Tag: Recap

TUF 18 Episode 4 Recap: Piss Fits, Toilet Paper Roll Men, And a Gnarly Dive-Bomb KO

(Rakoczy vs. Modafferi highlights, via Fox Sports.)

While the first women’s quarterfinal bout on TUF 18 featured an ego-driven meeting of Team Rousey and Team Tate’s top picks, the second one pitted the female bracket’s #4 seeds against each other. At the end of last week’s episode, we saw coach Miesha Tate select WMMA veteran Roxanne Modafferi (who comes onto the show with a five-fight losing streak) to go in against Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy, a former boxing champ who has only earned one victory in five MMA fights. Once again, we have a meeting of the old school vs. the new school — not to mention a classic matchup between a grappler who’s shaky on her feet vs. a striker who’s still learning this jiu-jitsu stuff. Spoiler alert: The fight ends by stoppage, and it’s ugly.

Ronda Rousey is psyched about the matchup, though. “They’re such predictable little pussies,” she says. “[Modafferi’s] not gonna be able to bully in, you’ll be able to pick her apart, it’s perfect.” Rakoczy apparently suffered a shoulder injury during her elimination fight, but she’s ready, and Miesha Tate will pay for every smile she smirked.

Modafferi thanks Tate for the fight-selection — in Japanese, obviously — and says she’s not going to underestimate Rakoczy, even though her team (and guest coach Dennis Hallman) are convinced that Modafferi’s got this one in the bag. Vengeful MMA Gods, that’s your cue to enter.

Edmond Tarverdyan mean-mugs Hallman and tries to pick a fight as soon as he sees him. Hallman calls his bluff and offers to settle it right then in the training center. Rousey holds her coach back, then gets in Hallman’s face and throws a “piss fit.” (Miesha’s words, not mine.) Dana White has to come in and play peacemaker, which is kind of an unexpected role for him. I’m sure it’s just that infamous reality show editing, but man, Tarverdyan and Rousey are really coming off like crazy assholes here.


(Rakoczy vs. Modafferi highlights, via Fox Sports.)

While the first women’s quarterfinal bout on TUF 18 featured an ego-driven meeting of Team Rousey and Team Tate’s top picks, the second one pitted the female bracket’s #4 seeds against each other. At the end of last week’s episode, we saw coach Miesha Tate select WMMA veteran Roxanne Modafferi (who comes onto the show with a five-fight losing streak) to go in against Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy, a former boxing champ who has only earned one victory in five MMA fights. Once again, we have a meeting of the old school vs. the new school — not to mention a classic matchup between a grappler who’s shaky on her feet vs. a striker who’s still learning this jiu-jitsu stuff. Spoiler alert: The fight ends by stoppage, and it’s ugly.

Ronda Rousey is psyched about the matchup, though. “They’re such predictable little pussies,” she says. “[Modafferi’s] not gonna be able to bully in, you’ll be able to pick her apart, it’s perfect.” Rakoczy apparently suffered a shoulder injury during her elimination fight, but she’s ready, and Miesha Tate will pay for every smile she smirked.

Modafferi thanks Tate for the fight-selection — in Japanese, obviously — and says she’s not going to underestimate Rakoczy, even though her team (and guest coach Dennis Hallman) are convinced that Modafferi’s got this one in the bag. Vengeful MMA Gods, that’s your cue to enter.

Edmond Tarverdyan mean-mugs Hallman and tries to pick a fight as soon as he sees him. Hallman calls his bluff and offers to settle it right then in the training center. Rousey holds her coach back, then gets in Hallman’s face and throws a “piss fit.” (Miesha’s words, not mine.) Dana White has to come in and play peacemaker, which is kind of an unexpected role for him. I’m sure it’s just that infamous reality show editing, but man, Tarverdyan and Rousey are really coming off like crazy assholes here.

Raquel Pennington gets frustrated by Modafferi’s lower intensity during a grappling session, and wants to train with the male fighters instead. So, Coach Tate makes it happen, running a men vs. women sparring session. Sarah Moras demands that Louis Fisette hit her in the face when she senses that Fisette might be taking it easy on her. He takes her down and pounds on her a bit. So now you’ve seen men fighting women (technically) in the UFC. Happy now, you weirdos?

Jessica Rakoczy has taken on the role of house mother, cleaning the house and kissing boo-boos. With her team down 0-2, she feels the pressure to carry the team on her back, despite her weakened shoulder.

