A key bout in the female bantamweight division has been added to UFC Fight Night 88, as Jessica Eye meets Sara McMann.
The event is scheduled for May 29 from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, with Thomas Almeida taking on Cody Garbrandt in th…
A key bout in the female bantamweight division has been added to UFC Fight Night 88, as Jessica Eye meets Sara McMann.
The event is scheduled for May 29 from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, with Thomas Almeida taking on Cody Garbrandt in the main event.
Eye (11-4) is just 1-3 over his UFC career, but she has been paired up against the best of the best. Her losses have come vs. current champion Miesha Tate via decision, top challenger Julianna Pena via decision and former contender Alexis Davis via split decision.
McMann (8-3), who lost to then-champion Ronda Rousey in 2014, is on a two-fight losing streak. She was submitted by Amanda Nunes last August after a January defeat to Tate.
Other bouts set for the night include Renan Barao-Jeremy Stephens, Tarec Saffiedine-Rick Story and Chris Camozzi-Vitor Miranda.
It’s hard to a remember a more meteoric rise to absolute dominance than that of TJ Dillashaw, the TUF 14 runner up who will almost certainly find himself in those ever-coveted “pound-for-pound” talks following his brilliant performance against Renan Barao at UFC on FOX 16 last Saturday.
To think that, a little over a year ago, Dillashaw was being given no chance against the former “pound-for-pound” king when they first clashed in the cage is almost absurd given his pair of performances against Barao. And in the rematch, Dillashaw was arguably even more impressive, eating almost everything his Brazilian rival could throw at him while returning fire with a fury. Dillashaw’s footwork was incredible, his combinations video game-esque, and his accuracy reminiscent of early Anderson Silva. How Barao was able to withstand the final flurry that came in the 4th round was a credit to his chin, his heart, and the abnormally slow hand of Herb Dean.
Elsewhere on the FOX 16 card, Miesha Tate overcame an early onslaught, Edson Barboza and Paul Felder threw spinning sh*t, and Joe Lauzon auditioned for his post-fight career as a referee, so check out all the highlights after the jump.
It’s hard to a remember a more meteoric rise to absolute dominance than that of TJ Dillashaw, the TUF 14 runner up who will almost certainly find himself in those ever-coveted “pound-for-pound” talks following his brilliant performance against Renan Barao at UFC on FOX 16 last Saturday.
To think that, a little over a year ago, Dillashaw was being given no chance against the former “pound-for-pound” king when they first clashed in the cage is almost absurd given his pair of performances against Barao. And in the rematch, Dillashaw was arguably even more impressive, eating almost everything his Brazilian rival could throw at him while returning fire with a fury. Dillashaw’s footwork was incredible, his combinations video game-esque, and his accuracy reminiscent of early Anderson Silva. How Barao was able to withstand the final flurry that came in the 4th round was a credit to his chin, his heart, and the abnormally slow hand of Herb Dean.
Elsewhere on the FOX 16 card, Miesha Tate overcame an early onslaught, Edson Barboza and Paul Felder threw spinning sh*t, and Joe Lauzon auditioned for his post-fight career as a referee, so check out all the highlights after the jump.
Miesha Tate may be a notoriously slow starter, but God damn if she doesn’t have resilience in spades. Against Jessica Eye, “Cupcake” appeared to be fighting on a time delay early, eating a hellacious series of right hands and offering next to nothing in return. But then, late in the round, Miesha seemed to decide on a dime that she was capable of doing something other than taking her opponents down. Tate landed a MONSTER right hand that floored Eye and set the tone for the rest of the fight, which Tate dominated both in the standup and grappling departments.
With the victory, Tate has once again earned the opportunity to be thrashed by Ronda Rousey at some point in the future, so, uh, yeah for that.
In the co-co main event of the evening, Edson Barboza and Paul Felder engaged in one of the most technical displays of spinning sh*t ever documented. Though Barboza’s speed advantage and hellacious shot to Felder’s testicles in the first round would ultimately lead him to victory, the fight undoubtedly earned both guys a heap of new fans.
In one of the more interesting moments of UFC on FOX 16, Joe Lauzon kicked off the main card by taking Takanori Gomi down, pounding him out, then doing Herb Dean’s job for him and calling off the fight mid-ass kicking. The resulting memes have been kind to J-Lau.
Oh right, and in judging news, no one still knows what the f*ck they’re doing.
Main card
T.J. Dillashaw def. Renan Barao via fourth-round TKO
Miesha Tate def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision
Edson Barboza def. Paul Felder via unanimous decision
Joe Lauzon def. Takanori Gomi via first-round TKO
Undercard
Tom Lawlor def. Gian Villante via second-round KO
Jim Miller def. Danny Castillo via split decision
Ben Saunders def. Kenny Robertson via split decision
Bryan Caraway def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision
James Krause def. Daron Cruickshank via submission (rear-naked choke)
Andrew Holbrook def. Ramsey Nijem via split decision
Elizabeth Phillips def. Jessamyn Duke via unanimous decision
Zak Cummings def. Dominique Steele via first-round TKO (0:43)
For a highly anticipated fight card marred by injuries to its premiere fighters and an ongoing crisis in Mexico, UFC 180: “Werdum vs. Hunt” turned out to be quite the showcase.
UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who had a card built entirely around him for the promotion’s first trip to the country with support from Diego Sanchez and Erik Perez, had to bow out of a title fight against Fabricio Werdum a few weeks removed from the championship encounter. This was after both Perez and Sanchez were already out with of their respective scraps with wounds.
When it comes to the champion, there’s always a lingering concern about his injuries. Multiple setbacks which required surgery (including his latest) has seen Velasquez fight six times in four years, against three different opponents.
But the show must go on, which means the attention turned to Werdum and a combat sports legend serving as an unexpected title challenger in an interim heavyweight championship bout.
For a highly anticipated fight card marred by injuries to its premiere fighters and an ongoing crisis in Mexico, UFC 180: “Werdum vs. Hunt” turned out to be quite the showcase.
When it comes to the champion, there’s always a lingering concern about his injuries. Multiple setbacks which required surgery (including his latest) has seen Velasquez fight six times in four years, against three different opponents.
But the show had to go on, which means the attention turned to Werdum and a combat sports legend serving as an unexpected title challenger in an interim heavyweight championship bout.
Mark Hunt, the main event replacement fighter who lost his UFC debut to Sean McCorkle and presumably left Zuffa brass doing the triple facepalm after agreeing to serve him his owed fights, had the possibility of sending every UG alumnus into an ejaculation frenzy by winning a UFC belt in 2014.
Werdum, on the other hand, would solidify his status as a well-deserved second best heavyweight in the world by winning, really flourishing in his second UFC stint.
Right off the bat, the battle was on. Hunt dropped Werdum, and consistently blasted “Vai Cavalo” every time the latter would try to close the distance. It was looking like the former Pride and K-1 slugger was going to achieve the impossible.
Then, he died by the gun.
Werdum clocked Hunt with a flying knee, following up with punches and left Herb Dean no choice but to call it a night for the “Super Samoan.” It was the perfect conclusion to a surprisingly great night of fights. The result was a disappointing one for Hunt, however, at least he got his chance. It’s nice to see a veteran like him acquire a shot at glory when opportunities like that are so limited in today’s MMA game. It’s not like he’s one to talk his way into things.
Now, Werdum’s chin isn’t great, but he could take a bomb of a shot. This also solidifies Werdum as something pretty significant in terms of the greatest heavyweights of all-time in MMA, but it’s hard to say what. He’s not Muhammed Ali by any stretch of the imagination, yet in the world of MMA, you’ve got to give this guy a boatload of praise. He’s a decorated, multi-time world jiu-jitsu champion, he more or less sent Fedor Emelianenko into a downward spiral back in 2010 by doing something unheard of at the time, and since losing a lackluster bout in Strikeforce to Alistair Overeem in 2011, he’s on an impressive five-fight winning streak in the UFC, with finishes over Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and lopsided decision wins against Travis Browne and Roy Nelson. Obviously, we have to wait for Velasquez to come back in order to see where the Brazilian fits in the grand scheme of things. Truthfully, he’s best active heavyweight in MMA right now, after a lengthy career competing for the top organizations in the world.
Gastelum finished off Jake Ellenberger by rear naked choke in the co-main event, sending the latter into a downward spiral of his own. The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner is looking like one of the better prospects to emerge from the exhaustive and overdone reality show in recent memory, and it’s time for the old “step up in competition” treatment, which means a top five foe. As for the “Juggernaut,” he’s still good enough to beat anyone you could think of that lives on a Fight Pass prelim, but he’s in some hot water, suffering his third consecutive defeat. Then again, you try beating Rory MacDonald, Robbie Lawler, and a 23-year-old stud.
It’s nice to see the UFC mention Conor McGregor every time there’s a featherweight contest, and last night was no different. Before Ricardo Lamas and Dennis Bermudez engaged in warfare, the broadcast team talked about how these two heavy-hitters had to talk trash to generate interest, since the savior of Ireland does that. It certainly can’t be because they choose to fight for a living and maybe a psychological edge would be to get inside each other’s heads?
In the end, Lamas prevailed, choking out Bermudez with a guillotine, and proved he’s still a force in the 145-pound division — even if the champion Jose Aldo outclassed him at the beginning of the year at UFC 169.
With four first-round finishes and an exciting main event rounding up the main card, you could make the complaint that UFC 180 wasn’t worth the price tag after so many injuries. However, it really served its purpose. With the risk of lot of eyeballs being drawn to that free Spike TV broadcast, it was the best case scenario for the Las Vegas-based organization we have grown to love and (sometimes) hate.
