Tag: Recap

UFC 150 Aftermath

By Elias Cepeda

The rematch contained slightly less constant action than the first engagement but Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar put on another technical, evenly-matched lightweight title fight Saturday night in the main event of UFC 150. Henderson also walked away with another decision win over the man he beat last February to win the championship belt.

Perusing twitter and the forums last night and today, to say nothing of Edgar’s complaints after the split decision was announced for Henderson, it appears that many fans and fighters believed that “The Answer” should have gotten the nod from the judges. This writer scored it for Henderson but only someone with an agenda could deny that it was a close, hard to score fight.

Henderson opened up quickly in the first round, landing quick kicks to Edgar’s lead calf, bruising and tripping him up. Edgar scored a take down in the stanza but got caught in a good guillotine choke attempt by Henderson, before escaping.

Henderson charged forward and age a right hand right to the chin from Edgar, dropping to the mat. From there, Edgar controlled Henderson on the ground for most of the rest of the round with a front head lock. Edgar worked to get his own choke in or move to the back but Henderson defended well and survived the round.

Rounds three and four were close in terms of strikes landed, as was round five. In the last round Henderson clearly closed most aggressively and finishing more emphatically with strikes.

When the decision was announced for Henderson, Edgar stormed away. He and his team acted like he was robbed.

He was not.

By Elias Cepeda

The rematch contained slightly less constant action than the first engagement but Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar put on another technical, evenly-matched lightweight title fight Saturday night in the main event of UFC 150. Henderson also walked away with another decision win over the man he beat last February to win the championship belt.

Perusing twitter and the forums last night and today, to say nothing of Edgar’s complaints after the split decision was announced for Henderson, it appears that many fans and fighters believed that “The Answer” should have gotten the nod from the judges. This writer scored it for Henderson but only someone with an agenda could deny that it was a close, hard to score fight.

Henderson opened up quickly in the first round, landing quick kicks to Edgar’s lead calf, bruising and tripping him up. Edgar scored a take down in the stanza but got caught in a good guillotine choke attempt by Henderson, before escaping.

Henderson charged forward and age a right hand right to the chin from Edgar, dropping to the mat. From there, Edgar controlled Henderson on the ground for most of the rest of the round with a front head lock. Edgar worked to get his own choke in or move to the back but Henderson defended well and survived the round.

Rounds three and four were close in terms of strikes landed, as was round five. In the last round Henderson clearly closed most aggressively and finishing more emphatically with strikes.

When the decision was announced for Henderson, Edgar stormed away. He and his team acted like he was robbed.

He was not. But the intensity of feeling is quite understandable given how hard fighters work at this level in the sport and how well Edgar fought and how close the bout was.

Neither man would’ve been crazy to have heard the final horn and believed that he had won. Someone had to be disappointed. Fans of world-class fighters fighting technically were not.

Henderson will face Nate Diaz next. The future for Edgar is unclear.

It is a cruel world for number one contenders that have failed multiple times to beat the person who is now the champion. Sure, he clearly pushes Henderson to the limit and fights him as closely as anyone can, but Edgar will not just get an endless series of rematch opportunities.

Will Edgar start climbing the ladder again at lightweight or will the undersized fighter finally drop down to featherweight? If he chooses do go down to 145 pounds, UFC President Dana White says that he will not get an automatic title shot. He likely wouldn’t have to win more than a single fight at that weight before getting the chance to challenge for the belt, however.

“I think Frankie would have to fight somebody at [featherweight before challenging for the title there],” White said at the UFC 150 post-event press conference. “We’ve got that thing backed up, we’ve got all these [divisions] backed up for titles right now. That one’s backed up. And if I know Frankie like I do, I’m sure he’s gonna want to go down there and fight [for the title] right way.

“I’ll talk to him later and see what he wants to do.”

It has been asked many times before but what do you want to see Edgar do, taters? Should Edgar go to featherweight or come back for what he believes is his at lightweight?

Cerrone went and got some more fans

Lightweights Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard are friends. They used to train together. Last night they fought one another and it was brutally exciting.

Guillard landed a nasty left hook that hurt Cerrone early on, following up with knees to the body and head. Cerrone managed to hang on, maintain his composure and, when he hit a glancing kick to the head of Guillard, put his buddy on queer street.

Cerrone did not hesitate at all to follow up on his wobbled friend with a right hand that dropped and put Guillard out. The fight didn’t last much longer than a minute but it won Fight of The Night honors. We don’t disagree.

Cerrone also took home a separate bonus check for KO of the night. Wonder how much of that $120,000 bonus cash he can fit in that stylish cowboy hat of his.

