After weeks of speculation that Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino would make her long-awaited Octagon debut at May 14’s UFC 198 from Curitiba in her home country of Brazil, the news has finally been made official. The UFC just announced on their website that ‘Cyborg’ will take on women’s bantamweight Leslie Smith, who
After weeks of speculation that Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino would make her long-awaited Octagon debut at May 14’s UFC 198 from Curitiba in her home country of Brazil, the news has finally been made official.
The UFC just announced on their website that ‘Cyborg’ will take on women’s bantamweight Leslie Smith, who recently beat Rin Nakai via controversial decision at UFC Fight Night 85 on March 19, in a 140-pound women’s catchweight bout.
The dominant ‘Cyborg’ has gone undefeated since her only MMA loss in the first bout of career back in 2005, with the only major blemish on her record in that time a no contest for her prior TKO win over Hiroko Yamanaka in Strikeforce after Justino tested positive for steroids.
Justino rebounded and won five straight bouts by knockout in Invicta, adding the Invicta FC featherweight title to her Strikeforce championship by defeating Marloes Coenen in 2013. Cyborg most recently defended the belt against Daria Ibragimova with a vicious knockout at Invicta FC 15.
She’ll look to make a splash in her home country when she takes on bantamweight Smith, a fellow Invicta veteran who has a much less glaring overall MMA record of 8-6. Prior to her win over Nakai, Smith had been out of action for over 16 months since Jessica Eye grotesquely exploded her cauliflower ear to win by TKO at UFC 180 in 2014.
Smith is no doubt a tough competitor who never gives up, but she also fought at 125 pounds in Invicta, losing to flyweight champion Barb Honchak in her last fight with the promotion. All told, she’s lost three of her last five fights and will be discussed as the latest undersized and over-matched combatant to step into a cage with ‘Cyborg.’
Cyborg vs. Smith will join an already packed main card in Brazil that includes Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight championship, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza vs. Vitor Belfort, and Anderson Silva vs. Uriah Hall.
With the addition of arguably the most lethal female fighter on the planet, UFC 198 is definitely in the running for the most packed pay-per-view (PPV) of the year thus far.
Are you excited to watch her debut, even if many will be calling it a glorified squash match?
The problem with being an entitled, misogynistic a-hole who views women not as fellow human beings but as property for the taking is, well, everything I just wrote, but also, it can really come back to bite (as well as punch, kick, and elbow) you in the ass.
Take, for example, the entitled, misogynistic a-hole who thought it was well within his privilege to grab a woman’s…posterior outside San Francisco club with a group of friends. Unfortunately for that fellow, that woman happened to be UFC bantamweight contender Leslie Smith, who was entering said club with TUF 20 alum Heather Clark. Suffice it to say, things did not end well for this man.
The entire hilarious story — which begins with “scumbag” and ends with “running soccer kick to the groin” — is after the jump, via Cesar Gracie’s Facebook.
The problem with being an entitled, misogynistic a-hole who views women not as fellow human beings but as property for the taking is, well, everything I just wrote, but also, it can really come back to bite (as well as punch, kick, and elbow) you in the ass.
Take, for example, the entitled, misogynistic a-hole who thought it was well within his privilege to grab a woman’s…posterior outside San Francisco club with a group of friends. Unfortunately for that fellow, that woman happened to be UFC bantamweight contender Leslie Smith, who was entering said club with TUF 20 alum Heather Clark. Suffice it to say, things did not end well for this man.
The entire hilarious story — which begins with “scumbag” and ends with “running soccer kick to the groin” — is after the jump, via Cesar Gracie’s Facebook.
Dirtbag decides to sexually harass group of females. What he didn’t know was that 2 of the women were MMA fighters currently in the UFC.
While going out to a club in San Francisco, a malcontent male decided to cop a feel of a female entering the club. The female turned to her friend, current UFC fighter, Leslie Smith and exclaimed, “that guy just grabbed my a$$”.
Leslie approached the man and said, “hey you can’t do that” at which point the larger male responded, “f@ck you I can do whatever I want”
Leslie retorted, no muthaf@cker you can’t”
At this point the man became irate and spat on Leslie’s face. He then proceeded to take a punch at what he thought would be an indefensible woman
Wrong
Leslie ducked the punch and shot in for a takedown. She quickly got to the mans back and applied a choke but decided he needed some elbow strikes and punches to learn a valuable lesson.
The man unable to fend off the better fighter, desperately grabbed at Leslie’s hair and in vain resorted to fighting like a girl.
Approaching the melee was Leslie’s friend and Miesha Tate training partner, UFC fighter Heather Clark.
Heather, without missing a beat, delivered a running soccer kick to the man’s nether regions.
Leslie again achieved mount and delivered a series of elbows until the man, now having his face looking more like hamburger meat, yelled out that he was sorry and that he respected them. At this point Leslie disengaged and allowed the man to get up and go. He left having learned a valuable lesson and the women returned to the club.
I’d like to think that this guy learned a valuable lesson too, Cesar, but I have the strangest inkling that anyone arrogant enough to grab a woman’s ass, then spit in her face for calling him out on it, is well beyond the “learning lessons” stage of life.
