(Shogun vs. Henderson 2 highlights via Fox Sports)
Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fought for the second time last night in Natal, Brazil, and though we weren’t treated to another five-round dogfight, the rematch turned out to be nearly as incredible as their first meeting. This time, it was Henderson who was getting beaten up in the early rounds, as an energized Shogun Rua came close to finishing the American legend on more than one occasion. It seemed like Henderson’s heart, experience, and still-solid chin were the only things keeping him alive going into round three. And then…boo-yah.
All it took was one right hand directly across the chin to snap Shogun’s head back and send him into a backwards somersault across the mat. Arguably, referee Herb Dean could have stopped the fight as soon as Shogun went ass-over-teakettle, but he allowed Hendo to follow up the knockdown with some controversial blows to the back of the head, as Shogun groggily clung to Henderson’s leg. To those of you who expected Herb Dean to penalize Henderson during the finishing sequence: You haven’t been watching MMA for very long, have you?
The Pepey/Lahat KO was just one of five matches at UFC Fight Night 38 that ended in the first round. Notably, middleweight vet CB Dollaway TKO’d TUF Brazil 1 winner Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira in just 39 seconds with an impressive display of counter-punching, which you can watch below…
(Shogun vs. Henderson 2 highlights via Fox Sports)
Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fought for the second time last night in Natal, Brazil, and though we weren’t treated to another five-round dogfight, the rematch turned out to be nearly as incredible as their first meeting. This time, it was Henderson who was getting beaten up in the early rounds, as an energized Shogun Rua came close to finishing the American legend on more than one occasion. It seemed like Henderson’s heart, experience, and still-solid chin were the only things keeping him alive going into round three. And then…boo-yah.
All it took was one right hand directly across the chin to snap Shogun’s head back and send him into a backwards somersault across the mat. Arguably, referee Herb Dean could have stopped the fight as soon as Shogun went ass-over-teakettle, but he allowed Hendo to follow up the knockdown with some controversial blows to the back of the head, as Shogun groggily clung to Henderson’s leg. To those of you who expected Herb Dean to penalize Henderson during the finishing sequence: You haven’t been watching MMA for very long, have you?
The Pepey/Lahat KO was just one of five matches at UFC Fight Night 38 that ended in the first round. Notably, middleweight vet CB Dollaway TKO’d TUF Brazil 1 winner Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira in just 39 seconds with an impressive display of counter-punching, which you can watch below…
Speaking of fights that lasted less than a minute, Thiago Santos TKO’d Ronny Markes in 53 seconds during the prelims, thanks to a well-placed body-kick. Considering that Markes missed weight by five pounds for the match, and he was already coming off a loss to Yoel Romero, his days in the promotion might be numbered.
“Possibly Early Stoppage of the Night” goes to the Steven Siler vs. Rony “Jason” Bezerra main card fight, which Jason won by first-round TKO after knocking Siler down with punches. The ref jumped in as soon as Siler hit the mat, drawing an immediate protest from the American featherweight. Not that Siler wasn’t hurt — but clearly there was some inconsistency in the officiating last night, when you consider how many opportunities Dan Henderson was given to recover after being rocked.
As for fights that went the distance, Norman Parke cost himself a victory against Leonardo Santos by getting a point deducted for shorts grabbing during their main card fight. Instead, the match ended in a majority draw. And in other point-deduction news, prelim fighter Mairbek Taisumov became just the second UFC fighter to have two separate point-deductions in a fight that went to the judges. (Taisumov was docked points for an illegal head-kick in round one and fence-grabbing in round two.) As a result, he lost a unanimous decision with scores of 30-25 across the board.
Once again, here are the complete results from UFC Fight Night 38: Shogun vs. Henderson 2…
Main Card
– Dan Henderson def. Shogun Rua via TKO (punches), 1:31 of round 3
– C.B. Dolloway def. Cezar Ferreira via TKO (punches), 0:39 of round 1
– Leonardo Santos vs. Norman Parke ends in majority Draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
– Fabio Maldonado def. Gian Villante via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
– Michel Prazeres def. Mairbek Taisumov via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-35)
– Rony Jason def. Steven Siler via TKO (punches), 1:17 of round 1
Preliminary Card
– Thiago Santos def. Ronny Markes via TKO (body kick and punches), 0:53 of round 1
– Jussier Formiga def. Scott Jorgensen via submission (rear naked choke), 3:07 of round 1
– Kenny Roberston def. Thiago Perpetuo via submission (rear naked choke), 1:45 of round 1
– Hans Stringer def. Francimar Barroso via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
– Godofredo Castro def. Noad Lahat via KO (flying knee), 2:39 of round 1
UFC Fight Night 38 is a rare Sunday event. Despite the odd timing, free MMA is always worth the watch. But page view-wise, covering lower-level Fight Night cards isn’t always worth the investment of time (ring girl galleries have a much higher rate of return). Nevertheless, we’ll be live blogging UFC Fight Night 38’s main card. It starts at 7:00 PM EST and airs on Fox Sports 1. Stay tuned, and refresh for updates!
