The UFC heads to Buffalo, New York, for the first time in more than 20 years with a solid offering on pay-per-view Saturday.
In the main event, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier defends his light heavyweight belt for the second time against Ant…
The UFC heads to Buffalo, New York, for the first time in more than 20 years with a solid offering on pay-per-view Saturday.
In the main event, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier defends his light heavyweight belt for the second time against Anthony Johnson in a rematch of their excellent fight from 2015. Until Jon Jones returns, this is the best fight that can be made at 205 pounds. The winner will be a worthy champion.
The co-main event is likewise excellent. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman attempts to get back on track against the surging Gegard Mousasi, who has won four in a row and six of his last seven. In a wide-open middleweight division with a logjam at the top, the winner of this bout will find himself in the mix for the next title shot after Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre finally meet in the Octagon.
The rest of the card drops off in terms of name value, but not the quality of the matchups. Keep an eye on the pay-per-view opener between Will Brooks and Charles Oliveira in particular, which should be a barnburner.
On the preliminary card, talented prospects reign supreme. The welterweight bout between Sean Strickland and Kamaru Usman will determine a new member of the elite in a division that badly needs some new blood at the top. Shane Burgos, Gregor Gillespie and Magomed Bibulatov all have a chance to make statement wins.
The time when Chris Weidman was regarded as the future of the middleweight division seems very far away right now.
As Weidman prepares to meet the surging Gegard Mousasi Saturday in UFC 210’s co-main event, the magic of just a few years ago is long gon…
The time when Chris Weidman was regarded as the future of the middleweight division seems very far away right now.
As Weidman prepares to meet the surging Gegard Mousasi Saturday in UFC 210’s co-main event, the magic of just a few years ago is long gone. These days, the MMA world is starting to ask some pretty disquieting questions about Weidman, as the former 185-pound champion finds himself suddenly reeling and on the heels of back-to-back losses.
This is a fight he desperately needs to win, not just to avoid slipping into the dreaded territory of three straight defeats, but to preserve any semblance of hope that the 32-year-old New York native might still be able to resurrect his glory days.
It’s not too much of a stretch to say things are close to do-or-die for him here in a what might turn out to be a very competitive pairing. Severe MMA’s Sean Sheehan tweeted:
Mousasi is a fighter that spectators have been waiting years to see cross over into the elite of the 185-pound division. He’s riding a four-fight win streak, including three consecutive stoppages over Thiago Santos, Vitor Belfort and Uriah Hall.
The 31-year-old native of Iran has garnered a cult following in MMA circles with his dry wit and low-key, unchanging demeanor. If he’s able to beat Weidman on Saturday—where he’s going off as a slight favorite, according to most of the lines listed by OddsShark—it would make him a legitimate title threat.
Mousasi began to forge his reputation as a talented, ice-cold competitor while spending the first 10 years of his career fighting in organizations like Pride, Dream and Strikeforce.
He got off to an up-and-down start after coming to the UFC in 2013, going just 4-3 in first seven fights. Since then, however, it has been all W’s. Along the way, Mousasi appears to have sharpened the verbal part of his game as well.
He comes into this bout with an apparent chip on his shoulder, telling the Fight Society Podcast (via MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew) that he needs to beat Weidman to continue working his way toward a title shot, yes, but also to punch his ticket to some bigger paydays:
I just see that Vitor Belfort is making tons more money than me. I defeated Dan Henderson, he’s making tons more money than me. I defeated Mark Hunt, he’s making $800,000 a fight. I can beat [champion] Michael Bisping and even before he was champion he was making a lot more than me. Why don’t I deserve to make some money? … How is it possible Mark Hunt is making $800,000 with a record of 10-10? He has a record of 10 wins, 10 losses. Look at my record. How the f–k is that possible?
Weidman, on the other hand, continues to struggle to regain the championship form that once made him seem like he’d be a pillar of this division for years to come.
