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TUF 13 Finale Results: Jeremy Stephens Brutalizes Danny Downes In Victory

The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale on Spike TV was the introduction of some fighters, such as Anthony Pettis, to the pinnacle of mixed martial arts as they battled their way into the hearts of millions of Americans. Conversely, fighters who are skille…

Conversely, fighters who are skilled veterans continued to make their mark within the UFC with impressive victories. Cue Clay Guida.

One fighter who seems to rack up victories under the radar is Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens. This past Saturday, the lightweight competitor continued to dominate in his matchup in a silent demeanor.

How can the words “dominate” and “silent” be utilized in the same sentence?

Stephens’ performances within the Octagon are full of explosiveness, fireworks, power, and brutality; however the Des Moines, Iowa native continues to navigate the lightweight waters unnoticed within division.

Stephens defeated Daniel Downes, sweeping the judges’ scorecards en route to a unanimous decision victory at TUF 13.

In classic “Lil’ Heathen” style, Stephens was violent, aggressive, and relied on his in-cage experience to dominate the Duke Rufus protege.

Drawing Downes’ blood in the third round, Stephens may have tallied a submission victory to add to his highlight reel of knockouts if it was not for the saving bell prior to the tapout.

Could it be possible that Stephens is a victim of his most valuable asset, the knockout?

With 11 fights within the UFC, Stephens has secured six victories, of which he has earned three Knockout of the Night honors.

Fourteen total knockouts grace Stephens’ overall MMA record.

Potentially lacking a complete fight game necessary to be in the title talk with the names of Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard and Clay Guida, “Lil” Heathen may now have the reputation as a “one-trick pony” with only the ability to earn a victory from a KO.

Couple that possible moniker with the fact that Stephens has lost a few competitive fights against top-tier lightweights including Melvin Guillard and Joe Lauzon, and these two facts may be the reason for Jeremy Stephens’ knockout prowess to go virtually unpublicized by media and fans, and his current ranking outside of the championship discussion within the division.

The future for Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens is somewhat unclear within the UFC lightweight division. What is evident, however, is the Stephens needs to earn victories over the upper echelon of the division.

The talent that resides at 155 pounds could arguably be the best within all of mixed martial arts.

Stephens is scheduled to face another hard-hitting lightweight who enjoys exchanging in the center of the cage in the wiley veteran, Takanori Gomi, on September 17th.

A victory over this Japanese star may elevate Stephens into the top 10 of the UFC lightweight division.

Or he may continue to exist relatively benign, except for periods of adoration and bonus money from the UFC for his extremely dangerous knockout power.

I welcome your comments.

Todd Seyler

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Follow me on Twitter @magnus06

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UFC: Is the Excitement of UFC Events Declining? Is MMA in Crisis?

This past Saturday the finale for the 13th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) reality show concluded. Although the season went out with more of a whimper rather than a bang, many in the MMA community are making it seem far worse than that.Much critic…

Much criticism has been directed towards the way MMA is judged and the way wrestlers fight (or avoid the fight in the eyes of the critics). This criticism is making it seem like the sky is falling in MMA.

Even former UFC champion and former King of Pancrase Bas Rutten got involved, saying on his twitter that the fight “was not as exciting as [he] thought it would be, Guida vs Pettis, Guida plyd [sic] safe, takedown, holding, Pettis really good from his back”.

So, is the “sky falling” in MMA? Is the entertainment value of the sport, specifically of the UFC’s events, declining?

The short answer is “No” but in reality the issue is more complicated than just one word (for a lengthier assessment of the issue read fellow Bleacher Report writer Jonathan Shrager’s take on the subject).

The truth of the matter, in large part, is the simple fact that the sport is gaining more popularity and therefore more fans of which there is a very vocal minority that expects every fight to be Forest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar (the fight that “put MMA on the map” as it were).

To put it more succinctly: It isn’t a problem of fight quality but a problem of unrealistic expectations.

There is little probability of the UFC becoming “boring” and losing it’s popularity, the purported surge of “lay and pray” fighters notwithstanding. Concerning fights like Guida-Pettis, people will eventually learn to appreciate the skill involved in what Guida did and in dominant wrestling in general.

