Tag: Recap

‘TUF 18? Episode 6 Recap + Videos: Hooters Girls, Bed Invasions, And an All-Out War

(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.

Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.

Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.

Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.

After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:


(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.

Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.

Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.

Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.

After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:

Raquel was bummed she couldn’t eat from the buffet because she was cutting weight, but she did push Tate into the water. Jessamyn says that if she was fighting anywhere else, any other time, she would not have gone to a pool party the day before weighing in, so she skips the festivities. Duke stays at the house alone and says she appreciated the quiet time and used it to focus on her fight.

Back at the pool part, Ronda decides not to fuck with the Tate family and everyone has a good time, with no Armenian-infused tension.

The part where a nation begins to root for Anthony to get knocked out

Team Rousey’s Anthony Gutierrez returns from the pool party, hopped up on liquor and frustrated that none of the hired girls at the ranch would give him the time of day. So, he takes out his frustration on the house. He screams, he stomps around, he throws things at the door of Raquel’s room as she tries to sleep and then proceeds to open up the door, jump on the girls’ beds, and drag Raquel out of hers.

Raquel has a fight coming up and is cutting weight. There could not be a worse time to mess with someone’s sleep or general peace of mind than right now. Anthony should know this well as a fighter himself. Raquel promises revenge. We’re hoping for the ol’ super-glue-on-the-eyelids or bludgeoning-with-a-chair-while-he-sleeps routine.

Instead, Julianna, Sarah Moras, and Raquel just go into Anthony’s room the next morning while he is sleeping, jump on his bed to wake him up, and then flip his mattress over while he’s still on it. Which was probably pretty easy for them because he’s a very, very small man.

Jessamyn readies for war

Back in the Team Rousey training room, coach Edmond advises Jessamyn to use her reach and keep Raquel at the end of her jab. Coach Rousey says that JD is raring to fight.

Duke says that she believes Raquel is the toughest girl left in the tournament and so if she beats her, she’ll be able to win the whole thing. Raquel says that she has had to distance herself from Jessamyn the past few days in order to prepare for their fight.

“No fight is easy but this one is simple. Be focused, be first,” Rousey tells Jessamyn in the locker room before the fight.

“You’re too strong for her. You’re too mentally tough. Just go, go, go, go,” Raquel is prodded in her locker room by a coach.

“The first round has to be yours,” Tate tells her.

Round 1

The first round proves to be a torrid affair as both women go hard. Raquel lands early and often with a hard inside leg kick while Jessamyn tries to keep her at bay with her jab and head kicks. Raquel forces her way inside and presses Jessamyn against the cage only to be caught in a standing guillotine.

Jessamyn looks to have a good grip on it as she works to secure the choke for the better part of a minute but Raquel defends well and works her way out of it and returns to the center of the Octagon. From there, both fighters throw and land with about the same frequency.

Jessamyn tries to use her length through kicks and Raquel counters off those kicks with effective punches of her own. Jessamyn lands a couple knees to the head but Raquel walks through them and returns fire.

Round 2

Both fighters begin by popping out the jab. Jessamyn finds success with some body kicks but Raquel begins to find her own range with an over hand right off of a jab.

Jessamyn gets the clinch and lands several hard knees to the head and body before Raquel punches her way out. Raquel begins to land the more powerful shots, mostly punches. Then, she initiates her own clinch, landing nasty knees to Jessamyn’s body and head.

They must have hurt but the knees also served to piss Jessamyn off as she pushes off and returns fire with knees and punches of her own. Raquel then really finds her mark with her right and left hands, teeing off on Jessamyn against the cage and hurting the Team Rousey fighter.

Jessamyn does not wilt, however, and gets back to the center of the mat before clinching with Raquel again and landing a few more nasty knees to her head. Raquel answers with another crushing right hand. Raquel lands a left push kick that sends Jessamyn careening backwards. Then, Raquel lands a rear round house leg kick. Jessamyn follows up with a head kick of her own.

