Tag: Gray Maynard

UFC 136 Aftermath: The Bully gets Beat Down

Dana White post-event interview with Ariel Helwani. Props: MMAFighting.com

It’s no stretch to say that UFC 136 was, on paper, the most stacked UFC card since UFC 100. It featured two title fights, the return of the only middleweight to make Anderson Silva look human, a rematch from one of the most controversial decisions of 2010 and a lightweight contender looking to keep his winning streak alive. Add on the UFC Fan Expo being held on the same weekend, and it would seem impossible for UFC 136 to live up to the hype. Yet, impressively enough, it did.

If you’re a fan of “zombie style” fighting, then Frankie Edgar absolutely has to be one of your favorite fighters after last night. In a performance that caused more than a few of us to experience déjà vu, Edgar seemed like he was one punch away from being knocked out throughout Gray Maynard’s early onslaught. But Edgar hung on and managed to take the next two rounds en route to a fourth round TKO. It’s an impressive accomplishment, especially considering that Frankie Edgar is a natural featherweight while Gray Maynard is pretty big for a lightweight, if Mike Goldberg is to be trusted. Any questions about Frankie Edgar’s ability to finish seem to have been answered last night. Especially in the eyes of Dana White, who awarded Frankie Edgar the 75k Knockout of the Night honors.


Dana White post-event interview with Ariel Helwani. Props: MMAFighting.com

It’s no stretch to say that UFC 136 was, on paper, the most stacked UFC card since UFC 100. It featured two title fights, the return of the only middleweight to make Anderson Silva look human, a rematch from one of the most controversial decisions of 2010 and a lightweight contender looking to keep his winning streak alive. Add on the UFC Fan Expo being held on the same weekend, and it would seem impossible for UFC 136 to live up to the hype. Yet, impressively enough, it did.

If you’re a fan of “zombie style” fighting, then Frankie Edgar absolutely has to be one of your favorite fighters after last night. In a performance that caused more than a few of us to experience déjà vu, Edgar seemed like he was one punch away from being knocked out throughout Gray Maynard’s early onslaught. But Edgar hung on and managed to take the next two rounds en route to a fourth round TKO. It’s an impressive accomplishment, especially considering that Frankie Edgar is a natural featherweight while Gray Maynard is pretty big for a lightweight, if Mike Goldberg is to be trusted. Any questions about Frankie Edgar’s ability to finish seem to have been answered last night. Especially in the eyes of Dana White, who awarded Frankie Edgar the 75k Knockout of the Night honors.

Meanwhile, new questions have been raised about Gray Maynard’s conditioning. Let’s face it; this is two fights in a row where Maynard’s performance has been Carwin-esque, gassing out trying to finish Edgar early. Time will tell whether or not the comparison is fair, but it doesn’t help Gray’s cause that during the first round we were constantly reminded of the rigorous conditioning program he underwent to ensure he wouldn’t tire out so quickly for the rubber match.

I’ll say this much about Kenny Florian: He knew that if he stood any chance beating Jose Aldo, it would be beating him against the cage, putting him on his back, and having good enough conditioning to take it to the judges. Florian managed to stick to this game plan throughout the fight, even managing to steal a round from the champion. Frankly, if Aldo wasn’t that much better than Florian, Ken Flo probably would have managed to steal the fight. But Aldo was just that much better, outclassing Florian in virtually every aspect of the fight. I would compare Kenny Florian to Allen Iverson, in the sense that he’s one of the best in our sport to never win a title on the sport’s biggest stage, but I have way too much respect for Iverson to make such a comparison. Iverson was a fan favorite who always seemed to be ahead of his time, both on and off the court. Florian is a great fighter, but this was arguably the most competitive of his three title shots. Let that sink in.  

Ironically enough, there was a fighter from last night that could draw the Iverson comparison. Don’t act like you don’t know who I’m talking about. Chael Sonnen looked like he hadn’t missed a step against Brian Stann, despite over a year’s worth of inactivity. Sonnen delivered the same beatdown that made Anderson Silva finally look human against the thoroughly outclassed Brian Stann. To Stann’s credit, he consistently worked for submissions against Sonnen, but was unable to put any meaningful offense together. In typical fashion, Sonnen took the microphone after the fight and showed the rest of the UFC how to create hype. Will the loser actually leave town? As the video above shows, Dana White doesn’t want to commit to an answer to that yet.  