Back in 2013, when the then-undefeated fighter bested Anderson Silva in back-to-back fights at UFCs 162 and 168, he appeared primed for a legendary run. Viewed, with the benefit of hindsight, however, some of the shine has started to come off his sprint to a 13-0 overall record (9-0 in the UFC) by the spring of 2015.
Since losing to Weidman and then suffering a career-threatening leg injury in their second bout, the once-great Silva has gone just 1-4-1. That raises legitimate questions about whether Weidman’s pair of dominant performances over Silva—which ended in, admittedly, somewhat fluky stoppages—were really as iconic as they seemed at the time.
It could be, conventional wisdom now proffers, that Weidman merely caught Silva at an advantageous stage in his career. Perhaps Silva’s skills were already in deep decline by then and Weidman just happened to be the guy to come along and point it out to the world.
That’s unfair, of course. You can’t very well take Weidman’s wins over the greatest of all time away from him. Viewing Silva’s golden years in a bit more context, though, is enough to make you wonder if we had overestimated Weidman based on that pair of victories.
It also casts his successful title defenses, against also declining versions of Lyoto Machida and Belfort, in somewhat less impressive light.
All told, it’s more difficult to know what to make of Weidman now than at perhaps any time in his career.
His pair of losses were disastrous, but also not the sort that necessarily signaled the end of him. For starters, both came at the hands of elite middleweights—Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero—in fights where Weidman was affording himself well before suffering stoppage losses.
The Romero defeat was especially brutal, as the former Olympic wrestler caught Weidman with a flying knee early in the third round that left him bloodied and separated from his senses. It was violent enough to be a change-your-career kind of knockout, so it remains to be seen how Weidman will return.
In the wake of those poor outcomes, even longtime coach Ray Longo admits his most accomplished pupil may have “plateaued” a bit in recent years.
“If you think about it, there was only one way to go,” Longo told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, via MMA Fighting’s Chuck Mindenhall. “You can’t keep going up and up and up. So we plateaued a little bit before. I think that’s going to be the mantra. That’s behind us, and we really had to go back to what got us there and really just move forward.”
Adding to the unknowns for Weidman was a serious neck injury that forced him to have surgery in June 2016, five months before the Romero bout. Assuming he’s fully healed, then the Mousasi fight shapes up as about as important a litmus test for him as you could imagine.
Mousasi is well-regarded enough that a win for Weidman—especially an impressive stoppage or clean-slate decision—would re-establish him among the top players at 185 pounds.
It would also be easier to look upon those losses to Rockhold and Romero as isolated incidents. If not flukes, exactly, then certainly not career-defining, either.
But a loss would cast a shadow long enough that it might begin to shroud the rest of Weidman’s career.
This is a guy whose coaches bragged he would be world champion before he even arrived in the UFC.
He’s also a guy who looked crazy dominant through more than a dozen fights.
Without being a physical dynamo the likes of Romero or a traditional martial arts world champion like contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Weidman managed to craft himself into one of the sport’s most complete athletes during his rise.
Now, to see him fall off the pace so badly at such a young age would be shocking. Is it even possible for Weidman to be over the hill at 32?
Best he beats Mousasi on Saturday, lest the notoriously persnickety MMA world continues asking such questions.
Worn out, beaten down and exhausted, Anthony Johnson succumbed to a choke from Daniel Cormier in the third round of their first meeting back at UFC 187 in May 2015. This Saturday, Johnson will get a chance at redemption as he faces Cormier for a second…
Worn out, beaten down and exhausted, Anthony Johnson succumbed to a choke from Daniel Cormier in the third round of their first meeting back at UFC 187 in May 2015. This Saturday, Johnson will get a chance at redemption as he faces Cormier for a second time.
Cormier has only defended the title once since that first meeting, taking out Alexander Gustafsson in an outstanding matchup in October 2015. Two scheduled meetings with Jon Jones have fallen through, once due to a Cormier injury and the other a result of Jones’ failed test for performance-enhancing drugs prior to UFC 200 last summer.