Jessamyn lands a jab, then a left hook, followed up by knee after knee from the Thai plum clinch while pressing Raquel against the cage until the round ends.

The fight is scored dead even after two so we head into a sudden death round to decide a winner!

Round 3

Coach Tate’s prediction to her fighter Raquel proved to be true in the third round as Raquel’s striking power started to make the difference for her. Jessamyn continued her attack of head kicks and jabs but none of them landed as hard as Raquel’s hard lefts and rights, as well as her stiff leg kicks.

As the round progressed, Jessamyn began to eat more and more power shots to the head but kept moving forward, undeterred. With both her eyes bruised and her face cut, Jessamyn gave it one last flurry of effort in the final thirty seconds of the fight, landing punches and knees.

In the end, however, it was not enough and Raquel won the round and the fight on the judges’ scorecards.

Coach Tate shakes the hand of everyone in Jessamyn’s corner after the fight. Well, everyone except for Coach Rousey who, as Tate extends her hand, puts up a single finger and tells Meisha to “go fuck yourself.”

We may not have seen much of her in this episode, but “Rowdy” Rousey is always there. Don’t you forget it.

Coach Tate regains fight selection rights because of the win and selects Josh Hill (former male model) vs. Michael Wooten (current British guy). Thanks for joining us, ‘Taters. See ya next week!

Team Rousey Women
Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2)
Jessamyn Duke (eliminated by Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals, episode 6)
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy

Team Rousey Men
Chris Beal (eliminated by Chris Holdsworth in the quarterfinals, episode 3)
Davey Grant
Anthony Gutierrez
Michael Wootten

Team Tate Women
Julianna Pena
Sarah Moras
Raquel Pennington
Roxanne Modafferi (eliminated by Jessica Rakoczy in the quarterfinals, episode 4)

Team Tate Men
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill
Louis Fisette (eliminated by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

‘TUF 18? Episode 6 Recap + Videos: Hooters Girls, Bed Invasions, And an All-Out War

(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.

Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.

Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.

Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.

After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:


(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.

Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.

Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.

Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.

After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:

Raquel was bummed she couldn’t eat from the buffet because she was cutting weight, but she did push Tate into the water. Jessamyn says that if she was fighting anywhere else, any other time, she would not have gone to a pool party the day before weighing in, so she skips the festivities. Duke stays at the house alone and says she appreciated the quiet time and used it to focus on her fight.

Back at the pool part, Ronda decides not to fuck with the Tate family and everyone has a good time, with no Armenian-infused tension.

The part where a nation begins to root for Anthony to get knocked out

Team Rousey’s Anthony Gutierrez returns from the pool party, hopped up on liquor and frustrated that none of the hired girls at the ranch would give him the time of day. So, he takes out his frustration on the house. He screams, he stomps around, he throws things at the door of Raquel’s room as she tries to sleep and then proceeds to open up the door, jump on the girls’ beds, and drag Raquel out of hers.

Raquel has a fight coming up and is cutting weight. There could not be a worse time to mess with someone’s sleep or general peace of mind than right now. Anthony should know this well as a fighter himself. Raquel promises revenge. We’re hoping for the ol’ super-glue-on-the-eyelids or bludgeoning-with-a-chair-while-he-sleeps routine.

Instead, Julianna, Sarah Moras, and Raquel just go into Anthony’s room the next morning while he is sleeping, jump on his bed to wake him up, and then flip his mattress over while he’s still on it. Which was probably pretty easy for them because he’s a very, very small man.

Jessamyn readies for war

Back in the Team Rousey training room, coach Edmond advises Jessamyn to use her reach and keep Raquel at the end of her jab. Coach Rousey says that JD is raring to fight.

Duke says that she believes Raquel is the toughest girl left in the tournament and so if she beats her, she’ll be able to win the whole thing. Raquel says that she has had to distance herself from Jessamyn the past few days in order to prepare for their fight.