Modafferi and Shayna Baszler are old friends from the dark ages of WMMA, and fought each other in Japan back in 2006. Now, the Happy Warrior spends her free time teaching Baszler Japanese. Everybody loves Roxanne Modafferi. Her constant kindness and sheer unguarded weirdness have made her something of a beloved team mascot.

Rakoczy opens up about the abusive step-father who haunted her childhood and ended up beating her mother to death. “He’ll have his karma,” she says. “He’ll be going to hell, that’s for sure.” Luckily, Jessica was able to focus her resulting anger and aggression into boxing.

Roxanne and Jessica both come in under the bantamweight limit (133 and 132 pounds, respectively), then have a little fun with some nunchucks and a dart-gun before they face-off. Suddenly, Roxanne’s “Happy Warrior” smile goes away. Even the men feel the chill in the room.

Jessica talks about how awkward it is to be preparing for a fight while living in the same house as your opponent. Roxanne makes a life-sized man out of toilet paper rolls. (I’m…so…roneryyyy….) Jessica starts to get emotional thinking about not having her son around. Roxanne gets emotional after reading a note of encouragement from Julianna. Pfft, women, amirite?

Time to bang…

Round 1: Both fighters measuring distance with leg kicks. Jessica throws some fast straight punches to the body and head. She starts out as the aggressor, but then Roxanne fires back some punches of her own, moves Jessica back to the fence, and takes her to the mat. Roxanne hangs out in guard for a bit, Jessica kicks her off, Roxanne comes right back in. Jessica looks for a submission off her back, but can’t put anything together. Roxanne on top in side control, sneaks in a short elbow after a moment of inactivity. Jessica scrambles to her knees, Roxanne looking for back control. She can’t get it, and Jessica winds up on top. Now it’s Roxy looking for an armbar. She loses it and Jessica comes in hard with an elbow from the top. A couple more strikes from above from Jessica, as Roxanne tries to tie her down. Jessica escapes when Roxanne tries for a heel-hook, somersaulting out of danger. Back on the feet, Roxanne misses a spinning backfist by a mile; it is truly Sonnen-esque. Roxanne shoots for a double, Jessica stays on her feet and defends. A bit of dirty boxing against the fence, and Roxanne takes Jessica to the mat again. Jessica tries to work her guard as time expires.

Back on the stool, Roxanne sucks in some very deep breaths as Miesha Tate politely asks her for one takedown in the next round. They know they probably won the opening frame due to top control, and Roxanne’s best bet is to do it all over again. Back on Team Rousey, Edmond’s advice to Jessica is simple: Box the shit out of her.

Round 2: Jessica flashes some punches, and Roxanne wades in to clinch, her arms out like a mummy. Jessica fends her off and scores a brilliant backpedaling knockdown with a left hook. Roxanne pops up and they scrap from close quarters until Roxy falls back into guard. Instead of immediately letting Roxanne up, Jessica tries to make Roxanne pay right then and there, diving in with a punch and trying to work some ground and pound. Roxy nearly catches her in an armbar, and Jessica realizes that maybe standing and banging is the best option here. She retreats to her feet and starts putting on a boxing clinic, tagging Roxy once, twice, then sending her to mat again with another left hook. Hammerfists from Jessica as Roxanne clutches at her legs, trying to convert a double. The ref stops the action and then stands there for a few seconds as everybody wonders what the hell is happening. Finally, the ref takes Jessica aside and tells her that if she grabs the fence again, he’s taking a point. (He also warned her for fence-grabbing in round 1, saying that if she did it again, he’d take a point. Well, he’s not exactly following up on that threat, but the pause does give Roxy a long moment to clear the cobwebs, which is sort of fair, I guess.)

The ref restarts the fight in the same position, with Jessica against the fence and Roxanne down on her legs. Roxanne is tenacious, and eventually drags Jessica down. Jessica flips her with ease and gets on top. Coach Ronda screams at her to stand up — seriously, Jessica, WTF? — but Jessica insists on playing around in guard. As soon as Roxanne latches onto her arms, Jessica takes a page out of the Sarah Kaufman playbook and picks Roxanne, slamming her hard on the mat. Roxanne’s head takes a rather hard bounce. She’s visibly dazed, trying to get up while half-asleep. Jessica stuffs a left hand in her face from above, and Roxy endures what might be her third flash-knockout of this fight. Jessica gets on top, grinds down with some strikes, and gets to her feet. Once more, she pops Roxanne in the face from above, as Roxy rolls around on her back, trying to find the strength to get up. Roxanne gets to one knee, collapses to the mat, and Jessica fires off a perfect dive-bomb KO. It’s over. Thank God, it’s over. Roxanne fought the last 20 of that fight while unconscious. Late stoppage, but at least they let a samurai go out on her sword.

