Tag: fighter interview

[EXCLUSIVE] Felice Herrig Talks Bellator 84, Sex Appeal, and How “Dana White Doesn’t Care About Women’s MMA”

By Jared Jones 

In less than an hour, Bellator’s final card of the year will kick off live from The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. Fighting in the only women’s bout of the night will be none other than Felice Herrig, a former Muay Thai wrecking machine turned MMA starlet who has been featured in such programs as Oxygen’s Fight Girls. Tonight, she squares off on the preliminary card against late replacement opponent Patricia Vardonic in a strawweight fight that is sure to convert more than a few fans to this thing called WMMA.

Being the humanitarian that “Lil’ Bulldog” is, she recently set aside some time in her busy schedule to discuss everything from the great injury plague of 2012 to the role of sexuality in female sports with us, so join us after the jump to get inside the head of one of WMMA’s fastest rising prospects in this surprisingly candid interview.

CagePotato: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Felice. First off, we were wondering if you could talk about the controversy surrounding Michele Guitierrez’s withdrawal from Bellator 84. When did you first suspect that she wasn’t being exactly honest about the alleged injury that forced her out of your scheduled fight? 

Felice Herrig: “I had suspected since I signed to fight Michele that she was going to do it. I’ve been in this game a long time and I heard a couple people that trained around her say that she was like 20-some pounds overweight, that she wasn’t going to make it, and that she was asking [her training partners] for tips on how to cut weight. For so long, Michele has done so many things to me that I’ve had to keep quiet about and now I feel like I got to expose her for what she really is.”

By Jared Jones 

In less than an hour, Bellator’s final card of the year will kick off live from The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. Fighting in the only women’s bout of the night will be none other than Felice Herrig, a former Muay Thai wrecking machine turned MMA starlet who has been featured in such programs as Oxygen’s Fight Girls. Tonight, she squares off on the preliminary card against late replacement opponent Patricia Vardonic in a strawweight fight that is sure to convert more than a few fans to this thing called WMMA.

Being the humanitarian that “Lil’ Bulldog” is, she recently set aside some time in her busy schedule to discuss everything from the great injury plague of 2012 to the role of sexuality in female sports with us, so join us after the jump to get inside the head of one of WMMA’s fastest rising prospects in this surprisingly candid interview.

CagePotato: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Felice. First off, we were wondering if you could talk about the controversy surrounding Michele Guitierrez’s withdrawal from Bellator 84. When did you first suspect that she wasn’t being exactly honest about the alleged injury that forced her out of your scheduled fight? 

Felice Herrig: “I had suspected since I signed to fight Michele that she was going to do it. I’ve been in this game a long time and I heard a couple people that trained around her say that she was like 20-some pounds overweight, that she wasn’t going to make it, and that she was asking [her training partners] for tips on how to cut weight. For so long, Michele has done so many things to me that I’ve had to keep quiet about and now I feel like I got to expose her for what she really is.”

While we’re on the subject of injuries, could you give us your take on the ridiculous string of injuries that have plagued MMA this year? Do you think that many of these fighters are being deceitful like your original opponent was?

“I think a lot of fighters are being dishonest. Not all of them, of course; things do happen in this sport that you can’t control. But there’s no real consequences for a fighter if you do that, so why wouldn’t they? If there were fines and you had to prove to a doctor that you were really injured, then yeah, maybe more people wouldn’t pull out so often. I know it happens all the time and it stinks because it’s going to continue to go like that until there’s more harsh consequences. And right now there’s just not.”

Your replacement opponent is Patricia Vadonic, who you defeated by unanimous decision earlier this year. Did you have any hesitation accepting the fight based on that fact? 

“Of course I had hesitation, but at the same time, I’m a fighter and I fight who’s going to step up on short notice. I had already been through my training camp and I was already preparing for Michele, so yeah, there was some hesitation because I didn’t really want to fight her again. But it was also a good thing because I had already fought her, so a last minute replacement who I had already fought wasn’t a bad gig.”

That must relieve some pressure from the fact that this will be your first fight under the Bellator banner since 2010.

“Yeah actually. The thing is, I do really well under pressure. I get really excited, I get motivated, and I want to put on a good show for Bellator. It’s also fortunate because I never really wanted to fight Michele. I had nothing to gain by fighting her. I had already beat her as well, and she’s also on a two fight losing streak and had lost to a girl that I finished. It really didn’t make a whole lot of sense and there was a lot of emotional drama heading into that fight, so I really didn’t want it. But with this fight, I just want to put on a show and make a statement.”

