UFC 213 saw a new No. 1 contender rise to the top in the middleweight division as Robert Whittaker claimed the interim belt with a unanimous-decision win over Yoel Romero in the surprise main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
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UFC 213 saw a new No. 1 contender rise to the top in the middleweight division as Robert Whittaker claimed the interim belt with a unanimous-decision win over Yoel Romero in the surprise main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
MMAjunkie tweeted out the judges’ scorecards:
The first round served as a preview for why this was a tantalizing matchup. Both fighters attacked in bursts, with Whittaker landing quick combinations with his hands. Romero attacked with vicious kicks to the legs and body, connecting on a front kick to Whittaker’s left knee that appeared to have an impact on his movement.
The Cuban landed a takedown, but Whittaker bounced back up. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani scored the round for Romero but was impressed by the Australian’s defense.
Romero would once again put Bobby Knuckles’ takedown defense to the test in Round 2. He scored an early takedown and spent the opening minutes of the round wearing down Whittaker with ground-and-pound.
Even when Whittaker worked his way to the feet, Romero was quick to smother him in the clinch. Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting gave Whittaker credit for hanging tough despite an apparent leg injury through the first two rounds:
Hanging tough would pay dividends for Whittaker in the third. As Romero slowed, Bobby Knuckles found a rhythm and made his mark on the fight with pressure of his own. The UFC tweeted out some of the highlights from the round:
UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping also took the round break to tear up a Cuban flag and throw it in Romero’s direction:
Whittaker’s defensive wrestling and striking once again carried the day as he stunned Romero more than once in the round and fended off the takedowns to provide a winner-take-all round in the fifth frame:
The final round featured a bloody, exhausted barroom brawl in which both fighters heaved what they had left. However, an ill-fated punch that caused Romero to slip was the death knell. Whittaker pounced on top of the Cuban to win the round and the fight.
UFC 213’s main event was supposed to be a women’s bantamweight title bout between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko, but Nunes pulled out of the fight hours before the card started, perBrett Okamoto of ESPN.
A bout that now has the ability to spark the middleweight division back into relevancy wasn’t a bad replacement main event.
The Bisping era has left the 185-pound division forgotten recently. The 38-year-old champion has taken his time between defenses and dealt with a knee injury that has put the entire division on hold.
The wait for a unification fight shouldn’t be much longer, though. Bisping has been holding out for a potential date with UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, but it’s looking like he’ll have to settle for the winner of Saturday’s bout.
Bobby Knuckles has what it takes to revitalize a division that has been lying dormant. The 26-year-old has been on an absolute tear of late. Romero joins a list of opponents that counts Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Derek Brunson among those who couldn’t withstand the new interim champion’s hands.
At this point, with the interim title around Whittaker’s waist and an eight-fight win streak to his name, even Bisping acknowledges he can’t wait around for GSP anymore.
“Georges, you’ve got until Saturday,” Bisping toldAriel Helwani onThe MMA Hour(viaFanSided’s Mike Heck). “Because on Saturday, I’m going to be on the FS1 post-fight show and one of those two, tune in, Whittaker or Romero will be joining me at the desk, so you know that will have fireworks. If I can’t say I’m fighting GSP by then, then I have to say that I’m fighting Whittaker or Romero.”
Now that the fight has taken place, Bisping has his answer.
The next man up is Whittaker, and after taming Romero, the Australian looks like he’ll add Bisping to his list of victims and become the next UFC champion.
Alistair Overeem took the advantage in a rivalry that now spans three fights and 11 years with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 213 on Saturday. The 37-year-old defeated Vai Cavalo via majority decision on the main card from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Alistair Overeem took the advantage in a rivalry that now spans three fights and 11 years with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 213 on Saturday. The 37-year-old defeated Vai Cavalo via majority decision on the main card from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Bleacher Report’s MMA account tweeted out the final scores:
Werdum fired the first shots in the fight, coming across the cage with a flying knee that didn’t connect and throwing heavy kicks while Overeem waited patiently and picked his spots.