However, there is one issue regarding the Pettis-Guida fight that does have some merit.

Once again, Bas Rutten shares his opinion:

If somebody takes you down and just holds you, they should count that takedown AGAINST him. Now, this was of course not the case with Guida, so you can give him the takedown, but on the ground, all the attacks (pretty much) came from Pettis, I am just saying, that should count for something as well.

People say, “Yeah, but submission escapes should count for something as well”, yes, but NEVER more then the submission attacks.

Like I said in an earlier tweet, if somebody attacks on the feet, and the other one just defends, and only “once a while” throws something back. Then , even when the person who attacks doesn’t land a strike, HE is the aggressor, and in a striking match, HE will win the fight if it goes to a decision.

In a ground fight, the guy who goes for submissions should be awarded more then the guy who defends them and only “once a while” tries one of his own, exactly the same as standing.

There is truth to Rutten’s stance on the matter but one must remember his past.

He fought a wrestler, Kevin Randleman, at UFC 20 and was on his back for nearly the entire fight…yet he was awarded the fight and the UFC heavyweight championship in a controversial split-decision. Rutten trained only in striking and submissions, he had no wrestling in his arsenal. Thus, when analyzing Rutten’s opinions on the matter, it is important to note that there is a considerable amount of bias.

Nevertheless, his points are well made. If the fighter on top doesn’t really try to finish or do anything at all and the fighter on bottom does but fails, shouldn’t the fighter who threatened and tried to finish be awarded?

Whatever the answer may be, the question will likely always be ignored by the athletic commissions and the UFC; there is only “outrage” over the issue every couple of events.

In addition, why risk “rocking the boat” when the issue may solve itself? It is possible that when new judges emerge they will understand the sport better and realize that being on top in guard doesn’t necessarily mean winning.

Is the entertainment value of the UFC declining? No, the expectations are rising. Is MMA in crisis? No although it may benefit the sport to rethink the rules (maybe knees to the head of a grounded opponent may help the problem?) or the judging.

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UFC 131: Demian Maia "I Am 100% Focused on Becoming the Best I Can Become"

For years, Demian Maia (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has been a mainstay at the top of the UFC middleweight division. After arriving in the promotion, Maia went 6-1, defeating the likes of Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, and Chael Sonnen before he was awarded …

For years, Demian Maia (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has been a mainstay at the top of the UFC middleweight division.

After arriving in the promotion, Maia went 6-1, defeating the likes of Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, and Chael Sonnen before he was awarded a shot at reigning Anderson Silva.

His battle against Silva at UFC 112 in Abu Dabi will go down as one of the most lack-luster title bouts in UFC history. A few months after the fight, Maia went on HDNet’s Inside MMA to tell the fans his side of the story.

Maia has moved on to go undefeated in his two bouts since the fight against Silva, defeating Mario Miranda and Kendall Grove by decision.

This Saturday, Maia will be looking to run his current winning streak up to three when he takes on the up-and-coming prospect Mark Munoz (10-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC)

“I have a lot of respect for Mark Munoz,” Maia told Bleacherreport.com/mma in an exclusive interview. “I think he is a great fighter and a very nice guy.”

When you compete at the top of the middleweight division, Maia recognizes that there is no room for error.

“At this level, all fights are tough, and we always have to watch out for a lot of stuff, as everyone is training to be a well-rounded fighter.”

When asked about what he believes Munoz’ greatest strengths are, Maia told Bleacher Report “Obviously he has great wrestling. He also hits very hard, and is improving his stand-up”

Every fighter realizes that in order to keep at the top of your respective division, you have to consistently work on improving your skill set. When it comes to his training leading in to his bout this Saturday, Maia has left no stone unturned.

“I have been training hard in all areas, like I always do, as I want to be the UFC champion one day. So I have to keep improving.” Maia explained. “As always, I trained a lot of jiu-jitsu, a lot of boxing, and also muay thai and wrestling.”

When asked what he believed would be the one aspect of his game Munoz should worry about the most, Maia replied “Everybody knows that I come from a jiu-jitsu background.”

