Tag: Glover Teixeira

UFC Fight Night 28 Aftermath: Glover Teixeira Clinches LHW Title Shot, And a Gator Moves to the Top of the Food Chain

(Event recap via YouTube.com/UFC)

Our decision to only liveblog the UFC Fight Night 28 matches that we cared about turned out to be a wise choice. Though last night’s supporting card had its moments — particularly Piotr Hallmann’s comeback submission win over Francisco Trinaldo, and the Fight of the Night-winning battle between Rafael Natal and Tor Troeng — the UFC’s latest trip to Belo Horizonte didn’t turn into a terrifying orgy of violence until the last three bouts, which all ended the exact same way: A stiff knockdown, some nasty ground-and-pound, and an impressive first-round TKO for the favorite. Let’s start at the top and work our way down.

Of the three first-round maulings on the main card, only Glover Teixeira faced real adversity on his way to victory. During his main event fight against Ryan Bader, the Brazilian light-heavyweight phenom had to collect his bearings after getting wobbled in a striking exchange. Bader smelled blood and tried to go in for the kill, but his aggression turned out to be his undoing. As Bader swarmed with punches, Teixeira tucked his chin and landed a cross/hook combo that sent Bader to the mat. Teixeira followed with shots from above, and that’s all it took to secure his 20th consecutive victory (!) and a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.

After the fight, it was confirmed that Teixeira (now 5-0 in the UFC) would receive the next light-heavyweight title shot against the winner of Jon Jones vs. Aexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 later this month. His performance last night might not have impressed everyone — rumor has it that Teixeira was recovering from a bad weight cut — but anybody with that kind of power and resilience is always a threat.

The second-biggest story of night had to be Ronaldo Souza‘s official arrival as an elite UFC middleweight. Since his Strikeforce title-fight loss to Luke Ruckhold two years ago, “Jacare” has sliced through lower-level competition (Bristol Marunde, Derek Brunson, Ed Herman, Chris Camozzi) with relative ease. Finally, he got a chance to prove himself against a longtime UFC contender, and he rose to the occasion, crushing Yushin Okami with an overhand right midway through the first round. Yes, Ronaldo Souza has “fallen in love with his hands,” so to speak. But unlike other jiu-jitsu aces like Demian Maia who have tried to re-invent themselves as strikers, Souza hasn’t looked the least bit uncomfortable turning his recent bouts into kickboxing matches. He’s as natural at striking as he is at grappling, and that’s a terrifying thought for the rest of the UFC’s 185-pounders. Jacare has chewed his way to the top of the middleweight food chain, and the possibilities in front of him are endless.


(Event recap via YouTube.com/UFC)

Our decision to only liveblog the UFC Fight Night 28 matches that we cared about turned out to be a wise choice. Though last night’s supporting card had its moments — particularly Piotr Hallmann’s comeback submission win over Francisco Trinaldo, and the Fight of the Night-winning battle between Rafael Natal and Tor Troeng — the UFC’s latest trip to Belo Horizonte didn’t turn into a terrifying orgy of violence until the last three bouts, which all ended the exact same way: A stiff knockdown, some nasty ground-and-pound, and an impressive first-round TKO for the favorite. Let’s start at the top and work our way down.

Of the three first-round maulings on the main card, only Glover Teixeira faced real adversity on his way to victory. During his main event fight against Ryan Bader, the Brazilian light-heavyweight phenom had to collect his bearings after getting wobbled in a striking exchange. Bader smelled blood and tried to go in for the kill, but his aggression turned out to be his undoing. As Bader swarmed with punches, Teixeira tucked his chin and landed a cross/hook combo that sent Bader to the mat. Teixeira followed with shots from above, and that’s all it took to secure his 20th consecutive victory (!) and a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.

After the fight, it was confirmed that Teixeira (now 5-0 in the UFC) would receive the next light-heavyweight title shot against the winner of Jon Jones vs. Aexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 later this month. His performance last night might not have impressed everyone — rumor has it that Teixeira was recovering from a bad weight cut — but anybody with that kind of power and resilience is always a threat.

