Tag: Recap

CagePotato Presents: The 10 Best UFC Brawls of the Year (So Far)


(This photo and all photos after it via Getty)

By Jared Jones

It’s the halfway-ish point of the year, which means that we are a mere six or so months away from handing out our annual Potato Awards in categories such as “MMA Fail of the Year”, “Media Shill of the Year”, and the always coveted “Krazy Horse Bennett Arrest of the Year.” But because you Taters have been good this year, we’re going to allow you to open one present early: Our definitive ranking of the best UFC brawls of the year, so far.

It’s been a rocky year for the UFC, to say the absolute least. Pay-per-view numbers are tanking, fan interest is waning due to market oversaturation, and even the promotion’s new video game has been plagued by (albeit hilarious) technical issues. But the great thing about the UFC/MMA in general is that all can be forgiven with a few great fights, and these 10 brawls are undoubtedly the kernels of corn hidden amongst the soggy floor-turds that the UFC has been shitting out this year.

To repeat: This list is only dedicated to the best *brawls* of the year, which implies a fight in which both participants take their fare share of licks. TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao was a one-sided beatdown, albeit a brilliant one-sided beatdown, and therefore bears no mention here. Except that I just mentioned it. God damn it.

Let’s just get to the top 10 brawls of the year, nearly all of which contain links to full fight videos for your viewing pleasure…

#10 — Kevin Souza vs Mark Eddiva: TUF Brazil 3 Finale

(Check out Souza vs. Eddiva in its entirety here.)

A classic example of two guys with more heart than brains (or defensive capabilities) leaving it all in the octagon, Kevin Souza vs. Mark Eddiva opened up the FS1 prelims for the TUF Brazil Finale in a huge way.

Watching Souza vs. Eddiva was kind of like watching two women play Tekken for the very first time, in that both fighters only seemed to understand how one button on their controllers worked — for Eddiva it was leg kicks, for Souza it was the overhand right. These two techniques were traded with absolutely zero setup for two highly entertaining rounds, earning both men a $50,000 “Fight of the Night’ bonus in an evening of otherwise unmemorable decisions and memorable-for-all-the-wrong-ways squash matches. It was Souza, however, who walked away from the fight victorious via an always rare standing TKO.


(This photo and all photos after it via Getty)

By Jared Jones

It’s the halfway-ish point of the year, which means that we are a mere six or so months away from handing out our annual Potato Awards in categories such as “MMA Fail of the Year”, “Media Shill of the Year”, and the always coveted “Krazy Horse Bennett Arrest of the Year.” But because you Taters have been good this year, we’re going to allow you to open one present early: Our definitive ranking of the best UFC brawls of the year, so far.

It’s been a rocky year for the UFC, to say the absolute least. Pay-per-view numbers are tanking, fan interest is waning due to market oversaturation, and even the promotion’s new video game has been plagued by (albeit hilarious) technical issues. But the great thing about the UFC/MMA in general is that all can be forgiven with a few great fights, and these 10 brawls are undoubtedly the kernels of corn hidden amongst the soggy floor-turds that the UFC has been shitting out this year.

To repeat: This list is only dedicated to the best *brawls* of the year, which implies a fight in which both participants take their fare share of licks. TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao was a one-sided beatdown, albeit a brilliant one-sided beatdown, and therefore bears no mention here. Except that I just mentioned it. God damn it.

Let’s just get to the top 10 brawls of the year, nearly all of which contain links to full fight videos for your viewing pleasure…

#10 – Kevin Souza vs Mark Eddiva: TUF Brazil 3 Finale

(Check out Souza vs. Eddiva in its entirety here.)

A classic example of two guys with more heart than brains (or defensive capabilities) leaving it all in the octagon, Kevin Souza vs. Mark Eddiva opened up the FS1 prelims for the TUF Brazil Finale in a huge way.

