And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for — Chael Sonnen‘s debut appearance as a professional sports-talker on ESPN. In this clip that aired earlier today on SportsCenter, Sonnen breaks down tomorrow night’s UFC 180 main event between Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt, answering discussion questions from some random stiff* who mispronounces Werdum’s name, disses Roy Nelson’s gut, and ends the segment by bringing up the return of Brock Lesnar. Actually, that part spurred Chael’s best line:
“I called [Lesnar’s] manager Paul Heyman this morning. I said, ‘Paul, it’s Chael. I’ve got a new job on SportsCenter. If you give me a quote regarding Brock, it’ll really make me look good.’ He said ‘Chael,’ and I quote: ‘I’m sleeping,’ and then he hung up.”
* I mean, I’m sure some of you people watch ESPN and know who Chael’s straight-man is, but I don’t, and he’s not worth googling.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for — Chael Sonnen‘s debut appearance as a professional sports-talker on ESPN. In this clip that aired earlier today on SportsCenter, Sonnen breaks down tomorrow night’s UFC 180 main event between Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt, answering discussion questions from some random stiff* who mispronounces Werdum’s name, disses Roy Nelson’s gut, and ends the segment by bringing up the return of Brock Lesnar. Actually, that part spurred Chael’s best line:
“I called [Lesnar’s] manager Paul Heyman this morning. I said, ‘Paul, it’s Chael. I’ve got a new job on SportsCenter. If you give me a quote regarding Brock, it’ll really make me look good.’ He said ‘Chael,’ and I quote: ‘I’m sleeping,’ and then he hung up.”
* I mean, I’m sure some of you people watch ESPN and know who Chael’s straight-man is, but I don’t, and he’s not worth googling.
The injury is especially devastating for the UFC because Velasquez was slated to be the marquee face for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico, which goes down November 15th in Mexico City. Here’s what Velasquez had to say about his withdrawal in an official statement:
“I’m so unbelievably disappointed that this happened. To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.”
Velasquez hasn’t competed since his 5th-round TKO of Junior Dos Santos last October. This is the part of the blog post where normally I would recap all of the injuries that have befallen Velasquez during his time in the UFC, but I’ll just embed this tweet and spare myself the effort:
The injury is especially devastating for the UFC because Velasquez was slated to be the marquee face for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico, which goes down November 15th in Mexico City. Here’s what Velasquez had to say about his withdrawal in an official statement:
“I’m so unbelievably disappointed that this happened. To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.”
Velasquez hasn’t competed since his 5th-round TKO of Junior Dos Santos last October. This is the part of the blog post where normally I would recap all of the injuries that have befallen Velasquez during his time in the UFC, but I’ll just embed this tweet and spare myself the effort:
Mark Hunt comes into his first UFC title fight with a 1-1-1 tally over his last three bouts, and most recently knocked out Roy Nelson last month at UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama.
As Mike Bohn reminds us, Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum is now the ninth scheduled UFC pay-per-view headliner of 2014 to fall apart. Basically, every UFC champion is injured or has been injured at some point during this year except for Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw, who aren’tdraws on pay-per-view.
(The video is so shitty the embed code wouldn’t even work in our CMS. So instead here’s a link to the video and a picture of a bro-hug. / Photo via Getty.)
You know what’s bullshit?
When a website promises “full fight video highlights” and offers so much less than that.
Watch the video we linked above and tell us those headlines are accurate.
(The video is so shitty the embed code wouldn’t even work in our CMS. So instead here’s a link to the video and a picture of a bro-hug. / Photo via Getty.)
You know what’s bullshit?
When a website promises “full fight video highlights” and offers so much less than that.
Watch the video we linked above and tell us those headlines are accurate. Yeah they’re kind of accurate. Mark Hunt is in the video. Roy Nelson is in the video, too. There’s some face punching. Then some anchor is like “oh yeah and there was a knockout.” Umm, maybe SHOW US the knockout? Because if you don’t show us the end of the fight, it’s not really a video highlighting the “full fight,” is it? It’s a video without the most important part of the fight.
Look, we’re not upset about the SEO. We GET IT. As a mid-tier MMA blog that lacks press credentials, we understand the drive to generate clicks better than most. We’ve arguably done some questionable or sordid things for the almighty page view, but never anything quite this insulting. As we put it on Twitter last night, people crap on CagePotato for being sub-legit, but at least we never straight-up LIE to people.
The above headlines are pretty much lies.
Something like “Hunt vs. Nelson Full Fight Video Highlights: Not the Part You Care About, But Please Click Anyway,” would better describe the video in question.
We’d love to be rebellious show you the actual highlight of the fight via GIFs and Vines, but Zuffa’s lawyers are among our most avid readers. So instead we posted a link to the “full fight highlights” video at the top. It’s a video lacking the only part of the fight you really want to see: The knockout. You’ll have to order Fight Pass if you want to see the full thing. Or, you know, hunt down an illegal GIF somewhere on the Internet. I’m sure that’ll be really difficult to do…
Nelson has a famously durable chin and had only been KO’d once before — by Andrei Arlovski six years ago — which just proves how much deceptive power Hunt carries in those fists of his. Full UFC Fight Night 52 results are after the jump…
Nelson has a famously durable chin and had only been KO’d once before — by Andrei Arlovski six years ago — which just proves how much deceptive power Hunt carries in those fists of his. Full UFC Fight Night 52 results are after the jump…
Main Card
Mark Hunt* def. Roy Nelson via KO, 3:00 of round 2
Myles Jury def. Takanori Gomi via TKO, 1:32 of round 1
Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Amir Sadollah via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Miesha Tate def. Rin Nakai via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Kiichi Kunimoto def. Richard Walsh via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Jon Delos Reyes via TKO, 3:48 of round 1
Preliminary Card
Masanori Kanehara def. Alex Caceres via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Katsunori Kikuno def. Sam Sicilia via submission (rear naked choke), 1:38 of round 2
Hyun Gyu Lim def. Takenori Sato via TKO, 1:18 of round 1
Kyung Ho Kang def. Michinori Tanaka via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)**
Johnny Case* def. Kazuki Tokudome via submission (guillotine choke), 2:34 of round 2
Maximo Blanco def. Daniel Hooker via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* Earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus
** Both fighters earned $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses
(Tate vs. Nakai and Hunt vs. Nelson — the only weigh-ins you really care about. Complete UFC Fight Night 52 weigh-in video is after the jump.)
