A hard-fought decision victory isn’t the only thing Michael Bisping left the O2 Arena in London, England with on Saturday night. The popular British fighter also left with a badly beaten up face following his UFC Fight N…
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A hard-fought decision victory isn’t the only thing Michael Bisping left the O2 Arena in London, England with on Saturday night. The popular British fighter also left with a badly beaten up face following his UFC Fight Night 84 war with MMA legend Anderson Silva, something the UFC 185-pound contender blames on veteran referee Herb Dean.
Michael “The Count” Bisping spoke with Ariel Helwani for MMAFighting.com after winning a disputed judges decision over the former longtime UFC Middleweight Champion on Saturday and revealed that he blames Herb Dean for a lot of the facial damage he suffered during the bout.
“I was talking to Herb Deab, saying, ‘Herb, my mouth piece,” exclaimed Bisping when explaining to Helwani what happened during a controversial spot in the middle of the fight. “You know, the guy …I don’t want to lose my teeth. Contrary to popular belief the British all don’t have bad teeth, and mine are okay.”
Bisping, who wasn’t fully “with it” as the situation unfolded inside the Octagon half-way through the fight, “thinks” the veteran referee is to blame for a lot of the physical damage he went on to suffer moments after the mouth piece controversy.
“So, you know, I don’t know. Herb Dean really needs to uhh …I blame Herb Dean for all of this …I think.”
For complete UFC Fight Night 84 results, click here.
Bellator came back into our lives in a big way last night, as Bellator 132: “Freire vs. Straus 2” took place at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula, Calif. Scott Coker‘s new beloved baby gave us some pretty wild and disgusted finishes from top-to-bottom, proving the second-best MMA promotion in the world is must-see TV every time.
Not one fight went to a decision on the prelims, and the finishes were downright disgusting. Please don’t watch them with your family, hovered around the tube with Michelina’s for everyone (all Vines/Gifs courtesy of ZombieProphet, after the jump.)
(Photo via Bellator.com)
Bellator came back into our lives in a big way last night, as Bellator 132: “Freire vs. Straus 2″ took place at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula, Calif. Scott Coker‘s new beloved baby gave us some pretty wild and disgusted finishes from top-to-bottom, proving the second-best MMA promotion in the world is must-see TV every time.
Not one fight went to a decision on the prelims, and the finishes were downright disgusting. Please don’t watch them with your family, hovered around the tube with Michelina’s for everyone (all Vines/Gifs courtesy of ZombieProphet).
Preliminary Card
Everett Cummings got the better of Jason Glaza in the lone heavyweight bout of the night, scoring a technical submission win via rear naked choke:
Dustin Jacoby will probably need to fine tune his grappling game before entering the Bellator cage again, since the Glory fighter fell victim to a rear-naked choke, courtesy of UFC alumni John Salter:
Chris Herrera nearly murdered Luc Bondole with an early knockout of the year candidate, thanks to the latter walking into the fiesty middleweight’s brutal combo:
Also winning by knockout, Steve Kozola torched Jonathan Rivera with some brutal shots in the second round to win their lightweight contest:
And finally, in one of the more grotesque images you’re going to see this weekend, Albert Morales scored a rear-naked choke over Fabian Gonzalez, and the victim was forced to tap while wearing the crimson mask and blood gushed out of his face:
Main Card
In the main event, Patricio Freire retained his featherweight title in a rematch against Daniel Straus, defending it for the first time since besting Pat Curran at Bellator 123. It was a pretty odd fight, with a handful of nut shots, an eyepoke, and some wild occurences, but “Pitbull” was able to keep the gold with a fourth-round rear naked choke …
…but that came with a price.
Oh, and here’s a bad low blow, followed by some ground and pound.
In his second Bellator stint, former WSOF featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan made this MMA stuff look easy, choking out Bubba Jenkins with a guillotine and secured a title shot in his next bout. Herb Dean’s officiating was pretty alarming, to say the least.
Also on the main card, Virgil Zwicker defeated Houston Alexander, and Fernando Gonzalez beat Marius Zaromskis, yet we’d much rather show you a Kimbo Slice hype promo.