Watching Souza vs. Eddiva was kind of like watching two women play Tekken for the very first time, in that both fighters only seemed to understand how one button on their controllers worked — for Eddiva it was leg kicks, for Souza it was the overhand right. These two techniques were traded with absolutely zero setup for two highly entertaining rounds, earning both men a $50,000 “Fight of the Night’ bonus in an evening of otherwise unmemorable decisions and memorable-for-all-the-wrong-ways squash matches. It was Souza, however, who walked away from the fight victorious via an always rare standing TKO.

#9 — Yui Chul Nam vs. Kazuki Tokudome: Fight Night 37

The utter ass-whooping that Kazuki Tokudome suffered in the first round of his fight with Yui Chul Nam at Fight Night 37 was comparable only to Maynard-Edgar 1 in terms of its lopsidedness. From the opening bell, Nam blitzkrieged Tokudome with big right hands both in the clinch and on the break, wobbling his Japanese counterpart multiple times in the process. Had Tokudome been that one French guy from TUF 11, he would have surely quit on his stool between rounds.

But as was the case in Maynard-Edgar 1, the second round told a different story entirely. Tokudome scored a huge double leg takedown in the opening stanza, then utilized some heavy top control to peck away at the South Korean with short shots from above. While not able to inflict nearly as much damage on his opponent as he received in the first round, Tokudome arguably earned a 10-8 of his own in the second thanks to his complete positional dominance. “Askrening”, I believe it’s called.

The first half of the third round was much of the same for Tokudome, who despite having both his eyes nearly swollen shut by the strikes of Nam, continued to dominate with top control. But you can never keep a good Nam down, as they say. “The Korean Bulldozer” (awesome nickname, BTW) was eventually able to reverse the position and secure a takedown of his own, which was apparently all he needed to earn a split decision win.

UFC Fight Night 43: Results and Recap from Auckland, New Zealand

UFC Fight Night 43 hit your screens courtesy of UFC Fight Pass early on Saturday, and the card was not looking good on paper. Luckily, fights aren’t fought on paper. It was a very fun event with several exciting clashes. In the main event, Nate Marquardt looked like his old self in a complete thrashing […]

UFC Fight Night 43 hit your screens courtesy of UFC Fight Pass early on Saturday, and the card was not looking good on paper. Luckily, fights aren’t fought on paper. It was a very fun event with several exciting clashes. In the main event, Nate Marquardt looked like his old self in a complete thrashing […]

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EA Sports UFC Review: No Country for Button-Mashers

By Joshua Vanderwall, EscapistMagazine.com

If you grew up on the likes of Street Fighter and Tekken, then you’re probably accustomed to being able to pick up a controller, sight unseen, and still put up at least a bit of a fight against a more experienced player. Button mashing won’t win you any Street Fighter tournaments, but, unless you’re playing at a professional level, you’ll usually be able to get a few good hits in and not feel too bad about yourself at the end of the match.

That’s not so much the case in EA Sports UFC, where button mashing is punished by the game’s mechanics, and even more so by players that have even a semblance of an idea of what they’re doing. UFC is not a fighting game. It’s a rigorous technical exercise behind an entertaining façade of people beating the pants off each other.

UFC is gorgeous on Xbox One, and ostensibly so on PS4. The fighters look frighteningly realistic while they idle, and even during the action of matches it’s almost eerie how lifelike the characters are. Outside of some hilarious technical glitches during bouts, the physics keeps up with the action impeccably well, making for some almost painful viewing experiences as punches connect and drops of sweat and blood fall to the canvas from the injured fighter. The physics and graphics jive so well together, in fact, that you can almost feel the impact as you land a roundhouse to the temple, or absorb a superman punch.

Where the graphics and physics are generally superb, the controls leave something to be desired for less adroit players. The face buttons on the controller are punches and kicks, which is simple enough to grasp. That’s where the simplicity ends.

