One thing we haven’t been treated to on many occasions, thankfully, is a fighter voiding his bowels in the cage. I mean, sure, there are those rumors about what happened to Chuck Liddell after Rashad Evans snatched the life out of him at UFC 188, and we all know that Tim Syl-no, Jared, you’re better than this. But at an amateur event in Beckley, West Virginia over the weekend, one poor bastard literally got the shit kicked out of him, it seems.
Caution: You might want to put down you breakfast before watching this.
One thing we haven’t been treated to on many occasions, thankfully, is a fighter voiding his bowels in the cage. I mean, sure, there are those rumors about what happened to Chuck Liddell after Rashad Evans snatched the life out of him at UFC 188, and we all know that Tim Syl-no, Jared, you’re better than this. But at an amateur event in Beckley, West Virginia over the weekend, one poor bastard literally got the shit kicked out of him, it seems.
Caution: You might want to put down you breakfast before watching this.
According to the video’s uploader, the fighter in question goes by — and I kid you not — Travis “The Brown Bomber” Wolford. Apparently Travis decided to prepare for his fight at “Ruckus in the Cage” last Saturday by attending a chili cook-off the day before, as any top-level MMA trainer would suggest. Unfortunately for him, his cousin’s famous Habanero Hellfire recipe would rear its ugly head the next day in the form of one thoroughly embarrassing case of mud butt.
Word has it that Wolford later dedicated his performance to his idol, Tim Sylvia-GOD DAMMIT!
(“No, Floyd, I said *shitter*, not *hit her*. What were we even talking about, again?” via Weidman’s instagram)
If you’ve ever heard the story about how Chris Weidman wooed his wife, chances are that you took two things away from it: The middleweight champion is an incredibly honest and upfront person, almost to a fault, and he sometimes has to poo when he gets nervous.
Although he may not have appeared so heading into his title fight with Vitor Belfort last weekend (or while eating a hailstorm of Belfort’s punches), it turns out that UFC 187 was one such time that Weidman came down with a case of the butterflies. He was so nervous, in fact, that just moments before he was set to walkout, he came to the realization that he might become the first UFC fighter to sh*t himself in the octagon (well, second). Had Burt Watson been backstage doing his classic “We rollin!” pump-up routine, we can almost guarantee that the pressure would have gotten to him.
As Wediman told Ariel helwani on yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour:
(“No, Floyd, I said *shitter*, not *hit her*. What were we even talking about, again?” via Weidman’s instagram)
If you’ve ever heard the story about how Chris Weidman wooed his wife, chances are that you took two things away from it: The middleweight champion is an incredibly honest and upfront person, almost to a fault, and he sometimes has to poo when he gets nervous.
Although he may not have appeared so heading into his title fight with Vitor Belfort last weekend (or while eating a hailstorm of Belfort’s punches), it turns out that UFC 187 was one such time that Weidman came down with a case of the butterflies. He was so nervous, in fact, that just moments before he was set to walkout, he came to the realization that he might become the first UFC fighter to sh*t himself in the octagon (well, second). Had Burt Watson been backstage doing his classic “We rollin!” pump-up routine, we can almost guarantee that the pressure would have gotten to him.
As Wediman told Ariel helwani on yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour:
I’ll be honest. It was my first time ever that I had to go to the bathroom bad. I could not believe this was going to happen. I’m going to crap myself in the middle of this cage. I didn’t know, as soon as Vitor’s walkout music came on, was concentrating, all I could think about was that I didn’t know if I should run into the bathroom now or hold it. I didn’t know what was going to happen.
That’s really what was going through my mind the whole time walking out. I thought I would be the first person that had to run from a fight to go to the bathroom, or they’d have to hold the fight for me. But, I didn’t want to tell anybody because when you say it out loud it makes things worse. So, when we were getting ready to do the walkout, I gave Ray my flag, usually I hold it, but I gave it to him so I could focus on not crapping myself pretty much. So yeah, you were right, there was definitely something not normal.
An interesting “what could’ve been” no doubt, but I must respectfully disagree with Weidman’s assertion that what he was going through was “not normal” on Saturday. I know if I was about to fight a testosterone-fueled Brazilian with a cross shaved into his head, I would have more than a few butterflies in my stomach. Hell, I’d be looking high and low for a pipe to slip on backstage, or calling Tim Means’ sauna guy to sprinkle a little water on the floor of the bathroom for me to conveniently slip on while giving myself a Jack Donaghy-inspired pep talk. (“It’s quitting time, you cowardly sonofabitch”)
Honestly, when you consider what most fighters put themselves through in the 48 hours before a fight, it makes you wonder how normal Weidman’s experience actually was. All that weight cutting and replenishing fluids and protein shakes and acai…it’s a wonder that most of them aren’t spraying bodily fluids all over fans like a goddamn Penn and Teller show.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is: Cheer up Chris. You didn’t sh*t yourself, and better yet, you didn’t sh*t the bed against Belfort even when he was unloading the 30 seconds of yoke-fisted fury that his body would allow. Sounds like a win-win to me.
For a highly anticipated fight card marred by injuries to its premiere fighters and an ongoing crisis in Mexico, UFC 180: “Werdum vs. Hunt” turned out to be quite the showcase.
UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who had a card built entirely around him for the promotion’s first trip to the country with support from Diego Sanchez and Erik Perez, had to bow out of a title fight against Fabricio Werdum a few weeks removed from the championship encounter. This was after both Perez and Sanchez were already out with of their respective scraps with wounds.
