General | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC Dublin Aftermath: An Underwhelming Card That Underwhelmed, Underwhelmingly

(“What? WHAT? I’m not the guy who booked this fight!” via Getty.)

I’ll be honest, Nation; due to a number of extenuating circumstances including an increased workload at other websites and an ever-growing apathy for the sport of MMA aroused by the increasingly poor decision making of the UFC (not to mention, the dissolution of this website), last weekend’s Fight Night 76 was actually the first UFC card I was able to catch live in some 3 months. Being that it also happened to be the UFC’s first card following an unprecedented 3 week break, fan expectations were high in general to say the least.

But then, it lost its co-main event. Then, it lost its *main* event. What was once a solid night (afternoon) of fights quickly dissolved into one of the worst cards on paper in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Yet still, I retained hope. Weak cards on paper are just that, right? Some of the UFC’s worst looking cards ended up being some of the most exciting cards of them all, RIGHT? Fight Night 65, anyone? How about Fight Night 68, or Fight Night 55, or the injury-plagued UFC 178?

Sadly, UFC Dublin was not one of those nights.

The post UFC Dublin Aftermath: An Underwhelming Card That Underwhelmed, Underwhelmingly appeared first on Cagepotato.

(“What? WHAT? I’m not the guy who booked this fight!” via Getty.)

Sadly, UFC Dublin was not one of those nights.

While the last-minute main event between hometown favorite Paddy Holohan and Hawaiian actual betting favorite Louis Smolka made for a sublimely entertaining fight — with Holohan opening strong but eventually succumbing to a rear-naked choke in the second round — the majority of Fight Night 76 was thoroughly underwhelming, not to mention inconsequential in the broad scheme of things.

In the co-main event of the evening, TUF Smashes alum Norman Parke defeated Reza Madadi by unanimous decision, and in doing so, helped prove that “grudge match” fights fail to deliver in the cage more often than not. Oh, were you not aware that this was supposedly a grudge match, Potato Nation? That must be because you missed Friday’s weigh-ins, wherein Parke decided to mock his opponent’s criminal past by throwing a handbag at him. Even more confounding than Parke’s Carrot Top-inspired trash talk was the UFC’s decision to shamelessly promote the fact that it is employing a man who had just spent the past year and a half behind bars for aggravated robbery, which, given how quick the UFC brass were to formally reinstate Jon Jones, shouldn’t be all that big of a suprise, I guess.

In any case, Parke employed his typically lackadaisical style of throwing two punches and clinching on every exchange (I believe the experts call it “grinding”), which worked nicely for him when Madadi was himself not throwing two punches and clinching on every exchange. “Mad Dog” looked very much like a man who had spent two years away from the sport, to put it plainly, but let’s hope that he was paid enough for his efforts to avoid falling back on old habits.

The evening’s “Fight of the Night” was awarded to Darren Till vs. Nicolas Dalby, in a match that saw the former go from increasingly arrogant striker in the first two rounds to increasingly gassed punching bag by the third. A 10-8 scored by Dalby in the third round led judges to rightfully declare the fight a draw, keeping both fighters’ undefeated records in tact. Movin on…

Not to be outdone, the always entertaining Neil Seery did not disappoint in Fight Night Dublin’s main card opener, securing his first UFC finish with a surprising submission via arm-in guillotine over John Delos Reyes in the second round. Despite telling reporters that he would be hunting for the knockout in the days before the fight, Seery nearly finished Delos Reyes on a couple occasions with the guillotine, as the Brazilian repeatedly overcommitted on his takedowns when forced to trade with the Irishman on the feet. Though he was able to escape Seery’s guillotine early in the fight, a takedown late in the second left his neck exposed for the taking and Seery would not be denied.

The win earned “2 Tap” a $50,000 performance bonus and likely earned Delos Reyes his walking papers in light of recent events.