“No fight is easy but this one is simple. Be focused, be first,” Rousey tells Jessamyn in the locker room before the fight.

“You’re too strong for her. You’re too mentally tough. Just go, go, go, go,” Raquel is prodded in her locker room by a coach.

“The first round has to be yours,” Tate tells her.

Round 1

The first round proves to be a torrid affair as both women go hard. Raquel lands early and often with a hard inside leg kick while Jessamyn tries to keep her at bay with her jab and head kicks. Raquel forces her way inside and presses Jessamyn against the cage only to be caught in a standing guillotine.

Jessamyn looks to have a good grip on it as she works to secure the choke for the better part of a minute but Raquel defends well and works her way out of it and returns to the center of the Octagon. From there, both fighters throw and land with about the same frequency.

Jessamyn tries to use her length through kicks and Raquel counters off those kicks with effective punches of her own. Jessamyn lands a couple knees to the head but Raquel walks through them and returns fire.

Round 2

Both fighters begin by popping out the jab. Jessamyn finds success with some body kicks but Raquel begins to find her own range with an over hand right off of a jab.

Jessamyn gets the clinch and lands several hard knees to the head and body before Raquel punches her way out. Raquel begins to land the more powerful shots, mostly punches. Then, she initiates her own clinch, landing nasty knees to Jessamyn’s body and head.

They must have hurt but the knees also served to piss Jessamyn off as she pushes off and returns fire with knees and punches of her own. Raquel then really finds her mark with her right and left hands, teeing off on Jessamyn against the cage and hurting the Team Rousey fighter.

Jessamyn does not wilt, however, and gets back to the center of the mat before clinching with Raquel again and landing a few more nasty knees to her head. Raquel answers with another crushing right hand. Raquel lands a left push kick that sends Jessamyn careening backwards. Then, Raquel lands a rear round house leg kick. Jessamyn follows up with a head kick of her own.

Jessamyn lands a jab, then a left hook, followed up by knee after knee from the Thai plum clinch while pressing Raquel against the cage until the round ends.

The fight is scored dead even after two so we head into a sudden death round to decide a winner!

Round 3

Coach Tate’s prediction to her fighter Raquel proved to be true in the third round as Raquel’s striking power started to make the difference for her. Jessamyn continued her attack of head kicks and jabs but none of them landed as hard as Raquel’s hard lefts and rights, as well as her stiff leg kicks.

As the round progressed, Jessamyn began to eat more and more power shots to the head but kept moving forward, undeterred. With both her eyes bruised and her face cut, Jessamyn gave it one last flurry of effort in the final thirty seconds of the fight, landing punches and knees.

In the end, however, it was not enough and Raquel won the round and the fight on the judges’ scorecards.

Coach Tate shakes the hand of everyone in Jessamyn’s corner after the fight. Well, everyone except for Coach Rousey who, as Tate extends her hand, puts up a single finger and tells Meisha to “go fuck yourself.”

We may not have seen much of her in this episode, but “Rowdy” Rousey is always there. Don’t you forget it.

Coach Tate regains fight selection rights because of the win and selects Josh Hill (former male model) vs. Michael Wooten (current British guy). Thanks for joining us, ‘Taters. See ya next week!

Team Rousey Women
Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2)
Jessamyn Duke (eliminated by Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals, episode 6)
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy

Team Rousey Men
Chris Beal (eliminated by Chris Holdsworth in the quarterfinals, episode 3)
Davey Grant
Anthony Gutierrez
Michael Wootten

Team Tate Women
Julianna Pena
Sarah Moras
Raquel Pennington
Roxanne Modafferi (eliminated by Jessica Rakoczy in the quarterfinals, episode 4)

Team Tate Men
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill
Louis Fisette (eliminated by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

UFC Fight Night 29 Aftermath: Shields Edges Out Maia, Palhares and Kim Score Brutal Victories



(Kim vs. Silva: The moment of impact, and the aftermath. / Photos via Getty)

I wouldn’t call yesterday’s UFC Fight Night event a great card, necessarily — the headlining bout was predictably slow, and the main card broadcast dragged in the middle thanks to the light-heavyweights. Still, there were enough violent, surprising, and awful moments at UFC Fight Night 29 to make it worth discussing. So let’s talk about the interesting stuff first, and work our way down to the crap.

