At last night’s ESPY’s, Rousey took home the award for “Best Fighter” — beating out a field that included Mayweather, Terence Crawford, and Donald Cerrone — as well as the “Best Female Athlete” award. While discussing her big win on the red carpet, Rousey used the opportunity to eviscerate the pound-for-pound boxing king for his history of domestic…let’s call them “issues.”
“I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once,” Rousey said. “I’d like to see him pretend to not know who I am now.”
In other ESPY news, Caitlyn Jenner was bestowed with the Arthur Ashe Award for courage, and everyone was too busy talking about how she looked/sounded to consider whether or not it might be a bit presumptuous to give a courage award to someone who recklessly killed a woman in a car crash earlier this year. Yay Hollywood.
At last night’s ESPY’s, Rousey took home the award for “Best Fighter” — beating out a field that included Mayweather, Terence Crawford, and Donald Cerrone — as well as the “Best Female Athlete” award. While discussing her big win on the red carpet, Rousey used the opportunity to eviscerate the pound-for-pound boxing king for his history of domestic…let’s call them “issues.”
“I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once,” Rousey said. “I’d like to see him pretend to not know who I am now.”
In other ESPY news, Caitlyn Jenner was bestowed with the Arthur Ashe Award for courage, and everyone was too busy talking about how she looked/sounded to consider whether or not it might be a bit presumptuous to give a courage award to someone who recklessly killed a woman in a car crash earlier this year. Yay Hollywood.
While Fight Night 71 may have been a bit of a comedown from the high that last weekend’s cards provided, with 9 of the 12 scheduled fights going the distance, it managed to deliver yet another “Knockout of the Year”-worthy finish in it’s main event, which was probably the craziest sub-one and a half minute fight since Cerrone vs. Guillard.
Both Frank Mir and Todd Duffee came out throwin’ them bungalows early, but it was evident from the start that Mir was enjoying a significant speed advantage over his much younger opponent. Duffee was quite literally lunging into his punches, leaving himself exposed for big counters, and found one just over a minute into the fight in the form of a VICIOUS left hand. Though Mir would declare that “his emotions got the best of him” in his post-fight interview, there’s no arguing with the results.
Mir is now 2-0 since dropping 4 straight between 2012 and 2014. Andrei Arlovski has won three straight in the UFC. Cro Cop just beat the sh*t out of Gabe Gonzaga. Fedor is returning, and oh yeah, Fabricio Werdum is the champ. I think it’s safe to declare 2015 as the year of, as one redditor put it, “The Old School Heavyweight.”
While Fight Night 71 may have been a bit of a comedown from the high that last weekend’s cards provided, with 9 of the 12 scheduled fights going the distance, it managed to deliver yet another “Knockout of the Year”-worthy finish in it’s main event, which was probably the craziest sub-one and a half minute fight since Cerrone vs. Guillard.
Both Frank Mir and Todd Duffee came out throwin’ them bungalows early, but it was evident from the start that Mir was enjoying a significant speed advantage over his much younger opponent. Duffee was quite literally lunging into his punches, leaving himself exposed for big counters, and found one just over a minute into the fight in the form of a VICIOUS left hand. Though Mir would declare that “his emotions got the best of him” in his post-fight interview, there’s no arguing with the results.
Mir is now 2-0 since dropping 4 straight between 2012 and 2014. Andrei Arlovski has won three straight in the UFC. Cro Cop just beat the sh*t out of Gabe Gonzaga. Fedor is returning, and oh yeah, Fabricio Werdum is the champ. We think it’s safe to declare 2015 as the year of, as one redditor put it, “The Old School Heavyweight.”
In the co-main event of the evening, Tony “El Cucuy” Fergusondid work on Josh Thom-son, son. The TUF 13 winner, who has now won six straight fights with 4 finishes, sliced and diced Thomson with elbows throughout the three round affair and nearly finished the former Strikeforce champ with a couple different submissions to boot. It’s a testament to Thomson’s grittiness that he was able to make it the distance, but this might have been the fight that signals his descent from the top of the pack.