The first frame amounted to an extended feeling-out period where both fighters spent most of the time gauging distance. Kevin Iole of Yahoo scored the first round for Overeem, but there wasn’t a lot to judge.
The second round provided a little more action. Overeem landed a knee that stunned Werdum, but he followed the Brazilian to the mat rather than forcing him to continue to strike.
Overeem’s increased offensive effort in the second frame gave him the edge in the round, highlighted by this combination:
Werdum gained the momentum in Round 3, though. Vai Cavalo rocked Overeem with a brutal combination that was capped by a knee to the head that floored him. The UFC passed along the highlight:
Minutes later another combination put Overeem against the fence. Rather than keeping the fight standing and going for the knockout, Werdum took down Overeem, where he maintained the dominant position but failed to pick up the finish. That opened the way for The Reem to pick up the majority decision.
After the bout, The Reem stayed on message in his campaign to get another crack at the title:
The win gives Overeem new life in the quest for another championship fight. In fact, he envisions his rematch coming against Stipe Miocic directly after this bout.
“To me, the only thing that makes sense is fighting Stipe after this fight,” Overeem said, per Fernanda Prates and Ken Hathaway of MMAjunkie.
Overeem is familiar with rematches. This was the third fight between Werdum and Overeem. The Brazilian got the better end of the matchup with a submission win over The Reem in Pride in 2006. However, Overeem earned the nod via decision when the two fought again in 2011 under the Strikeforce banner.
Now, it’s only fitting that they have settled their series in the UFC, where both fighters came into the fight in the Top Five of the UFC’s rankings.
Despite Overeem’s loss to the champion via first-round knockout in September 2016, it might not be long before we see Overeem-Miocic 2. That’s just the way it goes in a heavyweight division that hasn’t seen much change in the Top Five over the last few years.
At 37 years old, Overeem continues to reinvent himself and score wins over the best fighters in his division. After vanquishing another highly ranked opponent, the former Pride and Strikeforce star might just earn himself a shot at putting UFC gold around his waist for the first time in his lengthy career.
Anthony Pettis didn’t wow the UFC 213 crowd the way he did back in the WEC. He did, however, take a clean-cut win over grizzled veteran Jim Miller.
Miller opened the first round on offense, stalking Pettis down and chopping him with multiple leg kicks….
Anthony Pettis didn’t wow the UFC 213 crowd the way he did back in the WEC. He did, however, take a clean-cut win over grizzled veteran Jim Miller.
Miller opened the first round on offense, stalking Pettis down and chopping him with multiple leg kicks. While he found early success on offense, however, he conceded the center of the cage to the former champion and gave him the room to work. That allowed Pettis to get comfortable throwing his signature kicks and, eventually, swing the momentum (and the score cards) with a vicious combination.
The second started with Miller looking to take the lead once again, but a head kick landed for Pettis, splitting Miller wide open. Though Miller powered through the shot to get a takedown, Pettis flashed his underrated grappling skills to escape, take dominant position and once again secure 10 points with the judges.
Whether he was unnerved by Pettis’ crafty ground skills or exhausted from two tough rounds, Miller took a more stand-up-focused approach in the third. That, however, is not wise against a man once regarded as one of the deadliest strikers in MMA. Miller plodded around the cage while Pettis stalked forward, peppered him with strikes and outmuscled him in the clinch at every engagement.
The result was a clean, unanimous 30-27 decision win for Showtime.
This was a much-needed win for Pettis. After dropping the UFC lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos in 2015, Pettis’ career basically imploded as he dropped two more fights to Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza. While a win over Charles Oliveira gave him a surprise title opportunity in December, the result was a vicious beating from Max Holloway.
Beating Miller doesn’t erase that ugly 1-4 run, but it does help him to regain his footing, at least momentarily. Despite coming off a tough loss of his own, Miller is a respected veteran with recent wins over Joe Lauzon and Thiago Alves. Pettis taking a clean victory puts him in a position to return to the lightweight top-10 and potentially rebuild his contender status.
