Bellator 127 was arguably the weakest card on paper of the season so far. Still, it had some decent fights on it and some good action. For a free fight card, it was certainly worth the watch.
Of note on the prelims, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated an overmatched jobber in Malik Merad. Here’s a GIF of the finish (this GIF and others in the post via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
Bellator 127 was arguably the weakest card on paper of the season so far. Still, it had some decent fights on it and some good action. For a free fight card, it was certainly worth the watch.
Of note on the prelims, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated an overmatched jobber in Malik Merad. Here’s a GIF of the finish (this GIF and others in the post via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
In the main card opener, Christian M’Pumbu faced Kendall Grove. This was M’Pumbu’s first fight at middleweight and it went poorly. The first round was five minutes of wall-and-stall for the most part. In the second, Grove managed to get M’Pumbu’s back during a quick scramble and sunk in a rear naked choke.
The next match featured Rafael Silva against Rob Emerson. Silva laid and prayed his way to a decision win. There was nothing notable or impressive about this fight save for Emerson’s uncanny resemblance to Doug Marshall.
Karo Parisyan met Fernando Gonzalez in the co-main event. This fight wasn’t competitive. Gonzalez hurt a sluggish Parisyan early with a hook and then landed some brutal follow-up ground and pound over the course of the next minute to put Parisyan away.
Then came the main event. Justin Wilcox fought Daniel Straus. This one didn’t last long. Straus clipped Wilcox early with a left hand, face-planting him. After a few more punches, the fight was called.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Daniel Straus def. Justin Wilcox via KO (punches), round 1, 0:50.
Fernando Gonzalez def. Karo Parisyan via TKO (punches), round 1, 1:43.
Rafael Silva def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Kendall Grove def. Christian M’Pumbu via submission (rear naked choke), round 2, 4:14.
Preliminary Card
Ray Sloan def. Nick Moghaddam via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Saad Awad def. Sergio Rios via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x 2)
Thierry Sokoudjou def. Malik Merad via TKO, round 2, 4:04.
Keith Berry def. Joe Pacheco via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ricky Rainey def. Johnny Cisneros via KO, first round, 3:18.
Justin Baesman def. Johnny Mercurio via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned featured #1-seeded former Invicta champ Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza taking on #16-ranked Angela “Overkill” Hill. And while Hill and her coaches were confident that the fight would be a lot more competitive than the rankings suggested, Esparza’s elite wrestling skills overwhelmed the Muay Thai champ. Once Esparza secured a takedown, she aggressively went for Hill’s neck, eventually sinking a rear-naked choke late in the first round. With Esparza’s win, Team Pettis is now up 4-0 on Team Melendez.
As for Angela Hill, she may have been eliminated in the first round, but she’s left a lasting impression on her teammates…
Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned featured #1-seeded former Invicta champ Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza taking on #16-ranked Angela “Overkill” Hill. And while Hill and her coaches were confident that the fight would be a lot more competitive than the rankings suggested, Esparza’s elite wrestling skills overwhelmed the Muay Thai champ. Once Esparza secured a takedown, she aggressively went for Hill’s neck, eventually sinking a rear-naked choke late in the first round. With Esparza’s win, Team Pettis is now up 4-0 on Team Melendez.
As for Angela Hill, she may have been eliminated in the first round, but she’s left a lasting impression on her teammates…
The 20th season of the UFC’s hit reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, rumbled on Wednesday evening, pitting Team Anthony Pettis’ No. 1 seed, Carla Esparza (9-2), against Team Gilbert Melendez’s No. 16 seed, Angela Hill (1-0). To this point in the competition, Team Pettis amassed a spotless 3-0 record, as Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood, Jessica Penne and Randa […]
The 20th season of the UFC’s hit reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, rumbled on Wednesday evening, pitting Team Anthony Pettis’ No. 1 seed, Carla Esparza (9-2), against Team Gilbert Melendez’s No. 16 seed, Angela Hill (1-0). To this point in the competition, Team Pettis amassed a spotless 3-0 record, as Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood, Jessica Penne and Randa […]
Remember last week when we went apeshit over MMA sites purporting to have full-fight video highlights but not actually delivering?
In case you don’t remember, loads of site posted “full fight video highlights” of the fight between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson. The only problem was the highlights were missing the most important part: The knockout.