Holly Holm is not ready for Ronda Rousey, Nation, and I say that with all due respect. Matched up against Marion Reneau in her sophomore outing, Holm turned in yet another underwhelming performance, chock full of funky kicks that found mostly air and a lot of yelling. Holm is truly the Maria Sharapova of kicking and punching, but against an opponent who offered literally nooffense outside of a couple guard pulls, she still couldn’t pull the trigger. I know the UFC wants to push this Holm vs. Rousey narrative like it’s the next big thing in WMMA, but the winner of Jessica Eye vs. Miesha Tate is a much more interesting matchup, which is saying something, because one of those people has already been beaten by Rousey twice.
The full list of Fight Night 71 results are below.
Main Card
-Frank Mir def. Todd Duffee via first-round KO (1:13)
-Tony Ferguson def. Josh Thomson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
-Holly Holm def. Marion Reneau via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28)
-Manny Gamburyan def. Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Kevin Lee def. James Moontasri via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 2:56)
-Alan Jouban def. Matt Dwyer via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Preliminary Card
-Sam Sicilia def. Yaotzin Meza via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
-Jessica Andrade (#13) def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Rani Yahya def. Masanori Kanehara via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
-Sean Strickland def. Igor Araujo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
-Kevin Casey def. Ildemar Alcantara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Lyman Good def. Andrew Craig via second-round TKO (3:37)
(Thompson vs. Ellenberger highlights, via UFC on FOX)
Gee golly, that Wonderboy Thompson sure can do some fancy things with his feets, can’t he?
If the MMA community wasn’t already high enough on the undefeated kickboxer before his clash with Jake Ellenberger at the TUF 21 Finale, then the *pair* of spinning hook kicks he used to put the veteran away likely made believers out of all of us. Minus a heavy right hook that Thompson ate early in the fight, “Wonderboy” was in complete control on Sunday, utilizing his lengthy, karate-style attack to brutalize Ellenberger before finishing him off with a “Knockout of the Year” contender at the end of the first round.
Check out the complete highlights and results from the TUF 21 Finale after the jump.
(Thompson vs. Ellenberger highlights, via UFC on FOX)
Gee golly, that Wonderboy Thompson sure can do some fancy things with his feets, can’t he?
If the MMA community wasn’t already high enough on the undefeated kickboxer before his clash with Jake Ellenberger at the TUF 21 Finale, then the *pair* of spinning hook kicks he used to put the veteran away likely made believers out of all of us. Minus a heavy right hook that Thompson ate early in the fight, “Wonderboy” was in complete control on Sunday, utilizing his lengthy, karate-style attack to brutalize Ellenberger before finishing him off with a “Knockout of the Year” contender at the end of the first round.
Check out the complete highlights and results from the TUF 21 Finale after the jump.
In the evening’s co-main event, the guy from the Blackzilians beat the guy from American Top Team to win TUF 21. That is literally all I can say about these two fighters or The Ultimate Fighter in general. Although I’m totally sure that placing Conor McGregor in the mix against a guy he won’t even fight will be the power play that restores TUF to its former glory! Huzzah!!
Moving along…
Vitor Belfort protege (and TUF Brazil winner!) Cezar Ferreira has not had a great run of things lately, to put it as plainly as possible. After kicking off his UFC career with 3 straight wins, “Mutante” has now suffered three vicious knockout defeats in his last 4 fights. That his loss over the weekend came at the hands of Jorge Masvidal, a lightweight making his welterweight debut, indicates to me that perhaps Cezar should take a little time off. Which can only mean that he’ll back in action within a couple months.
Now here was an interesting moment from Sunday’s action: TUF 17 alum Josh Samman continued his brilliant run in the UFC by submitting betting favorite Caio Magalhaes in the first round with a rear-naked choke. Following the sub, Samman attempted to shake hands with his battered opponent, who proceeded to not only deny Samman the handshake, but spit blood at him as he walked away. Although the two made up backstage, VP of Public Relations Dave Sholler said that the organization will be looking into the incident this week. No matter what the verdict is, I’m sure Jason High is gonna be pissed.