Eventually, Roxanne wakes up screaming. She calls out for her big sister, and Jessica comes over for a post-fight hug and pep-talk. Everybody on Team Tate is gutted for Roxy, but it’s a great moment of inter-Team unity. No hard feelings. Everybody lives to fight another day, hopefully with the lessons they learned from this moment. Roxanne shouts some nonsensical gibberish. Or maybe it’s Japanese, but clearly, the poor kid has suffered some brain damage. She cries into Shayna Baszler’s arms, the only other person in the building who understands exactly how fucking badly this sucks right now.

And so, “Team Rowdy” has control of the fight picks, and Ronda chooses her #2 guy Davey Grant to face Team Tate’s injury replacement Louis Fisette.

On the next episode: Ronda’s mom shows up. HIDE. YOUR. WEED.

Team Rousey Women
Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2)
Jessamyn Duke
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

— Ben Goldstein

UFC 165 Medical Suspensions: Jones, Gustafsson Somehow Come Out of Their War Relatively Unscathed


(Something something Jon Jones looks like a California Raisin in this photo. Via @AlexTheMauler.) 

The Ontario Athletic Commission released their official list of medical suspensions for UFC 165 earlier today, and in direct defiance of everything we know about the human body’s ability to absorb damage, neither Jon Jones or Alexander Gustafsson suffered major injuries in their five round war at UFC 165. Yes, despite early reports that Jones was fighting through “a shattered foot” on Saturday night, both the champ and his Swedish counterpart received just two month suspensions pending a CT or MRI scan. Jones will additionally require an x-ray of said foot before it can be broken off in Phil Davis’ insolent ass.

The full list of medical suspensions is below. There aren’t many surprises other than the main eventers, but what the hell else am I going to write about: The Gracie Breakdown of Brendan Schaub’s D’arce choke that takes place on a hotel room bed? Bob Arum would not approve, you guys.

-Jon Jones: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI, plus x-ray before return.
-Alexander Gustafsson: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.
-Eddie Wineland: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.


(Something something Jon Jones looks like a California Raisin in this photo. Via @AlexTheMauler.) 

The Ontario Athletic Commission released their official list of medical suspensions for UFC 165 earlier today, and in direct defiance of everything we know about the human body’s ability to absorb damage, neither Jon Jones or Alexander Gustafsson suffered major injuries in their five round war at UFC 165. Yes, despite early reports that Jones was fighting through “a shattered foot” on Saturday night, both the champ and his Swedish counterpart received just two month suspensions pending a CT or MRI scan. Jones will additionally require an x-ray of said foot before it can be broken off in Phil Davis’ insolent ass.

The full list of medical suspensions is below. There aren’t many surprises other than the main eventers, but what the hell else am I going to write about: The Gracie Breakdown of Brendan Schaub’s D’arce choke that takes place on a hotel room bed? Bob Arum would not approve, you guys.

-Jon Jones: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI, plus x-ray before return.
-Alexander Gustafsson: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.
-Eddie Wineland: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.
-Matthew Mitrione: Suspended 30 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.
-Mike Ricci: Suspended 30 days. Additionally, needs x-ray before return.
-Chris Clements: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.
-Renee Forte: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return.
-Nandor Guelmino: Suspended 60 days. Additionally, needs CT scan or MRI before return. 

Poor Nandor Guelmino. He’s probably one of the scariest looking dudes to ever step into the cage and has been completely unable to physically back it up in his first two mainstream appearances. Kind of like how I am the least intimidating man to ever step foot in a Montreal stripclub yet am never allowed to step foot in a Montreal strip club again. I’ll fill you in on the details as soon as my lawyer gets these bogus kidnapping charges dropped.

–J. Jones

Five Lessons for Jon Jones in the Wake of UFC 165


(Clearly, Jones needs to start training with Chael Sonnen. / Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

By Elias Cepeda

On Saturday before UFC 165, a friend who is relatively new to watching MMA asked me a simple question that I would have felt like a jerk answering honestly. “What are Jon Jones’ weaknesses?,” she asked.

Given his near flawless career, even MMA neophytes had gotten the feeling that Jones was supposed to be something, well, what’s the term…“not quite human”? Yeah, that’s the phrase I was looking for.