The second-biggest story of night had to be Ronaldo Souza‘s official arrival as an elite UFC middleweight. Since his Strikeforce title-fight loss to Luke Ruckhold two years ago, “Jacare” has sliced through lower-level competition (Bristol Marunde, Derek Brunson, Ed Herman, Chris Camozzi) with relative ease. Finally, he got a chance to prove himself against a longtime UFC contender, and he rose to the occasion, crushing Yushin Okami with an overhand right midway through the first round. Yes, Ronaldo Souza has “fallen in love with his hands,” so to speak. But unlike other jiu-jitsu aces like Demian Maia who have tried to re-invent themselves as strikers, Souza hasn’t looked the least bit uncomfortable turning his recent bouts into kickboxing matches. He’s as natural at striking as he is at grappling, and that’s a terrifying thought for the rest of the UFC’s 185-pounders. Jacare has chewed his way to the top of the middleweight food chain, and the possibilities in front of him are endless.

Meanwhile in the flyweight division, Joseph Benavidez looked every bit the 6-1 favorite he was going into his fight against Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva, who simply didn’t show up for this one. Benavidez was the aggressor from the opening bell, measuring his opponent with strikes, sticking-and-moving, tagging Formiga at will, while Formiga could only throw game counter-punches, hitting air most of the time. When a punch combination from Benavidez dazed Formiga, the Team Alpha Male standout immediately seized the moment, stuffing a knee into the Brazilian’s ribs, and adding another hook for good measure as he crumpled to the mat. Once on the ground, Benavidez buried Formiga in ground-and-pound until the ref intervened. With three straight wins since his flyweight title-fight loss to Demetrious Johnson last September, is it time for Johnson vs. Benavidez 2? Fun fact: Team Alpha Male has gone 17-0 since Duane Ludwig’s arrival as coach, proving once again that marijuana does in fact help you study better.

UFC Fight Night 28 Quick Results:

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD

Glover Teixeira def. Ryan Bader via TKO, 2:55 of round 1

Ronaldo Souza def. Yushin Okami via TKO, 2:47 of round 1

Joseph Benavidez def. Jussier Formiga via TKO, 3:07 of round 1

Piotr Hallmann def. Francisco Trinaldo via submission (kimura), 3:50 of round 2

Rafael Natal def. Tor Troeng via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)

Ali Bagautinov def. Marcos Vinicius via TKO, 3:28 of round 3

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Kevin Souza def. Felipe Arantes via split-decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

Lucas Martins def. Ramiro “Junior” Hernandez via technical submission (rear-naked choke), 1:10 of round 1

Elias Silverio def. Joao Zeferino via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)

Ivan Jorge def. Keith Wisniewski via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)

FACEBOOK PRELIM

Sean Spencer def. Yuri Villefort via split-decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

BONUSES ($50,000 each):
– Fight of the Night: Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng
– Knockout of the Night: Glover Teixeira
– Submission of the Night: Piotr Hallmann

UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader — Liveblogging the Fights You Actually Care About


(Dana White isn’t there. Joe Rogan isn’t there. Arianny and Brittney aren’t there. But if you’re the Veteran Voice of the Octagon, you grab a polo shirt out of the hamper and show the hell up. It’s called integrity, okay? Hippofan knows what I’m talking about. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

Ali Bagautinov. Marcos Vinicius. Tor Troeng. Piotr Hallman. The people of Belo Horizonte don’t care about these dudes, and neither do we, to be honest. So we’re going to try something a little different for tonight’s liveblog of UFC Fight Night 28, and only run play-by-play for the three fights on this card that are worth liveblogging: Joseph Benavidez‘s meeting with Brazilian flyweight contender Jussier “Formiga” da Silva, the middleweight co-main event between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Yushin Okami, and the light-heavyweight headliner between Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader.

Live round-by-round results for those fights will be located after the jump starting around 8 p.m. ET-ish. We’ll also post quick results from the supporting card beforehand. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and if you’re watching along with us on FOX Sports 1, use the comments section to let us know how you feel.

