Tag: MMA

The 10 Best Moments in MMA Heavyweight History

With UFC 146 waiting in the wings following the UFC’s extended break, fans should be anticipating some great moments. The all-heavyweight card promises to deliver some exciting moments in the heavyweight division. It’s no secret that combat sports fans…

With UFC 146 waiting in the wings following the UFC’s extended break, fans should be anticipating some great moments. The all-heavyweight card promises to deliver some exciting moments in the heavyweight division.

It’s no secret that combat sports fans love the heavyweights. Going back to the old professional wrestling days and glory days of heavyweight boxing, fans love the idea of watching two guys who literally seem to be larger than life.

Heavyweight fights also tend to be extremely exciting as anytime two guys that weigh that much throw punches, odds are someone’s going down. Even if a fight doesn’t end in a knockout, some heavyweights throughout the years have created moments that were just as memorable with their submission victories as well.

For years fans argued over who had the top heavyweights—Pride or UFC. Regardless of your stance on who had the top talent, there’s no denying that the two organizations featured some of the best moments in MMA heavyweight history.

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Jon Jones: 5 MMA Fighters Who Have the Potential to Be the Next Floyd Mayweather

The world of MMA is fast becoming the equivalent of what boxing used to be and to some degree still is—one of the meccas of sporting entertainment. In the pantheon of the sweet science, there are stars, and then there are superstars, and the same…

The world of MMA is fast becoming the equivalent of what boxing used to be and to some degree still is—one of the meccas of sporting entertainment.

In the pantheon of the sweet science, there are stars, and then there are superstars, and the same now applies to professional mixed martial arts.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones’ rise to superstar status has been nothing short of meteoric, and as things stand, he has the potential to mirror some of the achievements of boxing’s own pound-for-pound great Floyd “Money” Mayweather.

Mayweather has several attributes that sets him apart from his peers—skill set, championship pedigree and promotional savvy. That and the fact he’s undefeated in 42 outings in a career spanning almost 16 years.

Apropos MMA, fighters are lucky if they can acquire just two of the aforementioned qualities.

NB Mayweather’s PPV pulling power not included.

With that said, here’s a look at some fighters with the potential to be the next Money May.

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Benson Henderson Says His Job is To Beat People Up, Not to Call Them Out

Benson Henderson isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. In fact, he welcomes it.The 155-pound champion has had a proverbial target on his back since relinquishing the title from Frankie Edgar at UFC 144.Seemingly unfazed by the amount competition, Hen…

Benson Henderson isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. In fact, he welcomes it.

The 155-pound champion has had a proverbial target on his back since relinquishing the title from Frankie Edgar at UFC 144.

Seemingly unfazed by the amount competition, Henderson is content on facing the best fighters possible, while hopeful to remain the divisional champion for the foreseeable future.

And he doesn’t need to look far for motivation.

“In my eyes, I don’t really see myself as one of those prima donna wide receivers: ‘I want this, and this has gotta happen.’ I represent the UFC,” Henderson told UFC.com.

“My job is not to match myself up and call this guy or that guy out. I’m not gonna go on Twitter and make my own match. Some guys are into that and that’s the way they want to pursue their career, and they can go right ahead. My job is to beat people up.”

Henderson’s humble attitude towards the sport is an essential part of what has kept him grounded as a person. Sporting a 16-2 professional record and a lightweight title, gives Henderson the recognition as one of the premier athletes in the UFC today. 

While some might confuse his demeanor for arrogance at times, Henderson assures he is only confident in his abilities, striving to prove his worth in the talented lightweight division. And he said it’s a characteristic every fighter should have, or at least try to employ.

“It’s not me looking ahead and being cocky all of a sudden like, oh, I beat Frankie Edgar and now all of a sudden I’m gonna smash everybody. I was saying this from the beginning,” he said. “I’m a very confident fighter and all fighters are, or they should be. I want to fight everybody on the roster at 155, I want to beat ‘em all, and I want to have a nice long reign at 155.”

“I want to make 155 my weight class and I want my name to be synonymous with it,” he concluded.

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Rashad Evans Looking Forward to Fighting Jon Jones, Says Drama Is ‘So Old’

Rashad Evans’ rise to the 205-pound division has been long, but a well-deserved one.From competing on The Ultimate Fighter to defeating some of the sport’s legendary fighters in Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans had many great mom…

Rashad Evans‘ rise to the 205-pound division has been long, but a well-deserved one.

From competing on The Ultimate Fighter to defeating some of the sport’s legendary fighters in Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans had many great moments in his career.

And on April 21st, he’ll have another great moment as he gets the opportunity to challenge Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title.

Evans and Jones’ history is well-documented, but for “Suga,” it goes much deeper than their title bout. Evans is hoping to beat Jones and settle their rivalry for good.

“I’m just looking forward to fighting him to be honest. A lot of the back and forth and a lot of the drama is so old,” Evans told Fiveouncesofpain.com. “I’m tired of hearing people say Jon is going to do this to you and he said this about you. It seems everyone has their own opinion.”