So, if “Bones” was such a great fighter, did he have any weaknesses? That’s what our buddy wanted to know. I ducked the question then but won’t today. Call me a coward twice; it was and is the easy thing to do.

Of course Jones was never a perfect fighter. Perfect doesn’t exist. Certainly not in fighting.

Still, saying a guy is over-reliant on his one-strike power, speed and wrestling, and opts to fight flat footed too often sounds like nit-picking as long as said fighter’s one-strike power, speed and wrestling have proved dominant. Up until his meeting with Alexander Gustafsson, they had been for Jon Jones.

Before Gustafsson, Jones never had to fear anyone having quicker feet or hands than him, taking him down or surviving the power of his nasty elbows, kicks and knees. So, as he usually does, Jones fought flat-footed and mostly threw one strike at a time in quick bursts at UFC 165.

Sure, Jones got the decision win (thanks in part to a ludicrous 49-46 score in his favor from one judge) but he was far from dominant, and even the greatest light heavyweight of all time can take a few lessons away from his performance.

He got booed big time by the Toronto crowd Saturday when the decision in his favor was announced but I stand by my previous assertion that Jon Jones deserves none of our hate. So, as a documented and steadfast non-hater of Jones, here are a few unsolicited tips for the champ…

1) Stop assuming that you are the fastest, most dynamic fighter in the division. Heading into the fight, you laughed off the idea that Gustafsson had better foot work and hand speed than you. Guess what? Alexander Gustafsson has better foot work and hand speed than you.


(Clearly, Jones needs to start training with Chael Sonnen. / Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

By Elias Cepeda

On Saturday before UFC 165, a friend who is relatively new to watching MMA asked me a simple question that I would have felt like a jerk answering honestly. “What are Jon Jones’ weaknesses?,” she asked.

Given his near flawless career, even MMA neophytes had gotten the feeling that Jones was supposed to be something, well, what’s the term…“not quite human”? Yeah, that’s the phrase I was looking for.

So, if “Bones” was such a great fighter, did he have any weaknesses? That’s what our buddy wanted to know. I ducked the question then but won’t today. Call me a coward twice; it was and is the easy thing to do.

Of course Jones was never a perfect fighter. Perfect doesn’t exist. Certainly not in fighting.

Still, saying a guy is over-reliant on his one-strike power, speed and wrestling, and opts to fight flat footed too often sounds like nit-picking as long as said fighter’s one-strike power, speed and wrestling have proved dominant. Up until his meeting with Alexander Gustafsson, they had been for Jon Jones.

Before Gustafsson, Jones never had to fear anyone having quicker feet or hands than him, taking him down or surviving the power of his nasty elbows, kicks and knees. So, as he usually does, Jones fought flat-footed and mostly threw one strike at a time in quick bursts at UFC 165.

Sure, Jones got the decision win (thanks in part to a ludicrous 49-46 score in his favor from one judge) but he was far from dominant, and even the greatest light heavyweight of all time can take a few lessons away from his performance.

He got booed big time by the Toronto crowd Saturday when the decision in his favor was announced but I stand by my previous assertion that Jon Jones deserves none of our hate. So, as a documented and steadfast non-hater of Jones, here are a few unsolicited tips for the champ…

1) Stop assuming that you are the fastest, most dynamic fighter in the division. Heading into the fight, you laughed off the idea that Gustafsson had better foot work and hand speed than you. Guess what? Alexander Gustafsson has better foot work and hand speed than you.

2) Stop assuming that you are the best wrestler in the division. Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t, Jon. But the assumption that you are has a tendency to make men complacent and get taken down by Swedish boxers. Everyone works hard in MMA and people improve. Your opponents certainly will. Gustafsson is far from the best wrestler in the 205-pound division and you couldn’t take and keep him down. Not even close.

3) Don’t take for granted that single strikes from you will always outweigh an entire fight’s worth of of strikes landed in combination from an opponent. Gustafsson stayed moving, which helped him avoid takedowns and land strikes. Simply put, Gus boxed you up for three and a half rounds and deserved the decision win because of it. Now that your aura of invincibility is gone, judges may not always continue to see your fights through Bones-colored lenses.

4) Stop assuming that you can go into a training camp out of shape and be full of energy for an entire title fight. Look, we know that Jones was fat when he began his training camp for Gustafsson. Not, like, Filet-O-Fish fat, but skinny-fat nonetheless. Gustafsson got bludgeoned in the fourth and fifth frames, which likely explained his lethargy in the championship rounds. Jones got out-pointed for most of the fight and was cut from a glancing punch but probably wasn’t ever hurt the way Alexander was. Jon’s flatness and fatigue for most of the fight, then, was more than likely due to his overall conditioning level.

