Tag: MMA

CM Punk’s First Opponent? Welterweight Cathal Pendred Suggests He’s First Up

It’s not just for Power Rangers any more. 
Real, honest-to-goodness UFC fighters are now positioning themselves as the first opponent for CM Punk, the former WWE wrestler who announced last Saturday he will try pro MMA in the UFC Octagon.
That fig…

It’s not just for Power Rangers any more. 

Real, honest-to-goodness UFC fighters are now positioning themselves as the first opponent for CM Punk, the former WWE wrestler who announced last Saturday he will try pro MMA in the UFC Octagon.

That fighter? One Cathal Pendred, the welterweight/middleweight of The Ultimate Fighter 19 fame, who sent a tweet Wednesday morning strongly suggesting he has been selected as Punk’s first UFC opponent:

Is Pendred just trolling his fans and followers? Is he just telling a funny joke to lighten the mood on a Wednesday morning? Is he using the power of suggestion to create a buzz for himself? Or is there something really going on here?

Surely there are plenty of reasons—money, notoriety, pride in defending your profession from untested tourists—why a fighter would want to take on someone like CM Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks. As such, Pendred‘s claim should be taken with a grain or seven of salt. Still, the strong words are interesting, and the fight makes at least a little bit of sense given Pendred‘s popularity, especially in his native Ireland, and the fact that he, despite his record, is a relatively beatable opponent.

The UFC hasn’t said much about Punk’s first fight. It has slated the fight for some time in 2015. Punk said Saturday he will try a test weight cut soon and then determine whether he will fight at middleweight or welterweight.

Though mainly a welterweight, Pendred fought at 185 pounds on TUF, so he is no stranger to either division. 

Additionally, UFC honcho Dana White has said the promotion would match Punk with “a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, something like that.” 

Pendred (15-2) would not appear to fit that bill. As such, the UFC may have a hard time convincing a self-respecting athletic commission that a fight between Pendred and the 0-0 Punk would be a safe thing to do.

There is also the small matter of fact that Pendred currently has an opponent lined up: Sean Spencer, who Pendred will fight in January.

Pendred also knows a thing or two about self-promotion, training at SBG Ireland alongside featherweight phenom and reigning UFC hype king, Conor McGregor.

Either way, Pendred‘s challenge is a step up from that of guys like Jason David Frank, the actor who played the green power ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and offered to face Punk early this week.

So is it likely to happen? Who knows. Stranger things have happened, and such concrete claims usually don’t materialize—on social media or anywhere else—unless there’s a clear line of thinking behind them.

Scott Harris covers the serious and less-serious aspects of MMA for Bleacher Report. For more of both, you are hereby invited to follow Scott on Twitter.

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UFC Rankings: Good Calls and Bad Calls Following UFC 181

It’s been a long and winding road for Robbie Lawler, but he reached the top of the welterweight division with a narrow decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 on Saturday.
Lawler wasn’t dominant, but he did more damage and defended 12 takedown…

It’s been a long and winding road for Robbie Lawler, but he reached the top of the welterweight division with a narrow decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 on Saturday.

Lawler wasn’t dominant, but he did more damage and defended 12 takedown attempts. Hendricks fell short on two scorecards, but his five takedowns resulted in most MMA media members believing he should have retained the 170-pound championship, according to MMADecisions.com.

While the decision could have gone either way, Lawler again proved he’s one of the best in the world. Was his performance enough to earn him a spot in the pound-for-pound UFC rankings?

Here are the latest official UFC rankings, via UFC.com, which are voted on by several MMA media members.

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TUF 20 Finale Preliminary Card Predictions

The show is over, the bracket has been busted and finals are set. That’s right, The Ultimate Fighter 20 is over, and it’s time to crown a new champion. 
While the championship is being settled on the main card, most of the other particip…

The show is over, the bracket has been busted and finals are set. That’s right, The Ultimate Fighter 20 is over, and it’s time to crown a new champion. 

While the championship is being settled on the main card, most of the other participants on the show occupy the undercard. They will jockey for position to get in the title picture of a new division looking for challengers.

UFC 181 saw me win more than I lost. Hopefully here, we continue to push the winning percentage to a higher number.

With that said, let’s look at the prelims and make predictions. 