Pettis isn’t “back” quite yet, but this is the performance he needed to regain his confidence and reestablish himself with fans. Another win like that and it might just be enough for him to return to the title picture in the wide-open lightweight division.
UFC Fight Night 112 in Oklahoma City featured a strong prelim and main card, but all that will be forgotten after a controversial finish to tonight’s main event between Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee.
Lee was able to come away with the victory after (kin…
UFC Fight Night 112 in Oklahoma City featured a strong prelim and main card, but all that will be forgotten after a controversial finish to tonight’s main event between Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee.
Lee was able to come away with the victory after (kind of) submitting Chiesa.
You can’t take anything away from Lee’s performance, no matter how much you disagree with referee Mario Yamasaki stopping the fight.
Lee did well to avoid Chiesa’s armbar and transition to get Chiesa’s back. Once Lee got the body triangle in place, it only seemed like a matter of time until Lee would get under Chiesa’s chin for the rear-naked choke.
Eventually, Lee was able to get under the chin and put the squeeze on Chiesa, but the referee stepped in to separate the fighters before Chiesa tapped out.
It could be argued that Chiesa’s left arm went a little limp, but he appeared to still be awake and looking to put his elbow down on the mat to turn his body in an effort to stand up. Yamasaki tried to protect Chiesa, but he may have stopped the fight too soon.
Lee was on pace to win the fight, or at the very least the round, so a rematch could be on the books later this year, specifically in December as Lee and Chiesa said post-fight inside of the Octagon.
But let’s move on from tonight’s main event and take a look at the rest of the main card.
Main card results:
Kevin Lee def. Michael Chiesa via submission (RNC) (1st, 4:37)
Tim Boetsch def. Johny Hendricks via second-round TKO (0:46)
Dominick Reyes def. Joachim Christensen via first-round TKO (0:29)
Tim Means def. Alex Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dennis Siver def. BJ Penn via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Siver seals Penn’s fate
Let’s get one thing straight about the future of BJ Penn in the UFC: There shouldn’t be one.
Penn wants to keep fighting because he can’t find a life outside of fighting, and that’s fine. But it shouldn’t happen in the UFC anymore.
There are other organizations, like Rizin in Japan, where he can go to fight and still be a star. Getting punished fight after fight by some of the world’s best strikers is bad for Penn’s health, fight fans and the legitimacy of the UFC.
In the first round, Penn didn’t get much off in terms of offense and seemed comfortable watching Siver throw leg kicks to the body while putting together a few combinations. However, Pen didn’t shoot for a single takedown not only in the first round but at any time in the fight.
Penn had an opportunity in the second round to take care of Siver after landing a beautiful uppercut that sent Siver to the canvas, but instead of trying to gain full mount and work for a submission, Penn just put his weight on Siver, waiting for the round to end.
The third round wasn’t much of a fight, and Penn looked like he didn’t want to be there.
Siver looked sharp and in shape after two years away from the Octagon, but he should’ve finished Penn in the third round. Penn couldn’t walk from the damage done to his lead leg and was breathing heavy, constantly walking away from Siver.
The win was big for Siver, who can now look forward to getting back into the top 15 of the featherweight division with a couple more victories under his belt, but the loss for Penn was his fifth in a row and he hasn’t won since 2010.
It’s time for the UFC and athletic commissions to protect Penn and stop him from fighting.
By any Means necessary
Alex Garcia can be a very frustrating fighter, and nothing changed Sunday against Tim Means. Garcia was waiting for an opening to counter Means, but that opening never came. Means used his size and kept distance between himself and Garcia’s power, which was a smart move since Garcia seemed to be loading up on every strike he attempted to land.
Call it methodical and perhaps a bit boring, but Means did what he had to do to earn the decision. Why should he have to go out of his way and allow Garcia to come closer in range to deliver a lethal blow if he can outsmart Garcia at arm’s length?
After an awkward couple of fights against Alex Oliveira, including a no contest and a submission loss, Means is back in the win column and, even at the age of 33, there is still a lot of room for him to grow in the welterweight division.
As for Garcia, he needs to go back to the drawing board.