Mr. Excitement wins again

Jake Shields won another technical grappling-heavy fight by decision last night where he dominated the action, never stopped moving or working to improve position and…most fans probably didn’t love watching it. That’s Shields’ curse – he’s damned good at grappling but fans who don’t train can’t appreciate what he’s doing while he’s doing it.

For his part, Ed Herman was a live dog in the submission wrestling-like contest – never letting Shields stay in a dominant position for very long. Herman probably should have focused on staying out of grappling range with Shields and tried to box him up on the feet, but he was the one who initiated much of the grappling action through the first two rounds.

When he did get Shields down, he couldn’t keep him there. When Shields got Herman down, he kept him there.

In the third round Herman had a sense of urgency and swung hard on the feet but that only opened him up to getting taken down again by Shields. Shields is back at middleweight and looked to have plenty of strength in the clinch and gas in the tank.

Perhaps he’ll climb further here than at welterweight. But he’ll always have trouble against elite fighters as long as he can’t set up his take down attempts well with strikes.

Middleweight Yushin Okami had to wait years longer than he should have to earn a shot at champion Anderson Silva but as soon as he did, he hit a two-fight losing streak. Last night he got his first win since 2010 by finishing Buddy Roberts in the second round via TKO.

We’ll see if Yushin has another run for the title in him. He rarely looks bad and opponents rarely look good against him.

Dennis Bermudez earned Submission of The Night honors from the under card with a standing guillotine finish of Tommy Hayden. Slick. $60,000-worth of slick.

– Elias Cepeda

UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera — The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly


Props: MMA Photoshops

In our efforts to give out high fives and bro grabs over how much fun Saturday night’s fights were, we missed the opportunity to give constructive criticism to some of the evening’s lowest moments. We’ll more than likely still miss out on the constructive criticism here, but sometimes there’s just no way to be helpful about something’s ugliness (no matter how hard you try to be). But before we get caught up in the negativity…

The Good:

Vera and Varner Impressive in Defeat. Before Saturday night, both men were expected to be little more than highlight reel fodder for their opponents. After they came up just short in two of the most competitive, entertaining bouts to be broadcast on Fox, it’d be too easy to make comparisons to Rocky. So instead of making one, I’ll just imply it – problem solved. A loss is never easy for either fighter to swallow, but it could have been much uglier.

Mike Swick’s Feel-Good Comeback Fight. Is it even possible not to feel good for Mike Swick? After losing his last two fights and spending over two years away from the sport, things were looking pretty grim for “Quick.” Watching DaMarques Johnson control Swick for the first round certainly didn’t brighten the mood, either. But if you know somebody who wasn’t cheering while Swick flawlessly finished Johnson, that person has no pulse. In fact, that “person” is probably a zombie. Act accordingly.


Props: MMA Photoshops

In our efforts to give out high fives and bro grabs over how much fun Saturday night’s fights were, we missed the opportunity to give constructive criticism to some of the evening’s lowest moments. We’ll more than likely still miss out on the constructive criticism here, but sometimes there’s just no way to be helpful about something’s ugliness (no matter how hard you try to be). But before we get caught up in the negativity…

The Good:

Vera and Varner Impressive in Defeat. Before Saturday night, both men were expected to be little more than highlight reel fodder for their opponents. After they came up just short in two of the most competitive, entertaining bouts to be broadcast on Fox, it’d be too easy to make comparisons to Rocky. So instead of making one, I’ll just imply it – problem solved. A loss is never easy for either fighter to swallow, but it could have been much uglier.

Mike Swick’s Feel-Good Comeback Fight. Is it even possible not to feel good for Mike Swick? After losing his last two fights and spending over two years away from the sport, things were looking pretty grim for “Quick.” Watching DaMarques Johnson control Swick for the first round certainly didn’t brighten the mood, either. But if you know somebody who wasn’t cheering while Swick flawlessly finished Johnson, that person has no pulse. In fact, that “person” is probably a zombie. Act accordingly.

Not giving title shots to guys who duck fights. Do you remember why Shogun vs. Vera was booked in the first place? If you said no, it’s because Rua wouldn’t fight Glover Teixeira. Dana White certainly didn’t forget about this – in fact, he brought it up when he was asked why Machida was given a title shot over Shogun after the event. If fans are calling for Anderson Silva to vacate the title because his management doesn’t want him fighting Chris Weidman, then there’s absolutely no reason to give a guy a title shot who refused to fight an up-and-coming prospect, plain and simple.

All things considered, these ratings were pretty good. Like everything else on tv Saturday night, UFC on Fox 4 still got squashed by the Olympics. Unlike everything else, ratings improved throughout the course of the evening. The actual numbers don’t tell the entire story: There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the ratings for future cards on Fox.

