George Roop gave a rather imagery-filled opinion of Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes to MMAWeekly Radio, saying Aldo will have to get an abortion after the fight. The usually polite, yet unexpectedly witty Roop quipped:.
George Roop gave a rather imagery-filled opinion of Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes to MMAWeekly Radio, saying Aldo will have to get an abortion after the fight. The usually polite, yet unexpectedly witty Roop quipped:
Mendes in my opinion he’s probably going to take it to (Jose) Aldo. Aldo will probably have to go get an abortion afterwards, but I do think he’ll win the fight.
Chad Mendes is probably going to have to take him to planned parenthood afterwards, but I do think he’ll win that fight.”
I’ll admit I didn’t get this analogy so I called Roop who explained his comments derive from the “lay and pray” wrestling style and that some fighters joke, you’re down there so long you impregnate your opponent. Now that I get it, that’s pretty funny. Roop added in the interview with MMAWeekly that Aldo’s cardio is his biggest weakness which was exposed by Mark Hominick.
George Roop himself faces a tough opponent in a week and a half at UFC 137 in his main card bout against former Sengoku Featherweight Champion, Hatsu Hioki who will be making his UFC debut. Hioki is currently ranked the number # 2 Featherweight by Sherdog and #3 by MMAWeekly.
Pettis, and his hopes at a title shot, come crashing down (pic: MMAFightNews.net)
Judging from the sparse commentary throughout last night’s live blog, most of you were out sipping $20 Manhattans and discussing the latest issue of The New Yorker while a few of us sat on the couch watching free cage fights and loathing ourselves. It’s cool. You know what you did was wrong, and you came back home to us. We forgive you, and we’ll give you the gist of what went down.
It only took three minutes and fifty four seconds to send ten weeks of buildup crashing to the mat. The bout between Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem was competitive, with both men finding a home for their hands, but Ferguson was able to employ his collegiate wrestling experience and the time spent with Lesnar’s camp after the show to dictate the fight and set the pace. Following a couple of successful takedowns, Ferguson flipped Ramsey’s switch with a left hook and Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter crowned its asshole champion.
Pettis, and his hopes at a title shot, come crashing down (pic: MMAFightNews.net)
Judging from the sparse commentary throughout last night’s live blog, most of you were out sipping $20 Manhattans and discussing the latest issue of The New Yorker while a few of us sat on the couch watching free cage fights and loathing ourselves. It’s cool. You know what you did was wrong, and you came back home to us. We forgive you, and we’ll give you the gist of what went down.
It only took three minutes and fifty four seconds to send ten weeks of buildup crashing to the mat. The bout between Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem was competitive, with both men finding a home for their hands, but Ferguson was able to employ his collegiate wrestling experience and the time spent with Lesnar’s camp after the show to dictate the fight and set the pace. Following a couple of successful takedowns, Ferguson flipped Ramsey’s switch with a left hook and Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter crowned its asshole champion.
About 10 seasons ago that would have meant something, perhaps that a new player had arrived in the Welterweight division, but these days it just means that the TUF champ was simply the best fighter in the house, and that’s assuming that the best fighter didn’t succumb to injury during the hectic fight schedule. The legendary “six figure contract” carries little guarantee of future employment, but at least Ferguson left with the $40k “Knock Out of the Night” bonus in his pocket. So where does Ferguson go from here? In true Ultimate Fighter fashion, he said a drop in weight class is likely in his future. Then again, he also called out fellow TUF champion and resident UFC hipster Amir Sadollah, so who knows.
In the “co-main event”, Clay Guida was able to take Anthony Pettis off of his feet and reduce his highlight-reel style to a few momentary bursts of gif-worthy brilliance. Pettis took a major gamble in accepting this fight, preferring to stay active and risk losing his title shot rather than sitting idly by and waiting for a turn that may never come. It’s hard to imagine a fight so active resulting in so little damage. Guida used his strong wrestling base to put Pettis on his back each and every round, but it was all he could do to avoid the constant submission threats of Showtime’s active guard. Guida’s major offensive weapon, outside of his takedowns, came in the form of shoulder strikes from the guard and half guard while pressed against the cage. It was enough to secure the decision from the judges, but not enough to earn him the title shot that would have gone to a victorious Pettis. Dana White said post-fight that Guida is still behind Jim Miller in line for a shot at the belt. In short, Pettis will need to work on his wrestling to flourish in the UFC’s lightweight division, and Guida still needs to work on everything else.
In other action…
Ed Herman turned the longest layoff into the evening’s quickest win with his 48-second TKO of Tim Credeur. It was an exciting and much-needed win for “Short Fuse”, but with both men coming off of two year absences it tells us little about how he’ll fair against other competition or how he’s recovered from multiple knee surgeries.