By Joshua Vanderwall, EscapistMagazine.com

If you grew up on the likes of Street Fighter and Tekken, then you’re probably accustomed to being able to pick up a controller, sight unseen, and still put up at least a bit of a fight against a more experienced player. Button mashing won’t win you any Street Fighter tournaments, but, unless you’re playing at a professional level, you’ll usually be able to get a few good hits in and not feel too bad about yourself at the end of the match.

That’s not so much the case in EA Sports UFC, where button mashing is punished by the game’s mechanics, and even more so by players that have even a semblance of an idea of what they’re doing. UFC is not a fighting game. It’s a rigorous technical exercise behind an entertaining façade of people beating the pants off each other.

UFC is gorgeous on Xbox One, and ostensibly so on PS4. The fighters look frighteningly realistic while they idle, and even during the action of matches it’s almost eerie how lifelike the characters are. Outside of some hilarious technical glitches during bouts, the physics keeps up with the action impeccably well, making for some almost painful viewing experiences as punches connect and drops of sweat and blood fall to the canvas from the injured fighter. The physics and graphics jive so well together, in fact, that you can almost feel the impact as you land a roundhouse to the temple, or absorb a superman punch.

Where the graphics and physics are generally superb, the controls leave something to be desired for less adroit players. The face buttons on the controller are punches and kicks, which is simple enough to grasp. That’s where the simplicity ends. There are multiple modifier buttons that you can hold to use different strikes, as well as directional inputs changing what attack you make, which means you’re trying to navigate upwards of 20 different stand-up attacks.

Then there’s blocking, dodging, takedowns, clinch, and transitions. Knowing exactly which button or analog stick motion to input at any given moment is crucial in all but the most rudimentary matches in UFC, and it seems set up to allow an experienced player to absolutely dominate a new recruit in all but the luckiest of scenarios. That’s not to say it’s all bad, but it’s far from being accessible, and will take some patience on the part of experienced players not to just choke out friends playing for the first time.

UFC offers the standard fare for game types. You can pick a fighter and go straight to a match, or you can start a career and create your own custom warrior. There are a number of challenges to help hone your skills so you can take on tougher fights, as well as online play so you can test your mettle against other players. Unfortunately, for a game that lends itself so well to serious competition, the online play was a laggy experience throughout. Matchmaking was quick enough, but as soon as the match started, characters started stuttering and inputs were periodically ignored.

Career was significantly more enjoyable, however, since it allows you to create your own fighter and customize their stats and abilities to your liking. If you don’t want to mess around with the whole wrestling thing, you can create a fighter that specializes in striking and just aim to KO your opponent before they get a chance to take you down. Just punching your opponent in the face repeatedly is a lovely respite from struggling with the more technical aspects of submissions, escapes, ground transitions, and all the rest. You might not be able to go all the way in Career mode without being at least marginally well rounded, but a 23-second KO using nothing but punches to the face is surprisingly gratifying after getting submitted repeatedly by more experienced players.

Click here to read the rest of this review on EscapistMagazine, and to take a look at the seriously daunting-looking button-controls.

So There Were Some Pretty Brutal Knockouts at Glory 17: Los Angeles This Past Weekend [w/GIFS]


(All gifs courtesy of Zombie Prophet.)

Last Saturday marked an increasingly rare occasion for the fight fan attempting to have an honest to God social life, with the UFC taking a much needed break ahead of this weekend’s Fight Night doubleheader. That is not to say there wasn’t plenty of fight action to be witnessed — both the World Series of Fighting and Glory kickboxing held events in California over the weekend — but were any of you honestly on pins and needles to watch the former’s middleweight title fight between David Branch and Jesse Taylor, or the latter’s rematch between Mirko Cro Cop and Jarrell Miller? Thought so.

Had you turned into Glory 17, however, you would have not only witnessed the former PRIDE killer and prankster extraordinaire score a unanimous decision victory over Miller, but a bevy of blistering knockouts as well. The quickest KO of the night went to Glory 12 lightweight tournament winner Andy Ristie in his preliminary tilt against Ky Hollenbeck, the man Ristie was supposed to face for the inaugural Glory lightweight belt at Glory 14 before an injury forced Davit Kiria to step in and eventually defeat Ristie via last second, come-from-behind KO.