Johnson has run through each of his three opponents in less than five-and-a-half minutes, smashing Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira.
Until Jones returns to action, this is the best fight the light heavyweight division has to offer.
Daniel Cormier
Record: 18-1 (6 KO, 5 SUB, 7 DEC)
Height: 5’11”
Reach: 72.5 inches
Cormier has grown and evolved as a fighter since his first fight with Johnson, steadily shifting away from the mobile outside striking game he preferred as a heavyweight to the swarming pressure he has tended to use in his last several fights.
This is a better approach for Cormier. He’s at his best grinding away in the clinch and on the ground, and pressure is the most reliable way to get him into his wheelhouse. A crisp jab covers Cormier’s forward movement while sharp cage-cutting footwork limits his opponent’s escape routes. This either brings Cormier into the pocket, where he does a good job of moving his head as he exchanges, or carries him into the clinch.
Either option is acceptable for Cormier. He’s a good pocket puncher with a bit of pop in his hands and good instincts on the counter, and while his head movement and defense aren’t exactly textbook, they are effective at minimizing the damage he takes at close range.
Still, there’s no getting around the fact that this approach is more dangerous for Cormier. He doesn’t fight like a short guy—he jabs and throws kicks to maximize his reach—but there’s no getting around the fact that he has a long way to cover to get into the pocket or the clinch.
That means he’s constantly there to be hit. His desire to throw combinations and not just get to close range but stay there as long as possible, in order to make his opponent as uncomfortable as possible and keep the pressure on, makes that an even more prominent issue.
Once he gets inside, though, Cormier is a monster. The clinch is his wheelhouse, and he especially excels at driving his opponent into the fence and pinning him in place with the combination of head pressure and an underhook or wrist control. Once under control, Cormier pummels his opponent with a steady diet of knees and powerful uppercuts to the body and head.
Takedowns add another potent dimension to this grinding inside game. Cormier excels at hitting go-behinds in the clinch and then dragging his opponent to the mat, and in straight wrestling exchanges, the former Olympian has a full arsenal of single-leg lifts, doubles, trips and throws. He’s stifling, technically sound and exceptionally strong.
Cormier is a grinder on the mat. He prefers a loose style of control that allows his opponent to move under him as he switches smoothly between wrestling rides and more traditional work from the top. This loose control wears his opponent down, but when the mood strikes, Cormier is perfectly capable of being more stifling.
In either case, he drops bombing ground strikes with real power and passes with ease. He isn’t a huge submission threat, but he’ll try for the occasional kimura or arm triangle and he can finish with chokes from the back.
Anthony Johnson
Record: 22-5 (16 KO, 6 DEC)
Height: 6’2″
Reach: 78 inches
Johnson might be the most terrifying puncher in the sport. He’s a bruiser, but one with a serious dose of technical skill to temper his natural aggression and apply his power in slick, repeatable ways.
Counters are the heart and soul of Johnson’s game, but he’s not a hang-back, wait-for-openings kind of counterpuncher; instead, he prefers to stalk his opponent, using his footwork and heavy round kicks to cut off lateral movement and escape angles. When his opponent starts to feel the pressure and fires off a shot or two to create space and back him off, Johnson is ready to respond with a vicious combination.
Johnson’s timing, shot selection and triggers are all outstanding. It’s almost impossible to throw a shot at him, whether a punch or kick, without eating something far more punishing and dangerous in return. In other words, Johnson excels at seizing and holding the initiative, even when he’s not throwing the first shot.
There’s nothing particularly fancy about Johnson’s striking arsenal. He probes behind his jab and fires off hard low kicks, but makes most of his hay with his right hand, which he mixes up as an overhand, straight and uppercut. What’s special is his ability to pick the right shot at the right time, moving around, under and between his opponent’s defensive guard.
Things don’t get any better for Johnson’s opponents in the clinch. He’s exceptionally strong and is perfectly capable of controlling with a single-collar tie or a frame, then landing uppercuts and hooks with his free hand. He rarely looks to spend much time there, though.