(Dana White isn’t there. Joe Rogan isn’t there. Arianny and Brittney aren’t there. But if you’re the Veteran Voice of the Octagon, you grab a polo shirt out of the hamper and show the hell up. It’s called integrity, okay? Hippofan knows what I’m talking about. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

Ali Bagautinov. Marcos Vinicius. Tor Troeng. Piotr Hallman. The people of Belo Horizonte don’t care about these dudes, and neither do we, to be honest. So we’re going to try something a little different for tonight’s liveblog of UFC Fight Night 28, and only run play-by-play for the three fights on this card that are worth liveblogging: Joseph Benavidez‘s meeting with Brazilian flyweight contender Jussier “Formiga” da Silva, the middleweight co-main event between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Yushin Okami, and the light-heavyweight headliner between Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader.

Live round-by-round results for those fights will be located after the jump starting around 8 p.m. ET-ish. We’ll also post quick results from the supporting card beforehand. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and if you’re watching along with us on FOX Sports 1, use the comments section to let us know how you feel.

Quick results…

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT)

Glover Teixeira def. Ryan Bader via TKO, 2:55 of round 1

Ronaldo Souza def. Yushin Okami via TKO, 2:47 of round 1

Joseph Benavidez def. Jussier Formiga via TKO, 3:07 of round 1

Piotr Hallmann def. Francisco Trinaldo via submission (kimura), 3:50 of round 2

Rafael Natal def. Tor Troeng via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)

Ali Bagautinov def. Marcos Vinicius via TKO, 3:28 of round 3

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Kevin Souza def. Felipe Arantes via split-decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

Lucas Martins def. Ramiro “Junior” Hernandez via technical submission (rear-naked choke), 1:10 of round 1

Elias Silverio def. Joao Zeferino via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)

Ivan Jorge def. Keith Wisniewski via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)

FACEBOOK PRELIM

Sean Spencer def. Yuri Villefort via split-decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Alright, let’s do this.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva

Round 1: Benavidez measures his distance with front kicks. Benavidez stalks forward and they clash with punches. Benavidez sticks and moves. Formiga trying to play the counter game, with limited success. Benavidez throws a body kick, Formiga fires a hard left hook. Benavidez with a left straight. He throws some punches at the air and fires a high kick that’s blocked. Front kick and punch from Joe. Formiga tries a turning side kick. Benavidez lands hard with a pair of punches and a knee to the body, and Formiga crumples to the mat. Benavidez drops some bombs from the top, and the ref stops it. Excellent performance from Joe B…he was the aggressor the whole time, and seized on the finish at his earliest opportunity.

Joseph Benavidez def. Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva via TKO, 3:07 of round 1.

Yushin Okami vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

Round 1: Okami pawing with the jab. Jacare flashes the front kick. Body kick from Jacare, who shoots to clinch afterwards. Okami shakes out, but Jacare lands a big punch that stuns Okami, then punishes Okami against the fence with a barrage of strikes. Okami looks to be in trouble, but he escapes and they return to the center of the cage. Jacare throws a big overhand right. Okami returns fire. Jacare throws the overhand right again and knocks Okami to the mat. Jacare fires down some nasty right hands from the top and the ref has seen enough. Man, did I pick the right fights to liveblog or what?

Jacare says an injury prevented him from doing his Jacare crawl. So you might as well just watch Jade Bryce do it.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Yushin Okami via TKO, 2:47 of round 1.

Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader

Round 1: Bader shoots for a single right away and Teixeira defends it. Bader tries for a guillotine on the mat when Teixeira engages in close. Teixeira defends. They get back to their feet and clinch against the fence. Teixeira considers a guillotine of his own. They separate. Bader fires off some punches, and a high kick as Teixeira tries to close distance on him. Teixeira slips to the mat (or is he staggered?) after Bader launches a punch volley at him. Teixeira gets to his feet but he looks shaky as Bader continues his striking attack. But then Teixeira catches Bader on the chin with a right straight/left hook combo and Bader falls to the mat! Teixeira follows it up with punches from the top and it’s all over. Damn…all three fights ended the exact same way.

