Tag: do or die

Do-or-Die Alert: Josh Koscheck Now Faces Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184


(I really have no caption for this, but would just like to say that Richard Kiel is a legend. Via Kos’ instagram.)

While admittedly not much of a Josh Koscheck fan over the years (my uncle is a male nurse, bro), even I scratched my head when it was announced that he would return from a 15-month layoff to face Neil Magny at UFC 184. Being that one of them is riding a three fight skid and the other just tied the record for most consecutive wins in a year, it seemed unusual and a bit cruel that Koscheck was essentially being used as a stepping stone in what could very well be the final performance of his storied UFC career*.

Thankfully, it appears the UFC has come to its senses and decided to place Kos against a similarly struggling (and therefore more appropriate) opponent: Jake Ellenberger. Having also dropped his past three, Ellenberger is practically Koscheck’s doppelganger in the welterweight division — an aging wrestler with heavy hands who has seemingly been surpassed by the “new breed” of martial artists in recent years — albeit a much nicer one to be around.

Koscheck is on the heels of back-to-back KO losses (to Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley, respectfully), whereas Ellenberger’s most recent loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 180 was his first to come by submission since 2007. Methinks we’re going to be in for a good old fashioned slugfest here, or possibly three rounds of methodically paced wall-n-stall. Either or.

Predictions, please.

Check out the UFC 184 lineup after the jump. 


(I really have no caption for this, but would just like to say that Richard Kiel is a legend. Via Kos’ instagram.)

While admittedly not much of a Josh Koscheck fan over the years (my uncle is a male nurse, bro), even I scratched my head when it was announced that he would return from a 15-month layoff to face Neil Magny at UFC 184. Being that one of them is riding a three fight skid and the other just tied the record for most consecutive wins in a year, it seemed unusual and a bit cruel that Koscheck was essentially being used as a stepping stone in what could very well be the final performance of his storied UFC career*.

Thankfully, it appears the UFC has come to its senses and decided to place Kos against a similarly struggling (and therefore more appropriate) opponent: Jake Ellenberger. Having also dropped his past three, Ellenberger is practically Koscheck’s doppelganger in the welterweight division — an aging wrestler with heavy hands who has seemingly been surpassed by the “new breed” of martial artists in recent years — albeit a much nicer one to be around.

Koscheck is on the heels of back-to-back KO losses (to Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley, respectfully), whereas Ellenberger’s most recent loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 180 was his first to come by submission since 2007. Methinks we’re going to be in for a good old fashioned slugfest here, or possibly three rounds of methodically paced wall-n-stall. Either or.

Predictions, please.

Check out the UFC 184 lineup after the jump. 

UFC 184

-Chris Weidman (12-0) vs. No. 3 Vitor Belfort (24-10)

-Ronda Rousey (10-0) vs. No. 1 Cat Zingano (9-0)

-Antonio Silva (18-6, 1 NC) vs. No. 13 Frank Mir (16-9)

-Ronaldo Souza (21-3, 1 NC) vs. No. 6 Yoel Romero (9-1)

– Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Roman Salazar

*Then again, the UFC’s insane schedule has provided nothing if not job security nowadays. See: Yamamoto, Kid. 

–J. Jones

Do-or-Die Alert: Tim Boetsch Draws Luke Rockhold for ‘UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III’


(Boetsch may have won the battle, but the piece of glass Okami left on the mat surely won the war. Photo via Tracy Lee/Yahoo) 

The UFC career of Tim Boetsch has seen some incredible highs and just-as-unforgettable lows to say the least. After kick-starting his tenure at light heavyweight with one of the most savage debuts of all time (and a personal favorite fight of mine) at UFC 81: Breaking Point, “The Barbarian” would drop two out of his next three to Matt Hamill and Jason Brilz before being ousted from the promotion. It was a decision that nearly bankrupted Capital One and resulted in the pillage-related deaths of no less than 400 people, but I digress.