The Doctor’s Stoppage of Wagner Prado vs. Phil Davis. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than watching a doctor simply ask a fighter if he wants to continue before clearing him to fight. You’re there because you can tell when it isn’t safe for a fighter to keep fighting, even though he wants to continue. Letting a fighter continue who isn’t physically capable of safely doing so is not only blindly ignoring your own expertise, but also a completely reckless way to get somebody killed.

It wasn’t the popular decision – and certainly not the preferable one – but it was the right one. After Davis’ eye poke, Prado told the doctor that he was seeing double, and the fight was immediately stopped. Naturally, Prado protested the stoppage; no professional fighter wants to look soft, even if he can’t see. But there’s no sense putting an asterisk next to a victory for Phil Davis (not to mention the danger this would put Prado in). Live to fight again, guys.

The Bad:

Phil “The Shockmaster” Davis. He may share the “Mr. Wonderful” alias with professional wrestling icon Paul Orndorff, but after his last two fights, he might as well borrow one of Fred Ottman’s failed gimmicks due to how badly he’s been falling on his face. It’s bad enough to go from the main event of UFC on Fox 2 to the Fuel TV prelims, but when you give the fans the absolute worst ending of the night, you’ll need to break out something extra special to stay relevant in the upcoming rematch. Remember when we were saying this guy should fight Jon Jones? Laissez les bons temps rouler.

Ryan “What’s Wrestling?” Bader. You’re a 2x D1 All-American wrestler. You’re fighting an elusive, karate-based former champion. What’s your strategy? Stand and Wang until you’re confusing the arena’s lights for Heaven, of course. At least he had the decency not to cry about it, so…props?

Joe Rogan’s interpretation of “Poor Cardio” during Varner vs. Lauzon. About thirty seconds into the Fight of the Night earning scrap between Jamie Varner and Joe Lauzon, Joe Rogan began saying that Varner was completely spent and done for. Call me “logical,” but considering that Varner kept fighting (emphasis on fighting – this wasn’t three rounds of lay and pray) into the third round, despite breaking his hand in the second, I’d say Varner’s conditioning looked pretty damn good. It’s one thing to say a guy looks tired, it’s another thing to repeatedly swear that he’s finished as he’s coming forward being the aggressor. Then again, that was nothing compared to…

The Ugly:

Phil Davis loves choking out fools with…kimuras? An announcer at an amateur event would get mocked relentlessly for making such a remarkably stupid mistake. Mike Goldberg has zero excuse…not even “I’m Mike Goldberg.”

Whoever this Nam Famn guy is that we kept hearing about. At first, I assumed that there was an innocent slip of the tongue, and wrote it off as a mispronunciation that I won’t pretend I’ve never made. But then I kept hearing about this Nam Fanm guy, and realized that he couldn’t be Nam Phan. For one, Nam Fanm used his boxing to defeat former WEC champion Mike Brown, and Nam Phan lost to Brown. Also, this Nam Famn guy was never in the fight against Cole Miller, and was clearly blown out for three rounds judging by the commentary throughout the fight. Yet, Nam Phan won that fight – fairly convincingly, too.

Come on, Mike and Joe. You’re much better than this. If you won’t give a fighter any credit at all while he’s in the cage, can you at least pronounce his name correctly?

@SethFalvo

Armchair Matchmaker: UFC on FOX 4 Edition


(Mike Swick and DaMarques Johnson combine their efforts to create not only the greatest punchface of 2012, but perhaps the greatest punchface of all time.) 

Aside from the disappointing and sudden end that came during the Phil Davis/Wagner Prado fight (which is tentatively being rescheduled for UFC on FX 5), last Saturday’s UFC on FOX event delivered in spades, featuring a main card that not only provided four highlight reel finishes for the night’s big winners, but a quartet of great fights that mainstream audiences had yet to witness on a FOX card. It more than likely came as a surprise to most of us that the card was as successful as it truly was, so with that in mind, we decided to dust off our beloved Armchair Matchmaker and pre-determine the fates of the aforementioned winners and losers from last weekend’s action. Enjoy, and let us know of any other possible matchups you’d like to see in the comments section.

Mauricio Rua: Despite smashing Brandon Vera’s title aspirations in rather brutal fashion, there is no denying that Shogun had some rather dicey moments leading up to the fourth round finish (that guillotine, for instance). After controlling Vera on the ground for the majority of the first, Shogun looked like he was fighting underwater by the end of the second. But as was the case in his previous loss to Dan Henderson, Shogun proved that what he lacks in cardio he more than makes up for in heart.