(Photo via Getty)
UFC Fight Night 38 is a rare Sunday event. Despite the odd timing, free MMA is always worth the watch. But page view-wise, covering lower-level Fight Night cards isn’t always worth the investment of time (ring girl galleries have a much higher rate of return). Nevertheless, we’ll be live blogging UFC Fight Night 38′s main card. It starts at 7:00 PM EST and airs on Fox Sports 1. Stay tuned, and refresh for updates!
Round 1: The fight opens after they pan to a guy in the audience with a styrofoam Jason mask. Siler hits a few leg kicks. Jason attempts a counter right and misses big. He tries another and lands. Siler hits another leg kick, and Jason hits another counter right. Siler lands a front kick but misses a 1-2. Jason hits Siler with a massive right hook on the way in, which stumbles Siler. Jason lands a left hook which floors Siler. After a couple follow-up punches it’s over. Siler immediately rises to his feet and he’s pissed. Lots of people on twitter are annoyed too. Looks like Jason won’t be destroying any walls this time.
Rony Jason def. Steven Siler via KO, 1:17 of round 1.
Round 1: It’s a battle of wiki-less fighters! They touch gloves and immediately Taisumov backs up Prazeres with a front kick. They feel each other out for a minute. Taisumov lands a leg kick and Prazeres lands one of his own. Prazeres connects with a right hand, then a left. They clinch. Prazeres hits a knee to the body, pushes Taisumov against the cage. He attempts to escape but gets taken down. Prazeres gets mount. Taisumov attempts to scramble away, but only manages to down grade Prazeres to side control. Prazeres attempts a north-south choke but Taisumov escapes and the fight returns to the feet. The two fighters stall in over-under position on the cage. There are some week knees. Prazeres finally out-powers Taisumov and drags him to the mat. Prazeres mounts Taisumov and lands some punches. He’s setting up an arm bar but does it lazily, allowing Taisumov to escape back to guard. Prazeres keeps landing punches and some really nice elbows to the body; he’s far too powerful for Taisumov. Prazeres gets mount for an instant, but Taisumove sweeps him. Taisumov lands a kick to Prazeres as he’s still grounded and Mario Yamasaki deducts a point as the round ends. We score it 10-8 Prazeres because of the deduction.
Round 2: Prazeres lands a stiff right to Taismov which wobbles him. Prazeres attempts a guillotine but immediately slips off. He’s not on his back with Taisumov in his guard. A triangle attempt fails. He backs off and Yamasaki stands them up. Prazeres hits a right and and a knee. Taisumov counters with a spinning back kick. Taismov hits Prazeres in the nose with a stiff jab. Yamasaki takes a point away from Taisumov for grabbing the cage on a Prazeres takedown attempt. Prazeres lands a right head kick but it was weak. Taisumov rushes in and eats a right hook for his trouble. Both fighters trade ineffective strikes for the remainder of the round.
Round 3: Prazeres lands yet another right hand to start things off, then presses Taisumov against the cage. He briefly escapes, but winds up there again. Prazeres botches a takedown. Yamasaki warns Taisumov for grabbing the cage again. We thought he might get disqualified with the way Yamasaki has been behaving. Taisumov hits a nasty uppercut on Prazeres which stumbled him. Prazeres eats a big right hand after an atrocious, tired shot. His next takedown attempt is better though, he wrests Taisumov to the ground and gets mount for a split second. Taisumov regains guard and then rises to his feet. A minute left to go now, and miracles aren’t looking likely. Taisumov manages to take Prazeres’ back but he escapes. They reset, and the fight ends. Not surprisingly, Prazeres gets the unanimous decision win.
Michel Prazeres def. Mairbek Taisumov via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-35).
