Tag: Mauricio Rua

UFC 159 Preview: How Phil Davis Can Realign Himself with Alexander Gustafsson

UFC light heavyweights Phil Davis and Alexander Gustafsson are not so different.  The former debuted with the UFC in February of 2010 with a victory, while the latter debuted four months prior, notching a win of his own. Davis has donned the UFC g…

UFC light heavyweights Phil Davis and Alexander Gustafsson are not so different. 

The former debuted with the UFC in February of 2010 with a victory, while the latter debuted four months prior, notching a win of his own. Davis has donned the UFC gloves eight times, as has Gustafsson. And each fighter has lost just once in his career. Just three years ago, both were the clear-cut top prospects at the 205-pound mark, competing neck-and-neck to see who could climb the light heavyweight ranks in less time.

But one thing in particular should have set them apart.

On April 10, 2010, in Abu Dhabi, the two prospects came face-to-face in the Octagon to determine who would advance in the light heavyweight division, and who would, at least for that moment, be left behind; the promotion was clearly drawing a line in the sand.

That night, Davis won, submitting Gustafsson in the opening round and gaining a big edge over his fellow prospect.

Just over three years later, however, it seems Gustafsson is the one with the edge.

Gustafsson, currently on a six-fight winning streak, is ranked No. 2 in the UFC official light heavyweight rankings, coming in behind Lyoto Machida (No. 1) and Jon Jones (champion). 

Davis? He’s barely cracking the top 10, sliding into the No. 8 slot, just ahead of Gegard Mousasi (No. 9) and Ryan Bader (No. 10). 

So what has been the difference? How has Davis gone from submitting Gustafsson in 2010 to falling six spots below him in the current rankings? 

More importantly, can he reverse the trend? 

At UFC 159 this Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, “Mr. Wonderful” will certainly try, as he meets The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 runner-up Vinny Magalhaes on the evening’s main card. 

Magalhaes, who has three UFC fights in his career to Davis’ eight, spent the second half of 2009 to the end of 2011 working his way back to the promotion.

When he did return, he reintroduced himself with a dominant submission win over Igor Pokrajac at UFC 152. 

Davis, meanwhile, has been with the UFC since 2010, but has struggled to progress into one of the division’s elite the way Gustafsson has. And it has much to do with his recent outings.

Though he started his UFC career with five consecutive wins, capped off with a dominant victory against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Davis is 1-1 with one no contest in his past three fights, with the loss coming against Rashad Evans, the no contest coming against Wagner Prado and the victory coming against Prado in the rematch.

The no contest certainly could be credited to bad luck, and, to Davis’ credit, he wasted little time erasing that memory with a submission win over Prado at UFC 153. Also, a loss to Evans, at least at the time, was definitely not a bad loss. However, a streak of 1-1 with one no contest between January last year to today will take its toll on Davis’ stock.

Meanwhile, Gustafsson is a perfect 3-0 in his last three fights, defeating Vladimir Matyushenko, Thiago Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Yet even though Gustafsson has been better than Davis recently, are there really five light heavyweights separating the two?

The numbers would suggest no, at least in terms of strength of competition.

Davis’ opponents (excluding Gustafsson) have an overall UFC record of 29-19-1, giving them a combined winning percentage of 59.2 percent. Meanwhile, Gustafsson’s opponents (excluding Davis) have a combined UFC record of 38-25, good for a winning percentage of 60.3 percent.

While Gustafsson’s opposition seems like the more experienced bunch, Davis’ opponents combined have a winning percentage 1.1 points less than the Swedish contenders’.

Factor those numbers in with the win Davis has over Gustafsson and it seems at least moderately remarkable how far ahead “The Mauler” is. 

While Davis is fighting for contention, the man he defeated at UFC 112 is knocking on the door for a title shot. To make matters more perplexing, the aforementioned Nogueira, whom Davis dealt a loss to in the first quarter of 2011, is ranked in the fifth spot of the official light heavyweight ratings, meaning Davis holds wins over two individuals placed ahead of him.

