Tension is building between former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber (26-5) and reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (19-1) and they will both be fighting in a highly anticipated rematch later this year.The first time they met, Cruz w…
Tension is building between former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber (26-5) and reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (19-1) and they will both be fighting in a highly anticipated rematch later this year.
The first time they met, Cruz was undefeated and 9-0 in MMA. In his first bout in the WEC, he lost to “The California Kid” by guillotine choke in the first round. It would be the most important thing to happen to him in his career, as he would go on to win every fight after that, including a rematch with Faber at UFC 136.
“The guy is a good fighter,” said Faber, who dropped a unanimous decision loss to Cruz two fights ago. “The guy is good at what he does, which is scoring some points. He’s not dangerous. He’s not scary. I knocked him down three different times in three different rounds. He had 11 takedown attempts and basically got one and a half.”
Cruz’s win-streak includes wins over Faber, Demetrious Johnson, Scott Jorgensen, Joseph Benavidez and Brian Bowles. He also holds a win over UFC flyweight contender Ian McCall.
“If the guy thinks I don’t know how to beat him, I already did beat him,” Faber continued. “The guy is alive right now ’cause there are rules in MMA and I had to release his neck and let him breathe so you’re welcome Dominick Cruz, for giving you life and letting you live. Next time, I’m going to do the same thing. I’m going to let you live, but it’s going to be painful.”
Faber will enter the bout having come off his impressive second round submission win over Bowles, which took place at UFC 139.
The bout is expected to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 7 and will be following The Ultimate Fighter 15, where Cruz and Faber will both be opposing coaches.
This weekend’s UFC on FX 2 will feature a clash between welterweight contenders and the long-awaited introduction of the 125-pound division to MMA’s premier organization.In the card’s main event, Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann will both be attem…
This weekend’s UFC on FX 2 will feature a clash between welterweight contenders and the long-awaited introduction of the 125-pound division to MMA‘s premier organization.
In the card’s main event, Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann will both be attempting to pick up their second straight win in a fight that could catapult one of them toward contending for the 170-pound title.
Both fighters have had their highs and lows over their last few fights, but a win at UFC on FX 2 could quickly erase the impact of their recent defeats.
Before Alves and Kampmann enter the Octagon, four flyweights—Joseph Benavidez, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall—will compete for the chance to fight in the UFC’s first ever 125-pound title fight.
Before Friday’s event, the fighters will hit the scales at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. Video of the weigh-ins will be streamed live on the above video player. After the weigh-ins, stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA for all the latest on UFC on FX 2 and the rest of your MMA needs.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
Aside from the exciting UFC lightweight title fight that will certainly be a Fight of the Year candidate, the other storyline coming out of UFC 144 is the embarrassing performance given by former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Afte…
Aside from the exciting UFC lightweight title fight that will certainly be a Fight of the Year candidate, the other storyline coming out of UFC 144 is the embarrassing performance given by former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
After tipping the scales at 211 lbs—five pounds over the 206 lb limit—Rampage looked out of shape and uninspired. It’s widely known that Ryan Bader wasn’t Rampage’s first choice of opponent for UFC 144.
When interviewed after his lost to current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 135, Rampage called out Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to fight in Japan in a rematch of their 2005 PRIDE Total Elimination contest.
However, Shogun was already scheduled to face Dan Henderson in November. The brutal slugfest that was the Henderson/Rua fight made Rampage’s request virtually impossible.
The conversation has started up again and Rua appears to be on board as well. In a recent interview with Tatame, Rua stated that he would “absolutely” like to rematch Rampage. Now that we know that both combatants are game for this fight, what would be the potential result this time around?
In their first meeting, Rua outclassed and outperformed the heavily-favored Rampage, eventually winning by TKO after landing a number of soccer kicks to the head. From the opening bell, Rua brought the fight to Rampage, leading off with a two-punch combination followed by a knee strike.
As the fight progressed, Rua continued to dominate Rampage from the clinch and land numerous knee strikes, which eventually broke Jackson’s ribs. Rampage never got comfortable and never established any type of game plan.
