A pivotal light heavyweight bout could be close to being finalized, as ESPN has reported that No. 3-ranked Glover Teixeira and No. 5-ranked Jimi Manuwa have agreed to square off at Jan. 21’s UFC 208 from Anaheim, California. Teixeira, a former title challenger, is coming off of a brutal 13-second knockout loss to current title
A pivotal light heavyweight bout could be close to being finalized, as ESPN has reported that No. 3-ranked Glover Teixeira and No. 5-ranked Jimi Manuwa have agreed to square off at Jan. 21’s UFC 208 from Anaheim, California.
Teixeira, a former title challenger, is coming off of a brutal 13-second knockout loss to current title challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Prior to that, he had won three straight all by way of stoppage over the likes of Ovince Saint Preux, Patrick Cummins and Rashad Evans.
Manuwa, on the other hand, has split wins and losses in his last four bouts. He most recently scored a victory over Saint Preux after getting knocked out by Johnson.
The light heavyweight division is currently in an awkward state, which could give this bout major title implications.
Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson hits hard. Just ask Glover Teixeira who ate a nasty knockout strike from the former light heavyweight title challenger that sent his tooth flying and shut his lights out after 13-seconds from the opening bell. The pair met in the co-main event of UFC 202 earlier this past August in a highly-anticipated
Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson hits hard. Just ask Glover Teixeira who ate a nasty knockout strike from the former light heavyweight title challenger that sent his tooth flying and shut his lights out after 13-seconds from the opening bell.
The pair met in the co-main event of UFC 202 earlier this past August in a highly-anticipated 205-pound showdown that was sure to emerge the next challenger for current division champ Daniel Cormier, and it did just that. Teixeira made the unfortunate decision to attempt to stand a trade with one of the most feared strikers in MMA today, and it resulted in him being left unconscious and one tooth short after falling to the Blackzillians product.
Recently Teixeira spoke to AG Fight to discuss the loss to Johnson, stating that the Blackzillian’s team-member has hit him the hardest he has ever been hit in his entire career:
“The fight starts standing, so you have to strike. It’s just like what they told Aldo when he lost to McGregor. There was no time to react, it happens. To be honest, he was the strongest guy to ever hit me. It was the first KO I ever suffered. I had been knocked down in training before where my vision went dark for a little bit, but never like that. He hits too hard and the gloves are very small. Depending on how it hits you, it’s over.”
The flawless performance from Johnson earned him the right to take on Cormier for the light heavyweight title once more, after Cormier choked out ‘Rumble’ in the third round of their initial meeting at UFC 187 back in May of last year.
Cormier and Johnson will meet in the main event of UFC 206 for the light heavyweight title live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on December 11, 2016.
You have to have a thick skin to choose to pursue a career in mixed martial arts, an unforgiving sport where the difference between success and failure can narrow down to split-second decisions made in the heat of combat. Never is that more apparent than in a fighters professional debut, where deciding to bob when
You have to have a thick skin to choose to pursue a career in mixed martial arts, an unforgiving sport where the difference between success and failure can narrow down to split-second decisions made in the heat of combat.
Never is that more apparent than in a fighters professional debut, where deciding to bob when they should have weaved, or to attack when they should have defended, can result in a knockout or submission that leaves them questioning whether they have chosen the right path in life.
There’s a seemingly endless list of up and coming fighters who have called it quits at this formative stage of their career, hanging up their gloves for good with an 0-1 record, and in many cases they may have made the right call and spared themselves from further punishment.
However, there’s also been examples over the years of fighters who have had the courage to continue their mixed martial arts journey, either due to their unflappable self-belief, their passion for the sport, their desire to prove the doubters wrong, or simply because they had nothing else to fall back on.
In this article we’ll look at 12 inspirational examples of fighters who came up short in their MMA debuts, but overcame that early adversity and eventually fought their way onto the sport’s biggest stage to become UFC stars, and in some cases even world champions.
Andrei Arlovski
At M-1 MFC: World Championship in 1999, a 22 year-old fresh-faced, clean-shaven Andrei Arlovski made his MMA debut against one of the sports most infamous villains, Viacheslav Datsik who was also competing for the first time.
