Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 169 in dominating fashion.
Counting his WEC defenses, the win moved his defense total to eight. He cruised to a unanimous-decision win (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) by picking …
Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 169 in dominating fashion.
Counting his WEC defenses, the win moved his defense total to eight. He cruised to a unanimous-decision win (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) by picking apart Ricardo Lamas on the feet. Aldo’s stellar striking was on display once again, but he was unable to get the finish.
What is most impressive is that this latest win means he has vanquished the top five challengers in the featherweight division—one of the most stacked divisions in the organization.
That begs the question—what’s next? Here are three potential fights for UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
Chad Mendes
If Aldo chooses to stay at 145, then Mendes is the top choice.
In their first meeting, Mendes was knocked out but only after performing well. He moved in to take Aldo down, but the champ had grabbed the fence to stay upright. It wasn’t long after that Mendes ate a knee to the face, but if he had taken Aldo down, who knows what would have transpired.
Since that time he has racked up five wins with four knockouts. He has improved his striking, and he is poised to take another crack at the longtime champion of the featherweight division.
There is no more deserving challenger in the division, and the UFC will be hard-pressed not to put him in against Aldo next.
Cub Swanson
Swanson met Aldo in the WEC in 2009. The fight only lasted eight seconds. Aldo immediately connected with a flying knee, and that was all she wrote for Swanson.
That was also the last time Aldo was in a non-title bout, and after five years, it may be time for a rematch.
Swanson is 7-2 since then and is riding a five-fight win streak with four TKO/KO finishes. That puts him in line for a potential title shot. Unfortunately for him, Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar are ranked ahead of him.
Timing will be what gives Swanson his first crack at gold. Edgar is in line for a bout against BJ Penn after coaching The Ultimate Fighter, and thus he is likely not getting the next shot at gold. Swanson just has to wait for Mendes, but if Aldo goes up to lightweight, then we could get a Swanson vs. Mendes title tilt.
Anthony Pettis
This fight looks to be on the horizon, as Aldo may be jumping up to the lightweight division.
He has cleared out the featherweight division, and this bout was originally set for 145 in 2013. Now, Pettis is the UFC lightweight champion. At the UFC 169 post-fight press conference,all parties involved seemed to be into the idea of Aldo challenging for lightweight gold, according to Damon Martin of Fox Sports.
He will leapfrog contenders such as Gilbert Melendez, but ultimately this is the title fight that folks want to see. It was an anticipated featherweight bout but will be an even more highly anticipated lightweight title fight.
When Pettis returns to action, this is the fight to make: Pettis vs. Aldo for the UFC Lightweight Championship.
Back in February at UFC on Fuel TV 7, Dustin Poirier and Cub Swanson put on an absolutely tantalizing battle of back-and-forth striking, grappling and Octagon persistence.
They fought to the bitter end as Swanson captured his fourth straight victory an…
Back in February at UFC on Fuel TV 7, Dustin Poirier and Cub Swanson put on an absolutely tantalizing battle of back-and-forth striking, grappling and Octagon persistence.
They fought to the bitter end as Swanson captured his fourth straight victory and left “The Diamond” wondering why he took such a high profile fight on 63 days notice.
Since then, Poirier has looked like a man on a path for revenge. He dismantled divisional youngster Erik Koch back in August and most recently destroyed a high-intensity Diego Brandao this past Saturday at UFC 168.
What this means for the 24-year-old is that he’s finally ready to fight another Top 10 featherweight. He’s ready to avenge that early 2013 loss to Swanson and get back on track for a 2014 title shot.
“I feel like I deserve to be 100 percent and fight him [Swanson],” said Poirier at the post-fight press conference this past weekend, originally reported by MMA Mania:
“With the Zombie [Chan-Sung Jung], I was 100 percent prepared for that fight,” added Poirier. “I showed up to fight that night and he actually beat me. But with Cub I beat myself. I took the fight on short notice. I cut 30 pounds in a week. I took the fight because I got the call and I’m a fighter, but Cub Swanson didn’t beat me that night, I beat myself.”
As of right now, with Swanson recovering from elbow surgery and key contenders like Ricardo Lamas and Frankie already tied up entering 2014, a rematch just one year later looks very promising for Poirier and Swanson.
Of course, that’s unless fellow UFC 168 standout Dennis Siver pries for a quick turnaround.
The past two years have been crazy for Cub Swanson.
Where the 30-year-old was once seemingly fixed on the roller-coaster ride of unfulfilled potential, those days have long since been in the rearview mirror. Once the Palm Springs, Calif., native found …
The past two years have been crazy for Cub Swanson.