Speaking of Bellator, did you happen to catch the Jessica Eye/Zoila Gurgel fight a couple weeks ago and if so, what did you think of it? 

“I did! Oh my God, I was really looking forward to that fight. Here you have two top-level girls and I never knew how the fight was going to go. But the way Jessica finished her like that, so quickly, I was shocked. I thought it was going to be more of a war, but damn, that standing arm-triangle is a bad gig (laughs). It was amazing. It’s sad to me that the people that have always gotten the most attention in MMA are the bigger girls, the ones in Strikeforce. And here you have two smaller girls like that out there who only diehard MMA fans really know who they are because they haven’t really competed in the same platform. That’s something that will hopefully change now that they’re going to Spike TV.”

Being that you compete in one of the smaller divisions, is it harder to find training partners as opposed to the higher weight classes you mentioned?

“Yeah, I actually don’t have any (laughs). I mean, I have training partners but they’re all men and they’re all bigger. For this training camp I brought in four women, but I don’t have consistent female training partners. It’s frustrating; you go to the gym every day and you never really know where you’re at because guys are either going too hard or way too soft and you don’t have the same feel of a female body. Men move different, they’re bones are different, and it’s just different all around.”

Would your gal pal (All American Wrestler) Carla Esparza be one of the women you brought in, and which would you say has evolved faster: your wrestling or Carla’s striking? 

“I’ve had a ten week training camp for this fight actually, so I flew Carla out to help me get ready and she was out here for a few weeks. This is the second time I’ve trained with her since we fought but she’s just become a really good friend of mine. We get along real well together, we see eye to eye.

I think that I’m getting there with wrestling quicker because there’s more of an urgency to. For a lot of wrestlers, their gameplan is the same, it’s always to take their opponent down and take fighters into their world, which is why wrestlers are so dominant in the sport. That’s why I made it a point to get as good as I can at wrestling, whereas Carla’s striking isn’t a main focus.”

Some of your past opponents like Carla and Michele are currently fighting for InvictaFC. Has Invicta they approached you to fight for them yet?

“They actually have, but I had a year contract with XFC and Bellator has been trying to get me on board for awhile. When I did sign with Bellator, Invicta approached my manager and was like ‘Hey, we’ve heard about this Felice girl and we’d like to have her fight for us.’ But for me, I don’t really have a desire to fight for Invicta. Bellator kind of wants to make me their poster girl and I would rather fight for an organization where there are all men on a card with the one female bout, because then I get a little more attention as opposed to getting thrown in with all these other girl fighters. You kinda get watered down so much that the only people that are gonna watch [those cards] are diehard WMMA fans.

So for me, I’m a fighter and I’m all about fighting, but I’m also about maximizing my exposure. I’m only going to be in this sport for so long and I want to get as much attention as I can so that I can make my name in the sport, but also have a career outside of the sport when I’m done.”

That’s an incredibly honest answer. 

“(laughs) Well, when you do all of these interviews, you always have to be so politically correct. I’m not taking anything away from Invicta; I think they’re a great promotion and what they’re doing is great for females. If I’m given an opportunity to fight [for Invicta], I’m gonna fight, but if I had a choice then probably not. I think the thing with women’s MMA is that you either accept it or you don’t, and more people have accepted male MMA than female, so when I’m on a fight card with all men, then [fans] kind of have no choice whether they want to watch it or not. I’m given more of a shot for someone to give me a chance who might not have before.”

In light of what you just said, were you surprised that Ronda Rousey was recently declared the UFC’s first female champion considering Dana White said that we would never see WMMA in the UFC as little as a year ago?

“No, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Dana White is first of all a money man and for whatever reasonm he’s been promoting Ronda Rousey really heavily. I kind of saw it happening; she’s been the one getting all the publicity and attention so it makes sense that they’re pushing her [in Strikeforce] so that when she made the move over to the UFC there would be more publicity surrounding her. Things change, people change, and when somebody says “I’ll never,” maybe at that point in time they mean it, but things change down the road and different opportunities arise so you have to shift things too.”

Do you think the move will ultimately be a good thing for WMMA, or is the UFC setting themselves up for failure by basically building a division around one person?