Round 1: Expect this entire fight to be a brawl devoid of technique. Villante lands a leg kick to start the fight. Maldonado rushes in and gets taken down. Villante is in side control landing short elbows. He’s flailing around ineffectively on the bottom, and manages to get to his knees. Villante scrambles quicker though, and is on his back. Maldonado puts his side to the cage and gets to his feet, but Villante is still on him like glue. Villante landing lots of knees to the ass and thighs, and then hits a trip. He remains in side control for about 30 seconds. Maldonado gains half guard for a moment and loses it. Villante can’t seem to do much with his dominant side control save for some short elbows and punches. Maldonado gets back to half guard again and the rounds end after a handful of soft punches.
Round 2: Maldonado lands two jabs and a cross. Villante looks tired and has his hands low. Maldonado lands another two crisp jabs, but Villante lands one of his own. Villante rushes for a messy takedown and gets it. Maldonado gets to his feet quickly but gets his back taken. He escapes but eats an incredible, massive knee at the same time. “Crimson mask” doesn’t quite cover how bloody Maldonado’s face is right now. Villante breathing heavy now. Villante lands a hook, but Maldonado lands two counter hooks to the body. He then lands a jab to the head and two hooks to the head. Villante’s hands are at his waist now, but he lands a very good leg kick. Maldonado lands two body shots and clinches, which is probably a bad idea. Maldonado hits a jab-cross-uppercut combo that snaps Villante’s head back a mile. The round ends.
Round 3: Maldonado lands a triple jab. Villante shoots from across the cage and, predictably, misses. Maldonado is the fresher fighter and seems to be picking Villante apart now. Villante attempts another takedown from a mile away. He follows that up with a leg kick. He goes for a third awful takedown. Maldonado lands a left hook that stuns Villante, and then another. Villante is breathing very heavily and has his hands completely down. Maldonado is pouring on the body shots now, and Villante decides to get on his bicycle. Villante lands a big counter-right but Maldonado eats it and moves forward, landing a jab and a hook. Maldonado is pouring it on it. Villante manages to grab a hold of Maldonado with a body lock. His takedown fails. Maldonado lands three brutal uppercuts. Both fighters are exhausted now and are reaching on their punches. Villante attemps a millionth awful takedown. He’s stumbling around like a drunk at this point, eating massive shots to the face and not blocking any of them. He turtles but the fight ends before it can be stopped. Maldonado gets the nod from the judges.
Fabio Maldonado def. Gian Villante via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Round 1: Santos lands a strong leg kick. Park attempts a high kick and misses. Santos lands a second leg kick which sends Parke’s leg flying back. A third leg kick lands. Santos switches it up and lands a kick to the body, then he hits an uppercut. Parke misses with another high kick. We get an accidental eye poke from Santos and the referee pauses the fight. The action resumes with some wild but ineffective exchanges. Santos lands a stiff uppercut, prompting Parke to clinch. They’re both against the fence, but Parke decides to separate. Parke misses with a leg kick. Santos returns to his leg kicks from earlier in the round. Parke hits a right hand and clinches. The ref separates the two after some inaction. After a few even exchanges, the fighters clinch against the cage again with just as much inactivity. We get another separation. Santos lands a right. Parke throws two more head kicks but Santos blocks each time. Parke clinches and their on the fence again. The round ends as Parke goes for a single leg takedown.
Round 2: A messy exchange leads into another clinch with not much happening. The two start firing punches, with Santos landing more than Parke, though Parke did land a good straight right. He grabs a body lock on Santos. More stalling. The referee takes a point from Parke for grabbing the shorts. That cuold be fight changing. Santos throws a head kick, which Parke blocks. They clinch but separate quickly. On the separation, Parke lands a big right hook. They get into a slugfest and both land big punches. Another clinch occurs. Parke lands a short elbow. Some more good dirty boxing, namely uppercuts, from Parke. The round ends with both fighters clinched and Parke controlling the action. Santos appears to be fading.
Round 3:
Both fighters going insane with strikes at the start of the round, but the awesomeness leads to another clinch with little action in terms of takedowns or advancing position. There’s some strikes from Parke–light knees and punches, but that’s about it. Parke landing more uppercuts from the clinch, but the referee separates them…only for them to go right back into the same position. Great. They get separated again, and a wild slugfest ensues. Santos initiates a clinch this time, only to be backed up against the fence. That’s where the round ends. And guess what? The fight ends in a majority draw!