The fight turned out to be an exceptionally sloppy affair, with commentators Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros giggling in bemusement at what they jokingly dubbed as ‘The Lunch Money School Brawl’ that was playing out in front of them.
Datsik wacky, unpredictable striking paid off midway through the first round though, as he launched his body weight behind a right hand that flattened Arlovski.
”If Arlovski gets up from this it’ll be shades of Dracula rising from the coffin,” Quadros declared as the fight was waved off, handing Datsik an unexpected highlight-reel KO finish.
Despite the brutal loss, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about ‘The Pitbull’ over the years it’s that there’s no quit in him, and he’d go on to become a UFC heavyweight champion, and is still ranked in the top 10 today, some 17 years after his debut.
As for Datsik, he’d go on to produce a losing record in the sport, but became notorious for his crazy antics, which would eventually lead to him being put in prison as well as spending time in a mental institution.
When top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Johnson knocked out formerly surging contender Glover Teixiera in a mere 13 seconds (highlights) in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he was under the impression that he had all but sealed his next shot at champion
When top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Johnson knocked out formerly surging contender Glover Teixiera in a mere 13 seconds (highlights) in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he was under the impression that he had all but sealed his next shot at champion Daniel Cormier.
With three straight knockout wins over Teixeira, Ryan Bader, and Jimi Manuwa, it was easy to understand “Rumble’s” stance. However, that may not end up being the case according to Dana White.
“Rumble” had largely spent the build-up to his UFC 202 co-headliner against Teixeira trying to distance himself from temporarily suspended longtime former champion Jon Jones, whom he was scheduled to face at 2015’s UFC 187 before “Bones” was stripped of the belt for legal trouble, allowing Cormier to come in and beat him for the title. While “Rumble” is certainly deserving of the next title fight on merit alone, White revealed on today’s “UFC Unfiltered” podcast that the promotion is considering a Jones vs. Johnson title eliminator:
“I’m in a weird place. We saw that fight, and it was a great fight. I’ve still got to talk to (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva and see what he thinks. But I’m thinking maybe we do Anthony Johnson vs. Jon Jones to see who gets to fight Daniel Cormier.”
Jones, who is temporarily suspended by the NSAC for two potential USADA anti-doping violations that ruined his UFC 200 main event rematch with Cormier, recently released an Instagram video revealing supposedly “really good” news that would allow him to get back into the Octagon soon. News soon followed that Jones’ failure for two banned estrogen blockers may have been due to Cialis, something that White hinted at.
He couldn’t release any official details, but White did note that Jones shockingly has yet another chance for a comeback, and things are realistically “looking good” for his return:
“I haven’t talked to Jon, but the guy’s got 13 lives. It’s looking good for him. I think he’s got to deal with (the) Nevada (State Athletic Commission) right now and this thing that went down. I can’t say a lot about it because it’s not my place. We’ll see how this thing plays out, but it’s looking good for him.”
As one of the most anticipated bouts in all of MMA – and quite possibly the most at light heavyweight – there’s little question that a Jones vs. ‘Rumble’ match-up would do big business and provide a clear-cut title contender in a division that could only be called a mess due to Jones’ seemingly never-ending troubles outside the cage.
But most wanted to see “Bones” vs. “Rumble” for the official title, and it’s a legitimate question if whether or not Jones will be able to make his way through one training camp, let alone the two he would have to in order to finally realize his long-held rivalry with Cormier.
That’s a lot of variables to fall into place, and it could easily be argued that “Rumble” has done much more than Jones in terms of actual fight accomplishments over the last two years. Jones does own a win over the man who beat “Rumble” in Cormier, however.
If you didn’t think the time-honored UFC 205-pound division was messy enough, it could get a whole lot messier in the coming months, fight fans. Stay tuned.
Anthony Johnson knocking people out is great. It’s just the best.
Some poor guy goes in there, brimming with confidence that he’s The One, that his path to victory is assured and that he won’t be the next highlight on a Rumble reel th…
Anthony Johnson knocking people out is great. It’s just the best.
