UFC Fight Night 41 Results: Mousasi Dominates and Chokes Out Munoz


(Come on, Dana. It’s like you’re not even trying anymore. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

And so, the UFC’s terrifying “two events in one goddamned day” campaign is officially underway. Luckily, the promotion is starting out slow, with a Fight Pass card in Berlin featuring a decent middleweight matchup (Mark Munoz vs. Gegard Mousasi) and a bunch of supporting fights that you couldn’t possibly care about. If you want to skip this one and come back later for the TUF Brazil 3 Finale liveblog, that’s totally fine. And if you want to skip that card as well, we can’t really blame you. I mean, for God’s sake, it’s Saturday. Invite your friends over for a barbecue. Spend time with your family. Read a book. Seriously, when was the last time you read a book? Remember how nice that was?

Since very few of you will be watching, we’ve decided to break in a new liveblogger to see how he performs under low pressure. So please give a warm welcome to our brand-new CagePotato Fight Pass Correspondent Bear Siragusa, who will be plugging live results from the UFC Fight Night 41 main card after the jump, beginning at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please shoot us your thoughts in the comments section or on twitter.


(Come on, Dana. It’s like you’re not even trying anymore. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

And so, the UFC’s terrifying “two events in one goddamned day” campaign is officially underway. Luckily, the promotion is starting out slow, with a Fight Pass card in Berlin featuring a decent middleweight matchup (Mark Munoz vs. Gegard Mousasi) and a bunch of supporting fights that you couldn’t possibly care about. If you want to skip this one and come back later for the TUF Brazil 3 Finale liveblog, that’s totally fine. And if you want to skip that card as well, we can’t really blame you. I mean, for God’s sake, it’s Saturday. Invite your friends over for a barbecue. Spend time with your family. Read a book. Seriously, when was the last time you read a book? Remember how nice that was?

Since very few of you will be watching, we’ve decided to break in a new liveblogger to see how he performs under low pressure. So please give a warm welcome to our brand-new CagePotato Fight Pass Correspondent Bear Siragusa, who will be plugging live results from the UFC Fight Night 41 main card after the jump, beginning at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please shoot us your thoughts in the comments section or on twitter.

UFC Fight Night 41 preliminary card results
– Nick Hein def. Drew Dober via Split decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
– Magnus Cedenblad def. Krzysztof Jotko via submission (guillotine) at 4:59 of round 2.
– Iuri Alcantara def. Vaughan Lee via TKO at 00:25 of round 1
– Peter Sobotta def. Pawel Pawlak via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Maximo Blanco def. Andy Ogle via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Ruslan Magomedov def. Viktor Pesta via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)

Please stand by…

Good afternoon, Guten tag, and Hyvää iltapäivää folks! Bear Siragusa here. After a few barn burners (Alcantara and his TKO of Lee = good candidate for POTN) it’s time for the Main Card. Some great fights ahead of us. Let’s do this.

First up.

Tom Niinimäki vs. Niklas Bäckström

Tom Niinimäki (27-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a top Finnish featherweight. Defeated Rani Yahya via split decision in his UFC debut. Good stand up and submission skills. Former Cage featherweight Champ. Briefly retired from fighting in 2007 after a three fight losing streak. Returned in 2010 and has been undefeated in 11 fights since.

Niklas Bäckström is undefeated (7-0). Trains at Allstars Training center in Sweden together with Alexander Gustafsson. Bäckström is making his UFC debut. A striker, he has won three of his last four fights via TKO.

 Round 1:

Both men have entered the octagon. Backstrom has a 4 inch reach/height advantage over Niinimaki. Backstrom with the leg kick. Niinimaki instantly takes the fight to the ground. A bit of a stalemate once they are on the ground, but they start jockeying for position. Niinimaki nearly has Backstroms back. Now they are on their knees, and Backstrom manages to get back up on his feet at the cage. Backstrom defending well. Niinimaki almost tosses Backstrom but Backstrom defends beautifully and puts Niinimaki against the fence. Niinimaki with some knees to the body. Backstrom with a Jumping guillotine. That looked tight but Niinimaki escapes and gets to his feet. A huge knee from Backstrom and a Bull Dog Choke. Niinimaki taps! Wow! Backstrom wins in his UFC debut. I can’t remember ever seeing a tap to the Bull Dog Choke. With three brothers I guess Backstrom had some practice with that submission.