Leonardo Santos vs. Norman Parke ends in majority Draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28).
Round 1: Ferreira hits with a left. Dolloway lands an overhand right which hurts Ferreira and backs him off. There’s a wild exchange and Dolloway lands a huge hook. Ferreira falls to the mat. Dolloway lands several more follow-up strikes and Ferreira is out cold. This one is over as soon as it started.
C.B. Dolloway def. Cezar Ferreira via TKO, 0:39 of round 1.
Both fighters start of tentative. The “you will die” chants start. Henderson counters a leg kick with an overhand right but misses. Henderson throws a weak leg kick. Shogun lands a strong leg kick. Henderson answers with his own. Henderson tries another “H-bomb” but Shogun blocks it with ease. Henderson wrestles Shogun to the mat briefly but he rises to his feet in a scramble. Both fighters are still tentative. This isn’t shaping up to be anything like their last match, sadly. Hendo lunges for a right hook and misses big. Shogun grabs a thai clinch and lands a knee to the body. The fighters reset. Both throw big right hands and miss. Hendo clips Shogun with a right hook and he’s hurt. Hendo lets his guard down trying to finish, and Shogun lands a brutal counter. Hendo is floored and nearly done. Shogun gets mount and starts landing some punches. Hendo covers up and the round ends. Maybe this will be exciting after all.
Round 2:
The two square off and Shogun lands a big right. Hendo is dazed. Shogun clinches, letting Henderson recover. Henderson hits a couple of knees from the clinch. Stalling. Shogun manages to separate. Shogun reaches with a jab. A wild exchange leads to nothing. Shogun lands a body shot that sends Henderson reeling. Shogun attempts a terrible single leg. An uppercut from Shogun floors Henderson but he doesn’t capitalize. Instead he sits in Henderson’s guard for the next few minutes. Not much activity. Herb Dean finally stands them up. Henderson throws the world’s slowest right hand. The round is over.
Round 3: Henderson moves forwards and flails his arms. Shogun can’t land a counter. Shogun misses a leg kick and twirls around. Henderson shoots. Shogun sprawls and as he rises to his feet Henderson nails him with a picture-perfect H-bomb. Shogun crumples to the mat. Henderson lands some punches and this fight is over.
Here are the card’s complete results:
Main Card
Dan Henderson def. Shogun Rua via TKO (punches), 1:31 of round 3
C.B. Dolloway def. Cezar Ferreira via TKO (punches), 0:39 of round 1
Leonardo Santos vs. Norman Parke ends in majority Draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
Fabio Maldonado def. Gian Villante via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Michel Prazeres def. Mairbek Taisumov via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-35)
Rony Jason def. Steven Siler via TKO (punches), 1:17 of round 1
Preliminary Card
Thiago Santos def. Ronny Markes via TKO (body kick and punches), 0:53 of round 1
Jussier Formiga def. Scott Jorgensen via submission (rear naked choke), 3:07 of round 1
Kenny Roberston def. Thiago Perpetuo via submission (rear naked choke), 1:45 of round 1
Hans Stringer def. Francimar Barroso via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Godofredo Castro def. Noad Lahat via KO (flying knee), 2:39 of round 1
Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.
But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)
Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card. At the time of writing, the results of this fight aren’t available. We’ll update the article when they are.
Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.
But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)
Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card; it wasn’t televised or streamed. Davis won via guillotine with only two seconds left in the first round.
In the first televised fight, Tim Welch fought Derek Campos in another lightweight tournament quarterfinal bout. The first round was evenly matched, but Campos was more aggressive, consistently pushing Welch back with his striking. He also landed more strikes. Campos almost finished Welch in the second, wobbling him with a right hand. He neglected to swarm a battered Welch, however. Instead, he opted for a takedown, which allowed Welch to recover and eventually rise to his feet. The third round didn’t feature much action. Campos took Welch to the ground and held him there. Unsurprisingly, Campos got the nod from the judges.
It didn’t take long for Polish prospect Marcin Held to defeat Rodrigo Cavalheiro. After a very brief striking scuffle, Held took Cavalheiro to the mat and submitted the Brazilian with a toehold.
In the night’s co-main event, David Rickels fought Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. This was also the last lightweight tournament quarterfinal of the night. The first round was, essentially, five minutes of brawling with some grappling interspersed. Rickels got the better of nearly every exchange in the first round, but that changed in the second. Freire hurt Rickels with a right hook, swarmed in, and then dropped him cold with a left hook. After one follow-up strike, it was called off.