“For me, I am just looking forward to getting it on,” he said.

Throughout the past year, the animosity has built between the former teammates. Evans has been vocal on his relationship with Jones, as he said he felt betrayed by the 24-year-old and his coach Greg Jackson, leading to his exit from the Albuquerque, N.M.,-based camp.

The relocation to Imperial Athletics has been beneficial for Evans, who trains with such world-class fighters as Melvin Guillard and Alistair Overeem. Evans is reunited with former training partner Keith Jardine. 

It has allowed Evans to place himself in a more peaceful environment.

“Down here it’s more organized and there are a lot more talented guys,” he said.

In less than a month, Evans will attempt to recapture the 205-pound crown from an old rival and become a two-time UFC champion. The severed ties between him and Jones has given Evans the motivation to put forth the effort and prepare for arguably the biggest fight of his career.

And if Evans is successful, there will be no greater satisfaction than to hand Jones his first legitimate loss, and stand atop the light heavyweight division.

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Michael Bisping Thinks Tim Boetsch Is a Harder Fight Than Mark Munoz

Michael Bisping doesn’t mince words.It’s a trait that makes him one of the best interviews in the sport as well as one of the UFC’s most-hated fighters.Bisping joined the illustrious Gareth A. Davies on the ESPN UK Podcast and discussed several interes…

Michael Bisping doesn’t mince words.

It’s a trait that makes him one of the best interviews in the sport as well as one of the UFC’s most-hated fighters.

Bisping joined the illustrious Gareth A. Davies on the ESPN UK Podcast and discussed several interesting tidbits, including a comparison between his UFC 148 opponent Tim Boetsch and Mark Munoz.

I have never really looked at Mark Munoz and thought he looked like a particularly dangerous opponent. His ground and pound looks good, his wrestling doesn’t look all that dangerous, his stand up is suspect and he’s got a weak chin. I think Tim Boetsch is probably a harder fight.

I’m sorry, but I have a hard time taking someone seriously when they say Mark Munoz’ wrestling doesn’t look all that good.

We all know Munoz has some of the best wrestling in the sport, with the pedigree in amateur wrestling to back it up. His entire ground and pound game—which I will admit has become the most-feared aspect of his game—is predicated on his ability to effortlessly control his opponents on the ground.

It may not look like much, but it takes an enormous amount of skill and strength to do what Munoz does to his opponents on the ground.

I don’t know if Boetsch is a harder fight than Munoz.

Both fighters hit very hard and both are very strong, but I think Munoz’ wrestling game gives him an advantage over Boetsch. 

Bisping also revealed that he turned down an offer to fight Cung Le at UFC 148.

That’s a good move on his part. Le is coming off a knockout loss to Wanderlei Silva, and it would have been a step back for Bisping to go in the cage with him.

Bisping lost his last bout to Chael Sonnen, but looked great in the fight and it was much closer than the judges’ scorecards let on.

He should be inching his way towards a title fight, not away from one, and Le would have been a big step back in terms of his contending for the title.

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UFC: What Will the Post-PPV MMA World Look Like?

The UFC and WWE are constantly compared, but for once, it will be valid because the post-pay-per-view UFC will resemble the WWE and professional wrestling.Fans malign the fact that the UFC has too many pay-per-views at too high a cost given the “watere…

The UFC and WWE are constantly compared, but for once, it will be valid because the post-pay-per-view UFC will resemble the WWE and professional wrestling.

Fans malign the fact that the UFC has too many pay-per-views at too high a cost given the “watered-down” fight cards. Fortunately for them, Dana White foresees a day without pay-per-views.

What will this be like? It may bare resemblance to the older days of professional wrestling.

The WWE wasn’t always the PPV machine it is in more recent times. There used to be only a few major events per year on PPV (Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, the Royal Rumble and King of the Ring) while the majority of WWE programming was on television.

You’d see matches and storylines develop throughout the weeks and months on television and would only have to shell out your hard-earned cash on pay-per-views for the mega-events spaced throughout the year where you’d see feuds culminate and epic matches.

The post-PPV MMA world could be very similar. 

You can see “undercard” or lower-level fighters on FUEL, the mid-level fighters on FX and the upper-level fighters on FOX. 

PPV, if it’s used at all, will be used sparingly. Cards that are reserved for PPV might have more than one title fight or just one title fight that is epic in scale (think Silva-Sonnen II or a fight of that nature).

An additional benefit of not having many PPVs is that the sport will be more accessible; people won’t have to pay to see it anymore, so it will be followed by more people. With more viewers comes more advertisers, merchandise sales and people training in MMA. 

With more money, the fighters’ salaries raise. With more people training, the baseline level of talent increases, and the fighters that make it to the UFC are that much better for it.

Thus, the post-PPV MMA world will be one in which the UFC and MMA as a whole undergo a new renaissance, one that captivates the whole of American society.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com