Earlier today UFC posted on their website that Daniel Cormier is set to fight Anthony Johnson on the UFC 210 card at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo. This will be the second time the heavyweights will meet in the octagon, with cormier winning the first bout via rear naked choke after surviving a first round knockdown. Cormier then went on to defend the title against Alexander Gustafsson in an instant classic. A knockdown, drag out, war.
Earlier today UFC posted on their website that Daniel Cormier is set to fight Anthony Johnson on the UFC 210 card at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo. This will be the second time the heavyweights meet inside the octagon, with cormier winning the first bout via rear naked choke after surviving a first round knockdown. Cormier then went on to defend the title against Alexander Gustafsson in an instant classic, and take out MMA legend Anderson Silva via unanimous decision.
Since their first fight Johnson has gone on to score 3 consecutive knockouts against Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader, and Glover Teixeira. He’s hoping the second time will be a charm as a scheduled fight out of the injury prone AKA camp is anything but promised.
Middleweights Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi are also set to clash on the same card.
The pay per view airs on April 8th and tickets go on sale Feb 17th.
What do you guys think, will this fight actually come to fruition?
Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.
UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.
With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic…
UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.
With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic:
Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes Was The Business
Aldo’s presence alone is like waiting to unwrap that PS4 your significant other bought you for Christmas. You’ve got to wait a while for it to happen, but when it does, you can bet your ass it was worth it. “Scarface” was met with a lot of criticism before this fight, seeing how he didn’t really sell the contest, and truth to be told, he’s not really one to generate great interest in the media when he fights. Say what you will about his output winding down, since it’s almost as if his battle against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 never happened, yet he’s the UFC’s most dominant champion right now.
You’ve got your Jon Jones and your Cain Velasquez, however, keep in mind the gold has been around Aldo’s waist since 2009, stemming from his WEC years. Last night, he was dragged into a dogfight and he delivered, with the whole of Brazil on his back to preserve the country’s identity in the fight world, since he’s the only champion left from a place that dominated the MMA landscape for so long. He’s pretty great, too.
As for Mendes, he certainly rocked the champion on multiple occasions and did the most damage anyone has done to his main event foe. The Team Alpha Male product’s striking has gotten much better, and it’s really depressing to say this, but he really cemented his status as the division’s number two guy. When he dropped Aldo in the first round after connecting with clean shots, it summoned the spirit of T.J. Dillashaw, yet things didn’t really go the Californian’s way. When he was hit with two shots after the horn in round one, it’s tough to say how much damage was done, and if Aldo truly had any bad intentions since he claimed he didn’t hear the buzzer.
This fight reminded us why MMA is truly awesome, much like the Dillashaw upset, and when Lyoto Machida took Chris Weidman to the deep waters at UFC 175. This featherweight tussle holds the pole position for “Fight of The Year,” and we can’t help but get that fuzzy feeling inside just thinking about it. At the same time, it’s not like we don’t have to put up our fair share of bullshit just to get to the center of the Tootsie Roll.
As for Conor McGregor, you might think UFC really missed an opportunity to have him enter the cage and do the dirty work to sell a fight against a champion that doesn’t care much about that stuff. After all, both the winner and the loser called him out. But maybe UFC isn’t jumping the gun after all, now that the Irishman is tied up with Dennis Siver, and that if you really had to look at it from a fair standpoint, the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson deserves the next crack at the belt. It’s not really the wisest option, based on McGregor’s hype train riding from coast to coast across the globe, yet one has to think UFC wants us to believe Siver has a chance to win.
“A Light Heavyweight Matchup With True Title Implications”
UFC broadcaster supreme Mike Goldberg says a lot of drunk-white-girl things, but this takes the freaking cake. Once Phil Davis vs. Glover Teixeira concluded, he spat out this gem, which is borderline scary. Davis was coming off a crushing loss to Anthony Johnson at UFC 172, while “Bones” dominated Teixeira in a 205-pound title fight on the same exact card.
As for the fight, all you need to know is that the wrestler did what wrestlers do, neutralizing the power-puncher’s offense, and bringing him down to the mat over and over again. Maybe we should give a bit more credit to “Mr. Wonderful,” because it was arguably his best performance in the Octagon thus far. The Brazilian had trouble finding his range with Davis on his bicycle, and that’s pretty much how the three-round scrap went.