The lightweight tournament semifinals will be as follows:
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos.
Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson
Bellator 113′s main event was to unify Bellator’s light heavyweight title. Interim champ Emanuel Newton faced non-interim champion Attila Vegh. It was a long, boring 25 minutes, that featured ineffective striking and lots of missed “spinning shit.” There really isn’t much to tell other than that both guys threw lots of strikes that amounted to nothing. If you DVR’d the event, watch this on fast forward if you feel the need to watch at all. Twitter pundits scored it every way imaginable, but the only people that mattered (the judges) gave it to Newton.
Complete Results:
Main Card
Emanuel Newton def. Attila Vegh via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
Patricky Freire def. David Rickels via KO (punches), 0:54 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Rodrigo Cavalheiro via submission (toe hold), 1:56 of round 1
Derek Campos def. Tim Welch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
LC Davis def. Tory Bogguess via submission (guillotine), 4:58 of round 1
Derek Anderson def. Brandon Girtz via KO (knee), 0:23 of round 2
Israel Giron def. Cody Carrillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eric Wisely def. Donnie Bell via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Gallemore def. Fredrick Brown via TKO (punches), 3:34 of round 1
Bobby Cooper def. Marcio Navarro via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
(“I’m only making HOW MUCH for this?!” Photo via Getty.)
MMAManifesto released the complete list of disclosed salaries for UFC 171 earlier today, and the biggest takeaway seems to be that former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard continues to make six times more money to show with a 3-2 octagon record than current welterweight champion Johny Hendricks does with an 11-2 record. But hey, at least his decision win over Jake Shields last weekend was a goddamn barnburner, amiright?
Of course, being that the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Authority has decided against releasing the actual salary figures for UFC 171 (a choice typically left up to the discretion of the presiding athletic commission), the numbers you will see after the jump are more an estimate based on the fighters past earnings more than anything else. These figures are also likely to change when the TBWA informs us that a handful of these fighters were high as shit at UFC 171 three months from now.
Hector Lombard: $300,000 Johny Hendricks: $150,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Robbie Lawler: $133,000 ($83,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Tyron Woodley: $104,000 ($52,000 to show, $52,000 win bonus)
(“I’m only making HOW MUCH for this?!” Photo via Getty.)
MMAManifesto released the complete list of disclosed salaries for UFC 171 earlier today, and the biggest takeaway seems to be that former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard continues to make six times more money to show with a 3-2 octagon record than current welterweight champion Johny Hendricks does with an 11-2 record. But hey, at least his decision win over Jake Shields last weekend was a goddamn barnburner, amiright?
Of course, being that the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Authority has decided against releasing the actual salary figures for UFC 171 (a choice typically left up to the discretion of the presiding athletic commission), the numbers you will see after the jump are more an estimate based on the fighters past earnings more than anything else. These figures are also likely to change when the TBWA informs us that a handful of these fighters were high as shit at UFC 171 three months from now.
Hector Lombard: $300,000 Johny Hendricks: $150,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Robbie Lawler: $133,000 ($83,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Tyron Woodley: $104,000 ($52,000 to show, $52,000 win bonus) Ovince St. Preux: $96,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus) Dennis Bermudez: $78,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus) Jake Shields: $75,000 Diego Sanchez: $60,000 Carlos Condit: $55,000 Rick Story: $27,000 Frank Trevino: $17,600 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $1,600 from Forte for missing weight) Myles Jury: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Kelvin Gastelum: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Jessica Andrade: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Alex Garcia: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Justin Scoggins: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Sean Strickland: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Robert Whiteford: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus) Daniel Pineda: $15,000 Will Campuzano: $10,000 Nikita Krylov: $8,000 Raquel Pennington: $8,000 Jimy Hettes: $8,000 Sean Spencer: $8,000 Robert McDaniel: $8,000 Renee Forte: $6,400 ($8,000 to show, $1,600 to Trevino for missing weight)
Overpaid: Given the current pay-scale of today’s top MMA fighters, it would be hard to argue that Hector Lombard is *not* the most overpaid fighter in the UFC, and possibly all of MMA. He seems to have found his groove at welterweight, sure, and made a statement in his own right by coasting to victory over a former (Strikeforce) champion in Jake Shields last weekend. But for a guy who made $700,000 for his first underwhelming fight in the UFC and continues to make 300K per fight to date, Lombard has yet to truly put in three decent rounds of fighting. Consecutively, at least.