When it comes to the champion, there’s always a lingering concern about his injuries. Multiple setbacks which required surgery (including his latest) has seen Velasquez fight six times in four years, against three different opponents.
But the show must go on, which means the attention turned to Werdum and a combat sports legend serving as an unexpected title challenger in an interim heavyweight championship bout.
For a highly anticipated fight card marred by injuries to its premiere fighters and an ongoing crisis in Mexico, UFC 180: “Werdum vs. Hunt” turned out to be quite the showcase.
When it comes to the champion, there’s always a lingering concern about his injuries. Multiple setbacks which required surgery (including his latest) has seen Velasquez fight six times in four years, against three different opponents.
But the show had to go on, which means the attention turned to Werdum and a combat sports legend serving as an unexpected title challenger in an interim heavyweight championship bout.
Mark Hunt, the main event replacement fighter who lost his UFC debut to Sean McCorkle and presumably left Zuffa brass doing the triple facepalm after agreeing to serve him his owed fights, had the possibility of sending every UG alumnus into an ejaculation frenzy by winning a UFC belt in 2014.
Werdum, on the other hand, would solidify his status as a well-deserved second best heavyweight in the world by winning, really flourishing in his second UFC stint.
Right off the bat, the battle was on. Hunt dropped Werdum, and consistently blasted “Vai Cavalo” every time the latter would try to close the distance. It was looking like the former Pride and K-1 slugger was going to achieve the impossible.
Then, he died by the gun.
Werdum clocked Hunt with a flying knee, following up with punches and left Herb Dean no choice but to call it a night for the “Super Samoan.” It was the perfect conclusion to a surprisingly great night of fights. The result was a disappointing one for Hunt, however, at least he got his chance. It’s nice to see a veteran like him acquire a shot at glory when opportunities like that are so limited in today’s MMA game. It’s not like he’s one to talk his way into things.
Now, Werdum’s chin isn’t great, but he could take a bomb of a shot. This also solidifies Werdum as something pretty significant in terms of the greatest heavyweights of all-time in MMA, but it’s hard to say what. He’s not Muhammed Ali by any stretch of the imagination, yet in the world of MMA, you’ve got to give this guy a boatload of praise. He’s a decorated, multi-time world jiu-jitsu champion, he more or less sent Fedor Emelianenko into a downward spiral back in 2010 by doing something unheard of at the time, and since losing a lackluster bout in Strikeforce to Alistair Overeem in 2011, he’s on an impressive five-fight winning streak in the UFC, with finishes over Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and lopsided decision wins against Travis Browne and Roy Nelson. Obviously, we have to wait for Velasquez to come back in order to see where the Brazilian fits in the grand scheme of things. Truthfully, he’s best active heavyweight in MMA right now, after a lengthy career competing for the top organizations in the world.
Gastelum finished off Jake Ellenberger by rear naked choke in the co-main event, sending the latter into a downward spiral of his own. The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner is looking like one of the better prospects to emerge from the exhaustive and overdone reality show in recent memory, and it’s time for the old “step up in competition” treatment, which means a top five foe. As for the “Juggernaut,” he’s still good enough to beat anyone you could think of that lives on a Fight Pass prelim, but he’s in some hot water, suffering his third consecutive defeat. Then again, you try beating Rory MacDonald, Robbie Lawler, and a 23-year-old stud.
It’s nice to see the UFC mention Conor McGregor every time there’s a featherweight contest, and last night was no different. Before Ricardo Lamas and Dennis Bermudez engaged in warfare, the broadcast team talked about how these two heavy-hitters had to talk trash to generate interest, since the savior of Ireland does that. It certainly can’t be because they choose to fight for a living and maybe a psychological edge would be to get inside each other’s heads?
In the end, Lamas prevailed, choking out Bermudez with a guillotine, and proved he’s still a force in the 145-pound division — even if the champion Jose Aldo outclassed him at the beginning of the year at UFC 169.
With four first-round finishes and an exciting main event rounding up the main card, you could make the complaint that UFC 180 wasn’t worth the price tag after so many injuries. However, it really served its purpose. With the risk of lot of eyeballs being drawn to that free Spike TV broadcast, it was the best case scenario for the Las Vegas-based organization we have grown to love and (sometimes) hate.
Even those fights that opened up the card, featuring four fighters the average fan is probably unfamiliar with, were both over in the first round and proved to be appropriate fights setting the pace for the night’s flow. The live crowd should be acknowledged, too, as they soaked up every moment, and gave the impression that they were unaware of any sort of unfortunate occurrences, whether it be dealing with UFC 180 or otherwise.
Also, maybe competition helps in the long run, since everyone is talking about the ironically placed counter-promoted shows all at once. Bellator offered the fans a season 11 finale full of violence, nurses as valets to the fighters, and a freaking WCW circa 1992 ramp, while WSOF had an appealing yet darkened fight card, that saw an exiled UFC “gatekeeper” stopped in the main event at WSOF 15. But like you’d expect, UFC was the big winner last night, and they didn’t even win by default; its fighters deserve the praise for salvaging what looked like another average PPV offering. Hell, even the prelims were great. Quick and slick finishes, two TUF: Latin America finale bouts you probably overlooked, an ear explosion complete with a burst of bloodshed, and someone shitting his pants. Come on…we can’t possibly complain here.
And in retrospect, it was hard not to feel bad for Zuffa with the UFC 180 setbacks, even though it’s been more of a benefit of the doubt relationship at this point. But certain events went down the way they did, proving it was the best-case scenario for the brass. The UFC was dealt an ace with this one.