Look, the light heavyweight division is pretty bad these days, and if you want proof of that, just listen to the Penn State alumnus calling out Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview. With Anthony Johnson’s uncertain future, along with the plans to have Alexander Gustafsson fight Rashad Evans, Davis kind of is “in the mix.” One more win, and the guy is inching closer to a title shot, as odd as that sounds. The promotion will most likely book Davis to fight Ryan Bader next, because frankly, nothing else really makes much sense.
Main Card Woes And The Need For Change
Credit the fighters on the prelims for bringing it, since five out of six fights were over before the final horn. With that said, the three other main card contests almost put everyone to sleep, with takedown-heavy game plans and fighters that just don’t cut the mustard on the big stage.
Fabio Maldonado’s comeback win over Hans Stringer seemed like a shot in the dark, but more so for the event in general. It was like a Hail Mary thrown to save the interest of the main card, after witnessing Darren Elkins vs. Lucas Martins and Beneil Dariush vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira stink up the joint. Maybe every fighter deserves his or her chance to shine on the big stage, but we’re also in the entertainment business, or even better, the $50 to $60 price-tag business.
Before you accuse us of hating the UFC and being these snotty historians that wish it was 2006 all over again, please understand what is happening. More MMA isn’t a bad thing at all. Hell, I’d watch live MMA every night if I had to, or at least be content with the fact that it’s available in those circumstances. On the flip side, the quality just isn’t there anymore, and there’s a reason why you don’t want to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars against the New York Jets every single weekend. This card is a perfect example of what Dana White criticized for so long, and that’s a boxing event with one high-profile fight on it. The UFC needs to change its PPV and television model fast.
Nobody is forcing you to watch the prelims, or the fights outside the main and co-main events on the main card. We get that. Although how exactly is this sport supposed to grow, and shouldn’t we at least be concerned with the lack of thereof? You’ll have an event like UFC Fight Night 46, followed by UFC on FOX 12, and observers will come out in full force and trash the oversaturation bit. But in terms of consistency, UFC just doesn’t have it anymore. Injuries are one thing, but it can’t be the basis of an argument, either.
If a tree falls a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Maybe. If a main event is described as one of the best fights of the year, but only 200,000 people saw it because nobody really gave it the time of day, was it still as great as it was? Yes, but we’ll definitely need to put time aside to convince those that didn’t watch. One of the best fights of the year was on one of the worst PPV’s of the year, period. If you need to any further convincing, please refer to this.
At the end of the day, it’s no skin off our backs. That title fight was a prime example of why we need to put up with some dry stuff to have a good time. But UFC needs to think of something to get the casual fan’s interest back, because The Ultimate Fighter and celebrity tweets aren’t doing it anymore. If not, the “bubble” is going to get smaller and smaller, with limited selling points.
(Mousasi, seen here trying to convince Burt Watson that his tummy is simply an optical illusion created by the unflattering pattern of his shirt. Or what we here in America refer to as The Burgundy Defense.)
Clearly, we are being shamelessly facetious with that title, for neither Daniel Cormier or Gegard Mousasi could be considered “obese” by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, Cormier is a little heavy for his height, I guess, but his layer of protective fat is a necessity. How the hell else is he suppose to ensure that his own bones are not completely shattered by the shockwave of the wrecking balls he regularly throws at his sparring partners and opponents? He tried cutting a lot of weight once before and it damn near killed him, so what do you people want from the poor guy?! LEAVE DC ALONE, DAMMIT.
I’m sorry, I was a fat child. But thanks to the powers of MMA, I can proudly stand before you as the picture of modern health that I am today. Cormier apparently shares my enthusiasm for all things dietary, as he recently spoke with USA Today and MMAJunkie about the likelihood that he will drop to 205 to fight Jon Jones once and for all. Just not immediately:
USA Today: Physically, I’m different now. When I was saying that I couldn’t make light heavyweight, it wasn’t happening. At my heaviest, I was 264 pounds. I was consistently weighing in for fights at 250 pounds, and that was after training camps. I was losing 7, 8 pounds and being 250 pounds at weigh-ins. Now, I wake up in the morning, and I’m 234 pounds. That’s almost a 20-pound difference. Now it seems realistic. I’m lighter now than even when I was wrestling.
