Tag: fight of the night

Tim Kennedy Argues With Yoel Romero Backstage At UFC 178 About #Stoolgate, Shirtless Debate Ensues


(Photo via Getty)

At UFC 178, Tim Kennedy was on the cusp of knocking out Yoel Romero in the dying seconds of round two, after he had endured a difficult 10 minutes against the Cuban powerhouse in their main card battle. Kennedy, who also grabbed Romero’s gloves to land several uppercuts, had “Soldier of God” in a world of hurt, as he continued to pounce on his adversary. The horn saved Romero, and as referee “Big” John McCarthy separated both fighters and ordered them to their respective corners, Romero looked as if he had spent three days in an afterhours club hopped up on Molly.

He had no clue where he was, sat on his stool, and looked quite petrified as he mumbled words to his coaches.

As both fighters were summoned for the third and final round, Romero just sat there while his coaches moved like tortoises exiting the cage. Despite his corner men stalling, Romero was still on his stool, with too much Vaseline on him. His corner proceeded to wipe it off, while the American walked around frustrated. As Joe Rogan went ballistic, the fight wasn’t called off, a point wasn’t even deducted, and more so, “Big” John McCarthy didn’t do a damn thing about it.

Seconds into the third round, Romero dropped Kennedy, pummeled him to hell and back, and stood over his bloody foe in victory after being awarded with the stoppage victory.

Pretty strange, huh?

Now, this reeks of controversy from both sides. Kennedy’s blatant glove-grabbing maybe wasn’t worthy of disqualification, yet Romero on his stool was pretty atrocious. Even if the fighter has too much Vaseline on him, which according to Dana White at the post-fight presser, was the promotion’s fault because it was one of their employees, he shouldn’t be chilling on the stool. But here’s the thing … were the corner men told to exit before taking the stool? Probably. However, isn’t it their job to actually take the stool?

Take a look at the confrontation between both fighters backstage, courtesy of a Vine post (props to MMA Fighting for the link) after the jump.


(Photo via Getty)

At UFC 178, Tim Kennedy was on the cusp of knocking out Yoel Romero in the dying seconds of round two, after he had endured a difficult 10 minutes against the Cuban powerhouse in their main card battle. Kennedy, who also grabbed Romero’s gloves to land several uppercuts, had “Soldier of God” in a world of hurt, as he continued to pounce on his adversary. The horn saved Romero, and as referee “Big” John McCarthy separated both fighters and ordered them to their respective corners, Romero looked as if he had spent three days in an afterhours club hopped up on Molly.

He had no clue where he was, sat on his stool, and looked quite petrified as he mumbled words to his coaches.

As both fighters were summoned for the third and final round, Romero just sat there while his coaches moved like tortoises exiting the cage. Despite his corner men stalling, Romero was still on his stool, with too much Vaseline on him. His corner proceeded to wipe it off, while the American walked around frustrated. As Joe Rogan went ballistic, the fight wasn’t called off, a point wasn’t even deducted, and more so, “Big” John McCarthy didn’t do a damn thing about it.

Seconds into the third round, Romero dropped Kennedy, pummeled him to hell and back, and stood over his bloody foe in victory after being awarded with the stoppage victory.

Pretty strange, huh?

Now, this reeks of controversy from both sides. Kennedy’s blatant glove-grabbing maybe wasn’t worthy of disqualification, yet Romero on his stool was pretty atrocious. Even if the fighter has too much Vaseline on him, which according to Dana White at the post-fight presser, was the promotion’s fault because it was one of their employees, he shouldn’t be chilling on the stool. But here’s the thing … were the corner men told to exit before taking the stool? Probably. However, isn’t it their job to actually take the stool?

Let’s take a look at the confrontation between both fighters backstage, courtesy of a Vine post (props to MMA Fighting for the link):

We’re probably set for more footage shortly, via video blogs or UFC Embedded. Also, Kennedy found the exact ruling from the Nevada Athletic Commission regarding recovery in between rounds, and shared it via Twitter:

The American plans to file a complain with the commission in the upcoming days, according to MMA Junkie. It remains to be seen if the commission will act on this matter, or if it’s just an unfortunate circumstance that won’t be fixed altogether.