“Ground games is my specialty, however I’m training a lot so I can be efficient in all areas of the game, as I’m sure Mark is doing the same.”

As he stated earlier in our conversation, Maia hopes to capture the UFC middleweight title one day. While the desire will surely be in the back of his mind, Maia will be focusing on nothing but Mark Munoz at UFC 131.

“Right now, I don’t think about this.” Maia said about where he believed a win against Munoz would put him as far as the middleweight title picture is concerned.

“All I think is about fighting Mark Munoz on June 11. Obviously we are always trying to move up, and whoever wins this fight will take a step forward.

“But when or where we will be, and what will happen next is something I’ll think about after the fight along with my team.”

With the recent announcement of the George St-Pierre vs Nick Diaz bout, it appears that “business as usual” will not last for long as far as Strikeforce fighters not fighting in the UFC and vice-versa. Should some of the best from Strikeforce’s middleweight division start competing in the UFC, Maia believes it will be a good thing for everyone.

“I think competition is always getting tougher. For the fans, [it] will be very good to have those guys mixing in the division in the UFC, as we will have more great fights to watch.

“Regardless there will always be new and tough guys coming in and I certainly think guys like Jacare [Souza] can cause an impact and become contenders as well.

When Maia isn’t either training to beat someone up or beating someone up, he is just an average person like the rest of us.

When asked about his life away from fighting scene, Maia said “I like to stay with my family, spend time with my wife and take care of my baby daughter, play with my dogs, watch some movies … I mean, normal stuff [laughs].”

Maia, who will turn 34 in November, has a plan already in place when his fighting days are over. However, he has no plans on stopping anytime soon.

“I have the goal of becoming a UFC champion one day, and be the best fighter I can be. I don’t know how long I’ll be fighting, but I take good care of myself and I want to reach my goal, with some good years ahead.

“When I retire from fighting, I want to keep working with jiu-jitsu and maybe I see myself working for a big MMA promotion like the UFC. Why not?

“It’s something I can see myself doing, but I’m right now 100 percent focused on being a pro fighter, and becoming the best one I can be.”

On a parting note, Maia wanted to send a shout-out to all of his fans.

“I would like to thank all the fans for the support. I’ll be doing my best again in the Octagon on June 11 in Vancouver at UFC 131, and I hope they will have a great time.

“I’m opening some new affilitated Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools in Canada and in the USA. You can following me on Twitter @demianmaia, and check out my website at www.demianmaia.com to check all the news and more.

“See you guys in Vancouver!”

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Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz at UFC 137: Is GSP Diaz’s Worst Nightmare?

When the news came out earlier this week that UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would be fighting Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz at UFC 137, discussions immediately began about whether Nick Diaz is the man who can dethrone GSP.Wi…

With Diaz’s unique set of skills, many believe that St-Pierre is in for a rude awakening. But I’m here to say the exact opposite.

Georges St-Pierre is Nick Diaz’s worst nightmare.

Sure, Nick Diaz is different than any other opponent that St-Pierre has ever fought. He brings tremendous cardio along with unbelievable toughness; and that’s not even bringing up his actual fighting skills.

But St-Pierre is essentially a better version of the style that has stifled Diaz throughout his entire career. It has been such a problem for him, in fact, that Diaz has even publicly complained about the way that fighting inside a cage has negatively impacted the sport by giving an advantage to wrestlers.

Though he doesn’t have a college background in it, few would debate the point that Georges St-Pierre may actually be the best wrestler in mixed martial arts. It was years ago, but if Sean Sherk, Joe Riggs and Diego Sanchez could handle Diaz, just imagine what the top welterweight in the world can do.

It has been long perceived that Diaz’s biggest weakness is stopping wrestlers, so he will certainly be working on that as he prepares for the fight. But like many of St-Pierre’s opponents in the past, expect there to come a point in the fight, particularly in the fourth or fifth rounds if it comes to that, where GSP makes use of his 77-percent takedown offense and brings the fight to the canvas.