MMAJunkie: At first, I was like so emotionally tied to that fight. I was like, ‘I want to fight Jon Jones. I want to be in that division and fight him immediately.’ But I’m not a very impulsive guy. I kind of think things through.
I’ve thought about it, and I wouldn’t be opposed to fighting one time before then just to see how my body reacts to the weight cut. It’d be very difficult to fight him in my very first fight (at light heavyweight), in a five-round fight, and my first time down in the weight and everything. As I’ve thought about it, I kind of feel it’d be in our best interest to maybe take a fight.
(Mousasi, seen here trying to convince Burt Watson that his tummy is simply an optical illusion created by the unflattering pattern of his shirt. Or what we here in America refer to as The Burgundy Defense.)
Clearly, we are being shamelessly facetious with that title, for neither Daniel Cormier or Gegard Mousasi could be considered “obese” by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, Cormier is a little heavy for his height, I guess, but his layer of protective fat is a necessity. How the hell else is he suppose to ensure that his own bones are not completely shattered by the shockwave of the wrecking balls he regularly throws at his sparring partners and opponents? He tried cutting a lot of weight once before and it damn near killed him, so what do you people want from the poor guy?! LEAVE DC ALONE, DAMMIT.
I’m sorry, I was a fat child. But thanks to the powers of MMA, I can proudly stand before you as the picture of modern health that I am today. Cormier apparently shares my enthusiasm for all things dietary, as he recently spoke with USA Today and MMAJunkie about the likelihood that he will drop to 205 to fight Jon Jones once and for all. Just not immediately:
USA Today: Physically, I’m different now. When I was saying that I couldn’t make light heavyweight, it wasn’t happening. At my heaviest, I was 264 pounds. I was consistently weighing in for fights at 250 pounds, and that was after training camps. I was losing 7, 8 pounds and being 250 pounds at weigh-ins. Now, I wake up in the morning, and I’m 234 pounds. That’s almost a 20-pound difference. Now it seems realistic. I’m lighter now than even when I was wrestling.
MMAJunkie: At first, I was like so emotionally tied to that fight. I was like, ‘I want to fight Jon Jones. I want to be in that division and fight him immediately.’ But I’m not a very impulsive guy. I kind of think things through.
I’ve thought about it, and I wouldn’t be opposed to fighting one time before then just to see how my body reacts to the weight cut. It’d be very difficult to fight him in my very first fight (at light heavyweight), in a five-round fight, and my first time down in the weight and everything. As I’ve thought about it, I kind of feel it’d be in our best interest to maybe take a fight.
Speaking of light-heavyweights, Gegard Mousasi, who is fresh off a three round drubbing of Ilir Latifi at UFC on FUEL 9, has also been hinting at a drop in weight. The LHW contender has not fought at middleweight since upkicking his way to a DREAM middleweight championship over Ronaldo Souza at DREAM 6 in September of 2008. Regardless, Mousasi recently reached to his fans via Twitter to poll them on whether or not he should make the drop once again:
I think about good idea, Gegard. I think about very good idea. Anyone else agree?
I have nothing witty to say here – I’m just still not over the fact that the bulkiest guy in this picture once thought he was a welterweight.
Only one month removed from his official light-heavyweight debut, Anthony Johnson returned to action in the main event of last night’s Xtreme Fight Night 9 against fellow UFC washout Jake Rosholt. It’s always a risky move to book more than one fight at a time, but in Johnson’s case, the abundant optimism wasn’t without its merits, as he shut out Rosholt’s lights with a head kick in the second round. Before you inevitably ask, no, Rumble did not miss weight, either.
The fight was reasonably close in the first round, but after an accidental eye-poke from Rosholt, Johnson went straight into beast mode. Jake Rosholt had no answers for Anthony Johnson’s aggressive striking, and was such a bloody mess by the end of the fight that the referee almost called the bout before the head kick. Perhaps the most interesting part of this fight was the fact that Johnson was able to take the three-time NCAA Division One Champion down; not exactly an easy task.
