Earlier today UFC posted on their website that Daniel Cormier is set to fight Anthony Johnson on the UFC 210 card at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo. This will be the second time the heavyweights will meet in the octagon, with cormier winning the first bout via rear naked choke after surviving a first round knockdown. Cormier then went on to defend the title against Alexander Gustafsson in an instant classic. A knockdown, drag out, war.
Earlier today UFC posted on their website that Daniel Cormier is set to fight Anthony Johnson on the UFC 210 card at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo. This will be the second time the heavyweights meet inside the octagon, with cormier winning the first bout via rear naked choke after surviving a first round knockdown. Cormier then went on to defend the title against Alexander Gustafsson in an instant classic, and take out MMA legend Anderson Silva via unanimous decision.
Since their first fight Johnson has gone on to score 3 consecutive knockouts against Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader, and Glover Teixeira. He’s hoping the second time will be a charm as a scheduled fight out of the injury prone AKA camp is anything but promised.
Middleweights Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi are also set to clash on the same card.
The pay per view airs on April 8th and tickets go on sale Feb 17th.
What do you guys think, will this fight actually come to fruition?
Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.
If you’re a harcore MMA fan, chances are you like Jorge Masvidal. He’s one of those sadistic fighters that not only like to hit, but get hit. If you knock him down, he’s right back in your face, if you take him to the brink, he’s thirsty for more – the man loves to scrap. Unfortunately for these “every man” fighters, this business involves more that just heart. Dropping two close fights via split decision and never really breaking into the creme de’ la creme of the UFC, it seems Masvidal is back with a chip on his shoulder and he says Donald Cerrone is part of the problem.
If you’re a harcore MMA fan, chances are you like Jorge Masvidal. He’s one of those sadistic fighters that not only like to hit, but get hit. If you knock him down, he’s right back in your face, if you take him to the brink, he’s thirsty for more – the man loves to scrap. Unfortunately for these “every man” fighters, this business involves more that just heart. Dropping two close fights via split decision and never really breaking into the creme de’ la creme of the UFC, it seems Masvidal is back with a chip on his shoulder and he says Donald Cerrone is part of the problem.
If you didn’t know, Masvidal and Cerrone are set to clash this saturday as the co-main event of the Shevchenko vs. Pena card at UFC, Denver. While both fighters have the “fight first, title later” mindset, Cerrone has definitely had more of a smooth ride and Masvidal feels part of that cushy lifestyle was made off of his back.
“I’ve had signed bout agreements to fight another top-ranked opponent – it’s happened to me four times – but out of the four, two of them he was the reason why I didn’t get to fight those ranked opponents,”
“Whether he knew or not, somebody’s got to pay with interest for what was done with me, and it’s going to be ‘Cowboy”. -Jorge Masvidal
The two fighter’s he’s referring to are Bobby Greene at UFC 178 and most recently Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 205.
To be fair his bad luck started long before Cerrone, dropping two controversial split decisions to Al Iaquinta and former lightweight champion Ben Henderson. But perhaps it’s not bad luck, perhaps it’s the underdog attitude that got him here that is now proving self sabotaging. Self described as one of the meanest fighters to ever step into an ATT gym, it seems Masvidal’s underdog attitude started long before there was an octagon – back in the mean streets of Miami Florida.
“I was like 7 or 8 when I found out and I realized there was something about me that was a little bit different to everybody else,” Masvidal said. ”I remember walking home from school with my bike and these kids try to take my bike from me, I think was like 9 or 8-years-old and these dudes were in like their teenage years like 13 or 14. They tried to take my bike, but guess what happened? I went home with my bike.
“I wasn’t even training at the time. It was just the environment laced with my meanness. I can tell you nobody was going to say s*it to me man.”
While you’ve got to respect the attitude that got you here, at a certain point you’re going to have to evolve. Masvidal has all the skills, toughness, and work ethic it takes to be a world champion, he just has to fix wants in between his ears. His fight with media darling Donald Cerrone is the perfect opportunity for Masvidal to turn himself from an underdog to a top dog. Will he capitalize?
Hit us up in the comments section below!
Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.
You know, it’s becoming clear that most times when a fighter loses people steadily begin to discuss their options and future. Many say that fighter A is done, that it makes no sense to continue. They’re washed up and broken down, their skill set just isn’t cutting it. In some cases it’s true, some fighters simply don’t have the skill set needed to continue to succeed or come back from a crushing defeat. One of the fighters that fit into that category is someone who has dominated the competition for years.
