As much as we hate the fact that Demetrious Johnson has been forced to pull out of his upcoming flyweight title fight with John Moraga, we can’t exactly declare that he hasn’t earned a little break from the sport either. Granted, an injury vacation isn’t really a vacation at all (especially with an injury as serious as Johnson’s — we’ll get to that in a second), but have any of you realized that “Mighty Mouse” has fought seven times since entering the UFC in February of 2011?
It was a damn respectable pace and one that was destined to come to a crashing halt at some point in Johnson’s career. Thankfully, it appears that Johnson’s time away from the octagon will be limited to just a few months. As first revealed by Johnson’s AMC Pankration coach, Matt Hume, the flyweight champ has suffered a torn labrum that will keep him out of action for up to three months. There has been no word yet on how this will affect Johnson’s ability to pack into a hilariously undersized car with 42 of his closest friends.
As much as we hate the fact that Demetrious Johnson has been forced to pull out of his upcoming flyweight title fight with John Moraga, we can’t exactly declare that he hasn’t earned a little break from the sport either. Granted, an injury vacation isn’t really a vacation at all (especially with an injury as serious as Johnson’s — we’ll get to that in a second), but have any of you realized that “Mighty Mouse” has fought seven times since entering the UFC in February of 2011?
It was a damn respectable pace and one that was destined to come to a crashing halt at some point in Johnson’s career. Thankfully, it appears that Johnson’s time away from the octagon will be limited to just a few months. As first revealed by Johnson’s AMC Pankration coach, Matt Hume, the flyweight champ has suffered a torn labrum that will keep him out of action for up to three months. There has been no word yet on how this will affect Johnson’s ability to pack into a hilariously undersized car with 42 of his closest friends.
(My God, the “TUF 18: Strawweights” team challenges are going to be OFF THE CHAIN.)
In an interview with MMAJunkie, UFC President Dana White revealed that the promotion had recently traveled to Mexico to scout fighters for a possible 115-pound division in the UFC. Considering the UFC’s hesitance to even use the word “Flyweight” during their promotion of UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson, this news should come as a pretty big surprise to most of us. Then again, The Baldfather previously stated that we would never see women’s MMA in the UFC, and now this is a thing that is happening. And according to White, the trip was a huge success:
It went very well. A lot of guys showed up, it was very successful, and the guys we sent down were very excited with what they saw.
As we know, the UFC’s flyweight division was added all of a year ago, and is currently composed of just 13 fighters. While last weekend’s event should have put all doubt to rest in regards to the legitimacy and marketability of the smaller weight classes, it also highlighted a noticeable problem in the division: matchmaking. Granted, the division is still in the infant stages of development, but if the UFC is looking to continue promoting flyweights in the long run, their focus should be on beefing up that division, not necessarily adding another. Still, this is good news for any disgruntled Ewoks, Oompa Loompas, or members of The Lollipop Guild who find themselves outmatched by the mammoth of a man that is Demetrious Johnson.
(My God, the “TUF 18: Strawweights” team challenges are going to be OFF THE CHAIN.)
In an interview with MMAJunkie, UFC President Dana White revealed that the promotion had recently traveled to Mexico to scout fighters for a possible 115-pound division in the UFC. Considering the UFC’s hesitance to even use the word “Flyweight” during their promotion of UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson, this news should come as a pretty big surprise to most of us. Then again, The Baldfather previously stated that we would never see women’s MMA in the UFC, and now this is a thing that is happening. And according to White, the trip was a huge success:
It went very well. A lot of guys showed up, it was very successful, and the guys we sent down were very excited with what they saw.
As we know, the UFC’s flyweight division was added all of a year ago, and is currently composed of just 13 fighters. While last weekend’s event should have put all doubt to rest in regards to the legitimacy and marketability of the smaller weight classes, it also highlighted a noticeable problem in the division: matchmaking. Granted, the division is still in the infant stages of development, but if the UFC is looking to continue promoting flyweights in the long run, their focus should be on beefing up that division, not necessarily adding another. Still, this is good news for any disgruntled Ewoks, Oompa Loompas, or members of The Lollipop Guild who find themselves outmatched by the mammoth of a man that is Demetrious Johnson.
White also took some time to address the criticism currently being aimed at flyweights by many of the sport’s casual fans:
I think you had some people talking smack here and there (about the flyweights). But if you’re a real fight fan, how do you not like Ian (McCall)? How do you not like Joe (Benavidez)? How do you not like (Johnson and Dodson) that were here tonight? When people say shit like that to me, it’s hard for me to respond without being a real asshole. It’s really hard for me.
I hereby nominate “It’s hard for me to respond without being a real asshole” as the title of Dana’s eventual autobiography. Of course, that would open up all kinds of possibilities for the title of June White’s scathing response novel: “My Son, the Asshole,” “Dana White: Self-Admitted Asshole,” or the more classically-titled “Being an Asshole and the Human Response: The Story of Devil Spawn Dana White.”
