Tag: James Te-Huna

UFC Fight Night 43: James Te Huna Shrugging off Pressure to Put on a Show

James Te Huna has been waiting a long time for the UFC to touch down in New Zealand. 
Over the past four years he’s spent competing under the UFC banner, the 32-year-old Canterbury native has competed in nearby Australia on several occasions, but …

James Te Huna has been waiting a long time for the UFC to touch down in New Zealand. 

Over the past four years he’s spent competing under the UFC banner, the 32-year-old Canterbury native has competed in nearby Australia on several occasions, but Saturday night will mark the first time Te Huna will step into the Octagon on his native soil.

While being able to compete in front of his countryman is a dream he’s long waited to see materialize, doing so as the main event on the card will only serve to make the experience that much more surreal for the heavy-handed Kiwi.

“I’m definitely excited about this fight and it’s a dream of mine that has come true,” Te Huna told Bleacher Report. “It’s definitely a surreal experience for me. I knew the UFC was going to have an event in New Zealand, but I was actually quite surprised it happened so fast. I thought the event would take place later in the year when Mark [Hunt] would be ready for it, but his injury kept him off the card. They went ahead with the event and I’m really looking forward to it.

“There is a love for MMA here and a lot of great UFC fans. Kiwis are very passionate about their sports. I’ve been here in Auckland for the past four weeks preparing for my fight and the support I’ve received has been amazing. People have been coming up to me on the streets, shaking my hand and wishing me well. I was quite surprised to be honest, but certainly appreciative of their support.”

The Sydney transplant will square off with former Strikeforce champion Nate Marquardt in the headlining bout of Fight Night 43 on Saturday night in Auckland. Being able to sling leather in his own backyard under the bright lights of the sport’s biggest stage is undoubtedly a large perk of Te Huna’s next assignment, but additional circumstances at play that will add a touch of tension to an otherwise ideal scenario for the Athletic Allstars-trained fighter.

The most prominent of which is the current rough patch Te Huna has fallen into. And it is one he desperately needs to break out of on Saturday night.

While Te Huna’s time in the UFC got off to a red-hot start—successful in five of his first six showings, including an impressive run of four consecutive victories—his momentum has come to a grinding halt as of late. His four-fight winning streak was snapped at the hands of Glover Teixeira at UFC 160 in May 2013, and his attempt to rebound back into the win column was snuffed out by former light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at Fight Night 33 six months later in Brisbane, Australia.

Suffering back-to-back losses at the highest level of the sport would force any fighter to take a hard look at the state of things in their career, and Te Huna was no exception.

Yet, rather than dwell on the negatives and results he had no power to change, the proud New Zealand representative made the decision to drop down a weight class and look for a fresh start in the middleweight division.

“I’ve been fighting my entire career at light heavyweight, but those who know me know that I’m not a natural light heavyweight,” Te Huna said. “I don’t walk around that heavy, but I was getting the job done at that weight and there was no reason for me to drop down to middleweight. But I had two recent losses and things weren’t going too well in training, so I needed to make a change. I believe it will make a big difference and I can’t wait to get out there and perform.” 

The bout against Marquardt—whose current three-fight skid has put him in a rocky position of his own—will mark his official debut in the 185-pound ranks and will provide Te Huna a solid opportunity to get things back on track.

That said, he has refused to allow the pressure at hand to rest heavily on his shoulders. Te Huna understands all of the negative things that could potentially accompany a third consecutive loss, but in the same turn, those are elements he’s not paying any mind to.

He is coming to Vector Arena on Saturday to put on a show, and everything else will take care of itself once his hand is raised inside the Octagon.

“I’m not worrying about pressure or anything like that,” Te Huna said. “My confidence is up and I’ve moved on from those last two fights. I’ve been in this position before. I know what I need to do and all I’m concentrating on right now is winning this fight. That’s the only thing that matters to me.

“I think this is going to be a great matchup. We both like to get in there, get after it and bring the row. We like to get to it. That’s the way I fight and that’s the way he fights as well. We both come to bang and it’s going to make for an exciting fight. I always come to put on a show. I always bring it.” 

 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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Nate Marquardt and James Te Huna Try to Stay in the Game at UFC Fight Night 43

Nate Marquardt and James Te Huna will make a piece of inauspicious history on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 43.
According to statistical wizard Mike Bohn at MMAJunkie.com, Te Huna vs. Marquardt will be the first UFC main event ever to feature two fighter…

Nate Marquardt and James Te Huna will make a piece of inauspicious history on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 43.

According to statistical wizard Mike Bohn at MMAJunkie.com, Te Huna vs. Marquardt will be the first UFC main event ever to feature two fighters coming off back-to-back losses in the promotion.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but this is probably not one the MMA bards will immortalize in song and story.

