early on, but when Lytle caught his leg Hardy never threw another kick, preferring to box with Lytle instead.
Both guys had their moments throughout the fight, but the fact that Lytle was getting Hardy to fight his kind of fight said a lot about his tactics. Just when it looked like Hardy was upping his game in the final moments of the fight, Lytle went for a guillotine on the ground.
The Brit tried to fight back, but it wasn’t long before he tapped out in the final minute of the fight to give Lytle the submission win. A fitting ending to one of the UFC’s best fighters.
In conclusion: For a while it looked like Brits would have to sit in front of their computers or look for a download site to see this show—until Premier Sports came in at the last minute, offering this show for free. I’m glad they did because this was a great show.
The four fights featured here certainly delivered, but I can’t decide if Miller/Henderson or Hardy/Lytle was the better fight.
As for Premier Sports coverage, kudos to this subscription channel for giving British fans the chance to see this for free, even if they did suffer from the ESPN problem of coming back late from commercial breaks a couple of times.
But who knows, maybe this will be the proverbial kick up the backside ESPN needs because I know a lot of people only subscribe to the channel to see the UFC. If they thought Premier Sports (or Sky Sports for that matter) might bid for the rights when ESPN’s contract is up, they may consider sticking their hands in their pockets and buying the rights to the shows that weren’t in their original contract.
So, in all, the UFC’s fifth foray onto America’s Versus channel gets the thumbs up from me for its all-around quality.
Filed under: UFCUFC on Versus: Hardy vs. Lytle could have been the rarest of events that saw both main event fighters exit the UFC right after competing. Instead, it saw Chris Lytle walk away on a glorious note, retiring after his submission win, while…
UFC on Versus: Hardy vs. Lytle could have been the rarest of events that saw both main event fighters exit the UFC right after competing. Instead, it saw Chris Lytle walk away on a glorious note, retiring after his submission win, while Dan Hardy was given one more chance from UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta despite losing his fourth straight bout.
In reality, it was a fair conclusion for both fighters, who fought a hard-nosed battle for nearly 15 minutes before the ending. Lytle gets the distinction of walking away on a high while Hardy is afforded the opportunity to decompress, clear his mind and determine a new course of action going forward. While any thoughts of returning back to contender status are for off into the future, he has a pulse, and for now, that will have to do.
With that, we take a look at what might be next for Hardy and the rest of UFC on Versus 5‘s key participants, in this edition of The Forward Roll.
Dan Hardy
It’s been a brutal 17-month stretch for Hardy, who lost bouts to Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Condit, Anthony Johnson and now Lytle. Afterward, he mentioned wanting to take some time off, and that’s a request that should be granted. Losing is often harder on the mind than the body, and Hardy should get the chance to heal both.
Hopefully, we don’t see him back in the octagon until spring is breaking. Given a lengthy layoff, it’s tough to project who he might face — a lot will happen in the next six or seven months — but someone like TJ Grant or Amir Sadollah sounds about right.
Ben Henderson
Casting aside Lytle’s emotional goodbye, Henderson was the star of the show, with a spectacular performance against Jim Miller in a high-stakes bout.
The fact that Miller was riding a seven-fight win streak made it impressive enough as it was, but having seen Miller throughout his career, we can say that he just doesn’t get dominated like that. Not even current champ Frank Edgar or current No. 1 contender Gray Maynard handled him the way Henderson did. Impressively, he continues to improve his standup game, but does his best work with wrestling and ferocious ground and pound. He also keeps a ridiculous pace, even for a lightweight.
The performance should quiet all doubters about Henderson’s ability and just how far he can go. It also rockets him up the contenders list, and he gets stars from here onward.
The next man on his list should be Clay Guida, who is riding a four-fight win streak and has nothing scheduled. The winner should next fight for the title.
Jim Miller
Sure he gets knocked down a couple of pegs, but given his recent run, there’s no reason to write Miller off as a future No. 1 contender.
The good news for him is that there is such a glut of top lightweights that there should be no problems in finding him a good matchup. The two best possibilities may be Dennis Siver, who is currently riding a four-fight win streak, or Sam Stout, who is coming off a fantastic knockout over Yves Edwards. Another possibility is Anthony Pettis, who lost to Guida in June.
Donald Cerrone
Previously considered an uneven performer, Cerrone seems to have figured out the issues that led to slow starts in the past. His first-round TKO win over the promising Charles Oliveira was his third victory of 2011 and fifth straight overall.
A good next step for him would be Jeremy Stephens, who has captured four of his last five, with his only loss coming in a close split-decision.
Charles Oliveira
For the first time in his career, Oliveira looked outmatched in the loss to Cerrone, who easily handled him in the striking and overwhelmed him on the ground. After losses in two of his last three, he has a decision to make as far as if he wants to stay in the 155-pound division or move to featherweight.
The UFC usually doesn’t force their hand in these matters, but they could cut Oliveira if they wanted to, so they have the leverage to ask him to reconsider a move. I think he will try 145. Let’s throw him in with a ground shark like Javier Vazquez and see if he sinks or swins.
Duane Ludwig
After a long welterweight run, Ludwig returned to welterweight and has now won two straight after throttling Amir Sadollah. The knock on Ludwig has always been grappling troubles, and his last two matchups have been favorable as he’s faced a pair of strikers.