It took Ristie just 35 seconds to flatten Hollenbeck with his trademark left hook, which you can check out in gif form above courtesy of Zombie Prophet. After the jump: Gifs of the night’s other, more violent finishes and complete Glory 17 results.


(All gifs courtesy of Zombie Prophet.)

Last Saturday marked an increasingly rare occasion for the fight fan attempting to have an honest to God social life, with the UFC taking a much needed break ahead of this weekend’s Fight Night doubleheader. That is not to say there wasn’t plenty of fight action to be witnessed — both the World Series of Fighting and Glory kickboxing held events in California over the weekend — but were any of you honestly on pins and needles to watch the former’s middleweight title fight between David Branch and Jesse Taylor, or the latter’s rematch between Mirko Cro Cop and Jarrell Miller? Thought so.

Had you turned into Glory 17, however, you would have not only witnessed the former PRIDE killer and prankster extraordinaire score a unanimous decision victory over Miller, but a bevy of blistering knockouts as well. The quickest KO of the night went to Glory 12 lightweight tournament winner Andy Ristie in his preliminary tilt against Ky Hollenbeck, the man Ristie was supposed to face for the inaugural Glory lightweight belt at Glory 14 before an injury forced Davit Kiria to step in and eventually defeat Ristie via last second, come-from-behind KO.

It took Ristie just 35 seconds to flatten Hollenbeck with his trademark left hook, which you can check out in gif form above courtesy of Zombie Prophet. After the jump: Gifs of the night’s other, more violent finishes and complete Glory 17 results.

The middleweight tournament quarterfinal bout between Joe Schilling and Simon Marcus was easily one the evening’s most entertaining bouts, both going to a sudden death fourth round and ending in a falling tree KO that was nearly a double KO when Schilling and Marcus landed simultaneous right hands. It was Schilling’s right hook that won the day over Marcus’ right straight, securing him a spot in semifinals against the man who would score a devastating counter punch KO of his own in the very next fight of the night…

Yep, that’s Romania’s Bogdan Stoica going full Arlovski vs. Fedor on American Wayne Barrett in their quarterfinal fight and achieving the exact same results. Yowza. I’m just saying, unless you possess the hops of Chris Beal, maybe set that flying knee up with something rather than leap into it from halfway across the ring. I’m not even here. (*backs slowly out of room*)

Aside from Saturday’s epic middleweight tournament, Glory 17 also saw the crowning of a new heavyweight and welterweight champion, as well as the return of Melvin Manhoef to the squared circle, so check out the complete Glory 17 results below.

Glory “Last man Standing” Middleweight Tournament Results:

-Tournament Final: Levin def Schilling via unanimous dec (29-26, 29-26, 29-26) new Middleweight champion
-Semi final: Levin def Verlinden via unanimous dec (30-27 x 3)
-Semi final: Schilling def Barrett via split dec (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)
-Artem Levin def Alex Pereira via unanimous dec (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Joe Schilling def. Simon Marcus via KO in extra round 2:41
-Wayne Barrett def Bogdan Stoica via KO RD 3 0:58
Filip Verlinden def Melvin Manhoef via unanimous dec (30-27, 30-27, 28-28)

Other results:
-Heavyweight championship: Rico Verhoeven def Daniel Ghita via unanimous dec (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
-Welterweight championship: Joseph Valtellini def Marc de Bonte via unanimous dec (47-46 x 3)
-Mirko Filipovic def Jarrell MIller via unanimous dec (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
-Andy Ristie def Ky Hollenbeck via KO Rd 1 0:35
-Featherweight tournament final: Varga def Oblonsky via unanimous dec (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
-Gabriel Varga def Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai via unanimous dec (30-27 x 3)
-Shane Oblonsky def Marcus Vinicius via unanimous dec (29-26)

–J. Jones

On This Day in MMA History: Frank Mir Breaks Tim Sylvia’s Arm, Ken Shamrock KO’s Kimo at UFC 48: Payback

It might be hard to believe when looking at him now, but there was a time not too long ago when Tim Sylvia was paid money to compete in physical activities. I know right? I’m seriously. It was the mid-2000’s, and “The Maine-iac” weighed in at a svelte 265 pounds. He was also the UFC Heavyweight champion, but looking back, I think the former accomplishment is arguably more impressive than the latter.