Where the 30-year-old was once seemingly fixed on the roller-coaster ride of unfulfilled potential, those days have long since been in the rearview mirror. Once the Palm Springs, Calif., native found the confidence to go with his diverse, explosive skill set, the results came quickly—and oftentimes in painful, brutal fashion for the person sharing the cage with him.
After spending five years trading leather in the WEC, the Jackson’s MMA fighter finally made his UFC debut against Ricardo Lamas at UFC on Fox 1 in November of 2011. Despite getting out to a great start, the scrappy veteran made a tactical mistake in the second frame and was submitted via arm triangle.
The loss stung as Swanson believed he was on the verge of finally putting everything together. And while that final gear may not have clicked on that particular night, it certainly did in his next showing—and hasn’t slowed in the slightest.
“Killer Cub” ran the table in 2012 as he picked up victories in all three of his bouts, every one coming by way of stoppage. He kept that momentum rolling into 2013 as he knocked off top-ranked competition in Dustin Poirier and Dennis Siver, respectively. His most recent showing against the German striker was perhaps his most impressive to date as Swanson patiently picked apart the former lightweight until swarming in for the finish in the third round.
His victory over Siver made him successful in five consecutive showings, and while a streak of that caliber would earn a title shot in most divisions under the UFC banner, the featherweight collective is something of a different animal. Champion Jose Aldo danced through a merry-go-round of opponents and bout changes in 2013, and this created somewhat of a backup in the divisional upper tier.
Where Swanson was hoping to get a shot at UFC gold, the way the picture developed pushed him off to the side for the time being. With Lamas getting his long-awaited chance to face Aldo at UFC 169 in February, and Chad Mendes locking up with NikLentz at UFC on Fox 9 in December, the SoCal representative was in a holding pattern as he waited for things to play out. In an effort to stay ready in case something came his way, Swanson aggravated an elbow injury that had been bothering him for some time.
Earlier this week he went under the knife to get the bone fragments removed from his elbow, and Bleacher Report caught up with the surging contender to get his thoughts while he is on the mend.
“It had been bothering me for a while,” Swanson said. “About six weeks before the Siver fight I took a pretty hard kick to the elbow and I’m pretty sure that’s what caused one of those pieces of bone to come loose. I was dealing with that the entire camp and went into the fight with it feeling that way.
“I was trying to rehab it in between training sessions but that’s difficult when you are preparing for a fight. After the fight I had it looked at and they said there was no need for me to have surgery just yet. They told me to rehab it and see if it got worse, and it got much worse when I started training again. My plan was to try and wait as long as possible and try to get another fight in, but I didn’t have a fight lined up yet, and it made sense just to get it done. It was really starting to bother me a lot at the end, and it’s good to have it fixed.”
“My goal is to be 100 percent fight-ready by February, but realistically, it could be March,” he added. “That’s the time frame I’m looking at. I know I’m right there next in line but that could take until October to materialize, and I’m trying to get healthy and get a fight in before that. A lot of things are going to happen by then so we’ll see what happens.”
While Swanson would much rather be in the mix of the chaos in the 145-pound division, he will have to watch how things shape up from the sidelines. With the streak of success he’s put together and the way his game is clicking under the bright lights of fight night, there is plenty for Swanson to be happy about despite his inactivity.
Nevertheless, chasing down the UFC title is his main goal, and he invests the sweat equity to make sure his skill set is in constant evolution.
“I’ve just been enjoying fighting and my progression so much,” Swanson said. “I enjoy making money doing a sport I love. I really don’t think about all the different scenarios of who will get title shots because it will drive you nuts. That’s why I put my focus on becoming great at my craft and enjoying my progression along the way. That’s really been the most gratifying thing for me since I was on that roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. I love what I do and I work hard to become a better fighter.
“My goal is to get better every year. Everything I’ve done thus far in the UFC has been getting me ready to fight the best. And that’s what I’m looking forward to. I have a lot of really interesting matchups out there ahead of me and I’m just barely entering my prime. I just turned 30 and I’ve really never felt better all the way around as far as strength, speed and cardio are concerned. I feel so well-rounded right now and I’m ready for anybody.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
At the UFC 165 post-fight presser last month, UFC president Dana White showered praise upon UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao, calling him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and remarking that the media hadn’t given enough credit to his eight-year, 32-fight undefeated streak, which has remained pristine since May 2005.
