Tag: Fight Night 68

Fight Night 68 Highlights/Results: Hendo Starches Boetsch, Rothwell Submits Mitrione, Everyone Finishes Everyone, Basically

(via UFC on FOX)

You see that, right there? That’s why you never, EVER come at Dan Henderson with your hands down and your chin sticking straight up in the air. Given the H-Bomb’s now legendary status in our fine sport, you’d think that 27-fight veteran Tim Boetsch would have understood that simple fact prior to his first ever main event slot against Hendo at Fight Night 68 last weekend. And maybe he did, or maybe Boetsch was *so* confident in his chin that he figured there’d be no way an aging one-trick pony like Henderson would even be able to catch him. In either case, he was wrong and paid dearly for it.

There’s really not much to take away from the main event of Fight Night NOLA, other than that Hendo’s emphatic win will likely set him up to be slaughtered by a much younger, quicker middleweight in his next fight –which, hooray for that. But the small nugget of wisdom we were able to mine from Boetsch vs. Hendo was a lesson as old as…well, Dan Henderson: He knocked out Fedor. Fedor.

But Hendo vs. Boetsch wasn’t the only highlight worthy moment from Fight Night NOLA. With a record-tying 7 first round finishes (and 10 finishes overall) and a Sweet Chin Music knockout to name a couple memorable moments, last Saturday’s card will surely go down as one of the best — if not *the* best — of the year. So join us after the jump for a full breakdown of the event, with highlights courtesy of UFC on FOX.

The post Fight Night 68 Highlights/Results: Hendo Starches Boetsch, Rothwell Submits Mitrione, Everyone Finishes Everyone, Basically appeared first on Cagepotato.


(via UFC on FOX)

You see that, right there? That’s why you never, EVER come at Dan Henderson with your hands down and your chin sticking straight up in the air. Given the H-Bomb’s now legendary status in our fine sport, you’d think that 27-fight veteran Tim Boetsch would have understood that simple fact prior to his first ever main event slot against Hendo at Fight Night 68 last weekend. And maybe he did, or maybe Boetsch was *so* confident in his chin that he figured there’d be no way an aging one-trick pony like Henderson would even be able to catch him. In either case, he was wrong and paid dearly for it.

There’s really not much to take away from the main event of Fight Night NOLA, other than that Hendo’s emphatic win will likely set him up to be slaughtered by a much younger, quicker middleweight in his next fight –which, hooray for that. But the small nugget of wisdom we were able to mine from Boetsch vs. Hendo was a lesson as old as…well, Dan Henderson: He knocked out Fedor. Fedor.

But Hendo vs. Boetsch wasn’t the only highlight worthy moment from Fight Night NOLA. With a record-tying 7 first round finishes (and 10 finishes overall) and a Sweet Chin Music knockout to name a couple memorable moments, last Saturday’s card will surely go down as one of the best — if not *the* best — of the year. So join us after the jump for a full breakdown of the event, with highlights courtesy of UFC on FOX.

Speaking of amateurish performances from seasoned veterans: Matt Mitrione, everyone. Despite being a reasonable favorite heading into his co-main event slugfest with top 10 ranked heavyweight Ben Rothwell (?!!), “Meathead” held true to his nickname by displaying some of the worst fight IQ in recent memory, inexplicably shooting in for a takedown on the much larger Rothwell and getting submitted with a guillotine in seconds. That the failed takedown came after Mitrione had been outmoving and outstriking Rothwell on the feet (which many predicted would be his key to victory) makes the loss all that harder to understand. I guess Meathead gonna Meathead, y’all.

Of course, the real highlight (or lowlight, depending how you look at it) from Rothwell vs. Mitrione came in the night’s post-fight interview, where “Big Ben” provided the most cringeworthy heel promo since “Fear the consequences.” It’s honestly too embarrassing to even embed on this page, but you can check out Rothwell going full Disney villain here.

If featherweight Dustin Poirier was a top 10 fighter, then lightweight Dustin Poirier 2.0 is a contender. “The Diamond” has looked damn near untouchable since moving back up to 155, and his performance against Yancy Medeiros last weekend was arguably his best to date. Poirier appeared to have Medeiros’ number from the opening bell, and it was a credit to the Hawaiian’s iron jaw that the fight lasted as long as it did.

With two first round KO’s in his past two fights, who would you like to see Poirier face next, Nation?

I’ve long thought that Alex Caceres has owned one of the most punchable faces in the UFC. I don’t know if it’s the afro or that he has the gall to compare himself in any way, shape, or form to Bruce Lee, but the man has always been a close second to Adrien Grenier on my list of punchable “celebrities.” Thankfully, Francisco Rivera seems to agree with me, and better yet, actually has the means to carry out what I can only dream of while dominating the fellow yellow belts in my dojo.

On the heels of a disappointment/bullshit loss to Urijah Faber at UFC 181, Rivera came out like a man on fire against Caceres, dropping and finishing him with heavy punches before my Hot Pocket even had time to cool off.

Other highlights from Fight Night NOLA included Joe Proctor’s last-second guillotine of Justin Edwards and Shawn Jordan’s aforementioned Sweet Chin Music-ing of Derrick Lewis, both of which can be seen below. Give ‘em a look, along with the full list of results from Fight Night 68.