Rousimar Palhares may look a little different at welterweight*, but his gameplan hasn’t changed one iota. From the opening bell, Palhares aggressively dove for the legs of Mike Pierce, in an attempt to sink one of his infamous leg-locks. It worked…maybe a little too well. In just 31 seconds, an agonized Mike Pierce was tapping from a heel-hook. As is custom in MMA, the winning fighter is supposed to release his grip and jump up on the cage to do some flexing. But not Rousimar. As he’s done so many times before, Palhares continued to hold the submission for a moment after the referee intervened — which must have seemed like an eternity to poor Mike Pierce.

Rousimar’s heel-hook was the only submission on the card, and would be worthy of a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus even if there were other subs to compete with. Instead, the UFC decided to withhold the SOTN bonus due to Palhares’s “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and UFC President Dana White claimed that Palhares would receive an additional punishment for his actions. Palhares previously received a 90-day slap on the wrist** for holding a heel-hook against Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111. Maybe the next punishment will be severe enough for him to actually pay attention.

* By the way, when Palhares showed up in the cage, he almost looked like the old Palhares again. Ah, the miracle of rehydration.

** Allegedly.



(Kim vs. Silva: The moment of impact, and the aftermath. / Photos via Getty)

I wouldn’t call yesterday’s UFC Fight Night event a great card, necessarily — the headlining bout was predictably slow, and the main card broadcast dragged in the middle thanks to the light-heavyweights. Still, there were enough violent, surprising, and awful moments at UFC Fight Night 29 to make it worth discussing. So let’s talk about the interesting stuff first, and work our way down to the crap.

Rousimar Palhares may look a little different at welterweight*, but his gameplan hasn’t changed one iota. From the opening bell, Palhares aggressively dove for the legs of Mike Pierce, in an attempt to sink one of his infamous leg-locks. It worked…maybe a little too well. In just 31 seconds, an agonized Mike Pierce was tapping from a heel-hook. As is custom in MMA, the winning fighter is supposed to release his grip and jump up on the cage to do some flexing. But not Rousimar. As he’s done so many times before, Palhares continued to hold the submission for a moment after the referee intervened — which must have seemed like an eternity to poor Mike Pierce.

Rousimar’s heel-hook was the only submission on the card, and would be worthy of a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus even if there were other subs to compete with. Instead, the UFC decided to withhold the SOTN bonus due to Palhares’s “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and UFC President Dana White claimed that Palhares would receive an additional punishment for his actions. Palhares previously received a 90-day slap on the wrist** for holding a heel-hook against Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111. Maybe the next punishment will be severe enough for him to actually pay attention.

* By the way, when Palhares showed up in the cage, he almost looked like the old Palhares again. Ah, the miracle of rehydration.

** Allegedly.

While Palhares’s victory was the most savage stoppage on the card, it certainly wasn’t the most surprising. That honor goes to Dong Hyun Kim, who was getting soundly lit up by Erick Silva until Kim ended the fight with a blazing overhand left in round two. Of course, this fight wasn’t without controversy either. Earlier in the round, Kim blatantly grabbed the fence to avoid being taken to the mat by Silva. The ref warned him about it — but didn’t pause the action or deduct a point — and the next thing you know, DHK uncorked a one-hitter quitter. Basically, it was the greatest use of an illegal fence grab since Jose Aldo did the exact same thing against Chad Mendes at UFC 142. All together, now…”YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHEAT IN AN MMA FIGHT.” Kim is now on a three-fight win streak in the welterweight division, and earned the first Knockout of the Night bonus of his UFC career.