Even those fights that opened up the card, featuring four fighters the average fan is probably unfamiliar with, were both over in the first round and proved to be appropriate fights setting the pace for the night’s flow. The live crowd should be acknowledged, too, as they soaked up every moment, and gave the impression that they were unaware of any sort of unfortunate occurrences, whether it be dealing with UFC 180 or otherwise.
Also, maybe competition helps in the long run, since everyone is talking about the ironically placed counter-promoted shows all at once. Bellator offered the fans a season 11 finale full of violence, nurses as valets to the fighters, and a freaking WCW circa 1992 ramp, while WSOF had an appealing yet darkened fight card, that saw an exiled UFC “gatekeeper” stopped in the main event at WSOF 15. But like you’d expect, UFC was the big winner last night, and they didn’t even win by default; its fighters deserve the praise for salvaging what looked like another average PPV offering. Hell, even the prelims were great. Quick and slick finishes, two TUF: Latin America finale bouts you probably overlooked, an ear explosion complete with a burst of bloodshed, and someone shitting his pants. Come on…we can’t possibly complain here.
And in retrospect, it was hard not to feel bad for Zuffa with the UFC 180 setbacks, even though it’s been more of a benefit of the doubt relationship at this point. But certain events went down the way they did, proving it was the best-case scenario for the brass. The UFC was dealt an ace with this one.
History was made at UFC 180, and it wasn’t even on the main card! A preliminary bout between Jessica Eye and Leslie Smith produced one of the grossest visuals in MMA recently.
Eye battered Smith throughout the first round. One of Eye’s punches glanced Smith’s ear, rupturing it in the first round. In the second round, Eye kept smashing the ear, turning it into a gory mess worse than that of James Thompson when he fought Kimbo Slice.
Check out the image below (courtesy Zombie Prophet), but keep in mind it’s not for the faint of heart…
History was made at UFC 180, and it wasn’t even on the main card! A preliminary bout between Jessica Eye and Leslie Smith produced one of the grossest visuals in MMA recently.
Eye battered Smith throughout the first round. One of Eye’s punches glanced Smith’s ear, rupturing it in the first round. In the second round, Eye kept smashing the ear, turning it into a gory mess worse than that of James Thompson when he fought Kimbo Slice.
Check out the image below (courtesy Zombie Prophet), but keep in mind it’s not for the faint of heart:
Yeah. Damn. Understandably, the cage side physician eventually called the fight so Smith could leave the cage with two ears.
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?”
(Jessica Eye and her father Randy, after their reconciliation. / Photo via UFC.com)
When Jessica Eye steps into the cage against Alexis Davis at UFC 170 this weekend, the bantamweight contender will be doing so under the “probated suspension” that she caught after testing positive for marijuana metabolites following her split-decision win against Sarah Kaufman in October. Since then, Eye has done a dance of denial with the media — which hasn’t exactly made her any fans.
But to hear her tell it, Eye never smoked weed at all. In a letter she wrote to the Texas Board of License and Regulation back in November (obtained yesterday by MicxedMartialArts.com), Eye explained that she consumed trace amounts of marijuana from second-hand smoke at a family party that went from kinda-trashy to fully-traumatic, ending with her being roughed up by her own father. Here is Jessica’s tale of woe…
********
November 22, 2013
Dear Mrs. Winston,
I am writing you today in regards to my recent test results from UFC 166 in Houston. I first wanted to thank you in advance for your time and for allowing me the opportunity to explain my position. As one of the few professional female athletes currently competing in the UFC, I can’t express you how upset and more than disappointed I am in myself for even being in this situation. I have worked extremely hard at my craft over the last 6 plus years to put myself in a position of influence where I really feel I can make a difference in not only our sport but beyond. I consider myself a role model and understand that as a professional athlete who is competing at the highest level of his or her sport, that I also have an obligation to be a leader and positive role model. The reason I tell you this is so you can understand how crushing this has been for me. Beyond the opportunity to make a living doing something I love to do, to me its more important to have the opportunity to continue to be a role model and affective people in a positive way.
(Jessica Eye and her father Randy, after their reconciliation. / Photo via UFC.com)
When Jessica Eye steps into the cage against Alexis Davis at UFC 170 this weekend, the bantamweight contender will be doing so under the “probated suspension” that she caught after testing positive for marijuana metabolites following her split-decision win against Sarah Kaufman in October. Since then, Eye has done a dance of denial with the media — which hasn’t exactly made her any fans.