 Niklas Bäckström def. Tom Niinimaki via. submission (Bulldog Choke), at 4:14 of round 1.

Next up:

Luke Barnatt vs. Sean Strickland

Luke «Bigslow» Barnatt is undefeated. At 6′ 6” he is one of the tallest middeweight’s. Barnatt fought for Team Sonnen in TUF 17.

Sean Strickland is also undefeated (14-0). Strickland submitted Bubba McDaniel in his UFC debut at UFC 171. This will be his second fight in the UFC. At 23, he is the youngest fighter on the card.

This should be a great fight. Very different skill sets, but both undefeated. One fighter is going to walk away having made a big statement to the rest of the division, one will walk away disappointed.

Sean Strickland is tapping into his inner Fedor as he approaches the Octagon… He is looking extremely calm and collected.

Barnatt has a 1.5 inch reach advantage over Strickland but a five inch (!) height advantage.

Round 1:

They touch gloves and start to stalk each other. Not a lot of immediate action, feeling each other out. Barnatt starts jabbing, looking to find his range. Strickland is looking very relaxed, Barnatt is looking focused. The crowd starts to boo. The fighters respond and pick up the pace. Strickland starts peppering Barnatt with inside leg kicks. Strickland with a front kick. Strickland with a outside leg kick. Barnatt looking to change levels and find his range. Strickland with the outside leg kick on the left leg of Barnatt. That is going to start hurting if Barnatt can’t find an answer. Strickland teasing Barnatt with some lightning fast jabs. Strickland with another outside leg kick. Barnatt with a failed body kick. There is the buzzer and the crowd keeps booing

Round 2:

Open with a flurry and Strickland goes for the take down and gets Barnatt on his back. Goes for an Arm Bar, but Barnatt defends. Barnatt kicks Strickland off and stands up. They clinch but quickly separate. Now they are back on their feet. Strickland with a left hand jab. Strickland defends all of the strikes Barnatt throws. Strickland connects with a decent straight jab. Barnatt flurries and they clinch. Strickland defends and they are moving again. Barnatt connects with a straight right. Strickland felt that one. BIG right from Barnatt. Strickland absorbed and keeps moving. Barnatt seems to have found his range, Strickland seems to still be waiting for something. Strickland connects with a fast left. Buzzer and booing from the crowd.

Round 3:

They meet in the middle. Still feeling each other out. Barnatt expressed frustration between rounds that Strickland refuses to engage. Barnatt is stalking Strickland and Strickland is just backing up and defending with the occasional jab. Strickland is cut, from what I don’t think anyone knows. Barnatt absorbs a jab to the face. A big swing and a miss by Barnatt, he looks so frustrated. Barnatt connects and goes for the clinch, Strickland pushes him away. Strickland goes for Barnatts back but Barnatt bucks him off. Strickland goes for a leg submission and ends up in 50/50 guard. Barnatt escapes and gains his feet. Barnatt keeps stalking Strickland and has found his range with the right jab. Those jabs are not doing damage, but they will win him the decision. The final buzzer and the crowd boozes and Barnatt shakes his head. Strickland indicated after the buzzer that he had broken his thumb and was “fighting with one hand.”

Sean Strickland def. Luke Barnatt via split decision (29-28 Barnatt) (30-27, 29-28 Strickland)

Didn’t see that coming. It will be interesting to see if Strickland entered the cage witha broken hand or if he broke it during the fight. Winner via showing up.

Up Next:

Francis Carmont vs. C.B. Dollaway

Francis Carmont (22-8 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is ranked # 9 in official UFC middleweight rankings. Coming off a loss to Renaldo Souza. Fights out of Tristar Gym.

C.B. Dollaway (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) finalist in TUF 7. Defeated Jason «Mayhem» Miller in Millers last UFC appearance. Last loss was via decision to Tim Boetsch at UFC 166 after being deducted several points due to eye pokes.