Still, it will take at least another “impressive” finish over an upper-echelon opponent before we are convinced that Shogun deserves another title shot. His total unwillingness to fight Glover Teixeira causes some pause for concern, and since it appears that Rashad Evans might be headed for 185 in the near future, we are left with only one suitable fit: Alexander Gustafsson. Last weekend basically cleared out the list of potential contenders at 205, and although we’d rather see Shogun and Lyoto Machida complete their trilogy for the right to take on the Bones/Hendo winner, we can’t hate on Dana White for following through on his promise. So if Rua/Gustafsson is all we’re left with, we’d be more than willing to watch these two throw down for a #1 contender spot. Let’s just hope Shogun packs his oxygen tank this time.


(Mike Swick and DaMarques Johnson combine their efforts to create not only the greatest punchface of 2012, but perhaps the greatest punchface of all time.) 

Aside from the disappointing and sudden end that came during the Phil Davis/Wagner Prado fight (which is tentatively being rescheduled for UFC on FX 5), last Saturday’s UFC on FOX event delivered in spades, featuring a main card that not only provided four highlight reel finishes for the night’s big winners, but a quartet of great fights that mainstream audiences had yet to witness on a FOX card. It more than likely came as a surprise to most of us that the card was as successful as it truly was, so with that in mind, we decided to dust off our beloved Armchair Matchmaker and pre-determine the fates of the aforementioned winners and losers from last weekend’s action. Enjoy, and let us know of any other possible matchups you’d like to see in the comments section.

Mauricio Rua: Despite smashing Brandon Vera’s title aspirations in rather brutal fashion, there is no denying that Shogun had some rather dicey moments leading up to the fourth round finish (that guillotine, for instance). After controlling Vera on the ground for the majority of the first, Shogun looked like he was fighting underwater by the end of the second. But as was the case in his previous loss to Dan Henderson, Shogun proved that what he lacks in cardio he more than makes up for in heart.

Still, it will take at least another “impressive” finish over an upper-echelon opponent before we are convinced that Shogun deserves another title shot. His total unwillingness to fight Glover Teixeira causes some pause for concern, and since it appears that Rashad Evans might be headed for 185 in the near future, we are left with only one suitable fit: Alexander Gustafsson. Last weekend basically cleared out the list of potential contenders at 205, and although we’d rather see Shogun and Lyoto Machida complete their trilogy for the right to take on the Bones/Hendo winner, we can’t hate on Dana White for following through on his promise. So if Rua/Gustafsson is all we’re left with, we’d be more than willing to watch these two throw down for a #1 contender spot. Let’s just hope Shogun packs his oxygen tank this time.

Brandon Vera: Although we don’t need to reiterate that “The Truth” completely blew our expectations out of the water, we’re going to anyway. Anyone who predicted that Vera would put up as great a fight as he did against a beast like Shogun was either Negrodamus or a shut-in UFC fan who hadn’t seen Vera fight since UFC 65. If the Brandon Vera that showed up Saturday night continues to show up in the future, we are going to be in for some fantastic fights to put it simply. We’re sure he’d love a chance for revenge against noted “juice monkey” Thiago Silva, who was originally scheduled to face Rua at UFC 149, but Silva’s neverending back problems don’t give us much hope that he’ll be ready for action anytime soon. Given Vera’s stellar performance last weekend, we’d like to see him take a tough, but winnable matchup that will boost his confidence should he emerge victorious. Just 1-2 in his last three, Antonio Rogerio Nogueria seems like a perfect litmus test for Vera. Lil Nog packs a hell of a punch and a slick submission game to boot, yet hasn’t really convinced many fans that he is championship material in his past few octagon appearances. Sound familiar?

Ryan Bader: If Lyoto Machida is Johnny Cage (or more likely Liu Kang, but just set ethnicity aside for a moment), Ryan Bader is without a doubt the lumbering, stumbling four armed freak that Cage testicle-punched off the mountain top. Bader looked completely lost when forced to deal with Machida’s elusive style, and aside from abandoning his wrestling base, apparently became frustrated to the point that he decided bull rushing into Machida’s fist with his eyes closed would be the most dignified way out. A flawless victory for Machida it truly was. The loss puts Bader in a unique, if not scary position. On one hand, he can handily defeat 85 to 90 percent of the division’s challengers, but on the other, he has been absolutely schooled by the division’s elite…and Tito. It’s not quite gatekeeper status, but if Bader wants to launch himself back up the ranks, he will need a huge win to do so.