You can drop pounds in six to eight weeks and get a six pack but when a fighter doesn’t take care of themselves all year round the way, say, a Bernard Hopkins or Randy Couture do, they can’t guarantee that their body will respond well when put through a grinder of a fight. Jones had never been through that before — the dogfight that he’d supposedly been waiting for. Now he has. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson.

5) Don’t assume that you’re getting the best coaching in the world. From what we’ve seen the past years, there is a lot lacking in Jones’ head coach, Greg Jackson. After getting his arm wrenched by Vitor Belfort last year, Jones admitted that his coaches didn’t have him train Jiu Jitsu every day. Short of not eating, drinking and breathing every day, there couldn’t be a more absurd omission for a fighter to make or a for a head coach to allow at their direction.

Similarly, one hopes that Jones’ coaches are going to draw a line in the sand for him regarding how out of shape he is allowed to get in between fights. Ultimately it is, of course, Jones’ responsibility as his own man to stay disciplined enough with his activity and diet to stay in shape but it would be great if he had a head coach who didn’t accept his fighter being so lax in the “off-season,” because in MMA there really is no off-season.

If fights were scored the way this writer would want, without the ten point must system and taken as a whole with an emphasis on who ended stronger and who got closer to finishing their opponent, Jon Jones would definitely have earned the win. He showed heart, focus and a killer instinct, as he always has.

That said, the guy is just 26 years old and has lots of room to improve. Imagine how scary he’ll be if he does.

‘UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson’ Aftermath — We Were Wrong


(A torn-up Jon Jones spins for an elbow during his title-fight war against Alexander Gustafsson in Toronto. / Photo via Esther Lin, MMAFighting.com)

By George Shunick

Let’s be honest here. No one saw last night coming. No one. That’s not to say that nobody believed Alexander Gustafsson was capable of beating or challenging Jon Jones, although those people were probably Swedish, rabid Jones-haters, or height aficionados. But no one predicted that Gustafsson would take the fight to Jones in such a complete manner that in addition to being the first man consistently hurt the champion, he would become the only man to ever land a takedown on Jones in the UFC. And if there was some visionary out there who managed to foresee this twist of fate, he didn’t expect the next wrinkle; that Jones, bent but unbroken, would rise to this challenge in the final two rounds with an onslaught that the challenger seemed to persevere through with only sheer will holding him up. When all was said and done, UFC 165 saw the best light-heavyweight title fight in history, possibly the fight of the year and most significantly, the birth of a rivalry between two young fighters in the sport’s marquee division.

So, first things first…I might have been a little hasty in dismissing Alexander Gustafsson. If there’s some small solace to take in being so incredibly wrong, it’s that there was plenty of company in that regard. The UFC focused on the challenger’s height as opposed to any of his actual skills — although to hear Dana White tell it, that’s because “he’s so tall” was considered a better selling point for UFC fans than constructing an intricate narrative contextualizing Gustafsson and his abilities within the history of Swedish combat sports. (In other words, the UFC thinks its fans are stupid. They’re not entirely wrong.) Others focused on Gustafsson’s relative lack of competition, or his performances relative to those of Jones’s. Almost every pundit came away with the same conclusion; this was Jones’s fight to lose.

That was completely incorrect. In the first round, Gustafsson got in his face, pressured Jones backwards as he landed punches. He took the fight to Jones. It was a smart strategy; Jones likes to keep his distance while he’s standing up through kicks, and moving in takes away the range required to successfully land those kicks. However, this normally comes with a caveat; moving in puts a fighter in danger of being taken down by Jones, which is the last thing they want. But Gustafsson didn’t let that deter him; in fact, he landed the first takedown attempt of the fight, the first in UFC history against Jones. It turned out there was a reason for his confidence. Throughout the fight, try as he might, Jones could not take Gustafsson down. For all the talk you hear about how fighter X is “in the best shape of his life” or “has shown massive improvements,” it rarely rings true. But Gustafsson was the exception to the rule last night.