Wrestling is another strong suit for Johnson. He shoots an explosive and technically sound double-leg takedown that he could probably stand to use a bit more, while defensively he’s shot-proof against all but the best wrestlers. The crux of his takedown defense is distance management, though, and when he gets overaggressive, he’s prone to giving his opponent his hips.
Johnson is a monster from top position, delivering vicious ground strikes at a rapid pace. He moves smoothly between wrestling rides and more traditional top control and passes. Submissions aren’t his specialty, though, and he hasn’t attempted one in more than six years.
The real problem with Johnson’s game isn’t his skills or his physicality, or even his much-maligned endurance, but his ability to stay calm and centered if he loses his grasp on the initiative.
When things start going against Johnson, even for a moment, he tends to crumble under the pressure. He panics, which raises his heart rate and quickly tires him out as he desperately tries to escape whatever bad position he happens to find himself in. This is why four of his five losses have come by rear-naked choke: He gets tired and gives up his back in an attempt to find a way out.
Betting Odds
Johnson -125 (bet $125 to win $100), Cormier +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
Prediction
This is a razor-thin fight. Their first matchup featured Johnson blasting Cormier with heavy punches and head kicks, but giving up takedowns and clinch control that eventually wore him down and allowed Cormier to beat him up from the top before finishing with a submission.
It seems clear that Cormier will try to pressure: That has increasingly been his approach since their first meeting and the fact that Johnson crumbled the first time probably won’t dissuade him. The real question is whether Johnson will try to meet pressure with pressure, exposing himself to the threat of Cormier’s takedown and clinch grinding, or whether he’ll try to fight against type and stay away.
The latter is the smarter game plan, but the former embraces Johnson’s strengths, and it’s not a given that a better-prepared Johnson couldn’t stay aggressive and still manage to stuff Cormier’s entries. That kind of measured aggression worked well for Johnson against Phil Davis, for example, though Cormier is more likely to stand his ground and commit to a firefight.
Cormier will have to be willing to throw hands with Johnson to set up his clinch entries and takedowns, and that’s both his path to victory and where he’s vulnerable. He’s hittable and has been knocked down in two of his last three fights, so the real issue is whether he can survive long enough to impose his inside game.
With some serious reservations, the pick is Johnson by knockout in the second round.
Betting odds courtesy of OddsShark and current on Tuesday, April 4.
Patrick Wyman is the Senior MMA Analyst for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Heavy Hands Podcast, your source for the finer points of face-punching. For the history enthusiasts out there, he also hosts The Fall of Rome Podcast on the end of the Roman Empire. He can be found on Twitter and on Facebook.
Combat sports and professional wrestling have long been linked in one form or another for many decades. It makes sense. Both are forms are entertainment, and professional wrestling is at its best when it blends reality with its form of athletic enterta…
Combat sports and professional wrestling have long been linked in one form or another for many decades. It makes sense. Both are forms are entertainment, and professional wrestling is at its best when it blends reality with its form of athletic entertainment.
In today’s wrestling landscape, we are seeing those transitions be more prevalent than ever, and on WrestleMania weekend in Orlando, Florida, it was on full display.
If you have watched any professional wrestling show, small or large, in recent years you’ve seen an uptick in submissions and MMA-choreographed sequences. The Undertaker adopted the gogoplata, while Brock Lesnar utilized the kimura time and again. And those are just two high-profile figures adopting MMA into their move set.
Throughout WrestleMania week, the matches on independent cards have been littered with MMA techniques. One of the most promising stars is Zack Sabre Jr. He caught a diving opponent off the top rope in a triangle choke that put the fans on their feet at Evolve 80. Other works used armbars, ground transitions and a plethora of hard-hitting body kicks against their opponents.
Even more than the move set, it has always made sense for MMA athletes to make the transition into the squared circle. In modern times we have seen the likes of Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn enter the ropes into the WWE among many others.
Former UFC stars Matt Riddle and Shayna Baszler have adapted their fighting skills into professional wrestling and become two of the hottest independent talents today.
