It must have been a bittersweet 15 minutes for T.J. Grant as he watched Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez slug it out. On one hand, the fight-fan in him was probably as excited as the rest of us. On the other, he now has to process the news that Dana …
It must have been a bittersweet 15 minutes for T.J. Grant as he watched Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez slug it out. On one hand, the fight-fan in him was probably as excited as the rest of us. On the other, he now has to process the news that Dana White is saying he might not get an immediate title shot upon his return to action (h/t Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com).
“T.J. Grant’s in one of those unfortunate situations where he had the title shot and had to pull out twice,” said White. “He’s in Limbo. He might come back and have to fight another fight. We’ve got to keep this thing rolling.”
This, of course, is nothing new. If fans and fighters have learned anything by now, it’s that the match-making in the UFC is a very fluid process. What seems like a sure thing today could drastically change tomorrow.
Anyone suffering a concussion, such as Grant, should always heed their doctor’s advice. If more time is needed to recover, as was the case for Grant when he was not cleared to fight Anthony Pettis, then it’s better safe than sorry.
But after UFC 166, another element comes into play. Gilbert Melendez defeated Diego Sanchez in one of the greatest fights in MMA history. Whenever that happens, the winner is a hot commodity—in this case, it means that Melendez may very well get the next crack at the winner between Pettis and Josh Thompson.
When asked if the performance of Melendez puts him on the fast track for another title shot, White made it plain and clear.
To put it bluntly, UFC 166 was the kind of faith-restoring UFC event that effectively silenced even the most cynical of the sport’s detractors (henceforth known as “garbage-assers“). Featuring a trio of wars and a pair of brutal first round finishes on the main card alone, UFC 166 staked its claim as an early frontrunner for “Event of the Year” at this year’s Potato Awards and will likely achieve the same notoriety at awards ceremonies that actually transpire.
Thankfully, FOX Sports has compiled some highlight videos of the evening’s greatest slugfests and made them available for viewing on their Youtube page. Although these snippets won’t fill the bottomless void created in the soul of, say, your friend Dave who insisted on skipping UFC 166 to attend a Lady Gaga concert with his bitch of a girlfriend, they will give you the chance to confirm that Dave is a tiny, tin-eared man who lacks intestinal fortitude and any semblance of deductive reasoning. Fucking Dave.
We’ve placed the highlight video for Velasquez/Dos Santos III above, but join us after the jump to relive the rest of what was truly a historic night for both the UFC and MMA in general.
To put it bluntly, UFC 166 was the kind of faith-restoring UFC event that effectively silenced even the most cynical of the sport’s detractors (henceforth known as “garbage-assers“). Featuring a trio of wars and a pair of brutal first round finishes on the main card alone, UFC 166 staked its claim as an early frontrunner for “Event of the Year” at this year’s Potato Awards and will likely achieve the same notoriety at awards ceremonies that actually transpire.
Thankfully, FOX Sports has compiled some highlight videos of the evening’s greatest slugfests and made them available for viewing on their Youtube page. Although these snippets won’t fill the bottomless void created in the soul of, say, your friend Dave who insisted on skipping UFC 166 to attend a Lady Gaga concert with his bitch of a girlfriend, they will give you the chance to confirm that Dave is a tiny, tin-eared man who lacks intestinal fortitude and any semblance of deductive reasoning. Fucking Dave.
We’ve placed the highlight video for Velasquez/Dos Santos III above, but join us after the jump to relive the rest of what was truly a historic night for both the UFC and MMA in general.
When Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez slugged it out last weekend at UFC 166, it was shades of Barrera vs. Morales I all over again.The sport of MMA has long been seen as one of the most dynamic sports around, yet one of the most proven markets&mdash…
When Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez slugged it out last weekend at UFC 166, it was shades of Barrera vs. Morales I all over again.
The sport of MMA has long been seen as one of the most dynamic sports around, yet one of the most proven markets—that of Mexico—has remained nothing more than a spot on the map. We often hear that the UFC has plans to expand into Mexico, but thus far zero seasons of TheUltimateFighter have been geared toward that glorious end.
If UFC 166 proved anything, it should be that the time is now for Zuffa to focus all of their available energies down south, because the risk is clearly worth the reward.
The bout between Melendez and Sanchez may go down as one of the best fights in MMA history. Such fights are not an anomaly; the sport of boxing has long seen some of its greatest fights contested by Mexican warriors.
When looking at RingMagazine’s Fights of the Year from 1990 to 2010, 11 of those bouts featured fighters from Mexico.
And now, for the first time in combative sport history, a Mexican-American heavyweight champion is thriving. When Cain Velasquez defeated Brock Lesnar to claim the UFC heavyweight title, he became the first ever Mexican-American to claim a heavyweight title.
Now, not only is he back in the saddle, but he looks to be in firm command of one of the marquee divisions in all of combative sport. He’s defended his title twice, and if he can do it just two more times he will be the longest reigning heavyweight champion in history.
If ever there was a time to break new ground, it’s now.
Odds are the Melendez vs. Sanchez bout is going to become FOTY for 2013. When coupled with the dominance of Velasquez, the result is a rare kind of momentum that could open many doors that were previously closed.
Should the UFC make a successful entrance to Mexico, it could see a portion of the next wave of future Mexican superstars migrating toward the sport of MMA, especially in the lower weight divisions.
The next Juan Manuel Marquez, or even Julio Cesar Chavez, could become MMA fighters, but only if the UFC is willing to take the next step. Make no mistake about it—the next wave of Mexican fighters is coming; the question is, will they migrate to boxing, or will the UFC give them another option?