Although he doesn’t present as interesting a puzzle as Machida (then again, who does really?) James Te Huna would make for a great matchup. On the heels of a record setting performance against Joey Beltran, Te Huna’s UFC record now stands at 4-1, with three of those wins coming by some variation of a Falcon Punch. The New Zealander has shown some susceptibility to the takedown in the past, and a fight against Bader would tell us a lot about which direction both men are headed.

Joe Lauzon: After overcoming a few rocky moments against a former WEC champion, Lauzon delivered in the style he has become known for: exciting and decisive. Now the all time leader in performance bonuses, Lauzon has only seen the judge’s cards in defeat, which in and of itself should be commended. That being said, Lauzon’s standup game still has some significant holes (mainly, his defense and head movement) that need working on if he is to hang with some of the power punchers that reside at 155 lbs. If you’re looking for a fighter who would make for a great test of Lauzon’s all around game, look no further than Jim Miller. He came up short in his #1 contender bout with Nate Diaz, suffering the first submission loss of his career, and will be looking to rebound with a fury. Both men are upper-level lightweights that have fallen short in fights against the true contenders, and would make for a guaranteed FOTN were they to square off.

Jamie Varner: Although his comeback story hit a speedbump, there is no reason to knock Varner for his gutsy performance. He took the fight on short notice, fought until the very end, and even managed to drop Lauzon on a couple of occasions. Varner is a gamer, through and through, and once his hand recovers, he deserves a fight with a guy who brings the fight each and every appearance. The first name that pops into my mind is Sam Stout, who is fresh off a trilogy capturing victory over Spencer Fisher. Both men are excellent strikers who aren’t afraid to take a punch, and would make for a great addition to any card lacking fireworks.

Mike Swick: It may have taken him over two years to do so, but “Quick” put on a performance for the ages against Damarques Johnson, overcoming an early storm to emphatically show “Darkness” the irony of his nickname in the second round. At the risk of sounding cliche (not to mention ignoring a certain ban on the phrase), Swick looked like his old self last weekend, and we couldn’t be more happy for the guy. But given the time he has spent away from the octagon, we’d like to have him face another mid-level fighter before he is thrown to the contenders of the division. James Head is fresh off an upset victory over Brian Ebersole at UFC 149, and would definitely jump at the opportunity to knock off another big name like Swick. If that’s not quite the marquee matchup you’re looking for, a fight against Stephen Thompson, who just came up short against Matt Brown in a hell of a fight at UFC 145, would make for an interesting pairing.

Nam Phan: Here’s what we know about Nam Phan:
1. Dude throws some nasty body punches.
2. Dude makes for exciting fights in every appearance.
3. Dude cannot beat another dude convincingly inside of three rounds.

Do the judges have it out for this guy? We couldn’t be the only one’s who felt the Leonard Garcia decision creep into the back of our minds when it was announced that Phan’s victory over Cole Miller was a split decision. Although it’s a given that one out of three MMA judges is either mentally handicapped in some fashion or plain blind nowadays, Phan needs to start going for broke if he doesn’t want to find himself on the wrong end of a decision in the near future. We’d suggest that he square off against Manny Gamburyan, who also emerged victorious at the same event, to try and get a good finish under his belt. Manny is a tough, hard hitting former title challenger who just recently broke a three fight skid, so we’d like to see these two throw caution to the wind and let the fists fly.

Give us your thoughts on our matchups, as well as the ones you’d like to see for the rest of the night’s competitors, in the comments section. 

–J. Jones

UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera Aftermath: Breaking Even


Shogun was as brutal and entertaining as Machida, but not as impressive in Dana White’s eyes. Props: @raiseyourhorns

After watching the UFC’s first two lackluster efforts on Fox, as well as the organization’s entertaining third effort fail to draw decent ratings, it was no secret that the UFC needed to deliver with last night’s UFC on Fox 4. With “the most impressive fighter” earning the next title shot at light-heavyweight, fighters returning to the spotlight after time in the indie leagues and fighters returning from extended layoffs – not to mention the usual
mix of fighters attempting to make a name for themselves and guys literally fighting for their jobs- it was obvious that the UFC was hoping for something special from everybody involved. Factor in the fact that the UFC was already struggling with ratings before the abysmal UFC 149 just two weeks ago, and it would seem like a night full of stoppages was in order to keep the fans interested in future fights on Fox.

Simply put, this card delivered all that was expected of it and then some. Last night’s fights were exactly what I was hoping to get when the UFC first announced that they had inked a deal with Fox. It was exactly what I want to show the first time viewer who asks what this “MMA stuff” is that I write about. After a rough start with these free cards on Fox, the UFC now stands at an even 2-2.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that the main event bout between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera lived up to its expectations because, let’s face it, there weren’t any. Before the fight, no one could make sense of the potential title implications behind a seemingly blatant squash fight, pitting an aging legend of our sport against a fighter who had been coasting on the brink of irrelevance. Whether we were given a quick, brutal knockout or five rounds of stalling and wheezing, few of us would have been surprised either way.