So let’s talk about those light-heavyweights, huh? Thiago Silva managed to save his job by beating Matt Hamill via decision, but it wasn’t pretty. Hamill started aggressively (as he often does), before fading later in the fight (as he often does). To a large extent, you can credit that to Silva’s relentless leg kicks, which jolted Hamill around the cage and stole much of his mobility. By the end of round three, Hamill was just looking to be put out of his misery. Every leg kick from Silva had him stumbling around in a circle, and Hamill was too exhausted to even stay upright, leaning over at the waist several times with his head completely exposed to further abuse. Silva landed strikes at will, but couldn’t find the strength to deliver a merciful death-blow, which suggested that Silva might have been pretty gassed himself. When the final bell sounded, Thiago Silva had staved off the reaper of unemployment, and Hamill proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he should have stayed retired.

Speaking of fighters who faded deep into the fight, Raphael Assuncao and T.J. Dillashaw earned UFC Fight Night 29′s Fight of the Night bonuses, despite the fact that the third round was eerily quiet, with both fighters (but especially Dillashaw) seemingly losing interest in attacking. Dillashaw started off as the aggressor both on the feet and on the mat, and managed to take the Brazilian’s back for a portion of the round. But Assuncao shifted the momentum in the second frame, landing more of his shots and bloodying the face of Dillashaw.

Just when Dillashaw should have picked up the pace in the decisive final round, he took his foot off the gas, steadily walking toward Assuncao but not really doing anything productive. Outside of a few counter-punches, Assuncao seemed to be cool with riding the clock out as well, which he did en route to a split-decision win. The crowd booed the lack of activity during round three, and yet this was officially the best fight on the card. Hmm. Personally, I would have given that honor to Kim vs. Silva — who doesn’t love a comeback knockout? — but maybe the UFC wanted to spread the bonus money around a little more.

Jake Shields‘s split-decision win over Demian Maia was impressive in theory, but not particularly fun to watch. We have to give Shields props for going into enemy territory and out-grappling a grappler who was supposed to be better than him. And he absolutely did that, securing more dominant positions against Maia and abusing the Brazilian with punches and elbows from the top whenever the opportunities presented themselves. The question is, will a methodical 25-minute ground battle do anything to raise Jake’s stock in the welterweight division? Short answer: Hell no. There are too many exciting contenders currently clogging up the top of the 170-pound ladder, and once again, Shields proved that his fights are not required viewing. Seven bouts into his UFC career, he’s still looking for his first stoppage victory, and he’s never been worthy of a Fight of the Night bonus. Being a great fighter means nothing if the fans and the promotion don’t care.

As for Fabio Maldonado vs. Joey Beltran…ugh, what can you say, really? Some ugly brawls are fun to watch, some are just ugly. Maldonado proved that even in victory, he can’t avoid getting his face torn to shit, and that he’ll make it a close fight even when he doesn’t have to. Beltran proved that he might not even be a Bellator-caliber fighter, although we’ll leave that to Viacom to decide.

— Ben Goldstein

Full UFC Fight Night 29 results 

Main Card
Jake Shields def. Demian Maia via split decision (48-47 x 2, 47-48)
Dong Hyun Kim def. Erick Silva via KO, 3:01 of round 2
Thiago Silva def. Mat Hamill via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Fabio Maldonado def. Joey Beltran via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Rousimar Palhares def. Mike Pierce via submission (heel hook), 0:31 of round 1
Raphael Assuncao def. T.J. Dillashaw via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

Preliminary Card
Igor Araujo def. Ildemar Alcantara via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Yan Cabral def. David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Chris Cariaso def. Iliarde Santos via TKO, 4:31 of round 2
Alan Patrick def. Garett Whiteley via TKO, 3:54 of round 1

UFC 164 Danavlog: Anthony Pettis Gets Pep Talk From the Boss, Josh Barnett Gives Props to Frank Mir and Much More

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Because there’s another fight to promote this week (tonight’s UFC Fight Night 29 in Brazil), Dana White has released another of his behind-the-scenes video blogs. This one looks back on UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis and lets fans in on some fascinating moments. Other than the first part of the vlog, where Dana chats with the Harley Davidson guys about customizing a motorcycle — skip past that stuff, trust us — this episode is low on fluff and big on intimate moments with the fighters who bled for us in Milwaukee. Some highlights…

0:00: If you can’t read backwards-English, the painting behind Dana says “Pay Attention Mother Fuckers.” Truly a man of pristine taste, this Mr. White.