That should change in his next match, but it probably won’t. Instead, the UFC will likely match him up in another bout that will guarantee good standup action. Let’s slot him in to face Matt Brown.
Jared Hamman
The wiry Hamman always seemed out of place among the UFC’s massive light-heavyweights. In his middleweight debut, he looked to be in the right class.
As a relative newcomer to the division, he shouldn’t be rushed along. Rafael Natal is about right.
EdHerman
It’s hard to be believe, but Herman and Michael Bisping are the only two fighters remaining in the UFC from season three of The Ultimate Fighter. Unfortunately, he’s had terrible luck with injuries, missing nearly two years of action before returning with back-to-back wins.
He was fighting Aaron Simpson when he first injured his knee. It would be nice to give him another crack at Simpson, but the “A-Train” already has a fight scheduled in October, so we’ll have to go to plan B, Constantinos Philippou.
Joseph Benavidez
Benavidez is in a terrible position right now, stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Dominick Cruz, who has beaten him twice, yet is standing in front of him as the champion, meaning no rematch is likely anytime soon. The hard place is the lack of a flyweight division, which he will likely relocate to as soon as the UFC institutes it. So he is left to continue on with little chance of fighting for a belt until either Cruz loses or the UFC makes the move for 125-pounders.
There really aren’t many compelling fights for him right now. One possibility is a Miguel Torres rematch. The other is surging 20-year-old Michael McDonald.
Following his loss to Chris Lytle at UFC on Versus 5, it was all but certain that Dan Hardy’s time in the Octagon had run out. But UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta assured the British striker will remain in the organization despite suffering his fourth co…
Following his loss to Chris Lytle at UFC on Versus 5, it was all but certain that Dan Hardy’s time in the Octagon had run out.
But UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta assured the British striker will remain in the organization despite suffering his fourth consecutive defeat. A bad string of luck would have any fighter receive their walking papers, but it appears Hardy is a little more fortunate.
“It’s a nice vote of confidence from the big boss,” Hardy told MMAJunkie.com following the event.
“Obviously, a lot of people are three losses and out. I’m obviously four down now, and I appreciate he’s going to give me another opportunity.’
Hardy came into the UFC with a lot of momentum behind him, tallying off three victories, which would lead to a UFC title shot against Georges St-Pierre. Along with his punk-rock image and brawler-like attitude, It would seem that the organization would have another star to market in the United Kingdom following Michael Bisping’s success.
But Hardy would endure back-to-back losses to St-Pierre, Carlos Condit and Anthony Johnson. It would be a different story had he lost to mid-tier level competition, but luckily Hardy has been able to stay in competitive bouts. And with possibly one last opportunity, Hardy said he wants to step away from competition and improve his skills as a mixed martial artist.
“I think my head’s elsewhere to be honest. I’m going to step back a little bit and take some time,” he said.
Hardy has already began to make adjustments to his game plan, as he has relocated to Las Vegas full-time. And perhaps battling against adversity with a successful training camp, along with a successful mindset, might just be what Hardy needs to readjust himself and return to action.
“I think if they are going to give me one more fight, then I really need to take some time and come back reinvented,” he said.
“If I’ve got one more fight, then I’ll take one more fight. But maybe it won’t be for a little while.”
Fans had a lot of anticipation for UFC Live 5, which featured a welterweight bout between sluggers Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle.Lytle announced prior to the bout that it would be his final fight. Hardy went into the fight on a three-fight losing streak, i…
Fans had a lot of anticipation for UFC Live 5, which featured a welterweight bout between sluggers Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle.
Lytle announced prior to the bout that it would be his final fight. Hardy went into the fight on a three-fight losing streak, including losses to current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and contenders Anthony Johnson and Carlos Condit. A four-fight win streak in the UFC preceded that.
Hardy appeared to be on his way to losing a decision when Lytle locked on a guillotine choke late in the third round. Hardy had no choice but to tap with less than a minute to go in the fight.
Hardy’s record fell to 23-10 while Lytle retired with a 41-18-5 record. Despite having 18 losses, Lytle has never been stopped due to anything other than cuts.
Lytle fought 20 times in the Octagon, which have earned him six fight of the night awards, three submission of the night awards and a knockout of the night bonus. He was awarded a FOTN and SOTN bonus for his fight with Hardy.
“Lights Out” also has a full-time job as a firefighter. He announced in his post-fight interview that only his family is more important to him than fighting. It was more than enough motivation for him to call it quits after a 12-year career.
UFC on Versus 5 is in the books and as MMA fans had hoped, the card had its share of memorable moments.The memorable moments from Milwaukee, Wisc., began with Saturday’s weigh in and ended after the final horn had sounded for the main event. In total, …
UFC on Versus 5 is in the books and as MMA fans had hoped, the card had its share of memorable moments.
The memorable moments from Milwaukee, Wisc., began with Saturday’s weigh in and ended after the final horn had sounded for the main event. In total, the first UFC fight card to take place in Milwaukee was a success.
Without further delay, Bleacher Report MMA presents the most memorable moments from the UFC on Versus 5 fight card.
With ESPN unwilling to cough up a few extra quid to show UFC shows outside of their regular contract, it was Premier Sports who stepped in so British fans could watch Chris Lytle’s final fight against 
UFC on Versus: Hardy vs. Lytle could have been the rarest of events that saw both main event fighters exit the