The last time we saw Te Huna he was being sacrificed at the altar of Shogun Rua, playing the role of stepping stone at a Fight Night event in Australia, so Rua could go on to lose a rematch against Dan Henderson at a Fight Night event in Brazil. Before that, he fought Glover Teixeira as an injury replacement for Ryan Bader, suffering a first-round submission loss to the eventual light heavyweight No. 1 contender.

For Marquardt, things have been even worse. Formerly a member of the middleweight elite, the 35-year-old has likely lapsed into permanent journeyman status after dropping three straight since July 2012. He fumbled his Strikeforce welterweight title in an upset loss to Tarec Saffiedine in Jan. 2013 and—upon returning to the UFC after his TRT-related firing in 2011—suffered disastrous first-round knockouts at the hands of Jake Ellenberger and Hector Lombard.

With Marquardt on the verge of the golden sombrero and Te Huna at risk of conceding his third straight loss, conventional wisdom says whoever loses this one is probably going to get cut. Even in a new reality where the UFC isn’t as liberal with the pink slips as it used to be—it needs warm bodies to staff all these Fight Nights, after all—it’s tough to imagine either of these guys remaining viable after another consecutive defeat.

As my colleague Ben Fowlkes noted on this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast, all of this sends a fairly murky message. What are we to make of a “main event” fight where the loser could be immediately (and justifiably) fired? Have we finally stretched the term as far as it can go? And with nine other fights on this card of lesser quality, what’s the impetus for even the most hardcore fan to tune in?

 

Clearly, Americans won’t be logging-on in droves to check out an event scheduled to run between 2-7 a.m. ET. New Zealanders who’ve waited years for the UFC to make a pit stop in their little corner of the earth will gladly turn out to support their countryman in Te Huna. Still, hardcore fight fans of any nationality should recognize this as a bit of an underwhelming effort for the Octagon’s first trip to Kiwi country.

For Marquardt and Te Huna, perhaps the one saving grace may be that none of their most recent losses took place in the 185-pound division. Te Huna is cutting to middleweight after making all eight of his previous UFC appearances at light heavyweight. Marquardt, meanwhile, returns to 185 for the first time since his UFC 128 win over Dan Miller.

He told Bohn this week that’s what God wanted him to do.

If Te Huna can defeat Marquardt, then maybe he can make a modest run in his new division. A win over a guy with such a prolonged losing streak wouldn’t vault the 32-year-old to the top of any prospect lists, but it would give him some legs. While a Marquardt victory would likely be viewed as somewhat less meaningful, it would obviously be better for him than the alternative.

And that—speaking of stretching things as far as we possibly can—is about all that can be said for potential positive stakes in this fight.  

Chances are, the negative stakes far outweigh them. Whoever comes out on the wrong end of this bit of history will likely end up singing a pretty sad song.

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Nate Marquardt vs. James Te Huna to *Headline* UFC New Zealand Because Whatever, F*ck You


(Marquardt prays to not get knocked the eff out by Hector Lombard prior to UFC 166, a prayer that would sadly go unanswered. Photo via Getty)

This weekend, Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will headline the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi at Fight Night 39. It’s a card that literally has dozens of fans brimming with excitement and one that will surely be viewed by dozens more. But while it’s easier to understand why two familiar faces like Big Nog and Big Country could find themselves headlining an event despite going 2-4 in their past six fights combined, today brings news of a headlining matchup so thoroughly meh that it threatens to redefine our understanding of the term “oversaturation”: Nate Marquardt vs. James Te Huna.

I’m using hyperbole for dramatic effect of course, but let’s look at the facts of this matchup, which was recently announced as the headliner for the UFC’s first (and last, amiright! *crickets*) trip to New Zealand on June 28th:

-Since returning to the UFC, Marquardt has gone 0-2, with both losses coming via first round knockout
-Te Huna has also dropped his last two, in the first round, by submission to Glover Teixeira and KO to Mauricio Rua
-The fight will be held at 185 pounds, meaning Marquardt will be moving up from welterweight for the first time since 2011, and Te Huna will be dropping from LHW for the first time in his career.

If you haven’t guessed by now, this card will air exclusively on Fight Pass.


(Marquardt prays to not get knocked the eff out by Hector Lombard prior to UFC 166, a prayer that would sadly go unanswered. Photo via Getty)

This weekend, Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will headline the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi at Fight Night 39. It’s a card that literally has dozens of fans brimming with excitement and one that will surely be viewed by dozens more. But while it’s easier to understand why two familiar faces like Big Nog and Big Country could find themselves headlining an event despite going 2-4 in their past six fights combined, today brings news of a headlining matchup so thoroughly meh that it threatens to redefine our understanding of the term “oversaturation”: Nate Marquardt vs. James Te Huna.