Bellator 132 quick results:
Main Card
Patricio Freire def. Daniel Straus via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:49 of R4
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bubba Jenkins via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 1:49 of R1
Virgil Zwicker def. Houston Alexander via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Fernando Gonzalez def. Marius Zaromskis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Everett Cummings def. Jason Glaza via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:55 of R2
John Salter def. Dustin Jacoby via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:33 of R2
Steve Kozola def. Jonathan Rivera via knockout (punches) at 1:25 of R2
Derek Anderson def. Danny Navarro via TKO (punches) at 3:51 of R3
Albert Morales def. Fabian Gonzalez via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:12 of R2
Chris Herrera def. Luc Bondole via knockout (punches) at 3:21 of R2
(Here’s what the TUF 20 bracket looks like after episode 1; click image for full size version. Team Pettis is in green, Team Melendez is in purple. Props: Reddit MMA)
Last night’s premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned ended with Invicta FC standout Tecia Torres losing in a major upset, when she dropped a three-round decision to the relatively unheralded Randa Markos. If you think that’s a “spoiler” because you haven’t watched the episode yet, well, now you know how the rest of us feel. Due to some epic screw-ups by the UFC production team, the Torres/Markos result was briefly revealed on the broadcast before the fight had even aired, and UFC.com posted an episode recap while the show was still going on. Those are spoilers, my friends.
But all that weirdness aside, TUF 20 episode 1 was a highly satisfying two hours — and not just because the CagePotato logo appeared on the broadcast several times (!) in footage from Rose Namajunas’s Invicta fights. In an interesting change of format, the 16 strawweight competitors were given seeding-numbers based on their rank in the division, and placed into a bracket; #1-ranked Carla Esparza will fight #16-ranked Angela Hill, #2-ranked Joanne Calderwood will fight #15-ranked Emily Kagan, and so on. Coaches Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez still got to pick their teams based on which fighters they liked best after an evaluation session — and they’ll still decide the order of the fights — but they weren’t given the seed-numbers beforehand. It worked out like this…
Instead of giving you a scene-by-scene rundown of everything that happened on the show, we’d like to debut the TUF 20 Checklist, which will hopefully hit the major themes that you’ll be seeing each week. Here we go…
(Here’s what the TUF 20 bracket looks like after episode 1; click image for full size version. Team Pettis is in green, Team Melendez is in purple. Props: Reddit MMA)
Last night’s premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned ended with Invicta FC standout Tecia Torres losing in a major upset, when she dropped a three-round decision to the relatively unheralded Randa Markos. If you think that’s a “spoiler” because you haven’t watched the episode yet, well, now you know how the rest of us feel. Due to some epic screw-ups by the UFC production team, the Torres/Markos result was briefly revealed on the broadcast before the fight had even aired, and UFC.com posted an episode recap while the show was still going on. Those are spoilers, my friends.
But all that weirdness aside, TUF 20 episode 1 was a highly satisfying two hours — and not just because the CagePotato logo appeared on the broadcast several times (!) in footage from Rose Namajunas’s Invicta fights. In an interesting change of format, the 16 strawweight competitors were given seeding-numbers based on their rank in the division, and placed into a bracket; #1-ranked Carla Esparza will fight #16-ranked Angela Hill, #2-ranked Joanne Calderwood will fight #15-ranked Emily Kagan, and so on. Coaches Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez still got to pick their teams based on which fighters they liked best after an evaluation session — and they’ll still decide the order of the fights — but they weren’t given the seed-numbers beforehand. It worked out like this…
Instead of giving you a scene-by-scene rundown of everything that happened on the show, we’d like to debut the TUF 20 Checklist, which will hopefully hit the major themes that you’ll be seeing each week. Here we go…
Did the “ladies bring it” in the episode’s fight?: Yeah, they absolutely did. Tecia Torres dominated the first round against Randa Markos, battering the Iraqi-Canadian with her trademark side-kick and some painful-looking oblique kicks. (Torres was also aided by Herb Dean’s less-than-stellar officiating.) When Markos tried to take the fight to the ground, Torres wouldn’t let her. But Markos came alive in the second frame, eventually dragging Torres to the mat and smashing her with ground-and-pound. It was clear that both women were fading during the sudden victory round, but once again, Markos managed to score a takedown late in the round, and held Torres on her back until the final horn, which was enough to earn her the nod from all three judges. It was a truly gutsy performance from Markos, who we figured didn’t have a chance in this one.