“That’s the only thing I have a problem with. Dana White doesn’t care about women’s MMA. He is not creating a division for women, he’s creating one for Ronda. Dana is just going to promote Ronda, so I’m not really that excited. I don’t really care. Megumi Fujii was the top ranked female fighter in the world for a while, but only diehard fans knew about her. Why? Because no one gave her the opportunity to showcase what she could do. Right now, Dana has this thing where he thinks Ronda is the only girl who can fight, but she’s not.

She has her thing and obviously can fight, but just look at the Eye/Gurgel fight. Those girls can both fight and it’s a shame that it’s kind of being put on the back burner as if Ronda is the only woman out there that can fight. I’ve been in this sport a long time and I know that they’re are a lot of women out there who deserve the opportunity as well.”

Some critics of the sport have said that sex appeal has played a larger role in the advancement of WMMA than the actual skill of the participants. As someone who embraces both parts of the equation, what would you say to those critics?

“I mean, it’s always going to play a role and I don’t think that’s ever going to change in general with female sports. Men will always be bigger and stronger; when you think of sports, you think of men’s sports. Look at the WNBA compared to the NBA. Most people aren’t going to be diehard WNBA fans because they love basketball. With women, people need more of a reason to want to watch because mostly men are watching anyways.

If you know that, you’d be stupid not to use it if you had it. People say things about me using my sex appeal, but of course I’m going to use it. It’s good for me, it’s good for my sponsors. It helps me afford to train full time and do other things outside of fighting, because it’s not like fighting pays the bills. Most pop singers who get their big breaks are beautiful and they get those breaks because those are the ones that you can market.”

So can we expect an ESPN: The Body shoot in your future?

“I honestly would love that. A lot of those things have to do with the right opportunities coming at the right times. I’m actually going to be on The Jeff Probst Show on January 11th and I’ve got a lot of things in the works, but whatever happens, happens. I’m sure something like will come out.”

Thanks again for your time. Is there anyone you’d like to thank before you go?

“I’d just like to thank my sponsors: Alienware, Outerwear, Extreme Fit Nutrition, Soldier Fit, True Rival, and Bail Bond.”

I don’t know how to segue into the second exclusive photo Felice sent us, so I’m just going to place it below.

Mark Hunt Calls for Alistair Overeem Rematch, Pride Fanboys Around the World Simultaneously Soil Their Keyboards


(The best way to stop Cheick Kongo from kneeing you in the jewels? Turns out, it’s a simple jab. Who woulda thunk it?) 

As is the case for approximately 95% of the UFC’s current roster, Mark Hunt was forced to pull out of his last scheduled fight (against Stefan Struve) due to injury. But while he’s been quietly recuperating his knee and enjoying his current, not to mention improbable 3 fight win streak in the UFC, he’s apparently also been thinking about leveling the score with some of his former foes. Mainly, that of Alistair Overeem, who defeated Hunt by first round keylock when the two clashed back in June of 2008 at DREAM 5. It was Hunt’s third straight loss to come via form of arm-lock, but it certainly wouldn’t be his most painful.

In either case, it appears that Hunt may have heard through the grapevine that Alistair stated he would prefer to fight as soon as he got his license back, title shot or not, and figured he could kill two birds with one stone. Those two birds being a bit of redemption and possibly the next heavyweight title shot. He told The MMA Hour: 

If they’d like to get me a fight I’d like to get a rematch with Alistair Overeem, you know, when he comes back from his injury or from whatever, his hiatus. You know? I’d like to have my rematch with him. I’d be willing to fight next year so it doesn’t matter. If he gets a title shot, that’s good on him.

We hate to sound like a bunch of little schoolgirls but OMG JOE SILVA BOOK THIS FIGHT WE’LL LUV U 4EVER PLZZ!!


(The best way to stop Cheick Kongo from kneeing you in the jewels? Turns out, it’s a simple jab. Who woulda thunk it?) 

As is the case for approximately 95% of the UFC’s current roster, Mark Hunt was forced to pull out of his last scheduled fight (against Stefan Struve) due to injury. But while he’s been quietly recuperating his knee and enjoying his current, not to mention improbable 3 fight win streak in the UFC, he’s apparently also been thinking about leveling the score with some of his former foes. Mainly, that of Alistair Overeem, who defeated Hunt by first round keylock when the two clashed back in June of 2008 at DREAM 5. It was Hunt’s third straight loss to come via form of arm-lock, but it certainly wouldn’t be his most painful.

