Filed under: UFC, NewsA lightweight fight that could earn the winner a shot at the championship has been added to the May 5 UFC on FOX event in New Jersey.
UFC President Dana White announced that Nate Diaz will fight Jim Miller on that fight card, mak…
A lightweight fight that could earn the winner a shot at the championship has been added to the May 5 UFC on FOX event in New Jersey.
UFC President Dana White announced that Nate Diaz will fight Jim Miller on that fight card, making it the first fight announced for the main card to be shown on the FOX network.
Miller is coming off a very impressive first-round submission win over Melvin Guillard in the main event of Friday night’s UFC on FX show. The UFC was clearly eager to get Miller back inside the Octagon quickly after that. Diaz is on a two-fight winning streak, having beaten Takanori Gomi and Donald Cerrone in back-to-back fights since moving back down to lightweight after previously fighting at welterweight.
The winner of the Diaz-Miller fight will have a very good case to make that he deserves to be the No. 1 contender in the lightweight division. Diaz and Miller are two of the best 155-pounders who haven’t yet received a shot at the lightweight title.
UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will face Ben Henderson in February at UFC 144, but beyond that the UFC lightweight title picture is murky. None of the top lightweight title contenders are riding winning streaks of longer than a couple of fights, so whoever wins between Diaz and Miller may be next in line.
With UFC on FOX 2 on the horizon, UFC President Dana White released a video blog from Chicago, Illinois (the event takes place at the United Center in Chicago.)As has been the case in the past, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was not shy …
With UFC on FOX 2 on the horizon, UFC President Dana Whitereleased a video blog from Chicago, Illinois (the event takes place at the United Center in Chicago.)
As has been the case in the past, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was not shy in voicing his opinion when he made his main event prediction at the end of the video.
“I can see Phil Davis winning by knockout, man. Really, Rashad’s chin sucks,” Jones said matter-of-factly. ““I can see Rashad winning by taking him down, trying to lay on him. It’s gonna be a great fight.”
Not surprisingly, “Bones” will be rooting for his former teammate turned rival, Rashad Evans, so that the two men can finally settle the score in Octagon.
“I’m sure Phil Davis has gotten a lot better since his last appearance, Rashad’s showing some changes in his game,” Jones said.
“I’m rooting for Rashad to win the fight, that way I can fight Rashad and just get past it. Get it over with.”
Evans and Jones have been rumored to meet in a title bout for roughly a year now, but injuries to both fighters have prevented the match up from ever coming to fruition.
“Suga” decided to leave Greg Jackson’s camp after Jones won the title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 and started the “Blackzilians” training camp in Boca Raton, Florida with several Brazilian fighter who had a fall out with American Top Team.
Evan Dunham is at a crossroads. Even with a UFC record of 5-2 (12-2 overall), Dunham is in a very tenuous position.He has a lost his last two fights, and in the UFC, three in a row can mean the end of a fighter’s run with the company. Working in …
Evan Dunham is at a crossroads.
Even with a UFC record of 5-2 (12-2 overall), Dunham is in a very tenuous position.
He has a lost his last two fights, and in the UFC, three in a row can mean the end of a fighter’s run with the company.
Working in Dunham’s favor is the fact the first of his two losses was a controversial decision loss to former lightweight champion Sean Sherk. Most observers, including UFC President Dana White, felt Dunham should have easily won the decision.
However, after the Sherk fight, Dunham stepped into the Octagon with Melvin Guillard. Three minutes later, Dunham left with his second straight loss, but this time there was no controversy. Guillard unleashed a lightning-quick barrage of strikes to devastate Dunham.
With the loss, Dunham was no longer a hot, rising prospect. He went from “can’t miss” to “possibly did miss.”
In his first fight since the Guillard loss, Dunham is set to take on noted amateur wrestler Nik Lentz. The fight with Lentz will be his first opportunity to prove the Guillard fight was an aberration.
While Dunham has a reputation for exciting fights, Lentz has, well, the opposite.
While fighting live on the Spike prelims, Lentz’ three-round decision win against Andre Winner at UFC 118 is regarded as one of the worst televised match-ups in years.
“No,” Dunham said, when asked is he will change his style to ensure a more fan-friendly fight. “I’m not in very many boring fights, so hopefully this one will be exciting, and he’ll be in it.”
Where Lentz would appear to have the advantage is in wrestling. Dunham, however, disagrees.
“He’s a good wrestler,” Dunham said, “but I’ve got better hands. I’ve got better ground, and I think I’ve got better wrestling.”
With a highlight-reel win over Lentz, Dunham could potentially jump back into title contention.
While many experts view the lightweights as the UFC’s strongest division, in truth, the promotion has recently set up fights where the top guys have been or will be knocking each other off.
Clay Guida recently lost to Ben Henderson in a classic fight. Jim Miller also lost to Henderson. Gray Maynard was defeated by the champion, Frankie Edgar, and surprisingly, Gilbert Melendez still is not fighting in the UFC.
Another elimination bout is set with former WEC champion Anthony Pettis taking on Joe Lauzon in February, and the winner of that fight could be next in line for the title. After those match-ups, the division is wide open.
“I’m not sure,” Dunham said, about the possibility of quickly regaining a high ranking. “I’m going to take it one fight at a time like I always do.”