There’s not much else worth discussing from Fight Night Dublin, unfortunately, unless you happen to be one of the people who takes endless enjoyment in seeing Cathal Pendred get annihilated, which he was, compliments of Englishman Tom Breese. Let’s hope that November’s Fight Night 77 headlined by the completion of the wholly unnecessary Belfort-Hendo trilogy can deliver a bit more to chew on.

Full results for Fight Night 76 are below.

Main card
Louis Smolka def. Patrick Holohan via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:09 of round 2
Norman Parke def. Reza Madadi via unanimous decision
Darren Till and Nicolas Dalby ends in a majority draw
Neil Seery def. Jon Delos Reyes via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:12 of round 2

Undercard
Stevie Ray def. Mickael Lebout via unanimous decision
Aisling Daly def. Ericka Almeida via unanimous decision
Krzysztof Jotko def. Scott Askham via split decision
Tom Breese def. Cathal Pendred via TKO (punches) at 4:37 of round 1
Darren Elkins def. Robert Whiteford via unanimous decision
Garreth McLellan def. Bubba Bush via TKO (punches) at 4:58 of round 3

The post UFC Dublin Aftermath: An Underwhelming Card That Underwhelmed, Underwhelmingly appeared first on Cagepotato.

UFC Reinstates Jon Jones a Mere Six Months After His Hit-and-Run Accident

(Cheer up Jon, today’s gonna be a bright, bright, sun-shiny day!”)

Jon Jones is not a good person. It’s something that he’s demonstrated at nearly every turn — first when he decided to drive drunk and subsequently total his car with two passengers onboard, then when he decided to…drive drunk and/or stoned and subsequently total his car by smashing it into a pregnant woman. Did I mention that he fled the scene in that second instance?

But Jon Jones does happen to be a GREAT fighter, and that’s all the UFC really cares about. I don’t mean to say that as if they shouldn’t. Here’s an organization that re-hired Thiago Silva after he battered his wife and had an armed standoff with police, glossed over the facts of Anthony Johnson‘s domestic abuse case(s), and unflinchingly booked Reza Madadi a fight the moment he was released from prison for his role in an aggravated burglary. If Charles Barkley doesn’t have to be a role model to play basketball, then Jon Jones sure as Hell doesn’t have to pass basic decency standards to bash someone’s head in.

As such, the UFC has decided in their infinite wisdom that today, just 6 months after Jones was involved in said hit-and-run and just a third of the way into the 18-month probation he was sentenced to, would be a great day to officially end his suspension.

Details after the jump.

The post UFC Reinstates Jon Jones a Mere Six Months After His Hit-and-Run Accident appeared first on Cagepotato.

(Cheer up Jon, today’s gonna be a bright, bright, sun-shiny day!”)

Details after the jump.

“We’ve made it clear to Jon that this new opportunity to compete in UFC is a privilege and not a right, and that there are significant expectations we have regarding his conduct moving forward,” said Lorenzo Fertitta. “We’re happy to read and see reports that he has embraced the terms of his plea agreement and is using this experience to grow and develop as a person.”

I mean, what was the UFC brass supposed to do, book new champ Daniel Cormier against Ryan Bader?!! Ew, you guys. Just ew. The 205 pound division needs its champion, we need its champion, and we don’t give a sh*t how many times he commits a heinous act, or whether or not the victims of his heinous acts are still nursing their wounds. HE IS A GREAT FIGHTER, and thusly, he deserves to fight for our entertainment at any cost.

It’s called separating the person from the professional, which is why Woody Allen gets to keep making as many films as he wants no matter how many children he diddles. Or why we’ve all grown so fond of convicted rapist Mike Tyson. Grow up, you guys. Any attempts to call Jones out for being a reprehensible asshole who has screwed up too many times to receive forgiveness/UFC employment will be met with a firm noogie.

