UFC Betting Sites – The Best MMA Online Bookies
UFC best betting sites and the best MMA odds and gambling news
UFC 153 offered up a number of compelling contests, many of which came prior to the main broadcast during the oftentimes overlooked prelims—yet more evidence of why people should always tune in early on fight night.Indeed, three of the fights wer…
UFC 153 offered up a number of compelling contests, many of which came prior to the main broadcast during the oftentimes overlooked prelims—yet more evidence of why people should always tune in early on fight night.
Indeed, three of the fights were amongst the most exciting of the entire evening.
Read on to see how I ranked UFC 153’s preliminary bouts.
Jon Jones believes giving Chael Sonnen an undeserved UFC title shot would do more harm than good for the sport.Sonnen, who is coming off a loss to Anderson Silva, has recently turned his attention towards Jones and the UFC light heavyweight title.The g…
Jon Jones believes giving Chael Sonnen an undeserved UFC title shot would do more harm than good for the sport.
Sonnen, who is coming off a loss to Anderson Silva, has recently turned his attention towards Jones and the UFC light heavyweight title.
The growing beef between the MMA stars stems from the whole fiasco surrounding UFC 151, where Jones turned down a proposed title bout with Sonnen.
Despite being a world class fighter in his own right, Sonnen‘s mouth is the biggest contributor to his rise to stardom.
He has gone to incredible lengths in attempts to clown MMA legends like Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva and Fedor Emelianenko.
Now, the self-proclaimed “Oregon Gangster” has Jones in his crosshairs.
For Jones, the idea of fighting Sonnen is an internal struggle. On one hand, he’s giving fans the fight they want to see, but on the other, he feels he is minimizing the significance of the UFC title.
This isn’t professional wrestling. In the UFC, title opportunities are earned, not handed out. Jones recently took to Twitter to share his feelings on the escalating situation:
The more I realize how bad the fans want to see me fight Sonnen the more I am beginning to disregard whether he deserves it or not
A part of me wants to do it for the fans the other part of me feels as if it delegitimizes the importance of championship
At the end of the day, the UFC is a business, and it’s hard to deny Sonnen‘s marketing abilities. Silva may be an all-time great, but at UFC 148, it was Sonnen who turned a highly anticipated grudge match into the biggest fight in UFC history.
Could he do the same with Jones?
It’s certainly possible, especially with the growing bad blood between the two. Perhaps, the more appropriate question is whether or not the UFC would even make the fight.
Sonnen is expected to face former UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin at UFC 155. A win would add to his leverage in convincing the UFC to give him a shot at Jones.
Love him or hate him, it’s hard to discount Sonnen‘s exceptional business IQ.
A few months ago, he was dominated by Silva, and now, he is a potential title contender in the light heavyweight division.
Can life get any better?
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
This past week, Jake Shields said that he had tested positive for a banned substance and would be suspended for six months. Now, he has had his win over Ed Herman—incorrectly referred to as Dave Herman in the linked article—overturned to a …
This past week, Jake Shields said that he had tested positive for a banned substance and would be suspended for six months. Now, he has had his win over Ed Herman—incorrectly referred to as Dave Herman in the linked article—overturned to a no-contest.
Shields originally beat Herman by unanimous decision at UFC 150, making a successful middleweight return after a relatively unimpressive foray into the UFC welterweight division.
Now, Shields will have to deal with the six-month suspension as well as the no-contest on his record.
His suspension was retroactive to the date of UFC 150, August 11, so he will be eligible to return in mid-February.
In addition to his suspension, he will have to pay a fine of $5,675.
Five thousand dollars for the standard fine, plus he’s also been ordered to pay a 10 percent “additional surcharge” by the Executive Director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies.
Finally, he has to pay an additional $175 for administrative costs. As of today, October 15, he has two weeks to pay those fines.
Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on Twitter @TimMcTiernan.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
UFC 153 started off as a card that was going to put Jose Aldo in front of fans in Brazil for another title defense and then was changed to Frankie Edgar in a fight that fans had wanted to see since Edgar attained the lightweight title. Ultimately, inju…
UFC 153 started off as a card that was going to put Jose Aldo in front of fans in Brazil for another title defense and then was changed to Frankie Edgar in a fight that fans had wanted to see since Edgar attained the lightweight title. Ultimately, injuries once again plagued the UFC, and the main event needed two saviors.
Answering the call were Anderson Silva and Stephan Bonnar.