I’m using hyperbole for dramatic effect of course, but let’s look at the facts of this matchup, which was recently announced as the headliner for the UFC’s first (and last, amiright! *crickets*) trip to New Zealand on June 28th:

-Since returning to the UFC, Marquardt has gone 0-2, with both losses coming via first round knockout
-Te Huna has also dropped his last two, in the first round, by submission to Glover Teixeira and KO to Mauricio Rua
-The fight will be held at 185 pounds, meaning Marquardt will be moving up from welterweight for the first time since 2011, and Te Huna will be dropping from LHW for the first time in his career.

If you haven’t guessed by now, this card will air exclusively on Fight Pass.

Although Marquardt has fallen on hard times as of late, there’s no denying that he is capable of some amazing things in the octagon. The same goes for Te Huna, who has looked spectacular in his wins over guys who have all since been cut and Ryan Jimmo. But seriously, what is this matchup? The UFC couldn’t find Te Huna an actual middleweight contender for his last ditch weight cut, so they brought up a former middleweight who is also in a do-or-die position with the promotion? And they made that the headliner because Te Huna is from New Zealand? Does the winner get to face Rich Franklin at 195 for the inaugural whatisthisweight championship? World fucking domination, ladies and gentleman.

If the UFC wants to kill two birds with one stone, that’s fine. But don’t piss in my hand and tell me it’s raining by booking Marquardt vs. Te Huna as your headliner and then trying to sell it as “a collision course between contenders” as the UFC inevitably will*. Given where they currently stand, Marquardt vs. Te Huna is a decent supporting fight at best, and to bill it as anything other than that is insulting to your audience’s intelligence. Main event status should have to be earned by something, God damn it, and uncompelling headliners like this are one of the many reasons the WWE network is soaring and Fight Pass not so much.

Then again, maybe the UFC just assumes that anyone dumb enough to purchase Fight Pass is incapable of having their intelligence insulted, which isn’t a terrible assumption to make.

*Who am I kidding? They don’t market these things. 

–J. Jones

Last-Resort Alert: James Te Huna Dropping to Middleweight After Consecutive First Round Losses at LHW


(Playing dead: Works against bears, not against Shogun Rua. Photo via Getty.)

James Te Huna‘s 2013 got off to a rocky start. The hard-hitting slugger was paired against Canadian splitster Ryan Jimmo at UFC on FUEL 7 in February, and was favored as high as 3-to-1 over the former CP guest blogger. Early in the first round, however, Te Huna ate a vicious head kick that would have ended the night of a lesser man. Although the New Zealander would right the course and end up defeating Jimmo via unanimous decision, he would drop his next two contests to current title challenger Glover Teixeira and former champion Mauricio Rua via first round submission and KO, respectively.

While there’s no shame in losing to either of those gentlemen, Te Huna has quickly gone from one of the division’s top fighters to one who could be fighting for his job. The four fight win streak he was able to build in the wake of his UFC 127 loss to Alexander Gustafsson erased, it appears that Te Huna is opting for a favorite change-up amongst struggling MMA fighters: Dropping a weight class to save his career.

Te Huna recently sat down with The MMA Corner to discuss how his decision to drop to 185 for the first time in his career came about. The answer may surprise you (if you were in a coma all of last year):


(Playing dead: Works against bears, not against Shogun Rua. Photo via Getty.)

James Te Huna‘s 2013 got off to a rocky start. The hard-hitting slugger was paired against Canadian splitster Ryan Jimmo at UFC on FUEL 7 in February, and was favored as high as 3-to-1 over the former CP guest blogger. Early in the first round, however, Te Huna ate a vicious head kick that would have ended the night of a lesser man. Although the New Zealander would right the course and end up defeating Jimmo via unanimous decision, he would drop his next two contests to current title challenger Glover Teixeira and former champion Mauricio Rua via first round submission and KO, respectively.

While there’s no shame in losing to either of those gentlemen, Te Huna has quickly gone from one of the division’s top fighters to one who could be fighting for his job. The four fight win streak he was able to build in the wake of his UFC 127 loss to Alexander Gustafsson erased, it appears that Te Huna is opting for a favorite change-up amongst struggling MMA fighters: Dropping a weight class to save his career.

