…because Tom Lawlor and Kyle Kingsbury have. Boy, have they ever. This regrettable booze-fueled moment is the latest example of what I’ve started calling the “Nick Ring Theory” (previously known as the “Seth Petruzelli Theory“): At a certain point, pretending to be gay to get a rise out of people becomes a lifestyle choice in itself. But they seem happy, so who am I to judge?
…because Tom Lawlor and Kyle Kingsbury have. Boy, have they ever. This regrettable booze-fueled moment is the latest example of what I’ve started calling the “Nick Ring Theory” (previously known as the “Seth Petruzelli Theory“): At a certain point, pretending to be gay to get a rise out of people becomes a lifestyle choice in itself. But they seem happy, so who am I to judge?
Following his UFC 139 victory over Kyle Kingsbury Saturday night, Stephan Bonnar wasted no time in planting the seed for his next fight. “The Ultimate Fighter 1” runner-up, who has racked up a recent three-fight winning streak, told reporters that he would love a step up in competition.
“I’ve always wanted to fight [Quinton] ‘Rampage’ [Jackson],” Bonnar said. “You know, I’ve got a few wins now and maybe (I can) get a big name [next].”
Earlier in the week, “The American Psycho explained to Heavy.com that facing Jackson would be his “dream fight.”
“He’s good, he’s a big puncher, he’s tough. But he does have holes in his game,” Bonnar pointed out. “He’s really famous. ‘The A-Team’ movie, talk shows – everyone knows who he is. Fighting him, it’s going to be a huge fight. Forrest [Griffin] got a close win over him, [Keith] Jardine fought a good fight with him. I feel like I could fight him good.”
(“I’m gonna puke…I’m gonna puke.”)
Following his UFC 139 victory over Kyle Kingsbury Saturday night, Stephan Bonnar wasted no time in planting the seed for his next fight. “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ runner-up, who has racked up a recent three-fight winning streak, told reporters that he would love a step up in competition.
“I’ve always wanted to fight [Quinton] ‘Rampage’ [Jackson],” Bonnar said. “You know, I’ve got a few wins now and maybe (I can) get a big name [next].”
Earlier in the week, “The American Psycho explained to Heavy.com that facing Jackson would be his “dream fight.”
“He’s good, he’s a big puncher, he’s tough. But he does have holes in his game,” Bonnar pointed out. “He’s really famous. ‘The A-Team’ movie, talk shows – everyone knows who he is. Fighting him, it’s going to be a huge fight. Forrest [Griffin] got a close win over him, [Keith] Jardine fought a good fight with him. I feel like I could fight him good.”
According to UFC president Dana White, Rampage is down for the match-up as well.
“Rampage texted me tonight and said he wants to fight him too,” White said at the post fight press conference. “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
If the fight does happen, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t considering how most UFC fighters who call out an opponent usually get their wish, it will likely go down at UFC 144 since White told him following his disappointing UFC 135 loss to Jon Jones that he would be on the card.
The rumored UFC 144 fight card to date is as follows:
UFC 144 February 25, 2012 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan
Lightweight Championship Bout
Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson*
Quinton Jackson vs. Stephan Bonnar* Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch
Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski*
Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt*
The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.
Stephan Bonnar: Buy
It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”
(In a way, we were all the “Screaming PRIDE Lady” that night. / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin, MMA Fighting)
The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.
Stephan Bonnar: Buy
It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”
Kyle Kingsbury: Sell it like a dog with fleas
When Kyle Kingsbury comes to mind, so does the letter ‘O’ – as in Outclassed, Outworked, and Oxymoron. Not once did this guy look like he belonged in the Octagon despite his four-fight win streak since losing his UFC debut against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at the Ultimate Fighter 8 finale. Do not let critics scare you into keeping an underperforming stock by calling you a prisoner of the moment. After all, this is mixed martial arts where you’re only as good as your last fight.
Martin Kampmann – Buy
While some would argue that Martin Kampmann should be riding a five-fight win streak right now — with his previous decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez falling somewhere between “questionable” and “straight bullshit” — the truth is that the Hitman was one pitch away from being struck out. Just like baseball, MMA has its own set of unwritten rules, one of which is ‘three losses and you’re cut’, unless you’re Dan Hardy. Thankfully for the Danish fighter, he decoded the opponent’s signals, managed to hit a solid line drive, and made it on base. Keep your eye on this guy; big things are on the horizon.