The next lightweight title fight will also be on February’s UFC in Japan. Frankie Edgar will defend against Ben Henderson.
“I’ll be watching it,” Dunham said, when asked to pick a winner. “I think it’s a great fight. Both guys are gamers.
“If I had to pick somebody? I’d probably go with Frankie because he’s got more big-fight experience. But Henderson…he’s a bad dude.”
With a win over Lentz two weeks prior to the Edgar-Henderson showdown, Dunham would have more than a casual rooting interest in the championship fight. For his fight, Dunham is much more decisive with his prediction.
“He’s a tough kid, but all-around, I’m better,” Dunham said. “I’m going to knock him out in the second round.”
UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo’s celebration in the Rio de Janeiro crowd may have been “excessive” and dangerous, but that’s the name of the game.Yes, there are times when celebrating too much can be legitimately harmful, and Aldo’s antics in Brazil…
UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo’s celebration in the Rio de Janeiro crowd may have been “excessive” and dangerous, but that’s the name of the game.
Yes, there are times when celebrating too much can be legitimately harmful, and Aldo’s antics in Brazil may have been one of those times (as Jonathan Snowden pointed out), but in most situations, excessive celebration isn’t the least bit excessive.
Sure, when your opponent breaks his leg in a freak accident, parading around the cage and celebrating like it’s VJ day (which was the case in a fight between Duane Ludwig and Darren Elkins) might make the sport look bad, but it also makes the sport look more visceral and real.
Celebrations make the sport (yes, MMA has rules, so it’s a sport) look like a true fight.
After one fighter bests another and leaves his opponent’s body bloody, starched and unconscious on the canvas, or lying there with a destroyed knee or elbow socket, how can he not engage in an emotional celebration that is almost primal in a sense?
Boasting, puffing out your chest and celebrating are part of MMA and the UFC, just as “real talk” is part of the UFC; fighters are generally encouraged to be who they are and not conform to the—quite frankly—absurd PR standards that other athletes are forced to conform to.
For example, after the New England Patriots bested the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Tom Brady admitted he had a less-than-stellar game.
And he didn’t go the Dana White rouse and curse up a storm, mind you. He just told CBS he “sucked pretty bad.” Apparently, “sucked” was too much for the Patriots franchise and the NFL’s PR to handle.
When the team tweeted what Brady said, it had to alter “sucked” to “stunk.”
Furthermore, San Francisco 49ers receiver Vernon Davis wasn’t even allowed to walk up to the camera stand without being penalized.
Idiotic. Beyond. Belief.
What does this have to do with celebration and the UFC?
A lot.
The NFL is chided as being the “No Fun League” because of its ridiculous policies (fining players for wearing improper cleats, fining a player for wishing fans a “Happy New Year,” etc.).
If the UFC puts the lid on excessive celebrations, it’ll just be one step closer to becoming just like the NFL: cold and corporate.
Part of the reason why the UFC has been so successful is because it is real. The fighters don’t sound like they’re being told what to say and by pathetic PR interns and emotionless empty suits. They can act like themselves and celebrate like themselves.
Even UFC president Dana White has an “everyman” appeal to him with the way he acts and dresses; he is an MMA fan running an MMA promotion, not a CEO running a business, and fans love him for it.
Thus, it’s would actually be banning “excessive” celebrations that would cause more harm than good; it would ultimately cost the UFC its very heart and soul in a time where it needs them the most.
UFC President Dana White expects the winner of Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit to meet Georges St-Pierre much sooner than he had originally expected.During a post-fight interview after UFC on FX 1, White said the UFC welterweight champion has made a succes…
UFC President Dana White expects the winner of Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit to meet Georges St-Pierre much sooner than he had originally expected.
During a post-fight interview after UFC on FX 1, White said the UFC welterweight champion has made a successful recovery following his knee surgery and is already preparing to make a return later this year.
“GSP’s rehab could not be going better,” White said. “He was texting me pictures of him kicking, doing everything. I think he’s going to be back sooner than doctors anticipated.”
St-Pierre has never called out any opponents in the past, nor has he requested any specific opponents either, but White made it clear that the champion is preparing to meet Diaz following UFC 143.
It’s a side of the French-Canadian that neither fans nor White are used to seeing.
“He says, ‘I am praying every night when I go to bed that Nick Diaz wins this fight,'” White said. “I’ve never seen him so motivated to fight somebody and to beat somebody like Nick Diaz. He hates Nick Diaz.”
This weekend, the enigmatic, charismatic and systematic Chael Sonnen will be gracing the Octagon once again, taking on Michael Bisping in the co-main event feature for UFC on FOX 2. The event is eclipsed by a light heavyweight encounter …
This weekend, the enigmatic, charismatic and systematic Chael Sonnen will be gracing the Octagon once again, taking on Michael Bisping in the co-main event feature for UFC on FOX 2.
The event is eclipsed by a light heavyweight encounter between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, though everyone knows if you want to get your money’s worth, you’ll stick around to prod and poke at the infamous Sonnen, in order to elicit some noteworthy quotes from the outspoken middleweight.
Besides Sonnen exist a crop of interesting and colorful batch of fighters who, rightfully so, deserve to have their own spot on television.
A lightweight fight that could earn the winner a shot at the championship has been added to the May 5 UFC on FOX event in New Jersey.
With UFC on FOX 2 on the horizon, UFC President