Te Huna recently sat down with The MMA Corner to discuss how his decision to drop to 185 for the first time in his career came about. The answer may surprise you (if you were in a coma all of last year):

It was a pretty embarrassing loss, and last year was a pretty bad year for me. I had a lot of issues going into my fight in London, and we tried to work some things out in my time off between fights. And then there was that embarrassing knockout to finish the year off. This year, I am excited to take on a new challenge and take on a drop to middleweight.

It’s about making a fresh new start and taking on a new challenge, and I know I’ll be able to make Middleweight. Middleweight is probably a bit more of a natural weight for me. Right now, I am always eating so that I can stay up at Light Heavyweight. I’m one of the lightest guys at Light Heavyweight, so I know that if I eat normally I’ll be able to hit Middleweight. I’ve been fighting at Light Heavyweight for my whole career, but I think that this challenge is the right move.

You can read the rest of Te Huna’s interview over at The MMA Corner. Here’s hoping that Te Huna can make the cut to 185 without winding up in the James Irvin “Skeletor Look-alike” Hall of Fame. But should Te Huna successfully (and safely) make weight, who would you like to see him paired up against for his middleweight debut, Nation?

–J. Jones

UFC Fight Night 33 Recap: Hunt and Bigfoot Battle to a Legendary Draw, Shogun Relives Pride Days with Devastating KO


(Mark Hunt is an artist…who only paints in red. / Photo via Getty)

UFC Fight Night 33 was far better than UFC Fight Night 32—even though the main event ended in a draw.

Though the main card was high-quality in terms of entertainment value, the prelims were a dull affair. The two highlights: Ben Wall walking out dressed like a furry before getting KO’d in under a minute, and a great scrap between Nam Phan and Takeya Mizugaki that saw the latter’s hand raised via unanimous decision.

The main card started with one of the most technical, evenly matched women’s fights the UFC has ever had. Longtime fighter Julie Kedzie met newcomer Bethe Correia. Too bad that FOX Sports 1 blacked out for many viewers, cutting off the first half of the contest. Furthermore, Greg Jackson’s Matt Serra-level shouting eclipsed some of the action. It’s hard to appreciate what’s going on when all you can hear is Jackson screaming about how amazing a mediocre combo was in order to sway the inept judges.

Dylan Andrews and Clint Hester met next. It looked like they weren’t going to continue the card’s momentum, but they pulled through. The bout had spurts of inactivity, but for every dragged-out clinch or half-guard hangout session, there was at least one fiery exchange or big hit. The fight was stopped in between the second and third rounds on account of a shoulder injury, giving Hester the victory.

Check out the results of the co-main event, main event, and for the TL;DR rundown of the card after the jump.


(Mark Hunt is an artist…who only paints in red. / Photo via Getty)

UFC Fight Night 33 was far better than UFC Fight Night 32—even though the main event ended in a draw.

Though the main card was high-quality in terms of entertainment value, the prelims were a dull affair. The two highlights: Ben Wall walking out dressed like a furry before getting KO’d in under a minute, and a great scrap between Nam Phan and Takeya Mizugaki that saw the latter’s hand raised via unanimous decision.

The main card started with one of the most technical, evenly matched women’s fights the UFC has ever had. Longtime fighter Julie Kedzie met newcomer Bethe Correia. Too bad that FOX Sports 1 blacked out for many viewers, cutting off an early portion of the contest. Furthermore, Greg Jackson’s Matt Serra-level shouting eclipsed some of the action. It’s hard to appreciate what’s going on when all you can hear is Jackson screaming about how amazing a mediocre combo was in order to sway the inept judges. It didn’t work though; Correia took home a split decision victory.

Dylan Andrews and Clint Hester met next. It looked like they weren’t going to continue the card’s momentum, but they pulled through. The bout had spurts of inactivity, but for every dragged-out clinch or half-guard hangout session, there was at least one fiery exchange or big hit. The fight was stopped in between the second and third rounds on account of an Andrews shoulder injury, giving Hester the victory.

The next fight was short and sweet; Soa Palelei came, saw, and conquered Pat Barry‘s consciousness. After shrugging off Palelei’s first takedown, Barry couldn’t duplicate his success. The Australian threw Barry to the mat, passed into mount, and turned off Barry’s brain with a barrage of punches. It was all over in 2:09.

Ryan Bader vs. Anthony Perosh was the first lackluster fight of the night. What was expected to be a squash match for Bader turned into a 15-minute grind fest. Bader earned a unanimous decision victory. There’s not much else to say about it. The fight happened and will be forgotten by tomorrow morning. Let’s move on.

Next up was the co-main event: James Te Huna vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The “Pride never die” slogan proved true in this fight. Rua lawn chair’d him. The knockout was so impressive Dana White called it “KO of the century” (though Chris Weidman might disagree with that assessment).