Glad that’s settled. Now let’s hear what the champ has to say (via Jones’ Facebook):

I am grateful for the opportunity to resume my career and I am excited to show how much I’ve grown as a person outside of the octagon. It took me losing almost everything I had worked for to realize how much I had. I am blessed and humbled by the continued support of the MMA community and I can’t thank my fans enough for their unwavering support through my ups and downs. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life and my career and let me assure you, the best is yet to come.

“The best is yet to come.”

Oh my God, you guys. Jon Jones is going to KILL SOMEONE the next time he gets behind the wheel.

The post UFC Reinstates Jon Jones a Mere Six Months After His Hit-and-Run Accident appeared first on Cagepotato.

Reebok Has Once Again Pissed Off Everybody With Its Latest Shirt Design

(Think that’s bad? Just wait until you see what Reebok has planned for UFC Korea…)

To describe both fan and fighter reaction to the UFC’s deal with Reebok as anything other than “hostile” would be a bridge too far for most MMA writers to cross. On the UFC side of things, dozens of fighters have publicly lamented the sad realities of the deal, legendary cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran was fired by the UFC after speaking up against it, and Brendan Schaub essentially retired because of it. (It’s honestly as if they don’t understand that matching spandex uniforms are the *one* thing keeping MMA from mainstream acceptance.)

Of course, it doesn’t help that Reebok seems to be f*cking up at every turn just as badly as the UFC is. The apparel company’s Facebook page has been flooded with negative comments since the very start of the deal, their Fight Kit unveiling ceremony was a train wreck, the sponsorship figures are garbage, and the uniforms themselves are both insanely overpriced and wholly unappealing.

And now, Reebok has dropped the ball yet again.

Details after the jump.

The post Reebok Has Once Again Pissed Off Everybody With Its Latest Shirt Design appeared first on Cagepotato.

(Think that’s bad? Just wait until you see what Reebok has planned for UFC Korea…)

And now, Reebok has dropped the ball yet again.

Details after the jump.

In an attempt to shill to Irish fans/promote this weekend’s Fight Night 76 in Dublin, Reebok released the “UFC Ireland Map Tee” pictured below.

Doesn’t seem too offensive at first glance, right? Well, the problem is that this “map of Ireland” doesn’t include Northern Ireland, a territory which — despite technically being aligned with the United Kingdom — has been the subject of a political and religious dispute for centuries. And not only that, but the shirt includes the tagline ”Show your UFC territorial allegiance”, which seems to imply that Northern Irish folk are neither Irish, worthy of even being considered in the debate, or somehow inferior to “actual” Irish.

Look, I know that we live in the era of manufactured outrage, and I won’t pretend to fully understand the scope of just how offensive this shirt is, so let’s get some perspective on this from someone who might. Say…John Kavanagh, aka Conor McGregor’s coach, a proud Irishman, and someone who just so happened to finalize a deal between Reebok and his SBG gym yesterday. Take it away, John!

Well, that was…um…ehh…not a good look.

Luckily for Kavanagh (or perhaps for Reebok), the shirt was quickly taken off Reebok.com. Speaking of which, a trip over to Reebok’s Fight Kits page reveals something else you might file under “concerning” — all of the fight kits have been removed, save a handful of the UFC’s biggest stars.

Now, this could be a simple glitch or have something to do with the massive series of firings expected to take place in the near future, but in any case, the hell is going on, Reebok?

The post Reebok Has Once Again Pissed Off Everybody With Its Latest Shirt Design appeared first on Cagepotato.

Let the Purge Begin: UFC Releases 17 Fighters From Its Roster, 33 More to Come

(via Getty)

Even as someone who follows the sports as closely as I do, I would be remiss to say that I could regularly identify more fighters on the average UFC card than I could not these days. With over 550 fighters on their roster, the UFC is becoming an increasingly sink-or-swim promotion with little room for error, which doesn’t exactly help fighters still in need of development upon being signed by the world’s premiere organization (ie. TUF stars, unheralded prospects, late replacement opponents, etc.). Nor does it help mid-level MMA bloggers keep track of who’s coming and going.