Regardless, after testing positive for stanozolol in his second title defense over Gan McGee at UFC 44, Sylvia would voluntarily relinquish his belt in disgrace*…and wind up receiving an immediate fight against Frank Mir for the belt he had just vacated at UFC 48 on June 19th, 2004 — ten years ago today.

It did not end well.

It might be hard to believe when looking at him now, but there was a time not too long ago when Tim Sylvia was paid money to compete in physical activities. I know right? I’m seriously. It was the mid-2000′s, and ”The Maine-iac” weighed in at a svelte 265 pounds. He was also the UFC Heavyweight champion, but looking back, I think the former accomplishment is arguably more impressive than the latter.

Regardless, after testing positive for stanozolol in his second title defense over Gan McGee at UFC 44, Sylvia would voluntarily relinquish his belt in disgrace*…and wind up receiving an immediate fight against Frank Mir for the belt he had just vacated at UFC 48 on June 19th, 2004 — ten years ago today.

It did not end well.

Not unlike a monster mash, Sylvia’s arm-breaking loss to Mir got on in a flash (again, my sincerest apologies). After a brief exchange on the feet, Sylvia latched onto Mir and drove him to the canvas, likely thinking that a ground and pound TKO over a fighter of Mir’s caliber would make for a nice addition to his already impressive resume. Problem was, Sylvia could barely get settled before Mir locked up a tight armbar that had “The Maine-iac” suddenly trying to slam his way out of trouble.

It was too late, and Mir proceeded to fracture Sylvia’s right radius bone in half. Herb Dean would lose his goddamn mind while witnessing this and wave off the fight, emitting a chorus boos from the audience so overwhelming that Bruce Buffer even forgot to announce Mir as champion.

The damndest thing is, Sylvia didn’t seem to care or even realize what kind of damage had been done to his arm — Herb Dean had to convince *him* that his arm had been broken. And even after seeing the footage of his arm doing just that, Sylvia would still not accept the stoppage.

“We’ll fight again,” said Mir in his post-fight interview. “We’ll fight right now,” Sylvia angrily replied.

I don’t know what was more impressive in that exchange, Sylvia’s toughness or his stupidity. Let’s go with toughness.

Unfortunately, Mir and Sylvia never would meet again. Mir would be forced to vacate his title after breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident and would not compete again for nearly two years. Sylvia, however, would eventually go on to reclaim his heavyweight championship and defend it two more times before running into some guy named Randy Couture at UFC 68. He would get axed from the UFC a couple fights later, get wrecked by Fedor in under a minute at Affliction: Banned, and then put on approximately 415 pounds while eating (heh) even quicker losses to Abe Wagner and Ray Mercer. Sylvia has since been rallying for another fight in the UFC ever since, but are you fucking kidding me? 

Just moments prior to Sylvia’s bone-shattering loss, Ken Shamrock picked up his last UFC win (and last notable win) over Kimo Leopoldo via KO (knee). It was quite an impressive accomplishment for the 40 year-old to say the least. The years that followed, however, would be filled with heartache. Heartache and defeat and lawsuits and more defeat. Also, heartache. But hey, Shamrock seems to be enjoying life as a bodyguard to the stars these days, and has even repaired his relationship with the UFC. So hooray for happyish endings.

We’ve thrown a video of Shamrock vs. Kimo below for your enjoyment. Drink in the nostalgia, you buncha bitches.

