UFC 130 delivered a few special moments, including a tremendous knock out (Superman Punch) of Stefan Struve by Travis Browne and a great Memorial Day Weekend Win for Brian Stann who KO’d Jorge Santiago in.
UFC 130 delivered a few special moments, including a tremendous knock out (Superman Punch) of Stefan Struve by Travis Browne and a great Memorial Day Weekend Win for Brian Stann who KO’d Jorge Santiago in the 2nd round. The fights also offered some interesting news bits… like that we should all take better notice of Rick Story as he earned a 6th win to his fight streak in the Welterweight division. And even though Frank Mir clearly dominated Roy Nelson in their 3 rounds, it was still Mir who suffered a broken jaw and was off to the hospital while Nelson joyfully blamed Dan Hardy for his poor “british wrestling” that may have lost him the fight. Lastly, we heard pending the outcome of his hand injury that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will receive the title-shot against Jon Jones.
And with the fight card’s culmination we also see that despite any injuries and losses suffered, all the fighters still managed to get out to their after parties and have a good time.
Saturday night’s main event saw Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson put on a formidable clinic when it comes to the classic “sprawl’n’brawl” fight tactic. Matt Hamill seemed to throw away his chance at competing on the higher end of…
Saturday night’s main event saw Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson put on a formidable clinic when it comes to the classic “sprawl’n’brawl” fight tactic.
Matt Hamill seemed to throw away his chance at competing on the higher end of UFC events with a poor display. He was completely outclassed by Jackson despite the former UFC light heavy weight Champion’s claims of sporting a fractured left hand.
Depending on the severity of the injury, UFC president Dana White has claimed it will be Jackson who will get the honour of being Jon ‘Bones’ Jones first opponent for a title defense.
Jones is well known for his unorthodox style within most facets of MMA. ‘Bones’ demonstrated wild wrestling techniques in his bout against Stephan Bonnar, a freak submission against Jake O’Brien and massive confidence in his striking ability when securing his title in his destruction of Muay-thai machine—Shogun Rua.
Rampage’s game plan was no shock to anyone who has watched the knockout merchant’s development over the years in the sport. If the Memphis native receives an opportunity to face Jon Jones it is very possible he will use a similar disposition.
If one criticism came from Jones’ picking apart of Rua, it was that he seemed to be gassed, although not nearly to the extent of his opponent, toward the end of his fight. A harsh critique in my view yet still an important one to note.
In Jackson’s last outing versus Rashad Evans, he didn’t seem to be at the races at all for the first two rounds, but still finished the fight the stronger of the two. Evans deservedly won the bout on decision.
If Rampage managed to stuff the take downs of the explosive Jones, there is no doubt it would have a serious impact on the engine of the young champion. However, I think most people believe that Jackson would find it hard to have the same rate of success as he did against Hamill, stuffing all seventeen of his take down attempts.
This would leave the fight to be decided on the feet, somewhere Jackson is at his most comfortable. Jones too is no slouch in this department, but with Rampage able to pick apart Matt Hamill with only one good hand, you would have to give the edge to the Tennessee man.
Then again a similar mistake was made by a lot of analysts before Jones’ last bout against Rua.
I believe that Jones’ unorthodox style leaves openings for Jackson to exploit, especially if his coveted left hand is ready to fire on all cylinders.
One thing is for sure, the UFC will have to pick a substantial venue if the match is to go ahead as a lot of fans want to see this fight. A defense will cement Jones’ place as the 205 king and also as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, while a title shot could awaken the sleeping beast that is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
At various times in his UFC career, Matt Hamill’s wrestling has been described by UFC personalities as elite, Olympic-level, and world-class. Among his wrestling achievements are a gold medal, and two national wrestling championships. After…
At various times in his UFC career, Matt Hamill‘s wrestling has been described by UFC personalities as elite, Olympic-level, and world-class. Among his wrestling achievements are a gold medal, and two national wrestling championships. After watching Quinton Jackson easily stuff all of Hamill’s takedown attempts, it’s safe to say his abilities as a wrestler were overrated.
But if you’ve been paying any attention, you’ll know that they always were overrated.
Matt Hamill was a Division III wrestling champion. It’s not like he was ever the best wrestler in his weight class, or even the third best.
There are two whole bigger and better divisions above Division III.
Matt Hamill may not even be a national-level wrestler, let alone a world-class one.
Hamill never wrestled at the Olympics.
He wrestled and won his medals at the Deaflympics. That’s a far smaller pool of talent in America, let alone the rest of the world where resources spent on handicapped athletes are far more limited.
Not to take away from what Hamill has achieved as a wrestler and MMA fighter, but his credentials simply don’t stack up as elite or world class, and to say so is simply lying.
In that respect, UFC promoters and personalities like Joe Rogan should take some of the blame for hyping up Matt Hamill as this elite wrestler who could possibly beat Rampage Jackson.
But as promoters and hype generators, this is their job.