In either case, it appears that Hunt may have heard through the grapevine that Alistair stated he would prefer to fight as soon as he got his license back, title shot or not, and figured he could kill two birds with one stone. Those two birds being a bit of redemption and possibly the next heavyweight title shot. He told The MMA Hour: 

If they’d like to get me a fight I’d like to get a rematch with Alistair Overeem, you know, when he comes back from his injury or from whatever, his hiatus. You know? I’d like to have my rematch with him. I’d be willing to fight next year so it doesn’t matter. If he gets a title shot, that’s good on him.

We hate to sound like a bunch of little schoolgirls but OMG JOE SILVA BOOK THIS FIGHT WE’LL LUV U 4EVER PLZZ!!

It may have only taken Overeem a little over a minute to dispatch Hunt the first time they met, and you have to wonder whether or not Overeem would follow a very similar gameplan were these two to fight again, but if there’s even a chance that we can see two PRIDE legends slug it out for the right to the next heavyweight title shot, then we’re all for it. Obviously, the UFC is eyeing Overeem as the next title contender, but on the off chance — and by “off chance,” I mean “with 100% certainty” — that either Junior dos Santos or Cain Velasquez are injured in their upcoming rematch at UFC 155, pitting Overeem against Hunt is basically a win-win. For hardcore fans at least.

On one hand, if Overeem is able to easily dispatch Hunt again, he will at the minimum be given a fight to shake off any ring rust he might have acquired in his time off and cement his status as the #1 contender, whatever that means these days. On the other, if Hunt is able to emerge victorious, it would set up one of the most inconceivable career comeback stories in MMA history. If the UFC couldn’t make some money off of that — which, let’s be honest, is the only thing they’re interested in when it comes to title shots — they should fire their marketing department immediately and hire this guy.

Since Overeem was popped for steroids and cost us one of the greatest fights of 2012, he might as well make it up to both the fans and the UFC in 2013 by accepting this rematch. I know that line of logic doesn’t make any sense, BUT I WANNA SEE THIS FIGHT GOD DAMN IT.

Anyone else drinking my kool-aid?

–J. Jones

“Through The Eyes of the Underdog” Pt. 1: Josh Burkman Talks Injury and Resurgence, Sonnen vs. Jones, and Nightclub Brawls With Phil Baroni [EXCLUSIVE]

By Jared Jones

Unless you’ve been a close follower of the Utah MMA scene over the past few years, chances are that you’ve probably forgotten all about TUF 2 alum Josh Burkman. After a three fight skid saw him ousted from the UFC back in 2008, Burkman took over a year and a half off to recover from several injuries that could have ended any lesser man’s career, injuries Burkman admits in hindsight that he should have addressed much earlier. But if you were to ask Josh how the past few years have treated him, you’d think he was on top of the world.

I called Josh at approximately 5:15 p.m. EST yesterday. He was just stepping into his house after a long day of training for his November 3rd match against fellow UFC veteran Gerald Harris on the inaugural card of the Ray Sefo-run World Series of Fighting promotion. It’s a win that could very well propel “The People’s Warrior” back into the octagon for the first time in over four years, yet he doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of the pressure getting to him. I ask him how he’s doing. “Life is good,” he tells me, making sure to kiss his ten day old son as soon as he enters the house. From the get-go, I can tell that Josh is a much more open and laid back guy than some of the fighters I’ve dealt with in the past. But little did I know that before our conversation was over, we would discuss everything from his career comeback and newly found lease on life to his infamous in and out of the ring brawls with Jeremy Horn and Phil Baroni.

By Jared Jones

Unless you’ve been a close follower of the Utah MMA scene over the past few years, chances are that you’ve probably forgotten all about TUF 2 alum Josh Burkman. After a three fight skid saw him ousted from the UFC back in 2008, Burkman took over a year and a half off to recover from several injuries that could have ended any lesser man’s career, injuries Burkman admits in hindsight that he should have addressed much earlier. But if you were to ask Josh how the past few years have treated him, you’d think he was on top of the world.