The highlight video above is much better. While it cuts away right before the fight is stopped, it shows just enough of Conor McGregor‘s first-round KO of Dustin Poirier for you to get the idea of how it went down.
And do you know what else is awesome? Pretty much all the other “full fight video highlights” from UFC 178 are the same. They actually show the parts you want to see. Chalk up another victory for the Potato Nation. It seems our irreverence is finally starting to make a difference in the world of MMA SEO clickbaiting.
Watch the other highlights after the jump, and be sure to enjoy your 40-seconds of violence and anodyne commentary!
Remember last week when we went apeshit over MMA sites purporting to have full-fight video highlights but not actually delivering?
In case you don’t remember, loads of sites posted “full fight video highlights” of the fight between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson. The only problem was the highlights were missing the most important part: The knockout.
The highlight video above is much better. While it cuts away right before the fight is stopped, it shows just enough of Conor McGregor‘s first-round KO of Dustin Poirier for you to get the idea of how it went down.
And do you know what else is awesome? Pretty much all the other “full fight video highlights” from UFC 178 are the same. They actually show the parts you want to see. Chalk up another victory for the Potato Nation. It seems our irreverence is finally starting to make a difference in the world of MMA SEO clickbaiting.
Here are some of the other highlights. Enjoy your 40-seconds of violence and anodyne commentary!
At UFC 178, Tim Kennedy was on the cusp of knocking out Yoel Romero in the dying seconds of round two, after he had endured a difficult 10 minutes against the Cuban powerhouse in their main card battle. Kennedy, who also grabbed Romero’s gloves to land several uppercuts, had “Soldier of God” in a world of hurt, as he continued to pounce on his adversary. The horn saved Romero, and as referee “Big” John McCarthy separated both fighters and ordered them to their respective corners, Romero looked as if he had spent three days in an afterhours club hopped up on Molly.
He had no clue where he was, sat on his stool, and looked quite petrified as he mumbled words to his coaches.
As both fighters were summoned for the third and final round, Romero just sat there while his coaches moved like tortoises exiting the cage. Despite his corner men stalling, Romero was still on his stool, with too much Vaseline on him. His corner proceeded to wipe it off, while the American walked around frustrated. As Joe Rogan went ballistic, the fight wasn’t called off, a point wasn’t even deducted, and more so, “Big” John McCarthy didn’t do a damn thing about it.
Seconds into the third round, Romero dropped Kennedy, pummeled him to hell and back, and stood over his bloody foe in victory after being awarded with the stoppage victory.
Pretty strange, huh?
Now, this reeks of controversy from both sides. Kennedy’s blatant glove-grabbing maybe wasn’t worthy of disqualification, yet Romero on his stool was pretty atrocious. Even if the fighter has too much Vaseline on him, which according to Dana White at the post-fight presser, was the promotion’s fault because it was one of their employees, he shouldn’t be chilling on the stool. But here’s the thing … were the corner men told to exit before taking the stool? Probably. However, isn’t it their job to actually take the stool?
Take a look at the confrontation between both fighters backstage, courtesy of a Vine post (props to MMA Fighting for the link) after the jump.
(Photo via Getty)
At UFC 178, Tim Kennedy was on the cusp of knocking out Yoel Romero in the dying seconds of round two, after he had endured a difficult 10 minutes against the Cuban powerhouse in their main card battle. Kennedy, who also grabbed Romero’s gloves to land several uppercuts, had “Soldier of God” in a world of hurt, as he continued to pounce on his adversary. The horn saved Romero, and as referee “Big” John McCarthy separated both fighters and ordered them to their respective corners, Romero looked as if he had spent three days in an afterhours club hopped up on Molly.
He had no clue where he was, sat on his stool, and looked quite petrified as he mumbled words to his coaches.
As both fighters were summoned for the third and final round, Romero just sat there while his coaches moved like tortoises exiting the cage. Despite his corner men stalling, Romero was still on his stool, with too much Vaseline on him. His corner proceeded to wipe it off, while the American walked around frustrated. As Joe Rogan went ballistic, the fight wasn’t called off, a point wasn’t even deducted, and more so, “Big” John McCarthy didn’t do a damn thing about it.
Seconds into the third round, Romero dropped Kennedy, pummeled him to hell and back, and stood over his bloody foe in victory after being awarded with the stoppage victory.
Pretty strange, huh?
