At UFC 173 T.J. Dillashaw put on a scientific performance against Renan Barao, dominating the former champion for almost an entire five rounds before putting him away in the middle of the last round. Barao was thought to be unbeatable, and Dillashaw be…
At UFC 173 T.J. Dillashaw put on a scientific performance against RenanBarao, dominating the former champion for almost an entire five rounds before putting him away in the middle of the last round. Barao was thought to be unbeatable, and Dillashaw beat him with near-impunity.
The rematch is set for the main event of UFC 177 on August 30, but there are other fights that may have been a better option for Dillashaw’s first bantamweight title defense. Because of Barao’s previous 33-fight unbeaten streak, he is definitely deserving of a rematch. But after such a one-sided first fight, it would be smart if Barao took on someone else and rematchedDillashaw coming off of a win.
With so many viable contenders in the bantamweight division, there were numerous fighters Dillashaw could have faced in his first fight as champion. Here are three fights that would have been preferable over the Dillashaw vs. Barao immediate rematch.
Although he’s had some ups and downs throughout his UFC career, Ryan Bader has remained a highly ranked light heavyweight for several years now.
On Saturday, Bader took care of business against the up-and-coming Ovince Saint Preux. The Strikeforce vete…
Although he’s had some ups and downs throughout his UFC career, Ryan Bader has remained a highly ranked light heavyweight for several years now.
On Saturday, Bader took care of business against the up-and-coming Ovince Saint Preux. The Strikeforce veteran brought an undefeated UFC record into the weekend, but he was unable to find an answer to Bader’s All-American-level wrestling.
In holding serve against a contender on the rise, Bader ensured he would remain one of the Top 10 205-pounders on the UFC roster. Did his decision win move him upward at all, though?
Here are the latest official UFC rankings via UFC.com, which are voted on by various members of the MMA media.
On Saturday night, Ovince St. Preux squared off against the winner of season eight of The Ultimate Fighter, Ryan Bader. The early rounds were competitive, but by late in the second round, Bader realized he had a serious advantage on the ground.
Th…
On Saturday night, Ovince St. Preux squared off against the winner of season eight of The Ultimate Fighter, Ryan Bader. The early rounds were competitive, but by late in the second round, Bader realized he had a serious advantage on the ground.
The fight went the full five rounds, and Bader took the unanimous decision with scores of 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46.
Going into the fight, Bader was ranked No. 8 and St. Preux was ranked No. 10. After this fight, St. Preux is likely to drop to the bottom of the rankings, and there are a few interesting fights for him to take next. Let’s check out three possibilities.
On Saturday night, Gray Maynard suffered his fourth loss by (T)KO in as many fights. His only win since 2010 was a split-decision win over Clay Guida. He has suffered two first-round TKOs, a fourth-round knockout and then a second-round TKO Saturday.
H…
On Saturday night, Gray Maynard suffered his fourth loss by (T)KO in as many fights. His only win since 2010 was a split-decision win over Clay Guida. He has suffered two first-round TKOs, a fourth-round knockout and then a second-round TKO Saturday.
He was ranked No. 12 going into the fight, but with a loss to the unranked Ross Pearson, Maynard will likely drop out of the top 15.
Many are hoping that Maynard will retire, as his chin has shown serious problems as of late, but should he stick around, let’s check out four fights for him to take next.
With a short right hand and some follow-up shots to a collapsed Gray Maynard, Ross Pearson made a bold, violent announcement to the MMA world Saturday night in Maine at UFC Fight Night 47: His time is now; ignore him at your own peril.
The Englishman h…
With a short right hand and some follow-up shots to a collapsed Gray Maynard, Ross Pearson made a bold, violent announcement to the MMA world Saturday night in Maine at UFC Fight Night 47: His time is now; ignore him at your own peril.
The Englishman has been puttering about as a fringe contender seemingly since the day he stepped out of the Octagon as an official TUF champion, and now, with a signature win under his belt to wipe away the foul stench of his decision loss to Diego Sanchez, he’s moving on up.
With that in mind, here’s a short list of guys who make sense for him the next time he knuckles up.
Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson was yanked from his bout with Josh Thomson in July after he suffered an injury, but in terms of matchmaking, there’s lots to like here.
The two men are at similar stages of their career—late-20s TUFproducts with a high athletic ceiling and some substantial career momentum—and for them to meet now would be notable for the future of the division.
It’s also a bout that pits the wrestling chops and vastly improved striking of Johnson against the nasty kickboxing and crafty takedown defense of Pearson, which is almost a lock to provide an exciting fight.
Josh Thomson
Speaking of Thomson, he ended up losing—on the night he was supposed to fight Johnson—to an upstart Bobby Green. It was one of his more lackluster performances in recent years, and it essentially undid all the goodwill and momentum he’d ferreted away after beating Nate Diaz and losing a dubious decision to Benson Henderson.
Now, with his ranking lower than it’s been in the promotion in quite some time (No. 6 in the lightweight division), there could be some serious enjoyment to be had if he were to lock up with Pearson just as his star is beginning to shoot a little.
Thomson is always fun and entertaining, and Pearson doesn’t know what a boring fight looks like. When you add the stakes of divisional relevance to the mix it becomes a pretty appealing tilt.
Jim Miller
Another guy who’s no stranger to in-cage excitement, Jim Miller could be a solid test for Pearson as he tries to stack up against the tougher men in the division.
Miller has been around forever and has only suffered defeats to the cream of the UFC crop, usually going in for a night of bloody mayhem no matter what side of the ledger he ends up on.
With his criminally underappreciated jiu-jitsu, solid wrestling, capable standup and unflinching will, he could be the perfect guy to help lock down exactly what the promotion has in the 29-year-old Pearson and determine just how far he might go now that he’s entering his best years.
It’s good to have friends in high places. When it comes to mixed martial arts, the city of Bangor, Maine, has one of the highest friends it’s possible to have.
That’s the only reason why UFC Fight Night 47 went down from this staid New England town, po…
It’s good to have friends in high places. When it comes to mixed martial arts, the city of Bangor, Maine, has one of the highest friends it’s possible to have.
That’s the only reason why UFC Fight Night 47 went down from this staid New England town, population 33,000. For comparison, the UFC’s previous event, Fight Night 46, happened in San Jose, California, which has 945,000 residents.
And this isn’t just conjecture; Dana Whitehas admitted as much. See, the UFC prez keeps a summer home in the beauteous New England burg and has personally lobbied for a Bangor event for some time.
That’s a pretty good lobbyist to have in your corner.
So here we are. The lineup for the event was a bit reflective of its host. Not a lot of high wattage involved, but no small amount of natural attraction for those who are naturally attracted to fighting, if you take a moment to look.
The evening’s main event was pretty tame by main event standards, as wrestler Ryan Bader and dynamic up-and-comer Ovince Saint Preux battled to see who might possibly compete for a title fight someday.
Other main card matchups held more stylistic intrigue, however, and the undercard—topped by flyweight contenders Zach Makovsky and JussierFormiga—was nutrient-rich by any measure.
As usual, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from this “Maine” event, if you see what I mean.
With a short right hand and some follow-up shots to a collapsed