I called Josh at approximately 5:15 p.m. EST yesterday. He was just stepping into his house after a long day of training for his November 3rd match against fellow UFC veteran Gerald Harris on the inaugural card of the Ray Sefo-run World Series of Fighting promotion. It’s a win that could very well propel “The People’s Warrior” back into the octagon for the first time in over four years, yet he doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of the pressure getting to him. I ask him how he’s doing. “Life is good,” he tells me, making sure to kiss his ten day old son as soon as he enters the house. From the get-go, I can tell that Josh is a much more open and laid back guy than some of the fighters I’ve dealt with in the past. But little did I know that before our conversation was over, we would discuss everything from his career comeback and newly found lease on life to his infamous in and out of the ring brawls with Jeremy Horn and Phil Baroni.

I started by asking him all the formalities about Harris — what Josh thinks his strongest and weakest areas are and how he has trained to deal with them– and he was more than frank when assessing his upcoming opponent. But rather than detail how he planned to defeat Harris, Burkman simply stated that the intrigue of figuring out another person’s fighting style is one of the reasons he became a mixed martial artist in the first place:

“[Harris] is so big and strong and he’s got heavy hands. And he’s a great wrestler. He seems to be able to control his fights and take them where he wants them to go. It’s always fun for me going into a fight to figure that out, and that’s kind of what my training revolves around; figuring out that problem out and how that plays into my game. It all comes out on November 3rd and I’m ready for that. That’s why I fight. I fight for that competition, for that chance to figure someone out, and I feel I’m more prepared for Gerald Harris than I’ve been for any other fight in my career.”

I asked Burkman whether or not he viewed himself as the underdog coming into the fight and Josh was quick to admit that he had been out of the public eye for quite a while longer than Harris, and could therefore find himself playing that role whether he wants to or not:

“You know, Gerald Harris, he’s kind of been in a bigger scene than I’ve been in as of late. I think that most people have heard about what he’s been doing a little bit more; he’s a little bit more high-profile than I am going into this fight and I think that’s probably what people are seeing.”

But don’t be fooled, Burkman is not exactly selling himself short. He mentioned that, since coming back from the devastating injuries that limited him during his last few fights in the UFC, he’s racked up five wins against only one loss, including wins over Bellator vet Jordan Smith (who was undefeated at the time) and UFC veterans Brandon Melendez and Jamie Yager.

“Harris is in that line of each opponent being better and better than the last for me. I think Harris the best guy I’ve fought since I’ve comeback, and I’m gonna try and show that. It’s coming quick, isn’t it?” he says with a chuckle.

As any conversation with a UFC veteran such as Burkman will inevitably take, we began to talk about his former promotion. Specifically, whether or not he felt a win over Harris would earn him another shot at Zuffa glory.

“This fight is right where I want to be in my career. I went on a nice little run in the UFC, then I got injured, and I couldn’t train like I wanted to train. I had to take a year and a half off and during that year and a half off I didn’t know whether I would be able to comeback and fight or not. As I came back, I wanted to fight in Utah and I fought Melendez and Smith, two guys that were big names in Utah and had fought on the UFC and Bellator level. I had to prove to myself that I could fight at that level again. And once I was able to, I was like ‘Alright, let’s step it up a little bit, then step it up a little bit more.’

When I was first in the UFC, I had only been fighting for two years and I was getting big fights and a lot of publicity. I felt like I was learning as I was going and as I was fighting. Now, I feel like I’ve been around and learned a lot of the different styles. I’ve trained with guys like Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture and the best in the business. I’ve kind of brought all that into my own style.”

But even more than what Burkman has been up to professionally, he credited his recent marriage to International Yoga Champion Brandy Lyn Winfield and incredibly recent birth of his son as the factors that pushed him to prove to the world that he was ready for another shot at the big time.

“All of those things have now come together to where I’m ready to get back out on a bigger scene and see how much better I am than I was then. A win over Gerald Harris let’s everyone know that [I] haven’t been sitting around. I’m better than I’ve ever been and I think that’s what this fight is going to show.”

Click on the “next page” tab to hear Burkman discuss everything from his former training partner Chael Sonnen’s upcoming TUF gig/fight against Jon Jones to the time he was spit on by Jeremy Horn and cheap-shotted by Phil Baroni at a nightclub. 

Turns Out, Cris Cyborg Was Figuratively Dicknailed by CSAC Prior to the Rousey/Kaufman Fight


(WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S NO FOAMING OF THE MOUTH ALLOWED IN THIS ARENA?!)

