UFC 169 is in the books. The results are as follows:
UFC 169 Main Card
Renan Barao def. Urijah Faber, TKO (Round 1, 3:42)
Jose Aldo def. Ricardo Lamas, Unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Alistair Overeem def. Frank Mir, Unanimous decision (30-2…
UFC 169 is in the books. The results are as follows:
UFC 169 Main Card
RenanBarao def. Urijah Faber, TKO (Round 1, 3:42)
Jose Aldo def. Ricardo Lamas, Unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Alistair Overeem def. Frank Mir, Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ali Bagautinov def. John Lineker, Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Abel Trujillo def. Jamie Varner, Knockout (Round 2, 2:32)
Fox Sports 1 Prelims
Alan Patrick def. John Makdessi, Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Chris Cariaso def. Danny Martinez, Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Nick Catone def. Tom Watson, Split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee, Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-27)
UFC Fight Pass Prelims
Clint Hester def. Andy Enz, Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
RashidMagomedov def. Tony Martin, Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Neil Magny def. GasanUmalatov, Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Next up? UFC Fight Night 36. This card follows the standard formula for modern Brazilian UFC cards of having a moderately interesting main event, a fairly watchable co-main event and little else.
Still, it’s a card worth talking about. So what questions are worth asking for the next two weeks? Find out right here!
I kind of like these “Full Blast” videos that the UFC has been putting out lately. Usually when I’m watching UFC fights at home, I’m surrounded by my half-wit friends who say things like, “Why doesn’t that guy on the bottom just get up and kick the other dude in the head. Game over.” And I’m like, uggggggggh. So it’s cool to see what people with actual first-hand insight on the sport have to say.
Of course, not every fighter’s approach to a Full Blast segment is the same. As you can see above, heel-superstar Michael Bisping prefers the snarky approach, making sure to remind us how boring Mark Munoz is, and how he could whoop Munoz and Lyoto Machida at the same time. On the other hand, he gives legitimate respect to Machida for his perfectly executed head-kick knockout, and for the gentlemanly way that the Dragon stopped his follow-up punch in mid-flight. Also, Bisping and Conor McGregor are the Scut Farkus and Grover Dill of MMA. Please spread awareness.
After the jump, UFC on FOX 10 headliner Josh Thomson starts out doing color-commentary for the Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez slugfest at UFC 166, then switches directly into enthusiastic fan mode. (Can you blame him? That fight was bananas.) Skip to the 2:43 mark to see Thomson absolutely losing his mind.
I kind of like these “Full Blast” videos that the UFC has been putting out lately. Usually when I’m watching UFC fights at home, I’m surrounded by my half-wit friends who say things like, “Why doesn’t that guy on the bottom just get up and kick the other dude in the head. Game over.” And I’m like, uggggggggh. So it’s cool to see what people with actual first-hand insight on the sport have to say.
Of course, not every fighter’s approach to a Full Blast segment is the same. As you can see above, heel-superstar Michael Bisping prefers the snarky approach, making sure to remind us how boring Mark Munoz is, and how he could whoop Munoz and Lyoto Machida at the same time. On the other hand, he gives legitimate respect to Machida for his perfectly executed head-kick knockout, and for the gentlemanly way that the Dragon stopped his follow-up punch in mid-flight. Also, Bisping and Conor McGregor are the Scut Farkus and Grover Dill of MMA. Please spread awareness.
After the jump, UFC on FOX 10 headliner Josh Thomson starts out doing color-commentary for the Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez slugfest at UFC 166, then switches directly into enthusiastic fan mode. (Can you blame him? That fight was bananas.) Skip to the 2:43 mark to see Thomson absolutely losing his mind.
After taking the fight on less than a month’s notice, Urijah Faber will step into the main event of UFC 169 (February 1st, Newark) against Renan Barao, who took a definitive and dominant five-round decision over the former WEC stalwart at UFC 149, for what was then supposed to be an interim title in the bantamweight division. With Dominick Cruz vacating his title due to yet another injury, Faber will have his third opportunity to win UFC gold. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much time to prepare for Barao, who’s become one of the toughest outs in all of MMA.