But mixed martial arts is a sport focused on the now; fans and analysts, alike, rank based off recent performance. That explains how a win over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has Glover Teixeira tucked in the No. 4 spot, an absurdly high mark for a fighter with one (borderline) quality win in the UFC. I won’t say Davis deserves Teixeira’s spot, but I certainly believe the Pennsylvania native would top Rua, thanks to his wrestling, and Nogueira, because he’s done it before. 

At UFC 159 this Saturday, Davis has a chance to jump back up the light heavyweight ranks with a win against Magalhaes, a fighter as dangerous as he is underrated, and claim a contender’s spot alongside Gustafsson. In fact, a rematch between the two would be the most sensible matchup for both fighters, based on time frame and rank.

With a loss to Magalhaes…well, at that point I’d stop comparing the two. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Best of the Best: Anderson Silva’s Muay Thai Clinch Work

The Thai Clinch or plumm is a term which, in mixed martial arts circles, is used to describe a single position—the double-collar tie. This is the terrifying position with both hands cupped on the base of the opponent’s skull from which brut…

The Thai Clinch or plumm is a term which, in mixed martial arts circles, is used to describe a single position—the double-collar tie. This is the terrifying position with both hands cupped on the base of the opponent’s skull from which brutal knees to the face or body may be delivered. This position in itself requires more subtlety than most realise, but on its own, it is not “The Thai Clinch” or the plumm.

In truth, the plumm is just a blanket term for the clinch in Muay Thai and the Muay Thai philosophy in the clinch is a beautiful one. In MMA it is hard to think of anyone who epitomizes this philosophy better than the Spider at the centre of the Middleweight web, Anderson Silva.

In Muay Thai, the clinch is used to throw opponents—as it is in wrestling—but the purpose is not always to score a takedown for its own sake. In Muay Thai, the opponent is either off-balanced and struck as he attempts to stay upright, thrown hard to the mat in hopes of hurting him as well as scoring points, or thrown to the mat and hit on the way down. This is a style of clinch fighting geared toward violence more than toward tripping and opponent and achieving a pinning position.

Here are some clips of Saenchai Sor. Kingstar demonstrating some of Muay Thai’s clinch techniques.

Now the flashy climbing elbows are not that much use in a sport where people can just jump into your guard should you attempt them (though props are due to Demetrious Johnson for pulling it off against John Dodson), but Saenchai’s trips to unbalance opponents into strikes are an excellent example of the type of techniques that Silva uses so well.

Silva does not tend to take fights to the ground—except occasional performances against dangerous bangers with deficiencies on the ground like Lee Murray or Curtis Stout—Anderson prefers to strike. Yet Anderson has used trips to off-balance numerous opponents and make them expose themselves to his strikes.

Anderson’s second bout with Rich Franklin is a fantastic example. Rich Franklin knew that Anderson was going to try to secure the double collar tie, break Rich’s posture and work knee strikes. Franklin did an excellent job of maintaining his posture in this match, but Silva had far more tricks up his sleeve than a Wanderlei Silva or Mauricio Rua. Silva will not simply grab and pull on the head until he gets his way and give up if he can’t.  

Anderson used a trip which he likely didn’t even want to complete to force Franklin to step back. Franklin’s posture broke as he stumbled to stay on balance and this brought his head toward Silva’s right hand which Silva threaded behind Franklin’s head to complete the double collar tie. 

This is truly the difference between fighters who flail to grab a hold of their opponents head and try to knee, and someone like Silva who will set up his grips scientifically. 

Anderson Silva’s fight with the overmatched Stephan Bonnar was a clinic in clinch fighting from a striker’s perspective as Silva dominated the fight with short strikes while his back was to the cage. Any time Bonnar rested his head on Silva’s shoulder, Silva would bob down with a bend of his legs, come up with a sharp shoulder strike to Bonnar‘s nose and use the space to move or get off a good knee strike to the midsection. 