From there, we’ll have a chance to see just how good Diaz’s jiu-jitsu really is. No one doubts Diaz’s skills on the ground, but the biggest question may be if he will be able to find any openings to throw on a submission against perhaps the “safest” fighter in the sport today.

GSP uses an unbelievably controlling style to keep his opponents on the ground without ever really being in any trouble of being submitted from the bottom. In fact, one could make the case that the last time he was even in any trouble whatsoever if being submitted was all the way back in March of 2006 in his first encounter with BJ Penn. Penn was seemingly attempting a gogoplata, but St-Pierre broke free and landed a flurry of punches before winning the judges’ decision.

But it’s not just Diaz’s wrestling that could be a mismatch in this fight. While many fans and experts believe that he will be at a disadvantage in the standup game, Georges St-Pierre may just surprise us all again by taking it to his opponent on the feet.

Almost everyone expected his most recent fight against Josh Koscheck to be another St-Pierre wrestling clinic to avoid his opponent’s ever-improving standup game. But much to the contrary, GSP actually seemed very comfortable picking apart Kos on the feet. In fact, early in the fight, a broken orbital bone showed that St-Pierre may have more power in his hands than we give him credit for.

Then again, Diaz does have some of the best punching skills in the business as he showed against Paul Daley. While Daley’s powerful hands clobbered Diaz more than once, the kid from Stockton kept his composure and was able to unleash a series of body and head shots that eventually ended the fight in the first round.

But as was shown in the fight with Daley, Nick Diaz’s confidence can sometimes be his downfall. While he was unquestionably the better fighter on the ground, he insisted on standing with the Brit and exchanging blows. GSP doesn’t have the same kind of power that Daley does, but his quickness and technique are probably even better. If Diaz leaves his hands down again, he’s going to get absolutely picked apart.

The bottom line is that Georges St-Pierre is practically custom-built to beat a guy like Nick Diaz. All of Diaz’s usual advantages in jiu-jitsu, standup technique and cardio will be nullified in this fight due to St-Pierre’s efficient and smooth game-planning.

If he can avoid getting into a firefight, this is definitely GSP’s fight to lose. Don’t be surprised if it goes to another five round decision as Diaz has only been finished twice in his career, but look for another thorough, one-sided win from the world’s top 170-pound fighter.

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TUF 13 Finale Results: Gilbert Melendez and 4 Fights Clay Guida Should Take Next

Clay Guida effectively shut down Anthony Pettis last night adding some shock to the TUF 13 results. Guida has long been a staple of the UFC lightweight division, and with 40 fights under his belt is someone many should be taking seriously. After …

Clay Guida effectively shut down Anthony Pettis last night adding some shock to the TUF 13 results.

Guida has long been a staple of the UFC lightweight division, and with 40 fights under his belt is someone many should be taking seriously. After watching how much he dominated Pettis and avoiding the great guard of Pettis, Clay Guida has put himself on a run for the UFC lightweight title.

With the title holder not to be determined until early fall, Guida has a while to go before he can claim the title anyway. Guida could easily benefit from one more win and show UFC president, Dana White, that even though some considered him a gatekeeper, that he is in fact a title contender.

So who should Guida, considered one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC, face to get within range for a shot at the UFC title?

You can follow Sal on Twitter: @SalDeRoseMMA

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Nick Diaz vs Georges St-Pierre Begs the Question: What About Anderson Silva?

Georges St-Pierre is the poster boy for the UFC and why not? He is clean cut, intelligent, a great fighter and an easy sell all around the world for not only the promotion, but big players in the world of sport. With advertising campaigns&nbs…

Another face of the UFC is Brazilian middleweight Anderson Silva, who maybe isn’t as media or fan friendly as St-Pierre due to the language barrier, but he more than makes up for that with his eight consecutive title defences and spectacular finishes.

Both fighters have pretty much cleaned out their respective divisions and being only one weight class apart from each other fans have been begging the UFC to make the St-Pierre vs Silva superfight happen.

The buzz for the super fight has been going strong for the better part of the last two years, but every time it appears as if it may be a possibility, it gets shot down and put on the back burner until both Silva and St-Pierre win their next fights.