Three straight stoppage wins on the local circuit would see Boetsch called back up to the big leagues to face Thiago Silva at UFC 117. Although an Inner Circle concert injury would see Silva ousted and Todd Brown brought in, the result would be a unanimous decision victory for Boetsch nonetheless. It was a redemptive feeling that wouldn’t last long, unfortunately, as Phil Davis and his freaky, deeky submission skills would force Boetsch to drop to middleweight in a last ditch effort to save his career. With the help of world-renowned trainer Matt Hume, Boetsch would go on an impressive 4-fight win streak at 185, including one of the greatest comeback victories in MMA history.

Back-to-back losses at the hands of Costa Philippou and Mark Munoz, however, have once again placed “The Barbarian” in hot water. In even worse news, the man Boetsch will have to defeat to likely stay employed will be former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, as the two have just been booked for UFC 166 on October 19th.


(Boetsch may have won the battle, but the piece of glass Okami left on the mat surely won the war. Photo via Tracy Lee/Yahoo) 

The UFC career of Tim Boetsch has seen some incredible highs and just-as-unforgettable lows to say the least. After kick-starting his tenure at light heavyweight with one of the most savage debuts of all time (and a personal favorite fight of mine) at UFC 81: Breaking Point, “The Barbarian” would drop two out of his next three to Matt Hamill and Jason Brilz before being ousted from the promotion. It was a decision that nearly bankrupted Capital One and resulted in the pillage-related deaths of no less than 400 people, but I digress.

Three straight stoppage wins on the local circuit would see Boetsch called back up to the big leagues to face Thiago Silva at UFC 117. Although an Inner Circle concert injury would see Silva ousted and Todd Brown brought in, the result would be a unanimous decision victory for Boetsch nonetheless. It was a redemptive feeling that wouldn’t last long, unfortunately, as Phil Davis and his freaky, deeky submission skills would force Boetsch to drop to middleweight in a last ditch effort to save his career. With the help of world-renowned trainer Matt Hume, Boetsch would go on an impressive 4-fight win streak at 185, including one of the greatest comeback victories in MMA history.

Back-to-back losses at the hands of Costa Philippou and Mark Munoz, however, have once again placed “The Barbarian” in hot water. In even worse news, the man Boetsch will have to defeat to likely stay employed will be former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, as the two have just been booked for UFC 166 on October 19th.

Although not necessarily a do-or-die fight for Rockhold, a loss to Boetsch would all but completely erase any future title hopes that the AKA standout may have. After ending his Strikeforce career with 9 straight victories, Rockhold was humbled via a Vitor Belfort sharknado kick in his UFC debut, which brings both fighters to their current crossroads. Will Boetsch have Rockhold doing the “No Bones” dance, or should he start preparing to call out Maiquel Falcao in the near future?

Featuring the trilogy-completing match between heavyweight champion Brown Pride and former champion Good Guy Dos Santos as well as a co-main event hot-dog eating contest between Roy Nelson and Daniel Cormier (yes, it’s official now), UFC 166 goes down on October 19th from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

–J. Jones

Do-or-Die Time: Kid Yamamoto to Be Given Final Chance Against Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165


(Darren Uyenoyama mocks Yamamoto after giving him the worst wet willy in MMA History at UFC on FOX 1.) 

One of the more notorious UFC busts in recent memory, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has yet to taste victory in three UFC bouts, dropping decisions to Demetrious Johnson (fair enough) and Darren Uyenoyama (understandable) before getting submitted by Vaughan Lee (COME ON!) in the first round of their UFC 144 scrap last February. Since then, we haven’t heard much from the former K1 star and could only assume that he was diligently working on his kata with headmaster Michael “Lightning Bolt!” Dealy.

His back now firmly planted against the wall, Yamamoto will be given one of his toughest tests to date in what is surely his do-or-die fight with the UFC. “Kid” will face Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson. TVA Sports was the first to announce the booking yesterday:


(Darren Uyenoyama mocks Yamamoto after giving him the worst wet willy in MMA History at UFC on FOX 1.) 

One of the more notorious UFC busts in recent memory, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has yet to taste victory in three UFC bouts, dropping decisions to Demetrious Johnson (fair enough) and Darren Uyenoyama (understandable) before getting submitted by Vaughan Lee (COME ON!) in the first round of their UFC 144 scrap last February. Since then, we haven’t heard much from the former K1 star and could only assume that he was diligently working on his kata with headmaster Michael “Lightning Bolt!” Dealy.