Another great example, similar to Saenchai‘s throws into knee strikes, came as Bonnar leaned on Silva, Silva turned and threw Bonnar againt the fence and landed a glancing right straight on the confused American Psycho. 

Silva’s domination of the clinch against Bonnar was so complete that at one point, Silva used a two-on-one grip to deflect a knee strike with Bonnar‘s own arm.

The finish to the Bonnar fight came off a successful trip, which Bonnar rushed to get back up. As he did so, Silva followed him and shoved him into the fence, switching feet and hitting Bonnar with a hard knee to the midsection as Bonnar rebounded off the cage.

Beautiful gif of the sequence here. 

In MMA, it is not just possible to catch the opponent with a hard strike while they are off balance on the way down, but also when they are regaining their balance on the way up.

Silva genius extends to the fact that once he has the truly dominant double-collar tie grip, he does not go wild and head hunt with knee strikes—he will instead use the control to steer the opponent into elbows, punches and will even throw crisp, low kicks while still holding his opponent’s head. 

A final factor that can really be pointed to as a reason for all of Silva’s success in MMA is his ability to aim. Silva does not just throw strikes—he aims and picks his strikes. Where many fighters are completely stifled if their opponent has strong posture when they have the double-collar tie, Silva is not at all stifled and lands effective knees to the midsection.

The reason that Silva’s knee strikes are so effective and other fighters seem less so is that Silva does not just throw knees to the abdomen (which is well-conditioned in most fighters and naturally clenched as the head is pulled upon) but aims knees at the unprotected rib cage. If Silva does throw a knee straight up-the-middle to the body, it will connect right on the solar plexus rather than against the opponent’s abdominal muscles. 

This care in aiming pays massive dividends and is why Silva can throw half-effort strikes with frightening effectiveness while other fighters strain and expend themselves with ineffective blows.

The clinch from a striker’s perspective is massively underused in MMA to this day, but Silva has shown how effective the clinch can be as a platform for striking in direct conflict with a wrestler’s approach to the clinch. Hopefully in years to come we will see much more effective striking from the clinch in MMA.

Jack Slack breaks down over 70 striking tactics employed by 20 elite strikers in his first ebook, Advanced Striking, and discusses the fundamentals of strategy in his new ebook, Elementary Striking.

Jack can be found on Twitter, Facebook and at his blog: Fights Gone By.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 161 Set for June 15th in Winnipeg With Henderson vs. Evans, Shogun vs. Lil’ Nog 2


(Keep in mind that Rashad makes $300,000 to show. Flowchart rules are officially in play. / Photo via USA Today Sports)

As confirmed by UFC president Dana White, the UFC will make its first visit to the Canadian province of Manitoba for UFC 161, which is slated for June 15th at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre. Two big-name light-heavyweight bouts are already tied to the card.

First up, Dan Henderson will try to bounce back from his split-decision loss against Lyoto Machida with a match against Rashad Evans, who could also use a little redemption following his own low-energy loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156. That defeat made it back-to-back losses for Suga, who previously fell short in his title challenge against Jon Jones. (Fun fact: The “Blackzilians” team that Evans belongs to currently holds a record of 12-15 in the UFC, with only Michael Johnson batting above .500.)

Speaking of Lil’ Nog, the Brazilian vet will be carrying a two-fight win streak into the Octagon with him at UFC 161 when he faces Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who’s coming off his defeat against Alexander Gustafsson. The fight will come eight years after Rua won a decision against Nogueira in their first meeting at Pride Critical Countdown 2005, during the quarterfinals of PRIDE’s 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix — and apparently, these guys have been jawing about a rematch for some time now. But of course, Shogun isn’t the young phenom he used to be, and Nogueira definitely has some miles left in him. Any predictions for the rematch?


(Keep in mind that Rashad makes $300,000 to show. Flowchart rules are officially in play. / Photo via USA Today Sports)

As confirmed by UFC president Dana White, the UFC will make its first visit to the Canadian province of Manitoba for UFC 161, which is slated for June 15th at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre. Two big-name light-heavyweight bouts are already tied to the card.