Now, this reeks of controversy from both sides. Kennedy’s blatant glove-grabbing maybe wasn’t worthy of disqualification, yet Romero on his stool was pretty atrocious. Even if the fighter has too much Vaseline on him, which according to Dana White at the post-fight presser, was the promotion’s fault because it was one of their employees, he shouldn’t be chilling on the stool. But here’s the thing … were the corner men told to exit before taking the stool? Probably. However, isn’t it their job to actually take the stool?
Let’s take a look at the confrontation between both fighters backstage, courtesy of a Vine post (props to MMA Fighting for the link):
We’re probably set for more footage shortly, via video blogs or UFC Embedded. Also, Kennedy found the exact ruling from the Nevada Athletic Commission regarding recovery in between rounds, and shared it via Twitter:
The American plans to file a complain with the commission in the upcoming days, according to MMA Junkie. It remains to be seen if the commission will act on this matter, or if it’s just an unfortunate circumstance that won’t be fixed altogether.
So immediate rematch of last night’s “Fight of The Night?” Nah, I think we’re good. Potential change to a no-contest? Maybe … just maybe (doubt it, though).
Low and behold, the answer to all of our political problems. (Photo by Esther Lin of MMA Fighting)
UFC 178 is in the books, and it was arguably the best UFC event of the year. Leading up to the extravaganza at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the fight card looked promising, even though the cancellation of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight championship had us all pretty bummed out.
With Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso stepping up to the plate, nobody was truly interested in their flyweight title fight, simply because the rest of the card had more compelling stories, alongside fights deemed a little too difficult to call in order to bet the house, Coleman style.
That being said, let’s take a look at the most compelling scraps, and what to make of it all after we spent the last eight hours shadowboxing, binging on dollar store mini donuts, and obsessively searching the web for that CRUZ sweater.
Welcome to “Cutting Through The Bullshit,” UFC 178 style.
(Photo via Getty)
UFC 178 is in the books, and it was arguably the best UFC event of the year. Leading up to the extravaganza at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the fight card looked promising, even though the cancellation of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight championship had us pretty bummed out.
With Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso stepping up to the plate, nobody was truly interested in their flyweight title fight, simply because the rest of the card had more compelling stories, alongside fights deemed a little too difficult to call in order to bet the house, Coleman style.
That being said, let’s take a look at the biggest scraps, and what to make of it all after we spent the last eight hours shadowboxing, binging on dollar store mini donuts, and obsessively searching the web for that CRUZ sweater.
Welcome to “Cutting Through The Bullshit,” UFC 178 style:
Look, it’s pretty obvious Johnson is a spectacular combatant, the most dominant champion in the organization, and a fighter so technically sound he generates silence throughout the arena because the fans are simply in awe of him.
Well, no.
It’s apparent “Mighty Mouse” isn’t really a pay-per-view star, and he’s suited best for FOX broadcasts moving forward. He’s definitely capable of generating interest in a co-main event, much like he and Cariaso were supposed to do at UFC 177, yet headlining the whole PPV shebang may not be his forte.
But that really isn’t his fault. He’s more so a victim of consequence here. The flyweight title fight wasn’t supposed to headline this card, however, a title fight should have enough power to generate interest on its own. You can say he’s still in a transitional phase, yet UFC 174 is still pretty fresh in our minds.
Anyhow, his win over Cariaso was like watching Sid Justice maul a jobber on Saturday mornings, and it’s funny to think that even though the champ was in a relatively easy fight, nobody is mentioning that it’s his third stoppage victory in his pas four title defenses. He was also asked one question at the post-fight presser (well, two, but from the same person … so, one).
2014 has been fairly good to us in the main event department. If Johnson vs. Cariaso lacked that particular oomph, then Cerrone vs. Alvarez was straight up going to be some deep-fried organized violence.
It turned out to be a great fight, one all too familiar for “Cowboy.” After a difficult and lopsided first round, Cerrone turned it on in the second and started to hack away at the Bellator champion’s legs, eventually breaking that tree down and earning the unanimous decision victory.
Cerrone’s been through the thick and thin, and by defeating Alvarez, he’s either going to be in another title eliminator bout, or finally challenge for UFC gold. As for the “Underground King,” it wasn’t the worst of debuts, yet that’s just what UFC wanted … another Bellator guy stifled by a golden boy employee who takes on all jobs.