(A torn-up Jon Jones spins for an elbow during his title-fight war against Alexander Gustafsson in Toronto. / Photo via Esther Lin, MMAFighting.com)

By George Shunick

Let’s be honest here. No one saw last night coming. No one. That’s not to say that nobody believed Alexander Gustafsson was capable of beating or challenging Jon Jones, although those people were probably Swedish, rabid Jones-haters, or height aficionados. But no one predicted that Gustafsson would take the fight to Jones in such a complete manner that in addition to being the first man consistently hurt the champion, he would become the only man to ever land a takedown on Jones in the UFC. And if there was some visionary out there who managed to foresee this twist of fate, he didn’t expect the next wrinkle; that Jones, bent but unbroken, would rise to this challenge in the final two rounds with an onslaught that the challenger seemed to persevere through with only sheer will holding him up. When all was said and done, UFC 165 saw the best light-heavyweight title fight in history, possibly the fight of the year and most significantly, the birth of a rivalry between two young fighters in the sport’s marquee division.

So, first things first…I might have been a little hasty in dismissing Alexander Gustafsson. If there’s some small solace to take in being so incredibly wrong, it’s that there was plenty of company in that regard. The UFC focused on the challenger’s height as opposed to any of his actual skills — although to hear Dana White tell it, that’s because “he’s so tall” was considered a better selling point for UFC fans than constructing an intricate narrative contextualizing Gustafsson and his abilities within the history of Swedish combat sports. (In other words, the UFC thinks its fans are stupid. They’re not entirely wrong.) Others focused on Gustafsson’s relative lack of competition, or his performances relative to those of Jones’s. Almost every pundit came away with the same conclusion; this was Jones’s fight to lose.

That was completely incorrect. In the first round, Gustafsson got in his face, pressured Jones backwards as he landed punches. He took the fight to Jones. It was a smart strategy; Jones likes to keep his distance while he’s standing up through kicks, and moving in takes away the range required to successfully land those kicks. However, this normally comes with a caveat; moving in puts a fighter in danger of being taken down by Jones, which is the last thing they want. But Gustafsson didn’t let that deter him; in fact, he landed the first takedown attempt of the fight, the first in UFC history against Jones. It turned out there was a reason for his confidence. Throughout the fight, try as he might, Jones could not take Gustafsson down. For all the talk you hear about how fighter X is “in the best shape of his life” or “has shown massive improvements,” it rarely rings true. But Gustafsson was the exception to the rule last night.

But for all that, the champion remained the champion at the end of the night. It was a close decision; most members of the media had it 48-47 for Jon Jones, giving him the 2nd, 4th and 5th rounds. There’s a case to be made for Gustafsson taking the first three, or for a draw, but given Jones’ performance in the championship rounds, this was the most just decision. The champion survived Gustafsson’s assault, a bad cut over his right eye, and possibly a shattered foot, and almost managed to finish Gustafsson at the end of the fourth round with elbows and knees. He easily took the fifth over an exhausted Gustafsson, retained his title and promptly left for the hospital, with Gustafsson soon to follow. It was a war of heart and technique that not only was an extraordinary main event, but fundamentally reshaped the expectations of the entire division.


(The agony, exhaustion, and disappointment of defeat. Photo of the Year candidate by Esther Lin, MMAFighting.com. Click for larger version.)

Where once Glover Teixeira was assured of a title shot following this fight, he will now probably — hopefully — have to wait. Gustafsson more than deserves a rematch following that fight, and as he and Jones are both a mere 26 years of age, it will hopefully be the first of many. However, injuries could easily play a factor in the UFC’s matchmaking. It’s impossible to tell just when either man will return to the Octagon until the full extent of their injuries are revealed. In the meantime, consider Jon Jones’s possible ascension to heavyweight on a hiatus; if Alexander Gustafsson roughed him up this badly, I shudder to think what would happen if he was face to face with Cain Velasquez. It should also prove interesting when Daniel Cormier drops down from heavyweight — if he can — to inject some Olympic-caliber wrestling into the division. But until then, this new, unexpected rivalry will be more than sufficient to propel the light-heavyweight division forward.

Overshadowed by the main event was another title fight in the bantamweight division between Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland. The first round was what you would expect from any fight in the division; technical, compelling, and relatively well-matched. Then in the second round, Barao uncorked a spinning side kick that landed square on Wineland’s chin. Wineland was sent to the ground where Barao followed with punches as his opponent turtled, forcing a stoppage and allotting himself a brief moment to celebrate his accomplishment through the medium of dancing. (He made the most of it.) Wineland complained the stoppage was premature, and he’s not entirely incorrect, but he was out of it and offered little defense when he had to. For his efforts, Barao won Knockout of the Night and will probably meet a returning Dominick Cruz in a title reunification bout, unless Cruz’s knee manages to blow itself out for a third time.