Glover Teixeira def. Ryan Bader via TKO, 2:55 of round 1.

“I’m telling you, this belt is gonna be mine,” Glover says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Jon Jones or Gustafsson, it’s gonna be mine.” He admits to being knocked down by Bader, and says it was due to being overconfident.

Did that performance change your opinion of Teixeira in any way? Is he a future title threat or not? Let us know in the comments, and enjoy the rest of your night…

Garbage-Ass Lineup, Weekday Time-Slot Translate to Sluggish Ticket Sales for UFC Fight Night 28


(“Put your hands up if you’re going to kick some ass tonight…not so fast, Jussier.”)

After drawing over 16,000 fans to Belo Horizonte’s Mineirinho Arena for UFC 147 last June, the UFC is having a much harder time convincing the locals to return for today’s UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader. A Combate report published yesterday claimed that only 4,200 tickets had been sold for the event, which is also being held at the 25,000-seat capacity Mineirinho. As a result, the UFC considered moving UFC Fight Night 28 to Chevrolet Hall, a smaller venue seven miles away. As MMAFighting reported, “Technical problems prevented the change, then the organization has decided to reduce the space for fans in the stands.”

First off, let’s have a moment of silence for the poor, downtrodden people of Belo Horizonte, who were given one of the worst events of 2012 in the form of UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin, and are now being presented with an equally garbage-ass card this evening. In case you haven’t checked out the lineup, it starts out decent at the top (Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader, Yushin Okami vs. Ronaldo Souza), and you have Joseph Benavidez in the #3 spot — which is alright, assuming you care about little flyweights — but then things quickly devolve into “never heard of ’em” territory.

Edimilson “Kevin” Souza? Ramiro Hernandez Jr.? Elias Silvério? Ivan Jorge? Who are these guys? And how did two relatively obscure European prospects (Piotr Hallman, Ali Bagautinov) sneak onto the damn main card? The UFC has a bad habit of filling its Brazilian events with local scrappers in the hopes that Brazilian fans will cheer for anybody who’s Brazilian. And that’s fine for the prelims, but you also have to give people a reason to show up.

Glover Teixeira may not be enough of a reason, especially for those fans who were burned last year by a weak UFC event that was also low on star power. Sure, Glover was born in Minas Gerais, but he’s spent the last 14 years as a U.S. resident, and has been long associated with John Hackleman’s California-based fight camp The Pit. Exciting fighter? Absolutely. Local hero? Not exactly. Main event-caliber superstar? Definitely not. As for the co-main, Brazilian middleweight “Jacare” Souza is well-liked and usually entertaining; his opponent, Yushin Okami, is neither of those things.


(“Put your hands up if you’re going to kick some ass tonight…not so fast, Jussier.”)

After drawing over 16,000 fans to Belo Horizonte’s Mineirinho Arena for UFC 147 last June, the UFC is having a much harder time convincing the locals to return for today’s UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader. A Combate report published yesterday claimed that only 4,200 tickets had been sold for the event, which is also being held at the 25,000-seat capacity Mineirinho. As a result, the UFC considered moving UFC Fight Night 28 to Chevrolet Hall, a smaller venue seven miles away. As MMAFighting reported, “Technical problems prevented the change, then the organization has decided to reduce the space for fans in the stands.”

First off, let’s have a moment of silence for the poor, downtrodden people of Belo Horizonte, who were given one of the worst events of 2012 in the form of UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin, and are now being presented with an equally garbage-ass card this evening. In case you haven’t checked out the lineup, it starts out decent at the top (Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader, Yushin Okami vs. Ronaldo Souza), and you have Joseph Benavidez in the #3 spot — which is alright, assuming you care about little flyweights — but then things quickly devolve into “never heard of ‘em” territory.