Rather, it’s fair to say that Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera ended up being one of the best fights that the UFC has put on Fox, and easily the most entertaining main event on the network. For four rounds, Shogun outpointed a focused, game Vera on his way to a fourth round TKO. While Vera certainly had his moments – don’t act like your jaw didn’t drop when he locked in that guillotine in the first round – in the end Shogun’s aggressive striking and takedowns were just too much for The Truth.


Shogun was as brutal and entertaining as Machida, but not as impressive in Dana White’s eyes. Props: @raiseyourhorns

After watching the UFC’s first two lackluster efforts on Fox, as well as the organization’s entertaining third effort fail to draw decent ratings, it was no secret that the UFC needed to deliver with last night’s UFC on Fox 4. With “the most impressive fighter” earning the next title shot at light-heavyweight, fighters returning to the spotlight after time in the indie leagues and fighters returning from extended layoffs – not to mention the usual
mix of fighters attempting to make a name for themselves and guys literally fighting for their jobs- it was obvious that the UFC was hoping for something special from everybody involved. Factor in the fact that the UFC was already struggling with ratings before the abysmal UFC 149 just two weeks ago, and it would seem like a night full of stoppages was in order to keep the fans interested in future fights on Fox.

Simply put, this card delivered all that was expected of it and then some. Last night’s fights were exactly what I was hoping to get when the UFC first announced that they had inked a deal with Fox. It was exactly what I want to show the first time viewer who asks what this “MMA stuff” is that I write about. After a rough start with these free cards on Fox, the UFC now stands at an even 2-2.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that the main event bout between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera lived up to its expectations because, let’s face it, there weren’t any. Before the fight, no one could make sense of the potential title implications behind a seemingly blatant squash fight, pitting an aging legend of our sport against a fighter who had been coasting on the brink of irrelevance. Whether we were given a quick, brutal knockout or five rounds of stalling and wheezing, few of us would have been surprised either way.

Rather, it’s fair to say that Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera ended up being one of the best fights that the UFC has put on Fox, and easily the most entertaining main event on the network. For four rounds, Shogun outpointed a focused, game Vera on his way to a fourth round TKO. While Vera certainly had his moments – don’t act like your jaw didn’t drop when he locked in that guillotine in the first round – in the end Shogun’s aggressive striking and takedowns were just too much for The Truth.

This isn’t to say the fight was perfect by any means. For one, Shogun continued to struggle with his cardio, much like he did against Dan Henderson. Perhaps his conditioning woes are what convinced Dana White not to reward him with a title shot with his performance. Likewise, while Vera deserves credit for the gutsy performance he put in last night, being a punching bag for the deep end of the division will only get you so far. I’m not saying that I want Vera off of the main cards, and I’m certainly not saying that he deserves to be fired for the performance that he put in, but I am saying that I don’t want to pay to watch a Brandon Vera fight any time soon.

As for the co-main event between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, there really isn’t much left to say: It delivered everything that I assumed it would. Machida knew that a knockout would give him a title shot, and he earned it with a well timed counter right hook. He may not be the most qualified challenger in recent memory, but as long as Jon Jones gets past Dan Henderson, he makes for easily the most interesting rematch (I say rematch because, like everyone else, I’d rather see Jones fight Gustafsson or Teixeira).

Submission of the Night honors went to Joe Lauzon for his triangle choke over Jamie Varner. With Varner returning to a Zuffa main card for the first time since 2010 and Lauzon coming off of a quick, vicious knockout loss to Anthony Pettis, both men made the most of their time in the spotlight with a highly entertaining three round battle. While Varner had Lauzon in trouble early on with his superior striking, J-Lau hung on to turn the fight into a nonstop, back-and-forth brawl. Lauzon begin to pull away with the contest once Jamie Varner broke his hand in the second round, and eventually earned the submission in the third. It would have been interesting to see how this one would have ended had Varner not broken his hand, but at least he has the $50k Fight of the Night bonus to show for his performance.

Knockout of the Night honors went to “Quick” Mike Swick, who made the most of his return to the cage by putting away DeMarques Johnson in the second round. Being 0-2 in your last two fights is enough pressure for a fighter in the UFC, yet alone coming off of a layoff spanning over two years. While Swick looked shaky at times – as expected from a fighter who has been out of action for so long – he rocked Johnson throughout the fight with hard rights before taking him down after catching a kick and landing a huge right hand. It’s hard to see this victory pushing Swick too far up the ladder, but it was an excellent, well deserved victory for Quick.