Some poor guy goes in there, brimming with confidence that he’s The One, that his path to victory is assured and that he won’t be the next highlight on a Rumble reel that’s beginning to grow too long to count. Then the bell rings and Johnson knocks that poor guy out cold in the first or second exchange, pulled off by the ref as he pounds his chest with animal fury, unscathed.
It’s so formulaic at this point that you can see it coming the moment the contract is signed for his next fight. “Anthony Johnson vs. Next Opponent Signed,” reads the headline, and the gears start turning in your head, creating the inevitable knockout GIF and almost willing it into existence.
Then, on fight night, Johnson provides it. Almost every single time.
At UFC 202, it was Glover Teixeira, who’s got a few GIFs of his own floating around out there. As a swaying, weaving hulk of a boxer, he’s repeatedly shown a capacity to take one to give one, and the one he gives usually ends the fight for the one who takes it.
Teixeira was confident this would be the case against Johnson, or at least the outcome suggests as much. He swayed and weaved into range, swatting lightly at Johnson before stepping in. The two clashed briefly, then reset.
They engaged again, and the next time Teixeira had a conscious thought in his head, it was directing him to double-leg the ref as fast as he could manage. An uppercut slipped in on that second exchange, finding Teixeira’s chin and knocking him cold.
Twelve seconds.
Classic Rumble.
But as good as it looks on a highlight reel, it doesn’t tell us much about Johnson’s next move. Now the undisputed, undeniable top contender for Daniel Cormier’s light heavyweight title, it looks like there will be a UFC 187 rematch in the offing by the end of the year. That fight was a back-and-forth affair that ended in a successful Cormier submission, but Johnson had his moments.
Actually, he’s had them in every fight before and since then, and they’re the same moment: Send a man skidding across the octagon at some point, and hope he doesn’t get up. The main issue is that Cormier did get up. A few times. And every time he did, Johnson faded a little bit more until Cormier was on his back, throttling him and turning the unslayable into the slain.
As exciting as Johnson’s UFC 202 finish was, and the ultra-violent stoppages he’s produced since the Cormier bout, none have really provided a reason to think his next try for the title will be any different.
Cormier took his best shots and kept coming. That’s something no one’s done in the 205-pound career Johnson has built in the UFC. Every time a new foe crumbles, it just reinforces something we already know: Most guys cannot take those punches.
Cormier can, though. He’s proven it.
It may be why he was so excited to inform the world he’d fight Johnson again at the earliest mutual convenience; everyone else thinks he’s crazy to want it, but he thinks everyone else is crazy for forgetting how he handled Johnson the first time.
What would have been useful was some new wrinkle in Johnson’s game to have come out, either against Teixeira or against the others who have been obliterated by the savage power striking that’s become his signature. Without such a wrinkle—evidence of improved cardio, better tactics or more refinement in the things he’s already expert at—there’s no reason to think he’ll take the title on his second try.
Anthony Johnson delivered the biggest shot of UFC 202 when he stopped Glover Teixeira in just 13 seconds Saturday night.
“Rumble” is now the likely candidate to test Daniel Cormier’s reig…
Anthony Johnson delivered the biggest shot of UFC 202 when he stopped Glover Teixeira in just 13 seconds Saturday night.
“Rumble” is now the likely candidate to test Daniel Cormier’s reign as UFC light heavyweight champion later this year.
The 32-year-old Johnson (22-5) has now won three straight – all via finish – since an early 2015 loss to Cormier.
“Champions always come back and I’m trying to be a champion,” Johnson said during an appearance on the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show. “I will do everything differently (vs. Cormier the next time). I will die to get that belt. I want that gold. I want that strap.
“It was his fight last time; it’ll be my fight next time.”
Just seconds into the Teixeira fight, Johnson saw an opening for his powerful uppercut. When he connected, that was it, as the Brazilian and former title challenger went down in a heap on the canvas.
“He’s a pressure fighter, comes forward and leaves something open,” Johnson said. “It was just my night. He was a hell of an athlete. We both like to fight and we live by the sword and die by the sword.
“Backing up and throwing an uppercut is just what we do.”
Anthony Johnson knocking people out is great. It’s just the best.