First up, Dan Henderson will try to bounce back from his split-decision loss against Lyoto Machida with a match against Rashad Evans, who could also use a little redemption following his own low-energy loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156. That defeat made it back-to-back losses for Suga, who previously fell short in his title challenge against Jon Jones. (Fun fact: The “Blackzilians” team that Evans belongs to currently holds a record of 12-15 in the UFC, with only Michael Johnson batting above .500.)

Speaking of Lil’ Nog, the Brazilian vet will be carrying a two-fight win streak into the Octagon with him at UFC 161 when he faces Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who’s coming off his defeat against Alexander Gustafsson. The fight will come eight years after Rua won a decision against Nogueira in their first meeting at Pride Critical Countdown 2005, during the quarterfinals of PRIDE’s 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix — and apparently, these guys have been jawing about a rematch for some time now. But of course, Shogun isn’t the young phenom he used to be, and Nogueira definitely has some miles left in him. Any predictions for the rematch?

Report: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to Rematch Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in June

If PRIDE fans thought their days of nostalgia were over after Saturday night’s UFC on Fuel 8 in Japan, check out the light heavyweight matchup the UFC has on deck for June. According to a report by Brazilian media outlet Lance!Net (trans…

If PRIDE fans thought their days of nostalgia were over after Saturday night’s UFC on Fuel 8 in Japan, check out the light heavyweight matchup the UFC has on deck for June. 

According to a report by Brazilian media outlet Lance!Net (translation via MMA Mania), verbal agreements are in for a light heavyweight clash between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. 

The bout, set to take place at a yet-to-be-determined location and event in June, is a rematch from June 2005. The “Fight of the Year” performance ended in a unanimous decision victory for “Shogun.”

Rua, a former UFC light heavyweight champ, is no longer the dominant force he once was, going just 3-4 in his past seven fights. 

His most recent performance was a unanimous decision loss to rising contender Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fox 5 in December. 

“Lil’ Nog” also appeared to be on the tail end of his career after losing consecutive decisions to accomplished wrestlers Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, but has since rebounded with wins over Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. 

Injuries have also kept the highly decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt inactive in recent memory, as he has only fought three times since March 2011 and actually didn’t step inside the cage at all in 2012.

A third consecutive win over a former divisional champion would easily put the 36-year-old in the title picture at 205 pounds.

Also worth noting is the fact that Nogueira asked for a rematch with Shogun back in August, but his wish wasn’t granted until he was able to defeat Evans at UFC 156 last month.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Possible Rematch Alert: “Shogun” Rua and Lil’ Nog Both Interested in Do-Over of Epic ‘Critical Countdown’ Clash


(Trunchface: When a troll face meets a punch-face, the result is always legendary.) 

You see, this is what we love about “old school” fighters like Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. They don’t give a shit about rankings (probably because they know the UFC’s official ones are shit anyways), the easiest path to a title shot, or sponsorship deals with anyone not named Praetorian. They only care about scores, and specifically, settling them. It is for this reason alone that Lil’ Nog — the same one currently riding a two-fight win streak including a win over Rashad Evans at UFC 156 earlier this month — recently stated an interest in a rematch with Rua — the same one who has gone loss-win in his past 7 contests and is on the heels of a UD loss to Alexander Gustafsson in December. That is of course, according to UFC President Dana White:

(Shogun vs Evans) is a fight, yeah. That is a fight that could happen, yeah. But I keep hearing this thing that Nogueira and Shogun want to fight each other, they want to do the rematch. I don’t know how that makes sense for Nogueira, but that’s what they want, that’s what I’m hearing they want. Far be it from me to not give somebody what they want. 