Smith later corroborated the story, stating that “I’d be second guessing myself and my judgement if I had been drinking but I wasn’t. I can’t say I would be able to avoid the violence if given the chance to play it out. I was morally compelled to tell the man that my friend’s butt (in a pair of jean btw) was not public property for him to grope at will and then he spit and swung on me. I feel like I stuck to my policy of non initiation of violence while also standing up for what I know is right.”
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.
Fight Night 45 was one of the most violent non-Fight for the Troops cards in UFC History, featuring an astounding nine finishes, 8 TKOs, and a six fight main card that not once required a judge’s input. My decision to spend most of the night ranting about Microsoft tech support notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed what the card had to offer, from the prelim fights all the way up to the main event, which saw Donald Cerrone finish the damn-near unfinishable Jim Miller *twice* in their two round banger.
In one of those aforementioned prelim fights, Leslie Smith destroyed Ronda Rousey training partner (as she was introduced by Jon Anik) Jessamyn Duke in the first round, finishing her with a flurry of body shots, kicks, and knees that was Liddell vs. Ortiz-esque in terms of its volume. But it was only matter of time before the excuses started flying, and luckily, Duke’s training partner, Shayna Baszler, is here to jump on that grenade.
“For everyone asking, @jessamynduke broke her hand. Didn’t know what to do once Leslie turned it on when she couldn’t grab and circle off,” Baszler posted on Twitter shortly after the fight.
While I would disagree that Duke’s inability to circle off was less the cause of her demise than her inability to use her massive reach advantage to her…uh…advantage, the above photo posted to Duke’s instagram seems to indicate that her hand was indeed broken to shit. You can check out a few other photos of Duke’s hand over at the UG, but really, this comment by UG’er rrefs sums up Duke/Baszler’s excuse perfectly…
Fight Night 45 was one of the most violent non-Fight for the Troops cards in UFC History, featuring an astounding nine finishes, 8 TKOs, and a six fight main card that not once required a judge’s input. My decision to spend most of the night ranting about Microsoft tech support notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed what the card had to offer, from the prelim fights all the way up to the main event, which saw Donald Cerrone finish the damn-near unfinishable Jim Miller *twice* in their two round banger.
In one of those aforementioned prelim fights, Leslie Smith destroyed Ronda Rousey training partner (as she was introduced by Jon Anik) Jessamyn Duke in the first round, finishing her with a flurry of body shots, kicks, and knees that was Liddell vs. Ortiz-esque in terms of its volume. But it was only matter of time before the excuses started flying, and luckily, Duke’s training partner, Shayna Baszler, is here to jump on that grenade.
“For everyone asking, @jessamynduke broke her hand. Didn’t know what to do once Leslie turned it on when she couldn’t grab and circle off,” Baszler posted on Twitter shortly after the fight.
While I would disagree that Duke’s inability to circle off was less the cause of her demise than her inability to use her massive reach advantage to her…uh…advantage, the above photo posted to Duke’s instagram seems to indicate that her hand was indeed broken to shit. You can check out a few other photos of Duke’s hand over at the UG, but really, this comment by UG’er rrefs sums up Duke/Baszler’s excuse perfectly…
In other Fight Night 45 medical news, Jim Miller caught an indefinite suspension pending an x-ray on his right forearm and stomach following his loss to Cowboy Cerrone. Joe Proctor, on the other hand, got off easy with a 30 day suspension despite the fact that he apparently had a golf ball lodged into the side of his cranium midway through his eventual TKO win over Justin Salas.
The rest of the Fight Night 45 medical suspension are below, via MMAWeekly.
-Evan Dunham was suspended for 30 days with no contact for a TKO loss.
-Justin Salas was suspended for 30 days with no contact for TKO loss and for facial laceration healing.
-Alptekin Ozkilic was suspended for 30 days with no contact for TKO loss. He was also suspended indefinitely pending the results of a CT head scan.
-Alex White was suspended for 45 days for right eye laceration healing, as well as 30 days with no contact for a knockout loss. He was also suspended indefinitely pending the results of a CT head scan and neurological examination.
-Hugo Viana was suspended for 30 days with no contact for a TKO loss.
-Tina Lahdemaki was suspended for 60 days with no contact for recovery. She was also suspended indefinitely pending opthalmological clearance of her right eye.
One final note: Chris Lytle joined the FS1 team earlier this week, and his first night of fight-calling featured more body shots and all out wars than any card in recent memory. Coincidence? No, no it is not.
I feel like I’m not doing a very good job of selling this show. People who actually watched it told me it was pretty damn entertaining, with flyweight champ Barb Honchak and strawweight Tecia Torres standing out with their impressive performances. The entire broadcast has been uploaded by the fine folks at Invicta, featuring the rather eclectic broadcast team of Michael Schiavello, Miesha Tate, and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal. (Julie Kedzie was busy.)
Check it out, and let us know what you think/thought. I swear, I’ll get around to watching these fights tonight, or by tomorrow at the absolute latest.
I feel like I’m not doing a very good job of selling this show. People who actually watched it told me it was pretty damn entertaining, with flyweight champ Barb Honchak and strawweight Tecia Torres standing out with their impressive performances. The entire broadcast has been uploaded by the fine folks at Invicta, featuring the rather eclectic broadcast team of Michael Schiavello, Miesha Tate, and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal. (Julie Kedzie was busy.)
Check it out, and let us know what you think/thought. I swear, I’ll get around to watching these fights tonight, or by tomorrow at the absolute latest.