The complete results for the TUF 21 Finale are below.
Main Card
Stephen Thompson def. Jake Ellenberger via knockout (head kick, punches)
Kamaru Usman def. Hayder Hassan via submission (arm-triangle choke)
Michael Graves def. Vicente Luque via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jorge Masvidal def. Cezar Ferreira via TKO (punches)
Michelle Waterson def. Angela Magana via submission (rear-naked choke)
Maximo Blanco def. Mike De La Torre via TKO (punch)
Undercard
Josh Samman def. Caio Magalhaes via submission (rear-naked choke)
Jerrod Sanders def. Russell Doane via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Trevor Smith def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)
George Sullivan def. Dominic Waters via unanimous decision (30-25, 29-27, 29-28)
Willie Gates def. Darrell Montague via TKO (strikes)
UFC Fighters Give Reebok Gear Mixed Reviews Heading into First Weekend of Deal (MMAFighting) Robbie Lawler: The UFC’s Zen Welterweight Champion (Bleacher Report) “This is Madness”: Joe Rogan Talks Cheating & PEDs in the UFC (BloodyElbow)
Look, we are well aware that we here at CagePotato have never been considered the go-to source for expert fight analysis (or timely delivered news, or comedic-themed MMA content, even…). That was, until now! We are proud to present an exclusive, recurring video serieswhich previews and breaks down the biggest matchups from upcoming UFC events, all technical like. This is Fight University, starring former UFC fighter Santino DeFranco!
If you recall, Santino DeFranco is a 13-4 MMA veteran and TUF 9 alum who has competed under the Bodog, King of the Cage, and K-1 banners and scored wins over Melvin Guillard and Waylon Lowe (among others). DeFranco also happens to hold an MFA in creative writing, and in addition to the exclusive recaps he wrote for us while competing on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, has written for Fightland and Sherdog. Suffice it to say, dude’s qualified.
Check out Santino’s inaugural installment above, which previews the last-minute (but still hotly-anticipated) interim featherweight title fight between Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes at UFC 189 this weekend. And if that’s not awesome enough, keep an eye out for Gambler’s Gambit, an updated version of our gambling enabler pieces that DeFranco will *also* be penning for us moving forward. The first entry of that series drops tomorrow!
Look, we are well aware that we here at CagePotato have never been considered the go-to source for expert fight analysis (or timely delivered news, or comedic-themed MMA content, even…). That was, until now! We are proud to present an exclusive, recurring video serieswhich previews and breaks down the biggest matchups from upcoming UFC events, all technical like. This is Fight University, starring former UFC fighter Santino DeFranco!
If you recall, Santino DeFranco is a 13-4 MMA veteran and TUF 9 alum who has competed under the Bodog, King of the Cage, and K-1 banners and scored wins over Melvin Guillard and Waylon Lowe (among others). DeFranco also happens to hold an MFA in creative writing, and in addition to the exclusive recaps he wrote for us while competing on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, has written for Fightland and Sherdog. Suffice it to say, dude’s qualified.
Check out Santino’s inaugural installment above, which previews the last-minute (but still hotly-anticipated) interim featherweight title fight between Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes at UFC 189 this weekend. And if that’s not awesome enough, keep an eye out for Gambler’s Gambit, an updated version of our gambling enabler pieces that DeFranco will *also* be penning for us moving forward. The first entry of that series drops tomorrow!
Jose Aldo is out of UFC 189. For realsies this time. Conor McGregor will now face Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title at UFC 189 on 11 days notice. The news was delivered by Dana White on Sportscenter last night, the video of which you can check out after the jump.
Jose Aldo is out of UFC 189. For realsies this time. Conor McGregor will now face Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title at UFC 189 on 11 days notice. The news was delivered by Dana White on Sportscenter last night, the video of which you can check out after the jump.
And just like that, the most lavishly-promoted fight in UFC history goes up in smoke. Aldo misses out on the biggest payday of his career. McGregor gets an arguably tougher stylistic matchup and PPV sales likely tank. Karma at work, maybe?