Rick Story – Hold, Please
There are still a few chapters yet to be written about Rick Story‘s mixed martial arts career. What seemed at first to be a low comedy is now looking more like a familiar tragedy. The hype train derailed after Story was dominated by late replacement Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry. Being fully aware that Story took that fight a little less than a month after defeating Thiago Alves, I still don’t like this investment at the moment because everything has to go right to make the stock go to the next level, and that’s a very tough call in this particular environment. Maybe he should listen to Joe Rogan going forward; at least he could tell Rick that giving up your back in the third round is not the wisest decision.
Urijah Faber – Buy it like they’re giving it away from free
Dominic Cruz will defend his Bantamweight title against “The California Kid” in a rubber match after Urijah Faber took out top contender Brian Bowles via submission. If it seems like we’re experiencing deja vu it’s because these two took Fight of the Night honors this past summer at UFC 132, a mere four months ago. Faber methodically picked his opponent apart and managed not to break his hands in the process. Kudos are in order. It won’t matter if he beats Cruz this time around just as it won’t matter if he never wins a belt in the UFC. People love this guy and so should you. TCKUF is MMA’s version of MEG.
Brian Bowles – Dump it like a Kardashian
Brian Bowles‘ calm acceptance of not being “one of the cool kids” is like me being okay with not being nominated for Journalist of the Year in the sense that any other reaction is complete nonsense and no amount of objection to the contrary would do a damn bit of good. The fear of breaking his hands again alone is enough to make the former champion hesitant and uncomfortable fighting the same style that lead to him headlining fight cards. I doubt he will ever be a legitimate contender again; for this reason I’m dumping all BB stock I own and suggest you do likewise.
Cung Le – Hold
I find it difficult to fault the Hollywood action star/three-time Wushu World Championships bronze medalist/2007 Kung Fu Artist of the Year/Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion/lover of many slashes for coming up short in his UFC debut. Those pesky Octagon jitters are real, knowmsayin? Questionable stoppage or not, Cung Le was not going to win that fight. It just wasn’t meant to be, which leads me to the rest of the fighters on the UFC 139 PPV…
Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Shogun Rua – Buy, Buy, Buy
Three former champions from PRIDE, Strikeforce, and UFC, all of whom are future Hall of Famers, looked defeat in the eyes and declared that they would not go down without a fight. “The Axe Murderer” got clipped, went down, and came back to welcome the aforementioned Cung Le to the big show the proper way — by punching and kneeing him into a bloody pulp. There’s a certain country in the Pacific Ocean that is just dying to see Wanderlei Silva return to the Land of the Rising Sun that will undoubtedly yield massive short term dividends.
Immediately after, Dan Henderson and Maurico “Shogun” Rua battled it out in what Dana White says is one of the top three fights in MMA history. Despite the initial reaction of the masses after seeing undefeated Michael Chandler choke out Eddie Alvarez for the Bellator lightweight championship, Hendo vs. Shogun is quite possibly the single best fight anyone has ever had the privilege of watching. Both men were rocked, bloodied, and generally pretty banged up entering the final round, one that never would have happened if Josh Rosenthal had his way. Henderson may have got the ‘W’, but both are winners in the eyes of the fans, even if some insist the fight should have been ruled a draw requiring an immediate rematch.
Load up on these fighters’ stock if you want to avoid being beaten with a stick — or worse! Until next time….
I’m willing to bet that more than a few sports writers have pointed out that four years ago, Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been just as worthy of main event status as it was last night at UFC 139. That four years later, we’re still willing to pay to watch guys like Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber, Stephan Bonnar and Miguel Torres. That last night’s event appropriately enough took place in Strikeforce’s old stomping grounds in San Jose. For that matter, I’m pretty sure you heard all of that stuff at some point from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan last night.
I tried to avoid those clichéd observations, but they’re too appropriate to ignore. As fans of mixed martial arts, we’ve been waiting at least four years for a fight between Pride legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to come together. Yet for as long as we’ve wanted to see this fight, what we were given last night was worth every second of the wait.