Full Results:

Main Card:

Mauricio Rua def. Brandon Vera via TKO, 4:09 of Round Four
Lyoto Machida def. Ryan Bader via KO, 1:32 of Round Two
Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via submission (triangle choke), 2:44 of Round Three
Mike Swick def. DaMarques Johnson via KO, 1:20 of Round Two

Preliminary Card:

Nam Phan def. Cole Miller via split decision
Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado declared a no contest (doctor’s stoppage due to unintentional
eyepoke)
Rani Yahya def. Josh Grispi via submission (North-south choke), 3:15 of Round One
Phil De Fries def. Oli Thompson via submission (rear naked choke), 4:16 of Round Two
Manny Gamburyan def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision
John Moraga def. Ulysses Gomez via KO, 3:46 of Round One

@SethFalvo

[VIDEO] Bad Ass Women on The March: McMann, Davis, Carmouche & More Win at Invicta FC 2

2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Shayna Baszler after three rounds at last night’s all-women Invicta FC 2 event. Baszler rocked McMann with a left hook late in the fight but McMann had evidently gotten far enough ahead on the judges’ scorecards to get the win. Check out the full fight video above.

Scores were 29-28 (twice) and 30-27 for McMann. “That was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I have ever fought,” McMann said post-fight of Baszler.

With the win, McMann improves her MMA record to 6-0. Baszler dipped to 14-7.

Full results via MMAFighting, as well as video of Liz Carmouche‘s submission win over Kaitlin Young, are after the jump.

2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Shayna Baszler after three rounds at last night’s all-woman Invicta FC 2 event. Baszler rocked McMann with a left hook late in the fight but McMann had evidently gotten far enough ahead on the judges’ scorecards to get the win. Check out the full fight video above.

Scores were 29-28 (twice) and 30-27 for McMann. “That was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I have ever fought,” McMann said post-fight of Baszler.

With the win, McMann improves her MMA record to 6-0. Baszler dipped to 14-7.

Full results via MMAFighting, as well as video of Liz Carmouche‘s submission win over Kaitlin Young, are after the jump.

“Sara McMann def. Shayna Baszler via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Alexis Davis def. Hitomi Akano via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:41 of round two

Liz Carmouche def. Kaitlin Young via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:34 of round two

Ayaka Hamasaki def. Lacey Schuckman via submission (armbar) at 4:45 of round three

Amanda Nunes def. Raquel Pa’Aluhi via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:24 of round one

Sarah D’Alelio def. Vanessa Porto via submission (armbar) at 3:16 of round one

Barb Honchak def. Bethany Marshall via TKO (punches) at 1:22 of round two

Julia Budd def. Elina Nilsson via TKO (elbows) at 3:49 of round one

Carla Esparza def. Sarah Schneider via TKO (punches) at 4:28 of round two

Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc def. Angelica Chavez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Raquel Pennington def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Jessamyn Duke def. Suzie Montero via TKO (elbows) at 2:32 of round three

Jocelyn Lybarger def. Cheryl Chan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Liz McCarthy def. Jessica Philippus via TKO (doctor stoppage) at the end of round one”

Liz Carmouche vs. Kaitlin Young Video:

For more Invicta FC fight videos, visit their YouTube channel.

–Elias Cepeda

Simply Put, It Sucked: Assembling the Best Tweets Regarding the Crappiness of UFC 149


(Well said.)

Twitter holds an interesting place in the MMA landscape. On one hand, it often comes across as little more than a medium for fighters to vent their frustrations with the foresight and competency of a middle school dropout, or to aid in the ongoing series of endless, needless arguments that constitute 90% of the internet nowadays. Seriously, I was on one of those porn sites that allow comments the other day and stumbled across a heated argument concerning what the woman fellating the donkey onscreen was probably thinking. My guess was that she was reconsidering her choice to forgo those online courses for some quick cash and a shot at Fame (which coincidentally was the horse’s name), but the two (probable) gentlemen involved in said dispute seemed to think she was trying to determine the ethnicity of said horse (if that’s a thing), and which race she likely decided upon. Did I mention she was blindfolded? She was blindfolded.

On the other hand, “The Twitter” has shown on several occasions that it can serve as more than a battleground for our petty arguments, and can actually be used as a tool to unite people from opposite ends of the planet over a given cause. Although it failed in the end, Twitter was almost solely responsible for giving Mark Hunt the opportunity of a lifetime, or bringing Tim Sylvia back to the UFC to dominate 85% of the promotion’s heavyweights like we all know he would (I mean, have you even seen his workout regimen?).