Fast-forward seven years and Rua is still a very powerful fighter with some of the best Muay Thai in all of mixed martial arts. He used it to defeat Lyoto Machida and win the UFC light heavyweight belt. In addition, he is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
In a Rua versus Rampage sequel, the biggest challenges that Rua would face are age and injury. He’s 30 years old and has had a number of injury issues since coming to the UFC, primarily with his knees.
Aside from those obstacles, Rua could invoke a similar strategy that won him their first battle. Rua would need to establish control in the Octagon immediately and dictate the pace.
He must be the aggressor in the fight and force Rampage to fight while retreating, something he has struggled with his entire career. Shogun would also benefit from using some of his jiu-jitsu and taking the fight to the ground.
While Rua has great talent in the stand-up game, he also has some brutal ground-and-pound which fellow UFC fighters Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem have experienced first-hand.
The key to Shogun winning a possible rematch will be to essentially “bring the pain.”
Jackson was a force to be reckoned with during the PRIDE era. Holding a 10-4 record in the PRIDE organization, he would face Shogun two months after winning a split decision over Rua’s older brother Murilo.
This loss turned out to be the most vicious defeat of Rampage’s career. Nevertheless, Jackson would bounce back and not only win the UFC light heavyweight title, but also the PRIDE championship that evaded him for so many years.
He unified the PRIDE and UFC titles when he defeated PRIDE middleweight champion Dan Henderson—PRIDE FC’s middleweight division limit was 205 lbs.
Rampage’s recent outings have looked abysmal, minus the Matt Hamill fight. Many have attributed it to him growing tired of fighting.
Though Jackson has never been a huge fan of training, he has always been one to put on a show. In order to have even a remote chance at redemption, Rampage will need to regain his edge and “go back to the beginning.”
During his PRIDE and early UFC days, Rampage was more than just a striker looking for the devastating knockout. He utilized takedowns, dirty boxing, as well as some decent wrestling.
While Rua circa 2005 was vicious, the Rua of 2012 is the same style of fighter, albeit a little slower. Rampage is not the same style of fighter from that era.
He rarely throws kicks, hardly ever shoots in for takedowns—two successful takedowns in his last five fights, per FightMetric—and often appears very rigid on his feet. Hoping to get fired up based on the opponent he’s facing will not be enough (see Rashad Evans fight).
Until the UFC gives the green light on this fight, he needs to get in the gym beforehand and work on maintaining his weight. It has been rumored that his weight outside of camp has reached as high as 250 lbs.
Next, Rampage will need to get into a top-notch camp with an established team such as the up-and-coming Blackzilians (if Rashad Evans lets him), or even American Kickboxing Academy, where Cain Velasquez trains. This would help him to be more proactive with his wrestling.
Once in the ring, his goal should be the element of surprise. Open the fight with a mix of strikes from the beginning. Throw some leg kicks and try to put Rua against the cage.
Rua won their first fight because he set the tone from the beginning. Rampage should immediately put the pressure on Rua.
One thing he should take from Rua’s loss to Jon Jones is that Shogun can be swarmed and can be beaten up. While Jackson in no Jon Jones, he does possess more power and can inflict more damage with fewer strikes.
The other thing he must improve upon is his Muay Thai defense. Rua and Wanderlei Silva have given Jackson his worst career losses primarily due to their effective use of Muay Thai. If Rampage truly wants to redeem himself, he must get back to his roots.
Until we have UFC President Dana White’s blessing, this fight is total speculation at this point. Rua is a top-three contender, and Rampage just lost to a guy who was defeated by another fighter who hadn’t won a fight in five years.
In the end, I do believe this fight would sell and the fans would be clamoring for this contest. Where the question arises is that it’s not enough to ask if Rampage wants to win this fight, but does he have the will or even the motivation to do what’s necessary to win?
To win, he must reinvent himself. To reinvent himself, he must be honest with himself. To be honest with himself, he must look in the mirror and say, “How bad do I want this?”
Follow Walt J. as he gives his no-holds-barred opinions on the NFL, MMA and other sports topics on his blog, “Live From AREA 49.” You can also follow him on Twitter @area49sports.