A community news and forum, Stu News Laguna reported Friday that UFC flyweight Ian McCall was arrested last Tuesday on some strange, if relatively benign, charges including “possession of narcotic paraphernalia, possession of prescription meds without a valid prescription, and driving on a suspended license,” after undercover DEA agents spotted him. According to a later report from MMA Weekly, however, McCall’s manager Jason House says that McCall’s arrest happened a bit differently and with different charges.
“According to House, McCall was driving home on Tuesday when an unmarked police car recognized his vehicle from past occurrences and pulled him over. The police ran McCall’s plates and they found an outstanding warrant in his name,” MMA Weekly reported.
“The warrant stemmed from a ticket issued in June for McCall driving under a suspended license. McCall apparently paid the fines, but did not make a scheduled court appearance due to a miscommunication and a warrant was issued.”
A community news and forum, Stu News Laguna reported Friday that UFC flyweight Ian McCall was arrested last Tuesday on some strange, if relatively benign, charges including “possession of narcotic paraphernalia, possession of prescription meds without a valid prescription, and driving on a suspended license,” after undercover DEA agents spotted him. According to a later report from MMA Weekly, however, McCall’s manager Jason House says that McCall’s arrest happened a bit differently and with different charges.
“According to House, McCall was driving home on Tuesday when an unmarked police car recognized his vehicle from past occurrences and pulled him over. The police ran McCall’s plates and they found an outstanding warrant in his name,” MMA Weekly reported.
“The warrant stemmed from a ticket issued in June for McCall driving under a suspended license. McCall apparently paid the fines, but did not make a scheduled court appearance due to a miscommunication and a warrant was issued.”
Well, that sounds a bit better, we suppose. After all, McCall has spoken publicly about his past struggles with drug abuse and while drug paraphernalia and excessive prescriptions are just downright American, they might not be the best thing for someone in recovery to have laying around.
The bad news for McCall is that he now has to spend a month in jail because he was on parole from past charges and a warrant was out in his name. His release date is scheduled for September 13th. His manager maintains that McCall has only been charged with driving under a suspended license.
McCall last fought Demetrius Johnson and lost a decision in the UFC flyweight tournament in June. He had to pull out of a fight on the UFC on Fox 4 card August 4th because of a knee injury.
In 2008, Ian was arrested for possession of prescription drugs without a
prescription and paraphernalia. The paraphernalia was needles that he used to
take the fluid out of his ears. Part of Ian’s punishment for that case was that
he was to do 20 days of Cal Trans (physical labor).
The following year, Ian was having more troubles and he entered and
completed a six-month residential drug treatment program at Nancy Clark’s The
Recovery Center in Orange County. Ian completely turned his life around, began
training hard and became the man he is today.
On June 14 of this year, Ian was pulled over for a traffic stop. He was
given a ticket for PC14601 (driving on a suspended license). Ian’s license had
been suspended for unpaid traffic and parking tickets.
The very next day, on June 15, Ian went to the Harbor Justice Center with
his agent, and paid over $2,600 in fines. He mistakenly thought that the ticket
from the previous day had been handled. A few weeks later, when the court date
for that case came, Ian did not show and a warrant was issued for his
arrest.
On Aug. 14, once again, Ian was stopped while driving home from the gym.
At that time he was arrested for the two warrants: one for not completing the
20 days of Cal Trans work for the 2008 case, and the other for not showing up to
court on the driving on a suspended license ticket that he had thought that he
had handled.
As of now, neither a date for his first UFC bout nor an opponent for his debut have been announced.
Currently the number three ranked flyweight in the world, Da Silva is a fierce grappler with seven submission victories to his record. “Forminga” started off his career winning six straight fights and capturing Shooto South America’s Bantamweight Championship before pulling off a huge upset over then-Shooto Bantamweight World Champion Shinichi “BJ” Kojima in 2009. The only loss on his record, which currently stands at 14-1, came at the hands of the aforementioned Ian McCall at Tachi Palace Fights 8: All or Nothing last February. His most recent outing was a first round rear-naked choke over Sidney Oliveira in June.
Highlights from Jussier da Silva’s career await after the jump.
As of now, neither a date for his first UFC bout nor an opponent for his debut have been announced.
Currently the number three ranked flyweight in the world, Da Silva is a fierce grappler with seven submission victories to his record. “Formiga” started off his career winning six straight fights and capturing Shooto South America’s Bantamweight Championship before pulling off a huge upset over then-Shooto Bantamweight World Champion Shinichi “BJ” Kojima in 2009. The only loss on his record, which currently stands at 14-1, came at the hands of the aforementioned Ian McCall at Tachi Palace Fights 8: All or Nothing last February. His most recent outing was a first round rear-naked choke over Sidney Oliveira in June.