I have nothing witty to say here – I’m just still not over the fact that the bulkiest guy in this picture once thought he was a welterweight.
Only one month removed from his official light-heavyweight debut, Anthony Johnson returned to action in the main event of last night’s Xtreme Fight Night 9 against fellow UFC washout Jake Rosholt. It’s always a risky move to book more than one fight at a time, but in Johnson’s case, the abundant optimism wasn’t without its merits, as he shut out Rosholt’s lights with a head kick in the second round. Before you inevitably ask, no, Rumble did not miss weight, either.
The fight was reasonably close in the first round, but after an accidental eye-poke from Rosholt, Johnson went straight into beast mode. Jake Rosholt had no answers for Anthony Johnson’s aggressive striking, and was such a bloody mess by the end of the fight that the referee almost called the bout before the head kick. Perhaps the most interesting part of this fight was the fact that Johnson was able to take the three-time NCAA Division One Champion down; not exactly an easy task.
After watching Anthony Johnson pick up such impressive victories since being cut from the UFC, one can’t help but wonder what could have been if Anthony Johnson was more careful with his body throughout his career. In some parallel universe, Rumble starts off as a light-heavyweight, doesn’t balloon up between fights and is possibly fighting Jon Jones tonight instead of Vitor Belfort. Instead, Anthony Johnson is a cautionary tale, a textbook example of weight cutting gone wrong and the living, breathing argument for banning the entire practice. It’s sad that his career may have been destroyed by misguided attempts to compete in a weight class that he had no business trying to make. The fat jokes made at this guy’s expense are sad, too, but does anyone really want to read an amateur sociologist’s take on body dysmorphic disorder and bigorexia in the MMA community? Didn’t think so.
If you want to watch a video of the fight, you can find a few of them here. Hurry up before they get taken down.
(It took Roy 45 minutes and three chipped teeth to realize that his TUF trophy was not made of rock candy.)
This town ain’t big enough for the two of them. Literally. The town we’re referring to, of course, would be the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Let’s face it, we are currently in the era of TRT-jacked-up super Goliaths, and aside from making us common folk feel more self-conscious about our own physiques, these monsters are putting forth the idea that you have to be sculpted by the Gods themselves in order to be a successful athlete. How dare they. But there is hope, because one man has been vigorously doing the work that the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance could never even dream of doing in between trips to the buffet line. Mainly, proving that obese individuals are capable of doing more than legally stealing electrically powered wheelchairs from crippled people at the supermarket. That man is Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
Obviously fearing that fellow portly contender Mike Russow is beginning to encroach on his Burger King and Taco Bell sponsorships, as well as the “Lifetime Achievement” distinction he was set to receive at next year’s Cici’s Pizza Awards, Nelson has thrown down a good old fashioned “loser leaves town” challenge to Russow over his Twitter. The winner gets to continue eating pull pork sandwiches until they look like the gluttony victim in Seven, and the loser must drop to the land of rice cakes and milk without chocolate syrup that is the light heavyweight division.
(It took Roy 45 minutes and three chipped teeth to realize that his TUF trophy was not made of rock candy.)
This town ain’t big enough for the two of them. Literally. The town we’re referring to, of course, would be the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Let’s face it, we are currently in the era of TRT-jacked-up super Goliaths, and aside from making us common folk feel more self-conscious about our own physiques, these monsters are putting forth the idea that you have to be sculpted by the Gods themselves in order to be a successful athlete. How dare they. But there is hope, because one man has been vigorously doing the work that the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance could never even dream of doing in between trips to the buffet line. Mainly, proving that obese individuals are capable of doing more than legally stealing electrically powered wheelchairs from crippled people at the supermarket. That man is Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
Obviously fearing that fellow portly contender Mike Russow is beginning to encroach on his Burger King and Taco Bell sponsorships, as well as the “Lifetime Achievement” distinction he was set to receive at next year’s Cici’s Pizza Awards, Nelson has thrown down a good old fashioned “loser leaves town” challenge to Russow over his Twitter. The winner gets to continue eating pull pork sandwiches until they look like the gluttony victim in Seven, and the loser must drop to the land of rice cakes and milk without chocolate syrup that is the light heavyweight division.