Main card (FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET)
Dan Henderson def. Tim Boetsch via TKO (strikes) at 0:28 of R1
Ben Rothwell def. Matt Mitrione via submission (go go choke) at 1:54 of round 1
Dustin Poirier def. Yancy Medeiros via TKO (strikes) at 2:38 of round 1
Brian Ortega def. Thiago Tavares via TKO (strikes) at 4:10 of round 3
Anthony Birkchak def. Joe Soto via KO (strikes) at 1:37 of round 1
Francisco Rivera def. Alex Caceres via KO (punch) at :21 or round 1

Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
Shawn Jordan def. Derrick Lewis via TKO (strikes) at :48 of round 2
Omari Akhmedov def. Brian Ebersole via TKO (injury) after round 1
Chris Wade def. Christos Giagos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Joe Proctor def. Justin Edwards via submission (guillotine) at 4:58 of round 3

Undercard
Jake Collier def. Ricardo Abreu via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jose Quinonez def. Leonardo Morales via submission (rear naked choke) 2:34 of round 1

The post Fight Night 68 Highlights/Results: Hendo Starches Boetsch, Rothwell Submits Mitrione, Everyone Finishes Everyone, Basically appeared first on Cagepotato.

Dan Henderson vs. Tim Boetsch Now Headlines Fight Night NOLA, With Ryan Bader Scratched Altogether


(Fun fact: This is the second most re-used photo of Henderson in CagePotato history, next to…well, you know.)

The fallout from Jon Jones’ game of real-life GTA has been well documented at this point. A champion lost his title. A(nother) UFC card lost its original main event. Dana White lost what final strands of hair he could possibly grow. But really, the guy who’s been most screwed over by Jones’ antics is none other than one of his former opponents: Ryan Bader.

You see, Ryan Bader was all set to face Daniel Cormier in the main event of Fight Night 68 (aka Fight Night NOLA) in June. It was a fight that “Darth” would have not only won without breaking a sweat, but one that would have made him the light heavyweight division’s clear #1 contender and set up a rematch with Jones, which again, is a fight he would have come out from practically unscathed. LALALALALA CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!

But now thanks to Bones’ inability to call an Uber, Bader’s originally scheduled opponent for Fight Night 68 has been scooped up to face Anthony Johnson for the now vacant title at UFC 187. Bader, on the other hand, has been scratched from Fight Night 68 altogether. I can think of no greater injustice in recent memory that even compares to the situation poor, poor Ryan Bader has put in. Other than, you know, the pregnant woman whose vehicle was struck by a famous mixed martial artist…who then proceeded to flee with no regard for her well-being.

In any case, Bader is out, and the new Fight Night NOLA headliner is…

The post Dan Henderson vs. Tim Boetsch Now Headlines Fight Night NOLA, With Ryan Bader Scratched Altogether appeared first on Cagepotato.


(Fun fact: This is the second most re-used photo of Henderson in CagePotato history, next to…well, you know.)

The fallout from Jon Jones’ game of real-life GTA has been well documented at this point. A champion lost his title. A(nother) UFC card lost its original main event. Dana White lost what final strands of hair he could possibly grow. But really, the guy who’s been most screwed over by Jones’ antics is none other than one of his former opponents: Ryan Bader.

You see, Ryan Bader was all set to face Daniel Cormier in the main event of Fight Night 68 (aka Fight Night NOLA) in June. It was a fight that “Darth” would have not only won without breaking a sweat, but one that would have made him the light heavyweight division’s clear #1 contender and set up a rematch with Jones, which again, is a fight he would have come out from practically unscathed. LALALALALA CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!

But now thanks to Bones’ inability to call an Uber, Bader’s originally scheduled opponent for Fight Night 68 has been scooped up to face Anthony Johnson for the now vacant title at UFC 187. Bader, on the other hand, has been scratched from Fight Night 68 altogether. I can think of no greater injustice in recent memory that even compares to the situation poor, poor Ryan Bader has put in. Other than, you know, the pregnant woman whose vehicle was struck by a famous mixed martial artist…who then proceeded to flee with no regard for her well-being.

In any case, Bader is out, and the new Fight Night NOLA headliner is…

Dan Henderson vs. Tim Boetsch. You probably could have surmised that by reading the headline.

Originally scheduled as the evening’s co-main event, Henderson and Boetsch will now headline Fight Night 68 in a classic battle of “Two old white dudes swingin’ them bungalows.” Both men have dropped 5 out of their last 7 fights, with Henderson riding a two-fight skid into the June 6th scheduled card. Boetsch, on the other hand, last dropped a second round submission to Thales Leites in a “Fight of the Night” earning affair.

Really, it would be easy to mock this matchup as yet another sign of the UFC stretching itself too thin. I, on the other hand, am choosing to embrace this fight 110%. Think about it, the last time Henderson rode a two-fight skid into a main event, well, he got KO’d by Vitor Belfort in under a minute and a half. BUT AFTER THAT, he knocked out Mauricio Rua in what was undeniably the greatest comeback victory of 2014 and possibly ever. And let us not forget that Boetsch once did this to a human being of comparable size…

Brutiful. Absolutely brutiful.

So yeah, Fight Night 68 isn’t what it once was, but then again, neither is Hendo or The Barbarian. So by the law of multiplying negatives, I do declare that this new main event should be a hell of a scrap!

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