Highlights from Jussier da Silva’s career await after the jump.
da Silva vs. Danny Martinez, part one (December 10, 2010)
da Silva vs. Danny Martinez, part two
da Silva vs. Ian McCall, part one (February 18, 2011)
da Silva vs. Ian McCall, part two
da Silva vs Mamoru Yamaguchi (August 5, 2011)
da Silva vs. Michael William Costa (October 29, 2011)
da Silva vs. Rodrigo “Indio” Santos (December 15, 2011)
Hey, the guy has a victory over Ralph Lauren. Seems legit to me.
Jeff Curran is living proof that dropping a weight class in MMA often has a negligible effect on your level of success. After kicking off his career as a lightweight — and losing a decision to Matt Serra in his Octagon debut way back at UFC 46 in 2004 — the BJJ black belt eventually transitioned to featherweight to pursue a championship belt in the WEC. Unfortunately, Curran took back-to-back losses against Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, which inspired him to drop another ten pounds. He didn’t fare any better at 135 either, losing decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki in 2009 before exiting the promotion.
After two years of purgatory — in which he went 4-1 competing for the XFO and on Strikeforce and Bellator preliminary cards — the UFC brought Curran back for another run at bantamweight. And after two more losses to Scott Jorgensen and Johnny Eduardo, Big Frog was back at square one. And now there’s this:
Veteran fighter Jeff Curran (33-15-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC), whom the UFC released following back-to-back losses to bantamweights Johnny Eduardo and Scott Jorgensen, is headed to the flyweight division. That’s according to his cousin and training partner, Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran.
“I don’t know how he’s going to make it, but he’s going to find a way,” Pat recently told MMAjunkie.com…Pat, who defeated Joe Warren for the Bellator belt earlier this year, took up the sport at his cousin’s urging. He said his mentor figure now is planning to regroup on the regional scene in the new weight class.
Jeff Curran is living proof that dropping a weight class in MMA often has a negligible effect on your level of success. After kicking off his career as a lightweight — and losing a decision to Matt Serra in his Octagon debut way back at UFC 46 in 2004 — the BJJ black belt eventually transitioned to featherweight to pursue a championship belt in the WEC. Unfortunately, Curran took back-to-back losses against Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, which inspired him to drop another ten pounds. He didn’t fare any better at 135 either, losing decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki in 2009 before exiting the promotion.
After two years of purgatory — in which he went 4-1 competing for the XFO and on Strikeforce and Bellator preliminary cards — the UFC brought Curran back for another run at bantamweight. And after two more losses to Scott Jorgensen and Johnny Eduardo, Big Frog was back at square one. And now there’s this:
Veteran fighter Jeff Curran (33-15-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC), whom the UFC released following back-to-back losses to bantamweights Johnny Eduardo and Scott Jorgensen, is headed to the flyweight division. That’s according to his cousin and training partner, Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran.
“I don’t know how he’s going to make it, but he’s going to find a way,” Pat recently told MMAjunkie.com…Pat, who defeated Joe Warren for the Bellator belt earlier this year, took up the sport at his cousin’s urging. He said his mentor figure now is planning to regroup on the regional scene in the new weight class.
“I think he’s going to have a couple of fights outside the UFC and then (UFC officials will) possibly bring him back in,” Pat said. “I don’t know the whole details, but I think he’s going to fight at…the end of August in the XFO, possibly fight at another show, and try to get an offer in the UFC.”
The UFC launched its flyweight division earlier this year. Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson’s rematch headlines Friday’s UFC on FX 3 event, and the winner fights Joseph Benavidez later this year to determine the UFC’s inaugural flyweight champion. The new 125-pound weight class has provided new life for former bantamweight-title challengers such as Benavidez and Johnson, as well as vets such John Dodson, Louis Gaudinot and Darren Uyenoyama. Jeff Curran now looks to join that group.
Looking at the above photo of Curran’s last bantamweight weigh-in, you have to wonder where that next ten pounds is going to come from. If you compare it to this earlier photo of Curran at 145, you’ll see that he had to shed his hair and a noticeable amount of muscle to make 135 in the first place. Is competing in the UFC really worth jeopardizing your kidneys and turning yourself into a living skeleton, just so you can get out-wrestled by Demetrious Johnson and fired again? It seems like a decision born more out of desperation than logic.
Far be it from me to tell a fighter how to run his career, but…damn, Jeff Curran is going to look rough at 125.
The flyweight division hasn’t seen much movement in the rankings this month, but all that is about to change as two of the UFC’s best 125ers are set to square off inside the Octagon to kick off June. Former bantamweight title challenger Dem…
The flyweight division hasn’t seen much movement in the rankings this month, but all that is about to change as two of the UFC’s best 125ers are set to square off inside the Octagon to kick off June. Former bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson will have his highly-anticipated rematch with Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall as […]