When Riddle walks out, the crowd becomes entranced and chants of “Bro” echo throughout the small venues. Riddle is now a multiple-organization champion. He holds titles in promotions such as Progress and won the inaugural World Wrestling Network title at their supershow on the Saturday before Mania.
One of the most talked about matches of the weekend was the main event of Joey Janela’s Spring Break, another event that aired on FloSlam during the week: Riddle vs. Severn. Logic would tell you that the 58-year-old couldn’t manage a captivating match in this day and age at 2:30 a.m. ET, but the two used their MMA backgrounds to tell a compelling story with elbows, punches, slams and submissions. Riddle came out on top via the Bromission.
Fans were out and about wearing Riddle’s merchandise all around Orlando.
On the women’s circuit, Baszler has come up as one of the top workers on the planet. She has taken her talents all around the nation and overseas to the hotbed of women’s wrestling: Japan. During the weekend of UFC 203 in Cleveland last September, Baszler defeated Heidi Lovelace (now Ruby Riot in NXT) to become the Absolute Intense Wrestling women’s champion. It’s a title she still holds.
In Shimmer, a leading all-women’s promotion, Baszler has aligned herself with Mercedes Martinez and Nicole Savoy to form The Trifecta. It’s a little different stable than The Four Horsewomen of MMA that included Ronda Rousey.
At the WrestleCon Women’s Supershow, Baszler defeated Joey Ryan to win the DDT Pro Ironman Heavymetalweight championship.
Riddle and Baszler have continued the tradition of adapting MMA skills to pro wrestling, and they are riding high on the independent scene as two of the talents fans most want to see. Both competed multiple times in the span of three days winning belts. And both Riddle and Baszler are on the uptick in their respective circles in the crazy world of sports entertainment.
The WWE always keeps its ear to the ground, and there is little doubt that Matt Riddle’s and Shayna Baszler’s have always been on its radar. Even still, the shockwaves on the independent trail surely will have reached the eardrums of the talent scouts. With a growing need for competitors, including a recently announced 32-women tournament, the sky’s the limit for their incredible talents.
WrestleMania week only helped their cause as they performed to their highest level in front of the most hardcore fans from around the world.
The UFC is featuring a run of champions with title defenses. In years past, the adage that it’s harder to defend a title than win one has held true. We’ve seen various fighters fail to defend their crown.
Currently, only three have yet to defend their …
The UFC is featuring a run of champions with title defenses. In years past, the adage that it’s harder to defend a title than win one has held true. We’ve seen various fighters fail to defend their crown.
Currently, only three have yet to defend their belt. Every other champion has at least one title defense to their credit.
With several of the champions looking or proving to be dominant, that begs the question of who can end their reigns. Who are the nightmare opponents that could strip them of the gold around their waist? Well, that’s where we’re here to examine.
Going through each division, from strawweight to heavyweight, we will identify the one fighter who looms for the titleholder—the one man or woman who has the best chance to wear gold next.
From scary strikers to grappling gods, these are the UFC champion’s most dangerous and feared contenders.
UFC Fight Night 107 didn’t blow the doors off the hinges Saturday, but it provided several quality finishes.
In the main event, Jimi Manuwa established himself as a top contender in the light heavyweight division with a swift knockout against Corey And…
UFC Fight Night 107 didn’t blow the doors off the hinges Saturday, but it provided several quality finishes.
In the main event, Jimi Manuwa established himself as a top contender in the light heavyweight division with a swift knockout against Corey Anderson.
Manuwa will be a very interested observer of the upcoming Daniel Cormier title defense against Anthony Johnson April 8. Did he do enough to earn the title shot?
Also in action, Gunnar Nelson took care of Alan Jouban in short order via submission. The win moves Nelson back into the welterweight picture and puts Jouban back on the preliminary card.
So, the question begs: What’s next? That’s what we’re here to decipher. Here is a look at the matches the UFC should make for the winners and losers following UFC Fight Night 107.