My how far Josh Grispi has fallen. Once lined up to challenge Jose Aldo for his belt, “The Fluke” has now lost both of his matches in the UFC. George Roop also came into the bout 0-1 in the UFC, but he looked solid last night in his return to the win column.
The evening’s “Fight of the Night” was a throwdown between Light Heavyweights Kyle Kingsbury and Fabio Maldonado. Kingsbury landed some big knees from the clinch, but ate more than his fair share of digging body shots for his effort. Kingsbury left the cage with his fourth consecutive UFC win and an eye that looked possessed by demons.
Danny Downes was outgunned on the feet, and Danny Downes was outgunned on the mat, but damn Danny Downes is tough. Downes took a beating and probably should have left the cage with a detached arm, but he hung in there for the long haul in what ended up serving as a showcase fight for Jeremy Stephens.
I wouldn’t expect to see much more out of the TUF Class of Season 13. The undercard bouts featuring the non-finalists didn’t give much reason to believe anyone will be making an impact in the UFC. Chris Cope did look improved, and you never really know who’s a diamond in the rough, but even the shallow end of the Welterweight pool may prove too deep for these guys to tread. For some, this may represent their first chance to train full time with a credible gym; they’d better make the most of the opportunity.
Pettis, who was first in line for a lightweight title shot, passed on waiting for a Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard winner after their January draw. He asked for Guida. And Guida made him pay on Saturday night.
Guida steered clear of most of Pettis’ highlight-reel offense, landed takedowns each round and grinded out a unanimous decision 30-27 sweep of Pettis, who was a more than 2-to-1 favorite, at “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 13 Finale.
By knocking off the previous top UFC lightweight contender, Guida, who has now won four straight, likely finds himself as the top contender. But because the Edgar-Maynard rematch is on hold due to injuries for the two, Guida could be on hold for a while, himself – if he were to be given the next title shot and elected to wait.
But on Saturday, UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that won’t be the case. White said despite Guida’s win over Pettis, Jim Miller, who is riding a seven-fight winning streak, is still ahead of Guida in the rankings.
Guida (29-11, 9-5 UFC) said after the fight he, too, believes Miller to be ahead of him – but wanted to make clear he’s ready for a title shot.
“Ben Henderson and Jim Miller, who knows?,” Guida said. “Jim Miller, I think could be the frontrunner. But everyone who sees me fight knows I fight the toughest competition. I’d love to get that shot – I’ve been here five years in October (and) 9-5 in the UFC does not sit well with me. That’s a very average record for me.”
Henderson, the former WEC champ who lost his title to Pettis (13-2, 0-1 UFC) in December, fights Miller in August.
Guida said he wanted an impressive win – a stoppage – to show White and matchmaker Joe Silva he was ready to be next in line.
“I didn’t want to see it go to the judges,” Guida said. “Obviously a dominating finish would’ve looked more highly in the eyes of the UFC.”
Pettis attempted several “Showtime”-type kicks, including one from his back, that kept Guida concerned about distance. But Guida used takedowns in every round to execute his offense and grind out the victory. Afterward, Guida said takedowns were a big part of his game plan in the fight, as well as staving off Pettis’ offense.
“There’s no secret anymore: wrestling wins championships,” Guida said. “He’s the most tricky guy in guard I’ve ever fought. He’s a super talented kid.”
In the main event, Tony Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem met to determine the Season 13 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” After a back and forth opening few minutes, Ferguson landed a big left hook that stiffened Nijem immediately, dropping him to the canvas. Ferguson landed one more shot before the fight could be stopped.
Ferguson became Season 13’s villain late in the season, and said coming in to the fight that he regretted how he came off on the show – and that he hoped to learn from it and set a better example for younger fans in the future. He reiterated that sentiment immediately after collecting his trophy from White.
“I learned a lot about myself in (the TUF house),” Ferguson said. “I’ve got a lot of guardian angels up there looking after me. I know (Nijem) caught me a couple times, but I weathered the storm.”
A feel-good story saw Ed Herman return from a layoff of nearly two years – and two knee surgeries – to score a quick 48-second TKO of Tim Credeur, who was also coming back following a long layoff. A short right uppercut from Herman dropped Credeur, and he finished him quickly with three shots on the ground.
In the night’s biggest upset, George Roop, beat Josh Grispi with a third-round TKO from a body shot. Grispi was a 6-to-1 favorite in the fight. The loss is the second straight for Grispi, who was supposed to get a featherweight title shot at UFC 125 in January against Jose Aldo. Aldo got injured, Grispi took a fight with Dustin Poirier, and was upset then, too.
Roop reteamed with coach Shawn Tompkins for the fight after going without him in January for his fight with Mark Hominick – also a Tompkins student and one of Tompkins’ best friends. Roop said he was glad to get his first UFC win out of the way.