After scoring consecutive big wins over Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck in 2008, many thought that Thiago Alves was the future of the welterweight division. Alves was thrust into a title fight against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100, and many thought that h…
After scoring consecutive big wins over Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck in 2008, many thought that Thiago Alves was the future of the welterweight division.
Alves was thrust into a title fight against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100, and many thought that he would be the toughest test of St-Pierre’s career, as Alves had completely shut down the wrestling of Koscheck in his last bout and was a force to be reckoned with on the feet.
As it turns out, St-Pierre was on a completely different level than the rest of the welterweight division, (and still is), and Alves was left to try and crawl his way back up the welterweight ladder.
Since that bout, Alves has gone 2-2 in one of the promotion’s deepest divisions, but his two wins are against a couple of very average welterweights and he has yet to prove that he is still the same fighter that we saw wrecking everyone in sight a few years ago.
Now with his return to the main event scene against Martin Kampmann at UFC on FX 2 on the horizon, Alves has left fans with more questions than answers about his potential to rise to the top of the division once again.
The UFC will be in Australia on Saturday, March 3 for the UFC on FX 2 fight card, a card that will feature a main event between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.In addition, the card will feature the first two bouts in the UFC’s flyweight tournament. T…
The UFC will be in Australia on Saturday, March 3 for the UFC on FX 2 fight card, a card that will feature a main event between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.
In addition, the card will feature the first two bouts in the UFC’s flyweight tournament. The winners of those fights will move on to compete against each other for the chance to be declared the first flyweight champion in UFC history.
Below are the odds for the 11 fight event, which will be broadcast on Friday evening in the States.
Full Fight Card Odds:
Main Card:
Thiago Alves favorite (-140) over Martin Kampmann (+110)
Demetrious Johnson favorite (-325) over Ian McCall (+265)
Joseph Benevidez favorite (-750) over Yasuhiro Urushitani (+550)
Court McGee favorite (-135) over Constantinos Philippou (+105)
Preliminary Card:
James Te Huna favorite (-310) over Aaron Rosa (+250)
Nick Penner favorite (-140) over Anthony Perosh (+110)
Cole Miller favorite (-345) over Steven Siler (+275)
Kyle Noke favorite (-260) over Andrew Craig (+210)
TJ Waldburger (even) vs. Jake Hecht (even)
Mackens Semerzier favorite (-170) over Daniel Pineda (+140)
Shawn Jordan favorite (-184) over Oli Thompson (+154)
The UFC will return to Sydney, Australia, this weekend when they present UFC on FX 2, a fight card that will be headlined by a welterweight scrap between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.Before we get too deep into things, it should be noted that while…
The UFC will return to Sydney, Australia, this weekend when they present UFC on FX 2, a fight card that will be headlined by a welterweight scrap between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.
Before we get too deep into things, it should be noted that while the official date for this card is Saturday, March 3, it will be broadcast in North America on Friday, March 2.
While tickets did not go as fast for this fight card as they did for the last UFC Australia fight card, that does not indicate that this card is one that is to be missed, for in addition to the main event, the card will feature the first round of the tournament that will eventually name the UFC’s first flyweight champion.
Alves will enter the Octagon going 2-3 in his last five UFC fights, with his last fight being a first round submission victory over UFC newcomer Papy Abedi. The loss was the first of Abedi’s nine-fight MMA career. The submission was only the second of Alves’ MMA career, the first coming in 2004 when he submitted Jason Chamers via punches.
Kampmann enters the fight with a 3-2 record in his last five fights. That record is somewhat misleading as many would argue that Kampmann actually deserved to get the win in those two fights, a unanimous decision defeat to Diego Sanchez and a split decision loss to Jake Shields.
As far as the flyweight division, the four fighters who will kick off the flyweight division will be Demetrious Johnson, Ian McCall, Joseph Benavidez and Yasuhiro Urushitani. The two victors in those bouts will meet some time in the not too distant future to decide the UFC’s first flyweight champion.
The six-fight preliminary card will kick on at 6 p.m. EST on Friday on Fuel TV. The four-fight main card will be shown on FX beginning at 9 p.m. EST.
This weekend’s