Earlier this month, the UFC released TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem along with Elias Silverio, Jorge Oliveira, and Nazareno Malegarie, which more or less proves my point (of those four, I only recognize the first two). Late last week, TUF 19 middleweight winner Eddie Gordon was cut following 3 straight losses, as was Christos Giagos (1-2), Matt Van Buren (0-2), and Roger Narvaez (1-2). The most interesting thing to come out of that bit of news was Giagos’ claim that he was released as a result of the UFC “over-booking” their roster and needing to make some cuts as a result, which coincided with an unconfirmed Swedish report that the UFC would be cutting a total of 50 fighters.

Marcus Brimage and Chris Clements announced their releases shortly thereafter, and today, UFCFIGHTERSINFO announced the deletion of some 17 more profiles from the UFC’s fighter database, meaning almost surely that said fighters are no longer under UFC contract. Those fighters are…

The post Let the Purge Begin: UFC Releases 17 Fighters From Its Roster, 33 More to Come appeared first on Cagepotato.

(via Getty)

Ivan Jorge: 2-2 UFC record, most recently submitted by Joseph Duffy at Fight Night 72

Francisco Trevino: aka the guy who showed up heavy to his fight with Sage Northcutt, got KO’d inside a minute, pushed Herb Dean, then tested positive for marijuana. Literally no one could have seen this coming.

Pawel Pawlak: 1-2, last dropped a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards at Fight Night 72

Hernani Perpetuo: 0-2, last dropped a UD to Tim Means at UFC on FOX 12

Vagner Rocha: 0-1 in his second UFC stint, 1-4 overall, choked out by Jake Matthews at Fight Night 55

David Michaud: 1-2, last suffered a third round submission loss to Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC 186

Naoyuki Kotani: 0-3, with losses to Norman Parke, Yan Cabral, and Kajan Johnson

Amir Sadollah: The charismatic TUF 7 has been sadly plagued by injuries for the majority of his career, which he has fought exclusively in the UFC. After returning from a two-year layoff in 2014, Sadollah dropped a unanimous decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama and has not competed since.

Luke Zachrich: 1-2, was last submitted by Daniel Kelly at Fight Night 55

TJ Waldburger: 1-3 in his last 4 (4-4 overall), has not competed since a TKO loss to Mike Pyle in February of last year

William Macario: 1-3, was infamously KO’d by a Matt Dwyer superman punch at Fight Night 61

Leonardo Mafra: 1-2, was last TKO’d by Steven Ray at Fight Night 72

Ron Stallings: 1-3, disqualified in his last bout after illegally up-kicking Joe Riggs

Roger Zapata: 0-1, suffered a hand injury Shinsho Anzai at Fight Night 75 in September.

Joe Merritt: 0-1, having dropped a decision to Alex Oliveira and posed for this hilariously shameful photo.

Lewis Gonzalez: 0-1, dropped a unanimous decision to Leandro Silva at Fight Night 70.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Soa Palelei also announced his retirement from the sport amidst the rash of firings. While I wouldn’t imagine that he was on the chopping block, having gone 4-2 in his second UFC stint with 4 finishes, he was on the heels of a tough loss to Bigfoot Silva, so who knows. Regardless, “The Hulk” took to Twitter to thank the UFC for the opportunities they gave him.

I want to take an opportunity to officially announce my retirement from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Thank you to the UFC, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Joe Silva for giving me a second chance to fight for the organization. I’ve had a great time, but feel it’s time to focus on my family and other career interests. After several months of thought and discussion with my family and my team, we realize our future includes many things in MMA, but active competition in the sport is no longer one of them. This isn’t goodbye, as I will still be very much involved in the sport but just not as a fighter. I want to help further MMA around the world and give my contribution to the sport. I know that I have, and will continue to contribute much to the growth of our sport outside of the Octagon. Stay tuned guys as there is still so much more to come from “The Hulk” ?#?WatchThisSpace? ?#?MuchLove

Let’s hope that Palelei’s retirement will lift the inexplicable ban on visiting sick kids that had been placed on him by his home country. Seriously, WTF Australia?