As with many things, timing is everything. Should Velasquez be in the near future, a thrust into Mexico could lose some of its gravitas.
Given that the sport has always been about answering questions, the time has come for the promotion to step into the cage and follow suit.
Will they bring the fight to Mexico, or will they let their best window of opportunity close?
UFC president Dana White spoke with assembled press after UFC 166 Saturday night in Houston. Per usual, all topics were on the table including judging, reffing, who is and isn’t on the chopping block and the future of the heavyweight and light heavyweight division title scene.
UFC president Dana White spoke with assembled press after UFC 166 Saturday night in Houston. Per usual, all topics were on the table including judging, reffing, who is and isn’t on the chopping block and the future of the heavyweight and light heavyweight division title scene.
Sometimes, three rounds and 15 minutes just cannot suffice.
In specific instances of fierce competition, the ebbs and the flows of three-round fights are pronounced. But in these 15-minute wars, business oftentimes gets left unfinished.
MMA fans and pu…
Sometimes, three rounds and 15 minutes just cannot suffice.
In specific instances of fierce competition, the ebbs and the flows of three-round fights are pronounced. But in these 15-minute wars, business oftentimes gets left unfinished.
MMA fans and pundits everywhere could concur with these sentiments following the epic clash that ensued between former lightweight title challengers Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez at UFC 166.
While Melendez and Sanchez undoubtedly captivated the masses and more than earned their “Fight of the Night” bonus checks, their show-stopping performance left fans yearning for two more rounds.
Nearly every fan at Houston’s Toyota Center stood and watched anxiously from the moment Sanchez dropped Melendez until the end of the bout.
Afterward, with his face severely swollen, an optimistic Sanchez opened the door for a rematch, saying the following about the bout at the UFC 166 post-fight press conference:
I dropped him and I felt it was close to being a draw. I got some good takedowns [and] the fight was close. They gave him the unanimous decision, but I thought it was closer. I thought it could have been a draw and that’s one of those fights where you need five rounds for true warriors to really dig deep and go to the finish.
The second-ranked Melendez obviously didn’t agree with Sanchez’s comments regarding the judges’ decision. However, UFC president Dana White all but disagreed with the judges’ scoring, saying at the press conference that he thought The Dream definitely took the third round.
In any case, Melendez, who easily squirmed free from a first-round, rear-naked choke attempt, more than doubled Sanchez in strikes landed in each of the first two rounds (30-13 in the first round and 27-8 in the second).
Melendez also stuffed five of six takedown attempts from Sanchez and denied each of the New Mexico native’s two submission attempts.
Remarkably, 56 of El Nino‘s first 57 strikes were of the significant variety, and in the third round, when Sanchez appeared the strongest, Melendez outstruck The Dream 41-21, including 40-21 in the significant strikes category.
In a nutshell, Melendez played Sanchez’s game in the third round and engaged in a slugfest with the notoriously durable Jackson’s MMA brawler.
Although at times it appeared that Sanchez was turning the tide—especially when he dropped Melendez with an uppercut with 1:50 to go—El Nino maintained his composure and kept a torrid pace to win the majority of the standup exchanges.
The numbers never lie, and in Sanchez’s case, a thrilling and gutsy performance only paid off in the form of a $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus check.
With Melendez winning for the eighth time in his last nine outings, and Sanchez falling for the fourth time in his last seven fights, the two warriors appear to be heading in different directions.
However, because the fight satisfied the company’s brass, men like White, co-founder Lorenzo Fertitta and longtime color commentator Joe Rogan, the UFC could easily sell a five-round rematch between El Nino and The Dream in the near future.
Truth be told, fans would have eagerly paid an extra pay-per-view fee just to watch Melendez and Sanchez throw down for two more rounds Saturday night. Imagine how enthusiastic fans will get at the though of a rematch.
Fans, fighters and analysts alike knew a lightweight scrap between Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez had the potential to be something special, and the two scrappy competitors did not disappoint in the slightest.
The two Mexican-American fighter…
Fans, fighters and analysts alike knew a lightweight scrap between Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez had the potential to be something special, and the two scrappy competitors did not disappoint in the slightest.
The two Mexican-American fighters stood in the center of the cage and traded leather for the better part of three rounds, and although “El Nino” got the better of the original Ultimate Fighter, Sanchez refused to quit and manged to drop the ex-Strikeforce champ with an uppercut in the third round.
Wild, bloody brawls are Sanchez’s specialty and Melendez certainly had no intentions of fighting conservatively in this instant classic that most pundits are already deeming 2013’s “Fight of the Year.”
The victory marks the first inside the Octagon for the Cesar Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, who lost a controversial decision to then-champ Benson Henderson in his company debut at UFC on FOX 7 in April.
The 31-year-old has now won eight of his past nine bouts and is on the short list of contenders to face off with the winner of Anthony Pettis vs. Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX 9 in December.
Should Thomson be able to make “Showtime’s” title reign short lived, that could set up a fourth bout between Melendez and “The Punk.”
Thomson won his first fight with Melendez in June 2008 and lost the subsequent two matchups, but their May 2012 encounter was a heavily-disputed split decision that many felt Melendez had lost.
However, the judges saw it otherwise.
As for Sanchez, the 30-fight veteran who has been competing for over 11 years now, he showed he can still hang with top-tier competition; however, he is just 3-4 in his past seven bouts.
The Greg Jackson-trained MMA fighter now has a 3-2 record at lightweight, defeating the likes of Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida and TakanoriGomi and losing to B.J. Penn and Melendez
UFC President Dana White did not give any indication of what’s next Sanchez at the UFC 166 post-fight media conference.
JohnHeinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
When Gilbert Melendez and