Fighters train relentlessly in all aspects of mixed martial arts in order to perform heroics inside the cage, but sometimes those same skills can prove to be invaluable out in the real world too. In this article, we’ll look back at 10 incidents where a MMA fighter has came as close as you are likely […]
Fighters train relentlessly in all aspects of mixed martial arts in order to perform heroics inside the cage, but sometimes those same skills can prove to be invaluable out in the real world too.
In this article, we’ll look back at 10 incidents where a MMA fighter has came as close as you are likely to get to a real-life crime-fighting superhero by putting their hard-earned abilities to good use in the spur of the moment in order to catch a criminal.
Jon Jones
These days UFC light heavyweight superstar Jon Jones may be better known for his own run-ins with the law, but back in March of 2011 he was still cultivating a squeaky-clean persona in the public eye as he prepared for his first ever title shot against the light-heavyweight champion at the time, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
On the day of the event in Newark, New Jersey, Jones and his long-time coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn traveled to a nearby park in order to relax and get his mind right ahead of the biggest fight of his career.
They had been forewarned that this was a rough neighborhood, and sure enough, before they had even stepped out of the car a thief smashed an elderly couple’s car window nearby, stole their belongings and then took off running down the street.
Jackson and Winkeljohn immediately began chasing after the criminal, but Jones soon accelerated ahead of them and was able to footsweep the criminal to stop him in his tracks.
Worried that the fighter might get injured before his big fight, Jackson yelled at him to stay away and then took over himself, diving on top of the thief and applying an armlock, while Jones then figure-foured his legs to keep him in place until the police arrived.
Just hours later, Jones would go on to TKO ‘Shogun’ in the third round at UFC 128, marking the start of a long title reign at 205 pounds.
Ahead of his UFC 208 main card bout against highly regarded Middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, longtime UFC contender Tim Boetsch is featured in the latest “UFC 208 Free Fight.” Featured above via the UFC’s official YouTube page is the complete Tim Boetsch vs. Nick Ring bout from the UFC 135 pay-per-view held in Denver, […]
Ahead of his UFC 208 main card bout against highly regarded Middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, longtime UFC contender Tim Boetsch is featured in the latest “UFC 208 Free Fight.” Featured above via the UFC’s official YouTube page is the complete Tim Boetsch vs. Nick Ring bout from the UFC 135 pay-per-view held in Denver, […]
Dana White lobbed a financial insult at Renan Barao in the wake of UFC 177.
In case you’ve been away from the Internet for the last few days: The main event of UFC 177 was supposed to be bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao–an unnecessary rematch of their bout from May. Barao botched his weight cut, which caused him to fall and hit his head in the shower. He was rushed to the hospital and couldn’t fight. Weight cutting is a serious health issue, but Dana White and the UFC apparently don’t care.
Insults to the ego are one thing, insults to the wallet are another. The former is naught but the buzzing of flies, but the latter stings like Head and Shoulders in the eye. Renan Barao will probably get over Joe Rogan essentially calling him an embarrassment to himself and the UFC. But will Barao get over Dana White refusing to pay him his show money? Because that’s what Dana White is doing. He’s not paying Barao.
(Photo via Getty.)
Dana White lobbed a financial insult at Renan Barao in the wake of UFC 177.
In case you’ve been away from the Internet for the last few days: The main event of UFC 177 was supposed to be bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao–an unnecessary rematch of their bout from May. Barao botched his weight cut, which caused him to fall and hit his head in the shower. He was rushed to the hospital and couldn’t fight. Weight cutting is a serious health issue, but Dana White and the UFC apparently don’t care.
Insults to the ego are one thing, insults to the wallet are another. The former is naught but the buzzing of flies, but the latter stings like Head and Shoulders in the eye. Renan Barao will probably get over Joe Rogan essentially calling him an embarrassment to himself and the UFC. But will Barao get over Dana White refusing to pay him his show money? Because that’s what Dana White is doing. He’s not paying Barao.
“Barao’s not making any money,” Dana White said at the post-UFC 177 media scrum. “I’m not paying Barao. Barao showed up and didn’t fight.”
Henry Cejudo, who also messed up his weight cut and couldn’t fight, did not get paid. In the scrum, White referred to Cejudo as a “kid.”
First: Don’t call an OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST “kid.” That’s denigrating and stupid.
Second: What the fuck, Dana?
