Tag: Fighting

MMA Knockout of the Day: Carlos Condit Becomes the First to Knock Out Dan Hardy

Before interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit ever got his shot at a UFC title, the former WEC champ had to work his way through some of the welterweight division’s toughest opposition, including former UFC title challenger Dan Hardy.After two…

Before interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit ever got his shot at a UFC title, the former WEC champ had to work his way through some of the welterweight division’s toughest opposition, including former UFC title challenger Dan Hardy.

After two hard-fought victories against Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger, both of who have only lost to Condit in the UFC, “the Natural Born Killer” went to London, England, to take on the British fighter in front of 17,000 hometown fans at UFC 120.

Before battling Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight championship, Hardy had defeated fighters like Mike Swick and Marcus Davis to extend his UFC record to 4-0. His losing but valiant effort against GSP earned him respect from the majority of MMA fans who thought he may have earned the title shot too soon.

There was no shortage of trash-talk leading up to the fight, at least on the side of “the Outlaw,” and many fans were anticipating a three-round war between Hardy and Condit.

It fell short of expectations in terms of length but not in terms of excitement. During an exchange where both fighters threw left hooks, Condit landed first and more accurately to put Hardy down and out.

Condit would eventually fight for the interim title at UFC 140 against Nick Diaz. He won a unanimous decision and set himself up for a chance to fight one of the most accomplished fighters to ever step foot inside the Octagon in GSP.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dominick Cruz: TUF Live Coach Doesn’t Know What Urijah Faber Is Good at

When you are a current UFC champion, you would think more people would recognize you. That isn’t the case with the UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. That should change starting tonight as Cruz will be coaching alongside Urijah Faber as The Ultim…

When you are a current UFC champion, you would think more people would recognize you. That isn’t the case with the UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. That should change starting tonight as Cruz will be coaching alongside Urijah Faber as The Ultimate Fighter Live debuts Friday tonight.

The premiere will feature 32 fighters and 16 fights and starts at 9 PM ET/PT on FX.

Cruz mentally feels that he will be nervous throughout the season, but he thrives on that.

“It’s definitely something I’ve never experienced before,” Cruz told me. “I’d say that the only way I can really be prepared for something like this is to be nervous. I mean, that’s my outlook on it. Nerves keep you sharp, nerves keep you strong, nerves make me perform at my best, they’ll help me coach at my best and you’ll get the best out of me when I’m nervous.

“The fact I don’t know what’s going to be thrown at me on these episodes throughout the entire 13 weeks gives me those nerves and that’s a good thing. There’s no way to prepare. All you can do is be yourself, be real and show the world who I am. I think it’s gunna be good because it’s gunna show the world the style I fight, the way I approach fights and the way I win fights.”

Unlike Faber, who said he is going to be bringing in outside help along with the guys at Team Alpha Male, Cruz is staying with his home base, Alliance MMA. And that’s the way he likes it.

“I’m going to be bringing in guys from time to time, but they are all guys from my team,” Cruz said. “I haven’t gotten where I’m at by myself. I’m not gunna coach these guys by myself. I’m gunna give these guys the same benefits that I’ve had and that’s Team Alliance. All the guys I have around me to get me through these fight camps.

“Eric Del Fierro, Phil Davis, Wilson Reyes, Phil Nurse, Lloyd Irvin, the list goes on. These are all the guys that have been responsible for things I’ve done and we all work together to get there.”

Cruz thinks the new live format is going to effect the fighters and he’s going to prepare them as best as he can.

“It’s just gunna be a big mental bust for these guys is the biggest thing,” Cruz said. “These guys are gunna have to deal with being on the show twice the amount of time as the past contestants on the show. Really it’s about staying healthy and dealing with the mind. I know I say that a lot, but that’s what it is. Keeping the weight down, staying healthy, keeping your spirits up in situations and just keeping them sharp.

“It’s gunna be a lot of drilling, a lot of conditioning and try to keep the body as preserved as possible because they are also going to be cutting weight potentially fighting every week. it’s a little bit of a different approach, but we’ll get it together and figure it out throughout the show.”

Cruz has a parting shot for his rival on what he feels he will be better than Faber at this season.

“The one thing I say I’m going to be better at is just, um, I don’t know,” Cruz said. “I really don’t know what Faber’s good at.”

 

You can listen to the entire interview here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Georges St-Pierre and 9 Other Fighters Who Have Changed Their Styles

Current welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has very few peers. Since joining the UFC, GSP has taken on and dominated incredible fighters who hold strengths in all areas.He has defeated world class strikers like Thiago Alves, wrestling phenoms like…

Current welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has very few peers. Since joining the UFC, GSP has taken on and dominated incredible fighters who hold strengths in all areas.

He has defeated world class strikers like Thiago Alves, wrestling phenoms like Jon Fitch, all-time greats like Matt Hughes and BJ Penn, brawlers like Dan Hardy, jiu-jitsu icons like Penn and Jake Shields and well rounded threats like Matt Serra and Josh Koscheck who present danger standing and on the ground.

While Georges now adapts his fighting style based on the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, this wasn’t always the case. The man known as “Rush” certainly has the right to be confident in his abilities, but losses to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra taught the champ that he isn’t always the best man in every area of the fight.

Taking advantage of the holes in Hughes’ standup is smarter than rolling with him. Avoiding the heavy hands of Matt Serra is a more intelligent strategy than trading blows and hoping that yours will land harder.

Strategy is the reason that Georges has changed over the years. Now that he has perfected the craft of honing in on the best game plan, his old style of going out there and doing what felt right has faded into the darkness.

Clearly, it works for him. St-Pierre is the king of the division and hopes to remain on his throne for a long time.