Most absurd Dana White exaggeration (tie):
– “It’s the most important season we’ve ever done.” I think he meant “with the obvious exception of season 1.”
– “One of these girls is literally gonna become one of the biggest stars in the world.” Oh man. Demetrious Johnson is ten pounds heavier and has a penis, and he still can’t get over with fans.
Best tease of a scene from a future episode: At some point in the season, Dana White will have to console a crying “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings in a back room at the TUF gym. That usually means “injury,” but we’ll see. Poor Rowdy Bec. Also, one of the women passes out during a weight cut at one point.
Scariest quote: “Those women are my food.” — Angela Magana. Holy shit. Take this thing back to Baltimore! Thug Rose gets an honorable mention for her speech about how she enjoys hurting people.
Ronda Rousey kneed Sara McMann into oblivion in a minute…or at least Herb Dean thought McMann had been kneed into oblivion. MMA fans were split about that part. Some thought the stoppage was deserved—McMann stopped intelligently defending herself when she crumpled to the mat clutching her sides. Others disagreed, citing the fact that McMann managed to rise to her feet immediately after Dean called off the bout (an intrepid Wikipedia vandal belonged to this school of thought).
The irritating ruckus that follows any disputed stoppage polluted Twitter and message boards before Rousey’s hand was even raised. MMA fans were (and still are) pissed.
Ronda Rousey kneed Sara McMann into oblivion in a minute…or at least Herb Dean thought McMann had been kneed into oblivion. MMA fans were split about that part. Some thought the stoppage was deserved—McMann stopped intelligently defending herself when she crumpled to the mat clutching her sides. Others disagreed, citing the fact that McMann managed to rise to her feet immediately after Dean called off the bout (an intrepid Wikipedia vandal belonged to this school of thought).
The irritating ruckus that follows any disputed stoppage polluted Twitter and message boards before Rousey’s hand was even raised. MMA fans were (and still are) pissed.
And that’s fantastic.
The UFC women’s bantamweight division is essentially a feeder system for Ronda Rousey, as well as a promotional vehicle for the conventionally attractive (they’ll never let you forget that) Judo star. Dana White admitted that he only allowed women in the UFC because of her. The rest of the division has no chance at taking the belt from her—did you seeAlexis Davis vs. Jessica Eye? Those women are two of the best in the weight class yet they’re both still milesastronomical units away from Rousey.
This formula of sacrificing over-matched fighters to the UFC’s sacred cash cow has worked. Ridiculous Dana White assertions aside, Rousey is one of the UFC’s only stars in a roster so bloated and bland that Lorenzo Fertitta himself probably couldn’t name half the fighters. Rousey is legitimately a super-awesome bad-ass who wrecks people and, to borrow Tomas Rios’ parlance, a Bro Queen. She’s tailor made for the MMA fan, from her unique Judo stylings down to the one-of-a-kind face she sports when walking to the cage. But as great as she is, the conveyor belt of challengers who pose no challenge will get boring.
After a while, fans will realize that the Woman to Beat Rousey™ conveniently always happens to be whoever she’s fighting next, and always gets destroyed anyway despite the hype of being Ronda’s “most dangerous opponent to date.” One day fans will get sick of Rousey crushing fighters that aren’t on her level in any aspect of MMA or even athleticism.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino seems the likely solution for this problem. She’s the only fighter scarier than Rousey. She’s so tough she made Gina Carano—then WMMA’s biggest star—retire after five minutes in the cage with her.
Too bad Dana White has zero interest in booking that fight, at least in the immediate future. Either he’s posturing, trying to downplay Justino’s value for the sake of negotiations, or he’s afraid that the female version of PRIDE-era Wanderlei Silva will slaughter his prized cash cow, Rousey. It seems White is content to not book what would be the biggest fight in WMMA history so Cyborg can continue to torture lesser fighters outside the UFC and Rousey can continue to torture lesser fighters inside the UFC.