The 75k Fight of the Night bonus went to Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia for their three round tilt. The fight played out exactly as we expected it to, as it was the same slugfest that was their first meeting. As per their first meeting, Phan outclassed Garcia with his refined striking. Except this time around, Garcia came dangerously close to finishing Phan. And this time around, the judges got it right and awarded Phan the fight. Has Garcia lost his immunity with the judges? Maybe so. Likewise, Submission of the Night honors went to Joe Lauzon for his rear naked choke against the heavy favorite, Melvin Guillard. Guillard got caught early, and once he was on the ground, he was the same Melvin Guillard we’ve always known. Props to Joe Lauzon for being able to finish off Guillard, but the above video seems to indicate that Dana White thinks the performance was a 75k fluke.

Full results, courtesy of BJPenn.com:

MAIN CARD:
Champ Frankie Edgar def. Gray Maynard via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 3:54 Champ Jose Aldo def. Kenny Florian via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Chael Sonnen def. Brian Stann via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:51
Nam Phan def. Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Joe Lauzon def. Melvin Guillard via submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1, 0:47

PRELIMINARY CARD: (Spike TV)
Demian Maia def. Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Pettis def. Jeremy Stephens via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD: (Facebook)
Stipe Miocic def. Joey Beltran via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Darren Elkins def. Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
Aaron Simpson def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mike Massenzio def. Steven Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Dana White: I Value Guys Who Come in and Actually Fight

UFC president Dana White had plenty of memorable things to say about UFC 136 last night. From Frankie Edgar being the number 2 P4P fighter in the world, to almost confirming Chael Sonnen will be facing Anderson Silva next, White had plenty to say at th…

UFC president Dana White had plenty of memorable things to say about UFC 136 last night.

From Frankie Edgar being the number 2 P4P fighter in the world, to almost confirming Chael Sonnen will be facing Anderson Silva next, White had plenty to say at the UFC post fight press conference.

One of his more memorable quotes was about “Fight of the Night” winner Leonard Garcia.

Garcia along with Nam Phan put on a memorable slugfest that made the Houston, Texas crowd happy.

Although Garcia couldn’t pick up the win in his home state, he should hang his head high knowing that White was pleased with his performance.

“You know that’s what I put the most value on,” White told MMAjunkie.com. “I value guys who come in and actually fight. Yes, you’ve got to win, and you have to have so many wins, but guys that come and bring it, we respect, and we like them.”

Garcia, who 1-3 in his last four fights could arguably be 0-4 after winning a controversial split decision against Phan last year. White confirmed that Garcia would not be getting cut anytime soon despite this.

“I don’t make those decisions  right now. You guys love to ask me those questions at the press conference.” White said.  “ But after that fight, seriously, I want everybody to raise their hands that wants me to kick out Leonard Garcia after tonight. Thank you. Next question.”

Phan was able to get the better of Garcia once again with his technical striking. But Garcia was able to drop Phan in the third round, nearly stealing the fight once again.

Phan is one of the most fan friendly fighters in the UFC. But if he is unable to pick up a win he could very easily be cut.

UFC 136 Results: Where Does Frankie Edgar Rank Among the UFC Champions?

Frankie Edgar, despite being a champion, is the perennial underdog due to his small stature and humble demeanor. However, this is undeserved because his skills are definitely on par with those of the other UFC champions (if not exceeding them).Even UFC…

Frankie Edgar, despite being a champion, is the perennial underdog due to his small stature and humble demeanor. However, this is undeserved because his skills are definitely on par with those of the other UFC champions (if not exceeding them).

Even UFC president Dana White said that Edgar was the number two pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Where do Edgar’s skills rank among those of the other six champions? Read and find out.

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Joe Lauzon Makes Short Work of Title Contender Melvin Guillard

Frankie Edgar finally got the monkey off of his back and picked up a win over rival Gray Maynard. With Maynard out the way, Edgar must now wait on the UFC to decide who will be his next challenger. UFC 136 featured two other lightweight bouts that Edga…

Frankie Edgar finally got the monkey off of his back and picked up a win over rival Gray Maynard.

With Maynard out the way, Edgar must now wait on the UFC to decide who will be his next challenger.

UFC 136 featured two other lightweight bouts that Edgar should have paid close attention to.