Faber’s year-round commitment to being in near peak condition — a Team Alpha Male requirement, it seems — affords him this luxury of taking a fight on short notice. Over 18 months have passed since the California Kid walked out of the cage against Barao on the losing side, and what could have been Faber’s last UFC title fight has turned into something else entirely. With four wins (and three submission finishes) over highly ranked opponents marking a stellar 2013 campaign, Faber willed himself into title contention one more time by running roughshod over the UFC’s 135-pound division.
With the rematch set, and Faber looking ahead to what could (once again) be his last shot at a UFC belt, one imagines that the Duane “Bang” Ludwig-led Team Alpha Male squad has a much different game plan in mind for Faber against the Brazilian champion. Ludwig, who has spoke of his fondness for watching fight video in preparation, should have five UFC title rematches on his mind while preparing his fighter for next month’s bout. Each of these fights contain profound lessons that could help Faber become the first Team Alpha Male member to hold a UFC championship belt. Let’s begin…
After taking the fight on less than a month’s notice, Urijah Faber will step into the main event of UFC 169 (February 1st, Newark) against Renan Barao, who took a definitive and dominant five-round decision over the former WEC stalwart at UFC 149, for what was then supposed to be an interim title in the bantamweight division. With Dominick Cruz vacating his title due to yet another injury, Faber will have his third opportunity to win UFC gold. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much time to prepare for Barao, who’s become one of the toughest outs in all of MMA.
Faber’s year-round commitment to being in near peak condition — a Team Alpha Male requirement, it seems — affords him this luxury of taking a fight on short notice. Over 18 months have passed since the California Kid walked out of the cage against Barao on the losing side, and what could have been Faber’s last UFC title fight has turned into something else entirely. With four wins (and three submission finishes) over highly ranked opponents marking a stellar 2013 campaign, Faber willed himself into title contention one more time by running roughshod over the UFC’s 135-pound division.
With the rematch set, and Faber looking ahead to what could (once again) be his last shot at a UFC belt, one imagines that the Duane “Bang” Ludwig-led Team Alpha Male squad has a much different game plan in mind for Faber against the Brazilian champion. Ludwig, who has spoke of his fondness for watching fight video in preparation, should have five UFC title rematches on his mind while preparing his fighter for next month’s bout. Each of these fights contain profound lessons that could help Faber become the first Team Alpha Male member to hold a UFC championship belt. Let’s begin…
Considering he probably shouldn’t have been fighting anyway, it wasn’t all that much of a surprise that Cain Velasquez would come out wanting to exchange with Junior Dos Santos during their first meeting at UFC on FOX 1 in November 2011. JDS made him pay for it, giving the champion his first loss and taking his title.
In their rematch a year later, Velasquez came out and pushed a hard pace on Dos Santos from the first minute on. He never let Dos Santos get his footing square or push forward with his boxing-focused game. He kept the champion on his toes and then brutalized him for 25 minutes, imposing his will on the Brazilian and not giving him an inch.
How Faber can apply this: Barao thrives in space and the one thing Faber has to do is cut off the cage, make it close and make it ugly. He has to add a little bit of a grind to this fight, at a minimum, and refuse to give Barao space to utilize his leg kicking game. Faber is excellent in scrambles and grappling exchanges; this is where he’ll win the fight. His strength is on the mat and he needs to make Barao fight here, not on his feet where Barao’s striking ability will trump Faber’s. Faber suffered a broken rib from Barao the first time they fought and Faber is well aware of how hard he throws.