His back now firmly planted against the wall, Yamamoto will be given one of his toughest tests to date in what is surely his do-or-die fight with the UFC. “Kid” will face Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson. TVA Sports was the first to announce the booking yesterday:

On the heels of a first round submission via rear-naked choke loss to Urijah Faber at UFC 157 (his second loss in his past three fights), it’s safe to say that this could be a must win for “The Pride of El Salvador” as well. Although his UFC record currently stands at a respectable 4-3, you have to imagine that dropping a second straight contest to a winless (as far as the UFC is concerned) fighter like Yamamoto would spell disaster for the WEC veteran.

Who do you like for this bantamweight sure-to-be-slugfest, Nation?

–J. Jones

Cody McKenzie Rebooked in Do-or-Die Fight Against the Un-Do-or-Dieable Leonard Garcia at UFC 159


(“No, Leonard, I don’t know how they make Dippin’ Dots either.”)

When Leonard Garcia and Cody McKenzie were originally booked to face each other back at UFC 155, we categorized the pairing as a “loser leaves town” match. What fools we were; although McKenzie was forced out of the fight with an injury, his replacement opponent in Max Holloway was responsible for Garcia’s fourth straight loss in the UFC*. And while a whole bunch of guys got the axe shortly thereafter, Leonard Garcia was somewhat surprisingly not one of them.

We double-checked the list of fired fighters, then we triple checked it. We even created a flowchart to try and make sense of things, but it appears that as long as Garcia continues to treat strategy like Lloyd Irvin treats consent, he will always have a place in the UFC. It’s a luxury that his upcoming opponent, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, cannot afford.

McKenzie and Garcia have in fact been rebooked for UFC 159 in what has to be a do-or-die fight for at least McKenzie, who has dropped three of his past four UFC contests including a 40 second KO via body punch loss to Chad Mendes in his last outing. Again, according to our chart, McKenzie’s current place on the “100 heavy” UFC roster makes about as much sense as Garcia’s, so expect these two to put on a show come April 27th. One of their UFC careers could depend on it.

So who takes this one, Potato Nation, the one-trick pony or the one-track mind?

The full lineup for UFC 159 is after the jump. 


(“No, Leonard, I don’t know how they make Dippin’ Dots either.”)

When Leonard Garcia and Cody McKenzie were originally booked to face each other back at UFC 155, we categorized the pairing as a “loser leaves town” match. What fools we were; although McKenzie was forced out of the fight with an injury, his replacement opponent in Max Holloway was responsible for Garcia’s fourth straight loss in the UFC*. And while a whole bunch of guys got the axe shortly thereafter, Leonard Garcia was somewhat surprisingly not one of them.

We double-checked the list of fired fighters, then we triple checked it. We even created a flowchart to try and make sense of things, but it appears that as long as Garcia continues to treat strategy like Lloyd Irvin treats consent, he will always have a place in the UFC. It’s a luxury that his upcoming opponent, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, cannot afford.

McKenzie and Garcia have in fact been rebooked for UFC 159 in what has to be a do-or-die fight for at least McKenzie, who has dropped three of his past four UFC contests including a 40 second KO via body punch loss to Chad Mendes in his last outing. Again, according to our chart, McKenzie’s current place on the “100 heavy” UFC roster makes about as much sense as Garcia’s, so expect these two to put on a show come April 27th. One of their UFC careers could depend on it.

So who takes this one, Potato Nation, the one-trick pony or the one-track mind?

The full lineup for UFC 159 is after the jump. 

-Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen
-Alan Belcher vs. Michael Bisping
-Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
-Pat Healy vs. Jim Miller
-Cheick Kongo vs. Roy Nelson
-Sheila Gaff vs. Sara McMann
-Nick Catone vs. James Head
-Jimy Hettes vs. Steven Siler
-Leonard Garcia vs. Cody McKenzie
-Al Iaquinta vs. Joe Proctor
-Ovince St. Preux vs. Gian Villante
-Rustam Khabilov vs. Yancy Medeiros

*Yes, you can make the case that Garcia won that fight, but just remember who you are talking about here. 

–J. Jones