Underpaid: I could just take the easy route here and say “everyone below Diego Sanchez,” but I’m going to focus on one guy in particular: Dennis Bermudez. The former is currently riding a six-fight win streak over solid competition, and hasn’t dropped a fight since coming up short in the TUF 14 Finale, but he’s still making just a 14K/14K split? Then again, maybe that’s the point of these new “Performance Bonuses” — you pay each guy so little that they have no option but to fight like their life is on the line. Because it is. Touche, UFC. Touche.
Oh yeah, and Carlos Condit at $55,000 to show seems downright criminal considering how exciting and consistent a fighter he is (his past few losses aside), but we’d like to imagine that the former WEC champ is really making his bank in undisclosed, locker room bonuses and dose sweet HEADRUSH monies. We have to believe that to get out of bed each morning and continue writing about this crazy, crazy sport, really.
(Pictured above: A semi-retired welterweight on a two fight losing streak who will not be featured in this column. Photo via Getty.)
There’s been a lot of talk about who the next #1 welterweight contender is following UFC 171, so much so that we have all but neglected to give the division’s new champ, Johny Hendricks, his due credit for outlasting Robbie Lawler in an absolute war to secure said title last Saturday. Some are saying that Tyron Woodley should get the next shot, regardless of the circumstances that led to his TKO win over Carlos Condit. Other, less creative individuals are calling for an immediate Hendricks/Lawler rematch, and a few loons out there are honestly, unbelievably, rallying to give Nick Diaz another completely unearned title shot. A blindly-devoted, if illogical bunch, us MMA fans oft are.
But one thing’s for the certain, the UFC’s welterweight division — and specifically, the claim of being the true #1 contender — is open for the taking once again. So to clear up any and all confusion regarding this talent-rich division, we’ve decided to definitively rank the top five contenders using only the power of Johny Vision™ (warning: may cause diarrhea, dip-spit mouth, and beard face).
Up until the point that Carlos Condit’s knee decided to implode against Tyron Woodley, well, he was losing his fight with Tyron Woodley. The notoriously slow starter was getting off second and failing to outmaneuver the quick hands of Woodley in most of their early exchanges and was taken down twice in the first round. But getting dominated? Hardly.
(Pictured above: A semi-retired welterweight on a two fight losing streak who will not be featured in this column. Photo via Getty.)
There’s been a lot of talk about who the next #1 welterweight contender is following UFC 171, so much so that we have all but neglected to give the division’s new champ, Johny Hendricks, his due credit for outlasting Robbie Lawler in an absolute war to secure said title last Saturday. Some are saying that Tyron Woodley should get the next shot, regardless of the circumstances that led to his TKO win over Carlos Condit. Other, less creative individuals are calling for an immediate Hendricks/Lawler rematch, and a few loons out there are honestly, unbelievably, rallying to give Nick Diaz another completely unearned title shot. A blindly-devoted, if illogical bunch, us MMA fans oft are.
But one thing’s for the certain, the UFC’s welterweight division — and specifically, the claim of being the true #1 contender — is open for the taking once again. So to clear up any and all confusion regarding this talent-rich division, we’ve decided to definitively rank the top five contenders using only the power of Johny Vision™ (warning: may cause diarrhea, dip-spit mouth, and beard face).
Up until the point that Carlos Condit’s knee decided to implode against Tyron Woodley, well, he was losing his fight with Tyron Woodley. The notoriously slow starter was getting off second and failing to outmaneuver the quick hands of Woodley in most of their early exchanges and was taken down twice in the first round. But getting dominated? Hardly.
When looking over the welterweight division’s list offighters, it would be hard to find more than a few guys who stand a chance of beating “The Natural Born Killer” on even his worst day. With wins over Rory MacDonald, Nick Diaz, Dong Hyun-Kim, and close losses to Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks, Condit still maintains his top five ranking despite dropping three of his past four fights. A crazy notion perhaps, but a fair one when discussing a perennial upper-echelon contender like Condit. And honestly, we’d still pick a healthy Carlos over a couple of the guys we are about to rank ahead of him.