The one marked difference between the first Hughes/Penn fight at UFC 46 and their second fight is that Hughes came out significantly less tentative the second time around. Hughes was noticeably cautious in their first meeting because of Penn’s explosiveness and Penn was able to dictate the fight early. Hughes was on his heels, moving backward, and Penn exploited that into one of the biggest upsets in UFC history to that point. The 2006 rematch was marked by Hughes and his top-position mauling of Penn, which ended in a third-round TKO. Hughes was far more aggressive the second time around, and didn’t let BJ dictate the terms.
How Faber can apply this: Don’t let Barao dictate the striking exchanges. Faber was tentative in their first fight, as Barao pushed the pace and established the tenor of the fight. Faber needs to let his hands go and impose his will, not letting Barao set up his striking game. It’s why Faber lost; he couldn’t get off first and took a ton of damage in the process. He has to tighten up space and impose his skillset, making Barao counter and use movement. Faber’s at his best when he’s able to control where the fight goes, and that’ll be a factor in a Faber victory.
Lyoto Machida was a riddle no one had been able to solve until Shogun Rua. Their first fight at UFC 104, insanely controversial, necessitated an immediate rematch and Rua went from being one round away from a title win to an emphatic KO at UFC 113 because of the 25 minutes they spent together the first time.
Machida’s style is such that it’s nearly impossible to duplicate in training unless you have Machida himself to train with. Rua got the best possible primer for a fight with Machida the first time, having to figure out his movement and timing on the fly. When they fought for the second time, Rua knew how Machida moved and was able to adjust from the first minute on. He wasn’t going to be baffled or confused by Machida’s ability to counter.
Look at the way Rua’s movement changed from the middle of the first fight to the first round of the second. This is someone who has figured out the mystery and knows how to counter it. Rua knew he couldn’t rush in blind and over commit; he needed to cut the cage off and make Machida fight in a smaller area. It’s what led to the KO in the second fight as well.
Rua knew what to expect. The Dragon was no mystery the second time around.
How Faber can apply this: Barao doesn’t fight anything like Machida, but Faber spent 25 minutes with him. He knows how hard the Brazilian phenom punches, kicks, his instinctual movements when defending takedowns, the type of sprawl Barao used on him, etc., in a way that you can only learn from fighting another human being.
There won’t be anything Barao does that will be new to Faber. Faber and Barao know each other fairly well at this point, as 25 minutes locked inside a cage with another person gives you a familiarity with one another that most training experiences can’t provide. It may have been 18 months ago but we’re looking at improved versions of both fighters, not completely new versions of the same fighters. If Faber has an edge coming in it is that Barao has spent a training camp preparing for Dominick Cruz and has to change course with less than a month out.
You can change course this close to a fight and not miss a beat, but a completely different fighter will mean a different game plan, which will be tough to install this close to a fight. Barao may have fought Faber before but he’s spent a camp preparing to take on Cruz. That could mean something. Faber gets to come in and face someone who he’s prepared for once already. He has to cram his planning into a short window but it’s a familiar one.
On the next page: The Spider returns to devastating form, and Frankie Edgar proves it wasn’t a fluke.
At UFC 162, Chris Weidman viciously knocked out the longest-reigning UFC champion of all time, Anderson Silva. In their second matchup, the Brazilian lost once more, triggering a permanent changing of the guard in the middleweight division.
Silva will …
At UFC 162, Chris Weidman viciously knocked out the longest-reigning UFC champion of all time, Anderson Silva. In their second matchup, the Brazilian lost once more, triggering a permanent changing of the guard in the middleweight division.
Silva will be out of action until, at least, the latter part of 2014, due to a broken leg suffered in his last bout. The injury provides a prime opportunity for other contenders to shine in a division that was previously dominated by Silva for six and a half years.
The following gives light to the UFC’s middleweight top-10 contenders, analyzes their past performances and separates the pretenders from the actual contenders in the deeply stacked 185-pound division.
Lyoto Machida made an impactful middleweight debut against Mark Munoz, but now the former UFC light heavyweight champion will take on a much stiffer task in his new division.