At the end of the first round, Garcia looked as if he was just doing his best to conserve energy for the second and third rounds, but he didn’t look to pounce on Means and be the aggressor. Instead, he waited for the third round.
But Means was ready for anything Garcia was willing to throw at him and wasn’t going to let him get near to landing a haymaker to change the outcome of the bout. Garcia has the skill-set and power to be a force in the 170-pound division, but he needs to improve his endurance and become a more aggressive fighter if he ever wants to become more than an above average fighter in the UFC.
Reyes sets world on fire in debut
What’s the best way to introduce yourself to the light heavyweight division in your UFC debut? By knocking out your opponent in less than 30 seconds.
Dominick Reyes was a highly-touted prospect coming into his fight against Joachim Christensen, but he may have cemented himself as an immediate threat to the top 10 of the division after flat-lining Christensen with a vicious straight left.
The two punches he landed once Christensen hit the deck were unnecessary, but you fight until the referee stops you.
Reyes didn’t call out any top fighters after his first UFC win, but it will be interesting to see what the UFC decides to do with a fighter who has a lot of hype who knock people out with a single punch in a division that is desperate for top-flight contenders.
Now 7-0, Reyes has options, and that’s always good to have in the fight game. As for Christensen, the fight ended so quickly it’s hard for him to imagine what he could have done much differently besides covering up a little better. Look for Reyes to emerge as the next wave of 205-pound contenders in the next year.
Herrig picks up another win
Felice Herrig almost had the submission win over Justine Kish, but she’ll take the dominant victory and continue to wreak havoc on 115-pound division.
Herrig was Kish’s backpack for the majority of the fight as Kish couldn’t shake off Herrig for the entire fight, struggling to compete with Herrig’s jiu-jitsu. It got to the point where anytime Kish was able to stand herself up, she received a resounding applause for the effort. That’s how good Herrig was tonight.
The fight was almost stopped halfway through the third round as Herrig had a very tight rear-naked choke on Kish and it only seemed like a matter of time before Kish either tapped or went out cold.
Credit to the referee for not pulling apart the fighters despite how tight the choke looked as Kish was able to miraculously get Herrig’s forearm from under her chin, allowing her to survive all three rounds.
For Herrig, the win marks her third in a row as she looks to continue her rise to the top of the division. Currently ranked No. 13 in the strawweight division, it might be time for Herrig to get a top-10 fight the next time she steps inside the Octagon.
Perhaps a date with former champion Carla Esparza could be next, who also earned a win tonight.
Boetsch ruins Hendricks’ homecoming
Tim Boetsch came to Oklahoma City with a huge target on his back, fighting the hometown boy in Johny Hendricks. Fortunately for Boetsch, the fight didn’t last very long thanks in part to a perfectly placed right head kick that hit Hendricks above the ear, knocking him off balance and back against the cage.
Boetsch was able to set up the head kick by targeting Hendricks’ lead right leg, making Hendricks think twice about putting weight on his right foot to launch his dangerous left hook. Boetsch was able to pounce on Hendricks once he landed the head kick and didn’t let the hometown boy breathe.
With a flurry of uppercuts, Hendricks’ body slumped down against the cage and was saved by the referee who had seen enough. The victory was big for Boetsch, who needed a bit of a lift after getting submitted in his last fight by Jacare Souza. He should be looking for another top-15 fight next.
As for Hendricks, what more can you say? After a successful debut at middleweight, it looked as if Hendricks finally found a new home at 185 pounds until he came in overweight on Saturday. Does the UFC give him anymore leash to make weight again? Or has the organization become fed up with the lack of discipline Hendricks shows outside of fight camp?
Maybe 205 pounds is next for Hendricks if he can’t get his act together. But besides his weight, it’s clear that the former welterweight champion has lost a step. Or two, for that matter.
Losing to Boetsch was big for Hendricks, especially since he was fighting in front of a home crowd. Maybe he needs some time off to get his act (and weight) together before coming back to the Octagon. For his sake, he should take the rest of 2017 off.
Darrell Horcher’s comeback now includes a UFC victory.