The fact is, a win over Jake Shields — no matter how ineffective or exhausted or truly garbage-ass he looked — is a win worthy of consideration. Few of us could say that we saw Lombard heading for anything but “Biggest UFC Busts” territory after his first three fights — a pair of unforgettable in their terribleness decision losses to Tim Boetsch and Yushin Okami sandwiched around a first round KO over Rousimar Palhares. And while it’s true that Lombard is still struggling to find consistency in the excitement department since dropping to welterweight, he surely isn’t having any trouble in the win department.
After starching Nate Marquardt at UFC 166, Lombard looked as if he was destined for another first round knockout against Shields last weekend. He had bloodied up the former title challenger inside of two minutes, had defended all of his takedowns, and had even landed a beautiful judo toss of his own. It was absolute dominance; perhaps the best round Lombard has had in the UFC (that didn’t result in a finish).
But then, he just kind of coasted. He played it safe. For a man that is known as such a mean SOB even among MMA fighters, Lombard seemed all too willing to turn on the autopilot for two rounds. Unfortunately, we were all too busy criticizing Lombard to recognize that he had made quite a definitive statement with his performance, lackluster though it may have been. Let me ask you this: Aside from GSP, who has ever dominated Jake Shields on the ground like that? Demian Maia couldn’t. Tyron Woodley sure as hell couldn’t. But Hector Lombard did, and with ease.
Title-ready Lombard may not be, but worthy of consideration? Surely.
This ranking seems fairly obvious. MacDonald is currently riding a winning streak of one fight, but arguably holds more notable UFC wins than anyone on this list: Maia, Ellenberger, Penn, Nate Diaz, etc. His only loss in the past three years came via a split decision loss to the guy who just narrowly lost a title bid last weekend, so where else should he belong? We say match him up with Lombard next and have Dana White declare it a kinda-sorta-maybe #1 contender fight (a.k.a “not a #1 contender fight”) in a half-hearted attempt to generate interest. Fuck yeah, world domination!
Despite the fact that he shredded his opponents knee with a takedown/leg kick combo last weekend, Tyron Woodley might have had the worst luck of them all at UFC 171. His win over Condit has already been all but declared as a push in fan’s eyes — a freak accident on par with Anderson Silva’s leg break, to speak in forced comparisons — regardless of the fact that he was taking it to Condit in seven minutes prior.
That said, Woodley has now won three out of his past four fights, over Jay Hieron (heh), Josh Koscheck (in his second straight KO loss and third straight overall), and Carlos Condit via injury. Throw in Woodley’s relatively reserved persona and you don’t exactly end up with the ingredients for a monster pay-per-view. And that is perhaps the most important factor in these post-Sonnen vs. Jones times.
Again, this seems relatively simple. Lawler holds wins over the #3 guy (according to the recently-established mother of all welterweight rankings) and a former title challenger in Koscheck (his first to come by KO since 2009), and lost a fight with Hendricks that was essentially decided by one takedown in the final minute of the fifth round. Until someone proves us otherwise, Lawler is still the guy to beat at 170 lbs.
Does that mean he should receive an immediate rematch with Hendricks? God no. But matching Lawler up with Woodley next and giving the winner a title shot makes a ton of sense to us. As with Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jon Jones, pairing each fighter up with a worthy opponent instead of immediately rematching them gives the potential rematch some time to simmer (if all goes according to plan) while playing against the idea that the UFC has become a heartless, money-grubbing corporation that hands out title shots regardless of merit or even logical deduction. Everybody wins, you guys!
Tyron Woodley makes the most sense from a time-sensitive standpoint, yes, but there’s no need to rush the newly-crowned champion into another fight before he can even start to build his brand as champion. And in a welterweight division that is still relying on GSP and Nick Diaz to generate interest, Johny Hendricks is a good a star as any.
Of course, this can only mean that Lawler vs. Diaz II has already been booked with a title shot on the line, and we’ve simply yet to hear word of it. And to be completely honest, we’d watch that fight. We’d watch the sh*t out of it.
(Cro Cop vs. Bonjasky highlights via Youtube user ElGunner Bosnia.)
In a weekend that had already featured relatively solid fight cards from both Bellator and the UFC, Glory kickboxing returned with Glory 14: Zagreb and arguably stole the show.
Don’t get us wrong, the main event “legends” fight between Mirko Cro Cop and Remy Bonjasky — who was fighting his final bout — was a thoroughly underwhelming affair. Cro Cop looked sluggish and uninterested throughout the three round scrap, and the closest Bonjasky ever came to showing flashes of his old “Flying Gentleman” self was when Cro Cop would occasionally send him toppling to the canvas via a push or an outright takedown attempt.