*Say what you want about Timmeh, you gotta give the man credit for owning up to his mistake and accepting his punishment like a man (looking at you, Vitor).

–J. Jones

UFC Fight Night 42 Salaries: Diego Sanchez Steals Six Figures, While Flyweights Continue to Be Undervalued


(Lol I got dis in da bag. Photo via Getty.)

In February of 2006, former UFC fighter Lee Murray orchestrated the now-infamous London Securitas heist and (temporarily) made off with nearly $90 million dollars. It was not only considered the biggest robbery in MMA History, but the largest cash robbery in the history of the UK.

Last weekend at Fight Night 42, Diego Sanchez accomplished a similar, albeit more modest feat, successfully robbing Ross Pearson of a hard-earned decision victory and the UFC of an event-high $140,000. And in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, no less. While the New Mexico Athletic Commission’s involvement in the brilliantly executed heist remains under investigation, Sanchez appears to be in the clear. For now, at least.

Ben Henderson, on the other hand, must have renegotiated his contract at gunpoint. See what we’re talking about after the jump…


(Lol I got dis in da bag. Photo via Getty.)

In February of 2006, former UFC fighter Lee Murray orchestrated the now-infamous London Securitas heist and (temporarily) made off with nearly $90 million dollars. It was not only considered the biggest robbery in MMA History, but the largest cash robbery in the history of the UK.

Last weekend at Fight Night 42, Diego Sanchez accomplished a similar, albeit more modest feat, successfully robbing Ross Pearson of a hard-earned decision victory and the UFC of an event-high $140,000. And in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, no less. While the New Mexico Athletic Commission’s involvement in the brilliantly executed heist remains under investigation, Sanchez appears to be in the clear. For now, at least.

Ben Henderson, on the other hand, must have renegotiated his contract at gunpoint…

Benson Henderson: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus)
Rustam Khabilov: $17,000

Diego Sanchez: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus)
Ross Pearson: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)

John Dodson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
John Moraga: $19,000

Rafael dos Anjos: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus)
Jason High: $19,000

Piotr Hallmann: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Yves Edwards: $24,000

Bryan Caraway: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Erik Perez: $21,000

Sergio Pettis: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Yaotzin Meza: $14,000

Lance Benoist: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Bobby Voelker: $12,000

Scott Jorgensen: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus)
Danny Martinez: $8,000

Jon Tuck: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Jake Lindsey: $8,000

Patrick Cummins: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Roger Narvaez: $8,000

Underpaid: Ben Henderson, a former champion who was making six figures just to show in his fights with Gil Melendez and Anthony Pettis, is now making just $45,000 to show. Diego Sanchez, who has dropped two out of his past three fights, never won a title, and hasn’t finished an opponent since 2008, is making $70,000 to show. You feel like taking this one, Kobe?

There it is.

Meanwhile, guys like John Dodson and John Moraga continue to receive peanuts for pay by virtue of being little flyweights that no one cares about alone. Even Bryan Caraway, who despite being a fish-hooking asshole now holds an impressive 4-1 UFC record (with 4 submission wins*), is making chump change. Further muddling the waters of the UFC pay structure is the fact Caraway’s opponent, Erik Perez, is somehow making double the TUF alum’s show rate despite holding the exact same UFC record as Caraway did heading into their fight last weekend. And Dana White wonders why not even the fighters competing on the reality show give a shit anymore.

To end the the exercise in depression that are these salary recaps on a high note, however, you should know that Dana White did in fact give Ross Pearson his win bonus, a.k.a the Cecil People’s “Decision of the Night” award, so perhaps Diego’s robbery was a victimless crime. Ehhhverybody hap-peh!!

*Following Caraway’s win, the UFC displayed a graphic stating that Caraway had tied Urijah Faber for the most submission wins in bantamweight history. At Four. I’m just sayin’, when a number that small is the record to beat, maybe it’s not a stat worth mentioning. 

–J. Jones