You know, it’s becoming clear that most times when a fighter loses people steadily begin to discuss their options and future. Many say that fighter A is done, that it makes no sense to continue. They’re washed up and broken down, their skill set just isn’t cutting it. In some cases it’s true, some fighters simply don’t have the skill set needed to continue to succeed or come back from a crushing defeat. One of the fighters that fit into that category is someone who has dominated the competition for years.
Ronda Rousey.
Now, while many people have their own opinions on whether she should continue or not, Ronda Rousey is the kind of woman who is going to weigh her options before jumping headlong in any direction. She’s not going to retire on a whim nor is she going to casually return to action. Ronda and her handlers have a plan of attack they’re formulating. If that plan does include a comeback fight then she’s going to have to make a few decisions going forward.
For The Love Of God, A New Head Coach Please
First thing’s first. Ronda Rousey is not going to get to where she needs to be by remaining where she is. While I do appreciate her loyalty to her camp, she has to realize that her approach to fighting has stagnated and if Edmond Tarverdyan can’t get her to where she needs to go then Ronda needs to consider her options.
As important as it is to be loyal and trust in your camp, Ronda Rousey should be considering if the coaching she’s receiving is actually making her grow or if things have stagnated. And the reality is that Rousey could still easily employ Tarverdyan’s services while at the same time exploring her options.
Get A Traditional Kicking Game
While many people have said that Ronda Rousey needs better boxing or that a freestyle wrestling game would serve her well, the reality is that she needs more tools than that. While wrestling and more boxing will help, MMA has become a game of distances. If you can’t close distance or get out of range then you’ll simply be a sitting duck for the sharper strikers in the division. A kicking game would go a long way to improving that. But not just any kicking style will do. If Ronda wants to come back strong then taking on a style like taekwondo or karate will undoubtedly help her to both in and out of striking range.
“The traditional martial artist suggests martial arts. Compelling stuff.”
Yeah, it may seem like bias, but with the game constantly changing, incorporating styles that live and die based on movement isn’t entirely a bad idea. When Ronda was getting her bell ring against Amanda Nunes she had opportunities to retreat and regain her wits. Problem is that if you don’t have the footwork and haven’t been trained as such then doing so is easier said. But imagine a Ronda Rousey who bounces lightly on her feet, uses Tai Sabaki (Japanese for body management), a practice utilized in many traditional arts, and has the confidence to get close to her opponent in a flash and get away just as fast. That’s a scary proposition to deal with for any woman in the bantamweight division. Ronda’s rumored bum knees would make this a fairly difficult proposition, but we’re talking about repurposing and if she is ever looking to get a win again it’s something she should consider.
What do you think can improve Ronda Rousey’s game?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
Bellator 170 was filled with some interesting fights. Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen fought an old man match so clunky people thought it was fixed, Hisaki Kato vs. Ralek Gracie played “let’s not actually fight each other” for 3 rds, and Emmanuel Sanchez managed to throw two illegal knees to a downed opponent and still come out on with a victory. However, one thing that was pretty straightforward was Paul “Semtex” Daley’s 1st round flying knee K.O. of Brennan Ward, and even more straightforward is the picture of the result.
Bellator 170 was filled with some interesting fights. Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen fought an old man match so clunky people thought it was fixed, Hisaki Kato vs. Ralek Gracie played “let’s not actually fight each other” for 3 rds, and Emmanuel Sanchez managed to throw two illegal knees to a downed opponent and still come out on with a victory. However, one thing that was pretty straightforward was Paul “Semtex” Daley’s 1st round flying knee K.O. of Brennan Ward, and even more straightforward is the picture of the result.
Daley who has won 6 out of his last 7 fights, only losing to current Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima, says the win was bittersweet as he looked over the cage post celebration only to see Ward’s girlfriend crying. It was a pretty vicious knockout which many are already predicting will be up there for K.O. of the year.
After the victory, Daley sent a heartfelt welcome to Rory “The Red King” MacDonald by challenging him to his first match in Bellator. Rory quickly replied with a 20 second of video of Hangover comedian Zack Galifianakis laughing his little heart out.
Rory is coming off two back to back losses against Robbie Lawler and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson with the UFC. While Daley definitely has K.O. power in every limb of his body, Rory definitely has one of the most developed skill set in all of MMA and is used to making power punchers look basic.