So Cejudo and Barao don’t get paid for draining their bodies of precious nutrients because Dana White is mad at them? It wouldn’t be a shameful Dana White moment without weapons-grade hypocrisy.
Though details are sketchy at this time, MMAJunkie reports that Ring has been forced out of his scheduled match against Hall, and will be replaced by Josh Samman — a fellow TUF 17 vet who was eliminated by Kelvin Gastelum in the show’s semi-finals, but returned at the TUF 17 Finale to score a second-round TKO against Kevin Casey. So it’s like Hall and Samman never left the show, and are now competing for the TUF 17 bronze medal, while Dylan Andrews sits in the corner shouting “what about meeeeeeeee?!?”
The current lineup of ‘UFC on FOX Sports 1 1’ is after the jump…
(“mumblegumblemurglegurgle…anyway, you do that for like 10 minutes and usually the guy cums.” / Screen-cap via FuelTV)
Though details are sketchy at this time, MMAJunkie reports that Ring has been forced out of his scheduled match against Hall, and will be replaced by Josh Samman — a fellow TUF 17 vet who was eliminated by Kelvin Gastelum in the show’s semi-finals, but returned at the TUF 17 Finale to score a second-round TKO against Kevin Casey. So it’s like Hall and Samman never left the show, and are now competing for the TUF 17 bronze medal, while Dylan Andrews sits in the corner shouting “what about meeeeeeeee?!?”
The current lineup of ‘UFC on FOX Sports 1 1′ is after the jump…
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 6 p.m. ET)
Michael McDonald vs. Brad Pickett
Conor McGregor vs. Andy Ogle
Mike Brown vs. Akira Corassani
Diego Brandao vs. Daniel Pineda
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 4:30 p.m. ET)
Manny Gamburyan vs. Cole Miller
Cody Donovan vs. Ovince St. Preux
Ramsey Nijem vs. James Vick
(Hall attempts the infamous “Cover Your Eyes and Pray the Scary Monster Goes Away” defense to no avail at the TUF 17 Finale. Photo via Getty Images.)
Perhaps the only thing more dangerous than accepting a coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighteris being heralded by Dana White as “the next Anderson Silva” while still participating on the reality show. Ten seasons ago, it was Phillipe Nover who drew the unjust and bombastic comparisons to the pound-for-pound king. Though a loss to Efrain Escudero — who would also become one of the show’s more notorious washouts — in the season’s finale may have not derailed his hype train entirely, his consecutive losses to Kyle Bradley (ouch.) and Robert Emerson (OH COME ON!) surely did. But just as every story has a happy ending, Nover now earns his living pushing the stretchers, not lying on them.
In any case, if Hall doesn’t want to end up changing bedpans for crotchety geezers in the future (not that there’s anything wrong with that), he better bring his A-game when he meets fellow TUF-finalist Nick Ring at the much anticipated UFC on FOX Sports 1:1 card in August. That’s right, Bostonians, not only do we get Overeem vs. Brown, Alves vs. other Brown, Lauzon vs. Johnson, and (potentially) Henderson vs. Grant, but now we get to see Uriah Hall’s make-or-break fight in the UFC. Expect some Eddie Gordo-level shit to go down in this one, Potato Nation.
(Hall attempts the infamous “Cover Your Eyes and Pray the Scary Monster Goes Away” defense to no avail at the TUF 17 Finale. Photo via Getty Images.)
Perhaps the only thing more dangerous than accepting a coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighteris being heralded by Dana White as “the next Anderson Silva” while still participating on the reality show. Ten seasons ago, it was Phillipe Nover who drew the unjust and bombastic comparisons to the pound-for-pound king. Though a loss to Efrain Escudero — who would also become one of the show’s more notorious washouts — in the season’s finale may have not derailed his hype train entirely, his consecutive losses to Kyle Bradley (ouch.) and Robert Emerson (OH COME ON!) surely did. But just as every story has a happy ending, Nover now earns his living pushing the stretchers, not lying on them.
In any case, if Hall doesn’t want to end up changing bedpans for crotchety geezers in the future (not that there’s anything wrong with that), he better bring his A-game when he meets fellow TUF-finalist Nick Ring at the much anticipated UFC on FOX Sports 1:1 card in August. That’s right, Bostonians, not only do we get Overeem vs. Brown, Alves vs. other Brown, Lauzon vs. Johnson, and (potentially) Henderson vs. Grant, but now we get to see Uriah Hall’s make-or-break fight in the UFC. Expect some Eddie Gordo-level shit to go down in this one, Potato Nation.