Conor McGregor Is The Next Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Michael Jordan, And Walt Disney
If you watched the post-fight press conference, you noticed the Irishman sitting there glowing in his ivory elephant trunk suit, with every member of the media asking him the same three questions he’s been asked for the past year. Hell, he even got a post-fight media scrum.
Don’t get it twisted; “Notorious” truly is the biggest prospect in the UFC right now, and to be honest, he pretty much surpassed that status last night with a first-round TKO over the always-game Dustin Poirier. Did that shot hit “Diamond” in the back of the head? Did McGregor land more shots to the back of the head when following up?
It’s kind of subjective at this point. Whether he did or didn’t, it shouldn’t overshadow his performance. He was awarded the victory after all, and we’ve seen a lot more clusterfucks than that in the past.
UFC’s legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Goldberg compared him to Michael Jordan, not to mention Uncle Dana saying he was bigger than Brock Lesnar, the biggest draw the sport had ever seen. McGregor is going to Brazil to sit cageside with his homies at UFC 179, so don’t be surprised if he’s slotted in the Octagon as the next contender to the featherweight strap. We’re not going to assess if he deserves a title shot or not … we’re just going to predict what we think will happen, seeing that UFC as a whole thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Yoel Romero Sitting On His Stool, Giving Less Fucks Than Ricky Rozay
Romero’s battle alongside Tim Kennedy was pretty good while it lasted, and subject to a boatload of controversy. Romero was basically out on his stool, and after “a UFC employee put too much Vaseline on him,” he sat there for about half a minute while his corner “attempted” to leave the cage.
There’s no question that if any of us were the American, we’d be pissed. “Soldier of God” was dazed, and it looked like he was prepared to vomit at any moment. Still, he comes out in the third round and completely torches Kennedy in the biggest win of his career.
Sorry UFC, but victim blaming won’t work here. That one was on “Big” John McCarthy, and it’s puzzling to think one of the best officials in the game let that one slip by. Like, dude, at least tell the guy to stand up and ask him questions.
Cat Zingano Win Inspiring, But Please, Leave Her Alone
“Alpha” has been through a lot in the past year. Joe Rogan hinted at in her post-fight interview after her comeback win over Amanda Nunes in the third round, but failed to say what happened, which led to an honest assessment of Zingano saying she just wanted to go home, spend time with her son, and happy she got that shit over with.
Zingano’s third-round stoppage over the Brazilian was ultra inspiring, with the majority of the sport’s observers feeling genuinely happy for the next women’s bantamweight number one contender. However, let’s give it a rest, and leave her alone. I’ve always felt indifferent when it comes to exploring one’s personal circumstances in a difficult time, and unlike the next fighter on the list, Zingano went through hardship that nobody deserves to go through. So for next time, let’s not hint at her troubles multiple times (Rogan & Goldie) without mentioning what happened, and let her enjoy possibly the biggest win of her life?
Dominick Cruz Is The Best Pound-For-Pound Athlete In The Universe, Currently Sitting In CRUZ Control
Imagine what you live for is taken away from you for three years. We’re not talking about being abstinent, you horny pervert. In Cruz’s case, we had no idea how he was going to look. He never lost the bantamweight championship, yet his last bout was three years ago, and there was a plethora of questions regarding his physical and mental state.
Call it a travesty that his fight against Takeya Mizugaki was on the FS1 prelims, although it was the best-case scenario. Dozens of thousands of viewers witnessed DOMIN8TION for free, with Cruz mauling Mizugaki after landing a takedown which may or may not have given most of us at this website an instant erection.
Credit the brass for booking Cruz against T.J. Dillashaw next, because frankly, that’s the only sensible option. “Dominator” could have fought Urijah Faber, too, especially after his post-fight jab, but let’s not pretend last night’s winner lost his title and didn’t beat Faber in convincing fashion three years ago.
All In All …
It was a perfect night of fights. Truth be told, it was the type of card we live for, and the reason we still wake up at freaking 5AM to watch putrid battles featuring foreign fighters with 2-0 records. Honestly, it felt like 2007 all over again.
In the end, we got a main event that had less drawing power than a George Lopez sitcom, a superstar’s official coming out party, #stoolgate, and two competitors that were granted guaranteed title shots (with two others in the championship limelight, also). That’s the UFC we know. That’s the pain we face. That’s why after all this time, we still put up with Stemm.
Enjoy it while you can. It’s not like we’re treated to these gifts every weekend anymore, however, something tells me the rest of the year heading into the next could be something special.