Barao has only tasted defeat once, and it was in the first fight of his career. The fact that he’s rebounded with the longest current undefeated streak in mixed martial arts — despite the fact that his first loss could have ruined his confidence forever — is absolutely amazing to me, as many young would-be prospects have crashed and burned in their debuts, never to be heard of again.
It got me thinking: What other mixed martial artists lost their first fight but then went on to have great success? I expected to bang out a list of ten fighters, but once I started doing the research, it blew my mind that some of the best fighters to ever compete in the sport, and a number of currently top 10-ranked fighters, actually lost their very first fight.
And so, I compiled a list of the top 24 MMA fighters of all time who lost their first fight. The list is based on accomplishments in the sport, overall skill level, and potential. Enjoy, and if I somehow missed somebody notable, please leave a comment below and explain why he or she should be included.
On July 26, 1996, at the age of 19 years old, Travis Fulton fought Dave Strasser in his MMA debut at Gladiators 1 in Davenport, Iowa, losing the fight via first-round submission. He then went on to win 249 fights, the most wins in mixed martial arts history. Fulton also holds the record for most fights (309) and most knockout wins (91) in MMA history.
Mind = blown.
Was Fulton a can crusher? Yes, yes he was. Or, should I say, yes he is, as he beat some nobody in his native Iowa just this past March. But you don’t win 249 MMA fights by accident, and Fulton deserves a place on this list based on volume alone.
(Renan Barao: Started from the bottom, now he here. / Photo via Getty)
At the UFC 165 post-fight presser last month, UFC president Dana White showered praise upon UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao, calling him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and remarking that the media hadn’t given enough credit to his eight-year, 32-fight undefeated streak, which has remained pristine since May 2005.
Barao has only tasted defeat once, and it was in the first fight of his career. The fact that he’s rebounded with the longest current undefeated streak in mixed martial arts — despite the fact that his first loss could have ruined his confidence forever — is absolutely amazing to me, as many young would-be prospects have crashed and burned in their debuts, never to be heard of again.
It got me thinking: What other mixed martial artists lost their first fight but then went on to have great success? I expected to bang out a list of ten fighters, but once I started doing the research, it blew my mind that some of the best fighters to ever compete in the sport, and a number of currently top 10-ranked fighters, actually lost their very first fight.
And so, I compiled a list of the top 24 MMA fighters of all time who lost their first fight. The list is based on accomplishments in the sport, overall skill level, and potential. Enjoy, and if I somehow missed somebody notable, please leave a comment below and explain why he or she should be included.
On July 26, 1996, at the age of 19 years old, Travis Fulton fought Dave Strasser in his MMA debut at Gladiators 1 in Davenport, Iowa, losing the fight via first-round submission. He then went on to win 249 fights, the most wins in mixed martial arts history. Fulton also holds the record for most fights (309) and most knockout wins (91) in MMA history.
Mind = blown.
Was Fulton a can crusher? Yes, yes he was. Or, should I say, yes he is, as he beat some nobody in his native Iowa just this past March. But you don’t win 249 MMA fights by accident, and Fulton deserves a place on this list based on volume alone.
Akihiro Gono was just 19 when the Japanese icon made his MMA debut in his home country against Yasunori Okuda in the first round of the Lumax Cup: Tournament of J’ 94, way back in April 1994. Like many of the fighters of the time, Gono wasn’t ready to defend submissions, and he tapped out to a first-round toe hold.
Gono may have lost the fight, but he would go on to have a very solid career that saw him compete in the UFC, PRIDE, Shooto, Pancrase, Sengoku, and finally Bellator, which would be his final stop.
In May 2012, after a solid 18-year run as a fan favorite, Gono fought for the last time against current Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler at Bellator 67, losing the fight via first-round KO.
Some will laugh that Minowaman is on this list, but he deserves to be after amassing a respectable 55-35-8 record during his cult-legendary career as a journeyman, where — like the great Fedor Emelianenko — he was notorious for fighting and beating larger opponents in the UFC, PRIDE, Dream and Pancrase, amongst other promotions.
However, he was also notorious for losing to some of them.
The first of his 35 losses came to Yuzo Tateishi via decision on March 30, 1996, at the Lumax Cup: Tournament of J ‘96 in Japan. It was the first of many career losses for Minowa, who started off his career 2-9-2 in his first 13 fights. To his credit though, he rebounded to eventually leave the sport with a winning record, and became a big star in PRIDE because he always put on exciting fights and feared no man.
The name “Minowaman” is always one that makes the hardcores’ hearts beat whenever anyone brings it up. Not bad for a guy who at first glance looked like he would contribute nothing in the sport.
(NOTE: The graphic in the video say his record was 3-1 but that tally likely referred to his amateur fights.)