On the rest of the card, Brendan Schaub secured a d’arce choke that put Matt Mitrione to sleep in the first round. Francis Carmont took an uneventful decision over Costa Philippou. Khabib Nurmagomedov showed off his wrestling yet again in dispatching the game Pat Healy over three rounds. (He then proceeded to lend his Dagestani headgear to Joe Rogan for the post-fight interview.) Submission of the Night went to Mitch Gagnon for putting Dustin Kimura to sleep with a guillotine choke. You can guess what won Fight of the Night. It was the fight that established a rising star beyond what anyone could have expected, reaffirmed the mettle of a champion and established the beginning of a new era for the light-heavyweight division.

Full UFC 165 results:

PPV MAIN CARD
– Jon Jones def. Alexander Gustafsson via unanimous decision (48-47 x 2, 49-46)
– Renan Barao def. Eddie Wineland via TKO, 0:26 of round 2
– Brendan Schaub def. Matt Mitrione via technical submission (d’arce choke), 4:06 of round 1
– Francis Carmont def. Costa Philippou via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 30-26)
– Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Pat Healy via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMINARY CARD
– Myles Jury def. Mike Ricci via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
– Wilson Reis def. Ivan Menjivar via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Stephen Thompson def. Chris Clements via KO, 1:27 of round 2
– Mitch Gagnon def. Dustin Kimura via technical submission (guillotine choke), 4:05 of round 1

FACEBOOK PRELIMINARY CARD
– John Makdessi def. Renee Forte via KO, 2:01 of round 1
– Michel Prazeres def. Jesse Ronson via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
– Alex Caceres def. Roland Delorme via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
– Daniel Omielanczuk def. Nandor Guelmino via KO, 3:18 of round 3

UFC 165 Video Party: Highlights of Jones vs. Gustafsson, Barao vs. Wineland & Post Event Press Conference

(Jon Jones defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165)

UFC 165 wasn’t just better than most folks thought it would be, it featured one of the gutsiest, most grueling, surprising and just downright best main event that we’ve seen in awhile. The decision may be controversial, but Jon Jones managed to pull off a unanimous decision win over challenger Alexander Gustafsson despite being beaten up, taken down and out worked for most of the fight.

Jones refused to stop swinging despite apparent exhaustion and battered the Swede in the fourth and fifth rounds en route to his sixth successful title defense. For his part, Gustafsson pulled off a great strategy in almost flawless fashion, scoring early and often to the body and head of the champ with punches, stopping his take downs and becoming the first fighter to ever take Jones down himself.

Check out highlights of the fight above. After the break, see highlights of Renan Barao‘s exciting knockout interim bantamweight title defense against Eddie Wineland as well as the post-event press conference.

Spoiler alert – Dana White and many fighters made the presser but Jones and Gustafsson did not because they were both at hospitals. They truly left it in the ring Saturday night.


(Jon Jones defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165)

UFC 165 wasn’t just better than most folks thought it would be, it featured one of the gutsiest, most grueling, surprising and just downright best main event that we’ve seen in awhile. The decision may be controversial, but Jon Jones managed to pull off a unanimous decision win over challenger Alexander Gustafsson despite being beaten up, taken down and out worked for most of the fight.

Jones refused to stop swinging despite apparent exhaustion and battered the Swede in the fourth and fifth rounds en route to his sixth successful title defense. For his part, Gustafsson pulled off a great strategy in almost flawless fashion, scoring early and often to the body and head of the champ with punches, stopping his take downs and becoming the first fighter to ever take Jones down himself.

Check out highlights of the fight above. After the break, see highlights of Renan Barao‘s exciting knockout interim bantamweight title defense against Eddie Wineland as well as the post-event press conference.

Spoiler alert – Dana White and many fighters made the presser but Jones and Gustafsson did not because they were both at hospitals. They truly left it in the ring Saturday night.

Barao vs. Wineland Highlights:

Post UFC 165 Press Conference:

– Elias Cepeda

Bellator 100 Results & Videos: War Machine Marches On, Saunders Is Damn Near Decapitated

(Douglas Lima vs. Ben Saunders. KO at 11:04)

Friday night’s Bellator 100 card main event saw Douglas Lima earn another welterweight title shot with a second round-knockout of Ben Saunders in Bellator’s Season 8 Welterweight Tournament Final. In the first round, both men went hard on the feet with Saunders also seeking unsuccessfully to take the fight to the ground.