You might recall that in the immediate aftermath of Ronda Rousey’s win over Sarah Kaufman last weekend, “Rowdy” called out former women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. Unlike past Strikeforce events, Cyborg was not allowed to enter the ring and cause a full-fledged riot for our entertainment, and in fact was actually removed from her seat in the audience before the fight even started.

Why, you ask? Well, it turns out that the California State Athletic Commission has a rule declaring that any fighter under a current suspension is not allowed inside to be at a professional mixed martial arts event. Cyborg shared your current confusion while she was being removed form the audience, telling Tatame in a recent interview:

I watched all fights but on the last one, Ronda’s, a woman working on the event came to tell me I had to leave because the commission doesn’t accept suspended athletes on the shows. My manager talked to the guys at the commission and there’s really a law that says that.

I was upset for the way they treated me. They could’ve pulled me on a corner and told me, not in front of the fans. I was taking pictures and they interrupted me, saying I had to go. It was very disrespectful. I believe a champion deserves to be treated with respect. Everyone knows an athlete’s life isn’t easy, so all fighters deserve respect. When I was in Brazil I watched UFC and there was no problem.

An odd rule indeed, made all the more unusual by the fact that the commission decided to wait until the main event to inform Cyborg that she wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place, which is the equivalent of letting a homeless man wander into your dinner party uninvited and waiting until the nightcap to kick him out.

More news on the Cyborg/Rousey match is after the jump.


(WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S NO FOAMING OF THE MOUTH ALLOWED IN THIS ARENA?!)

You might recall that in the immediate aftermath of Ronda Rousey’s win over Sarah Kaufman last weekend, “Rowdy” called out former women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. Unlike past Strikeforce events, Cyborg was not allowed to enter the ring and cause a full-fledged riot for our entertainment, and in fact was actually removed from her seat in the audience before the fight even started.

Why, you ask? Well, it turns out that the California State Athletic Commission has a rule declaring that any fighter under a current suspension is not allowed inside to be at a professional mixed martial arts event. Cyborg shared your current confusion while she was being removed form the audience, telling Tatame in a recent interview:

I watched all fights but on the last one, Ronda’s, a woman working on the event came to tell me I had to leave because the commission doesn’t accept suspended athletes on the shows. My manager talked to the guys at the commission and there’s really a law that says that.

I was upset for the way they treated me. They could’ve pulled me on a corner and told me, not in front of the fans. I was taking pictures and they interrupted me, saying I had to go. It was very disrespectful. I believe a champion deserves to be treated with respect. Everyone knows an athlete’s life isn’t easy, so all fighters deserve respect. When I was in Brazil I watched UFC and there was no problem.

An odd rule indeed, made all the more unusual by the fact that the commission decided to wait until the main event to inform Cyborg that she wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place, which is the equivalent of letting a homeless man wander into your dinner party uninvited and waiting until the nightcap to kick him out.

And even if she was able to make it to the hexagon, it wouldn’t really have mattered, because the chances of Rousey/Cyborg happening at 135 are about as good as Mayweather/Pacquiao:

I watched it from upstairs, standing up. I thought he (sic?) did a great job fighting, had a good performance. She’s a great athlete on her division. This is my last interview on which I’m talking about her. I’m making clear to the fans who want to see this fight that if it’s up to me and her it will never happen because I’m not dropping to her weight class and she can’t gain few pounds to fight me.

So I’m only talking about her again if I sign a contract because then it will be a fight that will actually happen. It doesn’t depend on me, it’s up to Strikeforce to decide. If they want this fight they will have to come to an agreement so that both of us are happy. 

Well, Ms. Borg, it’s not that Ronda couldn’t gain the necessary weight — she fought two fights at 145 under the Strikeforce banner — it’s that she shouldn’t have to. And before some of you more jilted readers jump on me for hugging Rousey’s ovaries (although I would give my right arm to do so. ZING!), please first consider that Ronda is the champ in this scenario. Cyborg was the champ, but managed to fuck that up on her own. And as far as the weight cut is concerned, I recently listened to a pretty great discussion on the matter during a recent episode of The Co-Main Event Podcast, which I would highly recommend you all check out. And I’m not just saying that because Old Dad and Chad Dundas are running it; it is truly as entertaining as it is informative, and the listeners control a lot of the content they discuss. Plus, they have a recurring segment called “Are You Fucking Kidding Me?!”, which is always a good idea.