So immediate rematch of last night’s “Fight of The Night?” Nah, I think we’re good. Potential change to a no-contest? Maybe … just maybe (doubt it, though).

Watch: Highlights from UFC on FOX 9?s Fight of the Night—Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo [VIDEO]

(Video via MSN)

Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo was the best fight in a pretty decent night of fights overall. What made it so special? Well, with the above highlights, you’ll be able to see for yourself.

First of all, it was a fantastic mixed martial arts contest. MMA fights turn into C-level kickboxing or 15-minute bouts of clinching too often these days. Barboza-Castillo reminded us what the sport is capable of in terms of excitement. There were near KOs, there were takedowns, there wear submission attempts. Their match represented the full range of fighting.

Second, the fight represented a comeback—not a Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami level comeback—but a comeback nonetheless. Castillo brutalized Barboza in the first round; it appeared the Brazilian striking phenom was out of his depth. Barboza manged to reverse fortunes in the second round with leg kicks; his shins were meat tenderizers.

The third round was close, but it was ultimately Barboza that got the nod from the judges, winning via majority decision.

For their efforts, both men took home an extra $50,000 as part of the “Fight of the Night” bonus.


(Video via MSN)

Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo was the best fight in a pretty decent night of fights overall. What made it so special? Well, with the above highlights, you’ll be able to see for yourself.

First of all, it was a fantastic mixed martial arts contest. MMA fights turn into C-level kickboxing or 15-minute bouts of clinching too often these days. Barboza-Castillo reminded us what the sport is capable of in terms of excitement. There were near KOs, there were takedowns, there were submission attempts. The match represented the full range of fighting.

Second, the fight represented a comeback—not a Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami level comeback—but a comeback nonetheless. Castillo brutalized Barboza in the first round; it appeared the Brazilian striking phenom was out of his depth. Barboza manged to reverse fortunes in the second round with leg and body kicks; his shins were meat tenderizers.

The third round was close, but it was ultimately Barboza that got the nod from the judges, winning via majority decision.

For their efforts, both men took home an extra $50,000 as part of the “Fight of the Night” bonus.

UFC 117 Aftermath: Anderson Silva Earns an Extra $120K for Getting His Ass Handed to Him for 23 Minutes

(The world’s "top pound-for-pound fighter" in the midst of proving his greatness at UFC 117. PicPops: Esther Lin/Fanhouse)
Whatever “demon effigy” Anderson Silva and Ed Soares really do worship, he certainly turned out to be…


(The world’s "top pound-for-pound fighter" in the midst of proving his greatness at UFC 117. PicPops: Esther Lin/Fanhouse)

Whatever “demon effigy” Anderson Silva and Ed Soares really do worship, he certainly turned out to be the better God on Saturday night. If nothing else, Silva’s prayers were answered at UFC 117 when his Hail Mary triangle choke somehow found the mark around Chael Sonnen’s neck with a minute, 50 seconds left in a fight the challenger had dominated for four complete rounds. Sonnen kind of tapped, referee Josh Rosenthal kind of stopped the fight and Silva kind of proved he is still the best 185-pound fighter in the world. So much for the vengeful Christian God that Republican wrestlers from Oregon prance and dance in front of, we guess.

There will no doubt be more than a couple breathless accounts of Silva’s “miraculous comeback” in the MMA media during the next few days, but let’s make no mistake here: Anderson Silva’s greatness was not on display Saturday night. In fact, if the UFC’s so-called “performance-based bonuses” are actually in any way based on performance, Big DW should take that $120,000 he evenly split between the two main eventers for “Fight of the Night” and give about $90,000 of it to Sonnen. Because really, only one guy had the “fight of the night” at UFC 117. The other guy just sort of got lucky.

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