MacDonald is waiting to completely heal from repeated nose injuries sustained over his fighting career. No date for a debut has been set. Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.
It was recently posted on Twitter by Fight Network’s John Pollock that Middleweight Champ Michael “the gifted” Bisping is out due to a meniscus tear and will not be eyeing a return until May. With all the hooplah about interim titles, it seems like there’s another on the horizon. The only question is, who gets the shot?
It was recently posted on Twitter by Fight Network’s John Pollock that Middleweight Champ Michael “the gifted” Bisping is out due to a meniscus tear and will not be eyeing a return until May. With all the hooplah about interim titles, it seems like there’s another on the horizon. The only question is, who gets the shot?
We call him “the gifted champ” because it took a whole lot of luck for Bisping to get here. First being blessed with a win against Anderson Silva (having the event in his motherland didn’t hurt), gifted by the Gods with the Luke Rockhold knockout, and then gifted again by Dana White with his first title defense being against 46 year old Dan Henderson (some thought he was gifted with that decision too), but we digress.
The real question is, who does Yoel Romero fight until then? The obvious choice is Jacare Souza. If Jacare can overcome the great American Grizzly that is Tim Boetsch at UFC 208 in February then he should be a shoo in for the rematch against Romero. In case you didn’t catch the first one, it was a highly controversial decision that in my opinion went the right way (hear that? that’s the sound of 10,000 people unsubscribing). But the key term there is SHOULD, and we all know Dana loves to throw in wrenches. If the fight doesn’t eventuate it could be Gegard Mousasi; the 31 year old dutch fighter (41-6-2) has just secured a fight with Chris Weidman and some are even calling him the most well rounded in the division. Former champ Luke Rockhold could also be in the conversation depending on how he heals from a recent knee injury.
If Dana White doesn’t make an interim title then my guess is Yoel Romero holds out until he can get his shot. But with the way MMA is going nowadays our guess is just as good as yours. What do you think is next for the middleweight division, does the number #1 contender wait it out or fight for the interim belt?
Hit us up in the comments section below.
Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.
These days if you’re looking to make the big bucks in MMA you better be a damn good talker. While fighting ability should be the end all be all, the reality is that if you’re looking to get truckloads of money then you’re going to have to market yourself the right way. There’s nothing like a good story line to hang your hat on and it’s exactly what the fans want to see. Ticket sales and pay-per-view purchases can’t simply be sold on the prospect of a good performance. Personalities are what sell these days and if you’re looking to get things done and move the needle in your favor then you better have a good marketing plan set up.
These days if you’re looking to make the big bucks in MMA you better be a damn good talker. While fighting ability should be the end all be all, the reality is that if you’re looking to get truckloads of money then you’re going to have to market yourself the right way. There’s nothing like a good story line to hang your hat on and it’s exactly what the fans want to see. Ticket sales and pay-per-view purchases can’t simply be sold on the prospect of a good performance. Personalities are what sell these days and if you’re looking to get things done and move the needle in your favor then you better have a good marketing plan set up.
There’s a reason why everyone has been taking the “Conor McGregor” approach these days. What McGregor and Ronda Rousey have done for the sport is revealed the truth behind success in prize fighting. Being a standout, polarizing figure is what’s going to generate interest and in turn produce dough.
Yes, it’s sad that fighters have to resort to being brand these days. Somewhere in the back of our minds we still want to believe in the purity of the sport. But that kind of mindset isn’t going to pay the bills. A fighter can’t feed themselves by simply being honorable and believing in the fighting spirit (unless it’s a character that can be sold that is).
The truth is money talks, literally. If you want something in this game then you’re going to have to take it and the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Just ask Gegard Mousasi.
With the recent announcement of his bout against Chris Weidman at UFC 210, Gegard Mousasi has proven that voicing your opinions and being heard is important to get things done. He had no fights on his plate and nothing to look forward to in his immediate future. That is, until he started calling out all the fighters in the top fifteen in the middleweight division. It seemed that with enough trash talk that things were able to come together and Mousasi got the top five opponent he’s been looking for.
Do I wish prize fighting could be all about the purity of the endeavor? I certainly do. But I also realize that it’s a hard lifestyle to live and in order to make it and build a nest egg for yourself and your family then you have to do what’s necessary to generate income. These days that means creating a persona for yourself and letting everyone know it too.
What’s your thoughts on this new era of MMA?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