I’m willing to bet that more than a few sports writers have pointed out that four years ago, Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been just as worthy of main event status as it was last night at UFC 139. That four years later, we’re still willing to pay to watch guys like Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber, Stephan Bonnar and Miguel Torres. That last night’s event appropriately enough took place in Strikeforce’s old stomping grounds in San Jose. For that matter, I’m pretty sure you heard all of that stuff at some point from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan last night.
I tried to avoid those clichéd observations, but they’re too appropriate to ignore. As fans of mixed martial arts, we’ve been waiting at least four years for a fight between Pride legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to come together. Yet for as long as we’ve wanted to see this fight, what we were given last night was worth every second of the wait.
If you didn’t get to see it, please accept my condolences. There is no way to adequately sum up the five round, back and forth battle between Henderson and Shogun without watching the fight. In the end, Dan Henderson triumphantly returned to the UFC with a hard fought unanimous decision victory over Shogun that demonstrated why five round non-title main events could not have come at a better time.
The only thing left to say about last night’s main event is that Josh Rosenthal deserves much respect for allowing the fight to continue. There were multiple points- especially in the third round- where a lesser referee would have stopped the fight. Being a referee in MMA is a lot like being a punter in football: No one knows who you are until you mess up. Thankfully, Josh Rosenthal called the bout well, and fans were treated to what Dana White is calling one of the top three fights of all time. The $70k that both men took home for Fight of the Night was just the icing on the cake.
The evening’s co-main event got off to a depressing start, with “The Axe Murderer” getting caught early in the first round, and then appearing gunshy against Cung Le’s unorthodox attack. Yet as the fight went on, Silva managed to find his rhythm against Le, and began to push the pace against the former Strikeforce middleweight champion.
I’ll say this much about the “controversial” stoppage: You’re right, perhaps Cung Le was attempting to take down Wanderlei Silva. But after Le took multiple knees directly to his head, got dropped by a punch and then ate hammerfists from The Axe Murderer, can you really blame anyone who thought the whole scene looked more “clinging onto Wanderlei’s leg for dear life” than “in total control and attempting a takedown”? If you answered yes to that hypothetical question, take a good look at Cung Le moments after the stoppage. Let what you’re seeing really sink in.
For the record, Wanderlei Silva and Cung Le were also both awarded $70k for FOTN honors. It’s strange to see this fight on the same level as Henderson vs. Shogun. But when you arguably have the best fight in the history of the sport on the card, perhaps it’s best to give out two FOTN bonuses.
If Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowels took place back in 2007, odds are it would have looked almost identical to the fight we saw from them last night. Brian Bowels managed to tag Faber with some heavy shots, but couldn’t put together a significant offense against the former WEC featherweight champion. Once Faber dropped Bowles in the second round, the fight over, as Urijah utilized some brutal elbows en route to a fight finishing guillotine choke. The victory earns Urijah Faber the $70K Submission of the Night bonus.
Also of note, Martin Kampmann nearly fell victim to a controversial decision again last night. Despite dominating Rick Story, Kampmann still lost the fight on one of the judge’s scorecards, earning him a split-decision victory over Story. If Wikipedia is to be trusted, the decision was the result of a judges error and the fight has since been ruled a unanimous decision victory for Kampmann. Stephan Bonnar made it three straight victories last night with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Kyle Kingsbury. Bonnar completely neutralized Kingsbury’s attack with his wrestling. After the fight, “The American Psycho” did two things that pretty much nobody expected: He apologized to Josh Koscheck and called out “Rampage” Jackson. Furthermore, the $70k Knockout of the Night bonus went to Michael McDonald for his first round knockout against UFC newcomer Alex Soto. McDonald improves to 14-1 overall, as well as 3-0 in the UFC.