But anyway, when they came upon the topic of Cyborg’s weight, Dundas brought to light the fact that she had enough trouble enough making 145 in the past, to which Fowlkes responded that it might even make her look worse if she was suddenly able to make 135 on the tail end of a steroid suspension. And while there is no doubting the incredibly muscular physique that Cyborg possesses, I would have to agree with Fowlkes. Guys like Dominick Cruz, Francisco Rivera, and Roland Delorme to name a few stand at roughly the same height as Cyborg, if not taller, and are able to make the cut to 135 with ease. Does Cyborg really have that much more muscle mass than either of those gentlemen? Perhaps in the past, but that is more than likely not the case nowadays.

In either case, we need this fight to happen. The Rousey haters need to see if she can truly be defeated, and the Rousey lovers need her prove that she is truly the best fighter in WMMA history. Let’s face it, Cyborg is the last legitimate threat to Rousey in the foreseeable future, and even Dana White tweeted that the fight would be good enough for a UFC pay-per-view:

Dave Farra@DaveFarra

Dana White: Yes, I could see @RondaRousey vs. Cyborg as a co-main or main event for a @ufc pay per view. Rousey is incredible.

Considering White’s complete reluctance to even accept the idea of WMMA in the UFC in the past, that’s quite a statement.

–J. Jones

Report: Johny Hendricks to Face Martin Kampmann in Number One Contender Bout at UFC 154


(Earning red wings: It is a messier right of passage for some than for others.) 

If the name hadn’t already been used for UFC 125, Resolution would be the perfect title for UFC 154, which promises to finally clear up the traffic jam that has clogged the welterweight division for what has felt like an eternity. Not only will it feature the potential return of Georges St. Pierre, who will in turn battle interim champ Carlos Condit for the bragging rights of a division that has long been missing them, but now it appears that the winner of that bout (ruling out any horrific decisions or immediate rematches) will have his next (or first) challenger already lined up.

Word has it that Martin Kampmann, fresh off yet another come-from-behind victory over Jake Ellenberger at the TUF 15 Finale will be facing hard hitting Johny Hendricks at the same event to determine the true number one contender at 170 lbs. This sounds all too familiar for Hendricks, who was promised the next title shot if he were to beat Josh Koscheck at UFC on FOX 3 last month. He did, and was promptly denied in favor of a Condit/GSP showdown. “Bigg Rigg” was rather blunt about his disappointment in a recent interview with MMAFighting, but stated that it wasn’t going to peeve him for too long.

Hear what Hendricks had to say after the jump. 


(Earning red wings: It is a messier right of passage for some than for others.) 

If the name hadn’t already been used for UFC 125, Resolution would be the perfect title for UFC 154, which promises to finally clear up the traffic jam that has clogged the welterweight division for what has felt like an eternity. Not only will it feature the potential return of Georges St. Pierre, who will in turn battle interim champ Carlos Condit for the bragging rights of a division that has long been missing them, but now it appears that the winner of that bout (ruling out any horrific decisions or immediate rematches) will have his next (or first) challenger already lined up.

Word has it that Martin Kampmann, fresh off yet another come-from-behind victory over Jake Ellenberger at the TUF 15 Finale will be facing hard hitting Johny Hendricks at the same event to determine the true number one contender at 170 lbs. This sounds all too familiar for Hendricks, who was promised the next title shot if he were to beat Josh Koscheck at UFC on FOX 3 last month. He did, and was promptly denied in favor of a Condit/GSP showdown. “Bigg Rigg” was rather blunt about his disappointment in a recent interview with MMAFighting, but stated that it wasn’t going to peeve him for too long:

It is what it is. I feel like I fought the best guys at 170 in our division and I’ve won, but it looks like I have to get through one more person, and that’s just the way it goes. You can either sit here and complain about it or you can sit there and do your best to win it.

Of course you’re disappointed. You get promised a title shot and then something happens and it doesn’t happen. But then again, that’s the nature of this business. There’s always good fights going on, you just have to win each one.

I’m training for a five-round fight because if one of them gets hurt, I got to take my opportunity when I can.

As we previously reported, Kampmann is scheduled to undergo minor surgery to repair a torn meniscus that has been bothering him for some time, but will only be out of action for a month or so. In that article, we also suggested that these matchups would be the most sensible ones given the current situation, so we’d like to thank the UFC blogging intern who helps keep us in line for finally taking our advice.

Who you got , Potato Nation?

–J. Jones