1:40: “This is Fred Durst’s bike.” Wow. morganfreeman.gif

2:03: The camera locks on Ryan Couture backstage after his loss to Al Iaquinta, trying very hard to keep it together. This is the first of many glimpses at the often devastatingly quiet moments losing fighters on the card endured immediately after their fights. Always a bummer.

2:25: Matt Serra shows up to provide some much-needed comic relief, calling Dana White fat and saying Dana should stay dressed in slimming black until he “looks like Lorenzo Fertitta.” It should be noted that Serra, a former welterweight champion, probably weighs like 275 pounds at this point.

4:02: Ben Rothwell celebrates his win over Brandon Vera, unaware that he’s about to get suspended for nine months.


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Because there’s another fight to promote this week (tonight’s UFC Fight Night 29 in Brazil), Dana White has released another of his behind-the-scenes video blogs. This one looks back on UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis and lets fans in on some fascinating moments. Other than the first part of the vlog, where Dana chats with the Harley Davidson guys about customizing a motorcycle — skip past that stuff, trust us — this episode is low on fluff and big on intimate moments with the fighters who bled for us in Milwaukee. Some highlights…

0:00: If you can’t read backwards-English, the painting behind Dana says “Pay Attention Mother Fuckers.” Truly a man of pristine taste, this Mr. White.

1:40: “This is Fred Durst’s bike.” Wow. morganfreeman.gif

2:03: The camera locks on Ryan Couture backstage after his loss to Al Iaquinta, trying very hard to keep it together. This is the first of many glimpses at the often devastatingly quiet moments losing fighters on the card endured immediately after their fights. Always a bummer.

2:25: Matt Serra shows up to provide some much-needed comic relief, calling Dana White fat and saying Dana should stay dressed in slimming black until he “looks like Lorenzo Fertitta.” It should be noted that Serra, a former welterweight champion, probably weighs like 275 pounds at this point.

4:02: Ben Rothwell celebrates his win over Brandon Vera, unaware that he’s about to get suspended for nine months.

4:12: An emotionally shattered Clay Guida gets tended to backstage, before checking in with Chad Mendes, the man who just TKO’d him. Both fighters are gracious with each other before Guida walks off, but when the camera pans back to Mendes, it seems as if the Carpenter’s heartbreak has sapped some of the joy out of Mendes’s win.

4:43: Frank Mir‘s dad calls “BULLSHIT!” after Mir is TKO’d by Josh Barnett in the co-main event. Greg Jackson is as silent and motionless as a statue, standing with his arms frozen in the air — the universal symbol for “you fuckin’ kidding me, ref?”

5:12: Mir and Barnett cross paths backstage, and share a moment of candid discussion before going their separate ways. Mir thanks Barnett for the fight, and Barnett says “Thanks for actually asking for it. I think you’re the only person…in history who’s ever been like, ‘Yeah, I want to fight him.’” Barnett greets and shows respect to Mir’s father and cornermen.

5:35: Barnett breaks down his finish of Mir in great and lucid detail to someone out of the frame. He says that he could feel Mir breaking down and knew it was “time to kill.”

6:22: Beltless and nursing his damaged arm, Benson Henderson is consoled by his coach. So many feels, man.