And one thing that the collective minds of Twitter seemed to reach an agreement on was that UFC 149, to put it professionally, sucked major donkey dick (see how I brought that all together? I’m less a writer, more a prophet). So in order to bid what will ultimately go down as one of the most disappointing main cards in UFC history adieu, we’ve collected some of the funniest tweets from around the Twittersphere, some from actual fighters, others from random jagoffs with the simple ability to hashtag UFC 149 after their comment, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.


(Well said.)

Twitter holds an interesting place in the MMA landscape. On one hand, it often comes across as little more than a medium for fighters to vent their frustrations with the foresight and competency of a middle school dropout, or to aid in the ongoing series of endless, needless arguments that constitute 90% of the internet nowadays. Seriously, I was on one of those porn sites that allow comments the other day and stumbled across a heated argument concerning what the woman fellating the donkey onscreen was probably thinking. My guess was that she was reconsidering her choice to forgo those online courses for some quick cash and a shot at Fame (which coincidentally was the horse’s name), but the two (probable) gentlemen involved in said dispute seemed to think she was trying to determine the ethnicity of said horse (if that’s a thing), and which race she likely decided upon. Did I mention she was blindfolded? She was blindfolded.

On the other hand, “The Twitter” has shown on several occasions that it can serve as more than a battleground for our petty arguments, and can actually be used as a tool to unite people from opposite ends of the planet over a given cause. Although it failed in the end, Twitter was almost solely responsible for giving Mark Hunt the opportunity of a lifetime, or bringing Tim Sylvia back to the UFC to dominate 85% of the promotion’s heavyweights like we all know he would (I mean, have you even seen his workout regimen?).

And one thing that the collective minds of Twitter seemed to reach an agreement on was that UFC 149, to put it professionally, sucked major donkey dick (see how I brought that all together? I’m less a writer, more a prophet). So in order to bid what will ultimately go down as one of the most disappointing main cards in UFC history adieu, we’ve collected some of the funniest tweets from around the Twittersphere, some from actual fighters, others from random jagoffs with the simple ability to hashtag UFC 149 after their comment, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

We shall begin with the far and away greatest tweet of the night, which surprisingly enough came from Bellator welterweight champion and Ambien substitute Ben Askren, who you may recall suffered a first round TKO at the hands of Dana White the last time we saw him on Twitter:

Self deprecating humor? Check. A rip on the UFC? Check double plus. Adhering to the classic “This is more______ than _____”, Family Guy cutaway formula? Check fuckin’ mate.

DID WE JUST BECOME BEST FRIENDS?!

The second best fighter tweet of the night went to the Thugjitsu Master himself, Yves Edwards, for this simple, yet effective burn:

Lord knows I love me a movie reference, and although Gladiator was a somewhat obvious choice, it fits the mood of whatever the hell Boetsch/Lombard was supposed to be like a glove.

Dan Henderson, who has pwned Dana White before using the social networking device, was a little more frank with his assessment of the event:

Check out some more of our favorites below.

Joe Rogan, who told it like it is (as we’ve come to expect): “Well ladies and gentlemen, that was not a good fight card. I enjoyed the prelims and the main event had it’s moments but overall not so good.”

Siyar Bahadurzada, for his on-point judging abilities: “Both lost this fight… The referee lost too! Fuck, even the crowd lost… And the viewers back home too. You get paid to fight!!!!!!!”

George Roop, for being a Debbie Downer during Barao’s entrance: “Barao comes out to all I do is win. Sadly his entrance already has more action then the rest of the card.”

Our boys over at MiddleEasy, for their time tested eloquence when evaluating Hector Lombard‘s performance: “That screech you hear in the distance is the Hector Lombard Frate Trane crashing and igniting in a fiery blaze.”

MMAWeekly’s Damon Martin also hopped on the Lombard Frate Hate Trane: “‘Hector Lombard is the man to challenge Anderson Silva!’ said no one ever after watching that fight.”

Ariel Helwani, for riding the wave of awesomeness that was every fight before Ebersole/Head, then crashing back to earth during the main card until he could tweet no more:

“Whoa? Matt Riddle showing some pretty great technique. This card really is a blessing!”

“Hold the phone on those blessing tweets.”

“Gulp.”

And finally, AJ Hoffman, a sports radio host, MMA writer, and self-described “all around good guy”, for pleading his case to DirecTV: “Fight of the Night= Me and my cable company when I try to convince them a homeless guy broke in and ordered that BS PPV.”

So, Potato Nation, were there any other notable tweets/complaints that tickled your funny bone last Saturday? Or were you too bogged down by self loathing and the depression that comes with essentially having flushed a 50 dollar bill down the toilet to even notice?

–J. Jones