Silva was coming off his front kick knockout of Vitor Belfort and White had said that one of the last pieces in place for the super fight to happen was for St-Pierre to beat Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto, which he did.

Obviously St-Pierre’s performance against Shield’s didn’t quite live up to its expectations and that can partly be blamed on the fact that St-Pierre injured his eye and Shields, like many of St-Pierre’s past opponents, wasn’t bringing the fight to the champion.

St-Pierre’s performance, coupled with the fact that the UFC now owns Strikeforce and the rights to all their fighters, there seemed to be a strong push from the fans and media to make the St-Pierre vs Nick Diaz fight happen and that is exactly what was put together for UFC 137.

Once again, St-Pierre vs. Silva was pushed to the wayside as St-Pierre will defend his welterweight title against Diaz, and Silva will be putting his middleweight title on the line against the last man to beat him Yushin Okami.

The fight with Diaz has the makings of a good fight and one can’t really blame the UFC for putting the fight on, but it is difficult to say with conviction that the matchup will put St-Pierre in danger of losing his belt.

Diaz is an aggressive fighter and there is no doubting the fact that he will bring the fight to St-Pierre. He has a vast enough skill set to compete with St-Pierre standing up or on the ground.

A fight with Diaz will probably bring out the best in St-Pierre and will most likely be a very exciting fight.

The same can not be said for the Silva vs. Okami fight. Although Okami is a great fighter with a solid wrestling base that has frustrated many of the middleweight division’s top contenders, he simply doesn’t bring any fireworks into his matches.

Okami will look to take Silva down and Silva will patiently wait to counter Okami in the exchanges. Of course this could turn out to be a great fight, but it certainly doesn’t have the feel that a St-Pierre vs. Silva matchup would have.

St-Pierre would have to search out take downs against Silva who has shown that his one weakness in mixed martial arts is his wrestling, and Silva would have to keep the fight standing, where he would stand a very good chance at catching the welterweight champion with one of his devastating strikes.

Despite Silva’s lack of a solid wrestling game his Brazilian jiu-jitsu makes up for it and is something St-Pierre would have to watch out for while hanging out in the Spider’s guard, just ask Chael Sonnen about that.

The facts that this fight has been kicking around for two years, that both Silva and St-Pierre have kept on winning and both guys are under the UFC banner really begs the question, why hasn’t Silva vs. St-Pierre come to fruition?

There are a number of speculations that can made.

For one, the UFC has two of the most dominant champions ever and to force one of them to lose maybe bad for the fighter’s image and ultimately for the promotion. That being said, if St-Pierre has to move up to middleweight or Silva down to welterweight, most people won’t hold a loss for the fighter who changes weight classes against them.

Secondly, a fighting weight seems to be difficult to agree on. St-Pierre has been very careful around the idea of moving up to middleweight, claiming he would do it permanently and that it would be a complete re-orientation of his career—a risk the welterweight champion seems unwilling to take.

Asking Silva to drop to welterweight is a tall task considering his height and natural weight. He did say at one point that he would go down, but all talks of that happening seem to have been shelved.

The last possibility would be for the two fighters to meet somewhere in the middle for a catch weight bout, but then it doesn’t have the lucrativeness of a title fight where one of the fighters is putting their belt on the line.

Speculation aside, there is no doubt that the UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenza Fertitta have expressed their interest in the fight only to have them come back on their words for some reason unbeknownst to the fans or media.

Dana White is constantly referring to the fight as a fantasy fight where a lot of pieces need to fall into place to make the fight a reality, what exactly those pieces are is anybody’s guess.

Of course St-Pierre vs. Diaz should be an exciting fight and despite Okami’s sometimes boring style, Silva has the ability to add excitement to any fight he is in, unless his opponents’ names are Demian Maia or Thales Leites.

Maybe once these matchups have gone and past and if both Silva and St-Pierre still have UFC gold around their waists fans will get the chance to witness one of the grandest pound-for-pound matchups in the history of the sport.

Hopefully it happens soon because Silva certainly isn’t getting any younger at 36 years of age.

Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates:

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