In the second stanza, Lima found his range and began to take it to Saunders, dropping him to the mat with a right hand. Saunders was cut badly by the shot but survived until the final thirty seconds of the round when Lima connected with a right kick to the head that put the “Killa B” out for good.

Deja vu alert: Lima and Saunders had previously squared off at Bellator 57 back in November 2011, with Lima scoring a second-round KO in that fight as well, to win Season Five’s Welterweight Tournament. Last night’s stoppage, however, was twice as ugly. Check out the video above to see what we mean.

Bellator 100 also featured the quarterfinals of the Season Nine Welterweight Tournament (confused yet?), with War Machine and Vaughn Anderson engaging in a ground war for two rounds before the troubled TUF veteran finished it with a rear naked choke.

War Machine took Anderson down early in the first but was swept. From there, WM attempted a couple triangle choke attempts that were shrugged off by Anderson. The round ended with WM back on his feet. In the second round, WM again took Anderson down, securing a crucifix position and landing strikes.

Anderson escaped that hold only to give up his back. WM got hold of his neck, sunk in a rear naked choke and forced Anderson unconscious, at which point the referee stepped in and called a halt to the fight. War Machine is now 2-0 since his last jail stint, and advances to the Season Nine Welterweight Semi-Finals on October 18th.

Full card results and more fight videos after the jump!


(Douglas Lima vs. Ben Saunders. KO at 11:04)

Friday night’s Bellator 100 card main event saw Douglas Lima earn another welterweight title shot with a second round-knockout of Ben Saunders in Bellator’s Season 8 Welterweight Tournament Final. In the first round, both men went hard on the feet with Saunders also seeking unsuccessfully to take the fight to the ground.

In the second stanza, Lima found his range and began to take it to Saunders, dropping him to the mat with a right hand. Saunders was cut badly by the shot but survived until the final thirty seconds of the round when Lima connected with a right kick to the head that put the “Killa B” out for good.

Deja vu alert: Lima and Saunders had previously squared off at Bellator 57 back in November 2011, with Lima scoring a second-round KO in that fight as well, to win Season Five’s Welterweight Tournament. Last night’s stoppage, however, was twice as ugly. Check out the video above to see what we mean.

Bellator 100 also featured the quarterfinals of the Season Nine Welterweight Tournament (confused yet?), with War Machine and Vaughn Anderson engaging in a ground war for two rounds before the troubled TUF veteran finished it with a rear naked choke.

War Machine took Anderson down early in the first but was swept. From there, WM attempted a couple triangle choke attempts that were shrugged off by Anderson. The round ended with WM back on his feet. In the second round, WM again took Anderson down, securing a crucifix position and landing strikes.

Anderson escaped that hold only to give up his back. WM got hold of his neck, sunk in a rear naked choke and forced Anderson unconscious, at which point the referee stepped in and called a halt to the fight. War Machine is now 2-0 since his last jail stint, and advances to the Season Nine Welterweight Semi-Finals on October 18th.

Full card results and more fight videos after the jump!

War Machine vs. Vaughn Anderson:

Bubba Jenkins vs. LaRue Burley:

Rick Hawn vs. Herman Terrado:

Brent Weedman vs. Justin Baesman:

Mighty Mo vs. Dan Charles:

Adam McDonough vs. Johny Buck:

Main Card Results:

Douglas Lima knocks Ben Saunders out in the First Round of their Season Eight Welterweight Tournament final.
War Machine earns a technical submission win in the Second Round over Vaughn Anderson with a rear naked choke in this season’s welterweight tournament opening round.
Rick Hawn wins a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over Herman Terrado via unanimous decision in their welterweight tournament bout.
Ron Keslar defeats Sergio Junior via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) in another welterweight tournament opening round fight.
Brent Weedman beats Justin Baesman via with an arm bar submission in the first round of their welterweight tournament contest.

Prelim Results:

Efrain Escudero beats Zack Surdyka via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Travis Marx defeats Brandon Bender via TKO due to strikes in Round Two in their bantamweight tournament semifinal.
LaRue Burley gets a Third Round TKO stoppage over Bubba Jenkins.
Clifford Starks defeats Joe Yager via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Liam McGeary beats Beau Tribolet with a First Round knockout due to a punch.
Siala-Mou Siliga defeats Dan Charles with a Third round TKO from punches.
Adam McDonough beats Johnny Buck with a First Round TKO due to strikes.

– Elias Cepeda