Round 1:
They touch gloves. Dollaway is staying low. Carmont with VERY high hands. Very different energy this fight. Big leg kick from Dollaway. Carmont switches stances. Connects with a big body kick. Carmont connects with a solid right hand. Dollaway is still on the aggressive. They trade kicks. Carmont starts teasing Dollaway. Dollaway connects and knocks Carmont down! He is all over him but Carmont defends and is on his feet. They both raise their hands and taunt each other. Carmont slipping shots and there is a flurry. Carmot connects with a spinning elbow. They separate, Dollaway with the outside leg kick. Carmont goes for the take down. Get’s the take down up against the fence. Dollaway reverses and the buzzer sounds.

Round 2:
A lot of feinting. Carmont connects with a vicious body kick. Then a outside leg kick. Stuffs a takedown attempt and connects with a head kick. Dollaway is still attacking. Carmont misses with an Ax kick. Great inside leg kick from Dollaway. Carmont answers with a low kick of his own. Dollaway clinches and quickly gets the take down. Carmont has excellent take down defence, and Dollaway made that look easy. Dollaway works to get Carmonts back, but Carmont stands up. C.B. Dollaway drags him back to the ground. Carmont is really working for a kimura, but has to let it go They end up against the cage. Dollaway is on top. Carmont is really trying for the Kimura and gives up his back. Dollaway has one hook in. Carmont looks to his corner and there is the buzzer.

Round 3:
A slower start for Dollaway in round three, but Carmont connects quickly with the inside kick followed up by a side kick to the body of Dollaway. Carmont connects with a nice one/two jab. They clinch up against the face and breath for a moment. Dollaway explodes, takes Carmont down and gains his back with one hook in. Dollaway is looking to get his second hook in and is punishing the side of Carmonts head. Dollaway shifts and gets both his hooks in. Carmont twists and break Dollaways grip, spins to his feet and pins Dollaway up against the cage. Dollaway goes for the single leg and takes him down. He is in full mount and starts raining down elbows, Carmont gives Dollaway his back to avoid abuse. Dollaway has in one hook. Carmont twists out and almost gains his feet but Dollaway gets a leg and drags him back down. The buzzer sounds and both fighters raise their hands.
I honestly have no idea. Dollaway dominated the last round, but I think he lost the first.

C.B. Dollaway def. Francis Carmont via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)

Now for the Main Event:

Mark Muñoz vs. Gegard Mousasi

Mark Munoz (13-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) is #7 in official UFC middleweight rankings. He has defeated the likes of Tim Boetsch, Chris Leben, Demian Maia, CB Dalloway and Kendall Grove. His last two losses came at the hands of Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida.

Gegard Mousasi (34-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) #11 in UFC middleweight rankings. Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ, former Cage Warriors middleweight champ, former DREAM middleweight AND light heavyweight champ. Mousasi Defeated Mark Hunt in an DREAM open-weight bout. He moved back down to middleweight after signing with the UFC.
Both men are coming off loses to Lyoto Machida. Both have title aspirations. Mousasi wants to prove that he deserves the title shot, while Munoz has said that he wants to prove that he deserves to be in title contention and prove the he is not a gate keeper. The results of this fight will mean a lot for the future of an insanely deep division.

Mousasi has a 5 inch reach advantage… That’s nutty.

Round 1:

The crowd is almost silent in anticipation.
Munoz goes immediately for the takedown. Mousasi is keeping low. Munoz goes for the leg, gets it and lifts Mousasi up and slams him down. Mousasi gets up and connects with a kick. Mousasi is keeping his hands really low, Monuz clips him with a left and goes for the clinch. Mousasi defends and answers with a quick flurry. Munoz goes for the legs, defended by Mousasi. Mousasi rolls Munoz and ends up on top. Mousasi in half guard. Mousasi is dropping some huge elbows on Munoz’s face. Mousasi gets a head crank and forces Monuz against the fence on his back. Munoz gives him his back and Mousasi sinks in his hooks gets under the chin and WOW! TAPS MUNOZ!

He handled Munoz like Cormier handled Hendo. That was a statement! With that performance Mousasi has definitely broken in to the top ten.

Mousasi says he wants the winners of Luke Rockhold’s and Tim Kennedy’s next fights.