Mark Hunt vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva met in the night’s main event and produced the magic that the UFC has been lacking for some time. “Warriors” is thrown around way too much, but the two were warriors. By the end of the 25-minutes, both men were lathered in each other’s blood. Hunt-Silva was a fight were martial artistry erupted into bar-brawling and then reverted back again. Even though it ended in a draw—typically a result that pleases nobody—it wasn’t a mood-killer. We get to see that fight happen again, and we’re pumped for it. There aren’t enough hyperboles to explain how great it was. Watch it. You won’t regret it.

TL;DR: The card was worth the time it took to watch. The fights were competitive and the fighters involved mattered—two traits that are becoming rarer as the UFC holds more and more shows.

Complete Results:

Main Card

Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva, majority draw (48-47, 47-47, 47-47)
Mauricio Rua def. James Te Huna via KO (punches), 1:03 of Round 1
Ryan Bader def. Anthony Perosh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Soa Palelei def. Pat Barry via KO (punches), 2:09 of Round 1
Clint Hester def. Dylan Andrews via TKO (doctor stoppage), 5:00 of Round 2
Bethe Correia def. Julie Kedzie via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Takeya Mizugaki def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-28)
Caio Magalhaes def. Nick Ring via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Justin Scoggins def. Richie Vaculik via TKO (punches), 4:59 of Round 1
Krzysztof Jotko def. Bruno Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Alex Garcia def. Ben Wall via KO (punches), 0:43 of Round 1

UFC Fight Night 33 Results: ‘Shogun’ Rua Staves off Retirement with Te Huna KO

Even before Mauricio “Shogun” Rua took the cage on Friday night, the elegies for his storied career were already being written.
During the run-up to Rua’s fight against James Te Huna, we’d heard all about his knees (shot), his c…

Even before Mauricio “Shogun” Rua took the cage on Friday night, the elegies for his storied career were already being written.

During the run-up to Rua’s fight against James Te Huna, we’d heard all about his knees (shot), his cardio (suspect) and the intimidating aura he’d cultivated during his youth (now a distant memory).

The former light heavyweight champion was considered a slight underdog to the relatively unproven Te Huna. Dana White said they’d “probably” have the retirement talk if he didn’t perform well, via Fox Sports Live.

As it turned out, the only post-fight conversation Rua needed to have with the UFC president concerned the bonus check for knockout of the night. As in, it’s Mauricio—with two I’s.

His retirement speech was not needed at UFC Fight Night 33, as he struck down Te Huna with a pinpoint counter left hook just one minute and three seconds into the first round.

Newsflash: Rua’s not quite done.

Had Te Huna’s brain been capable of coherent thought, he could’ve testified to that fact at the moment his body dropped to the canvas and his head snapped back like he’d been in a car crash.

“I knew he would come out aggressive and trying to strike, but I also expected him to come clinching and trying to wrestle me,” Rua said through an interpreter while still in the cage. “I was timing his engagements. When he was moving forward I was timing his entrances so I could connect.”

This is where the hyperbole typically kicks in—the talk about Rua being “back,” the wistful columns about how he’s recaptured his old magic and the aw-shucks apologies about how we can’t believe we ever doubted him.

This time, let’s skip that part, since it’s not true and it’s actually pretty cynical.

The truth, as always, will be found somewhere in the middle.

Perhaps Rua is not as close to being done as we thought, but the old Shogun is not “back.” Rua’s time as one of the most feared 205-pound fighters on the planet is long past, and it’s not about to return.

His win over Te Huna was a good one, but in claiming it he stopped a fighter who himself came in off a loss and who had never beaten a top-10 opponent. Te Huna is a big, dangerous light heavyweight, but few were forecasting him as significant contender prior to this bout. Now maybe few ever will.

Rua’s victory simply means he’ll live to compete another day and perhaps get the chance to script his own denouement.

Where he goes next was a topic of conversation even before he dispatched Te Huna. It has been widely speculated—urged, perhaps—that he’ll think about cutting to middleweight, just like former light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida did earlier this year.

It’s probably the right move, if his body will allow it, though his questionable physical health will no doubt continue to dictate when, how and where he fights.

This weekend, we found out he still has the single-punch KO power that made him one of the most feared fighters in the world a half decade ago. That’s great, but let’s not make the mistake of inflating this win into something that it’s not.

The issues we saw in him before this bout—his busted knees, the mileage of 11 years and 30 fights, a 3-4 record since 2011—haven’t suddenly gone away. Can he still be a serviceable UFC fighter? Sure, but let’s not prop him up just so we can tear him down again later, when the facts come back around to meet our narrative.

Frankly, Rua deserves better than that.

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