Full Results:
MAIN CARD:
Dan Henderson def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Wanderlei Silva def. Cung Le via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:49
Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:27
Martin Kampmann def. Rick Story via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Ryan Bader def. Jason Brilz via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:17
Michael McDonald def. Alex Soto via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:56
Chris Weidman def. Tom Lawlor via technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 1, 2:07
Gleison Tibau def. Rafael dos Anjos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Miguel Torres def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:42
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:52
Filed under: UFCThe peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked Brendan Schaub with my UFC 137 predictions, though he didn’t exactly help…
The peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked Brendan Schaub with my UFC 137 predictions, though he didn’t exactly help himself out by refusing to pick a winner in the Roy Nelson-Cro Cop fight.
This time around, I visited one of UFC 139‘s prelim fighters to get his thoughts on his colleagues on the main card. Dear readers, I give you former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, who now has two fights on his hands for Saturday night. And unlike Nick Pace, my weight is right where it’s supposed to be.
Torres: Rua via KO. “I love Henderson, love his style, I’ve seen a lot of his fights like. But I’ve been watching Shogun since the Pride days. Every time somebody kicks I scream because of him. So I have to go with Shogun. Somebody’s getting knocked out.” Fowlkes: Henderson via KO. If he gets past the first round without being swarmed by Rua, I think he makes it a nasty, messy fight, wearing Rua down until he can put him away with that big right hand of his.
Torres: Le via KO. “I love Wanderlei, too. He’s another one of those guys I’ve watched for a long time. My heart says Wanderlei, but my mind says Cung Le. Cung Le’s knocked out a lot of his opponents, and Wanderlei’s been knocked out a lot lately. But I hope I’m wrong.” Fowlkes: Le via KO. Silva’s power always gives him a decent chance in any fight, but it’s true, his chin ain’t what it used to be. Le can use those kicks to keep him at a distance and look for opening, and Silva probably won’t be able to get close enough to do much damage.
Torres: Faber via decision. “Bowles has broken his hand two or three times already, so it depends how healthy his hand is, and his mind. I know he hits hard, but if he gets a punch in and hurts his hand, it will kill his confidence. So I think Urijah takes it.” Fowlkes: Faber via decision. I still think that, the odds being what they are, Bowles isn’t a bad underdog pick, but Faber’s a tough match-up for anybody in the bantamweight division. He has an impressive ability to figure an opponent out over the course of a fight, and he only gets stronger in the later rounds.
Torres: Bonnar via decision. “I’m going with Stephan. Stephan’s my boy, so I can’t go against him. He could be fighting Brock [Lesnar], and I’m still going to pick Stephan. Stephan’s a grinder, though. He’ll grind him out.” Fowlkes: Kingsbury via decision. I have no such loyalty to Mr. Bonnar, and I think Kingsbury is underrated these days. He’s gotten a lot better in a very short time, and he could surprise a few people here, Miguel included.
Torres: Kampmann via TKO. “That’s a close one, but I like Kampmann. I like his style. He’s tough, and I think he takes it. That’s a fight where they’re going to go at it, and somebody’s getting finished.” Fowlkes: Kampmann via decision. I don’t know if I can see this one ending inside the distance, and I agree that it’ll be a tight one, but I think Kampmann is a just a little bit better and a tad more well-rounded. In a fight this close, that could be all it takes.
Torres picks: Rua, Le, Faber, Bonnar, Kampmann Fowlkes picks: Henderson, Le, Faber, Kingsbury, Kampmann
Filed under: UFCThe UFC invades San Jose on Saturday night for an event at Strikeforce’s longtime stomping grounds in the HP Pavilion, and at least on paper UFC 139 looks like one of the best fight cards of the year.
The UFC invades San Jose on Saturday night for an event at Strikeforce’s longtime stomping grounds in the HP Pavilion, and at least on paper UFC 139 looks like one of the best fight cards of the year.
Oddsmakers have already had a look at the card and determined their favorites. Now it’s our turn. Who knows, we might find a crazy underdog somewhere in here to carry us to the promised land.