Gegard Mousasi defeats Mark Munoz via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:07 of round 1.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz Booked as Main Event of UFC Fight Night Berlin on May 31st


(That was basically my reaction to this booking. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

The UFC Fight Night Berlin show on May 31st was originally supposed to be headlined by a “high-level featherweight contest.” Then, German 145’er Dennis Siver tested positive for a testicle-regrowing serum, and that idea pretty much flew out the window. So, new plan: How about a “winner almost leaves town” match between the last two middleweights to be beaten up by Lyoto Machida?

As announced today by the UFC UK twitter account, Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz will serve as the five-round main event for UFC Fight Night Berlin. The event will be broadcast on Fight Pass, so you’d have to be a super-hardcore fan to even have the ability to watch this fight if you wanted to. As for the local German fans…sorry guys, this is a rough one. It’s not like Mousasi and Munoz aren’t talented, exciting fighters, but there’s virtually nothing at stake in the matchup and there’s no local hook. Sheila Gaff vs. Benjamin Brinsa would have made more sense here.

Anyway, don’t blame us, blame Dennis Siver’s testicles. We’ll let you know if/when any other notable folks are added to the card.


(That was basically my reaction to this booking. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

The UFC Fight Night Berlin show on May 31st was originally supposed to be headlined by a “high-level featherweight contest.” Then, German 145′er Dennis Siver tested positive for a testicle-regrowing serum, and that idea pretty much flew out the window. So, new plan: How about a “winner almost leaves town” match between the last two middleweights to be beaten up by Lyoto Machida?

As announced today by the UFC UK twitter account, Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz will serve as the five-round main event for UFC Fight Night Berlin. The event will be broadcast on Fight Pass, so you’d have to be a super-hardcore fan to even have the ability to watch this fight if you wanted to. As for the local German fans…sorry guys, this is a rough one. It’s not like Mousasi and Munoz aren’t talented, exciting fighters, but there’s virtually nothing at stake in the matchup and there’s no local hook. Sheila Gaff vs. Benjamin Brinsa would have made more sense here.

Anyway, don’t blame us, blame Dennis Siver’s testicles. We’ll let you know if/when any other notable folks are added to the card.

UFC to Hold Simultaneous Events in Germany and Brazil on May 31st


(In Germany, male MMA fans wearing TapouT gear are commonly known as “douchebaggenbrös.”)

Potato Nation, the New UFC World Order is upon us: For the first time in the promotion’s history, the UFC will hold two events on the same night in two different continents.

UFC officials announced today that a Fight Night event will take place May 31st in Berlin, Germany, at the O2 World Berlin. That’s the same scheduled date as the The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale, which will be headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (assuming Sonnen is physically capable of competing without TRT, which might be in question at this point). The city and venue for the TUF Brazil 3 Finale card are still TBA.

If you’re an old-school MMA fan, you probably still remember when two UFC events in the same month was a big deal. (That first happened in April 2005, by the way.) UFC president Dana White has been suggesting the “two events, one night” plan as a possibility since 2011, and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta also mentioned it in November.

The Berlin Fight Night marks the UFC’s first visit to Germany since the underwhelming “Marquardt vs. Okami” card in November 2010, and will reportedly be headlined by a high-level featherweight contest. (Start warming up, Dennis Siver.) Broadcast plans for the May 31st events haven’t been confirmed, but you can safely assume that at least one of these cards will be on Fight Pass. We’ll keep you posted…


(In Germany, male MMA fans wearing TapouT gear are commonly known as “douchebaggenbrös.”)

Potato Nation, the New UFC World Order is upon us: For the first time in the promotion’s history, the UFC will hold two events on the same night in two different continents.

UFC officials announced today that a Fight Night event will take place May 31st in Berlin, Germany, at the O2 World Berlin. That’s the same scheduled date as the The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale, which will be headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (assuming Sonnen is physically capable of competing without TRT, which might be in question at this point). The city and venue for the TUF Brazil 3 Finale card are still TBA.

If you’re an old-school MMA fan, you probably still remember when two UFC events in the same month was a big deal. (That first happened in April 2005, by the way.) UFC president Dana White has been suggesting the “two events, one night” plan as a possibility since 2011, and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta also mentioned it in November.