But to hear her tell it, Eye never smoked weed at all. In a letter she wrote to the Texas Board of License and Regulation back in November (obtained yesterday by MicxedMartialArts.com), Eye explained that she consumed trace amounts of marijuana from second-hand smoke at a family party that went from kinda-trashy to fully-traumatic, ending with her being roughed up by her own father. Here is Jessica’s tale of woe…
********
November 22, 2013
Dear Mrs. Winston,
I am writing you today in regards to my recent test results from UFC 166 in Houston. I first wanted to thank you in advance for your time and for allowing me the opportunity to explain my position. As one of the few professional female athletes currently competing in the UFC, I can’t express you how upset and more than disappointed I am in myself for even being in this situation. I have worked extremely hard at my craft over the last 6 plus years to put myself in a position of influence where I really feel I can make a difference in not only our sport but beyond. I consider myself a role model and understand that as a professional athlete who is competing at the highest level of his or her sport, that I also have an obligation to be a leader and positive role model. The reason I tell you this is so you can understand how crushing this has been for me. Beyond the opportunity to make a living doing something I love to do, to me its more important to have the opportunity to continue to be a role model and affective people in a positive way.
Mrs. Winston, I assure you that I am not nor have I ever been the type of person to put anything unhealthy in body, let alone and illegal narcotic. In addition, I am well aware of the other athletes who have thrown away their careers over substance abuse issues and I could never understand how someone in that position would risk jeopardizing their career over drugs or alcohol.
I am not the type of person who makes excuses and can admit Im wring when Ive made a mistake. In this case, the mistake I made was trusting my family and not trusting my instincts sooner. From the time I was a teenager, my father and I have not been on the best of terms due to his own substance abuse issues which I was forced to move out of his home when I was a 18. As a young girl I saw the damage and destruction drugs and alcohol can cause and how it can tear a family apart. Well my family was not immune and unfortunately it took a very ugly incident recently to finally allow me to move forward with my life without my father.
Approximately 4 weeks or so prior to my UFC debut in Houston, I had decided to give my father another chance to get back into my life. As you can understand, I was very emotional leading up to my fight and was eager for any support I could get from family, friends and especially my father. After numerous apologies and attempts to make amends with me, I finally decided to give my father another chance and attend a family get together in my honor which he hosted at his residence, The get together involved mostly family members form his side along with many of my friends and even a few of my sponsors who had all come together to watch the fight the evening. What transpired that night , will be with me for my entire life and is what I feel may have led to the traces of marijuana that were found to be in my system.
Upon arrival at my fathers house, I noticed immediately that they had been drinking. Against my better judgment, I decided to stay and avoid another confrontation with my father especially with anyone else in attendance. As the evening progressed, the alcohol would eventually turn into marijuana. As my father and several of his friends began to smoke in the living room where we were watching the UFC, I politely asked him to stop smoking or id be forced to leave. Not only did he refuse, but he became irate and began to physically attack me in front of all of our guests. Luckily my friends and brother were able to separate us and get m out of there relative unharmed, but this would surely be one of the darkest and most humiliating moments of my life. Needless to say, I did not call the police in order to avoid this getting out in public as I knew I need to be distraction free heading into the biggest fight of my career. Looking back, I truly wish I would have filed a report not my benefit, but to share my story with others in hopers of stopping this from happening to even one other person. I sincerely feel this is what led to my test results as I have been around any other smokers for years prior to or since that night.
Mrs. Winston, I am not claiming to be completely innocent and realize I am in this position because of my actions. But I will tell you with all sincerity that I would never, ever gamble with my career or take for granted the opportunities I have in front of me. I would even ask you to contact Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato who Im confident will validate what I am writing you as far as my family history and this particular incident. Since then, ive actually gone public with my story and did an in depth interview with a reporter who went ahead and published an article about my relations with my father. Id be happy to forward this article to you upon request.
In closing, id like to thank you again for your time and consideration with this matter. Please get back to me or my manager Greg and let us know what the next step in the process will be. I am eager to put this behind me and start the next positive chapter of my life and what I hope will be a long career with the UFC.
“I feel extremely guilty now and it really bothers me. Less than a month later (after the Kaufman fight), he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness and I don’t know when I’m fighting again and I don’t know what he’s doing. I don’t know if he’s going to make it again and it’s been depressing in that aspect. I’m mad at myself for maybe not noticing things sooner myself, that maybe the reason why he was acting the way he was was because of the tumor. They even said that the tumor was changing his behavior and it was. He’s always kind of a testy person, but it was making him very aggravated and distant, and I couldn’t understand it. He just wasn’t the same. So when I got the news about it, it brought down my world a little bit and made me feel real bad about the way things went down before my big debut. I’m very hopeful that I’m going to be back in the Octagon soon enough that my dad will get to actually see me.”
So to summarize: Maybe Jessica Eye isn’t a weed-puffing liar, and maybe her dad isn’t the biggest asshole in the universe. It would have been nice if any of Jessica’s friends or sponsors hustled her out of the house as soon as people started sparking up, but what are you gonna do.