 

2014 Riley’s Record: 167-100

Last Event: UFC 181 (4-2)

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Predicting All 10 UFC Champions at the End of 2015

2014 did not see a lot of title changes in the UFC. The 12 pounds of gold will have only been wrapped around five new waists by the end of the year.
Johny Hendricks won the vacant welterweight belt at the beginning of the year, but Robbie Lawler took t…

2014 did not see a lot of title changes in the UFC. The 12 pounds of gold will have only been wrapped around five new waists by the end of the year.

Johny Hendricks won the vacant welterweight belt at the beginning of the year, but Robbie Lawler took the belt away from him at the beginning of December. T.J. Dillashaw upset Renan Barao to claim the bantamweight belt, and Fabricio Werdum took home the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 180. This Friday, a belt will be awarded on the inaugural women’s strawweight champion.

Will 2015 see the belt exchange hands more often?

Champions typically defend their titles two or three times per year. That will put the total for title defenses between 20-30 for the upcoming year. The challengers will have to step their game up because the current slate of champions are some of the best in UFC history.

Let’s have a look at the current champions, their potential opponents and who will end up holding gold when 2015 comes to an end.

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Complete Guide to The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 Finale

The day is almost upon us! After 12 episodes of drama and brutality on The Ultimate Fighter, UFC President Dana White will strap a coveted UFC belt around the waist of one of these women on Friday night. 
Unlike many recent seasons, the entire cas…

The day is almost upon us! After 12 episodes of drama and brutality on The Ultimate Fighter, UFC President Dana White will strap a coveted UFC belt around the waist of one of these women on Friday night. 

Unlike many recent seasons, the entire cast will return for official UFC bouts, with most of them appearing at the finale on Friday night. In addition to the eight fights featuring the cast, a sure-to-be-exciting bout between KJ Noons and Daron Cruickshank and an interesting featherweight tilt between Jeremy Stephens and Charles Oliveira will also take place.

So what do you need to know entering fight night? Who can you expect to win? Find out here!

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Khabib Nurmagomedov on What Melendez Did Wrong and How He’ll Beat Pettis

Second-ranked Gilbert Melendez tried to contain the sensational striking chops of Anthony Pettis with bell-to-bell pressure in their lightweight title tilt at UFC 181 on Saturday.
Unfortunately for El Nino, his pressure-at-all-cost approach landed him …

Second-ranked Gilbert Melendez tried to contain the sensational striking chops of Anthony Pettis with bell-to-bell pressure in their lightweight title tilt at UFC 181 on Saturday.

Unfortunately for El Nino, his pressure-at-all-cost approach landed him in a precarious position in the second round, which ended with him tapping out for the first time in his career.

He may have been slightly impressed with Pettis‘ performance, but the way top-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov sees it, he won’t have the same issues with the champion

During an interview this week with Sherdog.com, Nurmagomedov talked about what makes him a threat to Pettis‘ throne:

My wrestling is [on a] different level. Gilbert Melendez is a very experienced guy, good boxing, good heart, good chin. A lot of respect for Gilbert Melendez, but if I have fight versus Anthony Pettis, I think I pressure him, hard punch, go takedown [and] top control. I think he no like this. You see Gilbert Melendez take him down and pressure him, but if Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Anthony Pettis fight, I think l am dominating. He have only [a] lucky punch knockout. His kicks are very good, his boxing is not bad, it’s okay, he’s a striking guy, I like this. If you have [a] striking opponent, you need to pressure it.

When asked if he thought Melendez had devised a proper game plan, which he simply didn’t execute against Pettis, Nurmagomedov answered with the following: 

No, no. I [don’t] think this. I think he try, try, try takedown. He tired. But he need [to] catch his leg [and] takedown. It’s very easy. Catch his leg, takedown, top control. Catch his leg, takedown, top control.

Nurmagomedov, who tore his right meniscus in July, said he’ll be ready to fight in the spring and that he’d prefer to fight Showtime for the belt in his first bout back.

That is, unless Pettis takes another 15-month layoff.

Pettis, in the meantime, threw water on the notion that an apparent injury to his left hand suffered in the Melendez fight will sideline him for any significant stretch of time via Twitter on Monday. 

Nurmagomedov has racked up a 22-0 record with seven knockouts and eight submissions since turning pro in 2008.

A 26-year-old Russian grappling specialist, Nurmagomedov has amassed a 6-0 mark in the UFC with one submission and one TKO.

Pettis (18-2) improved to 5-1 in the UFC and 10-2 under the Zuffa banner. He has finished each of his last four fights, with his last two wins coming via submission in lightweight title fights. 

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