This is a look at some other notable fighters who have dramatically changed their styles since the first time we saw them step foot inside the Octagon.

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TUF Live: 5 Lightweight Fighters to Watch out for

After 14 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, it was abundantly clear that the show’s formula was stale. It needed a new wrinkle, something that would drastically change things up and help draw fans back to the show that launched the careers of notable sta…

After 14 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, it was abundantly clear that the show’s formula was stale. It needed a new wrinkle, something that would drastically change things up and help draw fans back to the show that launched the careers of notable stars like Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Josh Koscheck.

Season 15 is giving the show the change it needed. No longer will the entire show be taped months in advance. Now, for the first time ever, each Friday night episode of the show on FX will feature live fighting. The fighter’s activities during the week leading up to the fight will be taped, but the action in the cage will play out in real time.

It’ll add a new level of drama to the show that hasn’t existed up until now. After all, there’s just something about live sporting action.

But before this latest batch of UFC hopefuls can move into the house and start preparing for a 13-week grind that will take them well into the summer months, they’ll have to compete in elimination fights to determine who goes into the house and who goes home. Those fights—all 16 of them—will air live tomorrow night on FX. 

Let’s take a look at five fighters to watch out for during tomorrow night’s debut episode of the show and beyond.

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Cody Gibson: ‘I Can Compete with Guys in the UFC’

“All I do is win, win, win no matter what..”According to up-and-coming MMA star Cody Gibson (5-2), that’s exactly what he needs to do in order to arrive to his long-awaited destination, the UFC.”As far as I’m told, all I need to do is keep stringing to…

“All I do is win, win, win no matter what..”

According to up-and-coming MMA star Cody Gibson (5-2), that’s exactly what he needs to do in order to arrive to his long-awaited destination, the UFC.

“As far as I’m told, all I need to do is keep stringing together wins,” Gibson told Bleacher Report. “My goal is to get into the UFC by the end of this year.”

And unless the price is right, don’t expect Gibson to be anywhere but the UFC when his time comes.

In fact, Gibson’s strong desire and goal of competing at the highest level could lead to him turning down other large promotions.

“Honestly I don’t know if I want to take the Bellator route even though there’s an opportunity to make a lot of money. I don’t think that’s for me,” said Gibson. “I see myself in the UFC.”

“If Bellator came to me it might be hard to turn down, but then again it might not be. The UFC is my ultimate goal so that’s where I want to be,” said Gibson.

However, before Gibson, also known as “The Renegade” can see his dream become a reality, he’ll need to defeat Casey Olsen (13-3) in the main event of the evening at Tachi Palace Fights 12.

Olsen, who has an impressive resume of his own, will attempt to win his third consecutive bout and move closer towards the UFC waters as well.

When the opening bell sounds, it will be Gibson who will want to keep action on his feet despite having a reputable background in wrestling.

“He’s going to be tough to finish mainly because he has a lot of heart. He won’t give up mentally that’s for sure so I don’t expect to be able to break him mentally.He’s a strong wrestler but I think he’ll be surprised when he gets in there with me and realizes he can’t overpower me with his strength. I’ve been told I’m very strong, and a lot of my opponents are surprised by that,” said Gibson. “Hopefully he is too.”

“He has a big overhand right and his wrestling is his bread and butter. He’ll try to take me down and lay on top so it’s my goal to stop that. I think I’m a little more evolved,” Gibson said. “His wrestling credentials are probably a littler better than mine but I don’t think that means he’ll be able to pick me up and throw me on my back. I think my stand-up will be my biggest advantage. He’s kind of one-dimensional in some ways.”

Win, lose or draw, there won’t be any weeks off for Gibson as he’s already slated for another fight in 20 days.

Gibson believes staying busy could be his boarding pass to the UFC, as long as he can display an impressive showing each time he takes the center stage.

“I’ve already got a fight lined up for March 30th which will be 20 days later in Anaheim. I want to win impressively and make sure I’m being recognized. I think there are a lot of guys I can compete with in the UFC,” said Gibson. “I also think there are a lot of guys outside who can compete with some of the guys in there.”

“I believe I’m one of them.”

 

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Ultimate Fighter: Joe Rogan Recalls His Favorite Moments

The UFC’s Ultimate Fighter series returns later tonight with a new format and a much-needed revamping of the series that brought the sport to a whole new level seven years ago. To add to the new look and live drama, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick C…

The UFC’s Ultimate Fighter series returns later tonight with a new format and a much-needed revamping of the series that brought the sport to a whole new level seven years ago. To add to the new look and live drama, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will coach opposite former WEC champ Urijah Faber.

To kick off TUF 15, which airs live on FX at 9 p.m. ET, UFC commentator Joe Rogan looks back at some of his most memorable moments of the series in this special UFC video.

Rogan speaks for all of us when he talks about the significance of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar from the debut season.

After an intense season featuring future top contenders like Josh Koscheck, Kenny Florian, Chris Leben and Diego Sanchez, Griffin and Bonnar fought in one of the more entertaining scraps ever in the history of the UFC.

Also covered is season five, which featured lightweight rivals B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver. It had been five years since Pulver defeated Penn to win the UFC lightweight belt, and the future pound-for-pound star was seeking redemption to put the rivalry to rest.

Penn did so by defeating Pulver at the TUF 5 finale and would go on to capture the lightweight championship by defeating Joe Stevenson at UFC 80.

In one of the more memorable seasons, former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson coached heavyweights before their much-anticipated fight at UFC 114. Evans would be the one to back up the trash-talk by winning a unanimous decision.

For this season, notable changes include the fights being broadcast live over 13 weeks. The season premiere will be a 2.5 hour episode featuring 16 bouts.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com