6:54: Dana White congratulates new lightweight champion Anthony Pettis after his shocking submission win over Benson Henderson. Dana seems amazed at what Pettis has done, and gives him a mini-pep talk that includes an ominous warning about the title belt he now possesses: “You have no idea. Watch now. That thing makes all the fucking difference in the world. Trust me. Now that you’ve got that, you’re never gonna want to let go of it. Watch how everything fucking changes now. Trust me.”

– Elias Cepeda

‘WTF?’ Video of the Year Candidate: Brazilian Fighter Quits Match by Jumping Out of Cage, Leaving Arena

(Props: Zona de Ataque)

OK, watch the above video and please tell us if you can figure out what in the Sam Hell just happened. Evilasio Silva and Claudinei Angelo met at JF Fight Evolution in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, on Saturday and things were going as MMA fights normally do — both men fighting inside an enclosed space — until, for some reason, Angelo decided he had had enough.

“When Angelo clearly spat his mouthpiece to recover from the punches, the referee refused to stop the fight,” wrote MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, who first brought this strange fight to our attention. “Angelo went on and asked for a ‘time out.’ Silva and [the referee] didn’t understand what he was asking for, but Angelo decided to quit. The door was locked, so his only way out was jumping off the fence and leaving the arena.”

And, he did. Now, we didn’t see the entire match and Cruz has more description of what happened before Angelo decided to hit splitsville, but it doesn’t seem as if the quitting fighter was upset about some supposed unrecognized fouls on the part of his opponent or anything like that.

Angelo simply broke free from the clinch, tried to call a time out by making the sign with his hands that is universally recognized in sports where participants are actually allowed to call time outs, tried to open up the cage, and when that failed, he climbed the chain-link and then walked out of the arena. As Angelo did that, boos cascaded down on him from the confused crowd.


(Props: Zona de Ataque)

OK, watch the above video and please tell us if you can figure out what in the Sam Hell just happened. Evilasio Silva and Claudinei Angelo met at JF Fight Evolution in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, on Saturday and things were going as MMA fights normally do — both men fighting inside an enclosed space — until, for some reason, Angelo decided he had had enough.

“When Angelo clearly spat his mouthpiece to recover from the punches, the referee refused to stop the fight,” wrote MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, who first brought this strange fight to our attention. “Angelo went on and asked for a ‘time out.’ Silva and [the referee] didn’t understand what he was asking for, but Angelo decided to quit. The door was locked, so his only way out was jumping off the fence and leaving the arena.”

And, he did. Now, we didn’t see the entire match and Cruz has more description of what happened before Angelo decided to hit splitsville, but it doesn’t seem as if the quitting fighter was upset about some supposed unrecognized fouls on the part of his opponent or anything like that.

Angelo simply broke free from the clinch, tried to call a time out by making the sign with his hands that is universally recognized in sports where participants are actually allowed to call time outs, tried to open up the cage, and when that failed, he climbed the chain-link and then walked out of the arena. As Angelo did that, boos cascaded down on him from the confused crowd.

This might be the strangest scene in a cage since Paulo Filho started having a conversation with his accountant during his second fight against Chael Sonnen. We don’t know what Angelo was feeling, but it didn’t appear as if he was in any particular danger or taking an inordinate amount of punishment. Also, it isn’t as if this was his MMA debut. The guy is a veteran and it is bizarre for him to suddenly want nothing to do with a fight.

What’s your best guess, ‘Taters?

– Elias Cepeda

5 Things We Learned About Alexander Gustafsson From His ‘On the Brink’ UFC 165 Documentary [VIDEO]

(Props: YouTube.com/FOXSports. Part 2 is after the jump.)

In the wake of Alexander Gustafsson‘s epic title fight against Jon Jones at UFC 165, FOX Sports 1 has released a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary that follows Gustafsson through some intimate moments leading up to and following the bout. We also learned a few new things about the Swedish star. For example…

1. That ‘no-fuss’ look hair style of Gustafsson’s does indeed require some fuss

We won’t admit to being exactly jealous of Gustafsson’s no-effort-needed, scruff-buff style but..ok, we were getting a little jealous. It’s hard enough being an MMA fan while watching a Georges St. Pierre fight while all the female fans within view are fawning over him. Recently, it seemed that Gustafsson was starting to get the same treatment. I mean, what does a brother have to do to simply watch a fight without being reminded of how inadequate he is?