Mark Hunthad us nervous yesterday, but he — and everyone else — successfully made weight earlier today for UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama, Japan. Hunt hit the scales at 264 pounds, which means he cut a full twenty pounds in the 24 hours prior to weigh-ins. (Our sources tell us that he’s already rehydrated up to 385.)
Also, Rin Nakai walked to the scale in some sort of samurai-hooker costume, then stripped it off to reveal an American flag/Superman bikini top. I was hoping for something tentacle-related, but whaddya gonna do. Full “Hunt vs. Nelson” weigh-in results are below…
Main Card (Fight Pass, 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT)
Mark Hunt (264) vs. Roy Nelson (260)
Myles Jury (156) vs. Takanori Gomi (155)
Yoshihiro Akiyama (170) vs. Amir Sadollah (170)
Miesha Tate (135) vs. Rin Nakai (135)
Kiichi Kunimoto (171) vs. Richard Walsh (171)
Kyoji Horiguchi (125) vs. Jon delos Reyes (125)
Preliminary Card (Fight Pass, 12:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. PT)
Alex Caceres (135) vs. Masanori Kanehara (135)
Katsunori Kikuno (146) vs. Sam Sicilia (145)
Hyun Gyu Lim (171) vs. Takenori Sato (169)
Michinori Tanaka (135) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (136)
Kazuki Tokudome (155) vs. Johnny Case (156)
Maximo Blanco (146) vs. Daniel Hooker (145)
(Tate vs. Nakai and Hunt vs. Nelson — the only weigh-ins you really care about. Complete UFC Fight Night 52 weigh-in video is after the jump.)
Mark Hunthad us nervous yesterday, but he — and everyone else — successfully made weight earlier today for UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama, Japan. Hunt hit the scales at 264 pounds, which means he cut a full twenty pounds in the 24 hours prior to weigh-ins. (Our sources tell us that he’s already rehydrated up to 385.)
Also, Rin Nakai walked to the scale in some sort of samurai-hooker costume, then stripped it off to reveal an American flag/Superman bikini top. I was hoping for something tentacle-related, but whaddya gonna do. Full “Hunt vs. Nelson” weigh-in results are below…
Main Card (Fight Pass, 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT)
Mark Hunt (264) vs. Roy Nelson (260)
Myles Jury (156) vs. Takanori Gomi (155)
Yoshihiro Akiyama (170) vs. Amir Sadollah (170)
Miesha Tate (135) vs. Rin Nakai (135)
Kiichi Kunimoto (171) vs. Richard Walsh (171)
Kyoji Horiguchi (125) vs. Jon delos Reyes (125)
Preliminary Card (Fight Pass, 12:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. PT)
Alex Caceres (135) vs. Masanori Kanehara (135)
Katsunori Kikuno (146) vs. Sam Sicilia (145)
Hyun Gyu Lim (171) vs. Takenori Sato (169)
Michinori Tanaka (135) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (136)
Kazuki Tokudome (155) vs. Johnny Case (156)
Maximo Blanco (146) vs. Daniel Hooker (145)
Iole also mentions that Hunt “began his training camp at an astounding 340 pounds,” although that part of the Yahoo! article is linked to a dead page, so who even knows. Maybe Mark Hunt is trolling us. Maybe Kevin Iole is trolling us, which wouldn’t be the first time.
During his stint in the UFC, Hunt’s weight has floated between 261 pounds (before his UFC 135 decision win against Ben Rothwell in 2011) and 266 pounds (before his UFC on FUEL 8 TKO of Stefan Struve in 2013). Usually, being a heavyweight MMA fighter means you can only eat double-cheeseburgers on the day before weigh-ins, rather than your normal triple-cheeseburgers. A lot of cheat days on the schedule, is what I’m saying. But if Hunt was really coming down from 340, my God, that’s even worse than McCorkle. What happened, dude?
We’ll update you as we know more.
(“They said I was too fat to fight Roy Nelson. That’s when I knew I had a problem.” / Photo via Getty)
Iole also mentions that Hunt “began his training camp at an astounding 340 pounds,” although that part of the Yahoo! article is linked to a dead page, so who even knows. Maybe Mark Hunt is trolling us. Maybe Kevin Iole is trolling us, which wouldn’t be the first time.
During his stint in the UFC, Hunt’s weight has floated between 261 pounds (before his UFC 135 decision win against Ben Rothwell in 2011) and 266 pounds (before his UFC on FUEL 8 TKO of Stefan Struve in 2013). Usually, being a heavyweight MMA fighter means you can only eat double-cheeseburgers on the day before weigh-ins, rather than your normal triple-cheeseburgers. A lot of cheat days on the schedule, is what I’m saying. But if Hunt was really coming down from 340, my God, that’s even worse than McCorkle. What happened, dude?