The two met inside the Octagon for what turned out to be another incredible performance from Silva, showcasing once again why he is considered the greatest fighter of all time.
His performance was typical yet extremely unique at the same time. Silva has painted the canvas of his career with highlight reel moments, and not just knockouts or submissions. When many fighters’ greatest moments are replayed, they start at the seconds leading up to the finish. With Anderson Silva, there are many moments within the fight itself that make his highlight reels.
This is because Silva is able to do things inside the cage that others cannot. Every person that steps inside the cage has some sort of talent, but many do not possess—or can implement—a unique style the way Silva does. Every man is beatable, and Silva is not invincible, but the manner in which he fights makes him seem untouchable.
In his bout with Bonnar, Silva was once again unpredictable and voluntarily kept his back and position against the cage. This position is usually not preferred since there is little to no room to escape and evade backwards, and the pressure and aggression are all on you. For Silva, he has defined his career from the middle of the cage or being the one on the outside attacking his opponent against the cage.
While the decision to stay on the cage was confusing initially, it does make sense with afterthought.
Bonnar was immediately written off by many when this fight was announced, but as the month rolled on leading up to the fight, many started to warm up to Bonnar’s chances. While still slim odds, Bonnar did posses some key things that gave him unique advantages. He had zero pressure going into the fight, had never been finished before and had a size—and possibly strength—advantage over Silva.
His best chances were to get into a top position on the ground and either smother Silva or look for submissions. This is where standing against the cage came into play. With Silva against the cage, it eliminated the forward motion of a takedown. If Silva was standing in the middle of the Octagon and Bonnar grabbed hold of a double or his body, he could have used his strength and size to bulldoze forward and used the momentum to put Silva’s weight off balance, making him backpedal.
Silva standing against the cage provided a stop behind him as well as gave him a defined place to build a foundation and stand his ground. It eliminated a long sprawl but gave the best chance for him to base himself and prepare. Silva has shown improvement in his takedown defense after his first bout with Chael Sonnen and showed in his rematch with him that he was ready to supplement his lack of wrestling prowess. He showed this again with Bonnar.
Standing against the cage was also intelligent because it forced Bonnar to engage and be the aggressor. Had the two been standing in the middle of the cage, Bonnar and Silva could have sized each other up, thrown feelers out and kept circling and feinting. With Silva giving Bonnar the Octagon control, he forced Bonnar’s hand and made him engage. Bonnar is a fighter who would have engaged anyway, but it gave Silva the mental edge to know that he had Bonnar on the offensive.
Most of Silva’s most memorable performances and incredible knockouts have come from guys who had tried to stand in front of him and exchange. By being confident in his head movement, ability to take a punch and countering, Silva made Bonnar fight his fight. Along with the aforementioned mental edge, he also may have had another psychological factor involved.
No fighter had stood against the cage in such a manner, and it may very well have been a tactic no one—including Bonnar—expected him to use. His positioning and demeanor may have thrown Bonnar off his game plan. Silva is a very intelligent fighter, and beyond the “Medusa effect” that he has on some opponents, he does various things to try to visually and mentally throw off his challengers.
While Silva wanted to save the card and entertain the crowd, his actions in the cage spoke louder statements than just being flashy. He may look like he is playing around, but it is his style and ability to pull off such moves inside the cage in the heat of competition that he is showcasing. Silva is not so much an entertainer, but an entertaining fighter. His strategies against Bonnar were a true testament to his intelligence, his skills, and why he is revered as the best in the world.
Love him or hate him, we are witnessing greatness and history in the making.
Join the MMA Facebook Page and follow the @FightersCreed on Twitter!
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Anderson Silva does not want to fight Jon Jones (listen to the “Spider” speak great English in his post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani).At least, that is what he tells the world anytime someone asks him about what would easily be the most anticipat…
Anderson Silva does not want to fight Jon Jones (listen to the “Spider” speak great English in his post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani).
At least, that is what he tells the world anytime someone asks him about what would easily be the most anticipated fight in MMA history.
After Silva’s one-sided waxing of Stephan Bonnar this past weekend at UFC 153, color commentator Joe Rogan asked the middleweight champ the obvious question: “Can we expect more fights from you at light heavyweight?”
Silva’s reply: “No. I am not going to fight at 205 again. I fought at 205 to save the event.” Silva stepped up when UFC 153 lost both its main and co-main events.
Silva not moving up to fight at 205 again would all but rule out a fight opposite Jon Jones, the current 205-pound champ.