Back on February 15, 1997 in – surprise, surprise – Iowa, a 24-year-old Shonie Carter got into his first professional MMA fight, the first of many for him.
It didn’t last long, however, as he was KO’ed by future five-time UFC vet Laverne Clark at Monte Cox’s Extreme Challenge 3, just nine seconds into the first round in what was the MMA debut of both men.
It became a classic KO in regional circuit MMA history.
Despite that early career loss, Carter then went on to have an unexpectedly awesome career where he attained 50 wins, including 26 by stoppage. He even made it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and, in total, he fought six times in the UFC — one more than Clark, who knocked him out in that first battle.
One of those 26 aforementioned stoppage wins I mentioned — and one of the best KOs in UFC history — was his spinning back fist knockout of Matt Serra at UFC 31. Serra, who at the time was considered to be below Carter in the ranks, later defeated Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69 to win the UFC welterweight title. Carter, on the other hand, never quite made it to the top of the sport, to say the least, but at least he built a memorable persona as a stone-cold pimp.
Brian Ebersole’s first MMA bout took place on February 24, 2000 against Chris Albandia at TCC – Total Combat Challenge in Chicago. He lost the fight via decision.
He was just 18 years old.
However, despite the loss, Ebersole has gone on to have an awesome journeyman career that has seen him compile an excellent record of 50-15-1, 1 NC.
Ebersole finally made it to the UFC in 2012, upsetting Chris Lytle at UFC 127 and then winning three more in a row before a split decision loss to James Head at UFC 149 ended his win streak. He has sat out the past year with injuries.
But things are looking up for Ebersole, as he will finally make his return to the cage at UFC 167 against Rick Story. It’s a difficult matchup on paper, but it’s winnable. And even if he loses, the fans get to see the Hairrow — well hopefully, anyways — or at least one of those fancy cartwheel kicks. Make it happen, Brian.
On April 7, 2007, at UCW 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, two unknown Canadian women fought each other. One was Sarah Kaufman, who would later go on to win the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion and who will be making her UFC debut this Saturday at UFC 166, and the other was a 21-year-old Alexis Davis, who would eventually make it into the UFC as well.
On that night, Kaufman was the better woman, as she finished Davis via strikes in the third round. And Kaufman would demonstrate her superiority once again, defeating Davis via majority decision in March 2012 at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.
However, Davis looks to be on the rise, and she certainly showed her potential in defeating Rosi Sexton in her Octagon debut at UFC 161. If her and Kaufman ever meet for a trilogy match, it’s possible Davis might finally get a win over her rival.
It is an interesting time for the UFC featherweight division.
Champion Jose Aldo is coming off a successful title defense over Chan Sung Jung at UFC 163 on Aug. 3, but a broken foot suffered by the Brazilian phenom in the opening round of the fight wil…
It is an interesting time for the UFC featherweight division.
Champion Jose Aldo is coming off a successful title defense over Chan Sung Jung at UFC 163 on Aug. 3, but a broken foot suffered by the Brazilian phenom in the opening round of the fight will push him to the sidelines for the rest of the year and possibly the early portion of 2014.
While a belt holder being out of action is never good for a division, Aldo’s injury will keep the 145-pound weight class—a division which has become one of the hottest under the UFC banner—from truly launching into rarefied air.
At the current time, four potential title contenders are all looking for their opportunities as the championship picture develops. Ricardo Lamas, Chad Mendes, Cub Swanson and Frankie Edgar have all thrown their respective hats into the ring in an attempt to carve out the title status at 145-pounds.
Lamas and Swanson are both on tremendous winning streaks, with “The Bully” collecting four straight and “Killer Cub” notching five consecutive. The last time Swanson lost inside the Octagon, it came by way of an arm triangle choke handed out by Lamas, which would keep the 30-year-old Chicagoland native ahead of the Jackson’s MMA fighter in the bigger picture.
Mendes and Edgar have both had title opportunities in the past two years, with “The Answer” being just one fight removed from his bout with Aldo. The Toms River-native picked up his first win as a featherweight over Charles Oliveira at UFC 162 in July. Mendes, on the other hand, has been on a three-fight tear since coming up short in his championship bid, as he’s collected three consecutive knockout victories.
Of the fighters in the upper tier of the featherweight division, only Mendes has a bout on the upcoming schedule as he will square-off with former lightweight contender turned featherweight Clay Guida at UFC 164 on Aug. 31.
Once Mendes versus Guida is decided, it would set up the perfect scenario for the UFC to insert a four-man tournament to sort out who gets the next shot at Aldo’s crown.