Well what about famed boxer Holly Holm? She’s an impressive 6-0 in MMA and Rousey even expressed interest in fighting her. Too bad White doesn’t seem interested in that match either. This December he called Holm’s manager a “lunatic” and questioned the strength of Holm’s competition, insinuating she wasn’t UFC caliber (despite that term being obscenely meaningless in 2014).
The UFC doesn’t want to book the two biggest fights for Rousey. What’s left for her, then? Crushing the same cadre of women ad nauseam until she leaves for Hollywood or baby-making?
That’s why a controversial stoppage in Rousey vs. McMann was the best thing that could’ve happened. Many fans contested Herb Dean’s choice to stop the fight. The UFC can do the whole “Did Rousey REALLY beat McMann?” angle this time, and people will respond positively to it because it’s not a manufactured “OMG OLYMPIANS” gimmick. It’s appealing to the real emotions present. People felt the stoppage was BS, they want to see McMann fight Rousey again because she was doing well until Rousey’s knee smashed her liver.
The stoppage gave the UFC women’s bantamweight division a storyline—something to potentially look forward to other than clinch-throw-armbar-tap. And what if McMann gets a rematch and wins? Then WMMA will no-doubt have its first great trilogy when Rousey and McMann fight a third time. With Rousey’s star power it’ll be huge.
So let’s be thankful for Herb Dean’s questionable call, without it we’d have yawned and asked “who’s Rousey beating next?”
The UFC has announced plans for a campaign to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS, particularly among high-risk groups. Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole spoke with UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein about the campaign recently.
“The Center for Disease Control & Prevention said the awareness about HIV and AIDS among those under 35 is surprisingly poor. Given that the UFC’s strength is with the 18-to-34-year-old demographic, chief operating officer Ike Lawrence Epstein felt it was natural for the company to team with the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada to promote the Protect Yourself at all Times, campaign,” Iole reported.
Yes, that’s really the name of the campaign. We’ll get back to that in a moment.
According to the story, half of all new HIV cases in the last two years have been reported in people under the age of 30. The 18-34 demographic is certainly the UFC’s sweet spot so it makes a lot of sense for them to help out with awareness-building efforts.
The promotion partnering with organizations in the LBGTQ is also a great move. We always hear about the post-fight screenings that UFC fighters must take for PEDs and drugs of abuse, but they all also have to be tested for HIV, which gives spokespeople for the new campaign, including Forrest Griffin, a personal angle to talk about the issue:
The UFC has announced plans for a campaign to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS, particularly among high-risk groups. Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole spoke with UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein about the campaign recently.
“The Center for Disease Control & Prevention said the awareness about HIV and AIDS among those under 35 is surprisingly poor. Given that the UFC’s strength is with the 18-to-34-year-old demographic, chief operating officer Ike Lawrence Epstein felt it was natural for the company to team with the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada to promote the Protect Yourself at all Times, campaign,” Iole reported.
Yes, that’s really the name of the campaign. We’ll get back to that in a moment.
According to the story, half of all new HIV cases in the last two years have been reported in people under the age of 30. The 18-34 demographic is certainly the UFC’s sweet spot so it makes a lot of sense for them to help out with awareness-building efforts.
The promotion partnering with organizations in the LBGTQ is also a great move. We always hear about the post-fight screenings that UFC fighters must take for PEDs and drugs of abuse, but they all also have to be tested for HIV, which gives spokespeople for the new campaign, including Forrest Griffin, a personal angle to talk about the issue:
“I had 15 fights in the UFC Octagon during my career, and before each and every one of them, I had an HIV test,” Griffin said. ”I’m encouraging everybody to show themselves and their partners the same respect I showed my opponents by getting tested and protecting themselves at all times.”
Alright, back to that campaign name and slogan. It’s catchy, pertinent and logical.
Still, it’s kind of hilarious, right? As our editor Ben Goldstein put it, protect yourself at all times in the context of safe sex “makes me picture Herb Dean hovering next to my bed, waiting to jump in and hand me a condom.”
Come to think of it, that would be pretty useful. Wonder what that would cost…
In any case, props to the UFC for working on this issue. We hope it makes a difference.
Now it’s your turn, ‘Taters: Is the phrase “Protect Yourself at All Times” too unintentionally funny as an HIV awareness slogan? And what disturbing/excellent image does it bring to your minds in this context?