In the first lightweight bout of the night, former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis out wrestled Jeremy Stephens earning a split decision victory.

Joe Lauzon earned a more impressive victory in the second lightweight match up of the night against Melvin Guillard.

Lauzon only needed 47 seconds to dispose of Guillard. The win not only earned Lauzon Submission of the Night honors, but moves him up the rankings of the lightweight division.

Lauzon, who is known for his submissions, was happy with his performance.

 “It was good to beat him, it was so much better to beat him the way he did.” Lauzon told MMAFighting.com. “I’m just happy that one, I dropped him, and two, I finished him quick.”

With his win over Guillard, Lauzon proved that he could be a dangerous fight for anybody in the 155 pound division.

Although Lauzon would love to make a run for Edgar’s title, it will be up to the UFC to determine where he goes from here.

“I don’t call people out. Bad things happen.” 

Kenny Florian Undecided on Future Fighting, Weighs Other Options

Unlike the clichéd saying, the third time wasn’t the charm for top featherweight contender Kenny Florian.At UFC 136, Florian lost a unanimous decision to UFC champion Jose Aldo. The 48-46 scorecards told the story of a tightly-contested bout tha…

Unlike the clichéd saying, the third time wasn’t the charm for top featherweight contender Kenny Florian.

At UFC 136, Florian lost a unanimous decision to UFC champion Jose Aldo. The 48-46 scorecards told the story of a tightly-contested bout that relied on octagon control versus damage and shots landed.

Aldo, who is still considered a top three pound-for-pound fighter in some rankings, seemed to find his rhythm as the fight wore on.

He was able to outpoint Florian in the standup exchanges and defend a multitude of takedown attempts.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed,” said Florian. “I fought very hard. I trained extremely hard. I wasn’t successful. That’s it.”

At 35 years of age, Florian has contended for three UFC titles.

He lost a unanimous decision to Sean Sherk in his first title shot at UFC 64 back in October 2006.

His next opportunity came against BJ Penn in August 2009 at UFC 101, where he was dominated throughout and stopped in the fourth round by a rear naked choke.

After yet another heartbreaking loss, the future is unclear for Florian at this point.

Will he stay at 145-pounds, or will he move back to lightweight? Is bantamweight a possibility? Could retirement be in the plans?

“The thing about Kenny is he’s smart. He’s talented. He’s got other options. He’s got things going on outside of fighting, too. It’s just one of those things he needs to sit down and really figure out on his own,” UFC President Dana White said at the post-fight presser.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and Kenny Florian will be with us no matter what.”

Chael Sonnen May Be the Only Middleweight Able to Squash "The Spider"

Anderson Silva walks around with the UFC middleweight champion, but Chael Sonnen believes he’s the true champion.The former middleweight title contender returned in impressive fashion at UFC 136, where he dominated and submitted rising contender Brian …

Anderson Silva walks around with the UFC middleweight champion, but Chael Sonnen believes he’s the true champion.

The former middleweight title contender returned in impressive fashion at UFC 136, where he dominated and submitted rising contender Brian Stann with a second round arm triangle.

Always one to speak his mind, Sonnen had some rather harsh words for Silva after the bout.

“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck,” Sonnen said in his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan. “Super Bowl weekend…the biggest rematch in the history of the sport. I’m calling you out, Silva. It’s time to up the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. I lose, I will leave the UFC forever.”

While other challengers like Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort seek another shot at Silva, Sonnen may have the best chance out of any fighter at 185-pounds of dethroning the pound-for-pound king.

Silva has always struggled against strong wrestlers with suffocating top control. While Sonnen saw the most success in his near routing of Silva at UFC 117, Henderson had his moments early out against Silva at UFC 82.

Sonnen differed from Henderson in his ability to stick to his grappling strengths and make Silva uncomfortable.

People may laugh at some of Sonnen’s remark, but they shouldn’t underestimate his ability to get the job done. Stylistically, it doesn’t get any tougher at middleweight for Silva than Sonnen.

If this is the fight UFC President Dana White goes with, Silva and his camp will have to make some major adjustments. Silva may have defeated Sonnen at UFC 117, but it was far from a competitive bout.

Sonnen pushed the action and had his way with Silva for four and a half rounds.

The world had better get ready. Uncle Chael is coming for “his” middleweight title.