For his part, Dana White, at the post-fight presser, had this to say in regard to the potential of a Silva vs. Jones superfight: “I know my man (Silva) says, ‘No, no, no,’ but for the amount of money that would be offered for that fight, I guarantee you I will make Anderson Silva say, ‘Yes, yes, yes.'”
While Dana was saying this, Silva was shaking his head and hammed up a facial expression of physical pain at the idea.
Later, in the post-fight media scrum—where a few hardcore MMA reporters gather around Dana in a more intimate setting—John Morgan of MMAJunkie.com asked Mr. White if he could pinpoint Silva’s reluctance to fight Jon Jones, and if he thought Silva was just negotiating with him.
Dana stated, “He’s playing games with me, that’s what he is doing. I know how he works, and I know how he thinks.”
White went on to say that Silva will want to prove, by the time he leaves, who the man is. Right now, Silva is clearly the man. But if Jones continues to rack up impressive wins while the meme that Silva is “ducking” Jones continues to proliferate…at what point do the fans start to waver on who they think numero uno is?
So if we are to believe Dana, all it will take to convince Silva to fight Jones is pressure and time, some game-playing and, ultimately, money—lots and lots of dinero. By no means Floyd Mayweather money, but for an MMA fighter, it would probably have to top whatever Brock Lesnar made for a fight.
However, at the post-fight presser, Silva stated that ever since he started training in martial arts, he has never thought about money. He concluded his line of reasoning as to why he is opposed to a fight with Jones by saying, “I’m old, guys…I’m getting old. I’m retired. I’m nearly there. I’ve only got another five years.”
Upon hearing that, Dana let out a delighted chuckle and said, “God, I hope he is right. Five more years would be awesome. I will fly down here, I’ll lock myself in a room with Jorge [Guimaraes], Ed Soares and him, and I’ll make this fight.”
At that, Silva once again shook his head while wagging both his index fingers, signaling “no.”
Silva revealed that he has two fights left on his current deal and that he expects one of them to be with current welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
“I think it’d be a great challenge for me,” Silva said. “I prefer him over Jon Jones. He’s smaller. It’ll be a little bit easier. I’ll be hit less.”
So is Silva simply holding out for the right amount of money? Is he, in fact, afraid to face Jon Jones—not keen at the idea of ending his career by potentially getting beaten up by a younger, larger champion?
And where is Jon Jones in all of this? He has reiterated that he does not want to fight Silva, but perhaps after a few more one-sided wins, he will drop the “I respect him too much to fight him” line and actually starting calling Silva out.
Only time will tell if “the greatest of all time” decides to bow to the increasing peer pressure from both Dana White and the fans and subsequently bow to Jon Jones as he stands across from him in the Octagon.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Looks like the UFC’s heavyweight division just got a lot more interesting, as the winner of the UFC 155 title bout between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez already has his future opponent.At the UFC 153 post-fight presser, UFC president Dana White …
Looks like the UFC’s heavyweight division just got a lot more interesting, as the winner of the UFC 155 title bout between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez already has his future opponent.
At the UFC 153 post-fight presser, UFC president Dana White stated that currently suspended heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem will get the next crack at the belt. MMA Junkie has the scoop.
“The winner of that fight will fight Overeem [in March or April],” White said bluntly.
JDS was originally scheduled to defend his title against “The Demolition Man” in May, but the former Strikeforce champion tested positive for elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels and was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for nine months.
This led to the Brazilian boxing specialist defending his belt against a former champion, Frank Mir, at UFC 146. Dos Santos controlled the fight until earning a second round TKO stoppage.
On the same card, Velasquez badly bloodied and beat Antonio ‘Bigfoot” Silva, scoring a first round TKO, immediately putting his name back into title contention.
Dos Santos knocked out Velasquez in just over a minute when he won the title in November, so some fans questioned whether or not Cain would get a rematch or if JDS would wait for Overeem to serve his suspension.
Despite being suspended, Overeem had some fighting words for JDS back in July, stating that “he’s afraid to fight.”
The trash talk riled up “Cigano,” who told Dana White in a one-on-one meeting in August that he was indifferent to a rematch with Velasquez and wanted to “knock him [Overeem] out right now.”
Overeem is currently undefeated in his past 12 fights, most recently retiring former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar when he easily finished him in the first round of their UFC 141 bout in December.
Does Overeem deserve a title shot after over a year of inactivity inside the Octagon due to a drug test related suspension?
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com