Let’s just act like that last sentence never happened for a moment and focus on the potential matchup at hand. Rua and Nogueira first met back at PRIDE FC – Critical Countdown 2005, where Rua emerged victorious by way of unanimous decision in a fight that became an instant classic amongst fans of the sport. The rematch (and a TUF: Brazil coaching gig) was first suggested by Nog back in August, and while circumstances have surely changed in the time since, we can’t imagine there would be a lot of resistance to the idea from a fan’s point of view. Clearly White agrees, but how about you Taters?

Now break out your foam fingers and chug some Yunker Fanti, because we’ve thrown a full video of Rua/Nogueira 1 after the jump to get you amped for the all but inevitable rematch. PRIDE NEVA DIE!!!


(Trunchface: When a troll face meets a punch-face, the result is always legendary.) 

You see, this is what we love about “old school” fighters like Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. They don’t give a shit about rankings (probably because they know the UFC’s official ones are shit anyways), the easiest path to a title shot, or sponsorship deals with anyone not named Praetorian. They only care about scores, and specifically, settling them. It is for this reason alone that Lil’ Nog — the same one currently riding a two-fight win streak including a win over Rashad Evans at UFC 156 earlier this month — recently stated an interest in a rematch with Rua — the same one who has gone loss-win in his past 7 contests and is on the heels of a UD loss to Alexander Gustafsson in December. That is of course, according to UFC President Dana White:

(Shogun vs Evans) is a fight, yeah. That is a fight that could happen, yeah. But I keep hearing this thing that Nogueira and Shogun want to fight each other, they want to do the rematch. I don’t know how that makes sense for Nogueira, but that’s what they want, that’s what I’m hearing they want. Far be it from me to not give somebody what they want. 

Let’s just act like that last sentence never happened for a moment and focus on the potential matchup at hand. Rua and Nogueira first met back at PRIDE FC – Critical Countdown 2005, where Rua emerged victorious by way of unanimous decision in a fight that became an instant classic amongst fans of the sport. The rematch (and a TUF: Brazil coaching gig) was first suggested by Nog back in August, and while circumstances have surely changed in the time since, we can’t imagine there would be a lot of resistance to the idea from a fan’s point of view. Clearly White agrees, but how about you Taters?

Now break out your foam fingers and chug some Yunker Fanti, because we’ve thrown a full video of Rua/Nogueira 1 after the jump to get you amped for the all but inevitable rematch. PRIDE NEVA DIE!!!

–J. Jones

UFC on Fox 6 Results: Ryan Bader Calls out Shogun Rua after Dominant Win

Ryan Bader has never looked better than he did on Saturday night in Chicago. On the preliminary portion of UFC on Fox 6, the Ultimate Fighter winner met veteran fighter Vladimir Matyushenko in a record-breaking performance.After sending “The Janit…

Ryan Bader has never looked better than he did on Saturday night in Chicago. On the preliminary portion of UFC on Fox 6, the Ultimate Fighter winner met veteran fighter Vladimir Matyushenko in a record-breaking performance.

After sending “The Janitor” crashing down with a right hand, Bader latched on to the head and arm of his opponent and began squeezing in a modified guillotine choke that was as aesthetically peculiar as it was effective.

Matyushenko was forced to tap out for the first time in his 33-fight career only 50 seconds into the first round.

The victory for Bader marked the fastest submission in the history of the UFC light heavyweight division. 

In a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Bader made it clear who he would like to face in his next contest (via Yahoo Sports).

I was honored to fight Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson, guys I idolized coming up before I was in the UFC. I’d love to fight another legend in Shogun Rua. I think we’d have a great fight and to share the Octagon with him would be an honor.

Rua is a former UFC champion who has seemingly been allergic to momentum since joining the UFC in 2007. The PRIDE superstar holds a UFC record of 5-5 and is coming off of a December loss to kickboxer Alexander Gustafsson.

This would mark the fourth time that Bader gets into the cage with a former UFC champion. Aside from the fights he mentioned against Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson, Bader also tangled with Lyoto Machida at UFC on Fox 4 last year. “Darth” was knocked out in the second round of that contest.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com