Edimilson “Kevin” Souza? Ramiro Hernandez Jr.? Elias Silvério? Ivan Jorge? Who are these guys? And how did two relatively obscure European prospects (Piotr Hallman, Ali Bagautinov) sneak onto the damn main card? The UFC has a bad habit of filling its Brazilian events with local scrappers in the hopes that Brazilian fans will cheer for anybody who’s Brazilian. And that’s fine for the prelims, but you also have to give people a reason to show up.

Glover Teixeira may not be enough of a reason, especially for those fans who were burned last year by a weak UFC event that was also low on star power. Sure, Glover was born in Minas Gerais, but he’s spent the last 14 years as a U.S. resident, and has been long associated with John Hackleman’s California-based fight camp The Pit. Exciting fighter? Absolutely. Local hero? Not exactly. Main event-caliber superstar? Definitely not. As for the co-main, Brazilian middleweight “Jacare” Souza is well-liked and usually entertaining; his opponent, Yushin Okami, is neither of those things.

The other challenge for this event is the time-slot itself. When Yuri Villefort and Sean Spencer face off in the opening bout at 5:30 p.m. local time, Belo Horizonte’s working folk will still be making their way to the arena. (If it was me, I’d enjoy a couple caipirinhas at happy hour, have a nice dinner somewhere, then show up midway through the Benavidez fight. Or more likely, I’d be watching the Atletico Mineiro vs. Fluminense soccer game that’s also happening tonight, and which is clearly stealing some interest from this third-rate UFC card.)

The bottom line is this: When UFC events underperform in terms of ticket sales or TV ratings, there’s always a logical explanation. If you put on a badass card in a town that doesn’t often get them, the fans will turn out. If you treat a small market like it’s not worthy of big fights, the fans will tell you to shove it up your ass. Maybe an empty arena will make the UFC pay attention this time.

(BG)

Watch the UFC Fight Night 28 Weigh-Ins Right Here at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT [UPDATED w/RESULTS]

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

The 22 fighters competing at tomorrow night’s UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader event at the Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, will be hitting the scales this afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT. Watch all the staredowns and shoving live in the video player above; we’ll update the results after the jump when it’s over.


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

The 22 fighters competing at tomorrow night’s UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader event at the Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, will be hitting the scales this afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT. Watch all the staredowns and shoving live in the video player above; we’ll update the results after the jump when it’s over.

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT)
Glover Teixeira (206) vs. Ryan Bader (205)
Ronaldo Souza (186) vs. Yushin Okami (185)
Joseph Benavidez (126) vs. Jussier Formiga (126)
Piotr Hallmann (155) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (155)
Rafael Natal (185) vs. Tor Troeng (185)
Ali Bagautinov (125) vs. Marcos Vinicius (126)

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS (5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT)
Felipe Arantes (146) vs. Edimilson Souza (146)
Ramiro Hernandez (135) vs. Lucas Martins (136)
Elias Silverio (169) vs. Joao Zeferino (170)
Ivan Jorge (169) vs. Keith Wisniewski (170)

FACEBOOK PRELIM (4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT)
Sean Spencer (171) vs. Yuri Villefort (170)

Non-Committal Commitment of the Day: Glover Teixeira Will “Probably” Get the Winner of Jones/Gustafsson With an Impressive Win


(One of these men is on the brink of a world title shot. The other plans on penis-smacking himself in Mexico. You tell us which promotion helps build stars. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.)

Dave Chappelle once pondered what it would be like to be so famous that you could get your dick sucked and the person that sucked your dick would in turn also become famous. Someone who can probably relate to that level of power is UFC President Dana White. While he has yet to make anyone famous for giving him a hummer (besides Arianny, of course. *self five*), all White has to do is merely allude to a newsworthy piece of information and every MMA blog in the world jumps on it like it’s the word of God. I’m not the only one who sees the similarities there, right? Also, does anyone else see these fuckin’ iguanas on my coffee table?

