Still just 31 years old — he made his pro debut in September 2001, just days after his 19th birthday — Riggs is already a veteran of 55 MMA fights. It’s hard to say how much gas “Diesel” has left in the tank, although it’s good to see him potentially earning some paychecks again, considering that he recently got his ass dug out by the IRS.
(“If I could tell that young Diego Sanchez anything…anything…it wouldn’t matter because he wouldn’t have listened anyway.” Props: YouTube.com/UFC)
Thanks to his 2009 beating at the hands of BJ Penn and a shaky 2-2 stint at welterweight, UFC fan-favorite Diego Sanchez has lost a great deal of the “perennial contender” aura that he’d held during his early ascension. So is The Nightmare Dream still relevant in the year 2013? The jury is still out on that question: Sanchez made his return to lightweight earlier this year in Japan, missed weight by three pounds, then barely snuck off with a split-decision win against Takanori Gomi.
Still, Sanchez has a massive opportunity to redeem himself next month at UFC 166 when he faces former Strikeforce champ/UFC lightweight title contender Gilbert Melendez. In this new profile video, Sanchez explains how some poor personal decisions left his MMA skills fading and his bank account drained, leading to some rough times in his career. Now, he’s reunited with Greg Jackson, focused and humble, and has a wife and son to fight for. It’s the set-up to a Cinderella story. Can he scrap his way to a happy ending?
(“If I could tell that young Diego Sanchez anything…anything…it wouldn’t matter because he wouldn’t have listened anyway.” Props: YouTube.com/UFC)
Thanks to his 2009 beating at the hands of BJ Penn and a shaky 2-2 stint at welterweight, UFC fan-favorite Diego Sanchez has lost a great deal of the “perennial contender” aura that he’d held during his early ascension. So is The Nightmare Dream still relevant in the year 2013? The jury is still out on that question: Sanchez made his return to lightweight earlier this year in Japan, missed weight by three pounds, then barely snuck off with a split-decision win against Takanori Gomi.
Still, Sanchez has a massive opportunity to redeem himself next month at UFC 166 when he faces former Strikeforce champ/UFC lightweight title contender Gilbert Melendez. In this new profile video, Sanchez explains how some poor personal decisions left his MMA skills fading and his bank account drained, leading to some rough times in his career. Now, he’s reunited with Greg Jackson, focused and humble, and has a wife and son to fight for. It’s the set-up to a Cinderella story. Can he scrap his way to a happy ending?
As first reported by ESPN, former welterweight title contender Dan Hardy will face Matt Brown at the April event. Hardy, who was mercifully kept on the UFC roster despite losing four straight matches in 2010-2011, won back-to-back fights against Duane Ludwig and Amir Sadollah last year. But his second-life in the UFC could come to a screeching halt against Matt Brown, who had the best year of his career in 2012, going 4-0 with big wins over Mike Swick and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Like Hardy, Brown bounced back from a demoralizing stretch in 2010-2011 where he dropped four out of five matches.
As first reported by ESPN, former welterweight title contender Dan Hardy will face Matt Brown at the April event. Hardy, who was mercifully kept on the UFC roster despite losing four straight matches in 2010-2011, won back-to-back fights against Duane Ludwig and Amir Sadollah last year. But his second-life in the UFC could come to a screeching halt against Matt Brown, who had the best year of his career in 2012, going 4-0 with big wins over Mike Swick and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Like Hardy, Brown bounced back from a demoralizing stretch in 2010-2011 where he dropped four out of five matches.
Buzz about this fight has been building since last month, when Brown suggested it on Twitter, and Hardy deemed the Immortal a better opponent than that “big, loud, annoying kid” Matt Riddle. That’s good enough for us. So who’s ending this one with their hand raised?
Beginning his career as a light heavyweight, Alistair showed just how effective his 6-foot-5 frame could be against generally smaller opponents. A powerful striker and underrated grappler, Overeem turned in some eye-opening performances that would indi…
Beginning his career as a light heavyweight, Alistair showed just how effective his 6-foot-5 frame could be against generally smaller opponents. A powerful striker and underrated grappler, Overeem turned in some eye-opening performances that would indicate that the Dutchman was ready for the big leagues. However, disappointing losses began to pile up and Overeem’s days […]
(Fight starts at the 2:38 mark.And is that Fedor’s new lady at the 29:22 mark? Alright, buddy. Upgrade. / Props: valetudorus via MMAMania)
It’s been a tough couple of years for heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. First, a brilliant MMA strategist named Damian Demento went public with a groundbreaking strategy on how to defeat him, which involved putting the boots to Fedor’s belly and intentionally mispronouncing his name. Then, his next three opponents beat him by stoppage. Coincidence? I don’t know. You tell me.
What’s important is that Fedor finally got back in the win column on Sunday, winning a unanimous decision over American grappler Jeff Monson at M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson, in front of a crowd of over 20,000 at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium that included Vladimir Putin. The full fight video is above, which shows Fedor in more controlled, measured form than his recent appearances, choosing to stay on the outside and score with leg kicks and long punches for the majority of the fight.
Monson, unfortunately, had nothing for him. In fact, the only times the Snowman was able to get the fight to the ground is when he fell over after getting punched in the face.
(Fight starts at the 2:38 mark.And is that Fedor’s new lady at the 29:22 mark? Alright, buddy. Upgrade. / Props: valetudorus via MMAMania)
It’s been a tough couple of years for heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. First, a brilliant MMA strategist named Damian Demento went public with a groundbreaking strategy on how to defeat him, which involved putting the boots to Fedor’s belly and intentionally mispronouncing his name. Then, his next three opponents beat him by stoppage. Coincidence? I don’t know. You tell me.
What’s important is that Fedor finally got back in the win column on Sunday, winning a unanimous decision over American grappler Jeff Monson at M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson, in front of a crowd of over 20,000 at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium that included Vladimir Putin. The full fight video is above, which shows Fedor in more controlled, measured form than his recent appearances, choosing to stay on the outside and score with leg kicks and long punches for the majority of the fight.
Monson, unfortunately, had nothing for him. In fact, the only times the Snowman was able to get the fight to the ground is when he fell over after getting punched in the face.
So, is Fedor “back”? Since we don’t know if he’ll ever face top-ten competition again, it’ll be hard to answer that question. He’ll reportedly return at DREAM’s New Year’s Eve show against Japanese judoka Satoshi Ishii (4-1-1), who most recently fought to a draw against Paulo Filho at Amazon Forest Combat. Full results from M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson are below.
– Fedor Emelianenko def. Jeff Monson via unanimous decision
– Daniel Weichel def. Jose Figueroa via KO, round 1 (becomes new M-1 lightweight champion)
– Alexander Yakovlev def. Juan Manuel Suarez via TKO, round 2
– Yuri Ivlev def. Jerome Bouisson via TKO, round 1
– Mairbek Taisumov def. Joshua Thorpe via KO, round 2
– Mikhail Malyutin def. Seydina Seck via KO, round 1
– Albert Duraev def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via submission (triangle choke), round 2
– Salim Davidov def. Sergey Kornev via unanimous decision