Ring is also coming of a disappointing loss — a split decision to Chris Camozzi at UFC 158 – and has dropped two of his past three fights. We don’t want to say that the chair will be kicked out from underneath him with a loss here, but the noose is surely tied around his neck and BROOKS WAS HERE has already been carved in the support beam above him, so to speak. Rita Hayworth.
Do any of you guys remember how Soa Palelei was pulled from UFC 161 for not being a big enough name and replaced by Roy Nelson? Well it looks like the move was ultimately a blessing in disguise for the Aussie, as he has been booked against octagon newcomer Nikita Krylov at UFC 164, which goes down from the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee on August 31st.
Palelei was originally scheduled to face the highly-touted Stipe Miocic on June 15th, a fight that he was a sizable underdog heading into, but now finds himself facing a guy who not only calls himself “The Al Capone,” but dresses like him in his fighter profile picture.
(I swear, officer, I’ve never even *heard* of this Roger Rabbit fellow you speak of. Photo via Sherdog.)
Known by the everyday world as Nikita Krylov (why anyone with the name of a James Bond supervillain would want a nickname in the first place is beyond me), this 21 year-old has gone undefeated in 14 contests, with not one of those fights making it outside of the first round. Sounds intimidating, right? Not to worry; a quick gander over Krylov’s list of opponents reveals nine…count ‘em, NINE opponents with no professional wins, ONE fighter with over six fights to his credit, and TWO winning records. Krylov may be the most feared can-crusher in all of the Ukraine, but Soa Palelei is on a whole. notha. level of can-crushing notoriety here. Expect Palelei to come in as a heavy favorite.
And in injury-shuffling news, the hotly-anticipated lightweight bout between Edson Barboza and John Makdessi at UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidmanhas suffered a minor setback, as Makdessi has gone down with an undisclosed injury. Replacing him will be Rafaello “Tractor” Oliveira, who has gone 1-2 in his second octagon stint. After suffering a particularly vicious and prolonged beating at the hands of Yves Edwards at UFC Live 6 in 2011, Oliveira fought just once last year, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Yoislandy Izquierdo at UFC 148. At least we will see a knockout is what we’re trying to say.
Following an impressive run of knockouts on The Ultimate Fighter Season 18, Uriah Hall will try to rebound from a loss in the finale when he returns to action at UFC on Fox Sports 1 on August 17 in Boston. Hall will square off with fellow Ultimate Figh…
Following an impressive run of knockouts on The Ultimate Fighter Season 18, Uriah Hall will try to rebound from a loss in the finale when he returns to action at UFC on Fox Sports 1 on August 17 in Boston.
Hall will square off with fellow Ultimate Fighter alum Nick Ring in a battle of stand-up fighters according to UFC officials who announced the fight late on Thursday evening.
A kickboxer by trade, Hall made quite the impact when he first appeared on TUF 18 and ended up on coach Chael Sonnen’s team. In his first fight after making it into the house, Hall faced Team Jon Jones’ fighter Adam Cella in a quarterfinal matchup.
With just seconds remaining in the first round, Hall uncorked a spectacular spinning heel kick that landed flush on Cella’s jaw, sending him crashing to the mat, unconscious from the blow. It was regarded as one of the most devastating knockouts in MMA history and won Hall the Knockout of the Season award from The Ultimate Fighter.
Hall finished off his next two opponents in equally devastating fashion with a knockout over Bubba McDaniel and then another finish to put away Dylan Andrews to make it to the final showdown of the season.
It was there that Hall finally looked human when he took on former housemate Kelvin Gastelum, and while the flashy Jamaican had his moments in the fight, he couldn’t mount the right offense that night and ended up losing by split decision.
Since that fight, Hall split with his former team and coaches at Team Tiger Schulman in New York and began training more on the West Coast most recently working with Mark Munoz and his camp of fighters at the Reign Training Center in Orange County, Calif. Now Hall will get a chance to redeem himself from the last loss when he heads back to the East Coast for his first fight post-TUF 18.
Facing Hall in Boston will be Season 11 cast member from The Ultimate Fighter, Nick Ring.
The Canadian striker has bounced back and forth between wins and losses over his last four fights picking up victories over Court McGee and James Head, while dropping bouts against Tim Boetsch and Chris Camozzi.
Now Ring faces another striker with serious power and an arsenal of weapons at his disposal when he takes on Hall at UFC on Fox Sports 1 in August.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