The post Let the Purge Begin: UFC Releases 17 Fighters From Its Roster, 33 More to Come appeared first on Cagepotato.

Video: Nick Newell Gives Heartfelt Retirement Speech Following WSOF 24 Win

It’s been a hell of a journey for WSOF lightweight, Proving Grounds winner, and friend of the Potato, Nick Newell — one wrought with obstacles to overcome, occasional setbacks, and triumphs that most of us could only hope to achieve. Chief among those triumphs, this picture. I mean, seriously, how awesome is this thing? Sure, all the awards and titles and recognition and all that stuff is great, but how many people get to take a free shot at Danny Trejo and live to talk about it? The answer: Nick Newell, and *only* Nick Newell.

An inspirational figure in more ways than one, Newell kicked off his professional MMA career with 9 straight victories (8 of them finishes), capturing the XFC lightweight title in the process and signing with the World Series of Fighting shortly thereafter. While Newell would suffer his first (and last) professional defeat to lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in 2014, he would spend the next two years getting himself back on the path to a title shot.

At WSOF 24 last weekend, Newell took on Tom Marcellino (a local fighter from where I grew up, coincidentally) in a back-and-forth battle that saw “Notorious” awarded a unanimous decision victory. In a shocking moment immediately following the decision, however, Newell announced his retirement from the sport, stating his desire to go out with his wits still about him. It was a selfless, sobering moment that words simply fall short of describing.

Video after the jump.

The post Video: Nick Newell Gives Heartfelt Retirement Speech Following WSOF 24 Win appeared first on Cagepotato.

Video after the jump.

Newell’s emotional post-fight interview was posted to the WSOF Facebook page yesterday evening.

Nick Newell announces retirement

You know, I’m only 29-years-old, but I want to have a future, I want to be able to have a good body when I get older. One day, I’d like to have kids and be able to play with them. I know that’s kind of an extreme thing, but I didn’t get to where I am today by just being a natural. I’m sorry, this is very emotional for me. I got to where I am from hard work, and that takes a toll on your body. These past couple training camps have been really hard for me, and just really hard on my body. It’s just…it’s just my time.

I don’t want to be a guy that just fights for a…for a paycheck [obviously overcome with emotion at this point]. I want to be a guy that fights because he loves it. I don’t want to cheat myself of my best performances, and I don’t feel like I’m the fighter I could be, because my body is just not reacting the same way it used to. I just don’t have it in me anymore, so this is my last one, a hometown fight that I won. It wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world, but I didn’t really get to train much for this fight. It was injury after injury. I had terrible luck, and uh, it’s time.I’ve done this for my past three camps, with injuries all through the whole camp. I came in 20 pounds over the day before weigh-ins and had to lose it all because I couldn’t train. It’s just very rough on my body. I want to have a good life when I get older, and I can’t be fighting anymore.

Thank you to everyone that’s supported me. I don’t want to give you guys a second rate Nick Newell. I want the best Nick Newell there is and his days are over. It’s time to move on and do something new and share my knowledge with other people.

It really puts the toll a sport like MMA takes on someone into perspective when a 29-year-old with just over a dozen professional bouts is already expressing concern for his future well being. So on behalf of everyone that once worked here at CagePotato — ones who knew Nick far better than I did — I’d like to wish Newell for all of his contributions both inside and out of this often great, often heartbreaking sport. It takes a truly humble and intelligent man to know when he can fight no more, and I can’t think of a better way for Newell to have gone out.

Thanks, Nick.

The post Video: Nick Newell Gives Heartfelt Retirement Speech Following WSOF 24 Win appeared first on Cagepotato.