Tag: Rankings/List

UFC Fight Night 79 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from UFC Seoul

Rise and shine!
For American MMA fans, the timing of UFC Fight Night 79 may have appeared a little cruel and unusual. The preliminary card—going down from Seoul, South Korea—started early Saturday morning, at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. And not ju…

Rise and shine!

For American MMA fans, the timing of UFC Fight Night 79 may have appeared a little cruel and unusual. The preliminary card—going down from Seoul, South Korea—started early Saturday morning, at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. And not just any Saturday morning, the Saturday morning after Black Friday, which itself is the day after Thanksgiving. It’s like a gauntlet of things that make you tired.

But intrepid early risers were rewarded with a fight card that exceeded many expectations. There were finishes, close fights and moments galore, all before the backdrop of a colorful Korean crowd.

The culminating fight was a main event between Jorge Masvidal and former UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson. But there were several other moments.

If you chose to sleep in, take heart. We got up, and we got you. These are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 79.

As always, full card results appear on the final slide.

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The Biggest MMA Turkeys of 2015

This is a truly special time of year. It is a time when Americans gather together to give thanks for what they have and to jeer things of which they do not approve.
For MMA fans, the cornucopia runneth over.
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but MMA is a pret…

This is a truly special time of year. It is a time when Americans gather together to give thanks for what they have and to jeer things of which they do not approve.

For MMA fans, the cornucopia runneth over.

Maybe you haven’t noticed, but MMA is a pretty wacky sport. No matter how popular it gets, no matter how amazing its product in the cage, MMA’s stars, power brokers and impresarios just can’t seem to slouch clear of their own path of destruction for any meaningful period of time. Quickly behind every blessing, there trails a curse.

Certainly, on the whole this has been a good year for the sport. The establishment of new stars like Conor McGregor, potential stars like Sage Northcutt and one mega-mainstream-household-hypergiant star named Ronda Rousey, plus record ratings for Bellator and one of the best fights ever, all provided high-water marks and plenty of buzz.

For that, we give thanks. And yet, it would be folly to ignore the problems, especially when MMA collectively behaves like a turkey that fell asleep on the chopping block. 

Hey, speaking of turkeys, here is our list of the five biggest turkeys in MMA for 2015. Each mouth-watering specimen was lovingly procured just for you by one of Bleacher Report MMA’s finest marksmen: Mike Chiappetta, Chad Dundas, Craig Amos, Steven Rondina and me, Scott Harris.

They are listed in no particular order. Bon appetit.

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Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey and the 10 Biggest Upsets in MMA History

Holly Holm’s destruction of Ronda Rousey was complete and brilliant. It was also a massive upset.
Those facts are not mutually exclusive, and neither one should be forgotten in the wake of UFC 193, in which Holm knocked out Rousey with a spectacular he…

Holly Holm’s destruction of Ronda Rousey was complete and brilliant. It was also a massive upset.

Those facts are not mutually exclusive, and neither one should be forgotten in the wake of UFC 193, in which Holm knocked out Rousey with a spectacular head kick to become only the second person to wear the UFC women’s bantamweight belt.

The reaction was quick. Biggest upset ever, is what everyone proclaimed. Hey, that’s the way it goes with our instant-oatmeal society and blah-blah.

But is there truth to the claim? Where does Holm’s win really rank among the biggest upsets in MMA history?

Being big means more than just long odds (though Holm has that; she was a +900 underdog on Odds Shark Saturday). The size of an upset also takes into account the stakes of a fight and the stature of its fighters. 

Based on those three metrics, these are the 10 biggest upsets in MMA history. Odds courtesy of Odds Shark when available, and the other sites, depending on circumstances, when not. 

 

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UFC 193 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Rousey vs. Holm Fight Card

At the end of the rainbow, there was a fight.
UFC 193—and, yeah, that Ronda Rousey woman—occupied the center of the MMA world Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion and black hole of endless hype, wa…

At the end of the rainbow, there was a fight.

UFC 193—and, yeah, that Ronda Rousey woman—occupied the center of the MMA world Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion and black hole of endless hype, was out to defend her belt against former boxing champion Holly Holm.

Coming in, the 34-year-old Holm was only nine fights into her pro MMA career, though she did rack up a tidy 9-0 record during that run. Nevertheless, the relative greenness is probably a big reason why she was a major, major underdog coming into this fight.

The other reason was, you know, Rousey. Easily the best female MMA fighter ever.

No chance, right? Open and shut, correct? Why bother? Another photo op in the bag? 

Well, this is why they fight the fights. Did I read that somewhere once?

There were also 12 other bouts on this card, including a co-main event featuring Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the electrifying women’s strawweight champ.

As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Read on—and you want to read on—for the real winners and losers from UFC 193. 

For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear on the final slide.

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Ronda Rousey and the 10 Best Female Fighters in MMA History

Just because you know the destination doesn’t mean you can’t learn from the journey.
And the journey we’re about to take is through a little place we like to call “history.” 
Ronda Rousey is the best female MMA fighter to ever walk the planet. She…

Just because you know the destination doesn’t mean you can’t learn from the journey.

And the journey we’re about to take is through a little place we like to call “history.” 

Ronda Rousey is the best female MMA fighter to ever walk the planet. She’ll have a chance to further hone that reputational blade this Saturday when she meets former boxing champion Holly Holm at UFC 193, going down from Melbourne, Australia.

Rousey’s the tops, but there’s a legion of elite female fighters, past and present, to discover. The sport is so new that it’s relatively easy to look back and see the bones of its construction, its founding legends, its inaugural champions. The old and new schools have each spawned magnificent fighters, while and well before Rousey became a household name.

Let us now rank and recognize some of those greats.

These are the 10 best female MMA fighters ever. They are listed based on records, accomplishments, their overall place in the sport, skills and average strength of opponent. The division presented in each slide is the weight class in which the fighter primarily competes or competed.

Disagree with any selections? Ah, never mind. I’m sure that won’t happen.

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Ronda Rousey’s Greatest Hits: The 9 Moments That Defined the UFC’s Biggest Star

Ronda Rousey is the biggest star in MMA history, and that didn’t happen overnight. 
Since the first interview before her first fight, Rousey has been working to get herself noticed. That started all the way back in 2011, where she called out Gina …

Ronda Rousey is the biggest star in MMA history, and that didn’t happen overnight. 

Since the first interview before her first fight, Rousey has been working to get herself noticed. That started all the way back in 2011, where she called out Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos ahead of her professional MMA debut opposite future Invicta FC staple Ediane Gomes at King of the Cage: Turning Point and ever since, she has made the most of every opportunity to get her name out there.

That hustle led to a slew of unique opportunities, and those opportunities resulted in a level of exposure never before seen for a UFC fighter. With all eyes on Rousey year-round, she has been able to deliver memorable moments by the truckload.

With Rousey set to face off with Holly Holm at UFC 193 this Saturday, it’s worth taking a look back at the moments that defined her as an athlete and elevated and separated her from the rest of the pack. Here are Rousey’s greatest hits, as brought to you by the Bleacher Report MMA crew.

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