The Tournament Format is Practical and Fan-Friendly in Some Cases
Tournaments have played a crucial and memorable role in the history of MMA. From the early days of the UFC to the golden era of Pride, tournaments of all shapes and sizes have been instrumental in promotion’s rising to prominence and putting their superstars on display.
That being said, tournaments can also serve to be a detriment in the greater picture for a promotion. Bellator has made the format it’s business model from the company’s inception, and while it has served to establish champions, the down side comes in the lack of activity those champions are forced to endure while the next season’s tournament plays out.
Bellator has attempted to hasten the process by instituting a “Summer Series”—which appears to be a solid move in the right direction—but shorter tournaments are no equivalent to the beauty of a divisional title picture in full swing.
In my opinion, there is nothing better in mixed martial arts than watching a champion attempt to hold onto his/her title, while a pack of talented contenders rise and fall on the climb. Granted, recent examples of title opportunities being given to fighters coming off losses, or not ever having competed in a weight class for that matter, tend to sour those particular scenarios, but the “earned” far outweigh the “given” and that is enough to keep sanity intact for the most part.
With the current dilemma in the UFC featherweight division, a four-man tournament would make absolute sense. The promotion used the format to determine the title holder when they instituted the flyweight division, and bringing it back would be a perfect way to not only determine the next featherweight title challenger, but bring interest to the division in the process.
The featherweight collective has come a long way in a short amount of time, and with Lamas, Swanson, Edgar and Mendes/Guida stepping in to a four-man tournament, the fan recognition for the 145-pound weight class could potentially reach new heights. Edgar is already an established fan-favorite and Swanson is well on his way with the series of brutal knockouts he’s collected on his road to contention.
Mendes and Lamas may not be household names as of yet, but both have the potential to have bright futures at the top of the featherweight division. If Guida defeats Mendes in Milwaukee, he would be a great addition to a tournament as the Chicago-native has been one of the UFC’s most recognizable stars for the past several years.
With Edgar and Swanson just having competed at UFC 162 back in July, and Mendes and Guida set to square-off in three weeks, every fighter involved in a potential tournament would be on a similar timeline. Lamas was originally slated to face the “Korean Zombie” on the UFC 162 as well, but Jung being pulled out to face Aldo eventually forced him off the card entirely.
Having all fighters involved on the same time line and injury free, would set the table for the opening round of a featherweight tournament. The UFC could place the first round on one card and the finals on another card three months later to determine who will be the next challenger to Aldo’s title.
What better solution is there than four top-ranked featherweights putting it all on the line in a winner-take-all format?
Fans? Yeah, recent UFC acquisition Conor McGregor made a lot of those when he scored a first-round knockout over Marcus Brimage in his inaugural fight with the promotion.
Friends at the office? Nah, McGregor hasn’t picked up too many of those just yet….
Fans? Yeah, recent UFC acquisition ConorMcGregor made a lot of those when he scored a first-round knockout over Marcus Brimage in his inaugural fight with the promotion.
Friends at the office? Nah, McGregor hasn’t picked up too many of those just yet.
The outspoken Irishman recently drew the ire of featherweight contender Cub Swanson, who didn’t take too kindly to what McGregor said via interview and Twitter. According to Swanson, McGregor should worry more about the fight in front of him rather than ones he perceives as possibilities down the road.
I like the kid, I really see a future for him in the UFC because he is talented. But he runs his mouth and you’ve got to be careful when you do that. I’m a fan of many fighters but as soon as they start looking at me, the fighter in me comes out and I’m like, ‘You better watch your damn mouth.’
Swanson recently cemented himself as a top fighter at 145 pounds, stopping Dennis Siver back at UFC 162. He is currently awaiting announcement for his next fight, but it is unlikely that next fight will involve McGregor.
That would be a fight that I would love to do once he makes a name for himself but right now he is still a nobody. If he lives up to the hype he can fight me down the road but for now he has to fight somebody in the top ten first.
McGregor‘s next step toward landing a bout with Swanson, or any other top-10 featherweight, is to take care of business this Saturday, Aug. 17, when he faces off with fellow up-and-comer Max Holloway. The matchup is one that has fight fans salivating, as both McGregor and Holloway are known to favor fan-friendly, striking styles.
Should McGregor come away from the match victorious, perhaps he’ll use the post-fight platform to call out a certain someone?
We’ll see.
As Swanson implies, a match between the two probably isn’t in the immediate future, though it could certainly happen within the next couple of years.
Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 169 in dominating fashion.