In the past couple years it’s seemed like you never know for sure which “Shogun” you’re going to get until midway through the first round. Will he show up fierce and in shape, or soggy and slow? Fans have been willing to cut him some slack after injury layoffs, but a five-round battle with a grinder like Henderson could get ugly for the Brazilian if it makes it into the later rounds. If it remains a kickboxing match, you’ve got to like Rua’s chances. But Hendo seems to have a special gift for turning what looks like a nice, technical bout on paper into a messy, nasty affair in the cage. The more rough and tumble it gets, and the longer it goes, the more this fight favors Henderson. If he can wear Rua out in the clinch and on the mat in the early going, this is a very winnable fight for him. My pick: Henderson. At these odds, it’s worth small action, but I wouldn’t go big on the off chance that we saw a sharp “Shogun” or a Hendo who suddenly starts to look his age.
I have to imagine that if Le’s acting aspirations hadn’t already resulted in him losing a fight he should have won, the line on this would be considerably more lopsided. It’s not that Silva’s got no chance. Power is always one of the last things to go, though Silva’s trademark aggression is high on that list as well. He could conceivably get in close and smash Le with a big hook, or snatch him up in a Thai clinch and knee him like he’s “Rampage” Jackson and it’s 2004 all over again. More likely though, Le will keep him at a distance with his kicks, sticking and moving all night long. Le might not be known for his knockout power, but these days, Silva isn’t known for his ability to take much a shot. If Silva were somewhere north of a 2-1 underdog here, I could see taking the risk. But to get Dan Henderson odds on a fighter who is younger, but clearly further past his prime, that doesn’t seem like such a good deal. My pick: Le. I’ll save it for the parlay, and a part of me will continue to hope I’m wrong, since I’m not sure I can handle seeing Silva get knocked out again. I also can’t justify picking him, though.
I realize Faber is far more popular — Bowles realizes it too, in case you’re wondering — but this seems a tad ridiculous. You’re telling me that of all the fighters on the main card here, the biggest underdog is the guy who was champion of his division as recently as March of 2010, who has only lost one fight (via injury TKO, to the current champ), and who is facing a guy who has not held a belt since November of 2008, despite multiple chances to win one? I’m sorry, but I have to call shenanigans here. This is a much closer fight than the odds reflect. Faber deserves to be the favorite, and I understand why he’s got the bigger fan following, but cool hair and an almost disturbingly laid-back attitude isn’t enough to justify a line like this. In a straight-up pick, I’ll take Faber. Even then, however, I won’t feel totally confident in it. With a line this lopsided, I pretty much have to roll the dice on Bowles. If I didn’t, I’d hate myself in the morning. My pick: Bowles. He might look like Opie Taylor going up against Point Break-era Patrick Swayze, but it’s not a beauty contest, people.
If you ask me, this is the closest fight on this card. It could go so many different ways, and almost no outcome is unfathomable. Because of the unpredictable nature of this particular style match-up, my gut instinct is to stay away from it entirely. But then, that’s not much fun, and it doesn’t make for the most interesting of betting odds columns, either. With that in mind, I’ll go with the guy who I think has the more diverse skill set, not to mention a little more experience against top-level opponents. That’s Kampmann, but not by much. We’re talking slim margins on this one, which is not something I like to bet on. My pick: Kampmann. But if I were you, I’d opt to stay out of this one. Like Hemingway said of bicycle racing as compared to horse racing, this is one where you don’t need to bet on it in order to enhance your enjoyment of it.
Bonnar is a big, tough guy who’s been around the block and earned the right to keep going around even now, when it’s very clear that he’ll never challenge for a title or even get closer than the announcer’s table to one. But against Kingsbury he finds himself facing an opponent who’s probably a little faster, a little stronger, and just generally more athletic. Kingsbury was very green when fans first saw him on TUF, but he’s improved drastically since then and has four straight wins to show for it. Bonnar’s no easy opponent for anyone in the light heavyweight division, and you can rest assured that’s probably going to make you work for the full fifteen minutes, but if Kingsbury does what he’s capable of this should be his fight. My pick: Kingsbury. Another one for the parlay.
Quick picks:
– Miguel Torres (-340) over Nick Pace (+260). I suppose it’s possible that Pace is on Torres’ level. We just haven’t seen any evidence of it yet.
– Danny Castillo (-300) over Shamar Bailey (+230). No offense to Bailey, but Castillo probably faces tougher fights in the gym on a regular basis.
The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Le + Kingsbury + Torres + Castillo
The peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked 
The