Tag: Jose Aldo

MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: Emperor’s Reign Ends

Filed under: UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Rankings, OverallFedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not …

Filed under: , , , ,

Fedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not at the top anymore, after Fabricio Werdum submitted him in just 69 seconds on Saturday night.

But is Fedor still in the Top 10? Not on my list.

Some people would say Fedor’s body of work merits inclusion in the Top 10, but this isn’t a list of the greatest fighters of all time, it’s a list of the greatest fighters right now. And the soon-to-be 34-year-old Emelianenko, even though he is the greatest fighter of all time, isn’t one of the 10 best right now. My list, the first one I’ve ever put together without Fedor on it, is below.

MMA Top 10 Featherweights: Sandro, Grispi Both Impress

Filed under: DREAM, WEC, Sengoku, Rankings, Featherweights, JapanOn Sunday in Japan, Marlon Sandro needed just 38 seconds to knock out Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku 13. On Sunday in Canada, Josh Grispi needed just 2:33 to choke out LC Davis at WEC 49.

…

Filed under: , , , , ,

Marlon SandroOn Sunday in Japan, Marlon Sandro needed just 38 seconds to knock out Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku 13. On Sunday in Canada, Josh Grispi needed just 2:33 to choke out LC Davis at WEC 49.

If you love MMA and want to see the best fighters in big fights, it’s disappointing that Sandro and Grispi got so little attention for what they accomplished on Sunday. Sandro’s fight wasn’t televised at all on North American television (it will air on tape delay Friday night on HDNet), while Grispi’s fight was the No. 3 bout on a fight card that got weak ratings on Versus. There are still a whole lot of people who follow MMA but don’t know who Sandro and Grispi are.

And they don’t know what they’re missing: Two of the Top 10 feathwerights in the world. See where they rank below.

Is Renan Barao WEC’s Next Superstar? Jose Aldo Thinks So

Filed under: WEC, FanHouse ExclusiveRenan Barao was just a fresh-faced 18-year-old when he made his professional MMA debut in Natal, Brazil, losing by unanimous decision. Apparently, he responds well to adversity, because he has not lost since. Dependi…

Filed under: ,

Renan Barao was just a fresh-faced 18-year-old when he made his professional MMA debut in Natal, Brazil, losing by unanimous decision. Apparently, he responds well to adversity, because he has not lost since. Depending on who you talk to, Barao either has a 21-, 23- or 25-fight unbeaten streak. No matter who you talk to, or what number you believe, it’s one of the most impressive current stretches in MMA.

The 23-year-old Barao finally brings that long run of success to a major promotion when he faces Anthony Leone during Sunday’s WEC 49 undercard in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and many think you should mark this date on your calendar as the start of something big.

WEC Beware: A Phenom on One Good Leg, Now Josh Grispi’s Healthy

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsAt 21 years old, Josh Grispi is a grizzled veteran with big wins on his record, a horrific injury in his past and now, he hopes, a stirring comeback story.

The kid they call “The Fluke” actually began his care…

Filed under: , ,

At 21 years old, Josh Grispi is a grizzled veteran with big wins on his record, a horrific injury in his past and now, he hopes, a stirring comeback story.

The kid they call “The Fluke” actually began his career as a kid. As in, he was underage. He was 17 and determined, so he fudged the truth a little bit about the nature of the competition, got a parent’s signature and went off to chase a dream.

It was during his 18th birthday when everything started going wrong and right. He was legal now, so nothing could stop him from fighting (and that’s exactly what he was doing on his 18th birthday), but it was also the day that his right ankle suffered an injury from a misdirected kick. Over the next three years, it would get progressively worse, to the point that when he finally had a thorough exam, his doctors recoiled in horror.

“How are you even walking right now?” one doctor asked.