He beat Devin Powell by split decision Sunday in a lightweight bout on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 112 in Oklahoma City, per Ben Fowlkes of MMA Junkie. It was Horcher’s first figh…
Darrell Horcher’s comeback now includes a UFC victory.
He beat Devin Powell by split decision Sunday in a lightweight bout on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 112 in Oklahoma City, per Ben Fowlkes of MMA Junkie. It was Horcher’s first fight since a near-fatal motorcycle crash.
“After going through the past year, I have such an appreciation for being back in the UFC and doing what I love,” Horcher said, per MMAFighting.com.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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After more than a decade of smack talk, “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen claimed a unanimous-decision victory over “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva in the main event of Bellator 180 from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday. …
After more than a decade of smack talk, “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen claimed a unanimous-decision victory over “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva in the main event of Bellator 180 from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports posted the official scores:
Sonnen immediately looked better than his first fight under the Bellator banner against Tito Ortiz. The American wasted no time in taking down the Brazilian and applying the pressure from the jump.
Bellator MMA highlighted some of Sonnen’s top game:
Not to be outdone, Silva showed he still had something to offer. He worked his way to the feet and landed a strong warning shot that floored his opponent and took top control. Even so, Sonnen did enough with his top control to win the round in the eyes of ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto:
The second round saw the American Gangster put himself in a similar position. He secured an early takedown but appeared to give his neck to the Brazilian. Silva was unable to do anything with it as the two were willing to sit and wait for the referee to break up the hold. Mookie Alexander of SB Nation’s Bloody Elbow described the scene:
Ultimately, Sonnen was able to break the hold and went to work putting the pressure on Silva from The Axe Murderer’s guard. MMA Fighting saw the frame for Sonnen:
The third round was pretty much rinse and repeat as Sonnen showed the kind of swarming top game that made him a tough out for years in the middleweight division. He took Silva down and spent the vast majority of the round in complete control, getting full mount and side control while working ground-and-pound and submission attempts.
The effort was enough to secure the clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards and inject a little life into Sonnen’s Bellator run.
In a somewhat random but not altogether shocking move, Sonnen used his platform as the winner to call out Fedor Emelianenko, who lost in the co-main event by knockout, per MMA Fighting:
The fight headlined a rare pay-per-view offering for Bellator not because of its relevance in the light heavyweight division, but the prominence of the names involved. Both Sonnen and Silva are former UFC title challengers with substantial fan followings.
The two had a long-standing rivalry that never came to a head in the UFC. Now, the wrestler from West Linn, Oregon, will claim all the bragging rights.
Sonnen highlighted the importance of this fight to him in the lead-up to it, per Ryan Mayer of CBS New York:
“We never got it right from the beginning. What the genesis of that was? I can’t fully remember. This goes back to about 2001—I could never get the fight; he wouldn’t do the fight. About a decade went by, and I finally got the fight signed, we both ended up in the principal’s office on suspension, we both came out of those suspensions and we’re finally here.”
Defeating Silva marks the first time that Sonnen has had his hand raised since 2013, when he defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by first-round submission.
However, a submission loss to an aged Tito Ortiz in January still casts doubt on just how much Sonnen can offer Bellator.
His value to his new company doesn’t come in his ability to contend for a title, though. It resides in his name recognition.
Bellator’s modus operandi has been to anchor cards with well-known names when possible in hopes that viewers will tune in to watch the talent that exists in the organization. With Sonnen’s ability to still hype fights, there’s still interest in what he’s doing. Even if it’s not contending for titles.
Silva’s ability to offer much is in serious question after this bout. Like Sonnen’s fight against Ortiz, this was Silva’s first foray back into the sport since 2013.
A lot of time has passed since he defeated Brian Stann in his final UFC fight. Unless he can turn around and win his next one like Sonnen, it’s hard to envision the legend putting together a post-UFC career with his new company.
UFC 213 saw a new No. 1 contender rise to the top in the middleweight division as Robert Whittaker claimed the interim belt with a unanimous-decision win over Yoel Romero in the surprise main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.