Take this recent tidbit, for instance, which UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik dropped during the UFC 163 post-fight press conference:

Dana [White] and Joe [Silva] have confirmed, with a strong victory by Glover, then he probably gets the winner of the Jon Jones fight. Glover’s got an opportunity to go for that belt with a big win, so we’re expecting big things in Belo Horizonte. 

As you would expect, MMA blogs across the board are jumping all over this statement and claiming that “a title shot is now on the line” for Glover Teixeira. Those of us who are at all familiar with Dana White, however, know that when he throws around the words “probably” and the phrase “with a strong victory,” he means “unless a more lucrative option becomes available.”


(One of these men is on the brink of a world title shot. The other plans on penis-smacking himself in Mexico. You tell us which promotion helps build stars. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.)

Dave Chappelle once pondered what it would be like to be so famous that you could get your dick sucked and the person that sucked your dick would in turn also become famous. Someone who can probably relate to that level of power is UFC President Dana White. While he has yet to make anyone famous for giving him a hummer (besides Arianny, of course. *self five*), all White has to do is merely allude to a newsworthy piece of information and every MMA blog in the world jumps on it like it’s the word of God. I’m not the only one who sees the similarities there, right? Also, does anyone else see these fuckin’ iguanas on my coffee table?

Take this recent tidbit, for instance, which UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik dropped during the UFC 163 post-fight press conference:

Dana [White] and Joe [Silva] have confirmed, with a strong victory by Glover, then he probably gets the winner of the Jon Jones fight. Glover’s got an opportunity to go for that belt with a big win, so we’re expecting big things in Belo Horizonte. 

As you would expect, MMA blogs across the board are jumping all over this statement and claiming that “a title shot is now on the line” for Glover Teixeira. Those of us who are at all familiar with Dana White, however, know that when he throws around the words “probably” and the phrase “with a strong victory,” he means “unless a more lucrative option becomes available.”

While Teixeira would be as good a man as any to face the Jones/Gustafsson winner, he’s also not that well known by the average MMA fan. His victory over Rampage Jackson was a good start, sure, and if he is able to put away Ryan Bader (who is quickly becoming the light heavyweight division’s go-to stepping stone) impressively in their “Fight Night 28″ headlining scrap, then he should have gathered enough momentum for a title shot. But with all the talk both surrounding and between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, you think the UFC isn’t going to jump on that opportunity should it become a realistic possibility?

This is all dependent on how Teixeira and Cormier perform against Bader and Roy Nelson, respectively. Unless you honestly think that Jones is going to lose to Gustafsson, in which case you are probably nuttier than those people who thought Chris Weidman was going to…

–J. Jones

Great Dana White Vlog or Greatest Dana White Vlog?

UFC 162 takes place this Saturday in Las Vegas and organization President Dana White has released his first video blog of the week leading up to the event. It’s pretty good.

In it, UFC Hall of Fame fighter Chuck Liddell teaches TUF finalist Uriah Hall how to set up his deadly over hand right punch, as well as wrestles around with Mike Tyson and Royce Gracie. Liddell protege Glover Teixeira gets to meet Tyson, a hero of his and Uncle Dana personally makes the streets of Vegas safer.

Enjoy the vlog in between charred meat sessions today, all you American taters. For our Canadian friends – enjoy work, suckers!

Crap. I guess I’m working today too…and without that whole socialized health care benefit to boot.

Still, ‘Merica!

UFC 162 takes place this Saturday in Las Vegas and organization President Dana White has released his first video blog of the week leading up to the event. It’s pretty good.

In it, UFC Hall of Fame fighter Chuck Liddell teaches TUF finalist Uriah Hall how to set up his deadly over hand right punch, as well as wrestles around with Mike Tyson and Royce Gracie. Liddell protege Glover Teixeira gets to meet Tyson, a hero of his and Uncle Dana personally makes the streets of Vegas safer.

Enjoy the vlog in between charred meat sessions today, all you American taters. For our Canadian friends – enjoy work, suckers!

Crap. I guess I’m working today too…and without that whole socialized health care benefit to boot.

Still, ‘Merica!

– Elias Cepeda