“It’s been a struggle here lately, and it feels good to get this behind me,” Roop said. “My game plan worked, and I’m happy about my performance, but there’s still work to do. Finishing the fight that way was incredible. I hadn’t planned for it happen like that.”
Grispi said he’ll have to get past the mental anguish that might hit him after another setback.
“I need to stop overthinking it,” Grispi said. “It’s just a fight. I felt like my submission attempts were solid, but I need to go back to the drawing board. I’m only 22 and I’ve got time to grow in this sport.”
White gave the event’s bonus awards to Kyle Kingsbury and Fabio Maldonado for Fight of the Night, Reuben Duran for Submission of the Night and Ferguson for Knockout of the Night. Each won an additional $40,000 bonus.
Filed under: UFCThis is the TUF 13 Finale undercard live blog for all the preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s Spike TV card from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
There are six bouts on tonight’s prelims: Reuben Duran vs. Francisco Rivera, J…
This is the TUF 13 Finale undercard live blog for all the preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s Spike TV card from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
There are six bouts on tonight’s prelims: Reuben Duran vs. Francisco Rivera, Josh Grispi vs. George Roop, Jeremy Stephens vs. Danny Downes, Scott Jorgensen vs. Ken Stone, Justin Edwards vs. Clay Harvison and Shamar Bailey vs. Ryan McGillivray. All six undercard fights will air on Facebook at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Round 1: We start with a couple of bantamweight bouts. We dance for the first , 30 seconds, then a shoot from Duran. But Rivera locks in a guillotine, and it looks close. But Duran finally slips out of it, leaving Duran on top looking to posture up in Rivera’s guard. They work their way to their feet, and Rivera again works for a guillotine as Duran throws body shots to get his head out. Duran finally bullies Rivera to the cage and the two trade body shots in the clinch, then some good clubs to each other’s heads. Then traded high elbows, then knees. Duran throws an uppercut in tight, but Rivera answers. They stay clinched against the fence, but both are working as Herb Dean looks in. Rivera again sinks in a guillotine, but Duran slams out of it and gets to half guard, looking to pass to side control. It’s not there, and Duran locks in a guillotine of his own as Rivera tries to get to his feet. Rivera gets out, though, and with 30 seconds he begins workin gsome good ground-and-pound from on top. It’s a really fun back-and-forth first round, but MMA Fighting will score it narrowly for Rivera, 10-9.
Round 2: Early kick from Duran, then a couple nice jabs and a roundhouse right that is blocked. The two fire off a couple bombs, and Rivera tags Duran and stumbles him. After a few traded jabs and uppercuts, Duran catches Rivera with an accidental low blow and Rivera takes a breather. Duran comes in with a big shot, but Rivera once again sinks in the guillotine in defense. After 20 seconds of squirming, Duran gets out and is on top. After some ground scrambles, Duran works his way to a late rear naked choke attempt, but Rivera survives the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Duran.
LAS VEGAS – For the ninth straight event, the UFC will air preliminary card fights on its Facebook page.
Saturday’s live finale of Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” will feature six bouts at the social networking online giant leading in to the main…
LAS VEGAS – For the ninth straight event, the UFC will air preliminary card fights on its Facebook page.
Saturday’s live finale of Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” will feature six bouts at the social networking online giant leading in to the main card, which will air on Spike TV. The UFC made the announcement on its Twitter account an hour after Friday’s weigh-in event for the Saturday card.
Scott Jorgensen, in his first fight since losing a unanimous decision to Dominick Cruz in a December bantamweight title fight in the WEC’s swan song, returns to face Ken Stone. And Reuben Duran fights Francisco Rivera.
To gain access to the fights, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, viewers must “like” the UFC on Facebook. As of Friday afternoon, the UFC had more than 5.6 million fans at the site.
The UFC began streaming preliminary fights in January with its Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hood, Texas. Since then, the promotion has included free Facebook fights for each event, regardless of the main card’s platform – be it on pay-per-view, Spike or the Versus cable station. For the historic UFC 129 card in Toronto in April, five prelims were aired on Facebook, followed by a pair on Spike leading into the pay-per-view – meaning for the first time, fans were guaranteed the opportunity to see each fight on the card. That continued for last week’s UFC 130 with three Facebook prelims, a pair of Spike prelims and a five-bout main card pay-per-view.
The main card for the TUF 13 Finale begins at 9 p.m. Eastern on Spike and features a main event between this season’s welterweight finalists, Ramsey Nijem and Tony Ferguson. In addition, a lightweight contenders fight between Anthony Pettis, the last 155-pound champion in WEC history before the merger with the UFC, and Clay Guida could determine the next challenger for the lightweight title – after champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard recover from injuries that delayed their scheduled rematch.
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LAS VEGAS – For the ninth straight event, the UFC will air preliminary card fights on its