Here’s what he wrote:
I want Mike Russow and loser goes to 205 or becomes Dana White Rich. Let make it happen @danawhite
While it may be in bad taste to call someone out immediately after they have suffered their first UFC loss (by knockout, nonetheless), there’s no denying that this is an intriguing matchup, made even more intriguing by the possible ramifications of either man losing. Being that Russow only fights part time, we’re not sure if he’d actually be able to make the cut to 205, but Nelson, on the other hand, has shown a willingness to at least consider dropping to light heavyweight if the circumstances are ridiculous enough just right.
On an unrelated sidenote, what the hell does Dana White rich mean, and how would either man become so by losing their next fight? Also, Rhode Island, neither a road nor an island. Discuss.
On the heels of a first round knockout of Dave Herman at UFC 146, the TUF 10 winner’s UFC record currently stands at a mediocre 4-3, so a win over Russow would be enough to delay his own trip to 205 for at least a couple more months. One thing standing in the way of this possible matchup, however, would be the UFC’s usual policy of placing winners against winners and losers against losers. Then again, crazier fights have been booked, so it wouldn’t be completely out of left field for them to book Nelson vs. Russow in a battle for potbellied supremacy, right?
By now, you’ve probably heard the big news of the day: Anthony “Hey Yo, Is That My Tummy Rumblin’?” Johnson missed weight today in historic fashion, tipping the scales at 197 pounds. According to some research that I absolutely did not just do, twelve pounds is the most that anyone has ever blown weight anywhere ever, and you can feel free to correct me in the comments. Vitor Belfort has agreed to fight a catchweight at 197, but has asked that Johnson weigh-in again tomorrow at no more than 205.
Now, maybe I’m not shocked by this — but damn brotato, how do you miss — how do you go UP a weight class because you have a nightmare cut at 170 and the boss has said you belong at 185, then proceed to bulk up like you got a call from Vince McMahon?
Serious question: is Anthony Johnson dyslexic with numbers or something? Just checking.
By now, you’ve probably heard the big news of the day: Anthony “Hey Yo, Is That My Tummy Rumblin’?” Johnson missed weight today in historic fashion, tipping the scales at 197 pounds. According to some research that I absolutely did not just do, twelve pounds is the most that anyone has ever blown weight anywhere ever, and you can feel free to correct me in the comments. Vitor Belfort has agreed to fight a catchweight at 197, but has asked that Johnson weigh-in again tomorrow at no more than 205.
Now, maybe I’m not exactly shocked by this — but damn brotato, how do you miss … how do you go UP a weight class because you have a nightmare cut at 170 and the boss has said you belong at 185, then proceed to bulk up like you got a call from Vince McMahon?
Serious question: is Anthony Johnson dyslexic with numbers or something? Just checking.
The downsides are all on Rumble’s side. Dana is already going on record calling him “unprofessional”, which may be code for “black”, but in this case is actually code for “I’m going to fuck him worse than he’s ever been fucked before”. Unless Rumble puts in a Fight of the Night-worthy performance, he will almost certainly lose his job and wind up in StrikeForce, except without their awesome salaries.
First off: bungalow fans rejoice, because this just became a slugfest. Johnson has to know that a methodical, grinding win will result in Dana firing him angrily during the press conference (which Johnson would not be invited to). Johnson is going to have to use his reach and size (ha ha, get it?) to win a stand up fight with Belfort.
Belfort himself comes out of this like a champ, because he can not lose in this situation. He’s stepping up to save the fight, which means he’ll have a job with the UFC through the next two years or four losses (whichever comes first). Should he lose, his record will have an asterisk for all eternity that Johnson was a 250 pound roid-monster in the cage, and if he pulls out a win the internet will explode because Vitor Belfort just knocked out a heavyweight holy shit did you see that, bro!? It’s like UFC 13 again, only in Brazil.
Meanwhile Johnson loses pretty much any way you slice it. He’ll be a visibly larger man in the cage to anyone with rods and cones to rub together, and any win he gets will be tainted. No one is going to be particularly impressed with a quick knockout on a smaller Belfort, and if he actually tries to wrestle Belfort for a decision?