Anyway, early in the ‘On the Brink’ doc, we see Gustafsson painstakingly mold his hair in front of a large mirror and then ask his room mate if it looked alright. Wait, was this whole first point a little weird? I’m starting to think it made me look weird…Next point!

2. Alexander Gustafsson believes that Jon Jones is “insecure”

Gustafsson wasn’t much for trash talk leading up to the Jones fight but in this segment he seemed agitated by Jones’ attitude. Jones’s perceived arrogance is the result of fundamental insecurity, according to Alexander. “He is insecure,” Gus says. “He likes looking down on people. Some people don’t see that but I see that.”

3. Gustafsson doesn’t cut a ton of weight, apparently

As Gustafsson gets into a cab on the Thursday before UFC 165, he tells the driver that he has just nine pounds left to go. “I’m 214,” he says. Now, nine pounds of weight lost in one day would be a lot to you and me, but the light heavyweight division has been home to some of the most monstrous cuts in UFC history from guys like Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson who have reportedly showed up to fight weeks well over twenty pounds above the 205 pound limit.

4. After the final horn, Gustafsson didn’t believe that he would was going to win the decision


(Props: YouTube.com/FOXSports. Part 2 is after the jump.)

In the wake of Alexander Gustafsson‘s epic title fight against Jon Jones at UFC 165, FOX Sports 1 has released a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary that follows Gustafsson through some intimate moments leading up to and following the bout. We also learned a few new things about the Swedish star. For example…

1. That ‘no-fuss’ look hair style of Gustafsson’s does indeed require some fuss

We won’t admit to being exactly jealous of Gustafsson’s no-effort-needed, scruff-buff style but..ok, we were getting a little jealous. It’s hard enough being an MMA fan while watching a Georges St. Pierre fight while all the female fans within view are fawning over him. Recently, it seemed that Gustafsson was starting to get the same treatment. I mean, what does a brother have to do to simply watch a fight without being reminded of how inadequate he is?

Anyway, early in the ‘On the Brink’ doc, we see Gustafsson painstakingly mold his hair in front of a large mirror and then ask his room mate if it looked alright. Wait, was this whole first point a little weird? I’m starting to think it made me look weird…Next point!

2. Alexander Gustafsson believes that Jon Jones is “insecure”

Gustafsson wasn’t much for trash talk leading up to the Jones fight but in this segment he seemed agitated by Jones’ attitude. Jones’s perceived arrogance is the result of fundamental insecurity, according to Alexander. “He is insecure,” Gus says. “He likes looking down on people. Some people don’t see that but I see that.”

3. Gustafsson doesn’t cut a ton of weight, apparently

As Gustafsson gets into a cab on the Thursday before UFC 165, he tells the driver that he has just nine pounds left to go. “I’m 214,” he says. Now, nine pounds of weight lost in one day would be a lot to you and me, but the light heavyweight division has been home to some of the most monstrous cuts in UFC history from guys like Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson who have reportedly showed up to fight weeks well over twenty pounds above the 205 pound limit.

4. After the final horn, Gustafsson didn’t believe that he would was going to win the decision

In part two of ‘On the Brink,’ (below) Gustafsson admitted that, though he hoped they would announce his name, he believed that the fight had been too close for the judges to award it to him. Not that he didn’t believe he didn’t deserve to win, just that he didn’t think they judges would give it to him.

5. Gustafsson Knows Exactly How to Beat Jones the Next Time Out

Far from dejected, Gustafsson claims he knows how to take it to Jones even more convincingly in their assumed rematch. “We will fight again,” he says. “And next time we fight, I know exactly what I will do.”

– Elias Cepeda