Tag: Matt Hughes

UFC 123: Penn Ends Epic Trilogy with 21-Second KO; Rampage Rebounds

Filed under: UFC, NewsAUBURN HILLS, Mich. – UFC president Dana White believes that BJ Penn is such a proud man that if he had lost at UFC 123, a defeat that would have marked three straight losses, he would have retired.

It’s safe to say Penn isn’t ca…

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – UFC president Dana White believes that BJ Penn is such a proud man that if he had lost at UFC 123, a defeat that would have marked three straight losses, he would have retired.

It’s safe to say Penn isn’t calling it quits anytime soon.

Instead, the Hawaiian mixed martial arts legend provided a rejuvenating jolt to his already-storied career, knocking out former two-time welterweight champion Matt Hughes in just 21 seconds before 16,404 fans at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

“I honestly don’t want to sit here and beat my chest over beating Matt,” Penn told MMA Fighting after capturing the rubber match of the trilogy. “He’s just another guy like me who’s been around the sport a long time. I’m very fortunate things went the way they did tonight. Besides that, I don’t want to harp on anything else.”

UFC 123 Aftermath: Rampage Jackson Sticks to a Game Plan … and Other Shocking Developments

(Same time tomorrow? Same time tomorrow. PicProps: UFC.com)
OK, three things: 1) Did Rampage deserve to win? Yes. 2) Was it a great fight? No. 3) After spending much of the last couple years making movies and generally acting disinterested in the fig…


(Same time tomorrow? Same time tomorrow. PicProps: UFC.com)

OK, three things: 1) Did Rampage deserve to win? Yes. 2) Was it a great fight? No. 3) After spending much of the last couple years making movies and generally acting disinterested in the fight game, did we think Jackson had it in him to beat Lyoto Machida leading up to UFC 123? No we did not, but we were wrong. Look, we’re not going to try to sell you a bill of goods that says Rampage looked outstanding out there on Saturday night. He didn’t, but he looked better than he has in some time and he implemented a solid, if unexciting game plan. Props to the much maligned Lance Gibson for cooking up a strategy (controlling the distance, punching off the break, trying to mix in some takedowns) that on this night was good enough to win two rounds against a suddenly very ordinary seeming Machida. Do we need to see them do it again? Meh … not really, so we’re glad UFC President Dana White is also opposed to the idea. Feels nice to agree with Dana for once.

BJ Penn is the real story here. Pretty much everyone on the planet said leading up to his third bout with Matt Hughes that the key for the former lightweight and welterweight champion was to come in motivated and in shape. Well, Penn proved very motivated this weekend. Crazy-eyed, mumbling-to-himself motivated. Unintelligible-after-the-fight motivated. So motivated that we had no time at all to see what kind of shape he was in after he came out of his corner like a house of fire and knocked Hughes cold in just 21 seconds. Now, if you thought Penn-Hughes III was a weird booking for Penn following his back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar at 155-pounds, just wait to hear who Big DW says he’s got next …

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UFC 123 Live Results and Commentary (Murder City Edition)

(“So then I said, ‘Hey Tim, Dana told me if you beat Rizzo he might let you back in the UFC.’ Man, you should’ve seen his face. I think the poor fucker believed me.” PicProps: CombatLifestyle)
I went to Detroit once. Durin…


(“So then I said, ‘Hey Tim, Dana told me if you beat Rizzo he might let you back in the UFC.’ Man, you should’ve seen his face. I think the poor fucker believed me.” PicProps: CombatLifestyle)

I went to Detroit once. During the summer of 1998 my band played at a bar called the Old Miami in the city’s Cass Corridor neighborhood. It was the kind of place where Vietnam veterans hung their actual purple hearts on the wall and tacked up fading snapshots of fallen fellow soldiers with the letters “KIA” scrawled above their heads in ballpoint pen. I kept expecting Dennis Hopper to wander in and say something like, “This is a heavy scene, man.” In fact, the whole town was like a living embodiment of every Bruce Springsteen song ever written. It was kind of cool, in an anthropological sort of way. Needless to say, the middle-aged ex-grunts who hung out at that bar didn’t seem to appreciate our particular brand of balls-to-the-wall, angsty hardcore music. Weird, I know.

I imagine not much has changed. In a lot of ways, war-torn old Detroit is the perfect setting  for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to stage a comeback fight. Both are getting on in years and still carry an aura of unpredictable violence despite the fact that their best days are probably behind them. I don’t even know what city Machida is like. Where do they drink the most piss? Santa Barbara? Probably Santa Barbara. Anyway,  we’ll be going live at 10 p.m. Eastern. As always, be sure to hit refresh early and often to keep up with the latest happenings.

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UFC 123 Co-Main Event Breakdown: Hughes vs. Penn III

Filed under: UFCAUBURN HILLS, Mich. — In an attempt to predict the winner of the BJ Penn-Matt Hughes trilogy finale, there’s two ways to look at history. You could either examine their previous fights against each other, and how that could affect a th…

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — In an attempt to predict the winner of the BJ Penn–Matt Hughes trilogy finale, there’s two ways to look at history. You could either examine their previous fights against each other, and how that could affect a third bout since the two are such familiar foes, or you could choose to examine their most recent bouts against their latest opponents. Whichever you felt was more valuable would help you decide which man was more likely to win.

Of course, neither outlook is likely to give you a crystal clear picture of how the fight will actually go. If you went on previous history before their first encounter, Hughes’ 13-match win streak made him a significant favorite over a fighter who was moving up to welterweight for the first time. Of course, he lost. If you went on previous history before their second bout, surely it would stand to reason that since Penn beat him once, he would beat him again. Of course, he lost.

BJ Penn Surrounds Himself With New Faces Heading Into UFC 123

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DETROIT — MMA Fighting spoke to BJ Penn on Thursday about his UFC 123 fight against Matt Hughes, why he surrounded himself with different coaches for this fight and whether his days of fighting at 155 are over.

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DETROIT — MMA Fighting spoke to BJ Penn on Thursday about his UFC 123 fight against Matt Hughes, why he surrounded himself with different coaches for this fight and whether his days of fighting at 155 are over.

UFC 123: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCIn at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his pla…

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In at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his played out bad breath jokes – we would have had comedy gold by now. I would have thought the combination of necessity and opportunity would help break some new ground in the field of bad breath jokes. Sort of like the polio vaccine, only much, much less helpful to society.

No such luck so far. Guess that means we’ll have to put our hopes in the fights themselves to entertain us. Let’s start with a look at how oddsmakers think Saturday night’s event will play out, along with some suggestions on where they might be wrong.

Lyoto Machida (-280) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (+220)