At this point, my decision to watch and/or cover Cro Cop’s never-ending trudge to true retirement is veering into masochistic territory. The PRIDE legend has looked “worn out” since at least 2009, and as is the case with many fighters of his status, I am repeatedly left wondering why he can’t simply hang up the gloves with his legacy somewhat intact already. But I’ll say it again: Retire, Mirko. Retire for good and stop breaking my heart.
But a subpar main event could do little to tarnish what was an incredibly strong night of fights on Glory’s part. The inaugural lightweight championship fight between Andy Ristie — who captured the tournament championship with stunning back-to-back KO’s of Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen at Glory 12 — and David Kiria, for instance, featured one of the most improbable come-from-behind victories of all time, so join us after the jump for a full video of Ristie-Kiria and the full list of Glory 14 results.
(Cro Cop vs. Bonjasky highlights via Youtube user ElGunner Bosnia.)
In a weekend that had already featured relatively solid fight cards from both Bellator and the UFC, Glory kickboxing returned with Glory 14: Zagreb and arguably stole the show.
Don’t get us wrong, the main event “legends” fight between Mirko Cro Cop and Remy Bonjasky — who was fighting his final bout — was a thoroughly underwhelming affair. Cro Cop looked sluggish and uninterested throughout the three round scrap, and the closest Bonjasky ever came to showing flashes of his old “Flying Gentleman” self was when Cro Cop would occasionally send him toppling to the canvas via a push or an outright takedown attempt.
At this point, my decision to watch and/or cover Cro Cop’s never-ending trudge to true retirement is veering into masochistic territory. The PRIDE legend has looked “worn out” since at least 2009, and as is the case with many fighters of his status, I am repeatedly left wondering why he can’t simply hang up the gloves with his legacy somewhat intact already. But I’ll say it again: Retire, Mirko. Retire for good and stop breaking my heart.
But a subpar main event could do little to tarnish what was an incredibly strong night of fights on Glory’s part. The inaugural lightweight championship fight between Andy Ristie — who captured the tournament championship with stunning back-to-back KO’s of Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen at Glory 12 — and David Kiria, for instance, featured one of the most improbable come-from-behind victories of all time, so join us after the jump for a full video of Ristie-Kiria and the full list of Glory 14 results.
Filling in as a late replacement opponent for the injured Ky Hollenbeck, Kiria was outgunned from the start against Ristie and was nearly finished by a vicious knee in the second round. It was a rather one-sided affair, but Kiria would simply not go away. Midway through the fifth and final round, the Georgian’s right hand finally managed to find a home, wobbling Ristie and forcing a standing eight count. Although Ristie was clearly out on his feet following the first knockdown that came moments, the ref allowed him to try and survive the round.
Unfortunately for Ristie, the last minute of the fight might as well have been an eternity, as Kiria swarmed Risitie with power punches, dropping and finishing him via a left uppercut with just 38 seconds left in the round.
It was a ridiculous comeback victory to say the least, made all the more memorable in the moments afterward, during which Kiria broke down with joy at his improbable title win.
And in slightly less inspiring news, former UFC fighter turned improbable Road to Glory tournament winner Dustin Jacoby was steamrolled by Alex Pereira in two minutes. It was…tough to watch.
Full Glory 14 Results
Main card
Remy Bonjasky def. Mirko Cro Cop via majority decision
Alex Pereira def. Sahak Parparyan via majority decision (MW tourney final)
Davit Kiria def. Andy Ristie via fifth-round KO (2:22) (Lightweight championship)
Sahak Parparyan def. Jason Wilnis via split decision
Alex Pereira def. Dustin Jacoby via first-round KO (2:00)
Superfight series
Igor Jurkovic def. Michael Duut via first-round TKO (1:14)
Murthel Groenhart def. Teo Mikelic via first-round TKO (3:00)
Karapet Karapetyan def. Artur Kyshenko via unanimous decision
Mladen Brestovac def. Jahfarr Wilnis via first-round TKO (1:19)
Benjamin Adegbuyi def. Dmytro Bezus via second-round TKO (1:53)
Aikpracha Meenayothin def. Albert Kraus via split decision
Undercard
Tomas Hron def. Kirk Krouba via unanimous decision
Mladen Kujundzic def. Elmir Mehic via second-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage, 3;00)
Samo Petje def. Lirim Ahmeti via second-round TKO