The Berlin Fight Night marks the UFC’s first visit to Germany since the underwhelming “Marquardt vs. Okami” card in November 2010, and will reportedly be headlined by a high-level featherweight contest. (Start warming up, Dennis Siver.) Broadcast plans for the May 31st events haven’t been confirmed, but you can safely assume that at least one of these cards will be on Fight Pass. We’ll keep you posted…

UFC 122 Results: Yushin Okami Tops Nate Marquardt and 10 Shockers from Germany

Yushin Okami and his upset of Nate Marquardt at UFC 122 won’t go down in mixed martial arts lore as a monumental upset, but it definitely wasn’t the way most observers saw the scrap panning out.
Marquardt entered the bout as the favorite an…

Yushin Okami and his upset of Nate Marquardt at UFC 122 won’t go down in mixed martial arts lore as a monumental upset, but it definitely wasn’t the way most observers saw the scrap panning out.
Marquardt entered the bout as the favorite and for good reason; he’d spent the last few years dispatching some of […]

UFC Betting

UFC 122 Results: Yushin Okami Tops Nate Marquardt and 10 Shockers from Germany

UFC 122 (Somewhat) Live Blog

Without giving away too much of tonight’s tape-delayed UFC 122 decisionfest show that went down in Germany today, we will tell you that the guaranteed slugfest between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara got yanked from the main card of the event due to S…

Without giving away too much of tonight’s tape-delayed UFC 122 decisionfest show that went down in Germany today, we will tell you that the guaranteed slugfest between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara got yanked from the main card of the event due to Sakara pulling out of the bout today because of illness.

We’ll be "live" tonight at 9:00 pm ET to give those of you who don’t have cable, who are too cheap to go to a bar or who think we’re really your friends and want to hang out on a Saturday night a rundown of the action via the Spike TV re-broadcast.

Check out the preliminary card results and main card play-by-play after the jump:

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Bum Rush Rant: Jorge Rivera is Sick of Round Winners Who Call Themselves Fighters

("Fight, you bastard. If you want to have a dance-off, I’ll kick your ass in that too.")
A hot topic of debate at Cage Potato lately is whether or not the recent trend of wrestlers who are content to win fights by earning decisions via take…


("Fight, you bastard. If you want to have a dance-off, I’ll kick your ass in that too.")

A hot topic of debate at Cage Potato lately is whether or not the recent trend of wrestlers who are content to win fights by earning decisions via take downs and lay and pray is hurting the sport.

We asked UFC middleweight Jorge Rivera for his opinion on the subject during the latest episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show and El Conquistador didn’t pull any punches when explaining his take on the issue.

Rivera, who squares off with fellow slugger Alessio Sakara tomorrow at UFC 122 in Germany, says that he specifically asked for the fight with the former pro-boxer because he knows that Legionarius, like him, is a fighter who always steps into the Octagon to fight.

"I asked for this fight. Alessio’s a great fight. He’s tough, he’s got great stand-up and he comes forward. I asked for this fight. I always want tough fights. I know he’s gonna bring it. I know it’s gonna be a tough fight. I know it’s no walk in the park," Rivera explains. "You’re gonna see a good stand-up brawl and one of us is gonna get knocked out. I’m alright with that. I give the fans what they want. This is what we do. We both no what we’re getting into and we both agree to it, so let’s do it."

He says that guys who time and time again seem to be content to take a decision by being conservative and just doing the minimum necessary to win are in essence stealing from the fans.

"I was a fan before I was ever a fighter. I’m still a fan and I’m a fan of even some of the guys I fight against. I like watching them fight for various reasons. I hate watching boring fighters. You’re gonna pay 50 bucks to sit at home and watch some guy be boring. They build up all this hype around this guy and a guy puts you to sleep and you’re like, ‘What the fuck!?’ I’m not the only one. You’ve got ten million people who say the same shit. That’s not what I want to do. I want to be the exact opposite," Rivera explains. "When my name is called up, I want people to be like, ‘Hell yeah!’ because they know there’s going to be a fight. Even with this fight they know their gonna get a fight with me and Alessio. They know that. Everybody knows that we’re gonna fight. I know he’s not gonna run from me, he knows I’m not gonna run from him, and you know we both throw bombs. You guys know you’re gonna get your money’s worth. If all nine of the fights suck, ours isn’t going to. You’re gonna remember our fight for sure. That’s what I want."

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