It’s not their job to point out that even if Hamill’s wrestling was on that elite level, Jackson has already held his own against elite wrestlers in the past, like Kevin Randleman, Dan Henderson, and Matt Lindland.
In this case, the UFC threw us a bone and told us as much anyway.
It takes about 5 seconds to run a Google search and find Matt Hamill’s Wikipedia entry.
Any MMA fans who were shocked or disappointed in Hamill’s efforts have only themselves to blame for being lazy and getting themselves overhyped over a match where the final outcome of victory and defeat was about as predictable as they come.
UFC 130 Results See Tim Boetsch Make A Big Statement At 185 PoundsTim Boetsch has saved his mixed martial arts career by moving down to 185 pounds. He dominated Kendall Grove at UFC 130 en route to his first victory at middleweight. He has the potentia…
UFC 130 Results See Tim Boetsch Make A Big Statement At 185 Pounds
Tim Boetsch has saved his mixed martial arts career by moving down to 185 pounds. He dominated Kendall Grove at UFC 130 en route to his first victory at middleweight. He has the potential to be a force for a long time to come as a result of the weight cut.
The former 5150 Combat League light heavyweight champion could have stayed at 205 pounds in UFC, but he would have found himself dragging on preliminary cards for a long time.
Instead, he will be a force to be reckoned with in a division that features a number of really great fighters, led by Anderson Silva. While Boetsch is not at that level, he has the potential to be a contender in the very near future.
Against Grove, Boetsch was dominant. He showed excellent stand up and striking. He got takedowns at will. He was too big and strong for Grove to do anything with on the ground.
That loss to Phil Davis at UFC 123 was the best possible thing that could have happened to Boetsch. He now knows where his future is in mixed martial arts. He made a strong impression in his first fight at middleweight and should get a much better opponent his next time out.
He wasn’t big enough or strong enough to compete with the guys at light heavyweight, as Davis clearly showed, but at middleweight he is right at home. This fight was the beginning of bigger and better things to come for Boetsch in UFC.
UFC 130 Was The Crowning Of Brian Stann As The Next Great Middleweight ContenderIf UFC 125 was the star-making performance of Brian Stann, then UFC 130 was the day he became a true championship contender. The former U.S. Marine looked damn good once ag…
UFC 130 Was The Crowning Of Brian Stann As The Next Great Middleweight Contender
If UFC 125 was the star-making performance of Brian Stann, then UFC 130 was the day he became a true championship contender. The former U.S. Marine looked damn good once again by knocking out Jorge Santiago in the first round of their fight at UFC 130 last night.
The UFC middleweight division currently has a championship fight booked between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami at UFC Rio this summer. It’s a good fight, and Okami is certainly deserving of his opportunity, but Stann deserves the next shot at the title thanks to his strong performances in the octagon.
Stann’s game has really evolved lately, to the point where he is one of the most exciting fighters in all of mixed martial arts. Whenever he is on a card, you want to make a point to stop and watch him because you know you are going to see something special.
UFC loves a fighter like Stann. Not only he does he put on the kind of fights that they love to market, but he has a good story as a former military man and a good personality that makes it easy to sell a fight.
I don’t know what UFC has planned for the middleweight championship after Silva and Okami square off, they probably don’t even have a clue right now, but I know that Stann has earned the right to compete for the top prize in the division as soon as possible.
Dana White is a smart businessman. He knows that there is a strong desire to see Stann fight and fight against the best in the world. There is no reason not to give Stann his moment in the sun. He has done everything that he can to get this shot.
UFC 130 Results See Matt Hamill Dominated In The Biggest Fight Of His Professional CareerMatt Hamill did everything that he could to get a fight against Quinton Jackson. He practically got down on his knees and begged Dana White and Joe Silva to make t…
UFC 130 Results See Matt Hamill Dominated In The Biggest Fight Of His Professional Career
Matt Hamill did everything that he could to get a fight against Quinton Jackson. He practically got down on his knees and begged Dana White and Joe Silva to make this fight. They granted his wish last night at UFC 130 and it did not go the way that he was hoping. He is now left to wonder what will become of his career after last night’s decisive loss.
Hamill entered the fight having won his last five fights and seemed poised to become a real contender in the light heavyweight division if he could get by Jackson.
Sadly, things did not break his way at all. He looked very bland going for a number of weak takedowns that Jackson easily stuffed. His standup, which had been improving, really let him down last night. He got in a couple of decent shots to Jackson’s head, but nothing that came close to knocking him out.
This was the moment that Hamill wanted. He wanted a big name fighter to make his reputation and he blew it. He didn’t look good, and now he has to start all over again.
Hope is not lost for this young man, who does have the talent to be more than a mid-card fighter, but he will have to go back to basics for his next fight to figure out why he couldn’t keep up with Jackson. He will have to vary his style up a bit because his takedowns were awful. There was almost no life to anything that he was doing.
His first shot in the spotlight did not go as planned, but he will have plenty more opportunities to shine against the best light heavyweights in the world. As long as he tries to get more substance behind the style that he already has in tow.