Gegard Mousasi.
Mousasi is also a former light heavyweight champion—in …
Lyoto Machida made an impactful middleweight debut against Mark Munoz, but now the former UFC light heavyweight champion will take on a much stiffer task in his new division.
Gegard Mousasi.
Mousasi is also a former light heavyweight champion—in Strikeforce—and poses unique problems for Machida. The two will meet in Brazil on February 8.
The winner of this fight will put themselves in serious title contention. Mousasi is unbeaten in his last seven bouts, and Machida is coming off his destruction of Munoz. Mousasi is ranked No. 9 in the light heavyweight divison, while Machida is ranked No. 10 at 205 and No. 4 at 185.
This is an early look at one of the bigger bouts set for early 2014.
Even before Mauricio “Shogun” Rua took the cage on Friday night, the elegies for his storied career were already being written.
During the run-up to Rua’s fight against James Te Huna, we’d heard all about his knees (shot), his c…
Even before Mauricio “Shogun” Rua took the cage on Friday night, the elegies for his storied career were already being written.
During the run-up to Rua’s fight against James Te Huna, we’d heard all about his knees (shot), his cardio (suspect) and the intimidating aura he’d cultivated during his youth (now a distant memory).
The former light heavyweight champion was considered a slight underdog to the relatively unproven Te Huna. Dana White said they’d “probably” have the retirement talk if he didn’t perform well, via Fox Sports Live.
As it turned out, the only post-fight conversation Rua needed to have with the UFC president concerned the bonus check for knockout of the night. As in, it’s Mauricio—with two I’s.
His retirement speech was not needed at UFC Fight Night 33, as he struck down Te Huna with a pinpoint counter left hook just one minute and three seconds into the first round.
Newsflash: Rua’s not quite done.
Had Te Huna’s brain been capable of coherent thought, he could’ve testified to that fact at the moment his body dropped to the canvas and his head snapped back like he’d been in a car crash.
“I knew he would come out aggressive and trying to strike, but I also expected him to come clinching and trying to wrestle me,” Rua said through an interpreter while still in the cage. “I was timing his engagements. When he was moving forward I was timing his entrances so I could connect.”
This is where the hyperbole typically kicks in—the talk about Rua being “back,” the wistful columns about how he’s recaptured his old magic and the aw-shucks apologies about how we can’t believe we ever doubted him.
This time, let’s skip that part, since it’s not true and it’s actually pretty cynical.
The truth, as always, will be found somewhere in the middle.
Perhaps Rua is not as close to being done as we thought, but the old Shogun is not “back.” Rua’s time as one of the most feared 205-pound fighters on the planet is long past, and it’s not about to return.
His win over Te Huna was a good one, but in claiming it he stopped a fighter who himself came in off a loss and who had never beaten a top-10 opponent. Te Huna is a big, dangerous light heavyweight, but few were forecasting him as significant contender prior to this bout. Now maybe few ever will.
Rua’s victory simply means he’ll live to compete another day and perhaps get the chance to script his own denouement.
Where he goes next was a topic of conversation even before he dispatched Te Huna. It has been widely speculated—urged, perhaps—that he’ll think about cutting to middleweight, just like former light heavyweight champ LyotoMachida did earlier this year.
It’s probably the right move, if his body will allow it, though his questionable physical health will no doubt continue to dictate when, how and where he fights.
This weekend, we found out he still has the single-punch KO power that made him one of the most feared fighters in the world a half decade ago. That’s great, but let’s not make the mistake of inflating this win into something that it’s not.
The issues we saw in him before this bout—his busted knees, the mileage of 11 years and 30 fights, a 3-4 record since 2011—haven’t suddenly gone away. Can he still be a serviceable UFC fighter? Sure, but let’s not prop him up just so we can tear him down again later, when the facts come back around to meet our narrative.
Even before Mauricio “Shogun”